Virtual Game is Here!

Book 3 of The Virtual Chronicles is available: Virtual Game!

Just when Jeremy, Mickey, and Bridget think the worst is behind them, a new threat to Zori and the entire virtual world arises. Not from a distant planet, but from Earth.

When ESEL, a mysterious, Earth-based military organization, threatens not just Zori but the entire virtual world, Jeremy, Mickey, and Bridget's virtual superpowers are compromised. Natalie gains superhuman powers, pitting the trio against each other. Even the Overlords can't stop ESEL from gaining control of the Virtual Machine.

Will the four superheroes in this space opera style science fiction adventure be able to navigate the twists and turns thrown at them by ESEL and their own emotions to defeat ESEL's plot? Like books one and two, this middle grade/young adult focused novel is accessible for adults who enjoy fun, mystery, suspense, and an exciting superhero, space opera romp.

Jump aboard and say with Mickey, "Let's do this!"

Currently available in print and ebooks at Amazon and Smashwords. Visit the book's webpage for direct links and to read a sample. Other outlets soon to follow.

Mayhem Negotiations

This story resulted from throwing two more titles together to form a new one as a writing prompt. I also challenged our local writing club to come up with their version for tonight's meeting. Enjoy.

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"Don't tell me you forgot?" Mary sighed over the phone.

Tom fumbled with his desk calendar. "Honey, of course not." Today was May 15th. What happened on the 15th?

"What do you have planned?"

"Ah, a birthday party."

She huffed. "No! Not a birthday."

Tom snapped his fingers. Their 20th wedding anniversary. "Yes, a birthday. The birthday of our 20-year marital bond."

Her voice grew softer. "You did remembered?"

He laughed. "Forget our 20th? Are you kidding?"

"How are we celebrating it then?"

Think, think. He palmed his forehead. "You remember that Italian restaurant we ate at during our honeymoon? We have reservations."

She squealed. "I can't wait! I love you, honey."

"I love you too. I'll pick you up around six."

"Bye."

"Bye." He wiped his brow. Narrowly escaped that one. He pushed the intercom button. "Barbara, call Andiamo Ristorante and make reservations for two at six."

"Right away, Mr. Longshot."

Tom turned his attention to his paperwork. Sharp raps rattled his office door. His boss, Ben, opened the door and stood before Tom's desk. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

Not again! "Who me? Forget?"

Ben stared at him. "You did, didn't you?"

"How could I forget...ah, the birthday party."

Ben frowned. "Since when is meeting an advertising client a birthday party?"

Ah. Of course. "Meeting new clients is the birth of a new beginning. We're meeting with the owners of Andiamo Ristorante at..." Tom swallowed.

Ben pointed at Tom. "They'll be here at six. Don't be late."

Tom smiled and threw his hands up. "Where else would I be but here?"

Ben smiled and nodded. "See you at six." He left, closing the door behind him.

Tom let his head fall into his hands. "Now what am I going to do? I'm doomed."

"Perhaps I can help?" A sweet woman's voice met Tom's ear.

He jerked up his head. A young woman, black hair, wearing a tight, blue, knee-length skirt with matching blouse stood against the far wall.

Tom cleared his throat. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

She waved her hand: sparkles grew and died off in its wake. "I'm your fairy secretary. Were you expecting your godmother?"

Tom rubbed the back of his neck. "A fairy what?"

She frowned. "Secretary. All executives have one."

She walked to his desk. "I know your predicament. You need a double."

Tom sat back up. "You can do that?"

"Just watch." She waved her hands in a figure eight pattern, then thrust them toward him. Sparkles engulfed him, then moved in unison next to Tom. As they died off, a second Tom stood beside the original.

Tom looked over the double as it did the same. "Wow," both Tom's said at the same time.

Tom paused, then turned to his fairy secretary. Both said, "Does he say everything I do?"

The fairy secretary nodded. "It is one of the limitations of a double. It doesn't have its own independent thought."

"That's annoying. How am I supposed to do both at the same time?"

She smiled. "It will take a little language negotiation. Chow." She disappeared into thin air.

Tom stared at himself. "Now not only can I talk to myself. I can talk back too."

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Mary and Tom entered the restaurant. The head waiter greeted them. "Your name, sir?"

"Tom Longshot."

"Glad to meet you." The owner put out a hand to shake. "I'm Louie Armori, and this is my wife, Loraine. I look forward to your presentation."

The waiter said, "Ah, here you are." He checked off their name. "Follow me."

Tom shook Louie and Loraine's hands. "I look forward to it as well."

