Eric W. Trant: Novels

Showing posts with label Novels. Show all posts

Monday, September 11, 2017

RISEN Review by Tara Forst

Today is a professional review of RISEN from Tara Forst.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up Risen, but I was more than pleasantly surprised. I found both the writing style and the content intriguing and unique. Initially I was a bit confused by the chapters going back and forth between past and present, but once I understood what was happening I was enthralled by the strange, sad tale told by Eric Trant.

I found the characters interesting and realistic and felt a deep sympathy for them. Alberto and his brother Paolo face horror after horror and beat the odds despite Alberto’s small stature and Paolo’s infirmities. Alberto and Paolo create a perfect team with Paolo’s physical strength and Alberto’s strength of character. Alberto defends and cares for his brother and Lena while their fathers rage and campaign against their neighbors.

I found the settings to be quite authentic and frightening as well. You could practically feel the heat from the “Porta dell’Inferno.” I never knew what to expect next. Risen kept me engaged with each new chapter. Though it was a fairly easy read, I found myself taking more time and care to read as the timeframes jumped around with each chapter.

One of my favorite chapters is chapter 12 (Bestie). So much happens in this chapter! Lena is introduced and is described in all her beauty from Alberto’s point of view. Alberto and Lena have an amusing encounter, and Alberto’s father is killed. If there was one point that I couldn’t put this book down it was after this chapter!

After reading Risen, I can’t wait to pick up another Eric Trant book soon!

Tara Forst

Thank you, Tara, for the kind review!

About today’s guest reviewer: Tara Forst lives in Wisconsin with her husband and their young son. Tara owns her own business Worn Forever - dedicated to helping mamas with babywearing and attachment parenting.

See some of our next stops on the blog tour here:

Monday September 4th (today) @ WOW! Women on Writing

Interview & Giveaway

http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/

Tuesday, September 5th @ Choices with Madeline Sharples

Eric Trant writes today's guest post at Choice "Is a Career in the Arts (writing) Realistic?". Readers can find out more about Trant and his latest book RISEN.

http://madelinesharples.com/

Wednesday, September 6th @ Mari McCarthy’s Create Write Now

"Say YES: Why Taking Chances is Imperative" is today's topic at Mari McCarthy's Create Write Now. Hear from author Eric Trant as he examines this important topic and shares more about his latest novel RISEN.

http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog/

Thursday, September 7th @ Writer’s Pay it Forward

Eric Trant pens today's guest post at Writer's Pay It Forward. Today's post is titled: "Breaking In vs. Breaking Out: The Writer's Career Arc". Readers and Writers alike won't want to miss this opportunity to hear from Trant as well as finding out more about his latest novel RISEN.

https://writerspayitforward.com/

Friday, September 8th @ BookWorm

Hear from Anjanette Potter of BookWorm as she reviews Eric Trant's latest novel RISEN- this historical supernatural work of fiction is sure to please readers!

https://bookworm66.wordpress.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Lisa Haselton

Lisa Haselton interviews Eric Trant about his latest novel RISEN. You'll want to learn more about this supernatural tale of fiction as well as the mastermind behind the dynamic writing.

http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Hott Books

"Life Gets Better: An Angel Dad Reports Five Years Later" is today's post title at Hott Books. This touching true life tale is told by guest blogger Eric Trant as part of his WOW! Women on Writing book blog tour of his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.hottbooks.com/

Monday, September 11th @ Tara Forst at Digging with the Worms

Crunchy Wisconsin Mama and Entrepreneur Tara Forst reviews RISEN by Eric Trant. Don't miss this review and giveaway of Trant's latest thriller!

http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 12th @ Bring on Lemons with Tess Fallier

Tess Fallier is today's guest blogger with a review and her thoughts on Eric Trant's RISEN. Don't miss this blog stop!

http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, September 13th @ Book Santa Fe with Crystal Otto

Reader and book blogger Crystal Otto reviews Eric Trant's RISEN and shares her thoughts with readers at Book Santa Fe.

