One plan to ruin them all…

Gang leader Zero knows a good opportunity when he sees one. When he and his gang are offered a job to do a favor for a mob boss, they jump at it. All they have to do is pay off a rival for a place in the larger organization.

But Zero has a plan. He thinks they can get what they want, make their new boss happy, and keep the cash in the process. It won't take long to find out if his plan is idiotic, brilliant, or suicidal.  

In addition to being a new cast of characters in a new story, this also covers Kazumi's arrival in London and her first job for Essex Blood. And more of Kazumi is always a good thing.

Happy Reading

This book was weird to write, because I had an entirely different story in mind when I started. Not the big stuff, that was all there. It’s the B-plots and side-characters that were going a totally different way. I started it heading in a direction and when I was firmly on the path I sat back, expecting the future of this world to shine before me and…

Something in my head went “Nope, not this” and I was lost. I couldn’t figure it out at first, couldn’t see the problem. The characters were all sympathetic and the story of their lives was solid. The redemption of the main character was set up, Chekov’s Gun was in place, but I just couldn’t move it along. I’m sure I could have finished it (I had it all planned out and I can write to a brief), but I didn’t want to.

So I tore it down and rebuilt it, crafting a lean thriller, all action and danger. The characters are all still there, and I think what happens is very cool (and so will you, so go buy it before they’re all gone). It just isn’t the story I set out to write.

What was wrong? Isaac’s Story: London is all thriller. It’s a punch in the face as you a turn a corner, followed by lots of running and fighting. It’s normal people who, though possibly exceptional in their normal lives, aren’t built for this kind of thing. And that wasn’t what I’d written for Jon. I’d written a character study, a deconstruction of certain aspects of my world and of the characters who live there.

I like writing stuff like that. I love a long piece of fiction that doesn’t go anywhere except deeper into the navel of the pretentious protagonist. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t read that sort of thing. God no, of course not. That stuff is boring as church. I read stuff with gunfights and punching and cool cyborgs. But I do like to write it.

So I scrapped what I’d written, which is why this book is only going up now instead of two months ago when I’d intended it to appear. I needed time to let the original idea fade a little, so I went off and wrote other things for a bit. When I came back I was able to pull it apart and put it back together again in a new shape. A shape with a scalpel, and a hammer, and torment, and triumph.

The links will go live in the next 12 hours or so. Remember, reading makes you smarter, re-wiring your brain and allowing you to perceive the world in new and exciting ways. For my books that's especially true; they’re like Popeye’s spinach, but for your brain-muscle.

Feed your brain-muscle. Eat my book.

It’s simple and fun, and can lead to really complex worlds and characters. There’s skill in how you throw the rocks, and in how the character reacts to them, but the foundation of the idea is simple and you’ll see it in anything you really enjoy.

Episode 5 marks the midpoint of Season 1. It’s the last stand-alone story in the season, so from here on out I’m ending on little cliff-hangers. I’ll make sure every episode is complete and ends with a resolution, but the main arc for the season is about to kick into high gear and there’s no way I can make it all go away in one episode.

For the rest of the season I’m going to be throwing rocks, one after another. I’m going chase them all the way up the tree and I’m going to make them beg me to stop. I’m going to do this over multiple episodes, so I have a suggestion:

Buy Episode 5. It’s good and fun and there’s shooting and swearing. And it’s stand-alone.

If you have any issues with cliff-hangers, or with waiting for a resolution to the story you’re reading, don’t buy the next few episodes. I release these every two weeks, so that’s a lot of time to kill between episodes if you find I’ve left you with a burning need to know what’s going to happen next. If that’s a problem, don’t buy them.

Either wait until I’ve released all the episodes or wait an additional couple of weeks, at which point I’ll be releasing a Season 1 box set. You’ll get all the episodes in one book, and you’ll save money in the process.

Now, if you want to buy the individual episodes, and you don’t mind some of them ending on cliff-hangers, and you don’t mind spending more money (though not a lot more), then do whatever you want. I’m just warning you, because I’d like you to enjoy the series.

Having said all of that, go buy the book. Buy a few: books make great gifts.