The waiter looked over his shoulder. "Sir?"

"Eating at your restaurant." Tom grinned at Mary's inquiring stare.

Louie and the waiter said at the same time, "Ah! You've not eaten here/there before?"

Tom swallowed. "Twenty years ago. Been a while."

Ben rose and proceeded to give some introductory comments to the Armoris while the waiter seated Tom and Mary.

After the waiter left, Mary gazed upon Tom. "You've been quiet tonight. What's going on in your brain?"

Tom whispered, "Waiting to start."

She raised an eyebrow. "Start what?"

Ben frowned at Tom. "My accomplice is ready. Tom?"

Tom cleared his throat. "Romance."

Mary leaned in closer. "Here?"

"Food is romance."

Louie nodded. "Catchy slogan. I like it."

Mary wrinkled her brow. "So you're waiting to eat before talking?"

Tom danced in his mind. "Romance is more than a touch, more than a feeling. Romance is two people bonding through the intimate act of eating with sexual appeal." Tom placed his hand on Mary's. "Then a touch is transformed into romance."

Mary gazed into his eyes. "How sweet."

Ben stared at Tom with a "what are you doing" expression.

Loraine smiled. "I like him."

Louie pointed a finger at Tom. "Great, but how do we get that across to the public?"

The waiter returned with a bottle of wine. "Are you ready to order?"

Tom replied in his sexiest voice, "Shrimp Alfredo, garlic bread, and a salad topped with your finest blue cheese dressing."

Louie sat taller. "Ah, I see. The TV ad will show a couple sexily ordering, then the slogan, 'Food is romance.' Brilliant!"

Ben's wide eyes stared at Tom. "Yeah, brilliant. That's what I told him."

Mary grinned. "Oh Tom, I've never heard you order food that way before." She glanced at the waiter. "I'll have the same."

Louie rose from his chair and extended his hand. "You've sold me."

Tom shook his hand. "I'm happy we're going to work together."

Mary's face fell. "What?"

Tom grabbed a glass of wine. "Here's to a fabulous future together."

Mary leaned over and kissed Tom. "I love you."

Louie gave him a thumbs up. Tom watched as Louie and Loraine followed Ben to the elevator.

Tom let out a deep breath. "Glad that's over."

Free on Kindle!

Virtual Hero, my collection of four superhero, space opera short stories set in the Virtual Chronicles universe, is now available for free on Amazon Kindle!

The collection has been free for some months on other sites, but I'd been waiting for Amazon to price match. They finally did so within the last few days. So if you've been saying, "I want it--oh do I want it--but I'll wait for it to be free on Amazon first," well, your wait is over.

Go to Amazon to download your copy today.

NaNoWriMo: Day 3

Today ended up pointing the nose of this plane into  a steeper dive. Luckily, in the next few days, I should have more time to work on the novel.

Arose at 7 am, we prepared for church and took our 45 minute trip there. Arrived back home around 2 pm. Not too much time had passed before diving into my afternoon nap. Woke up at 6:30 pm. After getting the sleep out of my eyes, helping wife get the shopping list together, and going out to eat, we filled a cart at our local grocery store. Returned home, took out the trash, helped put away groceries, and had a mini-meeting between wife and son #1.

By the time I returned to my computer, the clock read around 12:30 am. Made some deposits, and pulled up a blog post I'd written earlier for my new gig. Oh, did I mention it? I am going to be doing those weekly blog post I mentioned earlier. I'd say where, but not sure I should yet. You'll find out soon enough as my first post is scheduled to go live Tuesday morning.

Took a break editing and adding the blog post to the site to put my wife to bed a little after 2 am. She was up late. Continued to work on getting the blog post the way I wanted it as well as trying to make sure I did things the way they wanted. That took me up until 4 am.

I looked at the time and decided working on the novel isn't going to happen tonight. Sundays just don't have much extra time in them. But as stated, this coming week looks a little freer to focus on the novel. So we'll see if I can redeem the last few days over the coming week. Riveting, huh?

Reality Game totals:

Day 1: 961 words in 2.5 hours, for an average of 384 words/hour.
Day 2: 807 words in 1.5 hours, for an average of 538 words/hour.
Day 3: 0 words in 0 hours, for an average of 0 words/hour.

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Total: 1768 words in 4 hours for an average of 442 words/hour.

NaNoWriMo: Day 2

Up from bed today by 11 am. Being I went to bed at 2:30 am, a good amount of catch up sleep. A little more of a relaxed day, though my weekends tend to be fuller. Spent time with wife, ate breakfast, checked email and blogs. Did a little support group writing, but kept it to one thread.

