The Whisper : Start Here

It isn't the hail of bullets through the windshield of his Packard coupe that shatters Allan Jones's life. It's the invisible man shooting back in the seat beside him.

Jones is a newshound on the trail of an old informant: a trail he hopes will lead to the scoop of a lifetime. Instead, he winds up wanted by government agents and threatened by a sinister cabal wielding weapons of super-science. A mysterious phantom benefactor saves him from harm one minute while leading him to danger the next, and though Jones owes him his life several times over, he can't help but wonder... Who is The Whisper?

The Whisper is my crazy project for National Novel Writing Month 2013, in which while writing my 30-day novel I'm posting it online as an old-fashioned pulp serial. This page will (hopefully) serve as a convenient entry point for those just coming to the adventure.

Update, Christmas 2019: Okay, I've taken The Whisper down from this blog, because... coming in 2020, in ebook and print, will be an all-new, all-updated, and all-better version of my original Whisper serial. Stay tuned!

Who Is The Whisper?(or, My Batsh!t Crazy Stunt for NaNoWriMo)

The Cold War is in full swing, beatniks roam the jazz clubs, and "Tail Gunner Joe" McCarthy has barely faded from the public eye.

Allan “Smithee” Jones, formerly a writer for a celebrity gossip rag, wants to establish himself as a legitimate reporter, but his involvement with an invisible, seemingly omniscient informant almost gets him killed during a political assassination attempt.

Suddenly Jones is embroiled in a government investigation, a criminal conspiracy from the future, and events beyond what a sane man would consider possible. He finds himself asking exactly what kind of nightmare he's fallen into, and most of all... Who is The Whisper?

~ ~ ~

National Novel Writing Month is on the horizon, and once again I will be serving as Birmingham's municipal liaison in addition to writing 50,000 words in 30 days. I've "won" NaNoWriMo five times, crashed n' burned once, and feeling the need for a little writerly rejuvenation, so this year I'm working on a brand new project. The Whisper, a 1950's era pulp thriller, will be structured as a 10-chapter serial with car chases, gunfights, mysteries, twists, and cliffhangers oh-my. Furthermore, I've decided on the following crazy stunt:

I will post a chapter every three days from Nov. 3 to Nov. 30, right here on this blog.

Don't try this at home, kids. In the past I've always had a strict "no one sees my first draft" policy, but this will indeed by barely-edited first draft material - ugly, clunky, awkward, and full of energy just like the great pulps of old. Whether or not it will be readable or coherent, I have no idea. But whatever else it is, I guarantee that it's going to be a train-wreck of sheer fun!


Photo by Emilie Villemagne for openphoto.net

Write Club Flash Fiction Night 2013

Flash Fiction Night 2013 from Hoover Library on Vimeo.

At last, I'm back! And I bring video.

The Hoover Library Write Club's 4th Annual (!) Flash Fiction Night was held on March 19. The video is above, the list of wonderful presenters and their stories are below:

Lindsey Robinson de Sanchez - “Journey of the Ladybug”

Octavia Kuransky - “Stars That See, Stars That Do Not See”

(for Marvin Bell)

Carly Koenig - “Firstborn”

Larry Hensley - “Eyes”

Chuck Allen - “Little Girls and Lightning Bugs”

Robert Caldwell - “Gathering at the Bubble”

Robyn Cornell - “I Was Flawless”

Ray Busler - “The Leap”

Rowan Macey - “A Walk on the Moors”

Beth Stewart - “Anticipatory Grief”

R.J. Head - “Down in the Well”

Jared Millet - “The Dragonfly King”

Gadgets & Gizmos: Covers and Contents!

Our friends at Kerlak Publishing / Dark Oak Press just unleashed a double-barrel blast of Steampunk! My own story, "The Peace Machine," appears in volume 4. I see a lot of returning contributors from the first two volumes, and a lot of newcomers as well. A special shout-out to my friend Louise Herring-Jones who also appeared in Summer Gothic. Welcome to the party!

Dreams of Steam III: Gadgets
Gift of Light - Stephen Zimmer
Steampunk Alchemy - Jodi Adamson
The Survivor - M.B. Weston
Heart of Steel - Len Berry
A Steam Bunny Adventure - Sean Taylor
Time and the Wrinkled Prostitute - Brandon Black
The Brass Peregrine - David R. Tabb
The Last Frontier - H. David Blalock
The Constance of Memory - Stacy Tabb
When Edgar Speaks - Alexander S. Brown
The Tower - Laura H. Smith
Steaming Cherry - Tyree Campbell
The Clockwork Gin - Eden Royce
The Great Steamship Race - Rob Cerio
The Soul of the Sky Queen - Patricia M. Rose

Dreams of Steam IV: Gizmos
Miss Alice Grayson and the Specter of Death - Stephen D. Rogers
Commander Tesla and the Zeppelins - Philip R. Cox
Monsters from the ID - Herika R. Raymer
The Book - J.L. Mulvihill
Second Chances - Dwayne Debardelaben
The Peace Machine - Jared Millet
For the Hate of Steam - Missa Dixon
The Clockwork Cockroaches of Thelema - Cindy Macleod
Three Poems - Jerri Hardesty
Kaylana - D. Alan Lewis
Just Like Clockwork - Melinda Lefevers
In Deep - Kirk Hardesty
The Clockwork Gunslingers - Robert J. Krog
Fire on the Mountain - John Hartness
Queen of Steam - Louise Herring-Jones
Estrella Waits - Kathryn Hinds
The Unseen Hand - Allan Gilbreath
Meridian - Kimberly Richardson
The Finder's Keeper - Jason Cordova

Another Year, Another Expo

So, the 2013 Local Authors Expo is over and done. (Full photo set Here.) This was my first year to be in charge of the event, so I didn't have a lot of time to sit and man my booth. Lucky for me, my partners-in-crime Sean DeArmond and Larry Hensley were on hand to do the honors (thanks guys!) and promote Summer Gothic (which, if you haven't bought it yet (for shame) you can get in Print, Kindle, or Nook).

On the horizon - Hoover Library's annual Flash Fiction Night is on the horizon (March 19, 7:00 p.m. to be precise) and a couple of stories in the works, one of which is a new novel project that's got me pretty excited. Next thing to watch for: Dreams of Steam III from Kerlak, which will include my story "The Peace Machine." As soon as it's out, I'll be sure to let you know.