Monthly Archives: April 2022

Some of you may be wondering why this is the third Happy Book Day for Netwalk. Easy enough to explain. Netwalk was the first book I self-published, way back in the Wild West selfpub days of 2011. The first cover was…uh, kinda sad, and I forget how the layout looked.

A year later, the son did the layout in InDesign and I managed to get a cover artist. That cover is still lovely, but–as it turned out, the rest of the series had multiple artists (including me), there was no consistent branding, and…not only were there continuity problems and layout that wasn’t up to 2022 standards, but the tech rapidly became outdated. Additionally, when I first published Netwalk, I really didn’t have a firm grasp on the backstory. Most of Life in the Shadows was written between Netwalker Uprising and Netwalk’s Children, and I still didn’t really have that solid a grasp on the nature of the overarching series conflicts and how they resolved. This series…I tell you, this series taught me a LOT about what to do and what not to do when writing in a series. I was still learning when I wrote the Goddess’s Honor books, but the Martiniere Legacy series was the culmination (so far) of what I’ve learned about the dos and don’ts of series writing.

The Netwalk Sequence, though…it was my original love, and it needed repair. Badly. I didn’t feel like trying to promote it at all.

Therefore, I decided it was time to create a new edition. Originally, the Author Preferred release was going to be 2021. However, things happened, including an outbreak of more Martiniere stories and snafus with cover artist availability.

Then I got BookBrush. Found a series of photos on Depositphotos that really do fit the whole series concept so much better than some of my original concepts. Spent money on the original editor (hi Catja, and thank you!) to vet my revisions.

Diving back into Netwalk itself didn’t have the same dire associations as Life in the Shadows did with political gloom and doom, though there’s still a bunch of that. I tweaked that a bit more, updated some wonky formatting, and fixed a bunch of continuity problems that just hadn’t gotten themselves fixed the second time around. In the process, I managed to sharpen Melanie up, clarify the degree to which she’s ADHD but still makes things work (helps that I finally admit to my own ADHD), and drilled down on the family conflicts.

Plus this blurb is multiple-multiple times better than the original.

Note: You don’t have to read Life in the Shadows to appreciate Netwalk, although it gives you a deeper understanding of the conflicts between Sarah and Diana. There’s a reason why Shadows is now officially Book One, instead of being just Related Material. Although, annoyingly, Shadows still doesn’t have the “Look Inside” feature activated, while Netwalk does.

So, for those of you who haven’t encountered Netwalk before–here’s the blurb, this time around.

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IN A TECH-DRIVEN FAMILY, HARD CHOICES PASS TO THE NEXT GENERATION

Mother against daughter.
Grandmother against granddaughter.

Melanie Landreth has maintained a lonely outpost as the President of Do It Right North America for seven years. Her grandmother, Sarah Stephens, the President of the Confederated States of North America, rules the continent with an iron fist. Melanie’s brother Andrew is one of Sarah’s lackeys. Their mother Diana controls Do It Right outside of North America, and engages in secretive maneuvers aimed at overthrowing Sarah’s reign.

Will things ever change?

When they do, who will survive?

What role does the Disruption Machine—now known as the Gizmo—play in the emergence of the new Netwalk technology? Why does the Gizmo manage to unite Sarah and Melanie’s mother Diana, when they disagree on just about any other subject?

The struggle for control within this family can change the world—for better or for worse.

And Melanie wants to be the winner.

Amazon link here.

Books2Read (Apple, Barnes and Noble, Nook, and more) here.

Enjoy!

Well, it’s happening again. This notion has been bouncing around in my thoughts for several weeks now, and I’m making it formal. Besides A Different Life–What If? being released on April 20th, I’ve decided to go ahead and start formally working in what I now call the Martiniere Multiverse–a series of stories based on turning points in the life of Gabriel Martiniere in the main Martiniere Legacy canon. Because I’m releasing What If?, I ended up revamping the cover and writing a brief summary of the Multiverse which will go into the back matter of each Multiverse book (and updated as needed).

Essentially, there will be four separate multiverses–the one represented by the A Different Life trilogy (What If?, Linda’s Story, and a third one which has an idea but no title yet). In the  A Different Life series, Gabe’s family doesn’t die in a plane crash when he is twelve, he and Ruby meet when she is in college and–things happen much differently from the main Martiniere Legacy series. Amongst other things, this trilogy is heavy on the romance side of things. But all is not peachy-keen for our protagonists. They have a lot to overcome. Clues to the emergence of A Different Life will be found in Repairing the Legacy, the last mainline Martiniere Legacy book.

Another one, which may involve a single book, has Gabe telling Ruby who he really is when she becomes pregnant with their son. You find clues to that possibility in Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere.

Another is when Ruby’s friend Remy Trask realizes that the Gabe Ramirez who married her friend Ruby is the Gabriel Martiniere who disappeared after his testimony in US vs Martiniere Group, the case that made her resign her position as an Assistant United States Attorney in Southern California. This likelihood is also found in Broken Angel: The Lost Years of Gabriel Martiniere.

The final one is A Widow’s Vengeance, where Philip kills Gabe during that fateful meeting where he demanded Gabe divorce Ruby in the mainline Martiniere Legacy series. Gabe’s true identity is revealed when his body is found. Ruby, toddler Brandon, and her unborn daughter become players in the power struggle to depose Philip Martiniere, with Ruby as the avenging widow, in alliance with Gabe’s sister, Justine Martiniere. And Gabe’s daughter Gabrielle becomes a power as well (posthumously born and named after her father, while Ruby is still deep in mourning Gabe).

