MYTHICAL in 2013

Mythical continues in 2013 with three new adventures:


Mythical #4, SHADES OF WAR
The Stone Soldiers of Detachment 1039, the Blacksabers, stand as America's supernatural defenders. Impervious to nearly all conventional weapons, never tiring, never needing sleep- they are an unstoppable force of men turned to living stone by ancient magic.

Killed by the Blacksabers' leader over twenty years ago, Clinton Kerrick has returned from the dead, raising an army of spectres to fight against the living. His army of ghost soldiers are ready to march on Washington and exact their own revenge against the country that killed them.

Can the Blacksabers stand against an ethereal foe that cannot be killed? Or when the South rises again, will it mean the end of America?


Mythical #5, BLACK KNIGHT DOWN
Orbiting the earth for millenia, a strange, black construct hangs silently in space, its purpose and creators unknown. Governments of the world have feared the implications of the prehistoric, artificial satellite and have kept its existence a secret.

A coven of witches and their druidic ally bring Black Knight crashing to Earth to harness the dark forces contained within it. The men and women of the U.S. military's Blacksabers detachment must spring into action to combat this threat from space- but this ancient relic may prove too much for the supersoldiers.



Mythical #6, TERRORCOTTA
Buried for millenia in China, under the dirt outside the First Emperor's tomb, the terracotta soldiers were believed to be statues made in honor of Zao Zheng, guarding his eternal resting place. But the truth is far more terrifying.

The People's Republic unlocked the secret of the terracotta army years ago and developed it into a weapon designed to turn the populations of whole cities into hardened clay. Deemed too terrible to use, the Nlai Wan, the Clay Cloud, was locked away in vaults deep underneath the Forbidden City.

Now a renegade General who fancies himself the next great Emperor of China has stolen the Clay Cloud prototypes and moved them to America. There he plans to unleash his alchemical weapons of mass destruction on an unsuspecting populace and trigger a war between China and the United States that he will win, then declare himself First Emperor of the World.

Can America's supersoldiers, the men and women of the Blacksabers detachment stop General Zuo Zhao Zheng without killing millions in the process?

The Apocalypse is Over- time for some Mayan payback

December 21^st came and went and the world is still here. So much for doomsday. So much for the Mayans as well.

But what if a new threat came along? Something striking in the heart of Mayan lands?

That’s precisely the plot of Mythical #3, BLOOD AND STONE.

A mysterious figure descends on the Yucatan, able to change shape from a feathered, flying serpent to a glowing, nine foot tall giant. Declaring himself to be Kukulcan, the shapeshifter begins building an army of followers and demanding sacrifices as he spreads his influence over the region. The Mexican Army is hopelessly outmatched, with Kukulcan downing their aircraft and turning their men to stone.

The men and women of Detachment 1039, the Blacksabers, the United States’ first line of defense from the supernatural, must travel to Mexico to help America’s southern ally and defeat the shapeshifter before he accumulates enough power to become unstoppable.

Available now on Kindle and Nook and in the format of your choice through Smashwords.com

There's nosuch thing as bad feedback?

I used to firmly believe that there was no such thing as bad feedback. Afterall, writing is about producing a product consumers might want to purchase. I don't write for the art of it. So I try to listen to all feedback and consider it carefully to craft a better product.

 

Over at page99test.com, authors can upload the 99th page of their work to get feedback. The idea being that any book, if you pick it up and thumb to Page 99, it's a good idea of whether you'd like the book or not.

 

I don't get much feedback over there, but just now I got one of the all time stupidest things I've ever seen:

 

 

The superhuman leap is unbelievable, the names are too similar, the numbers on the guns suggest the writer is obsessed with heavy weaponry which is boring and anyway, I like dragons and didn't enjoy reading about a hurt one.

Uh, superhumans are unbelievable but dragons aren't? Didn't enjoy reading about a hurt dragon? What?! Obsessed with heavy weaponry?

Okay, I get that if you didn't read the book blurb, didn't know that Mythical: Brothers in Stone was Men's Adventure/Pulp-horror novel, you might not like the contents of Page 99. You might not know it's not a real dragon, but rather a shapeshifter who is posing as a dragon after ripping out it's heart. You also might not know that when you're talking Men's Adventure and Pulps, you have to put in detail about things like weapons. Cause dudes like that.

I wish I could respond to the commenter and apologize to them for their sensabilities being rocked. And explain the series a bit better. I think instead, I'll just pull the listing down so as not to offend or scar any other wannabe dragon trainers.

 

Three's a Charm

The shapeshifting giant Tezcahtlip is free in the modern world, eating the hearts of victims to steal their form, their memories and their power.

After losing his brother in a battle with the American military, the giant flees to Mexico, taking up residence in the Yucatan where he poses as the Mayan god Kukulcan in an effort to gather followers and sacrifices.

The men and women of Detachment 1039 will need help from an unlikely source before they head south to combat the monster. Can a vampire imprisoned at Alcatraz really be a help, or a hindrance?

Mythical: Blood and Stone
Now available on Kindle and at Smashwords.com

Vampires are coming...

In the final stages of proofreading and error correction...


The shapeshifting giant Tezcahtlip is free in the modern world, eating the hearts of victims to steal their form, their memories and their power.


After losing his brother in a battle with the American military, the giant flees to Mexico, taking up residence in the Yucatan where he poses as the Mayan god Kukulcan in an effort to gather followers and sacrifices.


The men and women of Detachment 1039 will need help from an unlikely source before they head south to combat the monster. But can a vampire imprisoned at Alcatraz really be a help, or a hindrance?

#3 is Done!

Finally got #3 done. In the final proof reading stages and then it's time to upload and begin #4. Only two books to go then I can step back from this series and see if it ever picks up steam.

 

In the meantime, I'm contemplating some new covers. I love the covers thus face, but I don't think they stand out enough. Worked up something more eyepopping, which I think will capture more readers. Here's the mock up so far...

 

Getting Ahead of Myself

Years ago, when I was desperate to become the next ghost writer for Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir's awesome DESTROYER series, I wrote my own little series of adventure novels- by the seat of my pants. I took a great idea, sat down with paper and pencil and just wrote. That meant a lot of times where I was baffled.

 

I eventually gave up on being a novelist and tried screenplays. It was there that I learned about the Treatment. A swell super-synopsis of sorts where you gave out all the details of your story, but without much prose.

 

It changed me.

 

Now I plan my novels (all three of them) out ahead of time. And man, does it help. I can sit down and write and write and write until my hands & wrists hurt- or the family needs me for something. Or it's time to go to work at the day job. Or the dog needs to go outside. Or something- you get the idea.