http://www.booksantafe.info/

Thursday, September 14th @ Memoir Writer’s Journey

Eric Trant visits Memoir Writer's Journey and shares his thoughts with readers of Kathleen Pooler's engaging blog. Today's post title is: "Setting: Its Role in Storytelling". Don't miss this chance to hear from the talented Eric Trant and find out more about his latest book RISEN.

https://krpooler.com/

Friday, September 29th @ Coming Down the Mountain

Eric Trant is today's guest author at Karen Jones Gowen's blog Coming Down the Mountain. Read Eric's guest post titled "Luck: Its Role in Success" and find out more about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, October 18 @ Shannon Muir

Don't miss today's author interview at the blog of Author Shannon Muir. Shannon will be interviewing Eric Trant about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.shannon-muir.com

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels WINK, STEPS and RISEN from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Haunted by visions of a demonic angel and sold into servitude by his father, young Alberto battles to survive the horrors of a nineteenth century Sicilian sulfur mine. Suffering merciless brutality, Alberto must save not only himself but his deformed older brother, both pawns in their father's mad plan to overthrow a group of wealthy landowners.Bound by a death-debt to his hunchback master, Alberto discovers a door the miners call Porta dell'Inferno, the Door to Hell, deep within the sulfur mines. When he learns the demon-angel of his dreams stalks the caverns beyond the door, Alberto realizes a strange fate has lured him and his brother to the gates leading to the underworld.Now Alberto must face the creature from his visions and rise to become the man his father demands him to be, or remain forever trapped in a hellish world where none escape.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Some of my other blog stops

So I really have been busy a-blogging lately, just not around here. Look below for some articles I wrote thanks to WoW (Women on Writing), email: blogtour@wow-womenonwriting.com.

Friday, July 26 @ All Things Audry

Don’t miss today’s win/win stop for Eric Trant and his new thriller Wink (#WINK)! Not only is it your chance to win your own copy of Wink, but join Eric to find out “How Writing Heals”.
http://allthingsaudry.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, July 30 @ A Writer’s Life

Talk about interesting! Join Eric Trant as he discusses “How Small Town Living Made Me a More Interesting Writer” and Win a copy of Eric’s new thriller, Wink (#WINK)!
http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/

Thursday, August 1 @ Writing is Easy

Find out why Eric says caution should be taken when branding yourself, and win your own copy of his fabulous new thriller Wink (#WINK).
http://c-c-hall.com/

Friday August 2 @ CMash Reads

Eric Trant talks about being your authentic self with today's guest post "Why You Should Be Yourself in Writing and Marketing" stop by CMash Reads for this exciting discussion and your chance to win a copy of Wink (#WINK) Print-US/Canada residents OR EBook-open to all.
www.cmashlovestoread.com

Saturday, August 3 @ Book Worm

Today is your chance to win a copy of Wink by Eric Trant (#WINK) and read his fascinating guest post: "Can a Faith-Based Person Write Supernatural Fantasy?"
http://bookworm66.wordpress.com/

Monday, August 5 @ Books I Think You Should Read

Don't miss your chance to win a copy of this great thriller and read Elizabeth Parker's review of Wink (#WINK) by Eric W. Trant.
http://booksithinkyoushouldread.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, August 6 @ Renee's Pages

Win a copy of the new thriller, Wink (#WINK) by Eric Trant and hear his thoughts on “Author Intrusion: Good or Bad?”
http://www.reneespages.blogspot.com

Wednesday, August 7 @ World of My Imagination

Win your very own copy of Wink (#WINK) by Eric W. Trant and see what Nicole thought after reading this fabulous thriller set in a rural Gulf Coast town.
http://theworldofmyimagination.blogspot.com/

- Eric

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels Out of the Great Black Nothing and Wink from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Breaking the Mold for Men and Women in Writing

So the blog tour kicked off Wednesday with an interview at The Muffin. Thursday I head over to Book Flame to discuss breaking the molds for men and women in literature.

