Two new e-books

That's right! I've got two new e-books available.

The Storm

The first is simply titled The Storm. It is a horror novel that has taken nearly 25 years to write. Yep, you read that correctly. This novel was my first attempt at writing a longer work. I started in 1989, got up to 70,000 words, then college and life intervened. Over the years I have tinkered with The Storm a little here and there, but only recently did I decide to finish the darn thing. For me, for my writing style, I still consider it a little rough, almost a little juvenile. It contains plot points and various other elements which I would not use or do today. While I rewrote and edited some of the those elements down or out altogether, I also left a number of them in so as not to totally do away with the voice my much younger self had once upon a time. I was tempted to start this novel over from scratch, but I didn't think I could do so. The story wouldn't be the same, nor would the characters or the environment. For another thing, the story takes place in 1987, and I am so removed from that time period that I had concerns I would bring a different viewpoint, and that was something I didn't want to change. Does the story work? Well, I'll admit it's not Shakespeare, but I'm glad to be finished with it and I think it's not bad. In the end, it's about 106,000 words total.

What is the plot?

As I mentioned, the events occur in 1987, though they are not specific to the time (other than technology such as cell phones and the Internet would have changed much of the plot). Also, mostly it takes place in the small Kentucky town of Coal Gap, which does not exist; Coal Gap is a fictional town, sort of like Stephen King did with Castle Rock, Maine, and numerous other little fictional towns he has created for his works. The story centers around 10-year-old Billy Griffith who has the power to move objects with his mind. A mysterious figure with the power to raise the dead knows of Billy's existence and heads to Kentucky to find the boy and to claim his powers, along the way gathering other killers and the walking dead. When this figure finally arrives in Coal Gap, all hell breaks loose. Billy is not without friends and companions, however, and they come to the boy's aid. Some will live, some will not. But nothing will ever be the same in the small town of Coal Gap, nor for Billy.

Sands of Time

This particular e-books is a collection of 16 short stories, some rather long and others quite short. The total package is about 76,000 words. Here there is fantasy of various shades, horror and even a couple of science fiction tales. But I have to offer a word of warning. Most of these stories have appeared elsewhere already, either in print or in e-books. I don't want someone to pay for something they've already read somewhere else, not unless they want to, and I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

So if these have seen publication elsewhere, why release them again? Because they are all connected by a singular figure, my John Dee character. That actually isn't his real name, and he goes by many different names at different times, but that is the name by which I think of him.

Dee is more than 2,000 years old and has roots in a minor Biblical character. He has many powers, what we would think of as magic, and he never seems to age or die.

This collection brings together all of the short stories I have written about Dee so far. I have been wanting to create such a collection for a while now, and only recently managed to have the time to put it together.

For those who will notice, the cover makes use of my painting titled 'Dee.' I went back and forth on whether or not my painting should take up the entire cover, but in the end I opted for what you see, though it's not impossible I could change my mind at some point and could then change the cover. Time will tell.

Regardless, I hope anyone who reads these stories will find something to enjoy. Even if only one reader likes only one of the stories, that is enough to make me happy. Though, of course, I hope for more. ;-)