Steve Umstead's Blog, page 14
January 24, 2012
Excerpt from Gabriel's Revenge – Renay in Trouble
The cot creaked again as Renay shifted her weight. Her arm was now throbbing almost as much as her head. After the tube ride, the next thing she remembered was this room, now, and she wracked her brain to try to figure out the timeline and which tube they took her through. Arsia Mons had [...]
January 20, 2012
Don't mess with my 14yo when he has a bamboo stick
Headline says it all…if you find yourself in a a dark alley, and some skinny blond kid walks up to you carrying a split bamboo stick, run the other way. 
January 19, 2012
How Justified makes me a better writer…or at least humbles me to try
Confession: I time-shift everything I watch. I hate commercials. I mean, I delay the start of a show by 15 minutes so when I do finally hit the Play button on the DVR remote, I can watch my one hour show in 44 minutes. What does this confession mean? Nothing, except that Tuesday night, I [...]
January 11, 2012
Flash Fiction – Stuck
Just a little 600 word Flash Fiction – what do you think? It's from a prompt that's simply "magic sled." Stuck I'm gonna nail him so hard! Alex thought. As a snowball flew towards his face, he ducked, and the projectile whistled over his head. Pathetic, thought Alex. Alex had short, blonde hair, with snow [...]
January 10, 2012
Great experience with my wife this morning (a non-salacious blog post, seriously)
I had a very cool experience with my wife this morning. NO, you dirty minds. Get that out of your head. I'm married… Here's the history: A year ago at this time, I was researching self-publishing after wrapping up final edits on a little story called Gabriel's Redemption. Just testing the waters to see if [...]
January 9, 2012
And then there were three…proofs of the Gabriel series are in
Just a quick post…well, more of a gush…about the paperbacks of the Gabriel trilogy. Last week I received the proofs from CreateSpace for Gabriel's Return (2) and Gabriel's Revenge (3). Interior was perfect, covers on both just need a tiny shift tweak so that the text on the back cover is centered, and they're ready [...]
December 23, 2011
The Gabriel Arc is Complete – Happy Holidays Everyone!
Time flies when you're writing…and working…and parenting…and shuttling a kid to Philadelphia Boys Choir and soccer…and the other one to golf and karate…and did I mention working? At long last, the finale of the trilogy, Gabriel's Revenge, is complete. The story of Evan Gabriel has come full circle (you'll have to read the series to [...]
December 22, 2011
Gabriel's Revenge Excerpt – The Shadowy Benefactor
It's official! Gabriel's Revenge, the final installment in the bestselling scifi-adventure trilogy, is complete and is being uploaded TODAY to Amazon and BN in time for the holidays! Here's a little glimpse at the man behind the troubles – and the FINAL COVER ART! A loud bang startled the man sitting on the couch. He looked up [...]
December 21, 2011
An excerpt a day keeps the anticipation at bay… Gabriel's Revenge
It's official! Gabriel's Revenge, the final installment in the bestselling scifi-adventure trilogy, is complete and will be uploaded to Amazon and BN in time for the holidays! Here's a snippet: Gabriel had just cinched his straps when the Marcinko's engines ignited, pressing each of them back into their seats in the shuttle. He heard Olszewski [...]
December 19, 2011
The official "Name the Gabriel Trilogy" contest
As Rafiki famously said: "It is time." Gabriel's Revenge is complete. After months of on-and-off writing (stupid day job…) the last sentence was written. (Just an aside – the final scene has been in my head since day one…like day one of writing the first book – and it was…powerful to write. Brought a little [...]
