Red Wolf Blogs

 (From the July 21, 2023 Newsletter) 12th Day of the Frost Moon, 1217th year, Human Age of Magic ... My name is Trevor, and I should have kept my mouth shut. As any goblin will tell you, a good idea should not be voiced until all ramifications have been considered. Yet, knowing well that axiom, I could not hold my tongue when no one at the Conference of the Fae Protectorate addressed the elephant in the room--the plethora of Fae artifacts that have come into the hands of humans, and the dangers of not retrieving them before the Protectorate implements its plan to release the Vampire Scourge. Fool that I am, I should have known that as soon as I brought up the problem, the task of implementing the project to retrieve such artifacts would have been assigned to me. The Protectorate, under the present direction of the dragon Damocles, is famous for using the term implementing the project as a euphemism for doing all the work. So, here I am, living among the humans for the next century--tha

 (From the July 7, 2023 Newsletter) Hi, Pack Mates! No, I'm not going anywhere. The fond farewell is for Clifford Crane, to whom I'm saying goodbye as the MC of my novels for a while. Cliff has taught me much over the last dozen years, and having just finished his 8th novel, I thought a few special words of explanation and appreciation were warranted. Clifford was an updated version of a sci-fi character I tried to write about back in the 1970's. Heavily influenced by Frank Herbert's Dune books and a character I loved in James Tiptree's Up the Walls of the World, Fedtlove was the product of a secret breeding program for galactic rulers--one that hadn't quite worked out. He had all the charisma of a great leader, but none of the other leadership skills. I started--and never finished-- The Fedtlove Chronicles multiple times over a decade or two. By the time my brain matured to the point where I could finish a writing project, I was really into Urban Fantasy, and I

 (From the June 2 Newsletter) Hi, Readers! I took this picture the other day on the trail. It's the kind of decision I like to make. Whichever way I choose, I'll have a nice walk in the woods. No pressure. No big deal. But this past week I had to make a different decision--one that I wasn't so sure about. I was coming to the end of Halves and Half Nots, and I hadn't decided for certain what to do with Clifford Crane. After 8 novels with him as the MC, how should I leave him? Should I saddle him with more troubles, like I always have? Should I give him a happy ending? Should I kill him off--put him out of his misery? So, I've been thinking a lot lately about how I make decisions--and just how effective the process is. I once had a girlfriend who itemized how she decided to dump me in minute detail. She'd made a list of pros and cons. She'd talked to all her friends (yikes!). She'd prayed about it (I love when they drag God into it). A few decades later, a

 Hi, folks! Here it is! The cover for Spaceship Huey Adventures, book 3, has been chosen! A mighty armada. A fleet of pirates. Can a desperate shifter rally a band of cutthroats to save the human colonies ... and the woman he loves? Thanks to Ivan Zanchetta and Bookcoversart.com for doing their usual great job in capturing the spirit of this book as the Huey and its crew of misfits go up against the greatest armada the galaxy has ever seen! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gigantic Giveaway Alert! If you're a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy (I am), you'll love the swag and book gift bundle included in the BookSweeps giveaway that starts today! The Cargo,  my prequel novella to the Spaceship Huey Adventures shifter space opera series, is part of the package. Contest starts May 22, 2023 and ends June 5, 2023. Click on the image above to check out all the great prizes and drop your name in the hat for a chance to win! Good luck!

 (From the May 5th Red Wolf Pack Newsletter) Earth was a playground for the Fae over 200 million years before humankind sprang from its semi-sentient predecessors and began to spread across the lands. When it happened, most of the Fae retreated to their realms to wait, watching from a safe distance to decide the fate of the new species. Some of the more fearless or adventurous ventured forth on occasion, living for a time among the humans to observe more closely. On returning to their realms, they would leave behind the results of their mingling--witches, wizards, sorcerers--orcs, dwarves, demigods--giving birth to the human Age of Magic. What these adventurous Fae would bring back with them, were stories. Most were tales of horror chronicling brutal acts visited upon man by man. After all, such tales found a more willing ear among the Fae, who stood ready to judge mankind harshly--out of convenience or self-interest. But a few stories were tales of heroism and sacrifice, examples of m

 (From the April 7th Newsletter) I was in high school when The Byrds released one of my all-time favorite songs. I think it's the best in a long line of them over subsequent decades with a similar theme--this is not as easy as it looks, and it ain't all it's cracked up to be. (My interpretation--there are others, of course.) So, what does this have to do with me? Well, I was hiking in the woods the other day. I was wrestling with my decision (see my Feb 18th blog post) of what to write next. I was fretting over my long-range marketing plan. I was asking myself, John, are you in over your head? And this song popped into my mind. The answer to my question was an immediate yes! But then I thought about it. The guys in that band worked really hard at what they loved and ended up with pretty amazing careers. And I remember David Crosby saying in an interview one time that he didn't regret any of it. So, I guess I'm okay. Besides, my pants are tight. It's gonna be all