Available now on Amazon, a book workshopped in my writing group!
If you enjoyed The Laundry Files novels by Charles Stross, you’ll enjoy this new book by Richard Hein. Richard’s work is darkly hilarious and his plot twists surprising. It was fun reading the draft and I’m impressed by his polishing.
Here’s the Blurb (I helped with that too!):
Samuel Walker loved being a Seneschal with the Ordo Felix Culpa, keeping the world safe from things that go bump in the night — especially when he got to bump them back. That was before he was given the choice of exile into a normal life or a bullet to the head.
Now in the corporate world, he fights red tape instead of demonic, alien creatures from other dimensions. So when Kate arrives, chased by monsters and carrying a message from her murdered brother, Samuel has no choice but to venture back into OFC’s line of fire.
Maybe this time, with the Archangel Michael on his side, he can go back to the life he prefers/was trained for. It’s going to be a struggle to keep Kate alive and evade punishment for the trail of blood he left behind, but if he can pull it off, Samuel might find that the world is a better place than he thought and absolutely worth dying for.
Sounds great, huh?! It is so much fun when someone you support goes live with a book. Or a sculpture you provided train tracks for. Or a painting when you donated the paint! (See the theme?) Helping! ME! MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME!
I participate in up to five writing groups. Why? I haven’t said anything like this for about ten years (the last time I job-searched), but I hold a professional certification in team building.
That’s right, I took a series of classes and workshops, practiced and participated, all so that I would be officially acknowledged as someone who can turn a group of people into a team. It’s something I’ve been doing naturally since I started kindergarten. Once I had a group to work my wiles on, I became the adorable little dictator who decides what game to play, casts the roles, and then directs how the story plays out. A Natural Leader. Firstborn, of course.
But in my writing life, I’m a total newb. No books published. Only one short story. And a LOOOOOONG way to go as far as my confidence is concerned. Still, misery…newbieness…loves company. And the reality is that I have Skillz; they just aren’t fiction writing skills….yet.
So, while I leech off of my betters…better writers…I offer them a recompense in administrative, emotional, and team-building support. Because those things are easy for me and…can be lacking….sometimes…in writing groups. It takes a leader or facilitator to set up a structure and point everyone in the right direction.
I do it because I LOVE doing it and because it builds momentum; builds community. When Richard is successful, I am that much closer to being successful. As a team, a group, we can do so much more–make so much more–than I can all alone.
What do you think?