Kingdoms of Magic: A new Fantasy epic series

 

Kingdoms of Magic:

I am returning to my roots.  I began my writing career when I typed a four novel epic fantasy series called Cathexis (here is a link where you can the Cathexis series, including the first one in the series for free!  Cathexis).  Now, after writing 21 novels, I am returning to traditional fantasy with my new epic series, Kingdoms of Magic.

However, this time I am tackling a much larger story, over many more novels.  All total, I plan (at least) sixteen novels in this epic.  However, there are some interesting facets to how I am approaching this monster series.  Frist off, I know how annoying it can be as a reader when a story is many books long and it is not finished.   You have no idea how long the author will take between books, or when it will be concluded.  For that very reason, I tend to wait to read a series until all of the books are completed.

With Kingdoms of Magic, this will not be an issue!  Each book is a self-contained story with a climax.  That means, no cliff hanger endings or stores that just stop in the middle, waiting to continue in the next book.  You may safely read each book when it comes out.   Now, I will tell you that all the books tell a much larger story in the end, but that should not get in the way of each book having a clear ending to that piece of the story. 

Let me give you some examples.  Let’s use J.R.R. Tolkien.  He wrote The Hobbit, which is a stand-alone book with a conclusion. Now, that story led to the Lord of the Rings, but that was a separate story, even though it added to the bigger story of both.  Now, in Lord of the Rings, the three novels in that series were connected without a climax for each one.  You could have just glued them together into one big book.  That is what I do not want to do with Kingdoms of Magic.  Each book in this series will be more like the difference between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.  Each has its ending, all work together for a larger story.

However, it gets a little more complicated.

Unlike The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, where Bilbo’s story and Frodo’s story were at different periods of time, some of the Kingdoms of Magic stories will take place simultaneously!  Now, not all novels in the series will do that.  So, I had to come up with a way for readers to know which books happen at the same time, and which in different periods of the world.  My solution was to group them by a ‘Cycle and Age’.  A Cycle is ten years, and an Age is a major change to the world.  Therefore, an Age could have any number of Cycles in it, but each Cycle is always ten years long.

So, for example, in the 10^th cycle of the 6^th Age, I plan to write four novels that all take place at the same time.  In fact, certain characters may show up between the novels, and certain scenes could be in more than one, though they will be seen from a different perspective.   Therefore, you may read the four novels that take place in the same time period in any order you choose! 

The only real rule is that you read all the novels in the earlier Cycle before moving onto the next Cycle, which will always be later along the timeline.

It may sound complex, but it is easy.  Just read all the novels marked in the title as taking place in the 10^th Cycle of the 6^th Age before reading any novels from the 11^th Cycle of the 6^th Age.  And, once you are done with those, read any novels in the 1^st Cycle of the 7^th Age, in any order.

Each novel, regardless of which Cycle or Age it is in will still be a standalone story, with a unique climax, yet they will also all work together to tell a much larger story in the end.

OK, so now all I have to do is write this beast.   To that end, I have already finished the first novel, Wizard's Weapon, which takes place in the 10^th Cycle of the 6^th Age.  I am currently working on the second novel from that same period, called Baneful Wizardry.   Once I finish that one, I will move on to the other two novels from this same period, which are Doomed Crusade and The Witch’s Curse.

Only when all four of these novels set in the 10^th Cycle of the 6^th Age are complete will I publish all four.  Readers may then read them, in any order, while I work on the next set of novels from the 11^th Cycle of the 6^th Age.  I am waiting to publish them all at once because as I write one, it may affect one or more of the others since there are crossover events in the stories.

For more info on this new series , click this link: Kingdoms of Magic

Meanwhile, here is the map of Cratera (click on the map to go to a larger version with some zoom capability)

I hope to have the first four novels in Kingdoms of Magic available for readers by the end of 2021.  Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

The Archimage Wars is finished! Sibyl of Terra has been published!

 

The Archimage Wars is finished!

Well, I did it at last!  After five long years (and over two million typed words) I have completed The Archimage Wars by finishing Sibyl of Terra, the tenth and final novel in the series!  Whew!

