A Chimera released

So here we are, a personal milestone. 

I would like to take a moment to direct you to here, a snippet underneath the cover for Chimera: Double Cross. This is how the publisher described it:

Several decades from now, an undercover paramilitary goes into the hell that is an African refugee camp. Private Military Contractors have been operating outside the law, and the body count is mounting. When the PMC's reach over the line and start killing to meet their own political agenda, Chimera operatives try to take them down, but trust is in short supply, and no one knows all the players in the game.

It is now available for pre-order for January 1, 2019. Available here.

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Hi all,

First of, let me tell you the good news, my book "Chimera: Double Cross" will be published via Cannon Publishing:

To keep up on any future books through them, please sign up via here:

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If you want to be kept in the loop in regards to my books, then I suggest you all hop onto my facebook author page. Alternatively, just follow my Amazon page. 

Right, let us go onto this writing together.

From Perfection to Too Close to Home - a review of the Kinwars series

Wherever I can, I try to fit reading into my schedule and have had read some good ones over the years.

My latest book to be read was Wraithkin by Jason Cordova, the man behind several books focusing on kaiju and the like. Before I knew it, I devoured Darkling and Deathlords in quick succession, something I normally don't do. The general premise is that a group of colonies rebelled against the Caliphate of Earth and established themselves as the Dominion of Man, where humanity are split literally into two categories, and is set some 200 years later by following the adventures of the Espinoza family.

I will not give you any teasers here, except that things get really bad before they'll get better for our heroes. What I'd like to talk about was that Jason managed to do and that is to take a breather after the first chapter or so, and go with a very drawn out "oh damn . . .". The thing is, the reaction wasn't just because Jason can put together a bunch of words into coherent sentences, but because of how he showed things.

Let me get back to what I said a couple paragraphs back: The Dominion of Man is split between two groups, the Perfects and Imperfects. These two groups are sorted via genetic testing once you reach a certain phase of your life, when you are born and later when you finish college. If the tests are perfect and there are no anomalies than you're a Perfect and enjoy everything life had to offer for you. If you failed the test . . . Well . . . If you failed your test before you were born than you follow a life of little to no opportunities, discrimination and generally get abandoned by your parents. Those who grow into adulthood and survive can enlist in the Wraith Corps, a military unit made up by Imperfects and are conditioned to be loyal only to the Dominion Emperor himself.

The main character in the series, one Gabriel Espinoza however was diagnosed Imperfect after college and the anguish, pain and sense of loss he experienced made me think of my own struggles with living with a physical disability. Still, Jason showed us hope as well, that life is worth the effort to succeed and for me that was a reminder not to give up, no matter what society throws at you.

I dare you to read it, just go to this link.

Jason, as a writer your job is to ensure that the reader connected with the characters, and connect I did. I cried, I cursed you and then thanked you for introducing a character I can truly identify with due to the parallel of struggles we both face. Above all else, I want to thank you for reminding about family.

Projects Update 5

Been awhile, sorry about that. Just been busy with two jobs, a wonderful relationship and good old fashioned life.

Anyway, I have finished the first of three manuscripts and it's presentable enough for the next stage . . . submission. As we all know, it depends if the publisher liked it or not, but my writing friends have confidence in my ability to spin a good yarn. Of course, there is independent publishing as an option, but want to try the traditional route first.

Projects Update 4

So we are midway through a new month, with many of us either been back at work already or are just coming off from holiday. I on the other hand am waiting for my new job to start, but that won't be for another two to three weeks. In the interim however, I have taken the opportunity to write.

Consequently, my military science fiction story has been through the first phase and in the hands of a couple of betas. Hopefully all it'll need is a tweak here and there, and ta-daa!

Then there was the collaboration, which is still a work in progress.

My good friend Gene Bukowski (actually my very first ever character in a story) is still in a holding pattern, but recently found myself gravitating towards such television shows as Criminal Minds, Hyde & Seek and Blue Murder: Killer Cop. Those three shows, along with a few other examples, are what I enjoy about police dramas, most notably the intrigue, fast pacing and all around good story telling.

Projects Update 3 and welcoming 2018

So it's just on ten past 11 o'clock in the morning, January 1 of 2018. Thinking back over the last twelve months, I have done a lot of growing as a person, professional and as a writer. The fact that my fiancee is home certainly helps and now we're both striving forward to get our pre-wedding things underway.

As of today, I have three projects that am working on.

The first, but not in any particular order, is Bukowski's first adventure. It is a completed draft at 95,000 words. All it needs is a rewriting, fixing and polishing before I hand it over to a couple of betas for a read.

The second is part of a military science fiction series that I've always wanted to write. One of my friends says it's a cross between James SA Corey's Expanse book series and something written by Tom Clancy, which is a nice thing to say if you don't mind me saying so. Personally, I got the idea after watching the cut scene movies for ...

and ...

While I like the concepts behind both franchises, I couldn't help but notice how cookie cutter and one dimensional the antagonists were. To be fair, I believe that Killzone did a pretty good job of creating the Helghan Empire's backstory as seen here. My only grumble is that they were a hybrid stereotype of Soviets and Nazis. Just as equally, the bad guys in the Call of Duty Infinite Warfare have a lot of potential but their backstory just fell flat in my eyes. So, inspired by both and a few others, I am now sitting on a semi complete draft of 50,000 words.

The third is another military science fiction, this one a novella of 20,000. It is a collaboration.

All going well, this year I won't have so many interruptions and false starts that I had in the previous two. 

Hope all is well with you all ...