Showing posts with label the Expired Reality series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Expired Reality series. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #17 Now Available!

Episode #17 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: After a clandestine meeting with Mr. Big, Sean Amorou heads to the Pleasure District to meet a new contact known only as Viper. But which will be more lethal - the secret weaponry Sean is there to pick up, or the independent contractor who's as venomous as a snake?

Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #16 Now Available!

Episode #16 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: Arriving in the city known as Destiny, Veronica Amorou confronts XS. With the chance to finally kill the leader of Anaisha's most notorious human trafficking ring, Veronica is forced to choose between pursuing vengeance or saving innocent lives.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #15 Now Available!

Episode #15 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: Veronica Amorou heads to the city of Destiny to find and kill a man by the name of XS. But while she pursues a disturbing remnant of Simper Creed's human trafficking organization, she finds a city that doesn't quite belong on Anaisha.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #14 Now Available!

Episode #14 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: Veronica Amorou thought Simper Creed - a crazed human trafficker - was dead. But when she spots the mark of slavery on a fashion colleague, Veronica realizes Simper's network may not be as dead as she thought.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #13 Now Available!

Episode #13 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: When a mysterious girl approaches Carrie Green with a rumor that Alex Waterford is still alive, Carrie travels to Lysallis University to prove the girl wrong. But what she finds is more than just the spirit of a dead foe...

Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #11 Now Available!

Episode #11 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: After the Lazerblades fail in their attempt to capture Mr. Big, Cybil Corbin - aka Persimmon - decides to take matters into her own hands and returns to the crime scene to find blackmail to sway her brother's actions.

Enjoy!

Friday, August 29, 2014

Flash Fiction Friday #28 - Tiffany Sweet

This week's Flash Fiction Fridays piece is a sneak peek at the some of the background of one of the characters from my Expired Reality series. I actually wrote out the background to this particular character during National Novel Writing Month 2009, and hope to publish that novella at some point in the near future.

In the meantime, enjoy today's short nugget.

Tiffany Sweet
Jensen Alcon stepped three feet to his left and stood in front of the next research pod. This one was particularly larger than the last three he had done a routine checkup on – it was bigger, more advanced in its technical workings, and was being used to isolate a human rather than a creature like the others. The stainless steel surface of the cylinder-shaped chamber glistened under the fluorescent lighting of the lab, adding a hint of refinement to the somewhat macabre task at hand.

Jensen held his clipboard out in front of him and cleared his throat. He didn’t like participating in experiments on humans, but – as his colleague, Roc, had put it, Wedges weren’t normal humans. They were super powered beings, putting them in a classification of their own.

Jensen only half believed that lie. He half believed it so he could move forward and do the work he was getting paid to do. Squelching his conscience was just part of the job.

“Subject 7A4T,” he said, hoping Roc – who was monitoring him from the security panel in the other room – wasn’t paying attention to how nervous this made Jensen feel.

“Just get it over with, man,” Roc’s voice boomed over the lab’s speakers.

“Leave me alone,” Jensen said.

“I want to go to lunch. They have that buffet place that just opened down the road. Hurry up so we can get there before the crowds show up.”

Jensen sighed and read aloud the fact sheet on his clipboard. “Subject 7A4T. Name: Tiffany Sweet. Age: 16. Family is deceased. Mother was a baker, and her father owned a bookstore. Tiffany’s powers are…erratic.” Jensen glanced up at the camera in the ceiling that he knew Roc was watching him through. “Erratic? That’s all it says here. Is that why her powers were put into dormancy?”

“Just read the sheet, man. Nobody really cares what it says. Just read it for the record, open the chamber, and check on the experiment before naming it.”

“She’s not an experiment, Roc. She’s a human being.”

“Man, we’ve been through this.”

“You have your way of dealing with things, and I have mine. I don’t want to think of her as a test tube or a beaker. She’s a young female. A human. Endowed, maybe, with powers beyond our comprehension. But still human.”

“Just finish your damn job so we can eat, man! I’m starving!”

Jensen input his sixteen-digit alphanumeric code into the security panel on the front of the chamber and stepped back as the chamber hissed. White mist swirled up from the bottom of the unit as the front shield lifted up to reveal the female within.