Wednesday, July 24 @ The Muffin

Don’t miss the exciting thriller Wink by Eric W. Trant. Wink’s WOW! Blog Tour begins with an author interview and a give-away!
http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/

Thursday, July 25 @ Book Flame

Break the mold and win with today’s stop at Book Flame where you’ll have a chance to win a copy of the new thriller, Wink (#WINK) and hear from Eric Trant with his guest post: “Breaking the Molds for Men and Women in Literature”.
http://bookflame.blogspot.com/

- Eric

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

WoW! Women on Writing Blog Tour

Thanks to Crystal Otto over at WoW! Women on Writing for putting together a blog tour for me.

WINK WoW! Tour

If you need someone to help organize an online book tour, ask Crystal!

- Eric

Thursday, May 16, 2013

~Being Honest~ Guest Post at Donna Hole's Site

So today is a guest post over at Donna Hole's site: http://donnahole.blogspot.com/2013/05/guest-author-eric-trant-and-wink-review.html.

I discussed why you should always be HONEST when discussing your work.

Special thanks to Donna for allowing me to post on her site.

- Eric

Friday, April 26, 2013

Wink Interview

Interview for Wink by Summer Ross: Click for interview. Summer is the one who turned me on to WiDo Publishing, and she edited Wink. Much thanks to her, and to WiDo Publishing for making Wink happen!

Buy Here on Amazon!

- Eric

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently working on his second full-length novel WINK with WiDo Publishing, coming May 7, 2013! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Monday, November 19, 2012

Accepted: Dark Southern Horror-Thriller

My latest novel, a dark southern horror-thriller, was accepted by WiDo Publishing, slated for release in 2013. I am undergoing edits with Summer Ross, who you may recognize as the author/blogger/editor over at My Inner Fairy.

The book's title is still in working, so I won't mention it here, but I will say the book was an easy write for me, one of those that flows like breathing. With Summer's help, which has been outstanding, I hope to make this a popular novel that widens my market, and touches readers I never thought I could reach.

I will also be featured for the fourth time in An Honest Lie 4: Petulant Parables from Open Heart Publishing, slated for release in 2013. This is a dark southern short story called "The Man in the Long Black Coat," inspired by the song of the same name. (Yes, I have the Heroes soundtrack.) I now have batted 1,000 with the AHL series, placing one story in each of their anthologies, as well as landing an editorial position with them.

I'm starting to really find my niche-voice, and tone, and theme, and genre. I keep gravitating to supernatural horror, and science fiction, all of it within a home-style southern setting.

My next working draft is, I am surprised to say, an Armageddon piece, with a dark southern horror-thriller undertone. I won't discuss it much, other than to say it is ~not~ like the other books out there, nor is it a "zombie" book. It will be written with character-driven realism, with simple plotting and verbiage, populated with people you know and love and live next to, and will probably land somewhere just south of McCarthy's The Road, but with the fantasy undertones of Bradbury, and the punch-gut wit and honesty of Vonnegut, both of whom I have been reading lately.

I suppose we all have an End-of-the-World, SHTF (Shit Hits the Fan) book in us at some point, right? Have you written or read a good SHTF book lately?

Hope your holidays are going well. See you on the flip-side.

- Eric

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently working on his second full-length novel with WiDo Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications ** ARE YOU AN ORGAN DONOR? ERIC IS! **

Thursday, July 5, 2012

And now, back to business. I am an EDITOR!

I am officially an Editor for Open Heart Publishing! Check out my introduction here:

http://anhonestliespeaks.blogspot.com/

I'm looking forward to getting back to work writing. I wrote a short story for An Honest Lie Volume 4: Petulant Parables, and I've been working on a novel, working title of Uncle Cooper's Dead-Eye.

My cousin said he really likes that last part, the title about Uncle Cooper. Gave him the creeps, he said, and he's not the sort to get creeped.

I'll be seeing you all shortly, as I get back into the swing. I can't thank you all enough for the prayers and support.

