Release Day for Trust: Book One of the Narvan and IWSG

Oh happiest of days! The much long awaited (for me, anyway) release of Trust is today! The earliest seed of this book came from a short story I wrote in the early eighties. Yes, you read that right. Roughly thirty-six years and countless entirely different versions of the story later, I can finally hold this book in my hands and share it with all of you. 

Trust is a space opera, and the first book of a series. Four books are currently written, the first three are under contract. What am I working on now? Putting the finishing touches on book two: Chains of Grey which is slated to be out before the end of the year.

War has torn Vayen Ta'set's homeworld apart. It took away his parents and then his brother, leaving him alone. He's spent his life training to join the fight, to do his part, to bring peace to Artor. But the war ends before he's able to join in, quietly brought about by a human, Anastassia Kazan. When she offers him a job as her bodyguard, he's sure he's finally found his place.

He's wrong. She's not who he thought she was. The peace she brought to Artor, to his entire star system, comes with a cost. One he's now helping her pay. There are bigger enemies out in the known universe than he ever imagined. Without Kazan, deals and truces will crumble. War is just a death away.

Neck deep in Kazan’s world of bribes, blackmail, and assassins, Vayen must eliminate the threats to his boss and his homeworld without becoming a target himself. It’s hard to make your mark on the universe if you’re dead.

Currently, the print copy is available through the publisher, Caffeinated Press. As is the e-book. Did you know that buying direct through the publisher or the author puts the most pay back in the author's hand? Don't want to pay shipping? I'll be all over Michigan this year with all of my books. Trust is available in all the usual places:
Amazon / and the rest that I'll put here when I have the links from the publisher.


Hey, look! It's the first Wednesday of the month and I'm remembering to post this time. I'll just be over here, patting myself on the head. Carry on.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here. 

This month's questions is: If you could use a wish to help you write just one scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be?

I'd use that wish to write a stellar first chapter that was both engaging and at the right darn place to start the story the first time around. If you've never written a story, you have no idea how hard that is and how much time, grief and grey hair that would save.

So where can I sign up for this wish? We won't dwell on how many beginnings Trust has had. I've lost count. At one point the working title of book was The Beginning. Which was horrible, but accurate for as many time as I rewrote the entire thing and started it in all different places until the story finally clicked into place. Wait. Does this mean I used my wish without knowing about it, all those years ago?

Opening chapters are hard. It seems to be a common thing we all complain about it. Finding the right scene, the right level of tension, of world building, the correct character to tell the story at that moment, all of that has to fall into place. I don't usually figure out where that is on the first draft. Or even on the second, on occasion. Sometimes it takes a critique partner to help pin down the right scene or even chapter to become the opening, someone not quite so close to all the precious words.

Which scene or chapter would you use your wish on?