Take A Moment And Check Out My New Publisher Misti Media (If You Haven't Yet)

I mentioned a while back in So My Novels Have Been Unpublished (For Now) that 3 of my novels have been taken off the market, but I have a new publisher that's picked them up and loaded them into the magazine for release. At time of last check, though, they probably aren't going to pull the trigger on re-releasing my books until January of 2027... there were a lot of us that got swept up in the Histria Books purge, and there's plenty of titles that will be coming out in the new year along with me.

But since we're drawing close to the shopping season, and a lot of folks like to give books as gifts, I figured I'd mention some of the Misti Media titles to whet folks' appetites for the re-release of Old Soldiers, and my Hardboiled Cat series of books!

There's a lot of mysteries out there... so why wait?

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

So What Sort of Titles Do They Have?

Misti Media has been around for a hot minute, and they currently have 72 titles on the market, all of which are available on Drive Thru Fiction (as well as a few other places, if you find a title you want to get from a different outlet). And while there's a pretty good variety of options out there, they've got quite a lot of mysteries and thrillers out there, which I'd definitely recommend checking out.

Two of the titles that most caught my attention (and this was before I signed my current contract) were (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight: Crime Fiction Inspired By One-Hit Wonders, as well as Gag Me With A Spoon: Crime Fiction Inspired By The Music of The 80s. These books were the reason I was pretty sure that Leo and his tales were going to fit in pretty well over at Misti Media. I also have a soft spot for anthologies, and since they're hard as hell to move copies of, I figured I'd give them a shout out this week!

Seriously, give it a look if you haven't!

However, if you're someone who is more in the mood for a novel instead of a bunch of bite-sized stories, and you'd like something on the cozier end of things, consider checking out Gone To The Dogs (The Gumshoe Chicks Mystery #1). There's a murder, a dog show, and a group of old high school friends who get together to find a killer. For those who prefer something more of a thriller, though, the alternate history novel Russian Amerika is definitely worth giving more than a cursory glance. In a 1980s where Russia still owns Alaska, this novel deals with a terrifying scenario that could leave bodies floating in the ocean, and international tensions rising higher than ever before.

So, while I'm sure at least a few folks out there are waiting for my books to get what I hope is their final re-release, consider looking through the rest of the Misti Media catalog for something to tide you over until Pollux and Leo are once again available... especially if you're one of those readers who likes to collect all the different editions of an author's work for your shelves!.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

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- The A.L.I.C.E. Files (an audio drama channel I launched with Alice Liddell)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel above!

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Business 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 most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list.

Don't Neglect Your Subplots (They Really Do Add Spice To Your Story)

Subplots are one of those things a lot of writers love to try their hands at, but not all writers are good at them. They're sort of like getting perfect icing on a cupcake; it's amazing when you get it just right, but if you mess it up then it's going to be really obvious.

Now, if you're going to include subplots in your story, I'd recommend keeping some of the following advice in mind... as well as avoiding some of the bigger mistakes that can ruin your special addition to the overarching plot!

Because it's very easy to scare your subplots, and they fall flatter than a soufflé when that happens.

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

What Is A Subplot?

Subplots, or B Plots, are secondary storylines that are going on during the main story you're telling. For example, in Lord of The Rings, the main plot is Frodo's quest to take the ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. The major B plots are Aragorn's struggles to stop the rampaging armies of evil, and Mary and Pippin going off on their own, separate adventures. The reason these subplots work so well is that they all affect the main storyline in some way, they mirror the overall themes of the story, and they weave together neatly in the end.

Those are the things you want out of a subplot. It doesn't necessarily have to be a long-running, immersive thing that takes up a great deal of page space, but it needs to act as part of the ongoing narrative in some way, shape or form, and the subplot needs to be resolved the same way the main plot does (though not necessarily at the same time).

For folks who need another example of a subplot, one of my favorites that I've written is in my book Painted Cats. The main plot is that our Maine Coon bruiser Leo has been asked to find a missing cat named Mischief... but the subplot is that her kitten Trouble has sort of landed on Leo's doorstep. So while he is trying to find what happened to Mischief, Leo also has to help teach Trouble how to be a cat... particularly when it comes to fighting in New York back alleys. This subplot weaves back into the narrative when what Leo teaches Trouble helps him defend himself, and leads to a domino falling in the main plot. And, in the event I write more novels, this minor subplot is going to shape Trouble as a character, helping him grow into a protagonist in his own right, and possibly headlining his own series.

Seriously, grab a copy of this book if you haven't!

