Michael C. Bailey's Blog, page 11
September 12, 2024
Action Figures – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
The series focuses on Carrie Hauser, a 15-year-old girl who one summer experiences two life-changing events: her parents announce they’re getting divorced, and she gains superhuman abilities after encountering a dying extraterrestrial after he falls to Earth.
Her adventure begins after Carrie and her mother Christina move back to Christina’s childhood home town of Kingsport, Massachusetts, and Carrie meets four teens with powers of their own: superhero fanboy Matt Steiger, who owns a pair of magic gloves that can produce any object he can envision out of thin air, like a living cartoon character; Sara Danvers, a telepath and telekinetic who is afraid of her own abilities; the easygoing Stuart Lumley, who possesses superhuman strength; and Missy Hamill, an adorable motormouth with enhanced strength and reflexes.
The teens form a superhero team almost on a whim, but soon find themselves fighting for their lives against very real super-villains – much to the dismay of Kingsport’s hometown hero Concorde, leader of the super-team The Protectorate.
Who is this Series For?
Fans of superhero comics, TV shows, and movies in general, but particularly of titles featuring teen heroes such as Young Justice, Teen Titans, Young Avengers, and Champions.
The tone is generally lighter than a lot of YA books out there now. While there is drama and conflict, and some later stories deal with darker issues, I try to keep the series fun, upbeat, and optimistic.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
Action Figures is a PG-13 series that contains mild to moderate profanity, non-graphic violence, some mature themes, and later on in the series mild sexual content.
An added word about the violent content: while the violence is not graphic, the consequences are not downplayed. This isn’t sanitized Hollywood violence. People get hurt just as they would in real life and do not easily shrug off injuries, and in some cases the characters have to deal with the emotional trauma of their experiences.
What are the Books in the Series?
Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins – Carrie and her new friends in the Hero Squad (yes, they know their team name is awful) find themselves caught in the crossfire as the deadly mercenary Manticore comes to Kingsport, on the hunt for the rogue artificial intelligence known as Archimedes. Soon to be available through Audible!
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women – The sorceress Black Betty threatens to raise hell – maybe literally – as she pursues her vendetta against the Protectorate’s resident paranormal expert Dr. Enigma.
Action Figures – Issue Three: Pasts Imperfect – Missy’s life is turned upside-down when she learns the truth about the source of her powers, and her connection to the bloodthirsty killer Buzzkill Joy.
Action Figures – Issue Four: Cruel Summer – Sara finds herself in the crosshairs of the mysterious hero killer the King of Pain, but to save herself, she might have to sacrifice everything she holds dear.
Action Figures – Issue Five: Team-Ups – The Hero Squad, still reeling from their devastating encounter with the King of Pain, get a little help picking up the pieces from their friends in the Protectorate and the Quantum Quintet.
Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play – The Squad finds itself outnumbered and under-powered after one of their members goes missing – and at the worst possible time as foes from their past reappear, more dangerous than ever and ready to exact revenge.
Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War – On Earth, Carrie Hauser is a hero, but on the far side of the galaxy, she’s just another soldier on the front lines of an interplanetary war against the terrorists in the Black End.
Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage – Carrie returns to Earth to reclaim her life, but life has moved on without her. Does she have a place with her team, her friends, or her family anymore?
Action Figures – Issue Nine: Hell Hath No Fury – Black Betty is back, and ready to unleash Hell — literally, but can the Hero Squad trust Dr. Enigma to have their backs? Or does she have her own dark agenda?
Action Figures – Issue Ten: Unintended Consequences – The Hero Squad learns that hard way that no good deed goes unpunished and the sins of their past have not been forgotten.
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Zero Day – It’s the final showdown between the Hero Squad and ShadoWorks, in this, the epic conclusion to the Action Figures core series.
Action Figures: Legacies – In the wake of Zero Day, Aja Pershing, daughter of the murderous Manticore, finds herself on a collision course with the latest young woman to adopt the mantle of the vigilante known as the Silhouette. The first sequel to the core Action Figures series. Tentatively set for mid-2024 release.
The Action Figures Omnibus – Volume One: Stepping Up – Collects the first three books in the series (Secret Origins, Black Magic Women, Pasts Imperfect) and features a new foreward by Patrick Hodges and a new introduction by the author.
