The Union Dues Website is live!!

Check out www.1800gounion.com for the latest news on my Union Dues stories and the quest to turn then into a TV show!

Defunctinated...

Please use my MySpace page (link above) rather than eblogger to contact me. Thanks. I barely ever check or update this little foothold on the Internet.

Cleanup in Aisle Five

Well, the response to the most recently published Union Dues story has been overwhelming, and it is very humbling. The weird downside though is that I have to make sure I maintain or exceed the quality of the previous stories with whichever one get finished/published next. And that's no easy feat!

Still, all the wonderful e-mail and comments have really encouraged me to crack the whip on the stories in process such that I've completed a few more. Now all I have to do is edit them and fine tune the language. The stories are -

All that we Leave Behind
Heart and Souls
All About the Sponsors

Now I have to tear down and rewrite Tabula Rasa, sadly, even at 6000 words it was all crap. But I have enough good ideas in the tale to make a good story, I just have to stop second guessing myself. I also have to start the first draft on the middle story in the Tim Armstrong series of UD stories, No Train No Pain so I can bundle the three together. The mini-epic is

All that we Leave Behind
No Train No Pain
Tabula Rasa

Other exciting news too about the stories that have been podcast through Escape Pod: A film and TV production company has contacted me about possibly developing the Union Dues universe into a TV series. I've only had preliminary contact with them, but we are supposed to talk in much more detail after the holidays so I'll post more once that's underway. Of course, I am still looking for a home for A Handshake, A Gold Watch, A Candle, but so far all it's received are rejections.

The Cogs of the Great Machine

Writing like crazy the last few weeks. Here is a partial list of short fiction that is near completion and ready for submission -

Tout Bagay Enfom

Voodoo and Flesh Eating Zombies IN SPACE!!!!

Union Dues: The Better Mousetrap

The Union contracted marketing firm, The McDevitt Agency, begins constructing an original identity for new recruit Tim Armstrong.

Union Dues: Heart and Souls

When a military test goes wrong and The Union has to intervene, Chrome, a First Team strategist from the Chicago Pyramid has to assume the leasership role, and the consequences that come with it. During her tribunal interrogation she learns the origin of the Union.

Union Dues: Freedom's Burden

Red Raven is the first participant in a secret program to "fight crime" outside the usual Union hierarchy. She is effectively a Union connected freelancer. However, when she encounters a true vigilante on the streets of a small New England city she questions her allegience to Union methods.

Stuff in final draft stage and bouncing from publisher to publisher in a desperate attempt to find a paying home.

Burden of Bushido: Ronin on the High Seas
Burden of Bushido: The Five-Body Sword
Burden of Bushido: Emerald Treasure of the Thuggee Assassins
Hotel Nocturne: The Hunting Party
Hotel Nocturne: Employee of the Year
Union Dues: Cleanup in Aisle 5
Union Dues: All that we Leave Behind (title change pending)
Union Dues: A Handshake, A Gold Watch, A Candle

Happy/Sad Happy/Sad Happy/Sad

Happy! -

Iron Bars and the Glass Jaw and Off-White Lies were both nominated for a Parsec award (for excellence in Podcasting) in the best short fiction category! They were two of 16 or 17 general nominations for the category so I figured I had a really good chance to make it to the short list.

Sad! -

Neither story made the short list

Happy! -

Escape Pod published Union Dues: The Baby and the Bathwater on July 13th! Mur Lafferty did a steller job behind the mic as Kinetic Girl.

Sad -

Flashing Swords editor Howard A. Jones moved on to an editorial gig at Black Gate and the Burden of Bushido story he'd accepted late last year won't be published as FS's new editors are returning the e-zine. They may offer a spot in an e-anthology but so far I haven't heard a peep from the new editors.

New Story Posted Today

“Leave,” she said calmly, “just go. A recruiting visit was here just three weeks ago and they had no success. The people here don’t much like the Union. Hell, it took me almost a year before any of them would even speak to me, and I didn’t try to razzle-dazzle them.” She quickly scanned the list and produced folders matching each name. “Here,” she said and slid them across the desk, “but they won’t go with you.”

The Union tries very hard to get all Supers to sign on and become active members, but some simply won’t. This is the first Village, and already The Union is constructing others. Either the mutation rate is rising among the Normals, or we’re getting better at ferreting them out. Either way, we need more space.

Greetings

First of all, hello. There probably won't be a whole lot of activity here in the beginning, but that's okay. I need a place to showcase my writing, provide links to newly published stories, and house snippets of stories that might attract the attention of editors and agents. If you've run across anything I've done feel free to comment, feedback is always useful.

Stories currently available for free on the web -

Iron Bars and the Glass Jaw. (Episode 27) Published Nov 11th 2005. Available for free download at www.escapepod.org

The Henchman Diaries: Project Giant Arachnid. Published Winter 2005. Available for free read at www.flashquake.org (in the Editor's Select section)

Ambient Sleaze. (Episode 41) Published February 16, 2006. Available for free download at www.escapepod.org

Upcoming titles -

Off-White Lies - Coming soon to Escape Pod

The Baby and the Bathwater - Coming soon to Escape Pod

Burden of Bushido: Ronin on the High Seas - Summer 06, Flashing Swords (www.swordandsorcery.org)