Good news!

My story "The Dead Travel Silently" has won first-place and will be published by Rogue Blades in its STEALTH challenge anthology. I essentially woke up to this news today, as the gmail message notification was the first thing I saw after I dazedly turned off my phone's alarm clock. Great wake-up call. I confess I haven't been writing. I've been working, of course, and coaching soccer. (I played four years on my college's team. It's become clear to the local club that I know the game, so in addition to coaching my older son's team and assisting with my younger son's, I've been recruited to coach the all-star team for my older son's age group.) I've also spent too much time playing Avernum: Escape from the Pit on the iPad--easily the most addictive D&D-style game I can recall playing. My resolution is that this morning's wake-up call will also serve as a wake-up call for my writing career as a whole. I have some talent; time to get back to using it. Cheers, RR

Change of course

Dear Reader, I'm still alive. Also, I'm still writing. My intention last year was to write Goldspire, a sword-against-sorcery novel. At some point in the late spring, though, I lost momentum and turned my attention to other pursuits. Mostly good ones--time with my family, work, playing and coaching soccer, Dungeons & Dragons, comic books--but non-writing ones. I did write one fantasy short story for a proposed anthology and am awaiting word on its fate. We recently returned from a vacation in Costa Rica, and while there, I had an idea for an "urban fantasy" novel. (Quick tangent: as far as non-fantasy thrillers go, The Day of the Jackal is unequivocally masterful.) I've enjoyed reading some urban fantasy novels (e.g. Hanover's Black Sun's Daughter series and Hearne's Iron Druid series) but have absolutely cringed at others. I came to this conclusion, though: pre-Enlightenment fantasy is somewhat at low tide now, and though I'm confident in the potential of Goldspire, it's a tough book to write (multiple, third-person viewpoints), and I'm not sure it's the best time for me to bear that burden while also holding a full-time job and parenting two high-intensity boys. A first-person, contemporary voice, on the other hand ... Which leads me to my new work-in-progress: Peacemaker. It's the opening of the story of Dylan Galloway, a youth minister in Atlanta who also serves as the assistant of Father Luis Rocha, a full-fledged exorcist. After Padre Luis vanishes, Dylan must find him and discover what sinister plan would require the exorcist's kidnapping as its first step. I'm excited. Cheers, RR