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.

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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!

What I Find So Motivating About Royalties

Have you ever wondered why you hate your job? Well there's a lot of psychology and research behind it, but one of the major factors that's gone into both psychology and philosophy is the idea of being separated from the effect your work has. That feeling you get when you're just a cog in the machine, answering a call here, or checking an order form there, but you can't really see how your job affects anyone or anything so it all feels sort of like pointless make-work? That's what this feeling references.

At the same time, there's also the knowledge that you aren't getting the full value of your labor. Now this may stray into hammer-and-sickle territory for some readers, but the idea is pretty sound. Whether you're making pizzas, sitting at a security desk, or delivering truckloads of goods to stores, you know in your mind that your boss is paying you the absolute least amount they can for the labor you're providing. Which means the difference between the cost to do the job/produce the product added to what you've been paid, subtracted from what the client paid, is the total value your employer puts in their pocket. This means that you know, no matter how good a job you do, the only person who's making more money from that effort at the end of the day is your boss.

Ain't capitalism grand?

Being an author, though, hourly wage isn't something I've earned for many years now. And while I still get a per-word rate on a lot of my work, I find that the most personally motivating thing I can be offered is a cut of the profits generated by something I either created, or helped create.

While that sort of structure might not be full-on socialism, it's certainly edging a lot closer to a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship than any hourly job I've ever had. It still doesn't pay as well as I'd like, though, so if you want to help out consider becoming a Patreon patron to help keep a little wind in my sails it would be much appreciated!

Getting My Piece of The Pie

For those not familiar, a royalty is when the publisher splits earnings with the author to compensate them for their part of a book, article, or other piece of work they helped create. So if you went and bought a digital copy of my noir mystery cat novel Marked Territory, my cut of those earnings would be a few dollars. If you bought a physical copy I'd earn a few dollars more, because it's a higher price, and therefore my percentage comes out to a larger amount than the digital copy did.

My sensitivity editor wants to know why you haven't gotten your copy yet!

There are, of course, practical, business-oriented reasons that so many publishers focus on royalties instead of just buying books, short stories, articles, etc. straight from authors... primarily because it's so difficult to judge the market that you never know what will explode and what won't, so you hedge your bets by keeping costs as low as possible. However, the side effect of this is that when you're a writer you've basically signed onto a pirate crew; you get your share of the bounty, whatever it is. And if there's no action (meaning your book didn't make any sales), then your percentage of nothing is still nothing.

And that does something to my brain chemistry that addresses the two factors I mentioned in the introduction. Because when I write something, whether it's an article like 5 Things You Can Do To Be A Better Ambassador To Your Hobby, a novel like my recent sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, or even an RPG supplement like my most recent splat Gods of Sundara, I have no disconnect from it. From my fingers to the sales page, there's a direct line I can see when it comes to my work that lets me keep a clear image of how my effort impacts things. Not only that, but if something I wrote does well (generates thousands of reads, gets a few hundred sales, etc.), then I get a part of that action. This motivates me to actually share my work, get interviewed about it, boost the signal, run marketing campaigns (as best I can), and to make sure my work gets seen by people.

Do you know what I do when I just get a flat fee for a piece of work? Even if it's a piece of work I enjoyed, or that I think is really worth people's time? Absolutely nothing. I take my check, I cash it, and I immediately get to work on the next thing, because I don't have the time or the energy to spend bigging-up a signal that isn't going to pull me along in its wake. I've got bills to pay, and making more money for a client who isn't sharing any of those profits with me means that I've actively stopped treading water while diverting my energies to them instead.

I'd like everyone reading this to take a moment, and ask how'd they'd feel if their job actually gave them a portion of the day's take while they were on-shift helping make all that profit. What if cashiers received a portion of the profit generated based on how much they checked out? Or perhaps they were paid a bonus that went up based on how much product they cleared? What if waitstaff, instead of relying on tips, were given a portion of the earnings generated by their tables (meaning big tables suddenly become big bonuses)?

Think about what that kind of cooperation would do for morale, as well as earnings? Because if everyone got back a portion of what their work helped generate, I bet you'd see a lot of stuff start to change in a big damn hurry.

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!