Thank you thank you.

- Eric

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

** ARE YOU AN ORGAN DONOR? ERIC IS! **

Friday, June 8, 2012

Premoniscient Writing

Just realized "premoniscient" is not a word! Premonition is, as is pronunciamento (proclamation), but premoniscient is not in the dictionary.

Am I spelling it correctly?

Moving along.

Have you ever written something that was premoniscient? You went back later, read it, and realized you lived the story after you wrote it?

I have done that twice.

The first was my first book, circa 2001. It involved divorce, and was written several years before my own divorce. Some of the scenes showed up in real-life later, especially one of my MC hitting on women at a bar.

I will not go into the second one, as it involves my present WIP, and my present circumstance, namely the loss of a child. But it is oddly premoniscient (sp?).

How about you? Have you ever written something that later resembled your life in an uncanny way?

- Eric

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

U is for Underwear

I believe every good novel should mention underwear at least once. Why, you ask, to which I answer, Because I like saying and writing the word underwear.

For instance, when people ask me, Are you Eric? I often answer, I hope so. I'm wearing his underwear.

It's just a fun word, like onomatopoeia, which I also used below. Matt, if you're listening, there's your O-word in use.

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

And yes, that's a run-on. Find a way to deal.

Percy laughed and waved Martha onto the rooftop and pointed to his neck. She paused, but smiled and climbed on the roof anyway. She wore her pajamas, shorts with a tank top, barefoot, all pink with ponytails, and she would be shy getting on the roof in her underwear, especially with an audience of legal professionals at the end of the driveway, but she as always was Percy's trooper and confidant and reliable partner in everything this side of criminal. She padded across the tin and leaned down to her husband and helped him unsnap and twist off the space helmet. He hadn't pressurized the suit tonight, and the helmet lifted off without its normal hiss-woof. Fresh air kissed the wet part of Percy's sweaty forehead.

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Monday, April 23, 2012

T is for Talking Old Mutt

Excerpt from my current WiP, Rash & Scarson, unedited from my ongoing first draft, so don't read it with too hard of an eye. This is the book I'm writing with my kids. Old Tom is an acronym for Talking Old Mutt.

April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

They were a hodge-podge crew to be sure. Tom, short for Talking Old Mutt, was a scruffy sort of dog with wiry fur the color of dirty socks. He walked upright, like a man, though from time to time he hopped and looked very much like a trick-dog from the circus. His heritage was Egyptian and African, and even though he was as tough as the walnut cane he carried, his left hind leg was a crippling reminder of the hyena he killed in his youth. With his keen sense of direction, Tom was the straight-forward choice for first mate and ship's pilot.

Friday, April 20, 2012

R-S are for Rash & Scarson

Excerpt from my current WiP, Rash & Scarson, unedited from my ongoing first draft, so don't read it with too hard of an eye. This is the book I'm writing with my kids. They love the scene below. Lulu is a Golden Retriever, and they are on a desert, jungle beach.

Lulu is their favorite, and they have made me promise not to kill her. So she lives.

Oh, and PS, the head-skipping is intentional. I am writing this from a dual-POV between the two twins. I know -- it violates Da Rules, to which I respond, But this is how the story wants to be written.

April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

They waded ashore, with Lulu leaping ahead of them. For a moment, when they emerged from the water, they both looked down at their feet. Sand caked their toes and the soles of their feet. "Forgot our stupid shoes," Scarson said.

"Don't need them on the boat. Speaking of which, how did we get here?"

"I don't know. I followed you. All I did was tell you where the land was. You're like Lulu with the ball. I throw, you fetch." Scarson picked up some dry sand and threw it toward the jungle. "There, fetch girl, go get it, Rash! Good puppy!"

"Shut up," Rash said. "I'm serious. Where are Momma and Daddy?"

"On the boat. Thataway."

"I know. But I mean... what just happened? How did we get here? All I did was swim deep, like Daddy said, a few feet under, and when we came up for air, we were here."

