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A Status Update and an Announcement!

July 26, 2015

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Hello readers and listeners!

Welcome to the end of July!  It’s been pretty crazy around here, and I’ve been juggling a lot of stuff, both creatively and in real life.  So here’s a refresher to bring you up to speed on what’s been going on with me.
First, the good news.
Last month, I launched The Freelance Hunters podcast!  I’ve posted a few Freelance Hunters stories here and there over the last few years, and now I’m collecting them in audio.  Check out TheFreelanceHunters.com  every Monday for a new installment of serial fantasy fiction.  Season one will be going on a while, with print and eBook editions coming this fall!
The Way of the Buffalo will be moving to Fridays.  The Dark Wife is on hiatus until I have the editing fully complete, then will be appearing on Wednesdays.  I’m hoping for a launch in September.
On the writing front, you can still find my short story “Prompt Succor” in the Dirty Magick: New Orleans anthology.
I’ve also been invited to a few other anthologies, one of which you can help get off the ground now!
The Kickstarter for Elysian Springs: Adventures from the Superhero Nursing Home is ongoing and needs your help to reach its goal.  This is such a clever and unique idea, and the confirmed talent includes Gail Z. Martin, Tee Morris, and Jason Strutz!  It’s going to be a really cool book and I want to be a part of it, so please give it a look!
The bad news is that to keep all these plates spinning, as well as a few secret plates that I can’t talk about here, I’m putting The Voyage on the back burner.  I’m not giving it up entirely, but I’m not able to devote regular time to it every week the way I’d like.  I’m going to put it on hiatus until it is complete and edited.
So that’s what’s going on with me.  Thanks for reading!

The Voyage 037: Lewis

June 16, 2015

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Lewis stood with the noisy crowd as well, although he didn’t cheer along with them.  We simply watched The Indomitable rise in the morning sun, her filigreed envelope sparkling.  Occasionally, he would consult a small mechanical device on a chain, and make notes in a pocket notebook.  He stayed long after the crowd stopped cheering and drifted away, leaving only a few dedicated loved ones to watch the vessel’s slow rise over York.  As morning turned to afternoon, the propellers finally repositioned themselves, and the craft steamed east.  After one last check of his instruments, he disappeared like a shadow.

A mini-hiatus

May 31, 2015

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Hey everyone!

This is just a quick note to update you on some things that are going on with me, and to let you know that I’ll be taking a hiatus this week from “The Voyage.”  It’s not very long, just a week, but Balticon completely torpedoed my work schedule the last few weeks, and I’ve burned through all of my backlog.  Balticon was as always an amazing time, and I was glad I could bring P-Tone along with me for his first trip.  But conventions require a lot of preparations, and they leave me exhausted.  I think I’m just about back to strength, but I don’t want to rush out bad writing.

The “140 Character” stories are meant to be experimental and short, but I don’t want to rush through, or put out something I’m not proud of to meet a deadline.  So I’m taking the week off to plot out the rest of the story and get it back on track.  I’m also cutting up the recordings we made at the con, the first of which went live yesterday at The Way of the Buffalo.  I’m also working on some new stuff I think you’ll enjoy.  But I need to catch my breath and get everything in order first.

“The Voyage” will resume on June 7th.  Thank you for your understanding and patience.

The Voyage 019: Daniel

May 22, 2015

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The Assistant Engineer sent the girl in for the final check before they signaled final green back up to the bridge.  She was small, maybe seven.  But he’d seen his sisters grow, and they came into their adulthood sooner than the boys did.  Even if she didn’t burn or crush herself, or fall from a height, she’d still be a young woman, and there would be no place for her.  She crawled back out and gave him a thumbs up.  He nodded, grimly, and grabbed the speaking tube mounted on the wall.
“This is the engine room.  Ready for launch.”

The Voyage 017: Isaac

May 20, 2015

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“Mister Skinner, Send the first signal.  Ten minutes to launch.”
“Aye, Captain.”  Isaac pulled a lever on his board.  There was a series of thunks, and throughout the ship, he knew the message, and the countdown had begun.  In every distant corner of the ship, last-minute checks and preparations were performed.  On the ground below, the crew gulped their tea and hustled back to their positions.
He felt an almost tangible tension, as though he were the conductor of a great orchestra.  Really, he was just the baton.  He turned back to the captain.
“First signal is lit, Captain!”

