My first calling is to be a writer. I’ve published science fiction, urban fantasy, and steampunk, self-published some comics. I’ve stretched myself working on detective fiction, cosmic horror, and screenplays, though none of that has yet achieved escape velocity from the sock drawer. I write non-fiction too, mostly in my capacity as a scientist; and I enjoy promoting writing, particularly helping people overcome writer’s block, though both of those are topics large enough for their own pages.
Science Fiction
I’ve written more science fiction than anything else, spinning a series of space opera stories filled with hard-science takes on ancient myths: alien dragons, genetically engineered centaurs, and nanotech vampires. Unfortunately, the Alliance Universe is some of my earliest work and little of it has been published (yet).
The first Alliance story published is “Sibling Rivalry“, the story of a scientist fighting a computer gone mad realistically, where the computer has a real motivation to go amok and the scientist must fight it using real artificial intelligence concepts … no talking it to death or improbable back doors are allowed. The next is “Stranded“, the story of a young centauress from a supercivilization who finds herself forced to care for a fractious crew of crashlanded children on a world she had hoped to claim of her own.
Urban Fantasy
I am best known for writing the Dakota Frost urban fantasy series. Dakota is a Skindancer, a tattoo artist who can ink magic tattoos that come to life. Living in an alternate Atlanta filled with vampires, werewolves and men in black, Dakota applies equal parts skepticism, magic and attitude to navigate the Edgeworld where magic and reality meet.
The published books in the Dakota Frost series are FROST MOON (about magic tattooing and werewolves), BLOOD ROCK (about magic graffiti and vampires), and LIQUID FIRE (about magic firespinning and dragons). They’re all available in print, ebook and audiobook wherever fine books are sold – go check them out!
Steampunk
One of the most enjoyable projects I work on is the Jeremiah Willstone steampunk universe, a world where women’s liberation happened a century early and, with twice as many brains working on hard problems, they’re more advanced in 1908 than we are today, with airships, rayguns and time machines. The first novel in this universe is JEREMIAH WILLSTONE AND THE CLOCKWORK TIME MACHINE, but I’ve written a dozen more stories in the Jeremiah Willstone universe, which you can find on the Jeremiah Willstone site or wherever fine books are sold.
Publishing
I also work with Thinking Ink Press, a small publisher focused on the love of the printed word. We’ve published an number of anthologies, novels, snapbooks, children’s books and books about rare diseases; please go check us out on our website.
Webcomics
My fiction also includes webcomics, including f@nu fiku, the story of a young girl who can travel through all possible combinations of all possible stories. The comic is on hiatus right now – first I broke my arm, then someone stole my work laptop, then I sold my first novel – and I switched to working on my novels as my primary focus, but I do have about a half dozen pages on the comic to post, um, someday.
I’ve also worked on other comics, including 24 Hour Comic Day efforts for “Stranded” and for Cinnamon Frost, and also some unrelated ones set in the Alliance universe. Having learned my lesson with f@nu fiku, I hadn’t posted any of these until I have enough material to know I can keep up a solid schedule. Stay tuned.
I also worked with my friend Nathan Vargas on the 24 Hour Comics Day Survival Guide, which you can find at the Bltiz Comics website , where we talk about techniques and strategies for getting through the challenge of writing and drawing 24 comic pages in 24 hours without failing to finish or keeling over during the process.