Beneath the Mask: A Superhero Romance Anthology – Features the superhero noir tale Like a Knife in the Heart featuring the Sapphire Silhouette. Set in the Action Figures universe. Currently out of print.
How Long Will the Series Run?
The core series has finished its run, ending with issue eleven. Two spinoff titles are currently in the early planning stages, with the first of those books, Legacies, set for a 2024 release.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Secret Origins, short stories set in the Action Figures world, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
September 10, 2024
Weekly Update – September 10, 2024
The second third (I miscounted in last week’s post) draft of the eighth Strongarm & Lightfoot book is done! I punched through it pretty quickly until the third act, which is when things bogged down. I wasn’t sure the climax held together, so I had to pick it apart and make sure it was solid. That, coupled with the usual complications of a lengthy action sequence, took up most of last week.
But now it’s done, off for its beta-read, and I can move on to the ninth S&L book, because god forbid I take a day off from my day job to just relax or anything.
(I kid. Writing for me is relaxing.)
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Third draft in editing stage.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Second draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: Third draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
October 2024: Fantasy Author Panel, Tatnuck Bookseller, Westborough, MA, Saturday, October 12, 11 AM to 1 PM.
MISC.
I am having issues with my newsletter service provider, so if you want to keep tabs on my projects, your best bet is to simply follow this blog and have its posts delivered directly to your inbox.
September 3, 2024
Weekly Update – September 3, 2024
So, you’re thinking about participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year.
Yeah, well, don’t.
The organization, founded years ago to encourage would-be writers of all skill levels to attempt to write a 50,000 word manuscript over the course of October, has been plagued recently with what one could charitably call missteps, but others (myself included) would call major fuckups. In 2022, it partnered with Inkitt and Manuscript Press to offer publishing packages. NaNoWriMo participants pointed out the many problems with both companies, which had track records of screwing over clients, and got banned from the NaNoWriMo forums for it (those bans were later rescinded). Last year, it was NaNoWriMo’s poor response to accusations that one of its forum moderators was grooming minors.
This year, NaNoWriMo shot itself in the foot by partnering with ProWritingAid, a generative AI-based “writing assistant” that sponsored a series of NaNoWroMo prep workshops this summer. The organization also adopted AI-friendly policies (presented at right) that not only welcome the use of generative AI among its participants, but made it clear that any criticism of this decision would be treated as “classist” and “ableist” — because, apparently, someone who lacks talent, skill, and/or the dedication to practice their chosen craft is disabled.
That second one drew a LOT of heat from disabled individuals on social media, including NaNoWriMo’s official Facebook page. One user on Bluesky summed it up thusly: “Disabled people have been producing art for as long as there’s been art and do not need the condescension of tech bros saying ‘you can’t do what the others do without our wonderful plagiarism machine’.”
That last part hits it squarely on the head for me personally. Generative AI wouldn’t exist if its tech bro creators hadn’t plagiarized countless existing copyrighted works without the original creators’ knowledge or consent, and without providing financial compensation or accreditation, so encouraging wannabe authors to use AI is a slap in the face to every writer who sat down and did the hard work themselves, without a fancy chatbot doing the heavy lifting for them.
The whole point of NaNoWriMo in the beginning was to encourage aspiring writers to actually write. Now it’s saying it’s fine with its participants skipping over the act of creation entirely as long as a finished product emerges at the end, and so what if that end product is the result of other people’s proprietary creations getting thrown into a meat grinder without their permission?
If you were thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo this year, I would encourage you to do so without getting formally involved with the organization. Don’t sign up for an account, don’t use their tools, just sit your ass down and start writing. You can keep track of your progress on your own. You can use social media to reach out to others who are walking away from NaNoWriMo — and believe me, they are walking away in droves — and support each other via social media. Hell, reach out to me directly and I’ll be your cheerleader, guide, coach, sounding board, whatever. I’m game.
As long as you don’t support NaNoWriMo as an organization. Fuck them.
In other news, work has begun on the second draft of the eighth Strongarm & Lightfoot book while I wait for my edits and cover art on Legacies to come back. In the meantime, I’m getting ready for the fantasy authors panel at Tatnuck Bookseller next month, and I’ve added the date and time to the listing below.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Third draft in editing stage.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Second draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
October 2024: Fantasy Author Panel, Tatnuck Bookseller, Westborough, MA, Saturday, October 12, 11 AM to 1 PM.MISC.
