Two Adventures Across Eternity!

Today I want to announce a new small project getting released soon. That's right, it's a new book, albeit a small one. Two Adventures Across Eternity will include two novelettes I've written and decided to bundle together in one package.

This is a bit of a surprise announcement, I know, but it also comes as a shock to me. A little while back, I was just sitting there looking at at my stories and what I had and hadn't put out and realized that despite being in between projects and at the end of the year that I had not one, but two stories that could be delivered to readers that wouldn't otherwise fit any other upcoming project. Therefore, I decided to bundle them together to give you more bang for your buck.

And I mean that literally, because this will be put up on Amazon for a dollar. As for a release date, well, that will be soon, hopefully before the end of the year. I'm still in the process of editing the second story, and this being the time of year that it is might make that difficult to finish off before the fireworks go off. Nonetheless, it won't take that long to release despite that.

So what exactly is included in this package? Let's go into that. First up is a story that newsletter subscribers might remember from a few years ago. That would be "Duel on Dalpha"! I'm finally going to put it out again, this time for everyone.

Here is the description:

In Duel on Dalpha, the future of another world lies in uncertainty. Sheriff Simon Gareth answers a distress call in the wilds. There he finds a rogue military force in search of an ancient artifact and, despite his failing health, he is their only opposition. But what will he do when his very blood is the key to it all?

Those who remember this one know it gets a bit crazy as it goes. Check this one out if you like gunfights and mecha. I had a blast writing this one.

The second story is different in that it has never been released at all before. "Three Gifts of the White Wolf" is a tale I wrote a while back, but it ended up being too long for any magazine or anthology to take. Therefore it sat in the archives without any way to get it out. This one is also a bit different from most of my other stories, making it a hard sell to editors.

Here is the description:

The Demon Eye scours the Black Lands in Three Gifts of the White Wolf. There in the Nameless Kingdom lies the exile Sagest, a man as dulled out as his axe. As he lies dying he is visited by a white wolf who directs him deeper into the darkness. Can he rescue lost innocents, or are they all doomed to be consumed like all else in this evil land?

You might recognize some of that terminology. That's because it is related to one of my early published short stories, "Inside the Demon's Eye", which was published in StoryHack #3 way back in 2018. This isn't a sequel or a rewrite of that one, however. It's a whole new adventure set in the Nameless Kingdom from that story. In this one you will learn a whole lot more about what this place actually is and why so many seem trapped in the so-called Black Lands under the Demon's Eye sun.

The two stories included in this package aren't directly related except that there was no simpler way to get them out to readers. What's a story if no one can read it, after all? I also didn't think one of them alone would be enough story to satiate, nor would it be enough to full a pocket paperback.

What I mean by that statement is that I am planning to release Two Adventures Across Eternity in pocket paperback, exclusive to Lulu. This is the perfect opportunity to finally put out a book in that form, perhaps the first of many, on the only store where it would work. This also means it is small enough that a physical would be exclusive to that form and that store, at least for the time being.

So yes, this is one final gift for readers as we wrap up the long year that has been 2023. I put out four books (bundled in an omnibus) so lets try to go for five! Why not? You can always have more fun stories to read. There's no limit on wonder.

That aside, there isn't much else to report. I've got several things in the oven for next year, and I literally just randomly wrote a new short story a few days ago in the midst of all this, but otherwise it is mostly going to be quiet on that front until the new year. I put out quite a lot in 2023, and I can't imagine releasing that much material in a single year again.

That said, like I mentioned, it's not quite over yet! So please look forward to Two Adventures Across Eternity as we wrap up 2023 in style.

It's been a strange year, but at least it's been exciting.

All four of my 2023 books can be found in one omnibus here!