Tag Archives: MAJESTIC-12

February 29, 2016 · 11:00 am

Crouching Tiger, Hide This Sequel: Why do some sequels work and others…don’t?

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a masterpiece, and I will brook no argument to the contrary. It’s a film that manages to be many things at once: A heart-wrenching romance, a character study, a contemplation of a certain time and place, and an epic, kick-ass Wuxia film. The acting is superb, the directing brilliant, the writing spot-on, the cinematography dynamic and lush, and don’t even get me started on the music.

So when Netflix said they were doing a sequel — the epically titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (seriously, a comma and a colon) —  I was excited. I didn’t even think to be super nervous about the quality of it. Sure, Ang Lee wasn’t directing and Chow Yun Fat would obviously not be returning, but still. You take a title like Crouching Tiger and you’re taking on some responsibility, man. There are expectations. Of course it would be done well.

It’s amazing, the naivety I still have despite 43 years in the world.  Continue reading →

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February 22, 2016 · 5:45 pm

Back from vacation with tidbits of news

I’m back from the wilds of the Adirondack Mountains and once again ensconced in the day-to-day. We had a great time, and I even managed some intermediate trails on Gore Mountain (I’m typically a green-circle skier, so this was a nice thing for me). Took a bit of a spill on an icy patch and pulled a muscle in my chest, which has made for less-than-optimal sleeping, but it’s healing up. On the bright side, I sampled many fine beers and hung out with my family and other lovely people. Overall, it was a win.

And now that I’m back, I wanted to point out a few things:

After a short delay, The Gravity of the Affair is now free on Amazon as well as Google Play, iTunes and Kobo. (Due to arcane policies, it remains 99 cents at Barnes & Noble.) We’re going to keep it free for a while as part of a ploy to get people to check out the Daedalus series in paperback. So if you haven’t read it yet, please to enjoy!

I’m very OK with Barnes & Noble of late, despite the whole not-free thing, because The Daedalus Incident is on its list of “Alternate Realities – Alternate History” best sellers. And in some seriously fine company, too.

And hey, speaking of The Daedalus Incident, it’s on track for a March 15 release in mass-market paperback! And it’ll have the first chapter of MJ-12: Inception tucked in the back. The Enceladus Crisis follows in May, and The Venusian Gambit arrives in July, and they’ll both have different MJ-12: Inception excerpts as well. Collect them all, as they say.

Operation: DAEDALUS is still a going concern, and I’m excited to see all the love out there. As a reminder, if you leave reviews for The Daedalus Incident and/or use your social media superpowers to talk up the impending release, you’re entered to win a signed copy of the paperback and a preview copy of MJ-12: Inception. The more you review/post, the greater the odds of winning.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding material to MJ-12.net for your enjoyment. As you may know, MAJESTIC-12 is the conspiracy theory surrounding the government’s involvement in capturing aliens and using their technology. My take in the MAJESTIC-12 spy-fi thrillers will be…very different. But pretty darn fun.

I also want to point out that Geeky Giving has released its first story bundle! You get four great short stories and novelettes for the low price of $5, which goes toward neurological research. I urge you to check it out and donate. My novelette, “Mind Flight,” is in the March bundle, so get ready for that, too.

Finally, I did a guest post over at kt literary, my literary agency, as part of its “Peace, Love, Books” series. In it, I talk about unexpected joys of having fans. Because, to my very great surprise and delight, I have some fans. And they’re all awesome.

And that’s it for now. I’m working on MJ-12: Inception edits and outlining MJ-12: Shadows, which coming out around autumn 2017. Next week, I go to Los Angeles for the day job and will likely have some killer ramen and excellent tacos. It’s good to keep busy, right?

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January 29, 2016 · 4:30 pm

MJ-12: Inception now listed on Goodreads, up for pre-order on Amazon

MJ-12-Inception-titleThe funny thing is, we’re still working on the edits to MJ-12: Inception. Regardless, you can now add the first MAJESTIC-12 thriller to your Goodreads “want to read” pile and, if you’re feeling particularly inspired, get your Amazon pre-order in today.

I know, right? I’m mostly just bemused to find these pages so early. But hey, feel free to make use of them.

I should note that the Sept. 6, 2016, release date is correct but should be treated as tentative this far out. I definitely feel like we’ll make that with plenty of room to spare, but Night Shade Books could move that around if the need arises on its end.

And no, there’s no cover yet. I did receive this little logo here, which is cool. But I’ve seen the full cover drafts and, man, let me tell you, it’s going to be amazing. Just a great old-school thriller cover with some neat paranormal elements to it.

