Declan Finn's Blog, page 22

David Tennant Dragon Con Panel AAR

Time to mix it up a little.



Have some Media guests.





David Tennant talks about being the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who, Crowley from Good Omens and other roles at Dragon Con August 31, 2019.






David Tennant talks about being the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who, Crowley from Good Omens and other roles at Dragon Con August 30, 2019.

DragonCon 2019 AAR: Heroes of High Fantasy

Authors of High Fantasy meet and tell us their tales of adventure and derring-do!





Panelists: Aleron Kong, Jim Butcher, Brandon Sanderson, Marie Brennan.




Moderator: Jennifer Liang








And if you're new here and would like to try out some books.Try the ones on the right hand side.



Saint Tommy, NYPD







Love at First Bite

DragonCon 2019 AAR: Male Stars of Fantasy/SF

The best of the best tell their secrets of successful writing careers.



Panelists: Jim Butcher, Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Stackpole, Robert J. Sawyer, Brandon Sanderson. Moderator: Nancy Knight














And if you're new here and would like to try out some books.Try the ones on the right hand side.



Saint Tommy, NYPD







Love at First Bite

Dragon Con 2019 AAR: Contemporary Vampires

So, obviously, this is one that I'm interested in, of only because I'm on it. It was my first panel on the first day, at 10am... yes, I know that they have panels on Thursday now, but Friday is what I still think of as The First Day.



Anyway, this has a whole bunch of people, and some good ideas.



In this panel authors discuss how they refreshed everybody's favorite variety of undead for use in their works.



Speakers include authors R.E. Carr Declan Finn Clay Gilbert J.F. Lewis Mari Mancusi Lisa Manifold















And while we're at it, this is the series that prompted getting me on the panel. Click here to get it on Kindle, hardcover or paperback

NEW RELEASE; Storming Area 51, an anthology

So, I'm in a new anthology, from Bayonet books.





It's called Storming Area 51 .



It's gonna be a little strange.

Thirty-five awesome stories – one kick ass meme that started it all.

It started as a joke. Storm Area 51 they said.

"They can’t stop us all" was the battle-cry.

But all laughter stopped when the U.S. Air Force mobilized the reserves and pulled out the big guns.

It was too late, relentless mockery and derision by the media and the powers that be had pushed the weebs and alien enthusiasts too far. What else were they supposed to do?

They put on their big girl panties and showed up, determined to find out exactly what was hidden behind the walls of the clandestine government facility.

Buy this book and share in the terrible secrets concealed deep behind the barbed wire, fences and armed guards.

C.J. Carella - Naruto Charge
J W Kiefer - Dark Mater
Walt Robillard - More to Carry
Michael Gants - Eminent Domain
Sarah A. Hoyt - Sunny Side Up
Alice Peng - Embasy City Delivery
Jamie Ibson - The Sarge V'Sal
Tim Niederriter - Destinys End
Philip Ginn - Waterbenders in the Desert
Chris Winder - The Cricket
E. A. Shanniak - Stalking Death
Marisa Wolf - Home
Aaron Seaman - #Vaporize Doug Burbey - Shift Work
Nathan Pedde - The Rise of the Ghids
Tim C. Taylor - Angel-51: Princess of Earth
Casey Moores - Sanity Check
J. R. Handley & Cisca Small - Love Finds Away
I. Ronik - Fallout - A Vapid Vixens Short
Michael J. Allen - Crashing the Party - A Scion Story
Alex C. Gates - Controlled Chaos
Declan Finn - Area 51 is Not Enough
IQ Malcolm - Kyle: Respawned
Milissa L. Story - Paradise Ranch
J. William Adler - Viva la Revolución
Joshua M. Young - Evan and Kyle Meet the Survey Cube
Sophie J. Shepherd - Nothing’s Gonna Happen
Lawrence N. Oliver - Hanger Nine
Mel Todd - Routine Duty
Drew Avera - Storm the Gates
Philip K. Booker - Balancing the Scales
Tamsin L. Silver - The Trip Home
Robert W. Ross - Isabella's Campaign
Daniel Medrano - Hey Sweetie
R. Max Tillsley - Crickey!

You might be able to take a guess from the title of my story, Area 51 is Not Enough , it has some certain familiar characters.




You could say that one is a heartless, bloody thirsty monster.




The other's a vampire.




Yes. Marco Catalano and Amanda Colt are back!




Between her time as a spy and Marco's nature for getting into trouble, they're ready to storm the barricades of Area 51. After all, it is an R&D base for the airforce. And if the government is going to research things like the supernatural, where else would they do it. For years, Amanda had been worried of another Fort Dietrich Incident. This time, she wants to take a closer look. But she needs a distraction. 




