Hello from the Mojave!
Well, the title says it all!
Earlier this week, I signed a two book contract with Raven Tale Publishing! Raven Tale is a relatively new imprint of Dusty Saddle, one of the leading Western fiction publishers working in ebooks today. They are currently working to expand their roster of horror/creature authors, and this lead to them to learning about me and my work.
Most of you know I publish the majority of my books through my own small press, but I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting opportunities to help my work reach new audiences. Raven Tale approached me and, after some negotiation, we’ve agreed to do two horror/creature books together!
Here’s what I can tell you about the books I’ve agreed to write at the moment:
Megabat Resort
A mystery author attempts to save his failing marriage by bringing his wife to a high-end Maldives resort that appeared in one of his novels. What he doesn’t know is that a rogue scientist is also staying at the resort and experimenting on the local fruit bat population. And, of course, those experiments go horribly wrong! When the dust settles, our author friend and the scientist are all that can stop the infected, bloodthirsty bats from leaving the island and taking over the world.
Tessie (Working title)
A recently widowed captain must take a group of rowdy teenagers and a grieving family out on Lake Tahoe, but the fishing hasn’t been good for months. Something has gorged itself on all the trout in the lake, and it just took a bite out of their boat! Now, the survivors are forced to band together until rescue crews arrive. But in the tense moments between attacks, emotions run high, and our crew must face the demons that lurk within themselves while fighting off a beast of myth and legend.
What does this mean for my other books?
Under the terms of the contract, I can continue to self-publish my other novels. I can also continue to work with other small presses like Primal Publishing. So Mars will still get her well-deserved revenge in Hivemind Godqueen, and Jason and Glock will soon return in The Mothman of Mt. Shasta!
Also, the publisher has clarified that I can include folklore/cryptid creatures from my books with them in my other novels, and vice-versa. The only stipulation is that their origins must be different. Similar to how the Sasquatch has different origins in the Godqueen Trilogy, The Opus, and in the Jason Long novels, I can write about them again for Raven Tale as long as it’s not the same Sasquatch. So someday, if enough people ask for it, Jason Long can still fight Tahoe Tessie or a giant bat.
Of course, this means that I will largely devote my free time to these books for the next few months, at least. However, I have some great updates regarding future releases that I’m going to share below!
What’s next?
There are two books I’m currently trying to finish for my small press. Those books are The Mothman of Mt. Shasta, and a horror/speculative short story collection. All I have to do is finish editing them, and covers for both books are now done and waiting patiently to be revealed!
Oh, and I haven’t forgotten about the next book in the Opus, which I finished earlier this year. But I’ve put that one on hold until I have all my ducks in a row, so to speak. But it’s coming, I promise. Just not as soon as I would like it to.
On top of those, Hivemind Godqueen is nearly complete. I think this last book is shaping up to be the best of the trilogy, though it has exploded in length beyond my expectations. Admittedly, I should have seen this coming given everything that needs to be wrapped up and everything our heroes need to do first. It’s possible that I’ll trim it down just a little, but this will absolutely be the longest novel in the series. As of this writing, the current draft is longer than the first two books in the trilogy combined, and it’s my second longest novel to date!
I’ve also begun working on short stories again outside of the horror and monster genre. I think that I’m going to try submitting them to magazines, which means it could be a while before any of these stories reach you. But I’ve wanted to see my name in the classic sci-fi publications (among other magazines) for a while, so I’ve now made that a personal and professional goal. If nothing else, I want to embrace the hustle of it. I want to follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite pulp authors, and the sci-fi space is one of the few remaining areas with good, widely available publications. But I’m also on the hunt for any good western magazines looking for stories. It’s been a favorite genre of mine for as long as I can remember, and after years of chipping away and plenty of false starts, I recently completed a western story that I love, and I mean LOVE. But, sadly, it appears to be too long for the current market, as far as I can tell. But if anyone knows any western publications looking for stories over 10,000 words, I’d love it if you could point me in the right direction!
In any case, I’m crossing my fingers that I can sell a story to one of the heavy-hitters within the next 5 years!
I think that’s all I’ve got for now! To be blunt, these last few months haven’t been great, but recently I’ve been feeling far better about myself and my work. Here’s hoping that things keep looking up, and that new readers can find my work thanks to Raven Tale!
Oh, and if you’re looking for some of my best monster/creature stories ahead of my books with Raven Tale, I’ve got a few recommendations!
Click here to check out the Jason Long novels! A disgraced LAPD cop turns cryptid hunter after accidentally bringing the first Sasquatch to science. And things only get crazier from there! Book 3, The Mothman of Mt. Shasta, will be out soon as well!
I’ve also got a weird western about an outlaw that finds and raises a baby T-Rex. It’s included in a collection of other monster stories. You can check that one out by clicking here.
Oh, and if you like your creature features with a touch of the bizarre and a few gut-punches, I’d recommend the Godqueen Trilogy. Those books follow the (sometimes unwilling) employees of a genetic engineering company that builds cryptids, prehistoric beasts, and creatures from classic fantasy novels from scratch. Click here to buy or learn more about the series.
I’d also love it if you checked out my latest release, Dear Departed Strangers, which is a ghost story set in my multi-genre Opus universe. DenCom, a secretive mega-corporation, binds a fictional universe through its appearances in thriller novels, cryptid books (coming soon), and now a ghost story featuring the CEO long before he was a part of the company.
And that’s it! Now, I’ve got to get back to work and get all these books done!
I’ll see you in time,
-S.T. Hoover