Of course, you may find all 21 of my novels by going to my personal website, here:

http://www.PhilipBlood.com

Now that the entire series is complete, here is a little description:

The Archimage Wars is an urban fantasy series comprised of 10 novels. The story follows the adventures of Nicholas, a wizard who has lost his memory and with it the way to use magic.  He must discover his past, his powers, and why everyone is out to do him in!  To survive, Nicholas must go on a journey of redemption and growth as he evolves from an angry and obtuse man, with no memory or magic, into a powerful wizard and, more importantly, a good person.  He must travel to each of the ten worlds to uncover what is behind The Archimage Wars.  Join my wizard as he journeys with a group of wizard and sorceress friends. They go on amazing and often quite crazy adventures as they attempt to uncover truths that will surprise, amuse, and astound them... and you!

If you are new to The Archimage Wars series, go there on my website and then look for Wizard of Abal (it is ‘Book 1’).  The ebook download link from that page will take you to where you may download a free copy of the book.

As for Sibyl of Terra…

In diabolical book 10, you join our hero for the conclusion of his epic tale.  At long last, he must face his past and then prepare the Houses to try and survive a dastardly attempt to kill their whole race off with a mage plague.  Should that fail, the enemy has a million-mage army, ready to wipe any survivors in the final Archimage war.  Finally, our wizard must return to where it all started and face his most difficult challenge of all, the architect of all his woes. Join our wizard on his final diabolical journey where he will conclude this twisted tale and wild adventures.  He must navigate through deep plots and shocking twists if he is to succeed!  Do you dare find out the truth?

So, what is next for me to write?

Now, after five years and well over two million words written, I have finally finished both my zONE series and my The Archimage Wars series.  Therefore, I am moving into the initial stages of world planning and writing backstory for a new, more traditional, epic fantasy.  First, though, I have to create the entire world and get the history, religions, politics, etc. up and running.  All that, and more, has to be done before I put down any words in the first novel of the real story. 

The preparation stage will take me a few months, so, you won’t be seeing any posts for new novels from me for a while.  Just to put this in perspective, I expect to write over 1000 pages of backstory, which will never be read by anyone except me, before I start the first book.  Expect the first novel, Weapon of Destiny, part of the Red Band Tales in the Kingdoms of Magic series, sometime later in 2021.

Book 9, Warlock of Sheol, of The Archimage Wars series published!

I've been working very diligently to try and finish The Archimage Wars series in 2020.

With the publishing of book 9, Warlock of Sheol, I'm close to achieving my goal.  I finished book 8 early in 2020, then wrote the end of the zONE series, Brethren of the Ark, at which point I got back to working on The Archimage Wars.  After Warlock of Sheol, there is only one book to go and the series is finished!  I should have that final book done by December 2020, at the latest.

Appropriately, for 2020 (which has been the year of hell around the world) Warlock of Sheol mostly takes place in Hell.  My group of adventurers must go there to stop the other Houses from obtaining the cure to the mage plague and then using it to make themselves immune, thus allowing them to wipe out the other Houses by releasing this deadly plague.

There is a lot more to this story, I just don't want to add any spoilers here ;)

Anyway, since this is book nine in the series, if you are interested in joining my lead wizard on his crazy adventures in hell, you need to go back and start with book 1, Wizard of Abal, which you may read for free by going here.   That will get you started on this tale of redemption on the ten magical worlds.  Each book in the series takes place (mostly) on one of those ten mage worlds.

Of course, if you are already reading the series, then go straight here to get the ebook or to Amazon for the print version.

Either way, have fun reading them, I sure did while writing this wild tale.

Without wax,

Philip Blood

The final book in the zONE series published!

zONE: Brethren of the Ark finished!

OK, so zONE was supposed to be a standalone book and then I went and had an epiphany (while asleep one night) and woke up with a sequel all stuffed into my head.  However, when I finished that monster of a book (about 1,000 pages).  A third story came drifting into my brain while I was writing that second installment of the zONE saga.  I couldn't possibly include this in the second book, which was already very large!  So, I wrote an outline and stuck it in my 'get to you later' book folder.

Well, after I finished writing Magnus of Niburu, I decided to take a break from the ten novel, The Archimage Wars, series and write something else... so I opened that folder and took a look at book 3, for zONE.  Now, about 600 pages later, I finished writing Brethern of the Ark.

It is now available at ebook sellers everywhere, here: Brethren of the Ark

The paperback version should be out in about a day as well, on Amazon.

This novel concludes the zONE trilogy (no, really, it does).