I am having issues with my newsletter service provider, so if you want to keep tabs on my projects, your best bet is to simply follow this blog and have its posts delivered directly to your inbox.
August 27, 2024
Weekly Update – August 27, 2024
The second draft of the second Legacies book is done! With that in the can for now, I’m taking a couple weeks off to catch up on some long-neglected yardwork projects and enjoy the last few days of (unofficial) summer.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Third draft in editing stage.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Second draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
October 2024: Fantasy Author Panel, Tatnuck Bookseller, Westborough, MA, date and time TBAMISC.
I am having issues with my newsletter service provider, so if you want to keep tabs on my projects, your best bet is to simply follow this blog and have its posts delivered directly to your inbox.
August 22, 2024
Well-Behaved Women – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
Rose Booker remembers how she died. Both times.
Rose’s pursuit of the truth behind those memories leads her to discover that she was in a past life the legendary pirate queen Mary Read — and that she’s not the only infamous historical figure who has returned from the dead.
Who is this Series For?
Well-Behaved Women is an urban fantasy trilogy featuring a predominantly female cast. I wrote it for everyone looking for an action-packed adventure tale driven by complex heroic (and villainous, and somewhere in-between) LGBTQ women.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
No. The series contains violence, language, and sexual content that make it inappropriate for younger readers.
What are the Books in the Series?
Awakening: Nearly a year after being shot and left for dead, Sergeant Rose Booker returns to active duty with the Worcester Police Department, hoping to put the past behind her — except she’s not sure it’s her past that’s haunting her.
When hard-drinking hellraiser Julie d’Aubigny enters Rose’s life, she promises to reveal the truth behind Rose’s nightmares — or are they memories? — of her death at the end of a hangman’s noose.
But first Rose must stop the mysterious madman waging a bloody campaign of vengeance that threatens to turn the city’s streets red. All she has to do is uncover his identity — and his own dark secret.
Transition: The adventure continues as Rose and her friends deal with the aftermath of the events in Awakening and face off against a new, deadlier enemy hellbent on revenge.
Endtimes: Rose, Anna, and Julie face the fight of their lives in the conclusion of the Well-Behaved Women trilogy.
All three titles are available to read for free through Kindle Unlimited, and are available as audiobooks on Audible, narrated by Darci Cole (Target) and Heather Auden.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Awakening, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
August 20, 2024
Weekly Update – August 20, 2024
Plugging away at the second draft of the second Legacies book this week. I’m hoping to get it finished quickly so I can jump back to the eighth Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot book, which needed a cooling-down period. There were plot points that didn’t feel entirely solid in the first draft and I wanted to revisit them after giving myself a chance to forget whatever I’d written. I tend to catch problems better that way.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Third draft in editing stage.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Second draft underway.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
October 2024: Fantasy Author Panel, Tatnuck Bookseller, Westborough, MA, date and time TBAMISC.
I am having issues with my newsletter service provider, so if you want to keep tabs on my projects, your best bet is to simply follow this blog and have its posts delivered directly to your inbox.
August 15, 2024
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
Derek Strongarm and Felix Lightfoot are a pair of hard-luck adventurers for hire with an unfortunate knack for landing jobs that pay too little and threaten their lives too much. Erika Racewind is a hardened elven warrior who doesn’t like people, except maybe when she’s killing them. Winifred Graceword is a kindhearted elven priestess skilled in the healing arts. David is a young sorcerer on a path to discover who he really is — and whether that person has a last name, because going by just “David” is getting old fast.
Together these companions travel across the land of Asaches looking for adventure and the glory and riches that come with it. Mostly the riches, though, because you can’t buy food and beer with glory.
Who is this Series For?
Sword-and-sorcery fantasy fans looking for something a little lighter than most of the fare currently on the shelves. If you want heavy, dark, serious stories with lots of death, destruction, torture, rape, and political intrigue, go read something else because you won’t find it here.
What you will find is a fast-paced adventure filled with colorful characters, rip-roaring action, humor, and gentle jabs at the classic elements of fantasy fiction.
Which is not to say this series is a comedy or parody. There is still drama aplenty, but as a rule I don’t take things too seriously. You can read these books and not feel like you need a hug and a room full of puppies afterward.
Basically, if you like fare like The Legend of Vox Machina and Dungeons and Dragons – Honor Among Thieves, this is the series for you.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
Not really. The series is a hard PG-13/light R for violence, language, and sexual content. It is suitable for older teens, but not for the YA crowd.