"Whatever," Scarson said. "You think too much. One day your thinker is gonna crack wide open, and all your beans are gonna spill out, and I'll make me some bean soup. Yum-yum! Maybe it's in your stupid book, bean-head." Scarson thumped the book in Rash's hand. She had completely forgotten she had it. "I'm going to get some bananas. I don't know about you, but I feel like I haven't eaten in three days. And I'm dying of thirst. Are you thirsty? I wonder if there's water here. Maybe we'll have to drink coconuts and stuff."

"But what about Momma and Daddy?"

"What about them? Dad threw us off the boat, remember. We don't even have lifejackets."

Scarson put his back to her and pushed his way into the jungle. It was like opening set after set of swinging doors as he pushed through leaves the size of elephant ears. The foliage swung open, allowed him passage, and swept closed behind him. After a few dozen steps, he could no longer see farther than his arms could reach.

"Rash?" he said. He listened. Rash didn't answer. "Rash? Where are you? Here, girl, here Rash. I got a ball for you to fetch!"

Something moved through the bushes behind him, grunting, close to the ground, and Lulu's snout appeared, covered in sand. Her entire lower half was caked. "There you are," he said. "Let's get us some bananas."

Lulu froze. Her ears perked, and Scarson heard a high-pitched howl to his left. It drew out like a siren, high and steady, and ended with a dozen quick chirps. Suddenly a dozen others answered, and amid the shrieks and chattering, a storm of sticks and bananas rained down through the trees onto him. His feet turned and carried him back the way he had come as fast as they could, with his hands slapping wildly at the leaves.

He fell out of the forest, and to Rash, who had found a log and sat with the book in her lap, it looked as if the jungle had vomited him onto the sand. He fell face-first, rolled, and then lay there pointing toward the trees. "Did you hear that?" he said.

"Yeah," she said. "Sounded like a bunch of monkeys. Are you afraid of monkeys?"

"I'm afraid of those monkeys. Forget the bananas. The monkeys can have them. I'm gonna see if there are some coconuts around here somewhere. On the beach. I ain't going back in there, not ever." Scarson stood, brushed himself, and set off along the shoreline, looking always to the jungle and keeping it at a healthy distance.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

P is for Percy Freebottom

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

William Percival "Percy" Freebottom lay on his rooftop, a tin roof same as the barn, same as the shed, same as all the other rooftops he could see from here, except the tin roof on the house was flat between the raised ridges rather than pringle-shaped like the others. Percy wedged himself into the flat part of the tin roof and looked up at the stars spinning and tried to feel the motion of the Earth beneath him. He sensed the pull of the moon and his blood flowed and ebbed as if with the tide.

Percy couldn't see the moon, not directly, since tonight was a new moon, but he could feel it, and he could see where it blacked out the stars like an eye-patch constellation. "There you are," he said to the moon. He held his hand out and pinched the darkness between his thumb and forefinger. The thick fingers of his gloves pressed together, inaudible through the reinforced glass of his helmet. Like the moon, he sensed more than felt or heard his fingers come together.

Percy adjusted his position and maneuvered onto his side. The hip reinforcement along the back of the spacesuit irritated the lower part of his spine if he pressed his body against it too long. He relieved the pressure by turning slightly onto his right shoulder, enough that the suit was off-center, but he could still see skyward if he cocked his head to the left. He crossed his legs and lay half-corkscrewed and tried to concentrate on the missing moon.

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Monday, April 16, 2012

M-N-O is for MOON!

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

Today I cover three letters at once: M-N-O. Put them together, and you get MOON, which is the heart of my debut novel, GBN. It's a little longer than normal, and somewhat surreal, but I hope you take the time to enjoy it, and find it time well-spent.

For my friends new and old, I hope to spend more time this week hopping to your blogs. Last week was a bust! Hope to see you soon.