The Ship of Theseus, Homage, and Inspiration in Writing

Thanks to the success of Wandavision, most of us are pretty familiar with the idea of the Ship of Theseus by now. Perhaps the simplest version of it is to suggest you have an ax. You kill someone with this ax, remove the head, melt it down, and throw it away. You replace that head with a fresh head. Then, years later, the haft snaps, so you replace it with a new haft.

This begs the question... is this the same ax you killed that man with? Even if it's made of entirely new components now than it was when you committed the murder? And if it's not the same ax, then at what point did it become something new? When the head was replaced? When the haft was? What was the essential change that gave it a new identity?

Now, there's no actual answer to this question. It's a philosophical exploration of identity, after all. However, I started thinking about the Ship of Theseus again because of a story I heard from a friend of mine about a writing group they're in. It also reminded me of another (mostly) facetious quote.

"Stealing from one source is plagiarism. Stealing from many sources is research."

Before we get into the meat of this week's blog, remember to subscribe to my weekly newsletter if you want to get all my latest updates. Also, if you want to help me keep the wheels turning, then I'd ask you to consider becoming a Patreon patron... it helps more than you know!

So How Do I Write a Story Like "Avatar: The Last Airbender"?

If you've been in any writing group of notable size for any length of time, you've likely heard a question like this before. The property may change, going from Lord of The Rings, to Dragonball Z, to The Avengers, but the heart of the query is always the same: How do I make something like this property, but which isn't just this property with the serial numbers filed off?

Something I feel I can speak about reliably at this point.

If you've ever had that moment where you felt really inspired by a particular property, and you wanted to try something similar in your own work, you should totally do that. However, if you want to still publish the story as your own creation rather than as a piece of fan work (or a derivative work, if you prefer that title), then you need to ask yourself about the Ship of Theseus, and when the source material for your inspiration becomes a whole new story.

What I find helps in this scenario is to break a story down to its disparate elements, and to look at which ones are wholly unique to this setting, and which ones are things you can safely use without worrying about lawyers banging on your door.

For example, let's look at Avatar and break down that desire this person had to recreate it. What are the elements of that story that make it what it is? Is it a child of prophecy come back to save the world in a time of darkness? Probably not, there are hundreds of stories that have that in them. Is it different nations that are based around the 4 elements of earth, air, fire, and water? Well, this series isn't the only one to do that, but it would likely be a good idea to give them different names in your story, even if the theme was kept intact. And probably to change up the cultures so it doesn't look like you just traced them over. Is it the elemental arts of bending? Well even that unique form of elemental control is something we've seen in a wide variety of fantasy stories... but the name for the art would likely need to be changed in the tale you're telling.

One thing that you need to consider as a writer, though, is not just the exterior components of a story (the boards of the ship, if we're following the thought experiment). Because you can swap the palate, change the names, and generally create something that's aesthetically unique with relatively little issue. But you also need to come up with a unique take on the tale it tells, and to tell it in such a way that it feels new and unique rather than a made-for-TV version of a beloved film.

A story about going to different locations to acquire the necessary skills/upgrades so you can fight a dangerous enemy at the conclusion of the story/series is not unique by any stretch of the imagination. In many ways that's as much The Legend of Zelda as it is Avatar. The question you have to answer is what makes the path your characters are taking, and the world they're exploring, similar to that other property, but unique enough that fans of it are going to want to step sideways into this new domain with you?

You Can't Be Unique, But You Must Be Different

I've said several times on this blog that there are no new stories under the sun, just different ways of telling the same old tales. Because at their core, every property we love, every game we enjoy, and every movie that we adore, has a relatively simple core story that we can recognize. A Man Tries To Get Home is as much a story about Quantum Leap as it is The Odyssey. A Hero Proves His Worth could be A Knight's Tale, Aladdin, or any of a hundred other stories of protagonists who come from humble beginnings to step up when they're needed.

The list goes on.

That central column that the story's conflict is hung on, though, is not the whole of the story. The story, and what brings your readers in, is made up of the details. The unique traits of your characters, the curious quirks of the world they exist in, or how you present the fantastical elements of their setting. No story is truly unique in and of itself, but the difference that makes them stand out is in the details.