The stories (except for the A Different Life trilogy) will include the digital clone structures I introduced toward the end of The Heritage of Michael Martiniere in the main Martiniere Legacy canon, along with more details about digis in Justine Fixes Everything: Reflections on Mortality. Different Gabe manifestations becoming aware of each other in dreams across several universes—but the controlling character is Gabe Prime (for lack of a better description) in the mainline Martiniere Legacy series, as a digi. First in his own dreams, then after Gabe Prime’s death and resurrection as a digi, his appearances in the other universes (especially a factor in A Widow’s Vengeance).

The multiverse aspect of the Martiniere stories is tied to the different worlds of these spinoffs. And, provided the universe allows, I’ll write them all (along with other things). Once Linda’s Story is completed, I plan to write the explicit Martiniere Multiverse story involving Gabe Prime and his awareness/involvement as a digi in those other universes.

That story will be called Dreamwalker: Gabriel, and I hope to have it written and ready for publication by December, 2022.

The others will be after Dreamwalker.

(And meanwhile, I glare at Gabriel Martiniere while he smirks and gives Ruby a kiss. He’s awfully good at that. And that enigmatic grin of Ruby’s is just as knowing. Don’t count Ruby out because she’s just as responsible for making this happen.)

So in an attempt to kinda sorta get my promotional chops into gear, I’m trying to think of unifying themes that are part of my writing. Of course, as it turns out, the week I decided to kick it off was also a week full of Much Personal Life Craziness (which continues, somewhat). Not so much the Big Bad Stuff as it is just bits and pieces of weirdness and PITA stuff to manage at a time when it would be really helpful to be able to concentrate…oh wait, doesn’t that sum up most of life post-March 2020?

The first thing that came to mind was food/eating elements in my different series. A few years ago, I took a writing workshop with Jamie Ford (Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Songs of Willow Frost, Love and Other Consolation Prizes). He suggested we write a food preparation sequence as a part of our character building process. Well, since I was working with a new character in the Goddess’s Honor series, I wrote a sequence about her…which really expanded the series. She’ll be a part of the new series in that world, Goddess’s Vision. And since Goddess’s Honor is the series I am going to try to showcase next week…well, I’ll write more about it there.

Anyway. I wrote the Martiniere Legacy books after that workshop, and it has several food-related, plot-advancing scenes (as well as character-building sequences). One of the things that came out of that writing was the development of an inanimate third character of sorts–the green Formica and chrome, 1950s-era, kitchen table.

I happen to own one of those–it came with the Enterprise house, and it forms the background of the picture above. I grew up with one of those tables–only it was gray and white, not green and white. I used to stare at portions of that gray and white table and think I saw warhorses being ridden through a clearing. This was a very early memory, so I guess I was thinking about fantasy even as a little kid.

The table in the Martiniere Legacy, however. It’s a gathering place at the Double R Ranch. In looking back at the series, including the slowly-proceeding Repairing the Legacy, that Formica and green table is somewhat central to a lot of what happens. Gabe’s sister Justine likes to perch there when she’s at the ranch–it’s her favorite place to work. Gabe has heart-to-heart late-night talks with Ruby’s grandfather Ron at the table. And more. If that table could talk….

Here’s some snippets from the main Martiniere Legacy trilogy to give some idea of the range of discussions that happen at the kitchen table…

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Justine, Philip’s daughter, sat at the old green Formica and chrome kitchen table, a bottle of whisky sitting next to her as she studied her screens.

“Don’t you know only the lower classes drink straight from the bottle?” he said, just like Philip would say when he caught them doing something during their teen years that he considered to be déclassé and not worth of the high status of a Martiniere.

 From Inheritance—Outtake—Gabe

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 Morning brought swirls of fog over half-melting snow and ice on the ridges around the home place, but the mountains still stood out above the fog. Ruby soaked in the familiar, beloved views while sitting at the kitchen table and choking back a piece of toast and sipping a cup of fake coffee. Home. The craziness of the Innovator seemed to be very far away from her cozy kitchen with the view of mountains.

From Inheritance—Chapter Four

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 Ruby sat down hard at the kitchen table after Paul left, and buried her head in her hands again. Vickie patted her back.

“Beck,” she called up the stairs. “Do you know where the good booze is?”

Beck thumped down the stairs. “No, but Charlie does. I’ll go ask.”

“I shouldn’t be drinking,” Ruby said into her hands. ”I should be riding out there with them.”

“No,” Vickie repeated. “This isn’t the Old West, and the Home Guard is here to protect you and the ranch. Let the pros do their job.”

From Inheritance—Chapter Thirteen

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 Justine sat at the ‘50s-era green Formica and chrome table that had been Granma’s pride, two screens shimmering in front of her as she talked to someone, voice only, typing on the virtual keyboard hovering over the table. She waved as Ruby entered the kitchen and pointed toward the coffeepot with a grin.

Real coffee, then.

From Ascendant—Chapter Three

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 The welcome scent of real coffee wafting from the kitchen was a signal that Gabe’s half-sister Justine was definitely at the ranch. As Ruby entered the kitchen, focused on the coffee, Justine was settled at the old Formica and chrome table, glowering at her screens. Her usual perch when she was at the Double R.

From Realization—Chapter Two

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Ruby poured her coffee and sat across from Justine. “Things going okay? Hardly seen you since everything blew up.”

Justine scowled. “Daddy dearest is outright pissed about your killing Joseph.”

From Realization—Chapter Two

(And, as always, I flinch because I see two edits I should have made. Always. Always. No matter how many times, no matter how many eyes…always)