For his part, Gamjen had been sitting on the backside of the moon, away from the Earth where only stars and the sun and other planets could be seen, watching the galaxies spin. The Earth with its remaining moon were both on what Gamjen considered the far-side of the sun, away from Canis Minor and Canis Major. They were angled so that Gemini slept. Capricornus and Aquila and Pavo showed themselves, but over the next few weeks, those would fade as Phoenix and Andromeda scrolled into view.

There had been three moons in the time before, when Gamjen sat spooning with his lover all those thousands of millennia ago, when the Earth bubbled in tumultuous lifeless rage and the sun burned white-hot. One moon spun away with Gamjen's lover. The two leftover moons crashed one into the other, decimating the smaller and sending meteoric shrapnel caterwauling through space and into the Earth's newly-formed oceans.

"Are you sure you do not want to go down there?" Sho said. She wrung her wrists through her hands, and as she twisted her forearms, her feet lowered onto the surface of the dark side of the moon. A puff of white powdered moon-rock spewed up around her ankles and drifted outward in a bellowing mist. Black hair swayed around her head. "Would you like to go down there for a while, dear, to Earth?"

"No," Gamjen said.

"Have you ever been down there, dear?"

"Never thought about it. Never cared."

"I've been down there many times," Sho said. She pointed through the moon toward the Earth hidden on the far side. She touched her wrists as she spoke, wringing her fingers around them.

"Does it hurt?" Gamjen said.

"In ways you can't possibly imagine."

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Friday, April 13, 2012

L is for Love Scene

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

There was a sense of movement and a shutter of vision through his eyes, a peripheral glance, an almost-image of stars and universe and magnificent suns, and then Percy saw his wife dancing naked in a thunderous rain. A flock of yellow birds flew undeterred by the rain, oblivious in their flapping as they dove and swept through the sheets of water. Martha turned and sunk her feet in the mud and raised her arms, and when she saw Percy she said, "There you are."

"Here I am," Percy said.

Martha threw herself into Percy the same as she had earlier in the evening, and in her dream state they fell to the ground in the mud and the rain, trembling with the thunder as it shook the ground beneath them.

"Why do we wear clothes?" Martha asked. She pulled herself on top of Percy and looked down at him, silhouetted by the thunderclouds behind her. Rain fell on Percy's thighs and Martha's back. Yellow birds flew impossibly straight as they zipped in and out of the dark clouds.

"We don't need to wear clothes," Percy said. "Not out here, anyway. Only back there, where it makes sense. We're always naked when we go into The Great Black Nothing. You know that."

"I know," Martha said. "But it only matters when you show up. I never notice until you are here. Then it seems to matter."

"Because of this?" Percy said.

Martha answered by rotating her hips. "Yes," she said. "Because of this."

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

K is for Kindred

Kindred is a sort of creature in my current WiP, Rash and Scarson, almost like an angel. I am writing the book with my older son and daughter, and modelling the twins after them. My youngest son is only 18 months old, so in the book I am turning him into a raccoon, because if you ask me, a toddler and a coon loose in your house are about the same thing. He is Daz in the below excerpt, which is his name in real-life.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

"Impossible," Captain said. "Finding the map on Earth would be tantamount to leaving the key inside the lock. How could the map be on Earth?"

"Not map," Tom said. "Map and key, Captain, plural, that's what Old Tom says. There are two halves to it. That's why it took so long to find the keys, or make 'em for that matter. Obog discovered them on Earth. We be listening as always to Old Obog, with the ears about our heads, Captain, and we heard him clear as the gloss of your eye, we did."

There was that name again: Obog. Captain inhaled, sat on his heels, and with a forceful mental exertion, he batted away the fury that name invoked. There were so many memories of that man, that thing, and none of them pleasant.

"Earth," Captain finally said, after the head-buzzing quieted. "The map and key, plural, are on Earth. Inside the genetic code of two of hissss Kindred."

"Yes, Captain," Tom said. Fuzzy and Daz beside him nodded in approval.