However, those are two examples of subplots that do work... what does it look like when a subplot doesn't work? Well, I'm glad you asked, because this reaches back to the early days of my career when I was editing for a small romance company. The company, author, and book shall not be named.

With that said, the main plot was that our protagonist was an Arabian noblewoman in a previous life, and her lover had been cursed into a piece of jewelry. A thousand years later the modern reincarnation of this woman finds the ring, and frees her lover from his metallic prison. The two of them must then confront the immortal sorcerer who laid this curse upon them in the first place, destroying him once and for all!

That's the A Plot of the book. The B Plot... well, it's about our protagonist's bestie.

So, from page 2 of this novel, we know that our protagonist's bestie is on the outs with her man. He seems to have cheated on her with a waitress, and now they're broken up. Her whole plot is trying to move on, and to find a new man. Her ex shows up 3 times throughout the book, and every time he does he is belligerent, unhelpful, and a general asshole all around. He never does anything to help out with the A Plot, nor does he do anything to contradict the view we've been given of him. There's never a scene where he shows up in his car to pick up the protagonist when she needed something, or an explanation that no, he didn't sleep with that waitress, but our protagonist's friend just won't believe him, and he's trying to prove that he didn't do anything wrong.

And at the end of the novel, said bestie and her ex are now together again... and this is supposed to be seen as a positive resolution even though he's still a massive dickhead who has been nothing but unkind to everyone around him, and did apparently cheat on his girlfriend who just took him back. No lesson was learned, no actual plot was affected, and it's a real sour note on what is an otherwise happy ending to the story.

The whole subplot was, in other words, pointless. The ex could have been removed from every scene he was in, and just never been mentioned, and nothing would have changed except the book became less unbearable to read. His ex taking him back means that she didn't learn anything, and neither of them grew or changed... and given the fact that said best friend just witnessed literal magic, a man reborn from over a thousand years ago after breaking an ancient curse, and the knowledge that our protagonist tried to find her lost love in every one of her dozens of lifetimes, the proper plot resolution should have been for the bestie to kick her ex to the curb, take back her power, and make it known that she won't accept anything less than this kind of love in her life.

And then maybe she meets a sweet, young EMT who comes to the scene of the sorcerer fight or something. The point is, though, that this is an example of a subplot that wasn't fun, wasn't a story in its own right, and added nothing to the book... which are precisely the sorts of subplots you need to trim off of your manuscript before you send it to your editors.

Support The Literary Mercenary

If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

- My Facebook

- My Blue Sky

- My LinkTree

- My Weekly Newsletter

- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel!

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 sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

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!

Do Your Characters Have Hobbies and Interests?

When we sit down to write a story, most of us want our characters to feel as real and organic as possible. Everything from giving them flaws and foibles, to ensuring they have believable motivations and desires gets baked into them so that no matter how epic the tale, or how alien the world, the audience still believes in their hearts that these characters are real people. Or, at least, that they could be real people in another world.

One thing that often gets left out, though, are our characters' hobbies. Their interests. Those things they do to fill their lives when they're not solving serial murders, or casting ancient rites, or trying to work up the courage to talk to the girl in their English 301 class who seems totally out of their league.

I am a poet. A lover. A linguist. Surely she will go to prom with me...

These are, in retrospect, the little parts of our characters' lives. It's the music they like, the books they read, the crafts they do on their days off. Things that bring them down to earth, and which ground them. And while they might not always be the focus of a dramatic scene, including them can often make our characters seem that much more human... even if the characters are not, in fact, human.

And before we go any further, consider signing up for my weekly newsletter. Also, if you want to help the wheels keep turning, consider becoming one of my Patreon patrons as well!

Cats Need Hobbies, Too, You Know

If you've read any of the Spenser For Hire series by Robert B. Parker, then chances are good you already know about some of the main character's side interests. He reads a lot of literature, he cooks rather elaborate meals, and he's passably learned in the science of psychology (at least partially due to his love interest, Dr. Silverman). I took a queue from this work when designing my own hard-nosed detective, even if Leo has four legs and a bottle brush tail.

Just saying.

If you haven't read either Marked Territory or Painted Cats yet, and you're a fan of noir mysteries, I'd highly recommend giving both of them a look. But if you're familiar with the tropes of the genre, then you already know a lot of stuff about Leo, our Maine coon protagonist. You know he's a big bruiser who talks a tough game, and while some of it might just be bluster, most of it isn't. You know he tries to keep his nose out of other people's business, but something always ends up getting him involved in stuff he'd rather not be part of. And he's got a complicated past with at least a couple of old flames in it, like Delilah who starts the events of Painted Cats in motion.

