Category Archives: Writing

May 1, 2012 · 4:56 pm

Important Things To Know as a Writer

I have been a full time novelist for just over 13 months.  In that time I have had around twenty short stories published and two books, with a third novel coming out this summer, and a fourth planned for around Christmas.  On the scale of great writers, I am not even on the scale.  I learn through constant research, other authors, critique groups, magazines, reading a lifetime of books and trial and error.  I suspect this is how all writers learn their trade.  I say this because I am no expert yet, nor may I ever be.  However, as I learn things, I plan to put these very basic and obvious lessons on paper, in hopes they may save a fellow writer a bit of their own agony along the way.  Feel free to disagree with me, as with all things, I may be totally wrong.

1)  Know how long your story is going to be?  You don’t need an exact wordcount or number of pages mind you, but some idea.  Is it tweet fiction, flash fiction, a short short story, a long short story, a novella, a novel, first in a series?  The reason this is critical, is that the number of themes, characters and story and development arcs vary widely based on the length.  I wrote some tweet fiction that got published.  It has to be entire stories that fit in one tweet, like 140 characters or so, not words, characters.  There is very little in the way of development, conflict, suspense building, intrigue and character arcs in 140 characters.  Throw those rules out, trust me.  In a short story, you make your point, you take a slice of the pizza, wanting the reader to eat the rest, but they only bought one slice.  In a novel, which I find is my most comfortable length personally, you have lots of time for nuance, discovery, character arcs and adventure.  So, I always wonder how someone as a fellow author says, I am not sure how long this will be.   I don’t know how you can write it without some idea.

2)  What is the Story?  I am not big on outlines and planning out the entire blueprints ahead of time because it takes some of the fun of creation away from me.  But I have read portions of books that were very strange to me.  It starts with an interesting character, then an interesting place, then a hint of murder or mystery, then a historical event, then something, then something else.  I ask, what about this guy at the beginning?  Oh, he’s not that important.  What about that cool town?  Oh, I don’t come back to that.  Sometimes stories can be about too many things.  Sometimes one story could be eight great books instead of one really long confusing one.  I would suggest that even if you aren’t sure where things are going, knowing the main characters, setting, and kind of an idea of the ending helps.

3)  What is the Perspective?  Is it all seen through the eyes of one person as they do it?  Is it remembered?  Is it revealed through a series of events or letters?  Is it third person omniscient?  Is there a narrator, what is the narrator’s voice?  Do we get to see inside anyone’s thoughts?  I find myself challenged a lot in my writing on this one.  It is easy to have your narrator start sounding like your main character, opinions and all.  It is distracting when some side character reveals their deepest thoughts out of the blue and never again.  Perspective is probably the most important decision in a book in my opinion.  Maybe that is because I am so limited in my mastery of it.  I wish I could write first person as it happens.  Those authors dazzle me, what power!  If you are confused by the topic of perspective, you should probably read up on it, or buy a beer for a starving author and pick his or her brain.

4)  What is the Genre?  People glare at me when I ask this.  Sometimes it is followed by a general defensive argument about why genres don’t matter.  But they really do matter in my opinion.  I like to read science fiction, history, fantasy, heroic fantasy, adventure, military history, and science.  I like to sample other genres, but if I know something is romance, religious, memoirs, or slice of life, I’m not going to buy it.  My wife is the exact opposite.  She rarely reads anything I am interested in, and I rarely wish to read her stories of three Chinese sisters who grow up in messed up times, suffer, then come to America and smile while washing the dishes.  The thing is, all genres have their audiences, and those audiences are drawn to them for certain types of reasons.  Cross genres, mixes, whatever is fine by me.  But if you as the author do not know what genre(s) you are writing for, it will be hard to know what the reader wants.  Heck, it will be hard to tell the bookstore which shelf to put it on.

5)  What is the Point of Your Book?  Why Would You as a Reader Tell People to Read it?  Again, there are no right or wrong answers, but there should be an answer.  Do you have this idea burning inside you that has to get out?  Are you trying to jump on the YA vampire band wagon?  Do you want people to laugh, to cry, to learn?  Are you making a political or social statement?  Is it just so good of writing that each pages glows and the wise will use it to discourage future MFA students with its sheer unatainable brilliance?  Again, I know many authors, many quite good, who stumble over this answer.

I will answer this question for you from my own reasoning.  When I was young, I had a terrible childhood.  I learned to read at a young age and was able to explore the world, ancient cities, conquer evil wizards, and live hundreds of lives and go to places which took my mind off my own horrible existence.  The point of my books are to provide that same experience to others.  My books are to be fun and enjoyable to read.  I want a reader to smile when they are done and say to themselves, “I really enjoyed reading that.”  It takes the pressure off too, because I never have to try to be an awesome literary star, dazzling with my prose and perhaps never being good enough.  But having read thousands of adventure fantasy books, I know what I enjoyed about them, and I try to bring that same sense of fun and adventure to others.