What are the Books in the Series?
Scratching a Lich: Derek and Felix find themselves entangled in an urgent quest to slay a legendary lich before he can trigger a world-ending apocalypse – as insane undead sorcerers are wont to do. Together with Erika Racewind, bodyguard for a mysterious young wizard named David, and Winifred Graceword, they head out to discover lost cities, recover long lost magical artifacts, and slay great evils in order to fulfill curiously specific prophecies – as mismatched, ragtag groups of adventurers are wont to do.
Assassins Brawl: The companions are hired to safeguard a spoiled brat of a princess targeted for death by the assassin Ruined Isys, but as is often the case, there’s more going on here than meets the eye. Now all they have to do is determine who is behind the plot before they get caught in the crossfire.
Blades of Glory: Derek, Felix, and company are up for a job that seems a little too simple for a payday that seems a little too generous – but unfortunately, so are the famed adventurers of fortune known as the Noble Blades. Which of them will be the first to find a stolen ceremonial mask that is absolutely positively completely normal and not at all some lost artifact possessed of dark power?
Sworded Affairs: The company takes a job to dispose of a potentially dangerous magical artifact only to become snowbound in an isolated city besieged by flesh-hungry beasts — and under assault from within by a dark conspiracy.
Elfish Motives: Winifred Graceword is called home under mysterious circumstances, which lead to the company revisiting the lost even city of Wihend. But what do the four clans want with their long-abandoned ancestral home?
Twins and Losses: The company finally returns home to Ambride, only to become immediately embroiled in a scandal threatening to consume the Ambride Academy of Magic.
Draconian Measures: David is charged with a diplomatic mission that could unite Asaches’s fractured magical academies, but first he has to contend with a maniacal warden, political upheaval, and an enormous dragon terrorizing the coastal city of Atebo.
Untitled book eight: The companions find themselves in the middle of a power struggle that threatens to tear apart their adopted home of Ambride. Tentatively set for a late 2024/early 2025 release.
The Final Summons – An Anthology of the New England Speculative Writers: Featuring The Going Rate For Penance, a short story set in the Strongarm & Lightfoot world. Mercenaries Jessica and Samantha Summerland receive an assignment from their least favorite client, and one way or another, this will be their last job.
How Long Will the Series Run?
Unknown, but tentatively ten books.
Are They Available As Audiobooks?
The first four books, narrated by Heather S. Auden, are currently available on Audible.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Scratching a Lich, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
August 13, 2024
Weekly Update – August 13, 2024
The first draft of the second Legacies book is in the can! I finished it up on Sunday and I’m not working on draft two. This stands to be among my shorter novels — rough word count is 60K — but that’s okay; that’s what I needed to tell the story, so I’m not going to try to pad it out.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Third draft in editing stage.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Second draft underway.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
October 2024: Fantasy Author Panel, Tatnuck Bookseller, Westborough, MA, date and time TBAMISC.
I am having issues with my newsletter service provider, so if you want to keep tabs on my projects, your best bet is to simply follow this blog and have its posts delivered directly to your inbox.
August 8, 2024
Action Figures – A Series Overview
What’s it About?
The series focuses on Carrie Hauser, a 15-year-old girl who one summer experiences two life-changing events: her parents announce they’re getting divorced, and she gains superhuman abilities after encountering a dying extraterrestrial after he falls to Earth.
Her adventure begins after Carrie and her mother Christina move back to Christina’s childhood home town of Kingsport, Massachusetts, and Carrie meets four teens with powers of their own: superhero fanboy Matt Steiger, who owns a pair of magic gloves that can produce any object he can envision out of thin air, like a living cartoon character; Sara Danvers, a telepath and telekinetic who is afraid of her own abilities; the easygoing Stuart Lumley, who possesses superhuman strength; and Missy Hamill, an adorable motormouth with enhanced strength and reflexes.
The teens form a superhero team almost on a whim, but soon find themselves fighting for their lives against very real super-villains – much to the dismay of Kingsport’s hometown hero Concorde, leader of the super-team The Protectorate.
Who is this Series For?
Fans of superhero comics, TV shows, and movies in general, but particularly of titles featuring teen heroes such as Young Justice, Teen Titans, Young Avengers, and Champions.
