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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 an 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

Weekly Update – May 13, 2025

This week’s chat is mostly for aspiring authors, so if that’s not you, this might not be of interest. But hey, maybe it will be.

I noted last week that I was working on a final version of the next Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot book. I started just fixing typos and whatnot, the usual, but I ended up rewriting portions of it because my editor, Julie, told me one of the story elements felt too dark for the series. She reminded me that the series was supposed to be more escapist fare than grimdark death-torture-rape-brutality fantasy, which I personally don’t care for. Its proliferation several years ago, back when Game of Thrones was still big on HBO and everyone was mimicking its often bleak tone, was the direct inspiration for Strongarm & Lightfoot.

But, somehow, A Wanton Criminal ended up creeping into that territory. Not by design, I simply wasn’t aware that a particular storyline was potentially triggering to readers. Julie, being an excellent editor, pointed it out and suggested toning it down. Which I did, because she was right.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, if you’re an aspiring author, one of the best investments you can make is hiring a solid editor to not just fix your mistakes in terms of the text, but point out potential problems in the story you’re not necessarily going to catch. Self-editing is cheaper, to be sure, but that’s a clear-cut case of, “you get what you pay for.”

A good beta-reading team might serve that same function, yes, but they’re no substitute for a qualified editor. They’re worth the money and then some.

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.

Weekly Update – May13, 2025

This week’s chat is mostly for aspiring authors, so if that’s not you, this might not be of interest. But hey, maybe it will be.

I noted last week that I was working on a final version of the next Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot book. I started just fixing typos and whatnot, the usual, but I ended up rewriting portions of it because my editor, Julie, told me one of the story elements felt too dark for the series. She reminded me that the series was supposed to be more escapist fare than grimdark death-torture-rape-brutality fantasy, which I personally don’t care for. Its proliferation several years ago, back when Game of Thrones was still big on HBO and everyone was mimicking its often bleak tone, was the direct inspiration for Strongarm & Lightfoot.

But, somehow, A Wanton Criminal ended up creeping into that territory. Not by design, I simply wasn’t aware that a particular storyline was potentially triggering to readers. Julie, being an excellent editor, pointed it out and suggested toning it down. Which I did, because she was right.

Anyway, the moral of the story is, if you’re an aspiring author, one of the best investments you can make is hiring a solid editor to not just fix your mistakes in terms of the text, but point out potential problems in the story you’re not necessarily going to catch. Self-editing is cheaper, to be sure, but that’s a clear-cut case of, “you get what you pay for.”

A good beta-reading team might serve that same function, yes, but they’re no substitute for a qualified editor. They’re worth the money and then some.

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.

Weekly Update – May 6, 2025

Some appreciable progress to report this week. I spent Sunday working on the final version of The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal and formatting, so that book is as done as it can get on my end, so now I just need cover art.

And I’m going to use that as a segue to rant a little bit about a subject I’ve piped up about numerous times, which is the use of generative AI to create book cover art and promo images. I’ve seen with increasing frequency painfully obvious examples of AI “art” showing up in one of my regular newsletters promoting books on sale (I won’t name it because I’m not interested in giving them flack), and every time it makes my blood boil. I mean, look at these wretched things.

The mangled hands. The garish colors. The absence of composition. The sheer banality of the end result. lacking in personality and soul. THE FACT THAT GENERATIVE AI IS BUILT ON ART THEFT SO ALL THESE IMAGES WERE THE RESULT OF HUMAN ARTISTS HAVING THEIR WORK ILLEGALLY APPROPRIATED.

I’ve heard all the excuses for why independent authors resort to AI, and the main one is almost always, “I don’t have the money to pay a real artist.”

Yeah, well, you know who else doesn’t have money? Real artists you’re not hiring to do your cover art.

If you’re an indie artist and you’re using AI for anything, you’re screwing over fellow creatives, full stop — and if you don’t support them, they won’t support you, and believe me, the community is quick to point out and dump bad actors. Don’t think that’s a hurdle you can easily overcome. Mutual support is how a lot of small writers get noticed. A lack of support — or an active effort to out you as complicit in art theft — will get you noticed, but not in a good way.

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.

Action Oscars – The Matrix

Hi again. I’ve been pondering this one for a while, for reasons that will become clear soon enough. Choose your pill and welcome to…

The Matrix (1999)

Stunt Coordinator: , Martial Arts Choreographer: .

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say The Matrix, the brainchild of writer/directors and Wachowski, was the most influential movie of the late 20th Century in terms of its impact on action sequences. There were countless films released in its wake that aped the slo-mo “bullet time” aesthetic, almost never as impressively as the Wachowskis pulled it off — perhaps because it was something audiences had never seen before, perhaps because the copycats didn’t fully understand what they were doing or why. They say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” but most people don’t know the rest of the quote: “…that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”

Anyway…

The Matrix was also (in my opinion) a tipping point for practical effects and CGI in the realm of stunt work. The camera tricks, wire work, and CGI did not replace or overwhelm the stunt performances, but enhanced them — which is perhaps why the flood of imitators didn’t quite hit the mark; they were focused so much on the style, they neglected the substance.

That substance comes courtesy of Glen Boswell and Clint Cadinha, working harmoniously with the Wachowskis and cinematographer — one of the all-time greats — to create truly iconic sequences that were stylish as hell but narratively clear and clean, none more so than what many consider to be the centerpiece of the film…

The Moneymaker

The film’s anime influences are most prominent in The Matrix‘s lobby shootout.