Lastly, if you haven't gotten your copy of Old Soldiers yet, pick it up and give it a read!

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!

The Most Widely Read Thing I've Ever Written Has Earned Me Basically No Money

When we think of authors who make a lot of money (or at least a living wage) from their craft we tend to think of those who are most popular. After all, if you have a lot of eyeballs on your stories then you have to be making money out of that deal somewhere, right? I mean unless everyone is checking out your books from a library or something, you've got to be getting a piece of that action somehow?

Perhaps if we lived in a just and fair universe that would be true. However, something I want to talk about today is that even if something manages to get popular (or at least seen widely in a given community), that is far from a guarantee that the creator made anything off of their efforts.

Which is why I'd like to talk about how the most popular thing I've written to-date, which has been seen by thousands of readers at time of this blog, has basically earned me about .75 for my efforts.

Before I get into the hard numbers, if you want to help me keep the wheels turning so I can keep the lights on while buying an occasional taco, please consider becoming a Patreon patron today! Every little bit really does help.

If You Like a Story, Try To Tip Your Creators

I have written a lot of stories over the years. All you have to do is bop over to my Amazon author page, and you'll see what I'm talking about. From novels like my latest sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, to my cat noir books Marked Territory and Painted Cats, to my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, and even game tie-in tales like The Irregulars from Paizo publishing, I've got all sorts of genres, lengths, and styles for readers out there.

However, the most widely-read piece of fiction I have on the market (that I have hard numbers for, anyway) is actually something I put out fairly recently. It's the short story Waking Dogs- A World Eaters Tale that went up on Vocal about a month or so ago. And in that one month this story has been taken in by thousands of readers.

One could argue that it's more popular than most of my other fiction because it's free, and thus people can read it no matter their current finances. Some might say it's because it's a Warhammer 40K piece, and thus there's already a built-in group of people who are looking for fresh fan content on that subject (I have a future installment about whether you can turn fan stories into a viable career, so rest assured we're going to cover that topic in the near future). However, the real reason this story is such a stand out in terms of audience is because of the YouTube channel A Vox in The Void, who did a phenomenal dramatic reading of it.

Now, to be clear here, this reading was done with my full participation and consent. I worked with the channel, and a link to my original story can be found in the video details for those who want to check out the text. However, if someone has already heard such a great audio rendering, why would they go back to read the text version?

There's 3,738 views on the video at time of writing. There's only 121 reads on the actual text version of the story... which is why it's only given me three shiny quarters worth of traffic in the past month.

Let's Talk Numbers

A lot of folks out there are probable thinking, "3,700 reads? That's not really all that much when you think about how many people there are out there." Hell, that's not even a staggering amount for a YouTube video when you consider the totals some creators rake in. And you'd be right. However, if you compare that to the most popular novel I've written to-date, my sword and sorcery tale Crier's Knife, it's probably moved less than 2k copies since I wrote it several years ago. And that's assuming everyone who got a copy (including the over 1,500 copies that were downloaded during digital giveaways) actually read it instead of just putting it on a shelf, or deleting it when they forgot where they'd snagged their copy.

But what if all 3,700 and change of those views had gone straight to the original story on Vocal? Well, that wouldn't be my most-read Vocal article, but it would be a pretty big splash... and it would generate about $25 worth of earnings instead of .75. Not great, but as anyone who's written short stories for a living can tell you that would actually be pretty par for the course in terms of earnings.

But that's not all in terms of numbers.

However, let's take this thought experiment further... what if those 3,700 people bought the equivalent of one of my smaller RPG supplements like 100 Random Mercenary Companies or 100 Oracular Pronouncements? These things cost like .99 to a dollar and change, and on the low end of those a single sale is worth about .15 to me... which would net me around $555 or so.

Or what if we applied those numbers to book sales for a novel like Old Soldiers? After all, it's also about gigantic bioweapons trained as child soldiers in a grim, dystopian future. Well, let's assume all the copies were digital, and netted about $2 per sale (a low-ball figure, but we'll use it for this example). That would be $7,400 in earnings... which would absolutely floor me as a creator, and make that novel far and away the new top of my heap.

But, end of the day, I have .75. Which is about enough to do half a load of laundry, or thereabouts.

