Tag: Henchman Press

Updates and Upcoming Events

So many things happening

Life, family and writing have all gotten busy lately. I’ll update you as best I can!

The signing event at Pella Books during Tulip Time was successful. I sold a couple of books, met some really great local authors, and ate too much ‘fair food’ while I was up town. This annual event is always enjoyable, and it’s a great chance for me to get to know more local creatives, and meet people in the local community.

I finally got a box of author copies of Moving Target with the new cover by Tiffanie Gray. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to unbox the new books yet due to other issues going on.

We received sad news that The Curiosity Shop is closing at the end of the month. They’ve been great to work with, and their shop will be missed by many of us!

I’ve gotten started on story selection for Tales of the E4 Mafia 2 and Butter Bars! Large and (Not So) In Charge, but it’s been slow going between work and other issues.

Unfortunately, a family member has had a significant health issue, so the last few days have involved a lot of time in a hospital and tracking what’s going on.

Last, I have dates for my panels at Des Moines Con!

May 31st, 11 AM in Rooms 313-314 : Fitness for Time Crunched Creatives, where I’ll give tips and advise for writers, creators, fans and anyone else who’s overworked and still trying to improve their health and fitness!

June 1st, 3:45 PM in Room 315-316: Everything I Wish I’d Known When I Started Writing – this is a panel for people getting started on their writing journey, looking for ways to progress, what marketing is, why editing your work is far more important than you think, and why you should not take Mom’s word that your story is brilliant, among many other lessons I’ve learned (far too often the hard way!). I’m even developing a presentation for this one!

So, there you have it and thanks for reading this far! I hope you’re all doing well. Reach out or comment if you’re having a busy time, and how you handle it when things feel like they’re all happening at once!

I Finished the Rough Draft of Corporals

I finished the rough draft of ‘Corporals’ the other day, and thought you all might enjoy a snippet of the story. In this story, Burn and Bad Karma are recruited into Rangers due to some issues that come up with Karma’s past.

Enjoy!

“Training under an identity we’re building for you. Makes it more complicated for politicians. Tossing people with no numbers under tank treads is easy. Soldiers and Department team members get ugly for them fast,” the sergeant major explained.

“We haven’t been a country long enough for politicians to be voted out,” Burn faced the soldier.

“Three politicians had tragic accidents,” the general noted, “And the investigations came up to purely accidental causes. Clearly.”

“Wasn’t me,” Bad Karma said.

“It wasn’t,” the sergeant major smiled, her cheeks rising as she spoke, “We checked.”

“What, exactly, are you trying to say?” Burn’s fingers pressed against the table, turning white.

“That it appears that trying to use the Ranger Department for political advantage can be detrimental to one’s health. Many veterans of the war are outspoken about using individuals as trading chips. The Department, of course, is absolutely loyal to the elected leaders of our nation and our constitution,” the sergeant major said.

Silence settled across the room. Burn noted the buzz of the white noise generator and that her comm systems were showing no signal.

“It appears we can trust you. So, why HALO jumping?”

“It’s the nearest start date we have for any training,” the general shrugged, “And I doubt you two would do well in Ranger School.”

“Why’s that?” Bad Karma asked.

“Ranger School lasts for three months. Freefall school is three weeks, and you don’t have to go in knowing military tactics,” the sergeant major noted, “First, you don’t want to be out of the loop in the dropped numbers world for three months. Second, you don’t need to go through the usual military training program. We just need you in a school to have your new core IDs solid. Third, the training will be useful to you and to us, as it opens some options when situations needing your skills come up.”

“New skills don’t hurt,” Karma shrugged.