Meanwhile, I’ll be tinkering with MJ-12.net in the coming days and weeks. Right now, it’s very much a placeholder, but I’m hoping to add some content that will get folks excited about seeing super-powered espionage agents duke it out during the Cold War. Be sure to look out for excerpts of MJ-12: Inception in the Daedalus trilogy mass-market paperbacks this spring and summer, too.

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January 11, 2016 · 10:00 am

A little 2016 preview

MJ-12-logoimage

The new series comes out this year!

I think everyone should be well and truly recovered from the holidays and such, so I figured it was a good time to let you know what you can expect out of me in the coming year, words-wise. And it’s going to be pretty cool.

Obviously, the Big Thing™ will be the release of MJ-12: Inception in September. This is the very first volume in the MAJESTIC-12 series of fantastical Cold War spy thrillers, because that kind of genre-blending is how I roll.

Now, the conspiracy theory states that MAJESTIC-12 is a cabal of government honchos hiding proof of extraterrestrial life from the general populace in order to leverage alien technology on behalf of the United States military. I’m taking that historical theory and running with it, but in very, very different directions. So you’ll see a lot of action and adventure, some truly fantastical elements, a decent dollop of mystery and suspense, and a couple of big question marks in MJ-12: Inception that’ll hopefully have you coming back for more.

So that’s out in September in hardcover. Where do things stand with it now?  Continue reading →

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November 17, 2015 · 5:45 pm

Update on stuff and sundry things

I think I’ve exhausted myself of any and all Weighty Topics I care to address on the blog these days. (Note: There are many, many Weighty Topics to discuss in the world, generally speaking. What I choose to talk about here is an exceedingly thin slice of that.) So I figured I’d give you some updates on what’s going on with writing and such. The fun stuff.

First off, MJ-12: Inception remains with editor Cory Allyn in his Maine editing bunker. No word if there’s a moose involved. I haven’t received any emails with “WTF were you thinking” as the subject line, so I’m encouraged. The nice thing is, we’re still months away from release — building in some lag-time between The Venusian Gambit and MJ-12: Inception was a smart thing to do. Whatever I need to do, it won’t be a scramble to get it done. This is a good thing.

We’ve been doing some metadata and catalog stuff in the meantime, the kind of stuff you’ll see on Amazon pages, in publisher catalogs or on the back of ARCs. There’s also bits and pieces of business ponderings, and some neat opportunities to preview the first MAJESTIC-12 novel this spring, even beyond the planned build-out of MJ-12.net. More on that when it’s ready.

I’m also writing my short story for Geeky Giving, which is due in January but I’m hoping to finish by Christmas, if only to have the holidays off. Plus, Cory will emerge from the bunker any minute now with edits, and I wouldn’t mind having this story done before tackling the novel, lest I mix my neuroscience with my espionage.

And finally, there’s five days left on the Worldbuilders critique auction. Right now, that critique of 25,000 of your words is a steal. It won’t be cheap forever, since these things tend to ramp up at the end, but I imagine it’ll still be more reasonably priced than Pat Rothfuss’ critique, largely because I am not Pat Rothfuss. (However, I’m apparently pretty good at critiquing, if the kind words of past bidders are any indication.)

Remember, if you get priced out of the auction, you can still chip in $10 or more and be entered to win a critique by me, and others, as part of the WriMos for Worldbuilders lottery.

And that’s all I got. Family’s fine, day job is busy as usual leading up to the holidays. I clean the chicken coop on weekends and putter around with words when I can. It’s all good.

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November 12, 2015 · 5:45 pm

Depicting historical figures in alt-history or historical fantasy

I’m proud to call Scott Reintgen a fan of my work, prouder still to have talked to his high school English class about writing, and even prouder to call him an authorial colleague now that his YA trilogy has found a home. Scott is good people.

So when he asks me a question, I do my best to answer. Over on Twitter this morning, Scott asked me:

I gave some thoughts off the top of my head on Twitter (while riding into work on the beautiful New Jersey Turnpike), but I thought the topic was a good one, and worthy of more than 140-character answers. So here we go.

First off, I’m not a fan of rules, per se, when it comes to writing. If you can make it work, do it, with the caveat that any rule-breaking you do is hard, and you’ll fail many times before you find your way. But that said, when I wrote the Daedalus trilogy and MJ-12: Inception, I certainly had some guardrails keeping me on a certain path when it came to historical figures.

These worked for me, maybe they’ll work for you. Maybe they won’t. It’s all good.  Continue reading →

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November 11, 2015 · 5:30 pm

MJ-12: Inception slated for Sept. 2016…in hardcover!