 

I dont' get writer's block when writing a novel. I can just keep on going because I already know how the story is going to end. I'm just filling in details. Sure, along the way I might thinkof something new, and have to stop and adjust my outline/treatment. Or worse, I get ideas for the NEXT book.

 

And that is becoming a problem. In my head, for example, Book 3, Blood and Stone is done. I know how the story goes. And I've already started outlining Book 4, Shades of War. But I can't start writing that novel yet, until I finish Blood and Stone. And it's killing me. Worse, in the back of my mind, ideas are popping up for Book 5.

 

Honestly, I don't see how series writers can stay focused.

 

About 20,000 words to go on Blood and Stone. 

NANOWRIMO!

Well, it's November and that means NANOWRIMO, where all us creative writers dedicate ourselves to the insane idea of writing an entire novel in one month- or less.

I tried this once before- cheating a bit. I had a screenplay 3/4s done and decided to novelize it. Alas, that didn't work and I never finished (the novel- the screenplay is up at Amazon Studions; DEAD PREY)

I'm trying again this year- because I've been Nano-ing all summer. That is, I've been cranking out novels as fast as I can.

The first Mythical adventure took about 1.5 months to plot and write and edit. Book2 was a lot easier- just writing it took about 10 days, with maybe another two weeks for research. I did hit a bit of a slow down with Book 3. I had a promising start, cranking out 100 pages in about four days. Then life interrupted and I haven't had a chance to work on it in over a month.

This means that that I have to finish Book 3, and then slap together a rough of Book 4, all in November. Zoinks.

Luckily, I already have 4 all plotted out. While I haven't had time to work on Book 3's draft, I did have lots of research and outlining time. Since a lot of the elements in 3 lead to 4, I was able to work on both projects and plan ahead. In a series, it's important to plan events ahead, so everything is linked.

So here's wishing Nanowrimo works out for me. On day 1, all I have so far is Book 4's blurb. And I have to say it turned out pretty good for a first draft:

SHADES OF WAR

Someone is raising the spirits of the dead- imbuing them with the energy to walk in the daylight and kill the living. Can cursed supersoldier Mark Kenslir and his team of living stone soldiers find and stop the source of this ghost uprising before an army of the dead marches on Washington? And is this necromancer a new threat or someone from Kenslir's distant past?

Scary Unproductiveness

Deadlines- almost as scary as zombies. I mean, they have the word DEAD in them.

 

I had a deadline- a self-imposed one. October 5th. It was when I wanted to have Mythical: Blood and Stone done and uploaded. Alas, Fall has been scary busy.

 

I suppose if I were a full time writer, there wouldbn't have been a problem. I'd have just sat down and hammered it out in like a week. But my full time job isn't writing novels. And being a full-time dad, I need to spend a lot of time with my kids. That leaves a small sliver of time every day to unwind from work, sleep and do some writing.

 

I haven't been very productive.

 

At least with fall firmly here, the yard work is coming to a close, so I have more time inside.

 

Blood and Stone is slightly more than a third done. And I'm already outlined on the next Mythical novel, Shades of War, that'll I'll be doing as part of Nanowrimo.

 

I just need to get through Halloween. Maybe all the leftover candy will help? We're supposed to have a chilly Halloween here in the midwest, so hopefully I'll get to keep a lot of the candy and it can power me through on the late nights I see in my immediate future.

 

Sleep is over-rated.

 

 

Calling All Pulp Fans!

Hey, where are you guys? I mean, on the internet?

I know it's a huge place, with lots of distracting sites to go to, but dang.

Did you guys know that 99% of the world thinks Pulp is dead? We can't let that stand. Pulp was one of the most popular mediums of the 1930s. It produced some of the best stories and characters of all time. Pulp made the story more important than literary rules. Without Pulp, we wouldn't have comic books. Or maybe even movies.

I for one have been guilty of re-reading the Pulps of the past. But it's time to move on. Time to look for NEW Pulp.

And I don't mean new stories set in the 1930s, or featuring old characters. Pulp is more than a historic period in publishing. It's a style.

We need new pulp heroes, having new adventures.

That's what MYTHICAL is all about. But it's lost in a sea of fiction.

So come on, leave Failbook and Drudge and start using those search engines to find something that will make you as excited as the first time you read a Doc Savage Novel, or the time you learned Tarzan did way more than wrestle gorillas in the jungle.

Check out Mythical. Do it for the Pulp.

Doc Savage vs. Mythical

I've admitted it- I tried to use the wonderful Doc Savage novels as a model for how the Mythical series should be paced and structured. But that recently got me thinking... how much do Doc and his Brain Trust share in common with the men and women of Mythical?

 

Let's start with the leaders. Doc Savage and Colonel Mark Kenslir.

 

Doc Savage is a large man, about 6'2" if I read correctly. He is covered in muscles and is in peak physical perfection. He never seems to age, due no doubt to his clean living and a scientifice diet. He's also a super-genius, an expert in many fields, and the world's greatest surgeon. Doc looks a bit odd as well, with bronze-hued tan skin and flake-gold eyes and his hair cut very short, resembling a skullcap. He is a master at unarmed combat and carries a variety of scientific devices with him at all times. Doc primarily lives on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building and has a fabulous, untold wealth of Mayan gold. Doc is an accomplished pilot, diver... pretty much any skill needed, he has. Doc was a fighter pilot in the US Army in World War 1.

 

Mark Kenslir is 6'4" tall, and also overly muscled. He never does age, due to the multiple curses on him. He's not a surgeon or a scientist, or even a super genius. He has jetblack hair, cut in a short flattop, and has black-green eyes. He is a master at unarmed, and armed combat, and uses a variety of devices and weapons. He resides in a 22 story tall building just outside of Miami, FL. As a sixty-three year veteran of the military, he has undoubtably accumulated a fair amount of money. He is a skilled combatant, who's exact training and abilities remain to be seen. He fought in the Korean War and most conflicts since.

 

All in all, the two are very similar. If we took it literally, Doc would lose any hand-to-hand fight. Mark Kenslir has super human strength, and can heal any wound. While Doc seems super human, he does face the limitations of mortality. When it comes to crimefighting or solving mysteries, Doc clearly has the advantage. Mark Kenslir is a veteran soldier, skilled at warfare. He may have other skills, but he relies on support from the U.S. Armed Forces to help him solve most problems his own personal strengths can't solve.

