If you like the stories, feel free to leave a review on Smashwords, Amazon or your own site. It isn’t necessary, but it is highly appreciated. Enjoy!

Once again, that coupon code for the free e-book is: EB68J

I just released a short digital collection of dark urban fantasy called Blood, Magic a & Concubine. The collection  is approximately 20,000 words in length and is a mere .99 cents. It will be available on Amazon for the Kindle, Barnes & Noble for the Nook, and other online retailers soon. Currently, you can find the ebook on Smashwords, which also offers a free preview. I will update the post as soon as it is live in other areas. Here’s a little bit about the 3 stories.

“Blood, Magic & a Concubine”: Johnny Stone is a wizard who fixes things and makes problems go away in the sprawling subterranean city of Underbelly. When someone kidnaps Manny the Goon’s girl, he enlists Johnny to find and rescue her. But Manny is holding back information, which doesn’t make Johnny’s job easy, not even when he enlists the help of a Nordic god.

“The Naughty List”: Seven-year-old Janie’s life isn’t so great. Lyle keeps coming back and being mean to her and her mom, and now Mom spends all of her time sleeping in her room. Thankfully, it’s Christmas, and in her letter to Santa, Janie asked for help with Lyle. When Santa and his elves get the letter, they are eager to help. Things might not go so well for Lyle.

“Under the Skin”: Kagan wakes up in a pool of blood. It isn’t the first time he’s woken up and found shredded human remains, and he fears it won’t be the last. He’s already killed someone he loves, even though he doesn’t remember doing it. There is something inside of him. He can feel it. Heeding the advice of a Navajo shaman, as well as the constant urging of the things living within him, he and his sister set out for the New Mexico desert to see if he can find answers.

Blood, Magic & a Concubine also includes an Excerpt from Breaking Glass, an upcoming novella featuring Thomas Rhymes.

I thought I would add an excerpt from “Blood, Magic, and a Concubine” here so you can see if it is something that you might like to read. Other tales from Underbelly are coming as well, including “Nine-Tenths”, which will be a free story on this site, and a novella called Light of the Silvery Moon, which features Johnny Stone and a pack of irate werewolves who are trying to figure out who killed a prominent member of the Blackpool Pack.

Enough of my rambling, click for the excerpt.

I had a great time working on the story, and the editors at the magazine were wonderful in helping me shape the tale into something better than it was when it started. I hope you like my story, an urban fantasy set in a place called Underbelly, filled with gods, myths, monsters, and more. If urban fantasy isn’t your thing, you will find many other types of fantasy fiction in the issue – there is something for just about everyone!

Here is the table of contents for issue #1.

“A Stitch in Time” by Thomas Olbert

“A Missing Piece of December” by Melvin Cartagena

“The Covenant of the ARC” by Edward R. Rosick

“The Glow of the River” by Atanas P. Slavov

“I Dreamed a Human Face” by Ivaylo P. Ivanov

“In the Beginning was the Subway” by Lyubomir P. Nikolov

“Blood, Magic, and a Concubine” by Jason M. Tucker

“Tears on the Jade Moon, Brave Blood on Her Lips” by Eric Del Carlo

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Roger Dale Trexler

The magazine has some wonderful artwork as well, including pieces by Alina Atanasova, Ertan Musov, Stefan Vasilev, and a cover by George Tanev.

So, head on over to Marginal Boundaries and download that first issue!

Finish the proposal for Aberrant Nation, a comic book series. I still need to rework the summary for the first several issues, edit the character bios, and rewrite the first issue. With some focus, I should be able to finish by Thursday.

Rework a script called Deadwater and turn it into a novel – I just think it would work much better as a novel. Although, when I was looking at the script outline last night I saw it needed a lot of work. Still, I think I should be able to get 10 – 15 thousand words finished by the end of the weekend. As long as I have enough caffeine running through me.

“Nine Tenths” is the second story set in Underbelly, a subterranean metropolis populated with fallen gods, sorcerers, fairies, and everything else that people think are just myths. You will be able to read the first story (“Blood, Magic, and a Concubine”) in Marginal Boundaries, which comes out on March 31. I hope to get a working outline for “Nine Tenths” finished in the next few days.

That should be enough to keep me out of trouble for the week. At the end of the week, I’ll let everyone know how I fared.

• Dawn of the Pale Riders – Post apocalyptic horror/fantasy/western novel - yeah, that’s a mouthful, but I think it should work and be fairly entertaining. I’m finishing up the outline over the next few days.

• Aberrant Nation – Comic book that also has a post apocalyptic vibe. I’m working on the first story arc, as well as completing all of the character descriptions, backgrounds, etc. I want to have the first issue written, along with all of the other background material by early January.

• Promotion for Meat City & Other Stories – This collection of my short fiction should be out sometime in early 2010, and I will be promoting it as much as I can. If anyone has any unique ideas for promotion and exposure feel free to send them along.

• The Killing Box – Horror novel that is still in the research and development stage. It has magicians, ghosts, demons, and other fun stuff. I might even add a sexy librarian . . . I just don’t know yet.

• The World Next Door – Middle grade fantasy novel that is almost complete. The first draft is done, but it needs some major rewrites.

• Custodian serial – This is the urban fantasy serial that I want to add to this site, free of charge. I enjoy the characters and world that I’ve created, and I hope to write a novel with the characters at some point in the future.

• Short stories – Even though short stories don’t pay very much, I like writing them and I know that some people enjoy reading them. I want to write and publish at least 10 short stories this year.

• Untitled horror screenplay – I’ve got the idea, but it still needs work. This is something that I probably won’t even begin until well into the summer.

• Freelancing – I gotta eat and pay bills, you know.

• Find a literary agent – I’ve neglected looking for an agent for years, but I think it’s about time that I try to find one. As soon as I complete a few more manuscripts, I will begin my hunt in earnest – and I’ll let everyone know how it all pans out. It can’t be that hard, right? : )

Well, that’s my list for now (subject to change according to my whims and fears).

What is everyone else working on for 2010?

I’m writing a novel called Dawn of the Pale Riders, which is a zombie western set in the near future. It is a prequel to my story “Ballad of the Pale Riders”, and a sequel to my story “Meat City”. Both of those stories are in my upcoming collection from Black Bed Sheet Books called Meat City & Other Stories.

I’m also writing a proposal for a comic book series (tentatively) titled Aberrant Nation.

In addition, I’m working on an urban fantasy serial novella that I will post on this site. I won’t start posting the chapters until I have the entire story written though. It just seems better that way.

I’ve got a few other projects lined up as well, but I’m currently too tired to mention them all.