And oh, look. someone wants to stage an invasion of Area 51. Nice distraction you got there. Pity if someone should ... take advantage of it.




But this one has everything.



You want action? We got action.




You want romance? We got some of that.




You want animals that eats, shoots and leaves? We got it.




You want dragons? Fae? Hell hounds? Invading armies? Mad science? Got it all.




You want more from the Love at First Bite universe? You got it.



But Storming Area 51 is released on September 20th. Available for pre-order here.



And if you are new here, you can order the Love at First Bite quartet here.

DragonCon 2019 AAR, part 1.

So, I'm back from DragonCon.



That was fun. Let's do it again next year, m'kay people?



I had three panels and a reading. This time, even though I was up against the Baen traveling road show, I had people show up. And since I had the hour all to myself, I read parts of  Hell Spawn  and  Honor at Stake .



It's hard to describe the parts in between the panels. It's socializing and other people drinking. There's the author who proposed a business deal over the bar who remembered my freebie knives from LibertyCon, and had been talking about them with another friend of mine before I walked in the room. The (mostly random) encounters with friends that turned into three hour conversations, because I haven't seen them in months, or a year.



Or the "fun" of trying to get to the vendors area, which is up a hill, behind all of the hotels -- and two, count 'em, two, streets filled with parade. (Dear DragonCon, I remember a point when the parade was largely finished by the time the vendors opened ... and when I could get around the bloody parade. Please fix that if you can. Though I'm told that it's Atlanta's fault, so you may not be allowed to). But yeah, that was Saturday morning.



There's chatting with the Catholic cabal in the morning after mass (which is another story).



All in all, a fun time was had by all.



Unless of course, you were upset by the Dragon Award nominations. But that's another conversation. Heh heh heh.

Music Post: Delain - Suckerpunch

This is a cute one by Minniva. The original is .. okay. But I like Minniva's renditions of most things.



So, while I'm out and about in Atlanta for DragonCon this week, have some music.

DragonCon Schedule, 2019

My schedule for Dragoncon.





Title: Contemporary Vampires

Time: Fri 10:00 am Location: Chastain 1-2 - Westin (Length: 1 Hour)

Description: Long a staple of urban fantasy, the depictions of vampires appearing in the genre have evolved over time. Our panel of authors discusses the aspects they employ in their work, as well as the characteristics they adopted & adapted from earlier sources.

Panelists: Clay Gilbert, J.F. Lewis, Lisa Manifold, Declan Finn, R E Carr, Jennifer Morris(M), Mari Mancusi



Title: Reading Session: Declan Finn

Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: Marietta - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Panelists: Declan Finn



Title: Is It Simply Dark or Horror?

Time: Sat 07:00 pm Location: Embassy EF - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Description: The great debate! Some claim that horror simply means there is no happy ending--could it really be that simple? Is there more to the Darkness than just being scary? Just how scary is dark fantasy before we hit horror? What makes you read a book with ALL the lights on?

Panelists: Declan Finn, Trisha J. Wooldridge, Russell Newquist(M), Anya Martin, Jonathan Maberry



Title: Who Needs Research?

Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: Embassy CD - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Description: Readers are smart. No matter the genre, authors need to research certain aspects of their stories. Discussion will concern research techniques & when to stop--and write.

Panelists: Lee Martindale, D.J. Butler, Marc Alan Edelheit, Declan Finn, John L. Flynn(M), K.N. Lee



Title: Meet the Dragon Awards

Time: Sun 04:00 pm Location: Embassy EF - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Moderator / MC for panel

Description: We are going to have a mix of past Award Winners & Finalists from this year & years past. So many good books, so many great authors!

Panelists: Jon R. Osborne , Amy J. Murphy, Russell Newquist(M), Christopher Woods, L. Jagi Lamplighter, Ruthanna Emrys







No, I'm not on that last one. But my publisher is the moderator. I'm at least going to be in the audience.



See you around

Review, Maxwell Cain: Burrito Avenger

This one was described as John Wick, but with a burrito (not a puppy).

An action novel for fans of John Wick, Demolition Man, or Die Hard.

Maxwell Cain, also known as “Bloody Rain Cain,” is a cop fed up with the murderous hooligans who control the streets of San Pajita, California.

After years of public service, Max is fired for executing too many dirtbags, and he seeks solace at his favorite taqueria. When his comfort burrito is sullied by the careless actions of brutal thugs, Max finally snaps. What begins as an argument over a ruined lunch quickly spirals into a hurricane of blood and revenge.

Max is joined in his fight by the gorgeous Kate Valentine, a baker with an itchy trigger finger. As the two rush into battle against an entire criminal organization, they are hunted by the relentless terror of the seedy underworld: Johnny Legion.