 

But Doc Savage is more than one man, he is aided by his Brain Trust- the Fabulous Five. His former Army companions, who are masters in their own fields, and fearless adventurers who join Doc in his philanthropic globe hopping on a regular basis. They Are Col. John "Renny" Renwick, a massive, 6'4" man who is a master engineer, a taltented brawler and who enjoys punching through doors. Then there's Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair, a gorilla-looking master chemist who is second only to Doc in fighting, and scientific ability. General Theodore Marley "Ham" Brooks, a dapper attorney of wide-renown and master swordsman. Major Thomas J. "Longtom" Roberts, an electrical engineer that possibly rivaled Nickolai Tesla himself. And finally, William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn, a world-renowned archaeologist.

 

Doc's five aides always seemed to be on hand in the books to help Doc stop evildoers and protect the innocent. They were even aided on occasions by Pat Savage, a blonde-haired cousin of Doc who was a proficient fighter and crackshot.

 

Mark Kenslir commands a small detachment of super soldiers and paranormal support personnel tasked with defending the United States at home and abroad. In Book 1, Kenslir's has four Stone Soldiers- men turned to living stone, possessing super human strength, and years of combat experience. All but one of the stone soldiers are killed by their opponent. Kenslir soon begins rebuilding his operational team, turning a teenage motorcross rider into a new Stone Soldier, and enlisting the aid of a teenage girl who unlocks her own cryokinetic powers- possessing the ability to freeze things with her mind. In Book 2, Kenslir adds two more operatives, a spunky FBI agent, and her partner, a postcognitive empath who accepts the offer to become a man of living stone himself. The team is aided by the U.S. Military's Ghost Walkers- spies who use astral projection to gather information, first hand, from anywhere on earth- and telepaths who probe the minds of allies and enemies.

 

In Book 3, Kenslir will be joined by two more aides: Chadwick Phillips, a former super soldier gifted with electrokinesis, the ability to generate and control electricity, and who also becomes a stone soldier, and Dr. Laura Olson, a vampire.

 

There are similarities, to be sure. But the adventures of Doc Savage tended to revolve around stopping a single villain, a criminal mastermind, for succeeding in some villainous plan to make money. Rarely did Doc deal with politics or threats to national security.

 

Mythical may incorporate many of the elements of the Doc Savage pulps, but it features super-villains, and broader-reaching dangers.

 

 

Introduction to Podcasting, 101

Tonight, in less than 4 hours, I go live, sort of, on the internet. It was all part of the self-publishing marketing process.

 

Podcasting is something I'd never actually listened to- I tend to be more of an orchestral music/movie score kind of guy. I just don't listen to talk radio or podcasts.

 

That changed with my entry into indie publishing. Some friends of mine happen to have a very long-running, award-winning podcast. Podculture.

 

Even though I'm kind of a private guy, I went ahead and joined the podcasters for a lengthy dicussion on indie publishing, the latest scifi on TV and of course, the Mythical series.

 

What did I learn about podcasting?

 

It's pre-recorded. I'm told some folks stream live, but most pre-record, then stream later, or just offer their podcast for download. I know- I'm probably the last person on Earth to learn this, but it was interesting, nonetheless.

 

You can get amazing sound in a room jammed with collectibles. To say that Brad, the guy who host's Podculture is a Green Lantern fan is a massive understatement. If there is any GL product on Earth he doesn't own, I would be surprised. It was wall to wall Lantern Corps, Oa, yeah. But despite the lack of foam walls, or headphones, Brad's professional setup records crisp, clean audio- although he did keep telling me to speak up. It was a far cry from the hollow, staticy tape recorder kids used in my day to play radio talkshow.

 

There's a podcast for everyone. Seriously the variety in podcasts is amazing. In Podculture's case, they talk about a little bit of everything, so they're bound to have a large audience.

 

Finally, I learned doing a podcast=sales. At least one. One Podcast listener from a previous show where my book just mentioned, purchased via Kindle and gave a glowing, four-star review (thanks, Billy). Actually being on a podcast and talking ought to equate to even more potential readers.

 

End analysis? Podcasting is good for authors. It's a lot easier than writing out answerrs to questions or saturating Twitter or Facebook with please for readers. Podcasting can be a lot of fun. And you don't have to dress up.

 

 

 

 

 

What the heck,let's have a SALE!

You know, I was just reading some authors over at the Kindle Writer's Cafe forum arguing about to Free or Not to Free.

 

Some valid points are made on both sides.

 

Had I read this before, I might very well have put Book 1, "Heart of Stone" up for free. But since a few of you have purchased it, I don't think it's fair to now.

 

But let's have a SALE.

 

$.99, this week only.

 

KINDLE

 

NOOK

 

Smashwords

 

 

 

 

Book 3 Has Begun!

Mythical the Series is rapidly approaching it's end- or rather the end of the first trilogy. I knuckled down and foudn the time to start writing in earnest yesterday and got about 40 pages done- something like 8000 words. I would have gone longer, but with a day job and kids to take to school today I finally had to quit and hit the sack...

 

So what's book 3, BLOOD AND STONE about?

 

<SPOILER ALERT>

 

 

In Book 2, the shapeshifters partially succeeded in their attack on Argon Tower, the base of operations for Detachment 1039. The twin giants manged to resurrect Medusa and steal her heart, granting Tezcahtlip the power to turn men to stone. Unfortunately, it cost him greatly, as his brother Ketzkahtel was finally killed.

 

Tezcahtlip has fled now, headed west to hit the two placesin America that have the highest concentration of parahumans: Las Vegas and Alcatraz. With a collection of stolen powers to choose from, the giant will do what anyone in his over-sized shoes would do: find a country in need of something to believe in, and set himself up as a God.

 

Det. 1039 will have to be careful pursuing this adversary into a foreign sovereign nation- to avoid an international incident and to avoid being destroyed by the all-powerful Tezcahtlip.

 

The team will be aided by two new members as Col. Kenslir rebuilds the Stone Soldiers. First up is his old war buddy, Chadwick Phillips, a paraplegic retiree who once could hurl lightning. A more mysterious figure from Colonel Kenslir's past will show up as well- one he's not sure he can trust, but who will hold the key to finding and stopping Tezcahtlip once and for all.

 

Look for BLOOD AND STONE at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords October 1st.

Mythical Extras: An Alternate Reality

Writers tend to do a lot of research on works of fiction- particularly those that take place in alternate realities. Sadly, a lot of that work is never seen by the reader- it is backstory the author keeps for themselves.

One of my recent reviews by a reader called me out on this- they wanted to see more of the world Mythical takes place in.

