Gorgon's Run

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd just drop you a note to let you know that the next book is in process. The first draft is done and currently I'm busy revising it. The books called Gorgon's Run, and it's an urban fantasy, a little like the Wizard at Law series. (But possibly a bit darker in tone)) Hope fully it should be out in December, well before Christmas! It's also a little different in that the main hero is actually a gorgon! (And a police officer) The artwork for the cover camer from 123RF as a lot of my stuff does these days. But just to show you how I modified it, here's the original image I purchased.

And by the way - the monster may not actually be the villain of the piece. He may just be a lonely old sea monster looking for love!!! Aren't we all?!


Cheers, Greg

Who? is out!

Hi Guys, 

 

 

 Well this has got to be something of a record for me - two posts in two weeks! But also two books! But having said that I'm extremely happy to have got both books done - and extremely tired! (It also may be a while before the next book comes out, as I was devoting all my efforts to these two books and everything else is a way off.)

Who is a science fantasy novel set in the near future when global warming is starting to dictate the will of the world, and when exotics - vampires, werewolves and other odd people - have been exposed. When their exposure has required a formation of a specialized world wide policing initiative - the Exotic Protection Service or Dog Squad. And where my main protagonist is actually something completely new (or old) a skin walker.

I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you'll have a lot of fun reading it.

It's actually been good to get back into just solid writing and putting away the troubles of the world for a bit, and I think that maybe one of the best things about writing. Though I worry that the time is coming when I may be unable to continue as my eyesight worsens. It's nothing revolutionary, just a cataract and presbyopia, but I'm utterly opposed to the idea of someone with a scalpel getting anywhere near my eyes! Novartis has a drug for the presbyopia coming out for those who are affected - UNR844 - roughly one seventh of the world's population, but they don't seem to be in a hurry to market it. So the message here is if you are starting to suffer the effects of old man's eye, send them a letter.

In the meantime I'll keep struggling on and I'll wish all of you the best.

Cheers, Greg.

Prince Of Stars

Hi Guys,

Ok, still behind in my posting unfortunately. Still dealing with a lot of personal stuff I'm afraid. But that's life I suppose and I'm slowly getting through it. 

Anyway, even if I'm a bit slow in posting, I have still been keeping up with the writing. (At the moment I've been finding it quite therapeutic to just be able to lose myself in my writing - and also in UTube music videos!) And my latest space opera, Prince of Stars has just been pubbed. 

I'm quite pleased with the book. It has a fun element about it and a feel of a seventies style space adventure which will hopefully make for an enjoyable read. Given some of the stuff that's been happening in my own world that was something of a blessing to be able to escape into when I was writing it. And I think the cover, above, is a beaut too. It was one of those images that just seemed to grab my eyes when I first saw it.

And the good news is that I've also completed an urban sci fi called Who? which is now just starting to go through the editing process. It is a somewhat genre bending work set in the 2040's and definitely sci fi but including werewolves, vampires and skin walkers. Hopefully Who should be out in the next month or so.But the cover is as yet a work in progress. It's really hard to find something that fits the lead character who is a gender swapping, shape changer, millionaire recluse living on his own island  - but I'm working on it!

There's also a fantasy in the works - Jax - which starts with the main character's execution - but that's a little way off yet.

Anyway, I hope that that brings you guys a little cheer in these strange days and you're all well etc.

Cheers, Greg.

Writing In a Time of Covid

 Hi Guys,

Another long pause between posts - and between books. The good news is that Modesty is out. And that another book - The Traveller - is now through its first draft and has had two complete revisions and edits. It's a steam punk fantasy book with a main protagonist who can travel between worlds - other fantasy worlds - on a steam powered motor bike of course!

The reasons for the delay are many and varied. But lets just say that 2021 has been a shocker of a year for me. I suppose we're all due one now and again. 

It began with my sister coming to stay with me after becoming unemployed. And while that's no bad thing, it is a shock to the system for someone who's been living alone for so long to suddenly have to share a house with someone - and three cats!

And not long after that the plague arrived! Yeah, maybe it was technically a cold. But I have never had a cold that lasted a month before. Or one that left me coughing so much and so powerfully that it was literally agony to breathe. Or one that wiped all the energy from my system for another month and a half after that.

It wasn't covid, at least I don't think so. But man - it really made me think. If I did catch that damn bug, I definitely wouldn't survive it! Luckily I've now had my first shot and am looking forwards to the second and immunity. Yeah!!!

After that of course 2021 took another unexpected and terrible turn just as I had got back into writing. My mother who was elderly and living in a retirement facility, became ill. And literally the day after I published Modesty I was driving down to Wellington to be by her bedside. She died a couple of days later. And the only thing I can say about that is that even though I knew it was coming, I wasn't prepared for it. I'd guess that nobody ever really is.

Anyway, since then I've been trying to get back to work. It's difficult to concentrate unfortunately, my thoughts keep wandering, but I will return to things in time. And The Traveller will probably be out in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best and hope you're having a better year than I am. Oh, and I cannot stress this enough - get yourselves vaccinated!

Cheers, Greg.

Anomalies

 Hi Guys,

Thought I'd better pull finger and get out a post this year - especially now that my first book is out for 2021.

Anomalies was a struggle to write and in fact I had to rewrite it several times before it reached a stage I was satisfied with. I think that's because it was one of the books that changed along the way. Though in it's case it wasn't the plot or the characters that fought to be something else, it was that the book developed an underlying theme. 

 In essence while you can read Anomalies as a straight forwards and hopefully enjoyable urban sci fi with a few thoughts on genetic engineering etc, it has an underlying theme about identity. Who are we and who do we think we are? And perhaps the most important question of all - who do we choose to be? All the main characters are wrestling with these questions throughout the story - with varying degrees of success. And while most of their issues are related to various forms of genetic engineering carried out upon them, it's still a question that can and probably should be asked by every one of us as we grow and change.

Anyway that's the nature of the book. Here's the blurb and I hope you enjoy it.

ANOMALIES:

Clem Atkins has lived happily on Coast Road in the Coromandel for sixteen years. To his neighbors he is nothing but a beach bum with an annoyingly loud car and a terrible wardrobe. They have no idea he escaped from a genetics lab as a child.

 

His neighbors also have no idea that the drug rehabilitation facility known as the Sanctuary, just a few k's down the road, is an alien base. And they would never suspect that Callie who peddles her way up and down the road every week to sell the Sanctuary's produce, is a surgically and genetically altered woman from another world.

 

And then there's Maggie, who only knows that she was built to be a spy, and she doesn't want to do that anymore. But there is no walking away from her life for those like her. And she doesn't know how to escape.

 

But when the navy shows up one day and starts bombing the Sanctuary the time for not knowing has to pass. It's time to start asking questions – and hope that the answers don't kill them all.

 

Cheers, Greg.