Let me know what you think.  Am I all wrong?  If you think this is genius, make sure to comment, as writers have fragile egos which always appreciate stroking…

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April 24, 2012 · 10:09 pm

Myths About Writing

Once in awhile, as a now full-time novelist, I think it would be helpful to share myths about writing as I discover them.  I have a slew already, but I don’t want to overwhelm or bore anyone, so I will start with a few of my favorites:

MYTHS

1)  Only write about what you know.  Really?  I hope that Stephen King and James Patterson break this rule regularly.  Don’t write about serial killing, torture or horror unless you’ve done it?  Space travel?  Vampires, werewolves, pretty much any science fiction would be off the table.  In fact, no matter how simple your topic, it will include things you don’t know.  For instance, I have female characters in my stories, and what man on Earth REALLY understands how women think?

2)  You need to have an MFA and be an excellent literary writer.  I have made a point to read a lot of excellent authors, and I can tell you, some of the classics are pretty dense reading.  Just because you have elegant prose and punctuation does not make your characters or your stories interesting.  I would rather read pulp fiction comic books that are fun than sit through War and Peace, Jane Eyre or Moby Dick again.  Don’t get me wrong, those are three great writers, but the books are bit tough going, admit it.  Also, with respect to education, a famous author once said he was glad he did not go to literary school.  He would have been compared to Hemingway, Steinbeck, Faulkner, all the best of all time.  Other kids in the class would have been smarter than him and done better, he would have quivered in shame and quit.  Instead, he went on to sell millions of great books.

3)  Popular authors are sell outs and lousy writers.  If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard and unpublished author criticize Stephanie Meyer or JK Rowling, I would still not have as much money as either of those two authors.  The fact is, hundreds of millions of people love their books and have enjoyed reading them and seeing their movie adaptations.  I consider that excellent writing.  Even if they never used a word over four letters long and got the punctuation wrong, it would still be great writing.  Isn’t pleasing the reader the ultimate goal?  I would love to write something the unpublished call drivel if it pleases millions of readers.

4)  E-books are not the same as “real” books.  My books are in both formats, and most of the short stories I have had published are also in both formats.  Oddly enough, all the words are exactly the same!  Amazing!  I admit that I prefer to hold a printed book in my hand, smell the pages (I know many of us do that, I just admit it), feel the turn of the page.  I love to read.  I also read on my android through Kindle, and it is a less comfortable read for me.  But in a generation, kids will laugh and mock us, “You mean you used to carry a stack of heavy books back and forth to school?  You used to fall asleep with a ten pound hard back over your face?”  “You carried one book at a time?”  They are going to have something a few ounces in weight with a whole library on it they can slip in their back pocket.  So who will feel stupid then?  Are we really arguing the horse and buggy will outlive the automobile, that men weren’t meant to fly?

Feel free to comment with your favorite myths about writing.

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April 17, 2012 · 5:31 pm

Secret Evil Bases!

I collect pictures to give me ideas for things in my books.  One is pretty landscapes.  As I was looking through them, mostly beach scenery, I got a weird thought.  Which would be a great location for a secret evil base?  From time to time I will post some secret bases.  If you want to participate, just send them to my email at eiverness@cox.net and I will post the ones I like and give you credit.  Please don’t send me any images that are for commercial use only, I don’t want to have any artist or photographer mad at me, even though this blog is just for fun.

Some secret bases are more obvious than others, which means they won’t last long.  If you have a huge island or mountain carved into the shape of a skull, people will naturally send someone over to check it out.  There is also the business of building materials, construction crews, etc.  I also think if I ever turned super villain, I might prefer a pretty secret base.  Do evil people always have dark black lairs?  Wouldn’t it be easier to attract other evil people with a cool crib?  If you look at bad guys in the real world, like drug lords, mafia, dictators, they live in palaces with gold plated weapons, not in some dank cement cellar.

By the way, the picture of Microsoft’s building is here as a joke.  Everyone knows about it, so it is not really a “secret” evil base…  Here are my first secret base posts.

I very much like this one.  You can have an underwater submarine entrance, a heli pad panel on top, and a missile silo.  Also, it has a certain phallic impact that says, “Compensation!” all over it.

The seemingly deserted tower still has good clearance for guards on top to see the surrounding country side, and could house some nice anti-aircraft and radar.  Below is where the real plotting occurs.  Notice that despite the growth on the tower, the surrounding fields are kept cut short to provide fields of fire and make infiltration difficult.

Ok, this is the upper path, concealing the jungle lair.  Notice the antennae cleverly disguised as support rails.  They really control space satellites which will help control the planet in secret.  Again, the heart of the base is under the convenient rain forest foliage, protected from damage by environmentalist.  The perfect cover.  For spare change the evil master can charge eco-tourists to walk along his satellite supports.

Old school evil base hidden in Pyramid with side outpost in the Sphynx.  Got to love the detail and the fact that it is an Asian base hidden in Egypt.  Extra sache for that!  Also, again the site is protected from digging and tourists by the Egyptian National Antiquities Authorities.  Downside  – how to hollow those out and make them into bases without anyone noticing…

Now THIS is my idea of a secret base.  Travel the oceans, comprising 2/3 of the Earth, most of which is international waters.  No one has juridiction and clearly you look like some wealthy person out on a lark.  Easy to attract henchmen to such surrounding.  The side ports could house nice retractable weaponry as well.  My thought, secret getaway submarine in the bottom, just in case you are discovered.

My favorite part of this base is the low tech garden hose in the foreground.  The sheer randomness of it would throw off suspicion.  The top is a high tech satellite, radar, whatever you wish it to be, and the bottom is obviously the command section of an underground space launch vehicle.  If they get attacked, they can drop off the com equipment and blast into space – easy escape.  Of course, with that large of a dish, you would probably have to locate yourself someplace where you could bribe local officials for a bit of privacy.