To that end, I'm going to start a new feature here on the blog, going over some of the backstory you'll more than likely never see in the novels.

THE MYTHICAL U.S. PRESIDENTS

This might seem like a really odd thing to worry about in a work of fiction, but I think it has great import on a series of novels that center around a military unit. Presidents are the Commanders-in-Chief, and have the final say-so on a number of military programs. And what spy novel series doesn't at some point feature a political figure?

In the Mythical, super powers are an accepted and widely known fact by the general populace. People with thos powers, parahumans, are celebrities just as much as sports stars are in our world. As such, parahumans are bound to be involved in politics. And that could have some interesting ramifications...

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 6th President of the United States

It is a little known fact that Pres. Lincoln formed the National Sciences Academy on March 3, 1863. Lincoln had a vision of science helping America. In Mythical, that mandate went a little further, and paved the way for the research not just of science but of the mystical. Alas, even with magic, Lincoln was assasinated.

JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35th President of the United States

By the 1960s, the Mythical United States was using parahumans in the military and for intelligence gathering. It isn't much of a stretch then to assume that with that added layer of protection, President Kennedy was not assasinated in 1963. Rather, an attempt was made, but the President's Secret Service detail was alerted in time to avoid catastrophe.

Sadly though, despite winning his next election, Pres. Kennedy's philandering ways would prove his downful, and he would resign the Office of the President in 1965, citing health reasons to avoid scandal and embarrassing the office. Pres. Kennedy would then retire to a lifetime of devoted public works, in the United States and abroad and become a leading humanitarian in the waning days of the 20th Century.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 36th President of the United States

Serving only a three year term, Mythical's President Johnson had far less of an impact on American history, but followed the course he otherwise would have taken had the assassination of Pres. Kennedy proven successful.

RICHARD M. NIXON, 37th President of the United States

Following the unpopularity of the war in Vietnam, Richard M. Nixon was able to defeat Lyndon  Johnson and became the 37th President of the United States in 1969. here history attempted to correct itself, with Nixon performing in much the same way he did in our universe. With one notable exception: Watergate.

In the Mythical universe there was no need for a break-in at the Watergate hotel to steal Democrat secrets. Instead, telepaths were employed, and Nixon was able to quietly win re-election, aided considerably by endorsements from the new celebrities in the world: super heroes. These parahumans in flashy costumes astounded the public in 1971 and 1972, and were embraced by the White House and the Nixon administration.

However, history again corrects itself when it is discovered that the White House used telepaths in the re-election of Pres. Nixon. A scandal erupts, and Watergate becomes synonomous with the use of parahumans to influence politics. Nixon pardons his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, then resigns and Gerald Ford becomes the 38th President of the United States, serving a little over a year before losing his bid at election in 1976. While Nixon leaves in disgrace from the White House, it is generally accepted he did not know about the use of telepaths to spy on Democrat party officials, and his resignation is viewed as an honorable act to the public.

JIMMY CARTER, 39th President of the United States

As in our world, Mythical's Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford and became the next President of the United States, riding a wave of public distrust of the Republican Party. President Carter further rose to fame when Operation Eagle Claw, the rescue of U.S. hostages from Iran was successful, thanks to parahuman forces (Detachment 1039).

RONALD REAGAN, 40th President of the United States

Despite Pres. Carter's success in freeing th hostages from Iran, American heroes in 1980 revealed to the world that the Soviet Union had its own parahuman forces, and that they were a threat to the United States. Pres. Carter's previous efforts to downsize the U.S. Military and pursue peaceful recourse with the Soviet and Chinese Empires did not go over well in light of this new threat. The public clamored for a strong President, and elected Ronald Reagan, himself backed by the leading parahumans of the period.

Ronald Reagan enjoyed two terms as President, rebuilding American military might and staying the hand of the Soviet Union in much the same way as he did in our Universe.

GEORGE BUSH, 41st President of the United States

Riding on the success of his former President, and endorsed by the superheroes, George Bush managed to win election and re-election, and continued the efforts of the Republican party to stregthen the United States and stay Soviet aggression around the world. Ross Perot, and popular grassroots politician was brought into the campaign for re-election, and proved a deciding factor for many voters. Perot was later named Secretary of Defense.

WILLIAM CLINTON, 42nd President of the United States

Following his defeat by George Bush, William Clinton once again ran for election and defeated Dan Quayle and Robert Dole in the 1996 campaign. Without the surge of popularity enjoyed by his real-world rival, President Clinton led a more subdued first term as President and avoided the Monica Lewinsky scandal. After his failure to win re-election in 2000, Pres. Clinton and former First Lady Hilary Clinton went on to become leading human rights advocates.

DAN QUAYLE, 43rd President of the United States

In 2000, history was made when Elizabeth Dole was made the first female Vice President of the United States- with her parahuman endorsements allowing her and Presidential Nominee Dan Quayle to narrowly defeat William Clinton's re-election efforts.

Pres. Quayle soon became a butt of jokes in the media who portrayed him as dull-witted as they had when he served as Vice President. On September 11, 2011, that changed when Al-Qaeda terrorists succeeded in killing thousands of American citizens on U.S. soil. Pres. Quayle launched an immediate counter-attack, employing U.S. conventional and parahuman forces within 24 hours. U.S. forces first attacked and invaded Afghanistan, libertaing the country from Al Qaeda rule. Within a month, U.S. forces moved on Iraq, which had been ignoring U.N. demands for inspections for many months. In the swift invasion into the country it was soon discovered that the regime of Saddam Hussein was actively violating the Gulf War cease-fire treaty of 1991 by continuing to build weapons of war and fund an underground nuclear program. President Quayle enjoyed great popularity when U.S. forces captured several convoys attempting to move nuclear and biolgical weapons out of the country and into neighboring Syria. 

President Quayle narrowly defeated John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Campaign- a campaign marked by Vice-President Elizabeth Dole declining to continue serving in office due to health concerns and a difference of opinion on the conduct of the ongoing war on Terror in the Middle East. President Quayle's running mate in the campaign was George W. Bush, the son of George H. Bush. President Quayle's second term as President was marred with constant protest against the war, and calls for the troops to come home.

JOHN EDWARDS, 44th President of the United States

In the 2008 Presidential Election, the Republican party was divided in its support of John McCain and George W. Bush. Bush managed to win the nomination from the party but could not muster the votes to defeat the ticket of John Edwards and Baron Hill. Voters chose the democratic candidates on the promises of universal healthcare and an end to the long hositilities in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In early 2013, Pres. Edwards' presidency was rocked by a scandal follwing his re-election. It was disclosed that he had an affair and a child without the knowledge of the First Lady, who had garnered a great deal of public support for her work in promoting cancer research.

