Completed Novels
These are novels for which I have actually completed a rough draft. While the manuscripts are finished, any novel here will not be completely finished until they are printed and published.
Amy Collins, of Talcott Notch Literary Agency, is my literary agent! If you are interested in publishing my novels, please contact her here:
Affairs of State
A Rimverse Novel.
The war against the Empire has consumed the last ten years in fire and blood, but on the eve of their final victory, the Empire mysteriously ceases their attack and invites their enemies to a surprise celebration. Eager to turn this truce into a lasting peace, the Commonwealth high brass pulls junior supply officer Levar Boylan from the front lines to serve their diplomats as a cultural expert because long ago, he dated an Imperial baroness, Astrid. They get more than they bargain for when Levar arrives at the ball and discovers Astrid is the new Emperor, for despite the years, the war, and their difference in rank, their mutual attraction still burns bright.
Levar and Astrid’s re-ignited relationship threatens to drown him in a whirlpool of conflicting loyalties. The Commonwealth leaders suspect his loyalty to their cause, while Astrid hopes he will abandon the defeated Commonwealth to become an Imperial noble. Never a skilled negotiator, Levar now must outwit hostile opponents and treacherous allies, all master manipulators seeking to seduce Levar to their contradictory whims. As the sinister secret behind the soiree rears its ugly head, Levar must dodge assassins, outfox kidnappers, and even overcome a military coup which threatens everything he and Astrid have worked for. As incompatible plots collide around him, Levar must decide what he will compromise to save his country, his love, and his life.
Affairs of State is a 120,000-word sci-fi romantic thriller.
scavenger hunt
On the gas giant Caelus, the last human colony survives on the backs of decaying terraforming equipment. The people breathe air produced by the Scavengers, ancient and gargantuan atmospheric processing machines that swim in the depths of the Caelum sky and attack any airship that approaches. Solid mass is the only resource that matters, and there is not enough to go around.
PETER is a sky pirate who has lived a charmed life, drifting from one lucky break to the next, but when his luck runs out, a gigantic Scavenger destroys his airship, leaving only Peter and a few crewmembers alive to be captured by the Imperium.
CECIL is a student who has never had a lucky break, watching innumerable opportunities soar past just out of reach. He knows that the Scavengers are no longer fixing the atmosphere, and that if they are not repaired, then every human on Caelus will die within a few hundred years. Despite the evidence, Cecil cannot convince his wealthy professors to finance a mission to fix a problem they refuse to acknowledge, and when Cecil calls them out, they throw him in prison for a few days to cool off. There he rants to the one person who is willing to believe him: Peter.
Repairing a Scavenger is just the cause Peter needs to give his life focus. When Peter’s loyal crew rescues him on the eve of his execution, he knows he must use this new lease on life to save humanity, and begins forming a plan to get Cecil what he needs to complete the expedition.
Peter’s plan draws Cecil into the crime wave of the century as Peter decides that Cecil’s mission must succeed, no matter what the cost. Hounded by the robber barons' navy and threatened by mutinous crewmen, Peter and Cecil must hijack, kidnap, and steal the ship, people, and equipment they need to accomplish their goal: finding and fixing a Scavenger.
SCAVENGER HUNT is a 90,000-word long retro-futuristic space opera.
The Queen’s Conviction
Book One of the Illyrian Civil War series.
An Age of Aether novel
After 100 years spent in hiding, Princess Lyra returns to Illyria to reclaim her title as heir to the dragon throne. However, a century of royal neglect has left her kingdom riven by internal politics. Greedy nobles and wealthy magnates have seized control of Illyria and is squeezing the populace dry to increase their personal wealth. Their depredations are so great as to incite two separate rebellions.
Lyra believes she can save her fractious kingdom, but for all her good intentions and sound ideas, she finds the world of politics is not impressed by a young dragon’s physical power. Intrenched interests have rewritten the very laws to favor their positions and control the legislature, rendering reform a remote possibility. Nor is Lyra an adept politician. Her blundering bluster makes enemies quickly in the easily-offended halls of power even as her actions make allies amongst the forward-looking members of her court. When the lords and landowners cannot defeat her politically, they subvert the free press, paying to print lies and turn the ignorant populace against the one person in power actually arguing for their benefit. Protests turn to riots, and in the end, one tragic shot is fired, dooming Illyria to the horrors of civil war.
The Queen’s Conviction is an 97,000-word military and political fantasy thriller.