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April 14, 2012 · 3:44 pm

Too Close To Home!

I posted this on my Facebook and a lot of people like it, so posting it here as well…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one my friend Kenneth Weene posted, also too close to home:

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April 13, 2012 · 8:28 pm

An Homage to Joe Haldeman and Michael Stackpole – Authors and Gentlemen

At the LepreCon 38 conference I had the pleasure of sitting on panels with many other authors.  Authors as a lot are mostly friendly and interesting people.  However, when people become famous, they tend to have swollen egos and that gets in the way.  Not so with two very nice gentlemen, Michael Stackpole, who I have met before at Phoenix ComicCon and I follow him on his blog, and Joe Haldeman, somewhat a living legend in Science Fiction circles.

Michael Stackpole actually remembered me, though our last conversation was only about 45 minutes long and over a year ago.  That impressed me, because I am of no monetary value to him, I am not important in the trade industry, and he meets thousands of folks like me each year.  He was a very important part of my career so far, and I have used his advice and mentorship to plan out several of my career choices as I change to being a full time novelist.

Joe Haldeman was not only polite on our panel, but actually asked me to moderate in his place.  He sat next to me and we had the opportunity to exchange a few comments.  He was not only humble, quiet and polite, but you could tell immediately he was a genuinely nice man.  For someone with so many awards, books, teaching as a Professor at MIT, and the marquis guest of honor at a conference, you could easily mistake him for just a nice man saying hello on a Sunday afternoon in the park.

I have sent them both messages of thanks, but I thought it would be extra nice to introduce to you some of their work, so you can enjoy reading them as much as I have:

Joe Haldeman

http://home.earthlink.net/~haldeman/index.html – His website

Books

  • WAR YEAR     (short novel) Holt, 1972
  • COSMIC     LAUGHTER (anthology) Holt, 1974
  • THE     FOREVER WAR (novel) St. Martin’s Press, 1975
  • MINDBRIDGE     (novel) St. Martin’s Press, 1976
  • PLANET OF JUDGMENT (Star Trek novel) Bantam, 1977
  • ALL MY     SINS REMEMBERED (novel) St. Martin’s Press, 1977
  • STUDY WAR     NO MORE (anthology) St. Martin’s Press, 1977
  • INFINITE     DREAMS (short story collection) St. Martin’s Press, 1978
  • WORLD     WITHOUT END (Star Trek novel) Bantam, 1979
  • WORLDS     (novel) Viking, 1981
  • WORLDS     APART (novel) Viking, 1983
  • NEBULA     AWARDS 17 (anthology) Holt, 1983
  • DEALING IN     FUTURES (short story collection) Viking, 1985
  • TOOL OF     THE TRADE (novel) Morrow, 1987
  • BUYING     TIME (novel) Morrow, 1989
  • THE     HEMINGWAY HOAX (short novel) Morrow, 1990
  • WORLDS     ENOUGH AND TIME (novel) Morrow, 1992
  • VIETNAM     AND OTHER ALIEN WORLDS (essays, fiction, poetry) NESFA Press, 1993
  • 1968     (novel) Hodder & Stoughton, U.K., 1994, William Morrow, Inc., June     1995
  • SAUL’S     DEATH (poetry chapbook) Anamnesis Press, May 1997
  • FOREVER     PEACE (novel) Berkley, October 1997
  • FOREVER     FREE (novel) Ace, 1998
  • THE COMING     (novel) Ace, 2000
  • GUARDIAN     (novel) Ace, 2002
  • CAMOUFLAGE     (novel) Ace 2004
  • OLD     TWENTIETH (novel) Ace 2005
  • WAR     STORIES (collection, two novels and short stories) Night Shade, 2005
  • A SEPARATE     WAR and other stories (short story collection) Ace, 2006

My next novel, THE ACCIDENTAL TIME MACHINE, will come out from Ace in 2007.

In addition, I wrote two adventure novels for Pocket Books, under the “house name” Robert Graham. Many of these books are still in print. Every volume has appeared or will appear as a paperback (Pocket, Ballantine, Bantam, Avon, Ace). Various of the titles have been published in as many as 19 foreign languages. The novel MINDBRIDGE reputedly sold to paperback for a record advance (since surpassed) for a science fiction novel.

I collaborated on an adventure novel, THERE IS NO DARKNESS, with my brother, Jack C. Haldeman II.

WORLDS, WORLDS APART, and WORLDS ENOUGH AND TIME comprise what I consider to be my best work, a trilogy that I worked on from 1975 to 1992. Ace published the novel FOREVER FREE in December ’99, and will bring out THE COMING this December.

A few dozen of my short stories, novelettes, and novellas have appeared in various science fiction magazines, along with a few appearances in “mainstream” magazines like Playboy. My songs and poetry come out mostly in tiny little magazines, with one poem in Harper’s and two in Omni. Articles and editorials have appeared in various magazines and newspapers (an article on the space shuttle won the Analog Readers’ Poll for “best nonfiction” of the year). I’ll write just about anything but criticism. (Actually, I have written criticism, but always limiting myself to writers I can praise without reservation.)

