Michael C. Bailey's Blog, page 20
September 28, 2023
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
September 25, 2023
Weekly Update – September 26, 2023
A little bit of shop talk this week…
On Sunday, I significantly rewrote the current incomplete first draft of the eighth Strongarm & Lightfoot book, something I rarely do. I normally write very tight first drafts. Revisions for me typically involve a lot of ironing out the wrinkles, so to speak. I fix continuity errors, beef up the characterizations, trim a LOT of fat in the prose (I tend to overwrite in my first drafts), punch any thematic content, etc. I might delete entire paragraphs of text for the sake of streamlining, but rarely do I overhaul things to a major degree.
This time was one of the exceptions.
Quick background: I began writing my #fantasy series, The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot, as a response to the rise of #grimdark fantasy in the wake of Game of Thrones’ success on HBO. It seemed that everything coming out was now super dark. Stories were full, I dare say bloated, with horrible deaths, rape and torture, downbeat endings, humorless characters…it was too heavy for my liking. I wanted fun fantasy back — stories with drama and stakes, yes, but stories that were entertaining and not dreary death marches.
In writing the current book, I had a moment that was intended to be dramatic and shocking, a catalytic event that propelled the rest of the story, but I had an epiphany moment last week and realized I’d gone too far. I’d gone grimdark-level dramatic. I needed to walk it back, or I was seriously betraying the overall tone of the series, and more importantly, my promise to myself and readers to give them stories that were, in the end, optimistic if not necessarily upbeat. I never wanted things to come off as mean-spirited or nihilistic.
But there it was, a moment that was harsh, brutal, even cruel.
It needed to go.
The challenge was to remove that moment and adjust a sizable chunk of the story that followed to keep the continuity straight. That involved a LOT of rewriting. But that’s okay. I’d much rather endure the headache of major rewrites now than the heartache of knowing I hadn’t given readers the story they expected and deserved.
Authors have an implicit pact with readers to do right by them. What’s “right” varies wildly depending on the circumstances, of course, but the pact nevertheless exists. My pact with this series is to never cross certain lines, tonally speaking. I break that pact at my peril and risk losing those dedicated folks who’ve stuck with the series so far.
So I said, let’s not do that.
The fixes have been made, and I’ve opened up the rest of the story for possibilities that didn’t exist under my original choice. That, and my gut, tell me I made the right call.
BTW, this essay originally appeared as a thread on Bluesky. You should join us there.
WRITING PROJECTS
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Draconian Measures: Second draft complete.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft underway
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Sunday, September 17, Lebanon Lions Club County Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT. Books will be available at significant discounts.MISC.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
September 21, 2023
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. Tentatively set for a late 2023 release.
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 2024 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
September 19, 2023
Weekly Update – September 19, 2023
I’m happy to report that my day at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire was very successful. I moved more books in six hours there than I did at four days of Arisia, which is both a positive statement on the faire and a harshly critical statement on Arisia. I also got to see a few familiar faces from back when I did the show as a performer and fight director, and my assistant for the day, Tennessee the Mystery Mutt, made a bunch of new friends.
WRITING PROJECTS
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Draconian Measures: Second draft complete.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft underway
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Sunday, September 17, Lebanon Lions Club County Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT. Books will be available at significant discounts.MISC.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
September 14, 2023
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.
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, tentatively titled 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 12, 2023
Weekly Update – September 12, 2023
This week’s big reminder: I’ll be at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire this coming Sunday, loaded up with books that will be available at deep discount prices. How deep? How does FIVE DOLLARS sound? You could, for example, buy the entire Well-Behaved Women trilogy for $15, which is about what you’d pay for any single book individually. You could get all the Strongarm & Lightfoot books published to date for $30, a savings of more than $50 over the cover price. So stop by, say hello, and stock up for the holidays on booky goodness!
WRITING PROJECTS
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Draconian Measures: Second draft complete.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft underway
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Sunday, September 17, Lebanon Lions Club County Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT. Books will be available at significant discounts.MISC.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
September 7, 2023
Station Identification Time
Who Am I?
I’m a writer originally from Falmouth, MA who now lives in Oxford, MA with my awesome wife Veronica and four cats who don’t like to let us sleep in.
After 15 years with the Falmouth Enterprise, where I worked as a general and political reporter, blogger, and editor, I left the news industry to focus on my creative writing.
In addition to my novels (more on that in a minute) I’m a freelance writer, and I’ve produced scripts for Pastimes Entertainment of Revere, MA and the Connecticut Renaissance Faire.
What Do I Write?
Action Figures is a YA superhero adventure series featuring a team of young superhumans who set out to make a name for themselves in the superhero world and quickly find themselves in over their heads. Fun, full of humor and action, populated with likable characters (including some of the villains), and suitable for teen readers and adults who still love superheroes. Oh, and no love triangles. Ever. The first book, Secret Origins, and the last book in the core series, Zero Day, both reached the #1 spot on two Amazon best-seller lists, Hell Hath No Fury, reached #1 on one Amazon best-seller list.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot is my response to all the overly serious fantasy novels out there that have forgotten how to have fun. The series follows two hard-luck adventurers for hire with a knack for biting off more than they can chew and their friends as they explore ancient ruins, fight deadly monsters, go on epic prophecy-driven quests for artifacts of great power hidden in highly inconvenient locations, and cross a lot of rickety rope bridges along the way. The first book, Scratching a Lich, received a gold medal for fantasy fiction from BellaOnline, a resource for women in writing, which also recognizes feminist writers and their work. The first five books are available in audiobook format.
