Long Form Fiction
My main focus
I primarily write fiction and, in fiction, tend to stick to speculative fiction, which is to say science fiction, fantasy, and the supernatural. I have honed my work in this set of genres, spending years in practice and earning a masters degree with that focus.
My writing tends toward heavy worldbuilding; if you don't feel like you are in another real world, I have not accomplished my goal.
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Here are some samples:
Blood Walker (Law of Seven); Hard Fantasy; First 4 chapters, + prologues
What if being exposed is what the one behind dozens of murders wants? Such is the wish of a demon trapped in a book. For, if it is to be free, the right, unwitting pawns must be lured to their appointed places. But can the puppet master account for all the variables, or is some grander, more intricate game being played?
Star Breaker (Story of Mr. JP Starwind); Space Western (Science Fiction); First chapter
When a young man makes a life-altering mistake at a young age, his best friend packs up his life and goes on the run with him, rather than let him face the consequences alone. Seven years later, they enter another city in a long string of many, only to find things are not exactly what they had anticipated.
Words of Elam (Euservian Legends); High Fantasy; First chapter
When a magical boy's love of storms draws one down on his village and then, afraid, bids in flee and bends it in on itself, the resulting trauma changes him for the rest of his life. Yet when a girl takes an interest in him and keeps him from his downward descent into isolation, a bond is formed that transcends the limits of mortality.
The Photographer (The Alistair Adams Series); Urban Fantasy; First chapter
What if there is a world hidden just beneath the surface of our own where the spirits, beings, and monsters of myth, rumor, and religion go about their lives? And what if amidst this world lives a very old, very bored man, with the powers of a god? And what if a vanilla, mortal woman, happens to change his entire world in a single instant?
Star Breaker (Story of Mr. JP Starwind); Space Western (Science Fiction); First chapter
This is a functionally identical version of the previous fiction excerpt adapted for audio drama (see below for production sample). It simply serves to show how adaptable I am.
Starship Troopers; 2-hour pilot; Full script
I love the book Starship Troopers. It was the first piece of science fiction to make the US Marine Corps' recommended reading list. I thought the movie adaptation was horrendous, so, as a personal exercise, I decided to write my own adaptation. The chances of production are virtually zero (Sony has the rights), so I am okay sharing the full script.
I have done some screenwriting professionally, but all for small projects and it is so topical that it is not worth citing. I do, however, have several long-form pieces that demonstrate my abilities. If ever my writing is worth optioning, I would like to be the one to write the adaptation, one, because of the writing credits, and two, because it pays exceptionally well.
Here are my samples:
Something I dabble in from time to time
Screen/scriptwriting
A Special Project for Blackbird
A love letter, more or less
I have little experience in game development, but it is a field I have wanted to get into for decades. This isn't much, but I do hope you enjoy.
Dive; An early stage GDD
Think of the Homeworld series, but set in the other las frontier: the depths of the oceans. Set on an oceanic world, command an armada that struggles to rebuild, adapting your space-based technology to fight beneath the waves. Flee the ever-watchful Charybdis and face down the Hectid race all while exploring an ocean full of wrecked starships. Can you survive?
Poetry
A "when it strikes me" kind of thing
My formal training in poetry writing is somewhat limited, but I did study it from elementary school all the way into postgraduate work. Poetry was once a dominant force on the writing scene; it displayed wit, skill, and linguistic mastery, though is somewhat out of popular vogue. Personally, I think that music is somewhat responsible, though the exceptionally well-rounded poets of ye olden days did accompany their poetry with music. ​
Here are my samples:
Ahlnorn's Lament; A Romantic Dwarf Epic (Blood Walker; Law of Seven)
I love this poem, though it is a very sad one. It shows up in Blood Walker in the form of a song, sung allegorically from a lover to her beloved while her dress is gradually stripped away before a crowd, done as very emotional sign of her willingness to be vulnerable to him. Like many of the odd verisimilitude-affecting elements in the book, the is lore within.
Firebrand: A Poem about Injustice (The Photographer: Alistair Adames Series)
This is a rather... well... a poem meant to elicit a reaction. I will not spoil the message, but it is meant to draw out anger.
Red River: A Poem about War
This one came on a whim. It was meant to simulate the growing complexity, though never-changing path, of war.
My artistic skillset is exceptional... in its limits, at least. What I can do, however, can be done competently. I have achieved a certain degree of expertise in cartography, planet design, limited pixel art, manipulation, and some layout and design, as well as several odds and ends as I need them. As I have come to commission artists more and more often, this has become a lesser need.
Here are my samples:
A limited talent, to be certain
Art
This was my first serious foray into the idea of creating my own artwork for professional use. I dabbled a bit here and there with concept sketches and the like, but never with any intent beyond simply exploring and expanding my own ideas.
The one glaring error in this is the double T in my name, which overlaps. This was around 10 years ago before I had really developed my Photoshop skills, though it stands out as a little charming detail in my mind, at least.
I will come back to this when the book is finally ready to be put into print.
This piece is not wholly mine. I simply designed the ship, created the blueprints, and implemented the layout and design. A second artist did the rendering of the ship itself.
This is a piece I am particularly proud of, though, so I put it rather higher on the list than it probably merits.
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The ship was created in Sketchup, which is sort of the "open office" version of the better CAD suites. For such a rigid, geometrically simple ship, it worked well.
![LAl322E[1].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e509b5_ca52a4dfc18042e89b6fbcf1630cf71d~mv2_d_3900_5700_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_600,h_877,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/LAl322E%5B1%5D.jpg)
This piece that is not wholly mine, though all I did not do was the galaxy. Everything else was created by me. These types of pieces will serve as the backbone of my universe’s map, ideally with data filtered into an algorithm that will render the map in 3D. For now, it is simply a formatted art piece.
For this one I used a lot of NASA stocks to create a planetary landscape and used that to texture a sphere in blender and assign lighting. It was relatively simple and my first attempt to use 3D software aid to render lighting, rather than create it myself.
These pieces are one among fifteen that were created to represent the twelve guilds and three other entities of the Law of Seven series. I ultimately decided to delegate that task to a professional designer's hand, as most of my pieces did not turn out well enough to merit presenting, but several were respectably well done.
While the center portrait of this is not mine, the rest is. This, if not immediately obvious, is a work in progress for the cover of Blood Walker. The ink flowing up is done entirely with a brush and no lighting assistance; I particularly enjoyed learning how to do that.
Above is the world map of Farn, the planet on which The Law of Seven series takes place. Center stage is the major continent where the story takes place, it housing three major empires.
The foremost political entity in the series, the Eltheiri Empire, received its own map. This was relatively simple job and the first major one I created. A larger, more detailed one is pending.
Tucked on a coast in the map above, within one of the dozens of kingdoms, and nestled in the city of Stormwatch, this little map-in-progress shows the capital district, where the castle, the final piece of the puzzle, is housed. This sort of work is rather tedious, but, with enough effort, even simple, repetitive tasks can begin to show something nice.
Art Direction
When finances
favor me
Above you see what I myself can create with my limited skillset. When my skills fall short and I have the money, I like to team up with other, more talented individuals and revel in what we can create.
Below are some of my creations brought to life through the talents and hard work of fantastic artists:
I write other things, including non-fiction, theatre, and such, but nothing thus far written is worth exemplifying in a portfolio, as it is all very niche. The exception, worldbuilding elements, are excluded simply because they inevitably contain spoilers and I do not want to field so dangerous a temptation to fans. I know I would be tempted to dig into my favorite series’ lore, but wouldn’t want to accidentally look behind the curtain.
These samples (or even made to order demonstrations) are available upon request.
The other things