Theatrical Adaptations

Movie options have been taken on various titles, and the movie rights to THE FOREVER WAR were bought in ’97, but it’s dormant right now. I adapted THE FOREVER WAR for live stage; it opened in Chicago, October ’83, done by the Organic Theater Company (and didn’t lose money, which is unusual for a first shot). I’ve written a few short movie and TV things for Disney, but none has been produced. A short story, “I of Newton,” appeared on the Twilight Zone show in 1985. I wrote the screenplay for a science fiction adventure film that was released on about 800 screens on 21 November 1990. Over my strong objections, they titled it ROBOT JOX (I wanted to call it THE MECHANICS, but they didn’t think that was sci-fi enough.)

Awards

  • THE   FOREVER WAR won the Hugo, Nebula, and Ditmar Awards as Best Science Fiction   Novel of 1975. “Tricentennial” won the Hugo Award for Best SF Short   Story of 1976. In 1978, MINDBRIDGE won the Galaxy Award for “Science   Fiction and Spirituality.” “Saul’s Death” won the Rhysling   Award for best science fiction poem of the year, 1983. “The Hemingway   Hoax” novella won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella of 1990.   THE HEMINGWAY HOAX novel won the Italian “Futuro Remoto”Award as   Best Novel of 1991. “Eighteen Years Old, October 11th” won the   Rhysling Award for 1990. “Graves” won the World Fantasy Award and   the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1993. “None So Blind” won   the short story Hugo in 1995. FOREVER PEACE won the Hugo, Nebula, and John W.   Campbell Awards in 1998, the first such “triple crown” in 22 years.   “January Fires” won the Rhysling Award in CAMOUFLAGE won the 2006 Nebula Award   and the James Tiptree Award (for science fiction or fantasy about gender   issues).

 

Michael Stackpole

http://www.stormwolf.com/ – His website

The following is the most complete bibliography available concerning Mike’s work. It is by no means complete. It does not include small articles for convention books, his long-running column for Comic and Games Retailer, The Secrets issues nor the occasional article written for and published here on his website.

This bibliography is current to August, 2010

The way to read any entry is the following:

Year (of publication)

Title (publisher) (Awards or other information)

If an entry is followed by an asterisk (*) it means Mike was a contributor.

If an entry has a cross (†) it means Mike was an editor on the project.

Computer Games

1984

* 2010 Adventure Game (COLECO)

1988

* Wasteland* (Interplay/Electronic Arts) (Winner 1988 Best Adventure game from Computer Gaming World; CGW Hall of Fame Game)     * Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate (Interplay/Electronic Arts)

1989

* Neuromancer *(Interplay Productions) (Winner1989 Best Adventure game from Computer Gaming World)

1992

* Star Trek 25th Anniversary Game* (Interplay Productions)

1993

* Judgment Rites* (Interplay Productions)

Gamemaster Aids

1981

• The Black Dragon Tavern (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #11) • Grimtooth’s Traps* (Flying Buffalo)

1982 # Castle Ward (Flying Buffalo) # Citybook I*† (Flying Buffalo) (Winner 1982 Origins Award for Best Adventure) # Grimtooth’s Traps Too*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo)

1983 # Stormhaven (Blade/Flying Buffalo) (Winner 1983 Origins Award for Best Adventure)

1984

* Citybook II: Port ‘o Call*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo)     * Champions III *(Hero Games)

1986

• The Batman Sourcebook (Mayfair Games)     * Traps Fore*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo by Task Force Games)

1987

* Citybook III: Deadly Nightside*† (Blade/Flying Buffalo by Task Force Games)     * Whole Delvers’ Catalog* (Catalyst project for Task Force Games by Mark O’Green)

1988

* Orion Rising: Istanbul* (TSR, INC.)     * The Kell Hounds (Fasa Corporation)

1989

* The Batman Sourcebook II (Mayfair Games)     * Brushfire Wars: Korea* (TSR, INC.)     * Lords of Darkness: Zombi* (TSR, Inc.)

1990

* Citybook IV: On the Road* (Flying Buffalo, Inc.)     * More Tales of the Black Widow (FASA Corporation)     * Sprawl Sites* (FASA Corporation)

1991

* Citybook V: Sideshow* (Flying Buffalo, Inc.)

1993

* Mercenaries Handbook* (FASA Corporation)

Articles

1977

• How I Designed a World for Tunnels & Trolls (Supernova 29)

1978

• Traps in T&T (Supernova 31) • Know Your Foe 101 (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #1)

1979

• Redcap Afterword (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #5)

1980

• Lord of The Rings Games (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #6) • The Bigger They Are… (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #8)

1981

• The FBI Affair (Space Gamer #46) • Dragonquest Review (Different Worlds #12) • Vampyre Quest (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #12) • Pulling Your Punches (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #13)

1982

• LOV Reprise (Flying Buffalo Quarterly #45) • Galactic Conflict (Flying Buffalo Quarterly #47) • Devil Games? Nonsense! (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #14) • When in Rome (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #15) (Written as Matt Shaw) • Skills in T&T (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #15) • Judges Guild Adventures (Space Gamer #50)

1988

• Home Field Advantage (BattleTechnology #0203) • Wolfhound (BattleTechnology #0204) • Home for Christmas A Special Report (BattleTechnology #0204)

1989

* The Truth about Role-Playing Games (Satanism in America; Gaia Press) • Interview with Melissa Steiner (BattleTechnology #8)

1990

• The Pulling Report (privately published) (This report on role-playing games and the crusade against them is easily available on the net.)