Cathexis Rewrite Completed and paperbacks published!

Finally, I finished rewriting Cathexis!

I am happy to report that my first Fantasy series, Cathexis, has been completely rewritten (I am a better writer now, or so I hope).  And, in celebration, I have published all four novels now in paperback (they have been available only as ebooks previously). Of course, I updated the ebook copies, as well.

If you haven't read Cathexis, give the first book a try; the ebook version is free, here: Necromancer's Dagger.

Cathexis is a fantasy epic, with a unique form of magic, multiple countries at war, plots galore, strange monsters, and a whole host of evil bad guys!  But, it is traditional fantasy, so you will find that the heroes are good while you cheer for the demise of the villains.  There is a simple to discover plotline that keeps you focused on that thread, but don't let that fool you!  There is a deeper and more surprising story hidden beneath which will unfold as the story progresses.  I wrote it this way so that you are eased into the larger story while following the simpler and more obvious one.

Give it a try; in the end, the main characters (and there are a lot of them) will become your friends.  Come join the adventures of the Ardellen family in a magical world, where there is a special metal called Cathexis that has some very strange properties, not to mention, it is so rare that a single object made of it is worth an entire kingdom.

New book in The Archimage Wars finished

Magnus of Nibiru, published!

This is the eighth novel in The Archimage Wars series.  Frankly, it was the one I was dreading writing the most of all ten in the series, right after worrying about Divinity of Elysium.  This was for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, both Divinity of Elysium and Magnus of Nibiru were in that 70-80% of the overall story area.  This is always the hardest part of a story for me.  The early parts always flow easily, and once I get into the last 20%, I can really fly.  But, that other part, well, it can be a slog.  Secondly, Divinity of Elysium took place in a religious world, I thought that wild adventures might be hard to pen.  I was wrong, things went very well in that book.  Then I was facing a world based on hedonists, Nibiru.  How was I going to handle a bunch of booze-drinking, drug-consuming, furry animals and make it into an engaging part of the adventure?  It worried me.  However, I had no choice, since (due to my sister and her damn ideas) I am basing each novel in The Archimage Series on one of the ten worlds... so ten worlds, ten novels.  Note that, originally, I thought this was going to be a trilogy until my sister heard there were ten worlds in the story.  Now, I didn't just stretch the story from three to ten books, I revamped it, adding a lot more so that there was material for ten books, not to mention, that in the three-book version, each novel would have been much larger (example, my zONE trilogy, where the books are 500, 1000, and 600 pages, respectively).  Books in The Archimage Wars are just over 300 in each case.

But I digress.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Nibirians are a hoot, and there was plenty of intrigue and fun to be had on Nibiru.  It went much better than I hoped and I am pleased with the finished product.  Hopefully, you readers are as well.

Necromancer's Dagger rewritten

2019 Writing update

Just an update on what I have been writing in 2019.  First off, I decided to go back in time and do a new edition of my very first fantasy series, Cathexis.  As a young writer, I had a lot to learn, and though I love the story of Cathexis, I have become a better writer over the years (when it comes to grammar and word flow).  Can I get better, of course!  Writing is a never ending journey.  However, I am significantly better now than I was when I wrote Cathexis, so I thought I'd update the series to make it easier to read.  After all, the Ardellen family and their epic adventures deserve some writing love!

So, I have republished Book One, Necromancer's Dagger, in the Third Edition.  I also published a print version at the same time.
Here is a link to the new edition, ebook: Necromancer's Dagger
Here is a link to the new print copy: Necormancer's Dagger

Over the next year (or two) I will take the time to re-write the other three novels in the Cathexis series as well.  However, I don't want to hold up my new novels so I will space out the time between novels.


Which means, now that Necromancer's Dagger has been updated, I'm currently working on a new novel in The Archimage Wars series, which will be Book 8, Magnus of Nibiru.  I will post again when the novel is finished (give me a couple months or so)  :)

It's been a long time... I know, four years in fact, but the next ebook in the zONE series is finally done!

zONE

Book 2

Pirate Code

Yes, the second novel in the zONE series took a while to write. However, I hope it is worth the wait! It is my largest novel, by far, taking the characters on an epic adventure on Earth and in the wonderous Zones. It has intrigue, betrayal, romance, space pirates, adventure, battles, and all the fun of visiting some of your favorite stores as our heroes sail the Zone oceans on their amazing pirate ships.