Mythical: The Series begins in the summer of 2013, when Pres. Edwards is facing intense scrutiny from Congress and the public. Popular belief is that he will resign from office before the year ends.

The Story continues...

The shapeshifting Antedeluvian giant Ketzkahtel is back from the dead, once again tearing out and eating the hearts of American citizens.

Colonel Mark Kenslir will need the help of a new generation of stone soldiers and one brave girl to track down and stop the giant before it amasses enough power to become unstoppable.

Unfortunately for Kenslir, the giant is no longer alone. He’s resurrected his twin brother and the two giants decide to take the fight to the Colonel.

MYTHICAL: Brothers in Stone... almost here.

I had previously posted that the next Mythical book would be up and ready today, August 1st. Alas, the editing, and some rewrites requested by the Beta reader have delayed that. "Brothers in Stone" may not be ready for a few days. Not a very good start to any career I was planning in writing, but things happen.

 

To hold anyone over, here's the blurb for "Brothers in Stone"

 

 

The shapeshifting, Antedeluvian giant Ketzkahtel is back from the dead, once again tearing out and heating the hearts of American citizens.

Colonel Mark Kenslir will need the help of a new generation of stone soldiers and one brave girl to track down and stop the giant before it amasses enough power to become unstoppable.

Unfortunately for Kenslir, the giant is no longer alone. He's resurrected his twin brother and the two giants decide to take the fight to the Colonel.

Finally... a Review!

A great big thanks to the kind folks at Long and Short Reviews! They have up my first official Book Blog review today.

 

I have to agree with their review 100%. "Mythical: Heart of Stone" is slow at the beginning. Painfully slow. But that's because it started as a screenplay and I was going for the slow, mysterious build up to action. That's been corrected in the sequel.

 

Thank you again, Orchid for your time and review! 

A Mythical New Title

The sequel to Mythical is almost ready, and that revealed a problem. How to title the series.

 

The solution was pretty simple, rename book 1.

 

So "Mythical" is now "Mythical: Heart of Stone".

 

 

Mythical vs. Twilight

I was shocked to see #Twilight trending on Twitter last night. I mean, that movie is how many years old now? (Four)

 

I had to snap off a comment, tilting at the windmill of popculture: "Forget #Twilight and read Mythical- way more ass-kicking. Tinyurl.com/Det1039"

 

Weirdly, when I clicked on #Twilight, I don't see my comment. Which would explain the lack of comments or even the most infinitesimal increase in traffic or book sales.

 

But let's take my statement and run with it.

 

As I understand (because I won't read it or watch the movie) Twilight is about a girl in high school who meets a mysterious stranger who turns out to be a vampire. She gets drawn into some kind of conflict with other vampires when he starts to fall in love with her or something (or so my wife tells me).

 

Ten years ago, "Vampire" would have meant to me action. People getting killed, thrown around like ragdolls, that kind of thing. But these days it seems like vampires are metrosexually-confused wussies trying to act like Don Juan DeMarco with fangs. Is it Anne Rice's fault? Who knows. All I know is that vampires of today suck. They aren't scarey anymore.

 

The internet is filled with women that would love some vampire to suck on their neck. I don't get it. Vampires are made up- at least our vision of them today is. The old legends and myths paint vampires as monsters intent on using people as a food source, not an escort service.

 

I've never heard of a gazelle laying around wishing a lion would come eat it. Somewhere along the way Nosferatu has lost his purpose.

 

What then is Twilight? Romeo and Juliet with fangs and angst? Sounds like it to me.

 

Mythical doesn't have that problem.

 

I'll admit that when I first came up with the premise for the book, it was markedly different. I envisioned a GIANT vampire, freed from centuries in chains. I mean, vampires were scarey (once), right? So what about a GIANT vampire. But the whole neck sucking thing was just so cliched. And can you imagine how uncomfortable it would be for a giant, bending over to reach a neck, or lifting his food up to his level? Even undead, his back would be killing him.

 

I opted for heart eating. It worked for the Aztecs. I mean, what is scarier, Rico Suave, in his finest poofy-sleeved shirt licking at a woman's neck, or a six fingered hand punching into your chest and ripping your heart out in a single, quick, violent act? That's horror. Or at least horrifying.

 

But back to the ass kicking...

 

As I read the wikipedia page, I see that some vampire guy named Edward destroys some vampire guy named James, thereby saving the teenager named Bella. Then he sucks on Bella, preventing her from becoming a vampire (which I admit is a nice contrast to sucking to make her a vampire)

 

I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like much ass kicking. One vampire vs one vampire? And they're both anemic pantywaists that sparkle in the sunlight?

 

Mythical has a super soldier who can heal any wound and is super strong. And a master of martial arts. He fights local yocals, FBI agents sent to capture him, a sorceress, and finally the shapeshifting, heart-eating giant (who can also turn into a fire-breathing dragon). There is asskicking galore in Mythical. At least a third of the book is nothing more than fight scenes tinged with drama.

 

Okay, I admit, there may be some similarities to Twilight. Yes, the main character is a teenage girl who meets a mysterious stranger who isn't normal. Yes, she is drawn into a world she never knew about. Maybe that was on purpose. Maybe it's an often-used plot. But the girl doesn't fall for the stranger- he's old enough to be her grandfather.

 

Nothing in Mythical sucks. Not the giant, not the hero, not the fight scenes.

 

Magic, Super powers and a monster. What more does a book need?

 

Forget Twilight, read Mythical.

Too much Adult in YA?

First off, Mythical does not have any Adult stuff in it. And by adult, I mean the S-E-X stuff.

 

Sorry, it's just not there. Nor really any romance.

 

The description of the book- a super soldier hunting a shapeshifter who rips out people's hearts and eats them- should have given it away that this is a book about action, not luvin'.

 

Alas, in my reading of the past few days, I see that YA is not the teen and pre-teen friendly genre this dad had hoped it was. It appears there's quite a bit of the whole grown up, PG-13 stuff in the genre that this over-protective dad does not approve of.

 

So I'm changing the genre listings. Mythical is action adventure now.

 

Yes, one of the two main characters is an eighteen year old girl who's just graduated high school and finds herself fighting monsters instead of her college GPA, but apparently that isn't enough in the YA market. They want the kissey kissey.

