This is sort of like my ink blotter—-if you’re old enough to know what those are. It’s a place to see bits and blurbs about my other books, and miscellaneous musings.

Bloggy Muses and Ponderings

Space operas as well as Sci-Fi & Fantasy in general have traditionally portrayed heroes and heroines as flawless with chiseled bodies—embodiments of perfection on paper. This led to characters like the perfect Space Marine: a character whose moral compass is unflappable, who always makes the right decision without question, is never unsure of his next step, and leaps buildings in a single bound—ok, maybe not that last thing.

Cape or not, SFF heroes and heroines are able-bodied sculptures of flesh and bone knocking on the door to godhood that can't help but make the rest of us feel like we're coming up short.
That’s something no one can live up to, much less someone who’s not able bodied.

Dealing with chronic pain, and mobility limitations can make taking a shower, running the vacuum or doing a load of laundry feel like heroic feats. Our moral compass is intact, our desire to do the right thing fully functional, even if our legs are not. That's why I wrote Cullen Baisley as a starship commander who deals with chronic pain. Cullen suffered a spinal injury that would have left him paralyzed in the 21st century. Being a 61st century aquafarmer, he was able to get nanodrone injections to mend his spine. Of course, he needs to take daily treatments or the effects lapse and his legs fail him. His condition affects how he approaches missions, when he pushes himself, and how he relies on his crew—it makes him a more thoughtful leader, not a weaker one.

Does that make Cullen or us any less worthy? Then why do disabled characters get less notoriety and why are they taken less seriously?

Nephilim (working title)

Michael—the son of an archangel—froze time during a bank heist, nabbing $6.5 million, and all it cost him was another piece of his dwindling soul. As he flees Manhattan, Michael receives an ominous warning. The Order, an offshoot of the Vatican which controls the world through political deception and magickal coercion, unearthed the Deepening Well, the lost forge of souls. With this limitless power, The Order will remake the world to a fascist utopia.

Michael’s deadliest foe, Iriska—the daughter of an archdemon—aligns with the Order merging savage demon magicks and lethal technology to drench the Earth in blood and unlock the Deepening Well.

With enemies from his past and present aligning, Michael finds an unexpected ally in Emily Chase, a wheelchair bound witch descended from an ancient bloodline. Drawn together by a shared magickal bond and potent chemistry, Emily kindles a new flame in Michael’s heart.

To stop Iriska and The Order, Michael must embrace his powers--his Light, even if it costs him his soul--and Emily.