I really do let too much time pass between blog posts. I’m told that frequent blogging helps increase my web presence, which theoretically helps book sales so in the interest of blatant self-promotion, here it goes.

I’m hard at work on the fourth story in the Port Mason series, tentatively called The Mayor. There have been a lot of false starts and rewrites over the last several months but I think I’ve got the story nailed down now and am proceeding with the manuscript. At this stage I have no idea when it will be out. I’d like to say next year but I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.

In addition to writing I also try to make time to read books. This provides both a much-needed diversion and also inspires me to keep plugging away at my own work. Right now I’m reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, the basis for the popular Game of Thrones series on HBO. I’ve really been taken in by this massive saga and am already on the fifth book, A Dance With Dragons. When I’m done with the fifth book I’ll have to watch the TV show. After that I’ll have to join the legions of fans who are not-so-patiently waiting for the sixth novel in the series, which Martin has been working on for the last five or six years.

As a writer myself, I can understand how tough it must be for Martin to write this series. It’s scope is so big and complex, which is one of the things that drew me in much as the late Frank Herbert’s Dune chronicles did many years ago. In both cases the authors created these massive, complex, and well realized worlds filled with interesting characters and stories so compelling that you want more, more, more. (channeling Billy Idol there)

Although I currently write contemporary thrillers, science fiction is my first love and I’m seriously considering creating my own epic series after I’m finished with the Port Mason books. I don’t want to limit myself to only one genre and the advantage of being self-published is that I can do whatever I want.

Well, I guess I’ve slacked off my real work long enough. Until next time!