Beginnings and Endings

Beginnings and Endings

Ending
As you probably know, Thomas Riley 2 is finished. It took insanely long to finish because of reasons that I explained in an earlier post. Life, divorce, move across the country, getting settled in a new house, becoming a step parent. There's more I'm sure. But I'm happy to say that TR2 rings in at a pretty hefty  101,571 words and 241 single spaced Microsoft Word pages.

Beginning
So I'm working on Thomas Riley 3 and while I know where it is going and how it will end, I'm having problems starting the first chapter. The same thing happened on the second book too... I write half of the first chapter and I'm not happy with it... then I do it again, and I'm not happy with it again. I'm not worried, I'll get it right, it's just a pain in my ass. I will give these hints. TR3 should have some elements of time travel, and a possible trip to America... um, I mean "The Colonies".

Ending
If you know me, you know I'm a pretty obsessed hockey fan and my Nashville Predators were taken out by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round of the playoffs. I'm disappointed... I always am when the season is over. I kind of felt like they would go really far this year. But I have to hand it to the Coyotes, they kicked out butts fair and square. So, I'll defer to the sports fan cliche: There's always next year.

Beginning
I'm finally getting pretty settled in Washington. Things are different, that's for sure but they are awesome in totally different ways. Despite what everyone says, the weather is amazing. Everyday feels like Halloween in Nashville. Also the weather reminds me a lot of London or Amsterdam. Anyway, Gig Harbor feels like home. I mean essentially, it's kind of a place one would retire... There's an amazing Harbor (hence the name), fun mom and pop places to eat and a few fun water front bars that we've been enjoying. It's a much slower place than Nashville but it's also awesome.

Steampunk Discount

In honor of Star Wars Day, (Well, I'm claiming that part) Echelon Press is giving a discount 20% on selected titles all month! Check out the newest steampunk anthology, Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance, that I'm in with Elizabeth Darvill, Sean Hayden, and Jennifer Williams. So get a sweet discount on some fun international steampunk stories for all ages.

Click here for the link to the book.

Make sure to use this discount code for your %20 off: ZUSND7VY

MCA

I thought it would be appropriate to give my own little tribute to MCA, (Adam Yauch) of the music changing group, The Beastie Boys. While hip hop might not be for everyone, The Beastie Boys changed music forever in the 80s. Adam died today after losing his long time battle with cancer.

My first live concert ever was The Beastie Boys on the Licenced To Ill tour when they opened for Run DMC in 1986. Even though they drove my parents crazy, my dad was totally awesome and took me. (I was ten at the time) I'm pretty sure The Beastie Boys were drunk on stage but they were still awesome in their own middle finger to the world kind of way.

The crazy thing about The Beastie Boys was that their legacy lasted for 33 years! Pretty crazy for a group that was supposed to be a flash in the pan. And wow, did they ever make some bad ass music in that time. I still know all the words to Paul Revere.

So thank you Beastie Boys and thank you Adam for all the great tunes and all the great memories. Rest in Peace MCA.

Here's the newest Beastie Boys video featuring everyone that's anyone in Hollywood today:

http://youtu.be/FSXnxsXqvAU

Thomas Riley 2 is done

I'm done! After way too long and the roughest yet most amazing and wonderful time of my life, I'm so happy to say that Thomas Riley 2 is finished. I promise, this won't happen again. I'll literally be starting Thomas Riley 3 tomorrow. Thank you to everyone that have been so awesome waiting for the next book. I hope that the extra time it took to finish this has yielded a more dynamic novel. Musically, it took everything from Cradle of Filth to Made out of Babies to La Dispute and Touche Amore to get the steam to write this. Also the art above is a rough in progress look at the cover art by the amazing Will Routon (who did the art for book one). I figured he wouldn't mind me sharing.

Thomas Riley 2 (which doesn't have an official title yet) is a much darker story than book one. It's definitely an act two kind of tale. It's a love triangle that has turned into a love square. The story follows Thomas Riley and Cynthia Basset into a new battle against their longtime enemies, the Lemurian nation where Cynthia threatens everything with her love for famous sky pirate and now Lemurian recruit Sam Burges.

This instalment in the Thomas Riley series has a title wave of new characters and dangers ranging from Lemurian sharpshooter Joseph Allerberger, the even more insane than his predecessor, Doctor Wolfgang Gerhard and an airship larger than the Titanic that has the futuristic ability to manipulate the weather. Also there's an "American" pirate, Captain Bradford Booker who assists Thomas and Cynthia on their journey with his ethnically diverse crew to find Sam Burgess when he was taken prisoner after saving Thom and Cyn in book one. And finally, a young Sophie, or (Long Form) Sophie Marie Franziska Antonia Ignatia Alberta von Hohenberg, daughter of the Lemurian ruler takes center stage in book two. You may remember her from book one when Thomas and Sam infiltrate the Lemurian palace to rescue Cynthia. You'll also get a more in depth look into the characters from book one. Ann Read has become more bitter and vengeful while her counterpart Kathleen Benika has become completely mad. The latter may or may not have cannibalized a priest...

