Welcome humans and those who species identify as same. For those of you who’ve moved entire email lists, servers, and the rest to a new home, you know the many joys I’ve endured these last couple weeks and the many colorful words I’ve exclaimed. But, after priming the new sever, parsing out emails over a week instead of a day, ironing out the glitches that haunt any such endeavor, we’ve finally got this naughty kitty purring.

  And I have to admit, I am well pleased with it all.

  One fun glitch was that people who had previously unsubscribed from my email list were reactivated. That kerfuffle earned me a few interesting messages. However, I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten them all fixed now. If, at any time, you want off this ride, just reply to any of my emails and let me know. That method works one hundred percent of the time.

  Now, on to more positive news.

  Since I’ve been unable to attend any conventions in person due to current events, I set up an on-line store and put all my stock in my dining room. And, for quite a long time, it was a tranquil place to visit. Once in a while, when someone got a stimulus check, I’d sell something. But, for the most part, it was a nice place to collect dust.

  Then an odd series of events happened almost simultaneously. My fiancée posted a cute story about buying a baby Yoda doll for her niece and mentioned I wrote sci-fi and had a bunch of stuff cluttering up our home. The nice people on-line decided to help me clear the clutter. They did so by purchasing books and comics. Now, and this is a first world problem I’m fine with, most of my stuff is on backorder. 

  Meanwhile, while all that was happening, someone posted links to my novels in a political action group on Twitter and suddenly my on-line sales spiked. Enough that one of my publishers reached out to make sure I wasn’t now posthumously famous. 

  Just FYI, I’m still extant.

  On the advice of my publicist, I’m going to try and pretend I’m saner than an emu on acid. Part of the adulting I’m being tasked with is focusing on one thing. Not something I do well. So, today, I’m just going to promote one release. I’ll do a different one next week. And so on.

  Hybrid Zero is an NSFW multiverse that gets a little tricky to explain to newcomers, but I’m going to try. The main story, Juggernaut, revolves around a universe where consensual sex is lauded, violence is taboo, and a family of genetically modified assassins may be humanity’s only hope. 

  The other parts of the multiverse, Jungle Grrl, Cassandra and the Changeling Sword, and the forthcoming Neutrinos, are all stories happening in different parts of the multiverse and which will, one day, come together in one cohesive whole. Or so I keep telling myself. The stories are brain bending, the art by Cyril Brown is eye melting, and they all can be accessed via the Hybrid Zero website. 

  Memo to you, I’m not kidding about the whole NSFW part. But if you can handle it, it’s a rich tapestry worthy of your time.

  Since everyone’s probably stoked for the family ZOOM calls and eating dinner in their underwear, I’ll wrap this up now.

  If you want autographed stuff, just CLICK HERE and have fun.

  If you want digital comics delivered to your computer just CLICK HERE and enjoy.

  If you want to festoon your hot bod with McSciFi art, just CLICK HERE and have fun.

  Until next week, have a wonderful holiday and stay safe, sane, and inside.

First off, an important update on CROSSTITCH ALPHA THE “7” BOOK ONE: ENVY. Due to the fact one of the crew came down with COVID-19 the entire schedule went to heck. While they’ll be fine, we had to shut down the Kickstarter for now. There was simply no way to fulfill any of our obligations. Hopefully we’ll be back and running again in a few weeks. I’ll keep you posted.

Until then, here’s a fun reminder to wear a freaking mask.

Now, to the fun stuff. Since we chatted last I have been a busy McSciFi. My article about World Building was published by No Wasted Ink. If you ever wanted to learn how to make Toledo interesting, this is the article for you.

My other article, about basic marketing and developing your brand, was published by Writers Co-Op. It’s a whimsical look at common mistakes creatives make when they’re starting out. Or have been making for years and no one sent them a memo. Think of it as my way of putting the fun back in fundamentals. Either way, it’s helpful.

Something else that’s helpful was finding out about a third of you can not see embedded videos. All you see is an ugly X which is not useful. However, also learning links posed no problems at all means I’ll quit trying to be so darn fancy and just use links from now on.

