Stuff I'm working on

Novels

miscreation i: a flash of lightning - out for consideration

This one's with Robert Edgar Walton (REW).

This is the first of (at least) two novels about a reimagined Frankenstein, searching for immortality, and coming up against some very familiar faces along the way. A famous vampire. A doctor who morphs into a hulking brute. A mad scientist performing strange experiments with animals on his island. A man obsessed with a portrait of himself. Even a famous scientist/inventor.

This first book covers the protagonist's birth in 1762, up to about the end of the 1800s.

We've had a lot of fun with this one.

First draft has been cleaned up and is out for consideration.

Public domain image

In Progress

miscreation ii: The sound of thunder - wip

Also (obviously) with (REW).

We're just in the early days of bashing this one out, but we know it's basically going to cover from the end of the 1800s to present day.

Expect more famous guests, more pathos, and more surprises.

Currently about 50% complete.

Image by Etienne Marais from Pixabay

revelations I: original sin - out for consideration

Another with REW.

The first of a proposed trilogy. This first book is complete, and tells a sprawling story of not just how the Horsemen came to be, but also about how they regain their humanity.

And, when God wakes up to the state of the world and orders the Apocalypse, the Four Horsemen...say no.

First draft has been cleaned up and is out for consideration.

Image from wallpaperflare.com

revelations II: paradise lost - First draft complete

With REW.

"Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can.
"No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man..."

The second book in the trilogy. This one picks up almost immediately after the events of the first book. The Horsemen...old and new...are struggling. The world is struggling with the new reality...

Then along comes a new threat, to test them all...

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

revelations III: prodigal daughter - plotted, next in line

With REW.

It all comes down to this. All the struggles. All the changes. All the power plays. All the pain.

What will our world look like when all the powerful beings finish bending it to their will?

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

Think "thelma and louise" / x-men's phoenix - wip

This one just shoved everything else aside and said, "I'm HERE!" as it popped into my head, fully formed. I had the opening scene. I had the characters. I had the antagonist...well, both of them. And I had the ending.

So, yeah, all the ones below have been put on the backburner (yeah, I know, that backburner's getting FULL) until I get this one out of my head.

I don't even know what to call this one. A little SF. A little horror. A little super-powered human. A little cosmic.

But a lot of fun.

Image by u_21vzt17w0x from Pixabay

the roswell novel...sort of... - wip, on hold

A long time ago, I had this idea for a story that started with the alien crash at Roswell... and it was going to end the Aphotic series.

Obviously, that didn't happen, and I'm glad I chose the direction I ultimately did.

But lately, I've been thinking this one over, as my INFESTATION novel stubbornly stalled in its tracks. So, I thought, what the hell? Why not? So, I did a bit of research, found some fun stuff I could work with, and came up with a far better ending.

So, this is a WIP. And it's kinda fun so far.

Let's hope it stays that way.

Image by Roger Casco from Pixabay

the wrong - wip, on hold

Okay, the first thing that's gonna go on this is the title. I've never been happy with it.

So this was my second—and final—chapbook published by Burning Effigy Press, and I believe it also has the distinction of being the last book ever produced by BE.

I'd briefly considered including it in one of my UGLY STORIES collections, but at 18K words, it was just too damn long. And besides, I'd always had this desire to build it out into a longer, novel-length work.

Well, with INFESTATION (below) on the backburner for the time being... Once the ROSWELL one above is done, I think it may be time to revisit the slowly-breaking world of THE WRONG.

Original cover of my novella, The Wrong

infestation - wip, on hold

My (at one time) next solo novel, and...finally...a standalone thing, not attached to anything else I've written.

For the longest time, I've been calling this my "possession/haunted house" novel...which is accurate to a degree. I rediscovered this novel, about halfway done, when I was doing a file clean up.

I've decided to make a few fundamental changes to it, which means...sigh...starting it all over again, right from page one.

But I'm looking forward to it. This one's gonna be nasty.

UPDATE - 6/1/25: This one just isn't cooperating with me the way I'd hoped. I know how it starts, I know all the pieces in the middle, and I know the ending...but it doesn't have that magic flow yet. So, on the backburner it goes.

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

novellas & short stories

the scream - WIP

This one grew out of two things. The first is my stupid, irritating tinnitus. The second is the fact that, when I get a headache, the tinnitus seems to get turned up LOUD.

I started thinking, what if it just got worse and worse?

Then, a version of my father showed up to tell me what would happen if it got worse and worse.

So, now, I'm writing it so you all know as well.

Image by geralt from Pixabay

In Progress

calavera - WIP

With REW.

In preparation for a new anthology release, Robert Edgar Walton and I were thinking of taking an old, abandoned, not finished story we'd been working on years ago, and adapting it to fit into the world of our MISCREATION series.

Instead, when Robert dug it up from his archives—because I'd completely lost my copy—we both re-read it and found it not only completed, but far better than we remembered.

So, instead, we're cleaning it up and it's going out as is, unmolested by gothic additions...

...which is not to say we may not revisit the theme for that other series.

Image by TheDigitalArtist from Pixabay

invisible - WIP

Talking with a writer friend of mine, and she's mentioned a really cool anthology that she and another friend are trying to put together.

