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#nerdpire status and the New Novel

Having just released Alchemy, the sequel to Synchronicity, my first thought was to kick my feet up and relax. But there’s just not enough time for such frivolity. No rest for the wicked.

Speaking of wicked…

Ms. Wrelative and I are nearly done editing the first 24 episodes of our collaboration. What’s it about? It’s a vampire comedy-horror series, definitely not for readers sensitive to 20-somethings with potty mouths, involves rats, and is a rollicking good time (if I don’t say so myself). I’ll leave more details for the true introductory post, but let’s just say that vampires aren’t quite what the world thought they were, and our main character is a bundle of sarcasm and bad attitude. She’s great! October is the perfect month for us to release it, given the prevalence of vampires disinclined to touch people in our midst. I’m hoping to have the website ready and marketing started prior to Halloween.

This is a both a new genre and a new delivery for me, and I’ve quite enjoyed everything about it so far. Our approach to serial fiction is weekly releases of episodes (48-50 per year) tied to a Patreon subscription. We’ll give away the first few episodes for free, of course, but then we want readers to join us on the journey in real time. So, instead of buying books on occasion, you pony up a small amount – a couple bucks – per month and read as we write. Incidentally, Ms. Wrelative has chosen her pen name, but until I get the thumbs up that it’s fit to publish, I’ll stick with the nickname.

Couldn’t You Come Up With Something Better Than New Novel?

Sure, but why bother?

I’ve taken a short pause from writing Book 3 of the Psycons & Grace series to play around with some of the knowledge I acquired writing #nerdpire. That includes:

  • A female main character, in this case a young woman with a difficult past
  • A dystopian future, a la The Handmaid’s Tale (only not so in-your-face infuriating)
  • A lot taking place underground; for some reason, I love underground settings like in The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig or the Silo Trilogy by Hugh Howey
  • Social intrigue and the potential for violent revolution

Once you’ve read the first 3 episodes of #nerdpire, you’ll find yourself wondering just how any of that list could have been gleaned from a comedy-horror vampire project. Good point. However, it was the change in pace away from Psycons & Grace that prompted it. That, and there are some underground tunnels in #nerdpire, too.

At this point, I’m only 12k words into it and still finding my legs and my voice, but I really like the plot and the characters I’m building. Plus, though I have no current ideas for the book title, I have definite ideas for the cover. That’s a little weird.

All that to say: there’s more to come!

Update: start reading #nerdpire today.