The reason for the large size is that this is actually two books in one.  It even gets to the point, about midway through, when it will say, "Book 2".  The reason for this is that the two books are so symbiotically connected that I didn't feel the story in the first book would be satisfying enough unless you also read the second book about these characters.  So, I put both books inside one cover.

If you haven't already, I highly suggest that you read the first novel in the series, The End and the Beginning (this is a link to it) before you start Pirate Code, though it isn't absolutely required.

Book 7 of The Archimage Wars is ready to read, Divinity of Elysium

You can now read the next book in the series!

The Archimage Wars

Book 7

Divinity of Elysium

I've been writing again and I have finished the seventh book in The Archimage Wars, Divinity of Elysium. Much to his disgust, our hero and pals must go to a new world... one where a strange religion is forced upon all who venture there by the mage who claims to be a god. You may obtain this tale by going here: Divinity of Elysium

Yet, I should warn you, this series is a single flowing story, so don't read them out of order! Make sure you start with Wizard of Abal, then work your way up, reading Sorceress of Atlantis, Demon of Annwn, Seeress of Yaochi, Necromancer of Irkalla, and Huntress of Tartarus before venturing to the world of Elysium at the peril of your soul!

The Archimage Wars continues in Book 6, Huntress of Tartarus!

It's ready to read, the next ebook in the series!

The Archimage Wars

Book 6

Huntress of Tartarus

The sixth book in The Archimage Wars is out.  And now Nick is on his own, headed for the world of where the hunters of mages dwell, and Nick is the most wanted wizard on any world! 
To get the ebook, go here: Huntress of Tartarus



But, if you are new to the series, start with Wizard of Abal, then work your way up, reading Sorceress of Atlantis, Demon of Annwn, Seeress of Yaochi, and Necromancer of Irkalla before heading to Tartarus to face the hunters!

The Archimage Wars: Book 5, Necromancer of Irkalla is ready to read!

I finished the next ebook in the series!

The Archimage Wars

Book 5

Necromancer of Irkalla

I have published the fifth book in The Archimage Wars.  Our favorite wizard for others to hate must go to the dark world of the evil Necromancer of Irkalla to try and find his lost memories.  This is literally the last place he wants to go, but that's where the path leads.

You can find the book here: Necromancer of Irkalla and you don't even have to go to Irkalla to find it!  Lucky you!

However, if you are new to the series, start with Wizard of Abal, then work your way up, reading Sorceress of Atlantis, Demon of Annwn, and Seeress of Yaochi before venturing into the darkness of Irkalla with Nich and pals.

Available as an ebook: The Archimage Wars: Seeress of Yaochi

Now available as an ebook!

The Archimage Wars

Book 4

Seeress of Yaochi

The Archimage Wars now has a fourth novel in the series, Seeress of Yahochi.  Having survived the odd world of Annwn, our annoying and short-tempered wizard buddy must go to the world of Yaochi to meet with the mysterious Seeress and not a moment too soon!  Things are getting stranger the more Nick learns and the forces arrayed against him want to capture and destroy him, some not necessarily in that order.

This is the ebook version of the novel, though it will, eventually, get an audio play when I find time.
You can find Seeress of Yaochil on Amazon Unlimited, which you can reach by following this link:
Seeress of Yaochi

The Archimage Wars: Book 3, Demon of Annwn

Now available in ebook or audioplay!

The Archimage Wars

Book 3

Demon of Annwn

The series now continues the adventures of our hero (?) Nicholas Albus, in the third novel in the series, Demon of Annwn.  If you thought Atlantis was a strange world, then wait until you follow the misadventures of the outrageous wizard, Nicholas, and friends when they go to the bizarre world called Annwn!

Like Wizard of Abal and Sorceress of Atlantis, not only is there a written novel, there is also a full audio play available.  The ebook and audio plays are available at Amazon, which you can find, here: Demon of Annwn.

If you don't know about the series, you can start with the ebook, Wizard of Abal, for free, just go to Amazon, here: Wizard of Abal, if you already read that, and need the second book, you can get it here: Sorceress of Atlantis.  Those same links will get you to the audio play versions as well.

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I'm hard at work on the next book in the series, which is scheduled for release very soon!  Book 4, Seeress of Yaochi is finished, but my team of voice actors are still working on the audio play version.