 

I suppose it's a matter of taste. For me, I've had two kids and reached my quota for kissey kissey and romance. I don't need to read about it, and think about it, and wonder about it. Mystery solved.

 

 

Mythical- YA or Pulp?

I clearly didn't do enough research when I started on "Mythical". I designed it first as a screenplay to fit in with the whole Percy Jackson, Harry Potter etc genre. Then I adapted it into a novel since it turned out so well. And I listed it as Young Adult.
 
Argh. Now that it's uploaded and propping up the leg of a virtual table somewhere on the internet, I think I have chosen the wrong genre to list it in.
 
I chose this category as the main character is an 18 year old girl, Josie Winters. She has graduated High School and is about to start her adult life. But instead of going off to college, she finds a dead super soldier in the desert, Mark Kenslir, who comes back to life and gets her help completing his last mission- stopping a shapeshifting giant who rips out people's hearts and eats them to steal their stength, identity and even memories.
 
I was sure this sounded YA, it had a teen, facing an important issue: the change from childhood to adulthood. I even threw in the girl having a life-long best friend- a boy (Jimmy Kane) who had unrequited love for her, and therefore was all angsty about Josie helping out the super soldier (the older, mysterious man).
 
Now I'm starting to think it's more pulp.
 
I've done more reading, and I'm now seeing that YA seems to be a female genre. Which is odd, because the fast flowing writing style and the shorter novel lengths really remind me of the pulps I grew up reading (Doc Savage, Tarzan, etc.)
 
This makes me wonder- YA for girls or is it the new Pulp, with a bit of teenage drama thrown in for good measure? Should I list "Mythical" under a new genre to bring it out of internet ebook obscurity? Or do I hang in there and see if Month #2, and a sequel in the works will do better?

Mythical 2 Page Count

Mythical 2 progress report: All Systems are Go.

 

109 pages done in the roughdraft, putting me slightly ahead of schedule. That leaves about 150 pages to go for the target 250 pages.

 

August 1, 2012, release for the proof read, de-typod version is very firm at this point.

 

Sequelizing Mythical

While it's barely been a month since "Mythical" went up as an ebook, the sequel is firmly underway. In fact, it's going much faster than I anticipated.

 

My first inclination was not to mention this, but I've been reading a lot lately about how readers of self-published series are hesitant to pick up a new series until they know for sure it is going to be continued. I can understand that. In this modern era of instant publishing, why wait for a sequel? Pick a series that's out and read them back to back, with no waiting.

 

So here I am, confirming what I said in an earlier post- "Mythical: Brothers in Stone" is fast becoming a reality. Plotting out the story, doing research and preparing to write took a few weeks, but now I'm actually down to the nuts and bolts of writing it out. And it's going fast, despite the opressive heat here in the midwest that makes me want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep until winter.

 

At the current rate of sweaty writing, I anticipate "Brothers in Stone"'s first draft will be done within a week. Then it's time for some polishing, proof reading and a final typo hunt before I put it up- probably by August 1. Maybe sooner.

Get into Mythical (2)!

So here's a clever idea I just read- letting fans submit their names to authors to have characters named after them in upcoming novels.

 

Now, I have only had Mythical self-published for about a month now, so I doubt I have any actual fans yet. But I would definitely be open to putting readers' names in the remainder of the trilogy. Coming up with new names is one of the hardest things for me as a writer.

 

Let's make this an ongoing, open thing. If you want a character named after you in a Mythical novel, comment below with your first and last name and your physical description (hair color, build, eye color, etc). Please realize half of the names I get will more than likely get killed off in any novel- Mythical has some pretty evil antagonists.

 

Beyond Mythical...

Now that the trilogy of Mythical is firmly plotted out and I've begun work on Book #2, I had to wonder- will the trilogy complete the adventures of Josie Winters and the super soldiers of Detachment 1039?

I suppose that it could. The final book will wrap things up nicely, finishing off the shapeshifters once and for all. But it will leave Josie and her new friends just beginning a life of protecting America from the secret supernatural forces in the world.

I went back and dusted off some of the early ideas I had for telling stories about Detachment 1039- Colonel Kenslir's adventures before he became a father figure for a new generation of super soldiers. I briefly considered going back to those 1980s tales. But that would still leave Josie hanging.

Instead, it looks like I have the beginnings of a great fourth book plotted out. And a working title: Legendary: The Curse Eater. A swell story about super-powered clones, a serial killer, an angry ghost from Col. Kenslir's past, and a 14 year old boy who learns he's not just an average kid after all.

But do I want to write this? I have other projects lined up- like a horror-comedy about a father who has to embrace the family werewolf curse to save his own family from an uprising of zombies. It started as a screenplay in 2010, and I got about halfway through novelizing it.

I guess sales will decide.

If Mythical 1, 2 & 3 start selling, and I get some feedback that yes, readers want more, Legendary might just become the next Detachment 1039 trilogy.

Book 3: Blood and Stone

In the process of plotting out and researching Book 2 (Brothers in Stone) I also did a lot of work on the third upcoming Mythical novel, Blood and Stone. It will round out the trilogy started in Mythical, and see the saga of the antediluvian shapeshifters come to a close.

Here's a sneak peak of Blood and Stone's plot, which will hopefully be completed around October 2012.


Another antediluvian shapeshifting giant is on the loose, having escaped after his raid on Detachment 1039's base of operations in Miami, Florida. Josie Winters, with her new powers still developing, is impatient to hunt down the monster, but training comes first.

Josie joins Victor Hornbeck, the newest stone soldier, in private training with Colonel Kenslir, forming the newest generation of America's secret super soldiers. But will their be training be complete before the last shapeshifter can gather the hearts and powers of some of America's deadliest civilian parahumans?

Coming Soon... Mythical #2: Brothers in Stone

The research is done, and I start work today on Mythical #2, continuing the story of Josie Winters, Jimmy Kane and their new mentor, Colonel Mark Kenslir.

Here's a sneak preview of the events of Book 2:

Josie Winters is settling into her new job at Detachment 1039, learning the secret history of the U.S. Armed Forces war against supernatural threats. Jimmy Kane remains petrified, a stone statue of himself, only able to communicate with the outside world by means of a telepath.

But word soon arrives- the shapeshifting giant, Ketzkahtel may be dead and in a freezer at Detachment 1039's headquarters, but someone else is on the loose, in Arizona, ripping the hearts out of hapless victims.

Josie and Colonel Kenslir travel west again, to join up with the FBI's special task force on the "Valentine Killer".