If You Like What People Make, Support Them

Creators need the people who consume their content to support them, but even more importantly we need people to understand how they can support us, and what effect their actions have on us and our ability to keep producing work. Because while I may not have made any real money off that story, with all the folks out there who have Ad Block up, I'd be willing to wager that A Vox in The Void didn't exactly pull down fat cash over their reading either. A few additional subscribers, perhaps, a lot of good comments, and a decent amount of upvotes, but nothing that's going to launch them up into the earnings stratosphere.

So what can you do if you're someone who likes my (or someone else's) work, and wants to see me keep making more of it? Well, you can:

- Read and share posts

- Leave a tip (Vocal has this option, by the by)

- Buy a book (For yourself or someone else)

- Follow us on social media

- Leave reviews

- Become a patron (again, my Patreon link!)

At the end of the day, creators need your help to keep making things. And if they're making things available for free, they need even more support to help turn a profit off of all that time and energy.

But Think of The Exposure!

If you're a regular here, you already know my views on this statement. However, I'm going to expand on it, because this is something that just keeps... cropping... up.

Creators (whether they're authors, animators, dramatic readers, vloggers, or whatever other form it takes) cannot pay their rent with exposure. We cannot buy food with exposure. We cannot fix our cars, keep our lights on, or pay our heating bills with exposure. Because, in case you don't know, exposure is kicking the can down the line and hoping someone else foots the bill. It's rolling the dice on a whisper and a prayer that maybe somebody will take up the challenge of supporting this creator. Somebody other than you.

Be the support you want to see in the world. If you have money to spare, leave a creator a tip, or buy a book. If you don't, like a video, give them a subscription, make a post on social media, or boost their signal. Don't wait for the mythical god of "exposure" to alight on their shoulder and give them a check... creators die of exposure every year. And when they happens they can't make any more cool stuff for you to check out!

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!

Defunct Supersoldiers, Dystopian Hellscapes, and More in My Latest Novel "Old Soldiers"!

Wednesdays are my usual updates here on The Literary Mercenary, but I was having trouble coming up with a fresh topic, and things were a little on the busy side regarding my other projects and deadlines. Also, as I sat there struggling to come up with something I hadn't already talked about, I remembered that I had a new novel dropping on July 1st... so I opted to wait one more day to talk about my new book Old Soldiers instead!

And now for something completely different!

For folks who are more used to me writing fantasy adventure, or novels about cats solving mysteries on the mean streets of NYC, this one might seem like it comes out of left field. But hopefully that won't stop you from giving it a try, and seeing if it suits your palate all the same!

And as always, before we get into the thick of things, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to stay on top of all my latest releases! And if you want to help me keep the wheels turning, and you want to help more directly than buying a book, consider becoming a Patreon patron... it makes a serious difference.

All Right, What's This Book About?

The novel is set in the wake of humanity's first war with an alien species. The Hyperion was hugely advanced on a technological scale, and the species seemed to be energy-based; like ghosts in their massive war machines. Humanity had to pull together, and create dozens of doomsday plans in order to even stand a chance against this foe.

One of the things we created were the Myrmidon.

When annihilation is the price, you get less picky about ethics in science.

The Myrmidon were humans who had their genetic material spliced with remnants of the Hyperion recovered from early skirmishes while they were still in the womb. This allowed their bodies to mimic the energy signature of the Hyperion, which meant they could interface with the salvaged technology, turning it against the armada that followed the scouts.

There were other, stranger developments, though. Myrmidon grew to gigantic size, feeding off the radiation of the sun as much as any chow in the mess hall. None of them developed melanin at all, and most of them couldn't grow hair. Their strength was huge, and only magnified by their battle armor. They also had the ability to meld their minds together with one another, allowing for instant transfers of information, experience, and knowledge. They were the front lines of the Conflict... the shock troops meant to stop the frontal charge of the Hyperion.

While it would be an exaggeration to say that the Myrmidon turned the tide of battle, as they were only one weapon of war, they served a secondary use as propaganda pieces. They were unusual looking, to be sure, and though trained from birth to be soldiers they cut impressive figures to the populace of the world. A populace that was scared, and needed heroes to look up to. No one actually expected the Myrmidon to survive the war... and then they did.