I like to think that more time was taken for the reader to really get involved with the characters, you get some back story as well as a hearty look into their personalities (even though many of them are completely crazy). Also for those who were wondering where the phantoms come into play in book one... all of that is explained and actually is now a part of an evil Lemurian scheme to win the twenty year war. Also, for those wondering what happened to Lillian Beuafort's soul? You'll get all the answers while being given a host of new ones.

So again, thank you to everyone that has been so patient waiting for this to be finished. This includes everyone from friends and family to Zova Books and fans that have been so great during this process.

Bleeding Heart Blues

Bleeding Heart Blues

When it's awesome and when it's important to me, I like to post about music from time to time. Today, I wanted to write up a little post about my hella good friends who are in an amazing band called Bleeding Heart Blues. From my hometown of Nashville, TN, these guys (and gal) have done so much not only for the local music scene in Nashville but have also been through it all (which I assure you is mind boggling if I took the time to tell you) when it comes to music.

All the members of Bleeding Heart Blues are masters at their craft and have a unique style and personality that's honestly hard to find anywhere else. I've heard a lot of people try to pin them down as a band by comparing them to other bands and every time, it's different and wide ranging. Like if you asked me who they sound like, I'd say: Heart meets Janitor Joe, meets Danzig, meets Cat Power... the list could kind of go on forever but you get my drift right? Dark and evil at times yet often awesomely heavier than you'd expect. Think Angsty like AMREP bands but with the charcoal soul of Austin's own Black Angels.

Don't take my word for it, check out their latest album here.

Thomas Riley 2

My second book in the Thomas Riley steampunk series is coming to a close. I'm 5 chapters away from being done with the draft and I'll tell you... it's been quite the journey.

Yes, it's taken A LOT longer than expected to get this beast finished but I have a good reason. Well, I think it's a good reason. As most of my readers know, I traveled extensively in 2010 for the book. My travels took me everywhere from South Carolina to Victoria British Columbia. Fifty seven different events in 2010 alone. Book stores, cons, book festivals and book fairs... everything was fair game. And I have to say... It was amazing. In 2011, I got a divorce. Most people have no idea what that will do to you mentally and physically. There is constant stress, drama, problems, anger, frustration, friends that turn their back on you... you name it.

For me, it was like starting completely over, like there was a massive fire and everything you once owned and relied on was simply gone. I remember one of the first nights in my new place and I got a frozen pizza. I had no utensils, or plates or anything... So I sat on the empty floor, used the pizza box as a plate and ripped the pizza with my hands. While it was sort of funny in an insane way at the time, those kind of things take tolls on you that you might not realize. Then there are the money issues... wow... Dirt poor is the best way to describe it. We went through several months of eating ramen and hamburger helper for nearly every meal. Needless to say we can't even look at hamburger helper commercials anymore without feeling sick.

Needless to say there were about 1241235987612351235 of these happenings and that saps you in every way. You don't feel like writing, you don't feel like being creative and you really are not inspired. To get through it, I had to take a lot of time to finish the next book. And I have to say without the unwavering encouragement from Elizabeth Darvill, I would probably never have gotten done. Also, I have to thank my publisher, ZOVA Books for being unbelievably patient with me. That means a lot because most publishers would absolutely hate me by now. So there you have the abridged version of why this is taking so long.

Soon I'll post again when the draft is done and I can show you the cover (once again being done by the absolutely amazing Will Routon) and yes it is bad ass.
Till next time.

New Steampunk Anthology

Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance

That's the name of the newest steampunk anthology that Elizabeth (Darvill) Valentino and I are in with Sean Hayden and Jennifer Williams published by Echelon Press. This is a super fun anthology where all the stories are about non traditional steampunk characters and there is a queen or empress involved in every yarn.

My story is called Ten Thousand Years and is about a bitter Japanese sea captain that takes to piracy to regain his crew's honor. There are samurai automatons, royal airship battle cuisers and advanced cannons that can punch holes through an entire ship! *Hint* (This cannon also makes an appearance in the new Thomas Riley 2)

I'm super excited about this nifty little anthology and to celebrate, I'm giving away 2 e-copies for Twitter users. Copy and paste the text below in twitter and two winners will be chosen at random on Saturday night!

RT this for a chance to win an e-copy of new #steampunk Anthology "Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance" @sirthomasriley http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZA8P9C/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb

If you want to go on and pick up the e-book (Print books will be available in a few weeks!) you can grab them at Amazon for a very cheap $3.99 here. http://www.amazon.com/Her-Majestys-Mysterious-Conveyance-ebook/dp/B006ZA8P9C