My novels

I’m interested in many genres, so who knows what will be included here in the future. My latest is Green Zulu Five One and other stories from the Vypetllian War, a Military/Sci-Fi novella. My first two novels are Carpathia and The Devil’s Harvest, which are set in what I call The Carpathia Timeline.

Green Zulu Five One and other stories from the Vyptellian War

In August of 2013 I was asked by writer and editor Tara Maya to contribute to the Space Jockey anthology, and I submitted a story about Tyko, a fifteen-year-old pilot whose call sign is Green Zulu Five One and who is fighting in a war against an alien race that started before he was born. The first reviewer of the anthology mentioned the story favorably and said he thought it would make a great opening chapter to a longer work. That got me to thinking about where Tyko’s story may lead.

The resulting novella follows a format of connected vignettes, with Tyko appearing in several chapters. There is also a battle-hardened platoon sergeant named Siengha as well as some other characters.

The Carpthia Timeline

These two books are works of fiction in which I play fast and loose with history. Parts of the stories include actual events and people, but far more are the product of an imagination in which I ask the question “what if” and then attempt to provide a suitably enjoyable answer.

That is, to me at least, one of the truly cool aspects of the paranormal and Steampunk genres: supposing what would have happened differently in the timeline of history. What if: steam power had advanced in complexity and utility much more quickly than it did, vampires and werewolves lived alongside humans, and vodou and other forms of magic were real.

In The Devil’s Harvest, I have taken the “universe” created in my first novel, Carpathia, and brought it forward some thirty years to the mid-1900s.

It is unnecessary for readers to point out to me where I have diverged from the actual timeline of events. If readers are unsure, however, I would be happy to recommend some books to fill in their education.

The first Steampunk novel I read was Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker, which happens to include strong paranormal aspects and is set in what Ms. Priest has called The Clockwork Century — an alternate history universe, or sandbox, that she expanded upon in novels Dreadnought, Ganymede, Inexplicables, the novella Clementine, and several short stories.

I greatly admire Ms. Priest’s writing and was taken with the concept of The Clockwork Century from the start, but after writing Carpathia I had no intention of revisiting the universe I had created for my debut novel. Then I gave a copy of Carpathia to my mother, and — to my never-ending surprise — she not only read it, but also enjoyed it. She asked questions about my research, why the characters did certain things, how I came to decide what would happen, etc., etc. I answered her questions and then after we discussed it some more she dropped the bombshell.

“The ending set up a sequel perfectly, too.”

That got me to thinking about “what if” in a different way. Rather than doing a straight sequel I decided to move the action forward in what I am calling The Carpathia Timeline, my sandbox in which vampires have red eyes that glow and werewolf companions, and where airships have gun turrets like battleships.

There are many stories that can be told from The Carpathia Timeline. Although I will likely try something different for my next project, I already have a few ideas for future novels, and I am willing to entertain franchise proposals if any budding writers out there want to try their hand.

In the meantime, it is my goal for each story to stand on its own within the Timeline, so readers need not worry about reading this one without having read the first one. In conclusion, allow me to thank you for your interest. Please feel free to comment on through reviews, emails or tweets.