But that isn't what our story is about. Not really.

Because Old Soldiers opens about a decade or so after the war has ended. Humanity is trying to rebuild the broken remnants of its world, and to move forward. Then there's Pollux. One of the only Myrmidon left in New Liberty, he lives with the ghosts of his past. Not just the battles he fought, and the way he was forged from the time he could first walk to be a weapon, but what came after. Trying to live in a world that wasn't meant for him, and to cling to some kind of life while fighting off the memories that still haunt the inside of his head. He reads, he goes to therapy, he takes his meds (though getting anything potent enough to actually affect his biology is... tricky, to say the least), and he's tentatively learning what it is to be a person instead of just a name, rank, and serial number on the firing line.

The progress Pollux has made goes up in smoke when he gets involved in a deadly conspiracy, though. After years of being told (and telling himself) that he was paranoid, and that no one was out to get him, now there are shadowy figures gunning for him. Re-activating what's left of his old unit, he, Castor, and Helen tool up to end the threat. Because whoever it is that jumped the gun is going to find out the hard way that they should have let these old soldiers fade away.

Inspirations, Themes, and Style

Any time you have 9-foot-tall genetically engineered bioweapons in your sci-fi novel, you need to address the elephant in the room. Yes, I've read a Warhammer 40K novel or two in my time. And at least part of the spark that led me to write this novel was that I was disappointed in the direction some of that fiction had gone. I wanted to see what went on behind the helmets and honor, and what drove space marines to be what they were in a more grounded way, rather than the bombastic, operatic way a lot of fiction from the grim darkness of the far future is written.

And while that may have been the starting point, it certainly isn't the only thing that went into this book.

I'm going to kill them all, Sir.

If you've never seen Soldier with Kurt Russell, then you are in for a treat when you finally track it down. A highly underrated gem that has one of Wyatt Russell's earliest roles, and which has a nominal connection to Blade Runner, it's a film that explores humanity. About what it takes to turn someone into nothing more than a cold, emotionless killing machine, and about how they learn to be a person again when that is no longer required of them... and about how unwise it is to disturb them in this journey, or to threaten the people they have grown close to.

Also for those who are wondering, there are a few touches of Lovecraft buried in this story when we talk about the Hyperion (as I wanted to make them as alien as possible, and the mingling of that alien with the human has strange results), and more than a tip of the hat to Frankenstein. Because much like Victor, the scientists who created the Myrmidon didn't do so with the understanding that they would be people. That they would have needs, desires, and that they would grow beyond the purpose they were made for.

Another thing I wanted to consciously do with this book is to explore the question of how soldiers (especially those who were marked out by time in war zones, even if they aren't colossal albinos with superhuman strength) are treated. I wanted to examine the social ritual veterans are often expected to endure, and how people tend to see them as objects, or as props, rather than as people. Down to the idea that they have to get help in proscribed ways, even if those ways aren't actually addressing their problems, and might be more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to overcoming the issues they brought back to civilian life with them.

And in between those thinkier bits we have explorations of the subterranean vaults of New Liberty, tense stand-offs with street scum and gutter warriors, and times where we see what Pollux and his comrades can do when let off the leash... which leaves you wondering what terrors they must have been at the top of their game, in full armor, and surrounded by hundreds of their brothers and sisters.

Even More of My Work (For Those Who Are Intrigued)

If this book sounds like something you'd love, then you should go grab your copy of Old Soldiers today! However, if you're a fan of military fiction seen through the genre lens, then you might also want to get yourself a copy of my fantasy tale The Irregulars from Paizo publishing. Or, if you prefer modern fantasy set in the here and now rather than in a world of elves, dwarves, and orcs, then my feline noir novels Marked Territory and Painted Cats should also be right up your alley (pun very much intended)!

And for my fellow lovers of the grim darkness of the far future, my story Waking Dogs- A World Eaters Tale is out there to read for free! Also, drop by A Vox in The Void who has dramatized both Waking Dogs, as well as my Cadian story "Almost" (linked below). Give their channel some love, if you're of a mind, because you may see Pollux putting in an appearance over there in the near future!

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. 

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