She gave me the theme, and I was all in.

This story instantly jumped into my head as soon as I heard the theme.

So, now I have to write the damn thing.

Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay

A Famous horror author enters a whorehouse... - WIP

Believe it or not, this one started out as a joke.

Talking to the same writer friend as above—yes, we should likely be kept separated—I tossed out a little factoid I'd read about a particular horror author that involved a brothel, and said, "wouldn't it be great to get a bunch of authors write enough stories for an anthology around that?"

And of course, my writer friend jumped all over the damn idea.

So, now I have to write the damn story, because it's probably gonna be an anthology now.

Me and my big mouth.

Public domain image

halloween story - WIP

This one's been poking at me since mid-October 2025. It showed up in my head like... well, like an unwelcome trick or treater... and it won't leave.

So, as per usual, I'll have to write the little fucker out of my head.

Image by Seth Metoyer from Pixabay

Saying goodbye - WIP

A short story that is, at this point, only a few bulleted notes, and some nebulous ideas.

It's based on the events of September 11, 2001, and a weird, heartwarming episode that happened in the call centre where I worked on that day. It's going to involve death—as that horrible day demands—but I also fervently wish it will offer some hope as well.

It's also a story that's become more urgent, with me having just seen the wonderful "Come From Away" musical.

This one's just an idea that I need to get down. No market asking for it.

Image by Oliver Fuß from Pixabay

THE age of FEAR - completed/unSOLD

This one, though brewing for quite a while, hit me hard a couple of days ago. I can't say much about it at this point, aside from the fact that it's a genuine, legitimate fear of mine...

...and that it's also one I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to face one day.

And that scares the shit out of me.

Image by Peggychoucair from Pixabay

completed

insects - completed/unSOLD

A few months ago, a very talented writer friend of mine, Stacey Ransdell, reached out and asked if I'd be interested in collaborating with her. She had an idea for a horror novella, and she thought I'd be perfect for it.

She had a lot of it mapped out, and some of the chapters already written. She'd done all the heavy lifting. I just had to come in and polish the fenders a bit.

This one's about both body horror and insects (the actual title is spelled "InSects") but it's also about a lot more. Feeling different. Feeling like an outsider. Feeling like you're not in control of your own life.

I wasn't sure how the collaboration would go, but I think this story turned out really good, likely more due to Stacey Ransdell's efforts than mine.

Image by Illuvis from Pixabay

SOME ARE DEAD AND SOME ARE LIVING - completed/unSOLD

Another short story that is also, at this point, only a few bulleted notes on historic events, and some nebulous ideas.

In reading one of the many, many Beatles biographies I've consumed over the years, I heard an interesting fact that, weirdly, I'd never heard before. When the Beatles were about to record "Fixing a Hole" for the Sgt Pepper album, Paul brought along a guy who claimed to be Jesus...

And that was enough to get my gears turning. Weirdly, it's going to be more a John Lennon story. I'm interested in seeing if I can pull this one off.

This one's just an idea that I need to get down. No market asking for it.

UPDATE - 6/1/25: I finally started writing this one May 9th, and as of today, it's done. And I'm really happy with it.

Image by unknown

love sick - completed/unSOLD

I don't think I can tell you anything about this story that's actually going to make it sound appealing, but dammit, I really like this story a lot.

I happened to be listening to Bob Seger, and I heard two of his songs back-to-back, which I don't ever think happened in this particular sequence for me before. First was "Night Moves" and then "Hollywood Nights" followed immediately afterward. And I thought, "huh, Hollywood Night Moves"...

And then my brain mashed those songs together, and added a supernatural element.

Just a very long short story with no home as yet. Ain't it funny how the night moves?

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Stranger in Town album cover ("Hollywood Nights" is on this album)

haunted - SOLD/To be published

Another (very long) short story for an upcoming anthology.

This time, I was asked to write a ghost story. I chose to write about an event that happened back when I was in high school. A classmate of mine was killed while riding his bicycle home by another classmate who was driving his muscle car. He crossed lanes, and drove right over the boy and his bicycle.

I gave that dead kid some revenge.

Slated for publication somewhere between October 2025/January 2026

UPDATE - 6/1/25: Just completed the final edits on this one and it's back with the editor. It's beginning to happen!

Photo by Salih X from Pexels

THE HUNDRED BILLION NAMES OF THE DEAD - SOLD/To be published

This one is a last minute suprise that's going to appear in the same anthology as the HAUNTED story above. I believe the antho is (at least tentatively) titled CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER 2: THINGS THAT BUMP AND GRIND IN THE NIGHT.

Personally, I hope that's the title that sticks, because I love it. And if you have not yet read the first CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER anthology... you should really remedy that... sharpish.

Anyway, this is a story that I've had percolating for years...something something apocalypse something something last three living souls on Earth something something superheroes. But it's never gelled, until I was basically challenged to write it.

Then the whole thing just sat down and wrote itself in three days. And it's pretty damn good, if I do say so myself (and I DO!).

Guessing these two (this one and HAUNTED) along with all the other killer stories—yes, I've read most of them—will make their presence known somewhere between October of this year to early 2026. I'm excited. This antho will be a killer.

Image by Frank Davis from Pixabay