Crashing after my deadline

I'm in my usual end-of-the-year slump. Like last December, I just finished a book for Osprey Publishing. This one was called Medieval Handgonnes: The First Black Powder Infantry Weapons. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work too, because until I wrote one, there was no book on Europe's first two centuries of firearms. I had to do tons of hands-on research at museums and archives.

Now I'm in a lull. I always have an energy crash after a deadline, and with no big deadlines for the next few months I can sit back, take stock, and plan out 2010. While writers need to keep up productivity and constantly look for new markets, it's also important to take some time out and reassess. The holiday season is a good time for that. It's not like publishers are going to answer your emails on Christmas Eve!

Happy Holidays everybody!

Missouri Civil War novel A Fine Likeness gets a fan page

As I mentioned in my last post, my Civil War horror novel, A Fine Likeness, is a finalist in Dorchester Publishing's Fresh Blood contest. This novel covers the Civil War in Missouri and includes historical figures such as Bloody Bill Anderson and Jesse James alongside the fictional protagonists.

Since I can only win through public support, I've started beating the drum early and have created a Facebook fan page called (go figure) A Fine Likeness deserves to be published! More than just a way to blab about my literary greatness, I'll be talking about the history behind the novel, something I've written about in several nonfiction venues.

Voting doesn't start until Mach 2010 but I have a lot of promo to do. I'm very happy that in the first nine hours I got 24 fans. Most are personal friends, of course, but I've noticed a few friends of friends in the bunch, and that's encouraging. My first fan was David Lee Summers, a fellow writer who I haven't seen in way too long. He just won himself a copy of the book if it ever sees the light of day.

So check out the fan page. I'll love you for it.

My novel is a finalist in Dorchester's "Fresh Blood" contest!

December is turning out to be a good month. Not only did a short story of mine get published, but my horror novel, A Fine Likeness, is one of ten finalists in Dorchester Publishing's "Fresh Blood" contest. Grand prize: publication in mass market paperback and limited edition hardcover. Sweet!

I knocked out a pile of other entries, now I have to knock out these other folks. There will be several rounds over the coming months on Dorchester's website where we put up plot summaries, first chapters, etc. Each month the person who gets the least votes from the public gets eliminated until only the "Fresh Blood" is left standing. Talk about extended stress!

My novel is set during three weeks of the Civil War in Missouri, and other than the main characters and various paranormal events, most of the events and people are real. Here's the back cover blurb.

A Confederate guerrilla and a Union captain discover there’s something more dangerous in the woods than each other.

A Fine Likeness is a tale of two enemies struggling with inner demons, and discovering they face a far more tangible one. Jimmy Rawlins is a teen-aged bushwhacker who leads his friends on ambushes of Union patrols. They join forces with infamous guerrilla leader Bloody Bill Anderson on a raid through Missouri in support of a Confederate invasion, but Jimmy questions his commitment to the Southern Cause when he discovers this madman plans to sacrifice a Union prisoner in a hellish ritual to raise the Confederate dead.

Richard Addison is an aging captain of a lackluster Union militia. Depressed over his son’s death in battle, a glimpse of Jimmy changes his life. Jimmy and his son look so much alike that Addison becomes obsessed with saving him from Bloody Bill’s clutches. Addison must wreck his reputation to win this war within a war, while Jimmy must betray the Confederacy and his friends to stop the evil arising in the woods of Missouri.

My latest short story out from Damnation Books

My latest short story, a horror tale set in 1864 Denmark, is out now as an ebook from Damnation Books.

The title, "Dannevirke", takes its inspiration from the name of a Viking earthwork protecting Jutland from Germany. It was the first line of defense against German aggression for centuries, even seeing action as late as 1864 when the Prussians invaded. I used to live in Denmark and I've always been fascinated that such an old fortification should have been used so recently. And therein lies a tale. . .

It is the winter of 1864, and the Danish army prepares to defend their homeland against a Prussian onslaught by fortifying the Dannevirke, an old Viking earthwork on the border of Denmark and Prussia. A unit of militia—farmers and fishermen who have never fought a battle—dig in and prepare to face the elite Prussian army. The Danes think their position is hopeless until a strange old couple offer them a way to save themselves and their country. On the night of the gibbous moon they must dowse for a certain spot near the old Viking fort, and they must bring a prisoner and a blade.

If you've been following this blog, you know my focus is military history and I write a lot for Osprey Publishing. I guess it's not surprising that this has bled into my fiction writing. I'm currently working on a series of novels set in Civil War Missouri.

"Dannevirke" is on sale at a reduced introductory price. Normally selling for $2.50, it went on sale for free at the stroke of midnight Dec. 1, and goes up in price 25 cents with every sale until it reaches its cover price. So download it now and help fund my next trip!