And this is good knowledge to have today as I spent last weekend at The Book Fest on a variety of video panels and events.

First up, on Saturday, the lovely and talented A.G. Billig took time out of her busy day to interview me, and the results were just AWE-SUM! All you have to do is CLICK HERE for fifteen minutes of your life you won’t want back.

Then, on Sunday, I headed up a panel on world building with the delightful title “The World Sucks, Let’s Build a New One – Imagining Tomorrow’s World Today.” All you have to do is CLICK HERE to enjoy the international panel of authors pretending to think I know something. Actually, in all honesty, it was  a great panel. We covered some serious ground and had tons of fun.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

Did you ever wonder what would happen if I was suffering writer’s block, binging on some Archie cartoons, and suddenly was struck by my muse?

No?

That’s okay, you’re going to find out anyway. 

I ended up writing a fun missive entitled FUN TIMES AT THE APOCALYPSE A GO-GO.  Which I desperately wanted to keep unsullied by commercial sale until it could appear in my collection of shorts I’ve been working on. In a stunning example of first world author problems, two hours after I’d announced it existed it was bought by Sci-Fi Lampoon Magazine. 

Since I’ve piqued your interest, you should CLICK HERE to watch me read an excerpt. One gentle caveat, since my muse is snarky, it’s NSFW as hell. 

More below.



Another quick reminder that each of these titles has new issues in the works. Click on any link to wallow in the awesomeness of it all.

LEGENDS PARALLEL
Hadithi Sambamba Comix
A man, his mom, and her lover have to save the multiverse. No one said this shit would be easy. The perfect series for those who think quantum physics isn’t sexy, or violent, enough. One story, five Earths, twelve issues. Art by Leslie Tejlor.

HYBRID ZERO: JUGGERNAUT
Dr. Strangefate Publishing /Hadithi Sambamba Comix
Set in the distant future, Hybrid Zero is the story of a human/alien fusion and her strange family. They live in an era where sexuality, in all its joyful panoply, is lauded and violence is taboo. This group of aristocratic soldiers must face down their own petty, in the grand scheme of things, problems and stop a trans-dimensional creature before it destroys the universe. Or not. You know how things can get sometimes.

HYBRID ZERO: JUNGLE GRRL
Dr. Strangefate Publishing / Hadithi Sambamba Comix
In a far future the universe has taken many unusual turns. Genetic manipulation has led to many unforeseen consequences. One is, after Earth had been destroyed, a group of rich investors rebuilt it to be an amusement park like nothing you’ve ever seen. Complete with sex forests and dino clones. 

HYBRID ZERO: CASSANDRA AND THE CHANGELING SWORD
Dr. Strangefate Publishing / Hadithi Sambamba Comix
She’s a ninety-six year old dead chick whose spirit is in a new dimension where she’s now a young woman with mystical powers who lives with a chain smoking, hard drinking, MIT educated, prostitute who’s also a master craftsperson who creates all sorts of wonderful things to help keep Cassandra alive. Or whatever it is she is. 

RUH ROH RANGERS
Hadithi Sambamba Comix
Those meddlesome kids are all grown up. A savage satire featuring the work of the 2019 Glyph Nominated artist, Maku Tellez, this is the comic that will ruin your childhood and make your day. Scooby Dooby Don’t!

SVAROZIC
Hadithi Sambamba Comix
A woman trapped inside a man, a god trapped inside a human. Part of the Independent Creators Connection (ICC) ring anthology. Each character, created by different artists, has an elemental force controlled by a ring. They will try to stay alive as a dark menace hunts them down and tries and steal their powers. Art by SBRii a/k/a ghoulbeanz..

THE EDGAR ALLAN POE CHRONICLES
Dren Productions, LLC
My take on The Oval Portrait has been included in a collection of sci-fi reimaginings of the works of Edgar Allan Poe featuring graphic artists who’ve worked on comics for Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man and many more. It’s a really cool project and I’m honored to be a part of it.

