Work begins on Time Vandal III (working title)

The third installment in the Time Vandal series is outlined and work on the manuscipt has begun.

Songs of Atlantis - a Time Vandal story
On Sale Now!

The second installment in the Time Vandal series is on sale now. You can buy it in paperback or e-book format.

You can also read a chapter at the link below. It entails the Time Vandals adventures at the Battle of Austerlitz, as he tracks Napoleon in an attempt to get high-definition footage of one of the most influential characters in European history.

Buy Songs of Atlantis - a Time Vandal Story Read Time Vandal at Austerlitz

První Zjevení Vandal Casu V Cestine
First Epiphany of the Time Vandal in Czech

The Czech version of First Epiphany of the Time Vandal has been put on hold. At the moment there are no firm dates for its release.

For Czech readers, you can read a short teaser at the link below.

V Cestine Ctete Zde

KICKING OFF A NEW PROJECT
Father, May I?

I've had an idea for a story for a while now (working title Father May I?), about an old man raising a toddler under an iron fist. The short blurb from my Future Works page describes it like this:

The story of a boy named Logan, who is being raised by his dictatorial great-grandfather, a man apparently in possession of not even an ounce of compassion for his fellow man (or the child in his care). Years later, after the man is dead and the boy reaches adulthood, the Earth is threatened with a terrifying natural calamity. Logan rises up from the ashes of this horror and fights to restore order, decency and honor to the society of the survivors.

I put this idea on the shelf quite some time ago, deciding to concentrate on finishing book three of the Time Vandal Trilogy, still untitled. Having recently finished book two (which is currently undergoing final edits by my crack editing team in a bunker in Mooresville, NC), it only seemed logical to proceed to the last installment. But truth be told, I have been making major changes to the outline lately, modifying the plot drastically. So it would be fair to say that I'm not really ready to start writing it yet.

But this isn't true with regards to the Logan story mentioned above. That outline is finished and sitting on my metaphorical shelf collecting metaphorical dust, as it has been doing for the last two years. So I've decided to dust it off and push it to the front of the queue.

It will likely be a novella, around 100 pages long, and be finished sometime in the summer. And it doesn't take place in what I've lately come to think of as the Time Vandal Universe (Yes, that is a direct ripoff of 'Marvel Universe'. Sue me.) So don't expect Mole or Elijah to come riding in and saving the day, or Fuzzy to pop in and out with his acid commentary. This is a standalone story, and one that will have no followup.

So there you have it. I will now immerse myself into the life of young Logan, as he strives to maintain his naturally upbeat outlook under the thumb of a geriatric tyrant. I'll let the editors tend to the editing of the second Time Vandal book, and the translators to the translating of the first one (into Czech, that's coming in the fall and I'm stoked about it). And I'll just sit back, light a Guantanamera and start typing.

Here goes nuthin'.

FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE TIME VANDAL
On Meeting Merlin

(Excerpted from Time Vandal III, out in 2019 - Time Travel Science Fiction)

I always had a thing for the Arthurian tales. I loved the idea of an unknown, nondescript boy rising to the highest office of the land through nothing but hard work, honor and a little luck. I liked the idea of chivalry and nobility. And yes, I liked the idea of his grooming for the crown by a mysterious, wiser friend of the family.

Growing up on these tales, I always held these ideas as the basis of a wider, deeper truth. Myths though they may be, I thought at the time, there was a lot of truth hidden there.

But I never liked the notion of Merlin’s ties to the occult. Not all the stories I ever read about the man put him in such a light, but most did. He dabbled in the dark arts. Wing of bat, eye of newt, and all that. Double, double, toil and trouble.

I always felt that his purported forays into the mystical were a detriment to the stories of King Arthur. I’d have rather he was a simple wanderer with a high intellect and folksy downhome-edness.

Being in possession of a time machine is a thing of science fiction, to be sure. Or it ought to be. Of course, I smashed that little idea the minute I took grant money from the military to build the T714. I knew it could work, after all. I knew the science was sound. I knew that time travel was possible, and that although I couldn’t exactly exceed the speed of light, I could fool my body into believing it had. Or rather, fool the universe into believing the same.

But I never planned on meeting Merlin. It wasn’t on my to-do list, despite my childhood fascination with all things King Arthur. Had it been, I might have put it off until later in my travels. As it was, I was thrown together with the characters of Camelot quite early on. And although astounded at this fact (I’m not sure I ever actually believed in King Arthur) I was pleased to find that Merlin was most certainly not a guy who called on the spirits of the forest to assist his young protégé in battle.

On the contrary, Merlin believed in science. In the power of the will to overcome. In perseverance overcoming resistance. In short, he was a man very grounded in reality. He had no star-studded conical hat. At least not at first, not until it became a thing of necessity. He had no frog in his pocket or wand in the folds of his cloak.

He was interested in herbs, however. In that he was very much like the man portrayed in the myths. But in the service of science, not of magic. He knew their medicinal properties and used them in the employ of good.

I was glad when I discovered all these facts. It strengthened my faith in humanity, and heightened my respect for the mythical Merlin, if not for the one I came to know in real life. Because he had his faults and his weaknesses. Of this there can be no doubt. When I finally got to sit across the table from him and get to know him, face to face, these weaknesses were glaringly apparent.

He should have never let himself be portrayed as a shaman, though. His mistakes led to this regrettable turn of events. I know it, as surely as he knows it.

FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE TIME VANDAL
Yet Another Ancient Fellow-Timetraveler

(Excerpted from Time Vandal III, out in 2019 - Time Travel Science Fiction)

First one ancient fellow-traveler, and now a second? I’ve learned, in the intervening years, to handle Nocksey. He doesn’t cause much trouble, truth be told. He sits in ‘his’ corner of the cabin and keeps to himself either deep in thought or watching documentaries. Lately, of course, he’s needed more and more bathroom breaks. But that comes with age, I guess. And he IS really, really old, I have to admit.

But this new guy. Yikes. He’s starting to get on my nerves. He’s used to being obeyed, and having his word taken as law. He was a king, after all. He’s not at all suited to being a passenger on my ship (where my word is law). He is brilliant, however. I have to admit that. I used to think Nocksey was brilliant, but now I see that this impression was the result of his telepathic abilities added to his being a pretty smart guy.

But the new guy is actually brilliant. I've caught him going through old engineering textbooks. And although he can't read the words, the pictures and illustrations seem to supply enough information for him to draw conclusions. I know this from conversations I've had with him (with Fuzzy's or Nocksey's help, of course). It took me a few days before I realized he was actually understanding it.

All of it.

But the smell. Horrible. I’ve tried to explain to him the need for personal hygiene. But shepherds just don’t seem to think that a daily bath is that much of a necessity. If he weren’t such a vital part of my mission I’d drop him off where I found him and let him starve or die of thirst in the desert.

Who knows, maybe he’ll grow on me. I always DID like the persona that history bestowed on him. But knowing him personally is, so far, an entirely different thing.

First Epiphany of the Time Vandal Now On Sale

Dr. Elijah Snow wanted to record history, not become a part of it. But after stealing the T714 time-displacement craft from his US Air Force benefactors, he quickly found out that witnessing an event without participating in it was easier than it sounded.

Accompanied by his stubborn A.I. ‘Fuzzy’, Dr. Snow sets out to document the major historical occurrences which had always intrigued him. From the voyage of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria to the Battle of Austerlitz, he does his best to record without getting involved.

Invariably, though, he ends up becoming embroiled in these events, time and time again, never failing to leave his footprint on the pages of history.

Coming In 2017– The second installment in the TIME VANDAL series, SONGS OF ATLANTIS. Time travel science fiction.