MJ-12-logoimageSome MAJESTIC-12 news to pass along. Night Shade Books has tentatively slated MJ-12: Inception, the first volume in my Cold War spy-fi series, for a September 2016 release. And what’s more — it’s coming out in hardcover!

I’ll admit to a little trepidation with regards to a hardcover launch, because they’re generally more expensive — and thus the ebooks will be a few bucks more, too. But the fine, upstanding sales folks at Night Shade believe hardcover will give the book the best shot to succeed, and they’re the experts.

So I’m just gonna be sure this sucker is very much worth your money. And I’ll also admit, I’m kind of stoked to see a book of mine in hardcover, with a dust jacket and everything. It’s all so very literary.

I’m putting the “tentative” next to the September 2016 release date because these things tend to be in flux at this stage. I can tell you with certainty that MJ-12: Inception will be Night Shade’s lead title for Fall 2016, though, and that’s pretty exciting. Having it as the lead title, and in hardcover, is a big deal for them, and me.

Right now, MJ-12: Inception is in the hands of my awesome editor Cory Allyn, who’s hunkering down with it in his Maine editing bunker as we speak. I’ve asked him to pull no punches — we have the time to make this book rock, and he’s a great editor who I know will make it better. (Pro tip: That’s what editors do. Listen to them.)

I feel like there’s a point of clarification that needs to be made about the series. The real-life MAJESTIC-12 conspiracy theory deals with the alleged government cover-up of extraterrestrial activity on Earth, starting with the Roswell incident in 1947. From what you’ve seen thus far, especially here, there’s very little mention of aliens or Roswell. This is not a mistake. Doing a straight-up “MAJESTIC-12 is aliens” take would be boring. So if you’re looking for the Greys and flying saucers, they won’t be there.

But what will be there is pretty cool, if I may be immodest for a moment. I’m suborning the MAJESTIC-12 mythos, and many of the historical figures involved, for my own ends. I promise, we’re gonna make it a fun ride.

Finally, you may have noticed that MJ-12.net no longer directs back to this site, but to a different one altogether. For now, what you’re seeing there is a placeholder. Come spring, we’ll be putting some teasers and samplers up there to whet your appetites.

The Variants are coming. And the Cold War will never be the same.

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October 22, 2015 · 6:00 pm

New MAJESTIC-12 tidbits: An interview with Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing

Robert Junker of Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing wanted the first crack at me after we announced the new MAJESTIC-12 series earlier this month. Due to the vagaries of fate and fortune, he missed it by a day, but the interview is live here and now if you want to grab a look and find out a bit more about the new books.

In the interview, I talked about some of the historical research I did for the project, a bit about characters and a few other things that may be of interest. No beer references this time, but I’m sure to make it up to you down the road, I promise.

My thanks to Robert and AiSFP for the interview!

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October 21, 2015 · 5:30 pm

New podcast interview: Hanging out with TJ Redig on Scrivener’s Soapbox

Just a quick note: I did a interview recently with author and podcaster TJ Redig, proprietor of the Scrivener’s Soapbox podcast, which is now live and available for your listening pleasure. In it, I discuss the Daedalus trilogy, my short fiction, and the upcoming MAJESTIC-12 series. We also talk about homebrewing, and I am duly chastened for not upgrading my brewery game beyond the basics.

It was a fun interview, and if you’re interested, there’s some new MAJESTIC-12 tidbits in there that haven’t been revealed anywhere else. I also had a cold when I did this one, so I apologize for coughing in your ear from time to time. If memory serves, there’s also an awkward pause where I had to hit mute so I could give my wife some money for our daughter’s lunch for the week.

Real life, man. Raw and unfiltered.

My thanks to TJ for having me on. You can listen to it right here on this site, surf on over to TJ’s site, or head to iTunes and download it.

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October 13, 2015 · 5:30 pm

Cryptic photos revealed: A MAJESTIC-12 image gallery

Long-time readers of this blog will have noticed a spate of unusual photos, posted without explanation since April, that teased…something. With the  MAJESTIC-12 series officially announced, I can safely say that these photos are hints as to the first book, MJ-12: Inception, due out next fall.

And as promised, here’s the explanation of what they are.

Area 51

teaser1This is indeed the famed Area 51, located in Groom Lake, Nevada. The super-secret military facility started simply as a reserve Army Air Force base called Indian Springs during World War II, and in our history, it became a testing ground for a wide variety of classified aircraft projects, including the Lockheed U-2 spy plane and the F-117 Stealth Fighter.

It’s also a part of UFO lore, being the secret base where the government allegedly houses and reverse-engineers alien technology. In MJ-12: Inception, Area 51 is…well, it’s in the book, and that’s all I’m saying about that.  Continue reading →

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