This book is designed to feel like watching a classic 80s or 90s American action flick.

Welcome to Maxwell Cain: Burrito Avenger .



This one isn't ... quite as insane as it first appears.



Kind of. Sorta. It's complicated.



To begin with, unlike the deep, complicated events and emotions behind "Puppy = killing spree," the burrito in this instance is less the puppy, and more the last straw. In a city that is as corrupt as Chicago, only with an extra layer of scum at the top, Pan Pajita's police force is so overwhelmed that the police "can't respond to every little shooting." But no one at the top minds, because the criminals pay "fines" (usually a portion of the take from the crimes) that goes into the private coffers of public officials.  Okay, fine. It could also be Dirty Harry's superiors in LA.



This one opens with one of the best opening lines since Jim Butcher's "The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault." Adam's is "Maxwell Cain had killed dozens of men. In fact, that was kind of the problem."



It even has a little setup tag that sounds like an 80's film trailer. You can just hear the narrator read "In a world where one man..." etc.



But after a day where Maxwell Cain (I'm sure that it's a coincidence that Max Caine sounds like Matt Payne, honest .... especially the parts that go into bullet time) kills six bank robbers, then is fired for it, all before lunch, he's pissed off and hangry (No, I didn't misspell it).



When some random gangbangers hipcheck Caine into spilling his burrito, he whips out the cheesey one liner ("maybe I'll be a teacher." The next chapter is called "Lesson Plan", and the joke concludes with "Class dismissed") and goes to beat up some thugs. When the thugs need to be put down, it turns out that they were off to pay a mafia bag man -- who still wants his payoff. That confrontation spirals into a war with an entire mafia family, who assume he's a hit man.



With a few breaks to pause for something strange, like character moments, this is basically a 250 page running shootout. The scene that best exemplifies this is where a gunship blasts a monorail train off the track, causing the car to land on top of a hotel roof, which eventually crashes through every floor to land into an electrified pool, into which Max Caine Sparta-kicks a thug while declaring "THIS! IS! SAN PANJITA!"



Did I mention that there's a bit of hat tipping in this book? I'm surprised that Max doesn't end up losing his shoes while walking through broken glass. There's every setpiece shootout ever scene in a film -- shooting up a mall, a hotel, a public art exhibit (the Pieta re-imagined with lizard people -- kill it with fire!), run and gun car chase, a hotel, a mobster's home, a train, "the docks," the standard warehouse, and a few other places thrown in. And he double-wields every chance he gets. We have Jackie Chan's baseball wielding thugs in suit and tie. He has John McClane's habit at yelling at gunmen (An RPG tears up the street, he yells, "Do you have any idea how much it costs to fix a pothole that big?"). At least one man killed during a poker game had aces and eights (subtle).



Did I mention that the mafia enforcer dresses in white and carries a golden desert eagle -- meaning that he's the man with the golden gun?



And like John Wick, Max Caine, cars are his only weakness -- getting hit with them. That, and the running gag that every time he sees a burrito and reaches for it, he summons more gunmen.



Then there's the new stuff -- like "gunfight selfies" (I can see that being a thing) a running gag of shopping while they work, and this is the first Catholic action hero I've seen since William F Buckley JR wrote spy thrillers.... and not written by me. Comparing someone's home to a serial killer den. And the prescient "City council declare it was unfair for cops to get protective gear when civilians don't, said we needed to even the odds."



Most of the combat is very well done and highly detailed. All the action is tightly paced. Though after a while, even Adam stops detailing the path of every bullet and discusses how everyone is just firing on automatic and spraying faceless gunmen with bullets. (If you ever wonder why I suck characters into melee combat a lot, this is why.) To be perfectly fair, Adam does try to describe every minion who lasts more than a few lines, though that's a lot of bald or bearded men after a while, and I wondered when there would be other descriptors used. Though that's probably just "one writer nitpicking."



And the one liners. Oy, the one liners. To fit in more one liners, Max Caine talks to himself. A lot.



Some examples?

After his lunch is ruined and one of the killers is run over: "Lunch hour traffic will really kill you."



"I'm the best cop in the department."

"You're the most violent cop in the department."

"That's what I said."



"I don't want water. I'm thirsty for blood."



While surrounded by gunmen: "Well, yippe ki yay."

This feels like a Dirty Harry movie starring Ahhnuld, meets Falling Down, but with John Wick level stunts.



Anyway, I fully recommend it in all of its utterly insane glory. Buy Maxwell Cain: Burrito Avenger right here.



And while you're at it, you can pick up one of my latest Saint Tommy novels.

