Quick Update

Very busy week, so this will be short.

Blog posting has been sparse because I’m doing the last editing pass to Monster Hunter Siege before sending it off to my alpha readers.

I will be a guest and MC at LTUE in Provo, February 16th-18th. I’m on a ton of panels so I’ll post my schedule the week before. Looking forward to this one. It is one of my favorite cons (okay, more of a writing symposium).

When I finish the rough draft of a novel, before I do the edits I take a break and write some short fiction. That way when I come back to the book it is with fresh eyes. You really can’t edit well when you are too close to something. So the story I wrote this time is for an upcoming anthology for a major franchise, which I can’t name because it hasn’t been announced yet, but here was the original pitch:

12th Century Japan. Minamoto clan samurai are being murdered, and their mutilated corpses left dangling from trees in the Forest of Death. Witnesses whisper of an invisible demon, stronger than any man, which kills by spear, claw, or even bolts of lightning, before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Sometime, three glowing embers will appear upon its chosen victim, the only warning before it strikes.
Eager to prove their courage, many samurai have ventured into the forest to banish the oni, but all have failed. Tired of losing valuable warriors to the hidden demon, Lord Minamoto summons his most unorthodox servant to deal with the beast.
Nasu Hiroto is an infamous hunter of monsters, and perhaps the greatest archer in the world, but most importantly to Lord Minamoto, he is the son of the man who put a fatal arrow through the eye of a great sea beast, ending its reign of terror. The Lord declares that the son of a samurai capable of killing a kaiju should easily be able to handle one little demon.
Hiroto will gather a group of warriors and go after the invisible predator. It will be arrow against lightning, sword against claw… Two hunters in a battle of wits, both with unflinching codes of honor, but only one will go home with the ultimate trophy.

 

And when I got done with this one, it made me laugh evilly (it came out really good).

 

Bronze Statue of Earl Harbinger from MHI
Ask Correia #17: Writing for the Ear, Tweaking Your Writing To Work Better in Audiobook Form

21 thoughts on “Quick Update”

    1. 12th Century Japan:

      ‘That invisible demon has us trapped in this kitchen, and I’m unarmed! What are we going to do?’

      ‘Get to the chopper!’

      ‘Huh?’

      ‘See that cleaver over there? Grab it, then you won’t be unarmed.’

      ‘Well, why didn’t you just say that?’

      ‘My way just felt more right.’

    1. Oh, I am so dense! I read the entire summary without working out what the franchise was. “Invisible demon”, “three glowing embers”, of course!

      1. I’ve never seen Predator, so I couldn’t figure it out, though the glowing embers made me think of a laser sight. Looks like I’ll need to see that movie before this anthology comes out.

        1. It’s a good movie, I think you’ll probably enjoy it. The sequel isn’t anywhere near as good, but it’s probably worth seeing too.

        2. JIC is correct, you should see them both. The original is better, but the sequel is such a different film that it really ought to be judged as simply another tale in the same universe.

          1. [Harrigan runs through an old woman’s apartment, chasing the Predator]
            Lieutenant Mike Harrigan: It’s all right! I’m a cop!
            Ruth: I don’t think he gives a shit!

          2. Concur with the jic & Kevin. ‘Predator’ is a lot of fun, and ‘Predator 2’ certainly has its moments. The ‘Alien vs Predator’ movies, well, I personally wouldn’t bother, although the comic they were “loosely” based on is, IMHO, well worth checking out.

          3. The last one (Predators) isn’t bad either.
            I like the first Alien vs Predator movie but on the second one I have to agree with a review where the reviewer commented that the characters that they were so badly done that he “couldn’t wait for them to die”.

        3. I was thinking literal mythological oni up until that last bit about codes of honor. That didn’t fit, so rethought and came up with Yautja.

      2. A a relatively primitive culture like 12th century Japan would call the Predator’s plasma cannon lightning.

  1. I know you hate the old “Shut up and take my money!” meme, but at the same time… holy carp! Samurai vs. Predator?! Cease speaking and accept my currency!

  2. Many, many years ago I played in a Sci-fi LARP and the symbol of “The Great Hunting Spirit” was three red dots arranged in a triangle . . . -g-

  3. Just a quick note. LTUE is great! I flew in from Seattle last year to help understand writing for iPhone text adventure games and was so pumped up by LTUE I wrote a novel. I will actually have my first Urban Fantasy novel for sale on Amazon before LTUE this year. With two more in the works.
    So if you can make it, its really a great experience. The panels Larry were on and classes John D. Brown gave were worth the trip. I can’t wait until next month for more LTUE.

  4. This sounds a LOT like something mentioned at DragonCon last year during a Titan Books panel, though I’ll admit the conversation about a Gorilla Grodd-Planet of the Apes crossover caught my attention a bit more…

  5. Larry.

    You should take a peek at Utah HB 112. Constitutional carry, but empty chamber. Worse is revolvers must sit on two empty chambers. I expected better from Utah where they understand the bad guy is not going to give you time to rack the slide.

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