Current Projects

I got like five e-mails asking about what exactly it is I'm doing right now that's mentally hurtful. Here we go!

Folk Devil (Ten-Ghost part 2)
Lucy Alraune Greeble, Ten-Ghost Who Finished the Test Satisfactorily and Defies by Obeying has not only inherited a ridiculously long name, but also garnered a bit of a reputation for her ability to work quickly and cheaply. As a mandrake root taking on a mockery of human life, she can also survive situations that might kill real human beings. She wanders the roads, suffering the presence of her adopted son, until she gets a letter involving a contagion infecting the town of Hawiya. Upon arrival, she must pinpoint the source of the infection while dealing with three vicious cults that have sprung up: one worships a woman who claims to be able to heal with nothing but her touch, an impossibility, another group is devoted to a man who makes snake oil from tap water, and the children in town are wrapping themselves in cloaks and animal masks, painting their devotion to a mysterious woman in pink on the walls with the blood of those who stay out too late. Ten-Ghost herself is blamed for the inability of the established system to cure those who are infected, and if she remains in town to long, her own stolen life energy will cause more harm than good. She's on a time limit to find and remove the source of the illness.

This project is psychologically difficult, most notably because a vast majority of the Ten-Ghost books happen to be symbology for the psychological problems I face. Working on them is literally facing my own perceived inadequacies, fears, wants, and personal demons. This is what takes so long. Also it's why I expect them to never sell.

Sky Crossing (The Dreaming Land book 1)
Five teenagers are drawn from their normal lives on Earth to a place that seems at first an alien landscape, but familiarity creeps in to most bizarre places. Matt is left alone in the jungle where he must learn to work the world's magic just to survive both the predations of a trickster spirit and the tasks of an old storyteller who takes him on a journey across the countryside in a rusted-out shell of a car. Erika and Brad must learn to work together despite their differences in ideology, especially since Erika appears to have turned into some sort of ancestor spirit. Frank must come to terms with the fact that he now appears to be a local woman, and Hannah must learn that her place in the events that are about to unfold probably isn't the place she originally wanted. Through all this, the five must eventually face a black magician who wants to use their presence to destroy everything he feels is unfair with the world. Their journey will take the five of them across jungles, through post-apocalyptic googie wastelands, dinosaur-speckled fields, moderne subdivisions promising everything but delivering little, art deco cities swarming with airships, and perhaps even to Death's country itself.

I plan to do 3-5 of these. It's basically an American version of the old "kids go to and save a wacky fantasy world" tripe. And yes, I meant "tripe" not "trope." It's actually fun to write and I get to have atomic roboshaman3000 say cool things.

This Patchwork Everywhen
A collection of myths and short stories that I will probably never finish but am moving forward on, anyway.

Ow My Sanity
Doing layouts and the worst sketches in the world. Right now it is on low burner because I am trying to get the above projects done, since they are potentially paying. If someone like Toren Atkinson tells me to get off my ass about it, I'll drop one or more of the above projects and get back to serious on it work immediately.

Ow My Sanity Part the 2
The erstwhile narrator joins Delta Green and helps deal with (spoiler removed). Doing abstract scripts.