The Voyage 016: Vivian

May 19, 2015

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Captain Vivian Orville stepped onto her bridge.  Most of the crew she could rely on, but there were a few new faces who were unsure about a female commander.  It was a good thing for them this was a private vessel, not one that relied on military discipline.  Her lip twitched a half smile as the lieutenant struggled to his feet.
“Are we ready to depart?” She asked him.  He scrambled for his clipboard.
“Yes, sir, er, Ma’am.  But the ground crew is on tea break.”
She sighed.  “Very well.  Lord knows they won’t get a rest for a while.”

Read from the beginning!

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The Voyage 014: Annabelle

May 17, 2015

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Annabelle came running up a moment later, and took a cup of tea gratefully from the girl.  She was all out of breath, which, combined with her oil-smudged face and men’s coveralls, made her altogether far less ladylike than her prim sister.  She didn’t much care though.
“They’re loading the last of it now,” she said.  “That final passenger, a doctor or something, found a problem with the scales, and we should be light enough to get off the ground.”  Or at least, the ship will, she thought.  But someday, she’d be a pilot herself, and then she’d soar.

Read from the beginning!

The Voyage 012: Ariel

May 15, 2015

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The handlers all struggled to doff their hats as Ariel came strolling up for her cuppa.  Having one hand occupied with the gauntlets and the other holding hot tea made the whole maneuver comically awkward, much to her delight.  The men still didn’t know what to make of her and her twin sister Annabelle.  They were  Signalers, not precisely a ladylike position but still professional. She smiled and inclined her head, and took a cup delicately in her gloved hands.  They took it as a signal to relax, and they resumed their conversation, if with a bit more guarded tongues.

Read from the beginning!

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Nice Kicks! Queen City Conquest and In Their Own Worlds

May 3, 2015

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Nice  Kicks-Queen City Conquest and In Their Own Worlds!

Hello readers!  It’s finally spring!  The temptation to turn off the computer and frolic in the sunshine weighs heavily upon me, but I have news to share.  Specifically, some Kickstarter projects I’m backing that you should jump on before they finish.

Queen City Conquest
The fourth itteration of this Buffalo, NY table-top and board gaming convention is quickly becoming a local institution!  This more than any other is the con where I get introduced to new games that I HAVE to get, stretch my dungeon-crawling legs, and score great swag in their charity silent auction.  Last year, I played “Boss Monster” and “Sentinels of the Multiverse” for the first time.  This is a real community convention, and it is the highlight of my September.  Weekend Passes for this year’s event are going for $30 on the Kickstarter!  Trust me, that’s a deal too good to pass up!

In Their Own Worlds
J. R. Blackwell is one of those rare creative polymaths with a golden touch.  A Photographer, Journalist, Writer, Costumer and Game Designer, she’s something of a geek renaisance woman.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in her latest project, “In Their Own Worlds.”  A synthesis of her exceptional talents, she has begun a series of photography sessions in which she photographs authors in the settings of their own works.  She photographed her husband Jared Axelrod as a bystander of his own super-villain creation Comrade Cocroach as a proof of concept, and has plans for shoots with Mur Lafferty, Ursula Vernon, Chuck Wendig, and other popular speculative fiction authors.  New shoots are being constantly unlocked as stretch goals, so the more you donate, the better it gets.

These two projects are in their last weeks.  I wholeheartedly recommend both of them.

Support Hugh on Patreon for bonus content and more goodies!
“The City: A Story in 140 Characters” is now available via Amazon and Gumroad!

Announcing “Prompt Succor” in Dirty Magick: New Orleans!

April 24, 2015

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I am pleased to announce that my story “Prompt Succor” is included in the new anthology Dirty Magick: New Orleans edited by Charlie Brown!
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DM: NO is a collection urban fantasy stories with a noir twist, all set in The Big Easy.  It includes fiction from Mike Plested, Scott Roche, and a whole host of other outstanding writers!
“Prompt Succor” is a story about “Sharp” Terry O’Byrne, an Irish ex-patriot who sees spirits and works for bootleggers.  When Terry gets a visit from the Catholic Church, he’ll have to solve a  hundred and ten-year old mystery to accomplish something he’s never done before: putting ghosts to rest.
Dirty Magick: New Orleans is now available as an Kindle-exclusive ebook, and will be appearing in print later this month

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