A Mythical Promotion

From now until July 1, 2012, you can download a copy of Mythical from Smashwords for free!

Use coupon ZM38W to download in your choice of format.

Mythical Questions

Mythical is the first book in a series- a trilogy. As such, it has some set ups for the sequels. Mysteries that won't be ansered right away.

 

As a reader, that might irritate you. The research I've read however, is that readers like series of novels. So Mythical's mysteries were purposely put in to pave the way and link the three books together.

 

In case you missed them all, or want to know more before deciding to read, here are all of Mythical's planned mysteries and unanswered questions:

 

1. Where did Ketzkahtel come from, and is his name a misspelling of Quetzacoatl?

 

2. How did Mark Kenslir get turned to stone? Why does water heal him? What exactly are his powers?

 

3. Where did the Stone Soldiers come from? How were they made?

 

4. It seems like an amazing coincidence that Josie and Jimmy happen across Kenslir in the desert.

 

5. Why didn't Ketzkahtel kill Josie when he had the chance?

 

6. What happened to Carlos, Kendall and Logan?

 

7. Why was Ketzkahtel in the Arizona desert to begin with?

 

All of these questions will be answered in the next installment, Mythical: Brothers in Stone. Which should be done and uploaded to Kindle, Nook and Smashwords in August 2012.

 

 

MYTHICAL: The Blurb

Oh, the horrific blurb, how I hate thee.

 

In terms difficulty, writing was least difficult, then came converting and uploading to Amazon, then Smashwords then Nook, then comes marketing... and finally... the Blurb.

 

I think I'm now on my fifth or sixth blurb and I'm still not happy.

 

The problem is, a good blurb is going to hook the reader and tell them the whole story... which means there are spoilers. Mythical starts as a mystery, then turns into straight action-adventure. I really didn't want the reader to have the solution to the mystery right off the bat, but I guess it makes sense.

 

So here's Mythical's newest ultra short (logline-ish) blurb, and a slightly longer, almost-back-of-the-book type blurb:

 

A resurrected super soldier and a group of teens must stop a shape-shifting giant who eats the hearts of his victims to steal their identities.

 

 

Teens Josie Winters and Jimmy Kane are drawn into a world of monsters and magic they never knew existed when they find a super soldier left for dead in the desert.

Returning to life, with partial amnesia, Colonel Mark Kenslir eventually remembers his last mission: stop a shapeshifter on the loose in America. It can take the form, memories and even the powers of anyone- by ripping out and consuming their heart. Kenslir and his squad were sent to stop the shapeshifter, but were all killed when it unexpectedly assumed the form of a dragon.

Unarmed, with no support and not sure who to trust, Kenslir sets out with the teens to stop the shapeshifter's killing spree.

Mythical Tomatos

Tomato, Toe-mah-toe. How do we pronounce some of the words we see in books?

 

Take for example, Mythical protagonist, Col. Mark Kenslir, call sign "Antaean".

 

In Mythical, we see how it's pronounced "An-tay-ann".

 

The internet doesn't agree...

 

A Word a Day says it's "ann-tee-un". Well, that just makes no sense.

 

ANTAEAN comes from the Greek giant of mythology, Antaeus. That's AN-TAY-US, according to at least one of the Kevin Sorbo Hercules movies of the 1990s. It's a word meaning "possessing super-human strength". A descriptor for Col. Kenslir's most prominent super power- his strength.

 

A Word A Day would have us believe it's An-tee-ann, possibly from the sissified giant, Ann-Tea-us. As in, "Hey, giant! It's noon and we're thirsty! Tea us!"

 

I don't think so.

 

A word based on the giant An-tay-us, would clearly be Ann-tay-un.

 

 

 

Mythical Extras: There were Giants in the Earth in those days...

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the

daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

 

-Genesis, 6:4

 

 

Choosing the right villain for a novel is never easy. Some folks pick a villain (the antagonist) first, then a hero (the protagonist) to counter it. Other writers have their hero in mind, then have to come up with a suitable villain for them to oppose. Such was my case with Mythical.

 

At it's core, the idea for Mythical was simple: the last of the previous generation's super soldiers is discovered by teenagers and with their help completes his last mission. It's an old-meets-new situation. And yes, it paves the way for a sequel where our hapless teen(s) become the next generation of super soldiers.

 

I had Antaean down- Colonel Mark Kenslir was a hero from a previous series of books I write in the 1980s and 90s, but never got published. Killing him off, then having him come back from the dead seemed a great way to symbolize how I took an old idea and resurrected it. But I couldn't make the whole book be about the mysteries of Kenslir's previous life.

 

I needed a villain.

 

My first idea was to make a super soldier fight a super vampire. But vampires have been done to super death lately, and I just didn't think slapping a "super" label on a vampire was all that interesting. Then a thought occured to me: giant-size a vampire.

 

It worked for countless monster movies as far back as the 1950s, like Tarantula (1954). So why not a giant vampire?

 

I began my research on giants- beginning with the earliest account I had heard of a giant: Goliath.

 

Turns out, the Bible is chock full of giants. And there are a number of internet sites that claim giants' remains abound on modern day Earth. They were a great starting point.

 

So what were giants? Well, the consensus is they were the offpsring of people and something more. Fallen angels, by Biblical accounts. Aliens by others. They were bigger versions of men, capable of amazing feats, and in most folklore not the friendliest of chaps.

 

One of my favorite websites claims giant skeletons were discovered in North America by early explorers- normally buried in Indian mounds. The Smithsonian rounded up all the skeletons and hid them though. Another website features a museum in South America where giant remains are on display- sowing the giants to be six-fingered, six-toed brutes with two row of teeth in their over-sized heads.

 

Now THAT sounds like a villain.

 

But a giant vampire...? I still wasn't sold. Then it hit me- there have been lots of variations on vampires. One of my favorites is from the 1985 movie "Lifeforce". In that film, the vampires just suck the energy right out of you. No neck biting needed. And being a giant, our antagonist would clealry need a LOT of victims.

 

From there the idea just evolved, into the heart-ripping, power-stealing super giant of Mythical. A very appropriate enemy for the last of the super soldiers to face. But to make it even more complicated, and give it that just-over-the-top feel, shapeshifting had to come in. That's right, a shapeshifting, lifeforce-devouring giant.

 

Vampires beware.

The >>>ERROR REPORT

The ongoing saga of file conversions....

 

So yesterday, I wrote about the horrors of self-editing. That typos slip through, but that with ebooks you can quietly remove them and reupload your work.

 

I did that, and then found out this morning that the new version inserted a bunch of blank pages. Argh.