Sorceress of Atlantis, book 3 in the Archimage Wars!

It's out, and available everywhere!

The Archimage Wars

Book 2

Sorceress of Atlantis

Following up on the first novel, Wizard of Abal, this second book in the series continues the adventures of Nicholas, the wizard who lost his memories.  The mysterious surrounding Nick are only getting stranger, as he now has to go back to Earth (yes, the Earth you THINK you know, but you don't) and after some crazy mage hunters, Dokkalfar Necromancers and other hell-bent on his destruction, creatures, he is off to yet another world, a fantasy planet called Atlantis.

Like Wizard of Abal, not only is there a written novel, there is also a full audio play.  The book is available at all the major ebook sellers (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords,  iTunes, etc., and the Audio Play is available from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.

If you don't know about the series, you can start with the novel, Wizard of Abal, for free, just go to Smashwords, here: Wizard of Abal, if you already read that, and need the second book, you can get it here: Sorceress of Atlantis

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Audiobook fans!  These are not just your standard audiobooks, read by one person, they are done by a full cast of characters, making it easier to follow who is talking, and you get women playing, women and men playing men!  There are also some sound effects and ambient background sounds where appropriate, making these full Audio Plays.  You can find the Audio plays at the same links (above).

Come join Nick, a different kind of hero, a guy with no patience, little self-control, and a mouth which gets him in SO MUCH trouble, on a crazy adventure across multiple fantasy worlds as he tries to find out WHY the evilest bastard on ten planets is after him, and he can't remember why.  He and his sorceress girlfriend, whom he also doesn't recall, a wizard tourist lush, an honor-bound, knife-wielding mage, and a bloodthirsty mind warped killer, join forces on this crazy adventure.  It's going to be a doozy!

I'm hard at work on the next book in the series, which is scheduled for release November 1st!  The novel is finished, but we're working on the Audio Play version.

Wizard of Abal now available... FREE!

I just published the first novel in my new series, The Archimage Wars, on May 1st, 2016.  It is ABSOLUTELY free to read if you download it from Amazon.  Here is a link: Wizard of Abal

This novel is a bit different... the lead character starts out a bit rough and kind of an anti-hero, but he is on a journey of discovery, so stick with him, it will be worth the trip, I promise!

This is for the ebook and audio play, though there will be a print version of the book available eventually.

This is a big series, with ten books planned, but you can test out the first novel right now... for free.

I hope you enjoy the first novel in this new series.  Please sign up for my novel mailing list for new on future releases of the series!  You can also post questions about the novels there as well.   You may do that here:

Philip Blood Website

Hope to hear from you!

Philip Blood

New Fantasy Novel Series: The Archimage Wars!

Hey everyone!

I’ve been hard at work on my new urban fantasy novel series, The Archimage Wars.  This is a ten book series, the largest I have written to date, with my Cathexis series being next at 4 novels, and my NexLord series 3.  Because I knew this new series was going to be even larger, I decided to get well into the story before I started publishing any of the novels.  This way, if I decided to change something about how the magic system, etc. worked, I could still make changes to the earlier books. 

Well, I’ve completed the first three novels and am well into the forth, so at this point, I’m pretty confident that I have the worlds, their history, and the magic system, etc. all set.  So, I’m finally getting ready to publish Book 1 of the series, Wizard of Abal.

However, there is more!  I’ve also been producing my first audio play, book 1 of The Archimage Wars series!   I chose to do this as an audio play, rather than an audiobook, even though that is a LOT more work.  To accomplish this, I used voice actors to play all the lead roles of the story, and I also layered in some sound effects where appropriate.

Both the written version and audio play are currently going through final editing, and Wizard of Abal should be available to read or listen to, in May 2016. 

Keep an eye out at my website, www.philipblood.com, for news on the release, as well as links to where they can be purchased.

Oh, and I’d love you to contact me through there and join my mailing list.  Just use the contact system at the website and ask to be added to my mailing list.  I’ll occasionally (not too often) email you a newsletter, with some insights on previous books, news on new ones, and even some giveaways!  (Free stuff is always good!).   Anyone who signs up for the newsletter soon will get a free copy of book 1, Wizard of Abal!