The tone is generally lighter than a lot of YA books out there now. While there is drama and conflict, and some later stories deal with darker issues, I try to keep the series fun, upbeat, and optimistic.
Is it Suitable for Young Readers?
Action Figures is a PG-13 series that contains mild to moderate profanity, non-graphic violence, some mature themes, and later on in the series mild sexual content.
An added word about the violent content: while the violence is not graphic, the consequences are not downplayed. This isn’t sanitized Hollywood violence. People get hurt just as they would in real life and do not easily shrug off injuries, and in some cases the characters have to deal with the emotional trauma of their experiences.
What are the Books in the Series?
Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins – Carrie and her new friends in the Hero Squad (yes, they know their team name is awful) find themselves caught in the crossfire as the deadly mercenary Manticore comes to Kingsport, on the hunt for the rogue artificial intelligence known as Archimedes. Soon to be available through Audible!
Action Figures – Issue Two: Black Magic Women – The sorceress Black Betty threatens to raise hell – maybe literally – as she pursues her vendetta against the Protectorate’s resident paranormal expert Dr. Enigma.
Action Figures – Issue Three: Pasts Imperfect – Missy’s life is turned upside-down when she learns the truth about the source of her powers, and her connection to the bloodthirsty killer Buzzkill Joy.
Action Figures – Issue Four: Cruel Summer – Sara finds herself in the crosshairs of the mysterious hero killer the King of Pain, but to save herself, she might have to sacrifice everything she holds dear.
Action Figures – Issue Five: Team-Ups – The Hero Squad, still reeling from their devastating encounter with the King of Pain, get a little help picking up the pieces from their friends in the Protectorate and the Quantum Quintet.
Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play – The Squad finds itself outnumbered and under-powered after one of their members goes missing – and at the worst possible time as foes from their past reappear, more dangerous than ever and ready to exact revenge.
Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War – On Earth, Carrie Hauser is a hero, but on the far side of the galaxy, she’s just another soldier on the front lines of an interplanetary war against the terrorists in the Black End.
Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage – Carrie returns to Earth to reclaim her life, but life has moved on without her. Does she have a place with her team, her friends, or her family anymore?
Action Figures – Issue Nine: Hell Hath No Fury – Black Betty is back, and ready to unleash Hell — literally, but can the Hero Squad trust Dr. Enigma to have their backs? Or does she have her own dark agenda?
Action Figures – Issue Ten: Unintended Consequences – The Hero Squad learns that hard way that no good deed goes unpunished and the sins of their past have not been forgotten.
Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Zero Day – It’s the final showdown between the Hero Squad and ShadoWorks, in this, the epic conclusion to the Action Figures core series.
Action Figures: Legacies – In the wake of Zero Day, Aja Pershing, daughter of the murderous Manticore, finds herself on a collision course with the latest young woman to adopt the mantle of the vigilante known as the Silhouette. The first sequel to the core Action Figures series. Tentatively set for mid-2024 release.
The Action Figures Omnibus – Volume One: Stepping Up – Collects the first three books in the series (Secret Origins, Black Magic Women, Pasts Imperfect) and features a new foreward by Patrick Hodges and a new introduction by the author.
Beneath the Mask: A Superhero Romance Anthology – Features the superhero noir tale Like a Knife in the Heart featuring the Sapphire Silhouette. Set in the Action Figures universe. Currently out of print.
How Long Will the Series Run?
The core series has finished its run, ending with issue eleven. Two spinoff titles are currently in the early planning stages, with the first of those books, Legacies, set for a 2024 release.
Where Can I Learn More?
Read can read sample chapters from Secret Origins, short stories set in the Action Figures world, buy signed copies, connect with me through social media, and get regular updates at my website: innsmouthlook.com
August 6, 2024
Weekly Update – August 6, 2024
Thanks to a full weekend with nothing else on my schedule, I was able to make a huge dent in draft one of the second Legacies book, and I am closing in on the final action sequence. I might be able to wrap up this draft by the end of the month and that will be my goal, because I have a second draft of the eighth Strongarm & Lightfoot book I’d like to get back to.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Third draft in editing stage.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – First draft underway.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
October 2024: Fantasy Author Panel, Tatnuck Bookseller, Westborough, MA, date and time TBAMISC.
I am having issues with my newsletter service provider, so if you want to keep tabs on my projects, your best bet is to simply follow this blog and have its posts delivered directly to your inbox.