Then started getting ready for the evening church service. Put together my binder, cleaned up, and wife and I headed out the door by 5 pm.  We returned to the city and stopped to eat at a local Mexican restaurant. Returned home shortly after 9:30 pm. Checked more email, responded to another support group thread, and a blog comment, then put my wife to bed around midnight.

Read a new blog post I follow that reminded me this ended Daylight savings time (Okay, how many of you arrived at church an hour early?). That caused me to try and change the time on my watch an hour back. It is an old digital watch I bought in 1982, a few months before my wife and I were married. The buttons on the side are hard to get to work. After a lot of struggling, I finally got the time changed. So I sat down at my computer at 1:30 to write, after getting some water.

I knew I wouldn't get much done, as I needed to get to bed early since I get up early for church. But I wanted to record something. So I dove in. Considering that I spent some time researching on Google Maps, and my Parkinson's doesn't allow me to type as fast as I used to, I did pretty good. When I stopped at 3 am, I'd written 807 more words in 1.5 hours. Then off to write this blog post and get to bed Should be snoozing before 4 am hits, and I'll get at least 3 hours of sleep. Don't worry, I have a planned afternoon nap to catch up. Standard Sunday  routine.

Reality Game totals:

Day 1: 961 words in 2.5 hours, for an average of 384 words/hour.
Day 2: 807 words in 1.5 hours, for an average of 538 words/hour.

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Total: 1768 words in 4 hours for an average of 442 words/hour.

NaNoWriMo: Day 1

Woke up around 7:45 am, giving me just under 2 hours of sleep. Ate breakfast while checking email and FB. Prepared, and I was underway with wife and son #1 to Austin around 9:45. Arriving at 11, we all three start packing and loading up our Ford Focus. Son #2 is supposed to meet us at 12:30, but he overslept and missed his morning classes. So he arrives more at 1 pm. We load the rest of son #1's material goods into second car, a PT Cruiser.  Wife gets hungry, so after dropping the key off at the school, we go get a bite to eat.

We leave with a little drama over how son #2 is going to pay for his new car. Finally they say they are okay with a personal check. But now we're pressed for time, because the DMV closes at 4:30. So we drive back from Austin and get to the DMV at 4:00 pm. They do the transaction and transfer the title over to son #2, who is now the proud owner of a 2002 Ford Taurus.

We head home, unload the two vehicles. Mom and son #2 go to pick up his car. Meanwhile, I get in some quick FB time before cooking dinner, shrimp stir fry. Sit down to eat sometime after 7 pm. I'm feeling the affects of running on minimal sleep, so I don't feel like doing much. So I end up watching YouTube videos until almost 11 pm. Wife is tired too, so I put her to bed.

11:30, I sit down at my computer to write, even though I'm not feeling much into it. But I want to at least get started on this novel. So I get "rolling" on it and type away, getting in 961 words by 2 am. I'm struggling, so decide it will be better to call it a night, get some sleep, and hope to get more time tomorrow.

Reality Game totals:

Day 1: 961 words in 2.5 hours, for an average of 384 words/hour.

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Total: 961 words in 2.5 hours for an average of 384 words/hour.

NaNoWriMO: Day 0.5

I've decided, both to help me be accountable, and to give folks a glimpse into what I do for NaNo, to do a daily log of my progress much like I did for my attempt at a 10 day novel challenge a few weeks ago.

For those not familiar, NaNoWriMo, or simply NaNo, is short for "National Novel Writing Month." During the month of November, millions of people from all over the world sign into a central website to track their attempt to write at least 50,000 words of a novel, and compare/compete with friends and regions. While there are several versions of this concept around, this one has by far become the most popular and widely participated event of its kind.

I've done NaNo since 2006. This will make my eighth one. Only one year, 2011, did I write less than 50K words. Most of my novels have been written during November each year.

This year has some unique challenges. One, while my "work" schedule isn't as heavy as has been the case in years past, it seems I have several projects that I'll need to work on this month that will take time away from writing.

One, I'm working on finishing edits and getting ready to send to the printer my third novel in The Virtual Chronicles series, Virtual Game. I had hoped to have that done by this point, but I'm still working on edits. I'll have to juggle both tasks until I get that novel sent to the printer and ebooks uploaded. You'll be getting my progress on that here as well, and of course an announcement when it is available for Christmas orders.

Two, I'm president of our local writer's club, and early this month we'll be celebrating our 20th anniversary. So for the first few days, I'll be devoting some time and energy toward that.