1991

• Rick Loomis: A Profile (The Gamer #1) • Role Playing and the Real World (Dragon #171) • We Are Not Alone (The Gamer #1) • MSPE essay (Heroic Worlds edited by Lawrence Schick; Prometheus Books)

1993

• Running the Perfect Fantasy Campaign (Pyramid #2)

1998

• The Evolution of X-wing Rogue Squadron (Star Wars Handbook Vol. One: X-wing Rogue Squadron, Dark Horse Comics) • Introduction (Star Wars: Dark force Rising collection, Dark Horse Comics)

1999

• The Third Agenda (Writers of the Future Vol. XIV)

2000

• Foreword (Star Wars Roleplaying Game, WOTC)

2002

• Introduction (Heart of Dorkness, The collected Dork Tower Vol. III, Dork Storm Press)

2004

• Introduction (PS238 collected volumes 0-5, Dork Storm Press/Henchman Publishing)

Flying Buffalo, Inc., published a gaming magazine called Sorcerer’s Apprentice. During the magazine’s run, Mike wrote two columns for it:

Arcane Graffiti was a news and review column, which he wrote from issue #5 in 1979 to the final Flying Buffalo issue, #17, in 1983.

Queries and Quandries was a question and answer column dealing with gaming issues. He started writing it in 1982 with issue #14 and went through the Flying Buffalo run with #17 in 1983. For the last several issues the format changed from being one of the readers asking for advice to Mike, writing as Grimtooth the Troll, posing questions to readers.

Board, role playing and card games

1982

• Berserker Board Game (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (based on the stories by Fred Saberhagen)

1983

• Nuclear Escalation card game* Flying Buffalo • Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes RPG (Blade/Flying Buffalo, 1st edition Sleuth Pub., 2nd edition)

1984

• Justice, Inc. RPG* (Hero Games/Iron Crown Enterprises)

1990

• The Renegade Legion Role Playing Game (FASA Corp.)

1998

• Crimson Skies Board Game* (FASA Corporation) (Winner 1998 Origins Award for Best Board Game)

Solitaire adventures

Solitaire adventures were the hallmark of Flying Buffalo’s Tunnels & Trolls role-playing game. Mike’s first published game was City of Terrors. During his career he turned out a number of these adventures, both in the long form, and mini-solos that were run in magazines.

Mini-solos

1978

• Kingmaker (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #1)

1979

• Gold Dust, Red Death (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #4)

1980

• Stop, Thief! (Sorcerer’s Apprentice)

1981

• Blood and Honour (The Gamer #2)

1983

• Hot Pursuit (Sorcerer’s Apprentice #16)

Book length solo adventures

1978

• City of Terrors (Flying Buffalo, Inc.)

1980

• Overkill (2nd Edition) (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (A completely different text from the first edition)

1981

• Sewers of Oblivion (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) • Dargon’s Dungeon (2nd edition) (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (A completely different text from the first edition)

1983

• Jade Jaguar (Blade/Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (A solo for Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes)

1987

* Red Circle (Blade/Flying Buffalo, Inc.)

1990

• Elven Lords (Flying Buffalo Inc.) (Collecting the mini-solos above and adding new material)

Novels

1988

• Warrior: En Garde (FASA Corporation) • Warrior: Riposte (FASA Corporation)

1989

• Warrior: Coupe (FASA Corporation) • Lethal Heritage (FASA Corporation)

1990

• Blood Legacy (FASA Corporation)

1991

• A Gathering Evil (GDW) • Lost Destiny (FASA Corporation) • Evil Ascending (GDW)

1992

• Natural Selection (FASA/ROC) • Evil Triumphant (GDW)

1993

• Assumption of Risk (ROC/FASA)

1994

• Once a Hero (Bantam Books) • Bred For War (ROC/FASA) • Dementia (Roc/Target)

1996

• Rogue Squadron (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • Malicious Intent (Roc/FASA) • Wedge’s Gamble (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • The Krytos Trap (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller)

1997

• The Bacta War (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • Talion: Revenant (Bantam Books) • A Hero Born (HarperPrism) • Grave Covenant (Roc/FASA)

1998

• An Enemy Reborn (HarperPrism) • I, Jedi (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) (hard cover edition) • Wolf and Raven (Roc/FASA) • Prince of Havoc (Roc/FASA) • Eyes of Silver (Bantam Books)

1999

• Isard’s Revenge (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • I, Jedi (Bantam Books) (New York Times Bestseller) (mass market edition)

2000

• Onslaught (Del Rey Books) (New York Times Bestseller) • The Dark Glory War (Bantam Books) • Ruin (Del Rey Books) (New York Times Bestseller)

2001

• Fortress Draconis (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2002

• Fortress Draconis (Bantam Books) (mass market edition) • When Dragons Rage (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition) • Ghost War (WizKids/Roc) (Winner 2003 Origins award for Best Novel)

2003

• When Dragons Rage (Bantam Books) (mass market edition) • The Grand Crusade (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2004

• The Grand Crusade (Bantam Books) (mass market edition)

2005

• A Secret Atlas (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2006

• A Secret Atlas (Bantam Books) (mass market edition • Cartomancy (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2007

• Cartomancy (Bantam Books) (mass market edition) • Masters of War (Roc/Wizkids) (mass market edition) • The New World (Bantam Books) (trade paperback edition)

2008

• The New World (Bantam Books) (mass market edition)

All of the Star Wars novels were also released in abridged audio versions which are actually quite good. The books have been reduced mostly to the combats, but the addition of music and sound effects makes up for what was cut.

