It’s become tradition for me to write a goodbye letter to the year that’s almost over… sort of a silly way of summing up both the good and the bad of the preceding 365 days, while cleansing the palate in anticipation of the coming new year. I’m not going to do that this year, for…
It’s that time again. The stockings are hung, the whisky is poured, the NBA games are scheduled… yep, that’s right: it’s the night before Christmas! I wasn’t planning a Christmas blog post this year, but then Cox decided to kill my internet access for two days, and Tuesday’s post was, by necessity, rescheduled to today….
For the last two years, I’ve had a blog post listing my writing goals for the coming year. Making those goals public has been a great way of both letting you all know what’s coming and holding myself accountable, and I suspect I’ll continue the practice for years to come. 2020 is, of course, a…
After a weird month (elections! court cases! drama!) in a very weird year (you can leave any day now, 2020!), it’s something of a relief to welcome Thanksgiving here in the USA. My angel-wife and I will be celebrating by ourselves, eating nothing but pie (pizza and pumpkin, at a minimum), as always. It’s…
Release Day After a year that has lasted approximately four decades, it’s hard to believe that we’ve finally made it to the release of Red Right Hand. Another adventure in the Post-Break world. Another chapter in Damian’s story. And a whole lot more bloodshed, triumph, and defeat… because it just wouldn’t be a Murder of…
With the release of Red Right Hand just over a week away, I thought it would be fun to once again share some quick, mainly ridiculous, stats about the book.
All numbers provided here represent my best guesses after a less-than-careful review of the manuscript, and I reserve the right to be proven utterly incorrect by eagle-eyed readers. I’ve also tried to keep things spoiler-free.
Sitting on the bench on the west side of campus, eyes closed as I listened to the distant sounds of the ocean, I felt as much as heard her approach. Heavy steps, no pause as she cleared the tree line and found me sitting there, not even a sigh as she came and dropped onto the bench next to me.
“Hey Silt. Welcome back.”
“You know, if you keep coming out here to stare at the edge of the world, people are going to talk.”
With only fifteen second-years present, it didn’t take long to get through the fights. I was the odd man out; lucky number fifteen. Other than Jeremiah, who remained in the med ward, the second-years had all cycled back into the viewing room after their respective Healings. Nikolai let the silence and anticipation build, that smile still wide on his square-jawed face.
“Paladin,” he finally barked. “You’re up.”
Paladin vs. Walker.
Again.
Guess we all saw that one coming.
There wasn’t much to our sub-dorm. A small kitchen was just past the common room, while four bedrooms and a bathroom were off the long hall.
One bathroom, and a small one at that. Growing up at Mama Rawlins’ orphanage told me that was going to be annoying.
As I left the woods, the sound of orientation hit me like a Titan’s fist; music and cheering and a godawful number of eighteen-year-olds relishing their first day away from Mommy and Daddy. For the normals who formed the bulk of the Academy’s student body, it was a day of celebration.
The Powers who made up the incoming class of first-years weren’t getting a party. They were in an auditorium near the center of campus, where Dean Bard was telling them they were all going to die. Welcome to life as a Cape in the only democracy left in North America. Shit’s not easy. Even making it to graduation isn’t a guarantee.