Her appearance shocked Jensen for more than just a mere moment. She was nude, and her arms and legs were strapped into the chamber by a silver-colored flexible alloy known as Silvertech. Nobody had ever escaped Silvertech, nor had anyone ever destroyed Silvertech. Jensen briefly remembered reading a newspaper article about the Eneran military wanting to use Silvertech to build their tanks.

He shuddered at the thought of indestructible tanks.

The girl’s breasts were covered by her long, pink hair that had grown down to her hips. The most striking trait about her though was her bright turquoise-colored eyes. In the chamber, their ‘experiments’ were put into cryo sleep – which happened immediately upon activation – and caught some of their subjects with their eyes open.

“Are you getting off on the experiment, man? Hurry up!”

“She’s…stunning. Not her flesh. Her hair. Her eyes. One could get lost in those eyes…” Jensen mused.

“We need to get you a girlfriend. I heard there’s a lot of women that eat at that new buffet down the road.”

“I’m not looking at her like that, Roc. There’s something special about her. I can’t place my finger on it.”

“Just name her, and let’s go. My stomach is crying out somethin’ fierce!”

“Alright. I’ll name her…Turquoise. Turquoise Wedge.”

“Great. You named your new girlfriend. Now, can we eat, please?”

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #10 Now Available!

Episode #10 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: The Lazerblades lead a raid on Mr. Big's warehouse in hopes of finding his mysterious assistant, Shaonna Ryshay. But when an outsider interferes with the operation, Veronica finds that her task to kill Shaonna is just the beginning of a long night.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #9 Now Available!

Episode #9 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: Vector returns to give David Corbin advice on how to capture Mr. Big, but when she reveals the existence of a deadly woman who is assisting the crime lord, David has to decide whether or not Vector's information is actually a prelude to a trap.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #7 Now Available!

Episode #7 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In this episode: Feeling slighted by her older brother, Cybil Corbin decides to take matters into her own hands. Donning a homemade costume, she ventures into the city of Lysallis to find a way to prove her worth to Anaisha's greatest hero.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The LZR Project - Episode #6 Now Available!

Episode #6 is now available for download in PDF format for your reading pleasure, and best of all, it's only $1 for those not on a series subscription! Check out the official web page for links to individual episodes. Want to subscribe to The LZR Project and only pay once to get a new episode each and every Wednesday - and catch up on back episodes? Head to https://gumroad.com/products/LqzG for more information.

In their pursuit of Enera's most notorious hacker, David Corbin and the rest of the Lazerblades find more than they bargained for in the form of a mysterious rogue sniper.

Enjoy!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Brand New Expired Reality Covers!

After months of hard work, I'm pleased to reveal the brand new cover designs for the three books in my Expired Reality series. These new covers will be showing up on Amazon and other sites over the course of the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for them. The interiors of these books have been slightly altered as well, mainly in terms of font design. You'll also notice that the name of the novella, Picture Perfect, has been reverted to its original title: Drather's Story.

Endangered Memories - an Expired Reality novel

















Lost Birth - an Expired Reality novel


















Drather's Story - an Expired Reality novella

Friday, November 22, 2013

NaNoWriMo Victory!

I just crossed the 50,000 word count finish line in my NaNoWriMo novel, The LZR Project! This was my ninth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and this was my ninth year winning it. But even though NaNo is over for me this November, it doesn't mean the manuscript I was drafting is anywhere near done. I cranked out a ton of episodes in the short story series, and a  lot of the story arcs are coming together nicely. Some of the story lines that were started in the Black Earth series are popping up to offer answers to questions many of my readers asked after ending the series, which is a great thing. This series seems to be turning into a bridge of some sort between the Black Earth series and the Expired Reality series, so it will be a perfect introduction for those who haven't had a chance to check out my Expired Reality series yet.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The LZR Project - Cover Peek

Here is the cover design I have been working on for The LZR Project. I was originally going to do a different color scheme for each episode, but I've decided to keep this same design for all covers and just change the episode number on them.

And in case you missed my blog post yesterday, here's a little tentative info about The LZR Project...