Review: Psychic Undercover (with the Undead)

Ah, vampire romance novels. The cotton candy of the literary world. Even the more substantial ones are so light and fluffy, you could drop them in the ocean and they'd work as a life preserver. (Lynsay Sands, I'm looking at you. I like your stuff, but you need to invest a little more in plot.)



Luckily, Amie Gibbons' book  Psychic Undercover (with the Undead) is more urban fantasy than vampire romance, so thankfully we have plot, we have character, we have a bit of a police procedural, and we have action.

The FBI's about to find out ghosts and vampires aren't the only things that go bump in the night...

Singers are a dime a dozen in Nashville, so despite her mama's urging, psychic Ariana Ryder's working her way towards a career in law enforcement at the FBI, one tray of fetched coffee at a time, instead. She's got an extremely handsome boss, a dancing partner among the lab techs, and a solid year as the team rookie under her belt...

Right until the director gives her a big break, working undercover as a singer at a club to investigate why it's being targeted by a serial killer. This might have worked better if the club didn’t happen to be a vampire nest.

Now, with the vampires' investigator, Quil, on the case, the sparks are flying and the jurisdictional battle isn't the only thing heating up as they race to solve the case before the killer strikes again!

So, Amie Gibbons is both an author and a lawyer -- but please don't hold that last part against her. Thankfully, unlike other lawyers like John Grisham or Scott Turow, she doesn't make a point of inflicting her law degree on the readership.



Like most UF, it's a first person narrator, and Ariana is well defined, and certainly a product of her environment. A Nashville girl with a mother who's a romance novelist and her father is a former marine and a politician. She's girly, and as professional as the plot allows ... read it, you'll understand. I especially liked that she has a fear of "being trapped. I get the same reaction when I'm lost or stuck in traffic" ... which apparently explains her driving. Heh. Short version, imagine Kristen Chenoweth as our protagonist.



For the record, I have to point out that the description above only spills the plot up to chapter 3. Which I appreciate. I've had some problems with other novels that spoil up to half way through the book.



The book has a good sense of pacing, as well as a sense of humor and world building. I like the sense of vampire society, as well as the fact that Gibbons have vampires who are still largely predators by nature. (While this does have a romantic male lead who is a vampire, it's pointed out more than a few times that he's very, very different from the rest of the vampire society -- even the people he's friends with or works with). I'd like more elaboration about the way vampires are developed, but that's for later books, I'm sure.



The portrayal of the feds in the book is far more fluid than I've come to expect from the FBI. For anyone who thinks the feds aren't this thoughtful, creative, or fluid in their thinking ... well, that's because this is a world without professional monster bounty hunters, and where the FBI must actually solve crimes and have a certain flexibility about them. All of the traditional FBI agents (rigid, glorified bureaucrats) have probably been eaten by this point in the timeline. Not to mention that the character arc in the first novel explains that yes, this FBI team is different than most, if only because they have to incorporate care and feeding of their pet psychic into their team. Gibbons takes pains to point out that yes, this is a strange group of Feds to start with. (Also, the NY stereotypes were a little grating after a while).  If you have a problem with the portrayal of the FBI, at least finished up to the end of Chapter 10. It's self explanatory.



One of my few quibbles with in the book is her superior officer. Not because of he character or his mentality -- he's the most like what one would expect from the FBI in this novel. I even like that he holds his private meetings in the bathroom (not the elevator?), or that he summons if you mention his name too often (why yes, I think he is related to Gibbs). And he will even defend his people against his superiors -- the only way they die is if he kills them. Except his name is Grant, and Ariana keeps calling him General... which strikes me as something I wouldn't want to do in the South to someone I liked. Seriously, you want him shot?



The other quibbles are minor. The narrator uses phrases that are jarring. I presume they're local. Also, have Spotify handy. There are multiple song references kicking around I've never heard of. There is also a reference to "Why don't they use silver bullets?" -- but if Larry Correia has taught me anything, silver is too hard to be a bullet, and it wouldn't rifle properly. But that's a narrator problem, not an author problem (again, our narrator is a rookie).



All in all, Psychic Undercover (with the Undead) was a solid book one, with a built-in book two, at once creating a continuing plot without anyone feeling cheated by this plot. It is definitely a five star book, without question -- especially if you're looking for something in the female led UR / PNR genre. She's better than most -- I'm looking at you Sookie and Anita. This may lean only slightly more PNR than UR, but it's serviceable as either. She's better than Lynsay Sands, as good as Kerrlyn Sparks, and more entertaining than the last five of Sherrilyn Kenyon's novels.



Click here to get  Psychic Undercover (with the Undead) .