I haven't posted a blog in a while, mainly because I've been very busy with finishing up my penultimate semester in grad school. But I thought I'd like to sit down by the fire with all of you electronic blog-reading folks and ask you to remember the holidays are fast approaching. What better gift to give to your loved ones than the gift of reading?

So, with this in mind, I'd like to recommend some books to you for gifts. All of these books I count as influences for The Advance Guard,...

Attempting to clear my mind on the day before Halloween, so here goes with a short lark. I'm writing this on the fly, so please bear with me, and I'd love for any and all to comment. This uses my Advance Guard characters, and takes place after the book. Enjoy!

The Witching Hour

Darkness, the normal terrain of a basement, cracked as the light switched on in the barracks room. The hand on the switch, coated in orange fur, preceded the entry of its owner, Kitty Lazarus....

No promotion this time around, just venting.

My current employment is a graduate assistantship. 20 hours a week, with a stipend of $4300 for the semester (before taxes), supposed to be paid bi-weekly.

It's now two months into the semester, and I have yet to see paycheck one.

Why is this, you ask? It's because of a work plan, which apparently needs signatures of everyone short of Jesus Christ himself to approve me to the payroll. This is AGGRAVATING...

After taking a few days off from blogging, I decided to check on the hit counters on not only the "Characters in Action" entries but the sample chapters as well, just as a means of trying to see which characters seem to be liked the best. This time I'm only focusing on this blog.

The (again, unscientific) measure I'm using is views of entries for each character. This time, the "Phantom Squadron" chapter will count for all four, so each character is spotted 18...

From The Advance Guard, available now from Amazon.com

“I hope this works for her.”
Ken Sharpe sighed deeply as he knocked on the steel door. Cyrus Salem looked up at him, smiling.
“I think it will. Trust me.”
The door opened. Ariel Vibria poked her face through the opening, looking half asleep but still smiling when she saw the two men. “Come in, guys.”
“Actually, we need you to come with us. We have somewhere...