Michael C. Bailey's Blog, page 3
June 19, 2025
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.
A Wanton Criminal: 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 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
June 17, 2025
Weekly Update – June 17, 2025
It’s another slow-ish week writing-wise. I’m trying to shake up my brain by putting aside my current WIPS and working on something completely new, plus I have a new round of stage combat classes coming up soon AND some fight director work for Studio Theatre Worcester, and sometimes channeling my creative energy elsewhere primes me for some more productive writing days. It’s the weird ebb and flow of creativity in action.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Edited, awaiting cover art. Set for release in 2025.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Third draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal: Edited, awaiting cover art. Tentatively set for late 2025 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Nothing currently scheduled.
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.
June 12, 2025
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. Set for 2025 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 2025 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
June 10, 2025
Weekly Update – June 10, 2025
From a writing perspective, it’s a slow week. Work is getting done, but nothing momentous has happened. From a writing perspective.
From a life perspective, my wife and I are currently enjoying our favorite new leisure activity, which is constantly checking the app that allows us to monitor our new solar panels. They went live last week, just in time for summer and all the glorious money-saving, environmentally friendly benefits it brings, and we’re obsessed with checking their progress on a frequent basis. Several times a day we’re pulling up the app and saying, “Ooh, check out how much electricity we generated!” or figuring out which of our household activities are causing spikes in consumption.
Yes, it is a very boring adult thing to do, but there it is.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Edited, awaiting cover art. Set for release in 2025.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Third draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal: Edited, awaiting cover art. Tentatively set for late 2025 release.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Nothing currently scheduled.
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.
June 5, 2025
Station Identification Time
FYI, I’m posting this today in place of the normal weekly post because A: nothing really happened this week, and B: I forgot to post in on Thursday. D’oh.
Who Am I?
I’m a writer originally from Falmouth, MA who now lives in Oxford, MA with my awesome wife Veronica, two dogs, and three cats who don’t like to let me 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.
When I’m not writing, I’m busy as a stage combat director and choreographer in the central Massachusetts area, and I teach stage combat at the Hanover Theatre & Conservatory for the Performing Arts.
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 sequel series, Legacies, is set to begin in 2025.
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 $7 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 ComicsThe Great Rock & Roll Time Trip Tour is a modern fantasy novella that explores one woman’s post-pandemic life — or lack thereof. Tina Tharpe, a classic rock radio DJ, discovers she can travel through time to witness the great rock concerts of the 20th Century. Getting to relive rock history is great — until her present begins to change in unexpected ways.
Art by Patricia Lupien.Well-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.
Kim Budnick joined the team in 2024 to edit The Great Rock & Roll Time Trip Tour.
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?
June 3, 2025
Weekly Update – June 3, 2025
As I plug away on various new projects, I’m gratified to see a resurgence of interest in the original Action Figures series, so I thought this would be a good time to remind those who have already read the entire series there is a sequel/spinoff series coming soon called Legacies.
I’m just waiting on cover art at this point, but to whet your appetite for the new book, here’s your first sample — the first two complete chapters (click the link below to view the PDF)! Spoiler warning: this series takes place immediately after the events of the final book in the core series, Action Figures – Issue Eleven: Zero Day, so if you haven’t finished the series yet, don’t read this! And hurry up and finish the series so you can read it!
Legacies 1 SampleWRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Edited, awaiting cover art. Set for release in 2025.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Third draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal: Edited, awaiting cover art.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Nothing currently scheduled.
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.
May 29, 2025
The Best of the Rest
If you enjoy Michael’s full-length novels, check out these anthologies, collections, and side-projects featuring his work. Available on Amazon, and signed print editions may be purchased directly from the author.
Beneath the Mask – A Superhero Romance Anthology features ten tantalizing tales of masked heroes saving the day and falling in love.
From sweet saviors to steamy angelic warriors, reluctant heroes to grumpy playboys, this anthology has something for everyone who’s ever fantasized about being a hero…or falling for one.
Do you dare to peek behind the mask and live out your sweetest, darkest, steamiest fantasies?
Each story includes superheroes and swoon-worthy happily-ever-afters!