Beneath the Mask is an anthology of superhero romance stories. The collection, scheduled for a February 14, 2021 release, features ten stories, including my story Like a Knife in the Heart, starring a new character, the Sapphire Silhouette. Currently out of print.
Cheap Thrills Digest is a short story collection featuring introductions to my two series, plus an original novelette-length horror story, Lost Souls, which is exclusive to CTD. If you’re curious about my writing, you can grab this for just $6 in print or 99 cents in e-book format.
The Final Summons is the first anthology from the New England Speculative Writers. The collection features 14 fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories by NESW members, including my story The Going Rate for Penance, which is set in the world of Strongarm & Lightfoot.
Freedom Winds is a mini-comic I wrote for Underdog Comics, and you can read it for free at any time here, here, or here.
Copyright 2018 Tessa Beatrice/Underdog ComicsWell-Behaved Women is an urban fantasy trilogy for feminist audiences. After returning to work following a near-fatal shooting, Sergeant Rose Booker encounters a woman claiming to be the reincarnation of Julie d’Aubigny, the infamous 17th Century French swordswoman. Things only get stranger from there as Rose and Julie cross paths with a crime boss with a knack for exacting bloody revenge on his enemies. This is more serious and mature than my other projects — not recommended for young readers. Book one, Awakening, is now available. Book two, Transition, was released in April 2019, and book three, Endtimes, was released August 2019. The entire trilogy is available in audiobook format.
Meet the Innsmouth Look Publishing Team
Heather Auden is a professional actor and audiobook narrator. She narrates The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot series and did the second and third books of the Well-Behaved Women trilogy. You can find her other audiobook work on Audible.
Bethany Boles is a professional actor, a former PA for the Jim Henson Company, and is active in the children’s television production industry in California. She narrates the Action Figures series.
Darci Cole is an author and narrator, who narrated the first book in the Well-Behaved Women trilogy. You can find her other audiobook work on Audible, and buy her debut novel, Target, on Amazon.
Patricia Lupien is a graphic artists and designer who is responsible for the covers that grace all books produced by Innsmouth Look Publishing. Visit the Art Store page to buy her art on a variety of products.
Julie Tremblay began as a beta reader for Innsmouth Look Publishing before taking over as regular editor on all the company’s novels.
What Will I See Here?
I post weekly updates that include progress reports on various projects, cover art reveals, new release announcements, a schedule of appearances and book-signings, the occasion essay on writing, and whatever random bits and pieces capture my attention.
Where Can You Find Me Online?
September 5, 2023
Weekly Update – September 5, 2023
Well, summer is more or less officially over, and I don’t know about you, but it was kind of a bust for me, what with the steady rains killing weekend plans left and right. On the up side, I got a fair bit of writing done, so there’s that. Ironically, the next several weekends are going to be relatively writing time-free as I start up teaching stage combat at the Hanover Conservatory again through November.
On another note, for those who follow me on Twitter, now known as (eyeroll) X, I’ll be winding down my account there over the next several days. Elon Musk has been enabling its demise since he took over with a rapid-fire series of profoundly stupid decisions, and last week alone, he announced the platform would be collecting personal user data it previously didn’t, would likely be using user content to train AI, and amplified a major white supremacists group. Bullshit Mountain has finally gotten too high for my liking, so I’ll be signing off and deleting my account.
I’m not happy about this. Like a lot of users, it took me a long time to build a decent following, and I’ve even connected with a few industry pros like Gail Simone (!!!), so leaving the platform is going to be painful. The thought of rebuilding elsewhere is intimidating and depressing, but Twitter/X is circling the bowl and I’m not about to go down with it.
So far Bluesky has proven the best of the Twitter replacements for me, in part because there’s a growing writer/artist community there, and a lot of people seem to be taking lessons away from Twitter and ruthlessly blocking the trolls to make their TLs clean, happy, safe spaces. I’m definitely following suit and have already blocked several right-wing nutters and AI stans.
If you’re on Bluesky, or among those waiting for an invite code to get on, you can find me there at @mbaileywriter.bsky.social
WRITING PROJECTS
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Draconian Measures: Second draft complete.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft underway
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Sunday, September 17, Lebanon Lions Club County Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT. Books will be available at significant discounts.MISC.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
August 31, 2023
Superhero Book Free Giveaway! Really!
It’s time for another big superhero fiction group cross-promotion! You can get all the titles listed above — including, of course, Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins — for free today!
But as a bonus, Action Figures will continue to be free through September 4, so if for some reason you still haven’t check out my series, now is a great time to start — and hey, you don’t have to wait for the series to wrap, because it’s already finished! No worrying whether I’m going to actually finish it! Start reading now and you’ll the rest of the 11-book saga waiting for you.
August 29, 2023
Weekly Update – August 29, 2023
First, in a bit of completely frivolous news, I finally added to my office, The Writer’s Block, an accessory I’d wanted since I planned the renovation: an arcade game cabinet. I picked the Midway Games collection from Arcade 1Up because it had a bunch of games I liked back in the day, such as Joust and Gauntlet, but also several Mortal Kombat games my wife — seen here before kicking my ass at said MK games — enjoys.
Again, I acknowledge it’s an indulgence, but I had this big blank wall that would otherwise become more shelving (practical, but boring), plus it was on sale at a significant discount — on tax-free weekend, no less.
And now, the writing stuff. I’ve received back all my beta reader notes on the next Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot book, Draconian Measures, but I’m going to let that one cool a bit before going in for the next draft and focus on draft one of book eight, which is about a third of the way finished.
WRITING PROJECTS
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Draconian Measures: Second draft complete.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book eight: First draft underway
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Sunday, September 17, Lebanon Lions Club County Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT. Books will be available at significant discounts.MISC.
If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.