Three, around Thanksgiving, my family and I are going on a trip from Texas to Mississippi to visit my daughter, son-in-law, his relatives, and of course, our two grandkids. One is a step, the other will be our biological granddaughter not even 1 year old yet. That will not likely be much writing time, and it is right at the end of the month this year. So the goal is to have this novel finished before we leave on this trip, as the month will be pretty much over by the time we get back.

Four, I have a regular weekly blog post I do at http://blog.healinginfidelity.com that I want to keep up with. So I'll need to devote time to preparing those, a task I've not had in years past. News flash, it is possible I'll be adding yet another weekly blog post to that schedule. I should know on that in a few days.

Five, as of this point, I'm getting the slowest start I've ever had for NaNo. I've been so busy with helping my wife clean houses (pretty much my job now, part time), dealing with our children's issues, while trying to get projects done, including chores around the house, and adequate time with my wife, that I've come to midnight, the start of NaNo, not having given a second thought to what I'm going to write. As a matter of fact, at midnight, I was still trying to help my son get insurance for a car he is buying tomorrow...or later today as it stands. So, that is a good lead into logging my day.

Got up from bed around noon (yes, I have a late schedule). Took care of some deposits, calling about my son Nathan's broken lease obligations (he dropped out of culinary school and is back home now...empty nest now officially over for the time being), checked email and blogs while eating oatmeal and drinking coffee. Then responded to a request at a support group I'm on. Spent some time responding to that. My wife is home before 3:00 pm, unusual for her, but the last client of the day cancelled at the last minute. We didn't complain too much as we've both felt worn out working over the last three days.

So we put signs on our car for the business, and when son at home was getting too frustrated with the mower, I had to take over and mow the front lawn so trick-o-treaters wouldn't have to be greeted by long grass. Meanwhile, wife starts working on cooking the pizza, but discovers we never bought any pizza sauce, nor do we have anything to make it with. Nathan and his friend have pizza and a movie, so wife and I decide we'll go out and stay out until most of the kids have gone through (our street is congested with people between 7 and 9. So around 6:45, wife  and I get in the car, work our way out of the neighborhood through an already growing bevy of kids with parents in tow, and go eat pizza, visit WalMart and the new Specs (they sell roasted coffee from around the world!) We return home a little after 9 pm.

Well, you'd think now I could start preparing for my NaNo novel. Nope. My son, Jeremy, at UT, is meeting us at Nathan's old apartment to help us move him fully back home, then while here, buy a car and get the title changed before heading back to Austin. Since he's never had his own personal insurance, that means we needed to get him some, at the last minute, of course. So after going through three company quotes, we select one, get him processed, and by 1 am, he has insurance on his new car. Meanwhile, I know people all over the world are busy typing away on their novels.

Then I had to focus on getting wife to sleep. By the time I sat down with some hot blueberry tea and a bowl of prunes and cashews, it was well after 2 am. So now I for the first time start thinking about what I'm going to write about, what story I'm going to do. After thinking about it, since I'm editing the third book in the series and I'll need the fourth for next year, out of my options I decided to work on the next novel in that series, which I've tentatively titled Reality Game. So I opened up my writing database, copied over the list of characters from Virtual Game, modified them accordingly, then started thinking what the story should be about.

This was a little more difficult than it may seem. Without giving away any spoilers, the dynamic of things changes for the heroes at the end of Virtual Game. So the biggest issue I needed to deal with was what the bad guys are going to do now, based upon how events ended previously. After 1.5 hours of thinking and writing some preliminary plot thoughts down, I finally have enough rough draft plot outline, at least the start of it, to have an idea where to take things. Don't know how it will end, but I know how it will start and what the primary conflict is going to be about. Enough to start writing the story.

However, by the time I figured that much out, it was getting close to 4 am. Due to going to Austin to help move son #1 back home, I'm getting up at 7. So I figured I'd better write this blog post and get to bed. This will make the first NaNo I go to bed on day one without any word count in place. That puts me behind starting out at the gate.

Another obsticle is also doing these blog posts. They will not all be this long. To not take too much time away from writing, most of these will be bare bones "here's what happened". But this being an introductory post required a bit more work. Now that it is 5 am, and I'll get just under 2 hours of sleep, I'll sign out and give a full report on how day 1 went.

Stay tuned virtual fans. Same virtual blog. Same virtual URL.

Reality Game Progress: 0 words, but 1358 for this blog post. Does that count? Hum. I didn't think so.