Also, if you email me with questions from www.philipblood.com, I may also include your question and the answer in that monthly(ish) newsletter!

Anyway, The Archimage Wars series is coming, I hope you enjoy book one, The Wizard of Abal!

Philip Blood

Dragon Slayers, Incorporated Novel Published!

Dragon Slayers, Incorporated 

This is my ninth published novel (tenth book), however, in many ways, it is the oldest novel that I have published.  I came up with the idea for the story over 30 years ago, and even wrote some of the first few chapters back then (though I have heavily re-written them now).

Let me start with where the story came from.  I used to do a lot of GMing for Dungeons and Dragons back in my wild youth.  In fact, I had one group that got together every week for five years, playing through one epic story.  Along the way, they named their group, Dragon Slayers, Incorporated (and yes, T-Shirts were made, I still have mine).

Now, role-playing tabletop games are meant to have the players, well, role-play.  This means that they should act like they are actually people existing in the time and world on which the game takes place, without knowledge of modern technology or pop-culture.  My DSI team really didn't do a lot of role-playing, they were more like a group of teenagers from our time tossed into a fantasy world.  Of course, tabletop gaming is meant to be whatever you want it to be, so it isn't like they were ‘breaking the rules’ or anything, and they accomplished the most important element of that gaming, they had fun.

In fact, our games were more about comedy than story most of the time.  I remember one time when I asked Colin Morgan what his character had on him, after he pulled out a 50’ foot rope, tied it to a ten-foot pole, used a hammer and spikes to attach it to a wall, and a pulley to slide down the rope.  I checked his character sheet and found he had something like fifteen 50’ ropes, six suits of armor, twenty 10’ poles, and much MUCH more.  I made him draw a picture of himself, where he had to put everything he was carrying in the image.  There was this little person, and a giant sack the size of a Greyhound bus.  Santa Claus would have been envious!

But there were many other funny moments, like when one of our team learned how to move his body through solid stone, then he ran into a giant stone golem.  So, instead of fighting him, as I had planned, he went inside the stone of the golem’s body, moved up to the head, and stuck his arm and weapon out, and preceded to smack the golem in the head, from inside its head.  This is not standard fantasy battle stuff, but it was funny.

So, I got the idea to write a story about a company from our time, called Dragon Slayers, Incorporated.  The name meant that even though dragons are mythical if you pay them enough, they will slay your dragon.  In other words, a company that claims they would take on the impossible for the right fee.

This company is then approached by an old man who wants them to do something clearly impossible and meets the price they placed.  The send a team, expecting this guy is a nut case, and end up being transported, in their Chevy Van, with all their modern equipment, to the fantasy world of Zot.

This novel is about what a modern group of problem solvers does when stranded in a wacky and crazy fantasy world.  And, just like my group of players, this is a comedic look at the outcome, not anything too serious.  The story also pokes fun at many fantasy clichés, even things I have used in my own epic fantasy series, as well as doing parodies of things from Lord of the Rings, Conan, and many other fantasy works.

It is all meant to be in fun.

Finally, because the idea came from a group of friends of mine, I decided to base ALL the major characters (and many of the minor) on those friends and family.  They are called by their name, and may (or may not) have some real elements about those people.  However, as I warned all of them, these are characters, and they aren't really those people.  I took as many liberties with them as I pleased, after all, this is a comedy!

So that is Dragon Slayers, Incorporated, my latest novel, and one that has been a long time coming!  If you are in the mood for a quick, light read, in a story that doesn't take itself at all seriously, then come join the crack squad from Dragon Slayers, Incorporated on their first adventure on a fantasy world.  And just remember, no matter what, Dragon Slayers, Incorporated always delivers!  You can find the novel on Amazon, here: Dragon Slayers Incorporated

My new novel is published: zONE: The End and the Beginning

Book One in the zONE series: The End and the Beginning

Well, I've got my writer hat back on.  My new novel, zONE: The End and the Beginning is available to read, in ebook or print and there is even a full audio play for those who prefer ot listen to a novel.  The End and the Beginning is also my first (pure) Science Fiction novel.

The End and the Beginning takes place around thirty years from now.  First off, think about what has happened to technology in the last thirty-some years?  Let's take a quick trip back.  It's 2014, so if we subtract thirty years, we would be 1984, George Orwell's year.  Personal computers were just starting to get into a few homes, and were at the basic level of the Apple IIe, with green screen monitor, there were no cell phones and no Internet.  Imagine that (or if you're older, think back to that time).