Lethal Heritage, Blood Legacy, and Lost Destiny (aka the Blood of Kerensky trilogy of BattleTech novels) were released in abridged auto format in 2003.

I, Jedi had a Science Fiction Book Club edition which is smaller than the Bantam printing. There was also a Canadian hard cover edition of which Mike has only seen two copies (at signings).

Onslaught and Ruin were combined into a single 2-in-1 volume for the Science Fiction Book Club. In 2004, at the completion of the whole New Jedi Order series, the two paperbacks were reissued at a lower price.

Anthologies

1992

• Mages Blood and Old Bones*† (Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (Winner of Gamer Magazine’s Best Game Fiction of 1992 Award)

2005

• Perchance to Dream (Five Star) (A collection of Mike’s short stories.)

Short Fiction

There are a few notations after some of the short stories to help folks identify them. They are:

BT = BattleTech

DCW = DragonCrown War*

DL = Deadlands

FH = Farrell Holmes*

MB = Merlin Bloodstone*

MTG = Magic: The Gathering

P = is collected in the anthology Perchance to Dream.

PS = Purgatory Station*

SR = Shadowrun

SW = Star Wars

TE = is collected in Tales of the Empire

TM = Trick Molloy*

WR = is collected in the book Wolf & Raven.

WTCG = WARS Trading Card Game

If there is no indication of a universe a story belongs to, it’s original with Mike. If the note above has an asterisk (*), the story is in a series which is original to Mike.

1980

• The Wages of Treachery (Wildcat/Cryptoc 2/17)

1982

• The Lone GEV (Space Gamer #52) (Set in Steve Jackson’s Ogre universe)

1982

• The God of Thieves (Oracle #1) • Six Foot Four Inches of Death (Periodic Lungfish) (The title comes from the length of the manuscript, which was one continuous piece of computer paper. Several people just started taking turns typing out a narrative on Mike’s typewriter and it was published in a fanzine.)

1983

• Double or Nothing (Olympus #4)

1987

• GEVs Rush In… (The Sorcerer’s Scrolls #23) (Set in Steve Jackson’s Ogre universe)

1988

• Goliaths on St. Andre (BattleTechnology Magazine) (BT) • The Judas Blind (Shrapnel, edited by Jordan Weisman, FASA Corporation) (BT)

1989

• The Final Gift (Amazing Stories) (P)

1990

• Better To Reign (FASA Corp., Update #3 and Elven Fire) (SR) • Would It Help to Say I’m Sorry (Into the Shadows edited by Jordan Weisman) (SR) • It’s All Done With Mirrors (Into the Shadows edited by Jordan Weisman) (SR) • Squeeze Play (Challenge Magazine #44, GDW) (SR, WR) • Quicksilver Sayonara (Challenge Magazine #46, GDW) (SR, WR) • Digital Grace (Challenge Magazine #47, GDW) (SR, WR)

1991

• Shepherd (Dark Regions #4) (A Talion story) (P) • Let Me Call You Sweetheart (Newer York edited by Lawrence Watt-Evans, NAL) (P) • Absolutely Charming (Amazing July 1991) (P) • Numberrunner (Challenge Magazine #50, GDW) (SR, WR) • Fair Game (Challenge Magazine #62-63, GDW) (SR, WR)

1992

• Its the Thought That Counts (Whatdunits edited by Mike Resnick, DAW) (P) • Wind Tiger (Mages Blood and Old Bones edited by Elizabeth T. Danforth and Michael A. Stackpole, Flying Buffalo, Inc.) (P)

1993

• The Oldest Trick In The Book (AutoDuel Quarterly Vol. 10, N. 4) (set in Steve Jackson’s Car Wars universe)

1994

• If As Beast You Don’t Succeed… (Part 1) (Kage V1, N2) (SR, WR) • If As Beast You Don’t Succeed… (Part 2) (Kage V1, N3) (SR, WR)

1995

• Peer Review (Superheroes edited by John Varley and Ricia Mainhardt, ACE)(P) • Missed Chance (Star Wars Adventure Journal/West End Games) (SW,TE) • Arts & Sciences (Forever After edited by Roger ZelaznyBaen Books) (The book is a braided novel using characters created by Roger. It was a great project to work on.) • Luck of the Draw (An Armory of Swords edited by Fred Saberhagen, TOR) (set in Fred’s Swords universe) • Blood Duty (Warriors of Blood and Dream edited by Roger Zelazny, AvoNova) (P) • What’s In A Name? (Tapestries edited by Kathy Ice, HarperPrism/WOTC) (MTG) • Tip Off (Wheel of Fortune edited by Roger Zelazny, AvoNova) (P)

1996

• Insufficient Evidence (Distant Planes edited by Kathy Ice, WOTC)(MTG)

1997

• Side Trip, parts 2 &3 (With Timothy Zahn) (Star Wars Adventure Journal/West End Games) (SW, TE) • Kid Binary and the Two-bit Gang (Highwaymen edited by Jennifer Roberson, DAW) (P)

