Which Stories From "The Rejects" Would You Like To See Expanded?

This week I thought I'd do something a little different for my readers out there. I have a question I'd like to get some feedback on, and I figured I'd reach out directly to those who come across this page. If you've picked up a copy of The Rejects, did any of the tales in it catch your interest? If so, would you like to see me expand on the worlds and settings of any of them?

And if you don't have your copy yet, well, go check it out!

In My Copious Amounts of Free Time...

For those who haven't had a conversation with me in person, one of my signature speech tics is the phrase, "Yes, in my copious amounts of free time." Because between adding to my Vocal archive, running two blogs, ghost writing for clients, and working on half a dozen tabletop RPG projects at any given time, I still try to squeeze in some fiction writing. In addition to this recent release, I've got another manuscript currently being reviewed by a publisher, and a second manuscript I'm considering going over for a self-publishing release.

The average author's brain can keep over 16,000 tabs open at once, for those who didn't know.

However, with that said, I do have several long-term projects that should be wrapping up in the next few months. That means they'll be moving out of my hands and into the publisher's territory, freeing up at least some time and energy for me to think about what steps to take next. And while I've got a small notebook filled with even smaller print, putting together this collection reminded me how much I enjoyed several of these stories. Not only that, but it made me think about the potential this little glimpse into their worlds represented.

Two of the short stories presented are actually from potential series I've thought about writing. "Heart and Soul," is the second published short story in what I call my Chicago Strange setting (the first story was "Little Gods" published in The Big Bad II), and "Suffer The Children" is an introduction to the world that Malachi inhabits.

Both of these are modern fantasy stories, but they also have distinctly different styles and feels to them. Gerald Caul is a much more academic character, a traditional private-eye archetype using his knowledge of folk charms and hedge magic to swim with the big fish in a world filled with fairy tale gods and terrifying manifestations of modern myth. Malachi, but contrast, is a rough-and-tumble bruiser who hammers his way to the truth of a case fist-first in a world that is filled with creatures from Mesopotamian, Abrahamic, and Middle Eastern myths (as opposed to the ever-present Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Viking gods that fill up a lot of modern fantasy stories).

While most of my other stories weren't meant as test-dives for larger series, several of them I feel had real potential. For instance:

- Asking what kind of a world we would have if a majority of the early superheroes we saw were people of color, and focusing on the drawbacks and lifestyle difficulties of their metahuman abilities in addition to the power fantasy of using them for good. "Hero's Wake" was a great exercise in this, and I'd be more than happy to return to that setting for future stories.

- A traditional sword-and-sorcery setting with dueling champions, bloody betrayals, and where steel is the only friend you can trust. While both "Champion For Hire" and "Mark of The Legion" were written independently, it might be fun to combine the two of them into a single project for folks who enjoy the pre-Tolkien pulp era of fantasy.

While I have thoughts on several of the other stories in the collection, particularly the demon-haunted world of "Dressing the Flesh," I don't want to spoil my own stories, here. So I figured I'd let the potential of those tales speak for themselves.

Of Course, There Are Other Options

Choose wisely.

I do have other irons in this particular fire, as well, some of which have been waiting quite patiently for me to turn my attention to them. So if nothing in my latest collection really sparked you as a reader, would you like to see either of the following books instead?

- Crier's Silence: A sequel to my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, where we find out what happened to Dirk's elder brother Silence Crier, and what he did when he was banished from the mountain of Ben Morgh.

- Untitled Clockpunk Mecha Novel: An idea that I had recently which exploded in my mind, this unique setting combines alternative technologies, saurian monsters, and hulking war machines known as imperators. From honor duels that smash steel and snap cables, to bone-crunching battles with felldrakes and other deadly denizens of the world, I hope folks enjoy this one as much as I do... when I get to it.

There is one other book idea, but that one I'm keeping under wraps for now. It has to do with that manuscript I mentioned someone was taking a look at earlier... but rest assured I'll update you on that one when I have more information!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my short story collection The Rejects!

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!