More below.



On a final note, while it was The Brittle Riders which earned me a seat at the LA based events I’ve digitally attended this year, it was SPLICE: HIT BIT TECHNOLOGY that caused the most, positive, gossip. And, let’s be frank, if you’re at an event where some of the authors have sold millions of books, and people are still talking about you, you’re doing something right.

If you haven’t already, click the titles to get your copies today.

Until next week stay safe, sane, and inside.

Hi Everyone.

Today I’m going to breeze through all the fun ways you can support me, get cool stuff, or just ogle the awesomeness of everything. 

First up, the Kickstarter for CROSSTITCH ALPHA: THE “7” BOOK ONE: ENVY is live and looking for love. Just a reminder, with Kickstarters you do not pay a penny unless, and until, the project is fully funded. So go ahead, take a risk, have some fun, and make a pledge for, the completely safe for kids, CROSSTITCH ALPHA: THE “7” BOOK ONE: ENVY without worries.

Envy is the first story in the New Wave Comics’ series, The Seven Deadly Sins a/k/a THE “7.” I will be writing all of them so please join in the fun. 

All you need to do is CLICK HERE to get started.

More below.




If, however, you’re looking for something a little more mature, and slightly less spiritual, I’ve got you covered. Cyril Brown, the creator of the Hybrid Zero multiverse, has added a store where you can purchase a plethora of original, and eye popping, comics and posters. 

Just CLICK HERE to revel in the majesty of his imagination.

Just to cue you in, Cyril’s art tends towards the NSFW side of things so you may not want to pop that link while you’re sharing your screen with your boss or something like that.

You’ll be pleased to learn that Cyril has an industrial printer, and custom packaging, so you can request any item to be autographed at no additional cost. 

Go ahead and BUY NOW!

More below.




Last, but far from least, I will be appearing at The Book Fest this weekend along with Jonathan Maberry, Raye Mitchell Esq., Ora Nadrich, Danny Trejo, Sara Winokur and many others. The whole she-bang is presented by The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society and The Writers of the Future Contest.

This event is completely free, you just need to sign up.

On Saturday, October 24, I’ll be live and answering questions about multiverse theories, or anything else that has your attention, at 6 PM (CDT). 

When I’m not there in person, I’ll be there in spirit, and you can watch a video of me reading, my original horror short, FUN TIMES AT THE APOCALYPSE A GO-GO. Funny note about that; I wrote it to be an unreleased showcase piece in my book of short stories, Stuff About Things. Two hours after I’d announced it existed, it got bought by Sci-Fi Lampoon magazine. Yeah, I know, first world problems and all that. This will be my third appearance in that revered tome.

Anyway, since there’s no such thing as too much McSciFi, I’ll also be leading the whimsically entitled panel The World Sucks, Let’s Build a New One – Imagining Tomorrow’s World Today which features some amazing authors from all over the world. The panel goes live at 4:45 PM (CDT), on October 25th, will last about an hour. 

*******
An irreverent take on the traditional world-building panel with an array of writers who imagine the fictional worlds we love to read about. From dystopian to science fiction and steampunk to fantasy, step into a speculative odyssey as they discuss the endless possibilities that we might face because of Covid, racial tensions, advancing technology, political divides, and of course, murder hornets. 

• Kevin Groh, Author of The Omni Legend Series with the first book, The Commander: Guardian of Utopia, releasing in the United States in English in early 2021.
  
  
• Laurel Anne Hill, Author of two award-winning novels: The Engine Woman’s Light and Heroes Arise.
  
  
• Edgar Scott, Economist turned computer scientist, futurist, and author of the forthcoming 418.
  
  
• Lon Varnadore, Author of Junker Blues, Mostly Human, and other sci-fi and fantasy fiction.
  
  
• Moderator: Bill McCormick, Creator of multiple universes including those in his novels, Splice: Hit Bit Technology and The Brittle Riders Trilogy. 

Until next week, stay safe, sane, and inside.