Writing an action Saint

Posted on September 26, 2018 by
Hell Spawn was a nice change because I was forced by the character to make him a good guy.If I have one running theme in my books, it’s that “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” Probably the most true thing Orwell ever wrote.

Sean A.P. Ryan in Pius? Dark.

Marco Catalano in Love at First Bite? Darker.

Then there’s Tommy Nolan, a saint.

But then, just because I made him a good guy, a saint, didn’t mean that I made him an angel.

Over the course of the novel, I was surprised at some of the darker choices he made, but he made them all for practical, prudent reason. And prudence is also a gift of the Holy Spirit.

But no, some of the decisions surprised me.

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Hell Spawn is coming

Posted on September 25, 2018 by
My novel Hell Spawn is going to be the first in the series of a cop with saintly powers.

It features a “Saint” Cop versus a possessed serial killer.

And it’s gonna be awesome.

And oh, by the way, there’s gonna be a kickstarter.

Yes, it’s all the rage these days, I know. Comic books and mecha novels and hero series and such like. And you’re probably wondering, “Declan, what does a publisher need with a kickstarter account?”

Good question.

The answer is: sales are going too well. Once upon a time, Silver Empire could pay quarterly royalties ASAP. Instead of waiting the TWO MONTHS Amazon holds the royalty payments on, it was a simple matter of paying out of pocket. After all, my publisher is the owner of TWO of his own businesses.

Now, sales are too good. And while Silver Empire waits upon Amazon to pay up, Silver Empire is doing six other things.

This kickstarter helps them pay me faster than Amazon can pay them to pay me.

Not only that, but the kickstarter is going to the costs of cover art, printing books, promotional artwork, and …. again, me.

What are the goals of the kickstarter?

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A Look at the #CaptainMarvel Trailer

Posted on September 18, 2018 by
Image result for miss marvel

Oh look, the trailer is out for the upcoming Marvel film….

For the record, Miss Marvel, which was Carol Danvers’ first of many identities, was a six-foot blonde who got her powers through less than conventional means… even for the Marvel universe. On the right, you get to see Miss Marvel in her original, and best, outfit. She’s muscular and feminine at the same time. So, not bad.

Now, Captain Mar-vell was an alien who turned on his people to save humans from his own people, eventually dying to save humanity.

 

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An Open Letter to Chuck Wendig

Posted on June 9, 2018 by

Editor’s Note: If you are unaware of it, Star Wars author Chuck Wendig went on an extended tirade online against Star Wars fans for being racist, bigoted, white supremacist, misogynistic, illiterate, masculinist, mediocre, and possessing an overabundance of earwax. Okay, that last part was made up, but it and the kitchen sink was probably in there somewhere. 

Ann Lewis, of pre-Disney canon, decided to weigh in. Ann is also the author of the excellent Sherlock Holmes book Murder in the Vatican (which you should read), among other titles. ~ MB

An Open letter to Chuck Wendig
by Ann Margaret Lewis

Dear Chuck,
This isn’t a bashing letter, just a thoughtful one. I wanted to state that at the outset, so you don’t skip over it. You’re in a rather peevish mood lately, and I’m hoping to start off my discussion here with a calm base. Further, this is going to be longer than your average blog post, so I beg you to bear with me as I make my way through this. Continue reading →

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Dragon (Award) Fire

Posted on May 10, 2018 by
320x320_Nominee_Click

Please remember, everything eligible for nomination is first published between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. You can the click the above photo in order to start voting.

Technically, I’ve got a single book that is eligible: Good to the Last Drop, book 4 of Love at First Bite.…

This, of course, will be a problem with having Silver Empire rerelease Love at First Bite: Good to the Last Drop will not be available for purchase until the votes are already in.

We’ll see what happens. Anyone who has read the book and thinks it deserves another Dragon nomination, feel free. Fire for effect.

If you have not yet read Good to the Last Drop …. sorry about that.

If you want my thoughts on the Dragons, I’ve only got a few items here and there. I’m in so many anthologies, and releasing so many novels, my reading speed this year has been severely compromised.

Last year, I asked everyone to please leave suggestions in the comments. Trust me, I need the reminders.

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The Dragon Award nominated Honor at Stake is Undead Once More

Posted on May 8, 2018 by
HAS Silver EmpireYou’d think with all my experience on Twitter, I’d have more pithy titles.
Anyway, yes, Honor at Stake is back. The Award nominated book is possibly the best thing I’ve ever done. If you don’t believe me, look at the sixty-seven customer reviews.  That’s right, sixty-seven. Screw you, Goodreads.
This is, of course, just the beginning as we build up to the release of Good to the Last Drop in August, to (hopefully) dovetail with the Dragon Award nomination.

I figure that after book one got nominated, and book three got nominated, book four is a shoe-in. But here’s hoping. (You can make that a reality by clicking here and filling out the nominations ballot).

If you’re new here and you’re wondering “What the heck is he boasting about?” …

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Writing “Death March of Cambreadth” for Mars

Posted on April 26, 2018 by
When Superversive announced the Planetary Anthology, you’d have to figure that Mars was right up my alley.I’ve only broken, destroyed, trashed, and blown up any number of vehicles, places and people that I take one look at John Wick and see it as a challenge.

So Mars, god of War?

Blow crap up?

Count me in.

Strangely enough, I went small for this one. Don’t ask me why I did. But there was still plenty of violence. Don’t worry about that. Because if I have any message in any of my books, it’s Orwell’s “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

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