In just thirty short years we went from the Apple IIe to where we are today with the Internet, Cell phones and computers in, well, just about everything.  I think there are toasters with computers more powerful than the original Apple II.

How about politics?  Remember the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia?  In 1984, thirty years ago, Ronald Reagan made the gaffe while joking with a live mic where he said, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever.  We begin bombing in five minutes."  Only seven years later, that same Super Power, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) formally ceased to exist on the 26th of December, 1991.

The First World War lasted just over four years, the Second World War lasted just six years.  These were world sweeping wars, hence the name, yet they only lasted a few years.

A lot can happen in thirty years.

And so, in my novel, zONE, subtitled, The End and the Beginning, a LOT has changed in the next thirty years.  The Internet is dead, cell phones are gone, and it was all changed by a new technology called the Zones.  The Zones are a virtual reality where they can create any environment, story, world, or even universe.  When you go in, you feel like you are in a real place.  Every famous book, movie, time period, historical setting, etc. have been recreated into Zones where you can actually go there and experience it as a living person.  In the Zones you are a Puppeteer, or 'Teer', controlling a Puppet.  What this really means is that you get a new body, of your choosing, and you travel through these worlds as that person.

You can go, do or be anything or anyone you want, and it all seems real.

Not only that, but there have been sweeping changes to the political landscape as well, there is no more United Nations, in fact, there are no nations.  There is just one world government, run by a company called Zcerebral, Inc., the company that created, and owns the secret to running the Zones.

zONE is told in First Person from the mind of the lead character, T.C. Hamilton.  The problem is, he has lost some of his memories, but not all of them.  There are just big gaps.  He is the most wanted man on Earth, and in the Zones, he is a Pirate.  Pirates are like Hackers, but these are the very few who are on the top 50 wanted list.  These are people who have figured out how to create and sail their sculpted spaceship through zSpace and illegally enter any Zone.

As the reader you get to ride along with T.C. on his adventures through an Earth run by the iron fist of a new totalitarian government, who use the bodies of their own citizens as zombie bodies for their operatives to commandeer.  If T.C. is caught before he can discover why he is the most wanted person, then his body will be donated to the Zombies, the zPol police force.

But there is much much more to this onion than just why T.C. is wanted, and he will have to travel through the various story world, like Wonderland, Hyperborea, The Jungle Book, and through other famous people's worlds, like the Harrison Zone, the Roddenberry Zone, the Lucas Zone, the Rowling Zone or the Tolkien Zone in order to find the answers, and solve a great mystery.

I had a lot of fun with this and got to pay a lot of respect to authors, directors, screenwriters, and artists of many kinds in this novel.  This was a challenge in some ways because of copyright laws.   Fortunately, due to the 'Fair Use' I can mention authors or titles of other works, which I do.  I stay away from their stories, characters and other copyrighted information.  This means a certain amount of dancing around, unfortunately, but it is their work and their rights should be protected.  However, zONE pays homage to these works without infringing on their rights.

In the case of stories in the public domain, I had a lot more freedom, like Alice in Wonderland, or The Jungle Book.  I was also able to use some of my own previous novels as worlds and did so simply because I knew I could without getting sued.  :)

There are many references throughout the book to other famous works, and this is an integral part of the story, as you will find out before the end, or was that the beginning?

As for what kind of Science Fiction, well, that's hard to pin down.  It has some science to it, though I wouldn't call it hard science fiction, and it has some fantasy to it, but I wouldn't call it fantasy.  This is mainly an adventure, with some romance and humor mixed into the science fiction.  As with all my novels, the most important part of it was to be entertaining.  It's a fun look at what might be, and what would happen if there were such things as the Zones.

I invite you to read or listen to the book and remember that, as with all my novels, not everything is as it seems.  Please find zONE: The End and the Beginning at his link.on Amazon.  Most importantly, if you enjoy the story you can really help me out by posting a review.  I've found that good reviews go further to spreading a book than anything else on the Internet (or in the Zones).  :)

Pauper to Power

If you read my books you will find a common theme even though you are reading vastly different worlds and stories... what I call pauper to power, (others might all it rags to riches, but my characters don't always get rich).  What they do is come from humble beginnings and work their way up to greatness.  They may start out as a poor orphan, or a boy cleaning chamber pots, or a man with no possessions, not even his memory, but in the end, they will become embroiled in the great epic events of the world.