 

Well, easy enough to fix on Nook and Smashwords. Kindle will have to wait for later.

 

 

Mythical Extras

One of my favorite things on DVDs and Blurays, are the extras. All the neat bits of production and pre-production art, the make up applications and the how-to, behind-the-scenes clips.

 

Books should have that too.

 

Authors spend a great deal fo research on their novels. They have to plot out characters' backstories, they have to read up on things they aren't experts on, so they'll be able to described them sufficiently. That's a lot of work, that a reader never gets to see.

 

But now we're in an age of eBooks and webpages for eBooks. So why not start showing some of that behind the scenes work off?

 

 

Here's my first behind the scene peek: the crest for Detachment 1039, as described in Mythical

 

>>ERROR... >>ERROR...

Self publishing a book is a great thing for authors and readers. It allows authors to skip over the dreaded publisher's slushpile, and put their work out there for anyone to see. Which means readers have far more of a selection to choose from.

 

Alas, skipping the slushpile also means you skip the editors. Unless the author wants to spend money for a professional editor.

 

I didn't. I figured that between myself and my wife, we would catch all the inevitable typos and conversion errors. Boy, was I wrong.

 

So, as of June 13, 2012, Mythical has been re-uploaded. Hopefully error-free. I went over it a third time. If three is the charm, then this time I've caught it all and it is finally the way I intended it to be.

 

If not? Well, that's another beauty of self-publishing, just like a printer, I can make a new edition, and correct any errors.

 

 

Why you should read MYTHICAL

As an avid reader myself, I understand that selecting what to read can often be a difficult decision.

 

Printed books can have great covers, but turn out to be awful wastes of ink and paper that surely the trees weep for.

 

On the other hand, some of the books I've enjoyed the most didn't even have cover art- they were hardbacks.

 

Even the backs of books or the insides of dust covers can be misleading. What's that leave a reader?

 

Well, you could always flip through a book. Maybe read the first few pages. In the age of E-books, that's called a preview. A sample to get the reader hooked. MYTHICAL's first few chapters are available like that, at Amazon and Smashwords.

 

But I know a better way.

 

It's the 99th page trick.

 

Basically, the theory goes that you can open any book up and turn to page 99. If it seems interesting, you should get the book. If it doesn't, pass.

 

I tested this myself when I first read about it last week, and was surprised by the simplicity of it. But it makes sense, given that all books are supposed to follow a 3-Act structure: Intro of Characters, First problem and resolution, Second Problem and Climax. BY page 99, there should be something cool going on. I was greatly relieved when I found MYTHICAL to be somewhat interesting. (I promise there's more action later- it all kind of builds to a big blow out)

 

So, without further ado, here's MYTHICAL's 99th page of text...

 

 

"I can't believe the government has a telepath- and a sorceress," Josie said. "Those guys were Feds, right?"

Sorceress? Jimmy thought. What did I miss?

"They weren't suit salesmen," Mark said.

"So why didn't you just go with them?" Jimmy asked. He'd been wondering that the whole time the telepath was controlling him like a puppet.

"Because I don't know if I can trust them," Mark answered.

"Because you can't remember everything?" Josie asked.

"No, because I remember the important parts," Mark said.

He waited a moment, then spoke again. "This is your chance to go home.

"But I'll need to keep your truck for awhile, if you don't mind," Mark added.

"Why aren't they coming after us?" Josie asked. She eased Jimmy back down into her lap and started rubbing his temples.

Jimmy closed his eyes. He was embarrassed to look at her. But also a little confused. What was going on here? Why was she being so nice?

"They're tracking us from orbit. Or maybe with a ghost walker," Mark explained.

"Ghost walker?" Jimmy asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"Astral Projection is the technical term," Mark said. "Couple that with a telepathic handler and you have a spy that can circle the globe and relay real-time information."

Jimmy panicked at the mention of a telepath. He sat up suddenly and began looking out the windows. Josie did the same thing. They could see nothing but darkness surrounding the truck.

"You can't see them," Mark said. "Not unless you've got a touch of clairvoyance yourself."

Jimmy didn't know what clairvoyance was, but he relaxed a little. He was ready to lay back

 

Is MYTHICAL really Christian?

When self-publishing, it turns out you have to make a lot of decisions you never considered when actually writing a novel. Like how to tag it, market it, etc.

For me, one of the toughest decision was whether or not to list the book as "Christian".

For sure, it's Young Adult- it's got two teenagers as main characters, with the reader following them as they are thrust into an adventure where mythical, modern day titans battle. And being Young Adult, that means there shouldn't be any smut, excessive profanity and a lot of the other stuff that Christian novels are safe from.

Secondly, Mythical antagonist is from a Christian world. A giant. Giant's are in the Bible.

Then there's the main character, the soldier with amnesia who comes back from the dead at the beginning of the story. He's a Christian- he wears a Christian fish pendant, and he even says grace before eating, to the bemusement of the teenagers.

So, Christian antagonist, Christian protagonist, no smut, no excessive profanity. Well, yes, that does sound very Christian, or at least safe for Christians.


Except there's the violence. Horror-class violence, what with the antoagonist going around, ripping people's hearts out of their chests, and eating them.

I struggled with this- did I want to offend Christians by making them read something very violent? Then I remembered the Old Testament. There's lots of violence in there. There's even a Protagonist, David, who slays a giant antagonist, Goliath. Hmmm. Yes, I think that does make this a Christian novel- in the end the hero, a Christian, defeats the villain, a pagan.

What could be more Christian than that?

LAUNCH DAY

Mythical was uploaded to Amazon's Kindle store this morning, and should appear before nightfall.

Check back for stats on page views and sales updates.

What is Mythical?

Mythical takes two ordinary teenagers and throws them into a world of supernatural mystery and adventure.

The story follows Josie Winters and Jimmy Kane over a hectic three days shortly after they graduate high school.

The teens have journeyed out into the Arizona desert, riding motorcycles, when they stumble across a corpse in the desert. The corpse regenerates and turns out to be a fallen super soldier, who at first can't remember who he is, how he died or who killed him.

Josie decides the teens are going to help the soldier, by taking him back home where he can recuperate and maybe get his memory back.

Ultimately, the soldier remembers that he fights supernatural threats for the military, and that he was hunting a shapeshifter who eats the hearts of victims, taking their form. The shapeshifter was believed to have come to Arizona to kill, and possibly replace, the Vice President.

With the help of Jimmy and Josie, the super soldier sets out to warn the VP and complete his mission.
　
Now available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.