Work(s) in Progress

 The tagline for my website says I’m an author of paranormal and fantasy fiction. However, you may have noticed my only published work at this time is a romantic comedy that is light fantasy at best.

Yeah, what’s up with that?

Why thank you for asking, imaginary reader. I recognize this may be confusing for those who don’t know me personally and thus haven’t heard about the projects I’m working on. I thought it was time to tell you a bit about the series I am planning, which is more representative of the genres I listed.

The series has a working title of The Blood Trilogy, which will probably change once I finish more drafts. For one thing, it will probably be four books. I had originally planned three, but there is going to be a novella between book one and book two, and I’m open to possibly having another between book two and three, should a good idea come to me. The planned novella is a prequel.

If it’s a prequel, shouldn’t you publish that first?

Since it’s about secondary characters, not main characters from the rest of the series, I don’t want to release it first. It will give some background that will then tie in to the events of book two. You’ll be able to read book two without reading the novella, but you’ll enjoy it even more if you do.

So what are these books called?

I have working titles for the three main books, but not the novella, and they are all taken from hymn titles. I hope these will end up being the official titles, but they could change. Book one is There’s Power in the Blood. Book two is Nothing But the Blood. Book three is The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power. You can see why I call the series The Blood Trilogy, at least for now. Can you guess what kind of paranormal creature I’m writing about?

Duh. It’s pretty obvious. I’ve read your bio.

If you guessed vampire, you are partly right. I did start the series intending to write a vampire story. However, it has become more than that as I developed my story world. This is a good thing, as I have more ideas and more creatures to play with. While vampires will appear through the series, they are not the only monsters and beasts that populate this world.

The setting for these stories is contemporary, our world, and modeled after my New Jersey roots. My characters start out as high school students, and I wanted to give a South Jersey feel to their community. Their town is not a specific single locale but more an amalgamation of several towns I have known.

My goal is to take what might seem like a common idea—high schoolers who encounter vampires—in a direction you will not expect.

Where are you in the process of writing this series?

I have written a first draft of book one, and started drafts of book two and the novella prequel. I’m revising book one while also developing a master timeline for the series. When I’m confident that the master plan is set, then I’ll move ahead with steps to publish book one, which might involve more revising, certainly editing, and having a cover designed.

I can’t say for sure how quickly or how slowly I will be in accomplishing this, but I have made a lot of progress lately in my revisions of book one. It’s my hope that it will be available to readers next year, if not sooner. I will keep you updated about progress here on the blog.