They were in collusion, Captain realized. Tom had first told the other two of the crew members, then set the course, and finally notified him of the change. After all, Tom was the ship's pilot and first mate, and he was correct: he was following the order to find the map. He was also disobeying the order to never return to Earth. It was the very definition of a conundrum.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

J is for Jugs

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

Darnell swung the baton and clapped Jugs on the shoulder. Jugs ignored the strike and bent down and folded Darnell over that same shoulder into a fireman's carry and marched him back through the ditch to the black Dodge Charger. The car idled with its headlights yellow and gleaming against a deer crossing sign and the woods pitch black and buzzing with insects and frogs on either side of the road.

"You're getting the salt," Jugs said.

Darnell screamed and slapped Jugs' thighs with the baton. He lost his hat and Jugs turned, picked it up, opened the rear door of the Charger and threw it inside. "Daddy will kill you!" Darnell screamed.

"Mr. La Roux don't care about you none, Mr. Darnell," Jugs said. "You a freak, and you getting the salt."

Jugs ripped away the baton and threw it in the backseat next to the hat, and with practiced hands he bound Darnell's wrists behind his back with two zip-ties. Jugs bound another tie on Darnell's elbows and cinched it tight. Darnell's shoulders popped and the man began to sob and continue singing the anthem.

"Our flag's unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun."

"You gonna shut up if I have to cut your throat," Jugs said.

Cut it and leave him in the woods, the voice said inside his head.

"You shut up, too. He's getting the salt and that's that."

Pussy, the voice said.

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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I is for Infinity

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

Percy's back yard spanned a dozen acres in every direction. Two trucks were parked out front, beside a Toyota Camry, in front of a raised porch. Trees spotted the acres, and farther back ran the treeline and the creek. All around him stretched barbed wire, barns, penned hogs, and lazy cattle dozing the full moon away.

And all above him stretched the brilliant galaxy, God's polka-dot network of connect-the-dot puzzles. The nearest celestial object, of course, was the moon. Percy often wondered if man would ever have ventured into space if not for the moon. What good would it have done? Why go into the black nothingness, only to come back?

But God had put the moon there for us to wonder at, to ponder in the long nights before television. God put the moon there to tease man into exploring the universe.

The moon. That was the first dot in God's Connect-the-Dot Universe. Dot #1.

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Monday, April 9, 2012

H is for Harsh Reality

Harsh Reality is the name of a spaceship in my current WIP, working title Rash and Scarson. I am writing a book with my children, with them helping with character creation and alpha proofing.

Lulu and Old Tom are dogs. Rash and Scarson are twin humans.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

While Captain stayed atop with his crew, Rash and Scarson and Lulu followed Old Tom down into the bowels of the ship. He hobbled in front of them, leaning on his walnut cane, favoring his left hind leg, which bent outward, and was knotted below the knee. "Her name's Harsh Reality," Old Tom said, meaning the ship. "We named her that because she was a good awakening for us when we left Earth. Nothing like the harsh reality of a mass extinction, now is there!"

"Extinction?" said Rash.

"He means the dinosaurs, genius," Scarson said. "Remember the meteor?"

Old Tom turned and stabbed his cane at Scarson's shins, striking one of them with such force that he almost fell. "Don't you be a-geniusing me, laddie!" Old Tom said. "Genius, you lickspittle mooncalf, is listening when someone be a-speaking to you! Now let me tell you about extinction."

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Saturday, April 7, 2012

G is for Gee

Excerpt from my short story Melvin Gee's Short Trip to Hell, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

"I'm Melvin Gee," Melvin said, holding out his hand, which a few moments ago had been little more than a fleshy sack of shattered bones, crushed along with the rest of his body beneath a mangled Ford F150. "I'm not sure I'm in the right place, but heck, I just followed one of the lights."

"One of the lights? That's unusual." The angel looked at Melvin's offered handshake. Then she checked a clipboard in her left hand, tapped it with a feathery pen in her right hand, nodded, and looked back up at Melvin. "Melvin Michael Gee?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Hmm," the angel said. "Looks right. Whatever, let's go. We have to get you signed in with the big guy."

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