The first episode (Episode #0) will be released Tuesday, March 4th as a digital download. I am considering using Gumroad for the release of each of my episodes, but I'm not certain about that yet. I'd imagine the price for each episode will be around $1, and episodes will probably be released on a weekly basis, possibly every Tuesday. Once all episodes have been released, I'll turn around and publish the entire series in paperback format. Also, originally I wanted to take episodes down after they were up for a couple weeks to force people to purchase the paperback at the end if they wanted to catch up, and I think I'm going to scratch that idea and keep the previous episodes up as new ones are released so anyone can catch up at anytime.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

October NaNo Prep - Story Premise

Today is the first day of the Writing.com October NaNoWriMo Prep Challenge, and the activity of the day is to write out the premise for the novel we will be working on in November. I'm not going to post each activity that I do every day, but I will be posting some of what I am sketching out to give all of you a great idea as to what The LZR Project - my NaNoWriMo 2013 'novel' - is all about.

Premise:
The LZR Project is a 24 episode short story series within my Expired Reality universe centering around the alliance created by the Lazerblades and the Enera Government for the purpose of capturing the criminal mastermind known as Mr. Big. Each episode will serve as a great stand-alone story, but will also connect to previous and future episodes. Episodes will alternate POVs, meaning one episode may be told from David Corbin’s point of view, while another episode may be told from Veronica Amorou’s point of view. This will allow for great character depth.

The main story arc that The LZR Project will be covering is the Lazerblade’s attempt to capture Mr. Big and put him in prison for good. Many other story arcs will weave around this main arc, including friction between David Corbin and Sean Amorou on the use of violence and lethal weapons, the emergence of a brand new superhero who attempts to capture Mr. Big by themselves – potentially creating a mess for the Lazerblades, and the ongoing struggle that David Corbin endures while trying to save a city from the clutches of a madman without going mad himself.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The LZR Project...Back From The Dead

Rough design of the LZR Project logo
Many months, and maybe some years ago, I spread word about a series I was working on called The LZR Project - a fictional mini-series set in my Expired Reality universe detailing a program set up between the Anaishain government and the Lazerblades to stop Mr. Big. The series takes place before the Expired Reality novels, and would showcase your favorite characters - and some new ones - and go into some back story as to why they are the way they are in the ER series.

Sadly, life interrupted my plans to do much with The LZR Project...at the time. Now I am bringing this idea back from the dead and will be using NaNoWriMo 2013 to sketch out a 12-part series. I know I mentioned earlier that I would be rewriting Dark Horizons for NaNoWriMo this year, but I'm changing that up because The LZR Project needs to be written - mostly from scratch - and NaNoWriMo is the perfect way to do so. Of course, I'll also be working on the third novel in the Expired Reality series, Dark Horizons, side by side with my NaNoWriMo project. Needless to say, there will be a lot of Expired Reality story material coming out of the woodwork very soon.

Friday, September 20, 2013

The Darkest of Horizons

For over eight years now, I've been toiling and carving my way through a beast of a manuscript titled Dark Horizons - originally titled Crystal City. At least, Dark Horizons is the title of this project for the moment. I'm sure it'll change at some point before publication, only because everything else about this manuscript has changed in the last eight years.

Dark Horizons is the third installment in my Expired Reality series. The series itself has gone through drastic changes of its own over the years - the most noticeably with the shift in genre from young adult to edgy Christian speculative fiction. But Dark Horizons has seen the majority of the changes because drafts of this book were written up before my genre change and after, and I have yet another draft rewrite to do before I am satisfied with where this series is going.

I think the third book in any series can be a difficult challenge, especially if the series itself is planned to run a dozen or so installments. The first book of any series sets up characters and plot. The second book goes into the plot a bit more and even digs a little deeper into the characters. By the third book, you're pretty much building a rudder by which the rest of the series is going to move with. Dark Horizons is a crucial volume in my Expired Reality series, and because of that I am taking many pains to make sure it's a phenomenal piece of fiction that lines up with the tone and storylines I am trying to establish for the ER series as a whole.

And that tone is a dark one. Whereas my Black Earth series is somewhat dark and gloomy, there was an overall feeling of redemption by the time the series came to its end with the fourth book, Exodus. But seeing how Dark Horizons is set to be the third novel in a 12 + book series, I have to have the redemptive moments and the moments of victory come fewer and farther between.