I certainly didn't make this up, or pioneer anything... it's just the way I like to write my stories.  I feel that the reader (assuming he isn't the King of Atlantis, or something) can relate better to a protagonist who comes from humble beginnings.  If you want other examples of books that use this, look at Lord of the Rings... ask yourself, who are Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippen when they start their grand adventure?  Or, who is Harry Potter, but a boy living in a cupboard under a stairway.  Or Garian of The Belgariad, who grows up in the kitchen, and becomes the most important person in the world.  There are countless examples of this mechanism, because it's a good one!

Not that this is the only way to write a good story, but I think that it helps you readers to connect with the hero, and it gives the hero something to achieve... greatness, from humble beginnings.  The thing is, we all like to believe that we could achieve greatness, given the chance.  That somewhere inside each and every one of us is someone just waiting for the right moment in time, the right circumstance, where we can become the hero.  It is fun to ride along with other characters who achieve this greatness, and live vicariously through them, hoping the day comes when we too can show our mettle.

Wow, I never saw THAT coming!

I'm sure that different writers use different methods to write their novels. For me it works like this, after I have my premise and universe (see posts below), I finally set my story. For this I begin with my end, so to speak. I like to know the big climax of my story before I get down to figuring out anything else. Once I know the scene for the climax it will help me start to define my characters. And once I know who the main parties are, and how the climax will affect them, I go to the beginning of the story and figure out how to get them started down the road toward that climax.

Once I have a beginning and an end... there is this whole... middle part to deal with, the lion share of the story. It reminds me a bit of Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, when he says, "What was the middle part again?" Now, I don't just ignore the middle, at this stage I work out a rough outline of what will transpire, a path toward that epic climax that I already have planned, but... I don't force my characters to adhere to that outline. It ends up more of a suggestion list, or something to keep me going should I wonder what should be happening next.

Now, I've got my premise, my universe and world, my climax, my beginning, and my story outline, however, before I can actually start writing I have one more important stage of planning... characters. By now I have a list of my major characters and what they will generally be doing along the way, but at this stage it is critical to develop the personality of each of these people in my story.

To do this I need to understand pretty much everything about each of my major characters. What do they look like? What is their personality? Why do they have this personality? And, in order to understand this, I need to know their history, all the way back to childhood. How and why did they develop into who they are at the time my story takes place? What are their goals in life? Who are their friends, enemies and family? What haunts them from the past, and what do they desire to achieve in the future? The more you explore them BEFORE you start writing, the easier it will be to write the story, and to make the characters seem three dimensional, and alive.

This is very important to how I write my books, simply because I like to let my characters work out a lot of that 'middle' stuff in the book, rather than force them to my original outline. With characters that are fully detailed and real I no longer have to make up stuff, all I need to do is set up a situation and then see what they do.

I can't tell you how many times I am surprised by what my characters end up doing, or saying at any given moment in the story. Even though I am writing them, it is the characters that are making the decisions, and that often leads me down a path that I never saw coming.

Now, I still use that outline to setup some of the situations, and when needed I nudge my characters down that path, but I never constrain them to the path, and will often let the story go where they take it naturally. I do keep my climax in mind, and make sure that the main story that I want to tell unfolds at the proper speed and builds to the proper planned climax, but the road to that climax is filled with little surprises and scenes that I never saw coming.

Someone who wants to be a writer recently asked me how writers of big epic series keep all of this stuff in their head, and my answer was, "Well, we don't, at least, I don't. And I suspect that most writers don't." Sure, there are clues, and foreshadowing, and other things early in the story that tie into the later story, that's what having your climax and outline do for you, but there is so much that you don't know until you write it, even with the best of planning.

If your characters are real people to you, then sometimes you just go along for the ride and see where they take you. It's one of the most rewarding parts of writing a story, and if you flesh them out to start with, and give them a real life and history, they will become as real to you as any living person... in some ways, more so, because they come from your heart and soul. Good or bad, they still come from you. Let them show you the way in your story and you will often be pleasantly surprised, but no matter what, they will add to your story if you let them. And it’s nice to have friends help, even if they are the people in your books.