Promise the story you are going to end
I recently finished Orson Scott Card’s Mithermage series – good stuff. At the back of Book 2, The Gate Thief, he writes an afterward (always read the epilogues and afterwards) explaining why the book was six months late. It wasn’t that he was busy binging Battlestar Gallactica, it was that he got the structure of…Read More
Final Meet the Pod: DreadBot and Myranda
DreadBot – Dread to her Pod companions – was born and grew to a teenager in SCAZ. I can’t say “raised” because there was very little thought given to her beyond keeping her clean and fed. She was loved, but after watching enough TV, realized that there might be a better world available to her….Read More
Meet the Pod: Hunter and Mellow
I like Hunter and named him after a guy I know. Hunter 319 is a nerd’s nerd. Even in the Pod, his nerdiness stands out. Before he was orphaned by Omicron Death, he lived with his parents and had schematics of the Millennium Falcon on the walls of his bedroom. He not only knows the…Read More
Book 2: Fire – first draft complete!
During the 12 Days of Page Turners online event, the host, Aimee Ravichandran (@aimeeravichandran) of Abundantly Social, asked me how long it took to write SPARK. I told her that I thought it took about a year to finish the first draft. There were eight drafts before it was done. So, having just finished my…Read More
Meet the Pod Part 2: Yennifer, Zen, DeadElf
Among the games that I have truly enjoyed – and by that, I mean that they’re good enough to play at least twice – is the Witcher series. Particularly Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. If you’ve played the game, read the books, or watched the series, you know Yennifer. (I deliberately changed the spelling –…Read More
Smurf Slayer
After reading my manuscript Steph (my developmental editor) had a few things to say. The one that hit me hardest was this: “I actually like your bad guy (Ragnar Sarnak in the published version) more than I do Will (the protagonist).” Ouch. When I started the novel, I wanted Billy/Will to be a lead with…Read More
Amazon Live
I’m going to be interviewed by D. Scott Smith on Amazon Live today, November 4, 2021, to talk about Spark. You can watch it live or archived via these links: Streamyard link https://streamyard.com/bzppfqdbwd Amazon link to watch live or replay: https://amazon.com/live/broadcast/27256feb-401f-426e-92a9-a4eb9f05e71d?ref=social&tag=dennisscottsm-20&linkCode=ilv
A nice review
SPARK was reviewed by onlinebookclub.org. Here’s what they had to say: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=200256 Reading through the comments below the review, it seemed that some readers of the review came away thinking that it was a “sad” book. Yes, some sad things happen, but is that what those of you who read it thought?
Will’s first brush with Death
When my editor rightfully shamed me about Will being such a wimp that he stayed away from SPARK for 40 days, I had to make some other tweaks beyond getting rid of the dog. One sub-theme I liked was the impersonality of the universe. The black grass didn’t care. It just turned toward the strongest…Read More
Dramatis Personae Part 4: SPARK Security
At the top of the SPARK Security food chain sits Jeffrey Hodgins. He’s most commonly called “Hodge” by those close to him. HVH needed personal protection, so he went headhunting at the US Secret Service – those charged with protecting the President. He found Hodgins and managed to lure him away. Hodgins originally was the…Read More