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The Prologue that Wasn't

My latest novel The Dragon Spy is a little more than two months old. Thanks to everyone who’s gotten it and read it (and especially to those of you who’ve posted reviews!). To celebrate, I want to share something left on the editing room floor. My YA Cold War Thriller opens with Lynna (half-human, half-sea dragon) on a mission in East Berlin which leads to an exciting action sequence as she…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: AMERICAN GODS

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is reworking a book written by one of his fellow Brits, Neil Gaiman. He had plenty of covers to choose from, but for this first crack at a Gaiman novel, he decided to give American Gods a dragon makeover. This was a fun one to dragon-fy. Given Windsor is originally from…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: Linghun

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is putting his unique artistic twist on one of my favorite reads of this year, Ai Jiang’s novella Linghun. A testament to how disorienting this cover is, I had to flip the image of the house right-side-up in order to add the dragon, flames, and smoke. This horror story is…

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"Star Trek" Film Scores Ranked

I’ve been a big fan of movie scores since I was in high school. I’ve also been a lifelong fan of “Star Trek,” so it’s not much of a stretch to combine those two passions into one post. I recently discussed both of these as a guest on Zachary Steele’s podcast “The Inciting Event.” I’ve decided to expand on some of what I had to say in that conversation with Zach by ranking all thirteen of the…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: FATED

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. Windsor is originally from London, so he decided this week to pick a cover that reminds him of home. Although, I think even he might object to seeing his home barbecued. Nonetheless, he’s given Benedict Jacka’s novel Fated a very dragony makeover. As the real cover points out, the “Alex Verus”…

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West of Apocalypse: The Soundtrack

I typically make two playlists for every writing project. One is a collection of instrumental music for when I’m doing the actual writing, but I also keep a second playlist that I use to brainstorm (mostly while driving). In the case of West of Apocalypse, even though I finished the manuscript in 2018, I’ve added to the playlist over the years leading up to its release. So there are songs on this…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: THE GUNSLINGER

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. With my new novel West of Apocalypse coming out next month, it seems only fitting to let Windsor give a dragon twist to the cover of the book that inspired my novel: Stephen King’s The Gunslinger. You can find the first book in King’s dark and bizarre fantasy western series, The Dark Tower, in…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: MAKE ME NO GRAVE

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. A popular book among the fans of Weird West fiction is Hayley Stone’s Make Me No Grave. The story follows U.S. Marshal Apostle Richardson as he chases down the fugitive Almena Guillory, the Grizzly Queen of the West. It’s a fun ride, and one I highly recommend. If you want to hunt down a copy…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: THICK AS THIEVES

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. Back in February, Windsor got his talons into the cover for M.J. Kuhn’s fantasy heist novel Among Thieves. This month, he’s sneaking some dragons into the sequel Thick as Thieves that comes out on July 25th. While green is Windsor’s color, the change in title demanded a color that’s a little…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: RIDE ON

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is giving one of my favorite Weird West books a dragon makeover. There’s a lot to love about Gwen Cole’s Ride On. It hits all the things that make a western fun with cowboys riding their horses, gunfights, and even hopping a train. No dragons, though… until now. You can get…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: VICIOUS

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is making a heroic effort at a dragon cover makeover. He’s taking a stab at Vicious by V.E. Schwab. I consider Vicious one of my favorite and most subversive superhero-inspired novels. You can get Vicious from all the usual places: Amazon, B&N, and Bookshop.

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: THE THOUSAND CRIMES OF MING TSU

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is giving one of my favorite books from 2021 a makeover: The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin. As I’ve said, this is one of my favorite books from 2021. It starts off as a straightforward “Old West” novel, but not far into the story, things take more of a “Weird West”…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: EAST OF WEST

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is taking aim at his first graphic novel. Given my forthcoming weird west novel West of Apocalypse, I thought it appropriate to do another weird west story for this week’s installment. Windsor has dragonfied the dover to Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s East of West,…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: THE ORDER OF TIME

You might not think a cover as simple as the one for Carlo Rovelli's book THE ORDER OF TIME offers a lot of room for changing it, but Windsor made some time to do it.

Every Monday, my grumpy dragon Windsor takes over my blog to give books a much needed dragon makeover. This week, Windsor is returning to non-fiction for his latest book cover makeover. He’s given Carlo Rovelli’s THE ORDER OF TIME, the ol’ “drangonification.” This was a fun one to do. I also enjoy when I can do something fun with the blurbs on the cover. I found this book an interesting read,…

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Dragon Book Cover Makeover: DUSTBORN

Dragon Book Cover Makeover: DUSTBORN

Every Monday, I’m going to turn over control of my blog to my grumpy dragon Windsor (probably not the best idea). He thinks more book covers need dragons on them, so he’s doing his part to give author’s books a makeover. For Windsor’s first selection, he’s taking on author Erin Bowman’s young adult dystopian novel Dustborn. You can learn more about Erin Bowman and her books at her website. To…

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Decided to do something a little different with our leftover salsa and taco meat. PIZZA! #tacopizza #dinner #WasBored #MySonHatesIt

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Some seriously cute pictures of our dog Wicket for your morning enjoyment. #WicketsWorld #LoveOurDog #dogsofinstagram #terriersofinstagram #rvadogs