1998

• Asgard Unlimited (Lord of the Fantastic edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Avon) (P) • Fortune’s Hunt (serial novella published on the Crimson Skies website, later collected as Spicy Air Tales Vol. One, FASA Corporation, 1999)

1999

• Encounter at Darkknell (parts 2 and 3) With Timothy Zahn (Tales from the New Republic edited by Peter Schweighofer and Craig Carey, Bantam) (SW) • He’s a Good Little Boy (Starfall edited by Martin H. Greenberg, TSR) (Set in their Star*Drive universe) • The Parker Panic (The Anthology with No Name edited by Shane Lacey Hensley, Pinnacle) (DL, P)

2000

• The Lazarus Murder (Amazing Stories, Summer) (PS) • Keeping Score (Guardsmen of Tomorrow edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff, DAW) (PS) • The Cards Call Themselves (Published on Stormwolf.com in serial form) (MB)

2001

• When You’re Dead (Historical Hauntings edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW) (P)

2002

• Least of My Brethren (Sol’s Children edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW) (PS)

2003

• Elusion Illusion (Star Wars Insider #66, March/April 2003) (SW) • The Krells of Tancras Moor (Dragon Magazine #310, August, 2003) (P) • Egor’s Last Date (Dork Tower #25, Dork Storm Press)

2004

• According To Their Need (Visions of Liberty edited by Mark Tier and Martin H. Greenberg, Baen Books) (PS) • Serpent on the Station (Space Stations edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers, DAW) (PS) • A Matter of Life or Death (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published in booklet form and on the net) (WTCG) • Followers Have Neither Peace nor Rest (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • Even in Defeat, a Beautiful Performance (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • Your Life is Already Lost! (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • The First Arrow Was Light, But The Second Went Deep (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG) • A Monster Among Monsters (promo piece published by Decipher Inc., for their WARS Trading Card Game. Published on the net) (WTCG)

2005

• Brewed Fortune (Renaissance Faires edited by Jean Rabe and Andre Norton, DAW) (MB)

2006 • The Silver Knife (Slipstreams edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers, DAW) (FH) • Intelligent Design (Furry Fantastic edited by Jean Rabe and Brian M. Thomsen, DAW)

2007

• Wildest Dreams (Army of the Fantastic edited by John Marco and John Helfers, DAW) • Seemless (Pandora’s Closet edited by Jean Rabe and John Helfers, DAW) (MB) • No Rest For The Wicked (Wizards, Inc edited by Loren L. Coleman and John Helfers, DAW) (TM)

2008

• Ghost of Christmas Present (The Corps, edited by Loren Coleman, Catalyst Game Labs) (BT) • Keeping Score (Worlds of Their Own, edited by James Lowder, Paizo) (PS) • Such a Nice Girl (serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Little Girl Lost (serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM)

2009

• If Vanity Doesn’t Kill Me (Crime Spells edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Loren Coleman, DAW)(TM) • The Adventure of the Red Riding Hoods (Terribly Twisted Tales edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW) • The Witch in Scarlet (Serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Looks Are Deceiving (Unusual Suspects edited by Dana Stabenow, ACE) • ‘Til Death (Serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Well Met The Future (BattleTech 25th Anniversary, Catalyst Game Labs) (BT)

2010

• By Our Actions (Timeshares, edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW Books) • Such a Nice Girl (serialized to Stormwolf.com) (TM) • Better to Reign (Spells and Chrome, edited by John Helfers, Catalyst Game Labs) (SR) • Covenant (Stalking The Wild Hare, edited by John Helfers, Chris Pierson, Marc Tassin and Jean Rabe, Walkabout Publishing) • Night of the Rat God (published on Stormwolf.com as part of The Chain Story) • The Adventure of The Ghost Watch (published on Stormwolf.com as part of The Chain Story)

Comics

Mike worked with Dark Horse Comics on a number of Star Wars projects. They were:

X-wing Rogue Squadron

• Issues 1-20 Mike did the story outlines. • Issue 1/2 (Promo comic distributed during the rerelease of the original trilogy) Mike did the story outline • Issues 21-35 Mike wrote the outlines and scripted the books.

Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand

• Mike collaborated with Timothy Zahn on the story then scripted issues 1-3. Tim scripted the last three issues.

Star Wars Union (The Marriage of Luke Skywalker)

• Mike outlined and scripted the entire run of four issues.

For Wizards of the Coast Mike scripted Battle for Theed, a short comic to promote the Star Wars role-playing game.

Mike has done a number of projects for WizKids. They were:

MageKnight

• Mike scripted the introductory comics available in both the limited and unlimited releases of the initial MageKnight sets. • Scrye Magazine ran a four part MageKnight serial in 2001 and 2002.

Crimson Skies

• Mike did one of the two introductory comics in the Crimson Skies boxed set.

Screenplays

2005

• Gone (Written with Brian Pulido) (Grand Prize Winner in FADE IN Magazine’s 2006 Scriptwriting Contest)

2007

• The Sickness (Written with Brian Pulido) •[Unnamed Lara Croft, Tomb Raider animation episode] (Written for GameTap to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Tomb Raider™)

 

From all of us fellow authors, readers and fans – I think  Wayne and Garth summed it up best in Wayne’s World –

“We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy!”