With the second book in the series - Lost Birth - ending on a low point, Dark Horizons opens up with the main character, David Corbin, wallowing in sorrow. His character is one I have worked years and years to refine, and I think I'm finally catching my stride with him, especially with the opportunities Dark Horizons will give me to add some more dimension to him. Whereas he started out the series in Endangered Memories as a washed up, unemployed hero, Lost Birth, the second novel in the series, saw him as a man on fire who was ready to risk everything to save the love of his life. After the death of someone very close to him at the end of Lost Birth, Dark Horizons will open up with David in the darkest place (metaphorically) he has ever known. This darkness will be used to flesh out much of his character and show him as not just a hero, but also an anti-hero of sorts.

Some of the anti-hero came out in Lost Birth when David attempted to take an innocent girl hostage to escape the police, and he ended up getting her shot. The incident opened up the doors for where Dark Horizons is going to take David - on the run from police, on a course to save the world.

I am really excited to reach the day when this manuscript - in it's polished form - can finally see the light of day. Before that can happen though, I have to continue my epic struggle with this beast and get it under control.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

An Introduction To The Expired Reality Series

Many of you have enjoyed the books in my Black Earth series, and for that, I am grateful. What many of you may not know is that the Black Earth series isn't where I began my story telling. When I was eleven, back in 1990, I began penciling a story about a young boy - David - who crossed paths with a criminal mastermind - Mr. Big - and stopped him from kidnapping his sister and killing hundreds of innocent people in a hotel bombing.

That story eventually became the very first novel I finished when I was only sixteen - Mission: Australia. And over the years, Mission: Australia has evolved in the Expired Reality series. The Black Earth series is actually the prequel series to the ER series, as it details the destruction of Earth and how humanity came to be on the planet known as Anaisha.

I figured it was about time to properly introduce all of you to the ER series. This series has gone through many revisions, and a number of cover designs. For a very long time - since its creation - the series was touted as young adult. Then, as it evolved, content cropped up in the series that was not so young adult - suggestive content, torture, violence. After taking a long look at my Black Earth series and then figuring out where I want to go with the ER series, I realized I couldn't keep the young adult moniker on it any longer, and now it is filed under the genre known as Edgy Christian Speculative Fiction. For a detailed description of what this genre is all about, go here.

Different cover designs for the first novel in the series (Endangered Memories)
The Expired Reality series takes place nearly 80 years from the time Nathan Pierce (from the Black Earth series) battled the alien entity Legion, and Satan's Dark Army, in their attempts to destroy Earth and all of humanity. Through great struggle, bloodshed, and terror, humans managed to flee the planet in space vessels that brought them across the universe to an earth-like planet called Anaisha, where they settled and began to rebuild.

Now, humanity's close call with extinction is but a memory. Legion's suffocating alien darkness and any reference to the Great Witch Evanescence - lieutenant of the Dark Army - are but a terrifying memory to those who are able to recall their dark past.

Despite the fact that Anaisha was founded and colonized by the sadistic madman, Strangeways Silver, to be a utopia, the planet - especially the main continent of Enera - is far from flawless. In the years prior to the Expired Reality novels, criminal mastermind Mr. Big has set claim to the city of Lysallis and its outlying areas, filling the community with acts of violence and fear.

On one fateful day, one teenager - David Corbin - interrupted Mr. Big and his plans to murder hundreds of people in a hotel bombing. David's interference that day created a chain of events that put the child hero and the notorious villain head to head for many years to come. Eventually, David - at this time the head of a team of teenage heroes known as the Lazerblades - captured Mr. Big and detained him in prison, bringing virtual peace back to Enera.

The Expired Reality novels begin at the end of this virtually peaceful period, when Legion - the same alien entity responsible for Earth's destruction - reveals its presence upon Anaisha, and the Great Witch Evanescence actively seeks to satisfy her hunger for humanity's ultimate extinction. The teen heroes are called on once again to save the world, as ancient artifacts, humanities ugly past, and otherworldly species intersect in a final battle against the forces of evil.

The Expired Reality series is a series of novels, short stories, and novellas that can be read completely separate from the Black Earth series, and is a long-running series that will stretch out into many mediums of entertainment for many years to come.

In coming posts, I'll be introducing some of the characters from this series, discuss the layout and structure of Anaisha, detail some of the religious beliefs in the world, and give some sneak peeks into where I plan on taking this series in the near future.