Throughout both books, though, we get a sense of what Leo does in his spare time when he isn't actively involved in life-and-death problems with New York City's various street beasts. We know he likes to tour street performers, for example, and that he enjoys various takes on classical music when he can find it. He likes Shakespeare, though he most often sees it performed in the park. He really doesn't care for heavy metal, though his cohort Lucky has a particularly favorite band Leo has to tolerate from time to time to get his help. He is fully aware of how social media works, and since cats don't have money, he does what he can to help artists he likes by being filmable while they perform so people check them out.

This isn't the bulk of Leo's time in the books (he has cases to pursue, after all), but he always takes time in the lulls for the audience to follow him around. It gives us a sense of who he is the rest of the time, when he isn't running down leads or roughing up bully boys who are trying to move in on someone else's territory. Sometimes it leaves readers curious (I've had more than one person ask why he seems so well-read, and there is a reason I'm building toward for that), and sometimes it makes them laugh (Leo attacking a balloon-cat to boost the artist's Internet presence got quite a giggle from one reader), but it always shows another aspect of your character.

And often it's these side aspects that balance them out. That makes them feel more organic, and less like just a jumble of special powers, or stated motivations, or action scenes. Because the little moments bring us in close, and they can make the bigger, more outlandish stuff seem that much more believable.

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 cat noir novel Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!

 

And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list. 

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!

"Painted Cats" is Now Out, Marking The First Sequel I've Ever Published!

Last year my novel Marked Territory dropped to a little bit of fanfare among my regular readers. The book followed my protagonist, a Maine coon alley cat named Leo, as he stuck his whiskers into some problems going on over on the south side of the Bronx. A church mouse and her friends were dealing with a territorial dispute with a pack of mangy mutts. Nothing wrong with that, things like that happened every day... but why here? The church wasn't worth barking over, much less fighting, and the deeper Leo dug the less sense everything made.

For those who want a slightly deeper dive, Rissy Reviews did a pretty great video on it recently. So if you haven't seen it yet, go check that out now!

What folks might not know is the ink was barely dry on my contract when I started work on the sequel. I finished it around Christmas last year, got it to my publisher once I'd made some adjustments, and now it brings me great pleasure to say that Painted Cats is available for all my avid lovers of hard-boiled detective stories, cats, and books that combine the two!

So What's This One About?

While Marked Territory established a lot of Leo's neighborhood, and some key facts about the world, Painted Cats gives us a very different kind of mystery to dig into. An old flame of Leo's named Delilah comes around asking for a favor; it seems a friend of hers has gone missing, leaving her kitten behind. While Mischief has seen some hard times, and made her share of bad decisions, she loves Trouble. If she hasn't come back for him, that means something is really, really wrong. While he's leery of what he might find, Leo agrees to go looking.

Reasons you should read the sequel (beyond it just being another of Leo's adventures in NYC) include:

- More heads of animal crime families (cats, possums, and even a reference to one run by snakes that I hope to get to in future sequels).

- A night spot for gay animals to mingle, meet, and eat.

- The adorable Trouble, who may end up recurring in future stories if the audience takes a shine to him.

- Celebrity animals, who earn their owners a living with their picture-perfect grooming.

You know, just in case you needed another reason to go out and buy your copy today.

Wait... Isn't This The Second Sequel?

For folks who want to get technical, there is a prequel to both of these novels. The short story "Stray Cat Strut" in the short story anthology From a Cat's View was Leo's debut into the world of fiction, and the first glimpse anyone got into his world of street beasts. The fact that I sold out of this book entirely at the first convention I brought it to was why I decided to expand Leo's adventures in the first place!

For those who are wondering, no, you don't have to read any of these stories in any particular order. I set out very specifically to mimic the style of serial detective stories like the Spenser series, or arguably Sherlock Holmes, where the order in which you choose to take in the cases won't affect your grasp of the narrative too much. There might be references to characters you haven't met, or to things that were said in other stories, but you can usually infer what happened or didn't happen without too much difficulty.

Which one should you start with? Well, I'll generally recommend Marked Territory as the official starting place since it was written to give a wider introduction to Leo's world, but if you wanted to start with either of the other two you could always fill in the blanks later.

In either case, I'm super excited to have gotten this far. For all the folks out there who've supported me, thank you. And for those who want to see even more of Leo's adventures, well, get your copy, leave a review, and tell your friends about the series! I'll keep writing them as long as people keep reading them.

Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!

That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent 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!