 

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April 5, 2012 · 7:25 pm

The Trailer for The Travelers’ Club and the Ghost Ship Novel

Last time I posted this I messed up and you had to download it.  Here it is on YouTube – thanks Christopher Wilke at the Iron Quill!

http://ow.ly/9S1hl

 

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April 4, 2012 · 11:11 pm

Reminder of My Panels at LepreCon 38

LepreCon 38 starts TOMORROW, it goes Thursday through Sunday!

The event is held at the Tempe Mission Palms in Tempe, Arizona.  For a link to find out more, go to:

http://www.leprecon.org/lep38/index.php

I will be appearing in seven panels, a book signing, and a book reading, as well as selling autographed copies of my first two books in the Dealer Room.  Hope to see you there.

My personal schedule:

Friday

LIT-Good, Bad & Ugly of Genre Fiction 1-2pm Palm E

Whether it’s made into a movie and television show, some of these genre fiction stories are good or bad for their fans. We will discuss when such stories get ugly for the general population. What’s good and bad about Twilight, True Blood, and other genre fiction works.

SCI – Laboratory went Boom 6-7pm Joshua Tree

A discussion on laboratory mistakes and how they lead to discoveries and/or spectacular failures.

Saturday

 SOC-Here comes the Apocalypse 2-3pm Xavier

The Noah story and other end of days’ theories – facts or stuff for the fiction books? Why are the apocalyptic story lines so prevalent in today’s television, movies and books?

Autograph session in dealer’s room 3-4pm

 SCI-The Stem Cell Hamburger Drive-Thru 4-5pm Xavier

Stem Cell Hamburgers, would you eat them?  A discussion on the current state of genetically engineered food and animal cloning in general.

 LIT – Independent Publishing Update 5:00-6:30pm Palm F

What’s new on the horizon for the Indie authors and publishers? There is so much changing that it’s hard to keep up with the technology used to support the pros and entertain the masses.

LIT/MED – Why is Steampunk picking up steam 7-8 pm Palm E

Sherlock Holmes, Wild Wild West, The Three Musketeers have all shared a new major element in their story lines and that is adding steampunk. Why has the turn of the century historical costumes, gadgets and ideas become so popular today?

 Sunday

 Michael Bradley Reading 11-11:30am Boardroom

Excerpts from Two Books – The Travelers’ Club and The Ghost Ship and Twisted History

SCI/LIT – Science research for book writing 3-4pm Xavier

Questions that will be discussed: Will guns rust in space? If we use super hot water for propulsion, how will the engines hold up or work, long term? Can we recycle the space junk left behind by the Apollo teams when we live on the Moon? Can we make a multiple planetary lander today or can we even expect this in the future?

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April 3, 2012 · 9:12 pm

Strange and/or Funny Book Covers

As an author who has to get book covers for his books, I think I would have turned down all these covers, and even most of the topics.  See if you agree:

Reminiscent of the monster from Monty Python…

Bad news Spot, not going to the dog park today…

I would rather bomb proof the rider…

When yer cousin gits herself preggers…

Or you could just use a credit card and spend $5,000 to $10,000…

The Do it yourself Burial did not sell as well I think…

I am guessing, don’t go out in the water, or look around for them…

I’m guessing his hobby has his family running away already…

No comment…

Theory AND practice?

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April 1, 2012 · 10:35 am

Twisted History – The New Anthology is NOW out on Amazon Kindle!

Here is a link to an awesome anthology of alternative history – Twisted History.  I have several stories in it as well as many rising literary stars here in Arizona, Christopher Wilke, Andrew Terech, Cameron Milkins, David Nicol and Vincent Alascia.   Best of all – it is only 99 cents!  The print version will be out later this week.  Here is a link:

http://www.amazon.com/Twisted-History-ebook/dp/B007QEZ71A/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1333301511&sr=8-17

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March 26, 2012 · 8:45 pm

Appearing At LepreCon 38!

Michael Bradley will be appearing as an author and panelist at the 38th LepreCon Convention on:

April 6-8, 2012 at Tempe Mission Palms – Tempe, AZ

This is the premier Arizona event for Science Fiction fans.  You can get more details at their website at:

http://www.leprecon.org/lep38/

Michael had the following schedule:

Friday

LIT-Good, Bad & Ugly of Genre Fiction 1-2pm               Palm E

SCI – Laboratory went Boom 6-7pm                                  Joshua Tree

Saturday

SOC-Here comes the Apocalypse           2-3pm                 Xavier

Autograph session in dealer’s room       3-4pm

SCI-The Stem Cell Hamburger Drive-Thru 4-5pm           Xavier

LIT – Independent Publishing Update 5:00-6:30pm                   Palm F

LIT/MED – Why is Steampunk picking up steam                              7-8 pm                        Palm E

Sunday

Michael Bradley Reading                        11-11:30am        Boardroom

SCI/LIT – Science research for book writing 3-4pm                   Xavier

Please stop by and catch a panel or get a book signed!

A special thanks to Patti Hulstrand, the Program Director for adding me to the program.  As you can see under the STORE page on this website, I have been a frequent writer recently for the ConNotations Newszine which Patti also publishes.  In addition, Patti writes her own novels and markets and publishes for many other authors.  I don’t know how she finds the time to do it all, but I appreciate her.

Michael

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