Another Book Checked Off the List

As a working author, I have a lot of story ideas in my head and characters prodding me to tell their story. Heroes and heroines, villains and supporting characters--they all want to be cast in a book. I also have, filed away in the most darkest regions of my imagination, monsters that would love to star in their own novel or short story. It can get pretty noisy inside my head as I decide which novel, novella or short story to write next. I'd love to write them all at once, but we haven't mastered cloning just yet.

One story that has always intrigued me is based on a short story that I wrote many years ago called THE VAGRANTS, about a mysterious group of homeless nomads living inside an abandoned building. The original was a simple story about two mafia men who dared to try to force the homeless out of their building and discovered an unexpected horror awaiting them. That story sat in one of my computer folders for close to two decades, because I had moved on from writing short stories to novels. But the story stuck with me and I happened across it a couple months ago--while going through a folder of unpublished short stories--and decided THE VAGRANTS is a story I eventually want to share with the world.

But it needed a lot of work and my writing style has changed over the years. So this past June and first week of July, I quieted all the other voices in my head and focused on reworking this beloved story. The end result is that yesterday I completed a novella-length story that I'm super proud of. It's Gothic horror in the realm of H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker, two of my favorite authors.

The story is still unpolished and will now go through the editing phase, so I don't have a release date yet. I'm aiming for early next year, a few months after I release my novel THE DEVIL'S WOODS in December. I've also got some short stories I'm touching up and plan to publish, like THE DEALER OF NEEDS and CHASING THE DRAGON. So keep your eyes out for my firs short story collection.

Until then, here's a sneak peek at the synopsis for THE VAGRANTS:

Beneath the city of Boston, 

evil is gathering.

For six months Daniel Finley secretly lived under a bridge with homeless people to study their way of life. He slowly began to grow paranoid as he witnessed a strange phenomenon occurring. A fanatical nomad who calls himself a prophet of the Apocalypse is brainwashing the homeless into believing the  human race is about to be wiped out. Only the chosen will be saved.

One year later, Daniel’s life appears to be going along perfectly. He’s lives in a wonderful home, has a new girlfriend, and a book deal that will make his money problems go away. But Daniel’s troubled past quickly catches up to him, and before he knows it, he’s caught up in a war between those who control the streets of Boston and those who roam the dark tunnels beneath.