Sorry, readers, this book is out of print, but my short story, Like a Knife in the Heart, will be reprinted in the upcoming Action Figures – Legacies.
Cheap Thrills Digest is a bargain-priced short story collection featuring tales from Action Figures and The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot, the original horror short Lost Souls, and the essay Critiquing Critiques – How to Leave a Review.
Freedom Winds is a mini-comic written by me, illustrated by Luke Beatrice, and distributed by Underdog Comics and artist Luke Beatrice. The comic follows the adventures of a crew of renegade pirate women fighting the Triangle Trade.
You can go read it on Underdog Comics’ Facebook page now, as well as on Tapas and Tumblr. Please support this small press by liking the comic and sharing the link!
Copyright 2018 Tessa Beatrice/Underdog ComicsThe Final Summons is the first anthology from the New England Speculative Writers. This collection of sci-fi and fantasy stories includes The Going Rate for Penance by me, a fantasy short set in the world of The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot. Available in hardcover, paperback, and for the Kindle.
The Great Rock & Roll Time Trip Tour, a modern fantasy novella, follows Tina Tharpe as she time travels to the great rock shows of the past to avoid worrying about her uncertain future as a DJ at WWMA-FM.
Art by Patricia Lupien.
May 27, 2025
Weekly Update – May 27, 2025
First off, I’ll say that three-day weekends are an excellent practical example of how awesome a four-day work week would be and we should be pushing every American business to adopt it.
I spent two-thirds of mine working on various writing projects, the remainder was all about spending quiet time with my wife and avoiding driving anywhere. The major highways in my area were already wildly backed up on Thursday afternoon as people escaped work early to give themselves a four-day weekend. Which would be even better than a three-day weekend.
What I’m really saying is, let’s adopt Universal Basic Income so creatives like myself can stop going to day jobs we don’t like and just stay home to make art. That would mean more books for you good people to read, which is a good thing, right?
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Edited, awaiting cover art. Set for release in 2025.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Third draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal: Edited, awaiting cover art.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Nothing currently scheduled.
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.
May 25, 2025
Weekly Update – May 25, 2025
Somehow, the WordPress scheduler misfired, so this didn’t post last week like it should, so here it is now, a nice story about something that happened last weekend.
If you’re a Gen-Xer or older from the Massachusetts area, there’s a good chance you know of the band The Fools. They broke in the Boston rock radio market back in 1979 when they recorded a parody of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” called “Psycho Chicken, which goes a little something like this:
For a period in the Eighties, they were a national act, touring with and opening for several big names, up to and including Van Halen. They’re still around, playing across New England and putting on a hell of a fun show.
The frontman, Mike Girard, has a side project called Mike Girard’s Big Swinging Thing, which does big band-style covers of classic rock tunes. I finally got to see that group perform Saturday night, and again, it was a great show.
If you’ve read The Great Rock & Roll Time Trip Tour, and I hope you have, you may have noticed that The Fools are name-dropped a few times in the story, and Mike Girard is thanked directly in the acknowledgements as an inspiration for the novella. That’s due my enjoyment of his own books: Psycho Chicken and Other Foolish Tales, a history of The Fools’ career; and A Fool in Time, a fictionalized account of Mike’s time travel adventures.
Following a random chat with Mike online some time ago, he kindly sent me a signed copy of A Fool in Time. After Time Trip Tour dropped, I returned the gesture. At Saturday’s show, I grabbed a copy of his latest book, A Fool’s Errand, and not-so-casually mentioned I was the author of Time Trip Tour. He praised the book quite a bit and told me he very much enjoyed the story — and appreciated my shout-outs to him and the band.
This was his inscription in A Fool’s Errand, and yes, this entire post is basically me bragging about getting kind words from a musician I’ve been a fan of pretty much my entire life, but nowadays, anything that generates joy is worth celebrating, so dammit, I’m celebrating.
WRITING PROJECTS
Action Figures – Legacies: Edited, awaiting cover art. Set for release in 2025.
Action Figures – Untitled sequel to Legacies – Third draft completed.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal: Edited, awaiting cover art.
The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.
APPEARANCES & EVENTS
Nothing currently scheduled.
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.
May 22, 2025
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