The scene is a violent ballet, graceful and brutal at once, and as I remarked earlier, it’s grounded in practical effects; those aren’t CGI characters fighting like a pair of gymnasts who spent half their time under the cruel tutelage of Pai-Mei (kudos if you get that reference), but and defying gravity (and occasionally the laws of physics) with some strategic wire work. It wasn’t easy work, either, as evidenced by the fact Moss tweaked her ankle during rehearsals an hour before shooting the scene. She went on to execute the off-the-wall cartwheel perfectly.

The sequels had their share of practical stunts but leaned harder into the CGI, which for my money robbed them of their awe factor somewhat, but the original remains a perfect balance of old-school and new-school moviemaking magic. If there’s a downside to The Matrix‘s impact on filmmaking, it’s that it heralded Hollywood’s increasing reliance on CGI over practical filmmaking. including stunt work. It certainly isn’t a bad thing to reduce the risk to human life, not at all, but there’s a unique artistry to stunt work that’s getting lost amidst the technological advances.

That seems an appropriate lament when discussing The Matrix.

Other nominees: The Mummy, The World Is Not Enough, The 13th Warrior.

Weekly Update – April 29, 2025

Sure, this might look like one of those annoying “hey, slow week, not much to say” posts, but I’m going to mention an ongoing side project that might have slid past you, and it’s happening right here on this blog.

It’s called “Action Oscars,” and it was inspired, first, by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’ decision to finally acknowledge stunt design — a long-overlooked category, IMHO. The full story of how that morphed into Action Oscars is here, along with the first retconned recipient of the award, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I’ve since written pieces on Mad Max: Fury Road and Ben-Hur, and I’ll have others coming from time to time. I’m open to suggestions from readers, so feel free to drop a comment with a movie you think would have won the award in past years.

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: Editing underway.

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.

Action Oscars – Ben-Hur

Welcome back! This week I’m looking at an older piece of cinema, long considered one of the all-time greats, in part because of one of the most iconic sequences to ever grace the screen.

Ben-Hur (1959)

It’s worth noting that no one is formally credited as stunt coordinator on this movie, despite boasting a significant stunt performer team, but veteran stuntman is widely acknowledged as the man who put together the chariot race sequence.

I hadn’t watched the movie since I first saw it as a kid on my Boston-area UHF station (he said before crumbling into a pile of dust and bone fragments), but it was available on Tubi, so I watched it on Easter Sunday — which is appropriate because the station in question often ran it on Easter since the Crucifixion figures into the movie’s climax. Ben-Hur is, curiously, is pitched in an opening title card as “a tale of the Christ,” but Jesus is barely in the film, we never see his face, and he never speaks. He’s more a MacGuffin than a character, and certainly not the main character.

No, that would be Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hur (), who is betrayed by his former best friend Messala (), an ambitious Roman who’s all about subjugating the Jewish people in the emperor’s name. He sentences Ben-Hur to a life of slavery over a crime he didn’t commit, and while serving as an oarsman on a Roman warship, Ben-Hur saves the life of a high-ranking Roman official, Quintus Arrius (). Arrius adopts Ben-Hur out of gratitude, and during his time in Rome, Ben-Hur becomes an ace charioteer. This sets up the sequence that earns this movie the Oscar for Best Stunt Design.

The Moneymaker

Ben-Hur is, overall, not a stunt-heavy film. There are only two major action set pieces, the first being an impressive sea battle (in which a stuntman takes a flaming torch to the face. YOWCH). The second is the great chariot race pitting Ben-Hur against Messala, which is one of the most thrilling, pulse-pounding scenes you’ll ever witness.

The race itself takes place on a physical set occupying 18 acres of land, and runs in real time: nine laps in nine minutes, and that nine minutes took — depending on the source you refer to — five months to nearly a full year to plan and execute; filming alone took up five weeks spread over three months. That included training Heston and Boyd to handle their own chariots; the actors are doing their own stuntwork in the medium and close-up shots. Heston reportedly was a quick study, and he practiced three hours a day every day.

Despite Hollywood legends to the contrary, none of the horses were injured and none of the stuntmen were killed. The most serious injury was suffered by Canutt’s son , Heston’s double for the scene. That moment near the end of the race when Ben-Hur is shot out of the chariot resulted from Joe Canutt failing to hook himself into his safety harness. He wacked his chin pretty hard and legitimately almost got flung out of the chariot. The shot was almost removed from the final film as “unusable,” but a pick-up shot of Heston climbing back into the chariot was added, saving the scene and making it one of the most harrowing moments of an already nerve-wracking sequence.

The chariot race also involved a number of technical challenges for the camera crew, which filmed the close-ups from a car running ahead of the chariots. They learned quickly that the horses were faster than the car on the straightaways. The 70mm lenses had a sweet spot of 50 feet, which meant the cameras could only capture a few seconds of footage before the horses caught up and the cameras lost focus. In the end, for every 263 feet of film shot for the scene, the production ended up with one foot of usable footage — one of the highest ratios of any motion picture ever.

Ben-Hur ended up taking home eleven Oscars, including Best Picture, and it for sure would have won Best Stunt Design if the award had existed back then — and deservedly so.

Other nominees: North By Northwest, Rio Bravo, Pork Chop Hill.

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

Weekly Update – April 22, 2025

Things are rolling once again after a bit of downtime for myself and my team. Tricia has my concept notes for the cover of Action Figures – Legacies, and Julie has the manuscript for The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal for editing, so at the very least I’ll have the first Action Figures sequel/spinoff novel for you later this year.

In the meantime, I’m back to work on the ninth Strongarm & Lightfoot book, which is a story I’ve had in mind from the start of the series. I’ll finally be giving you the full story on Derek’s history and introducing readers to the rest of his family. Plus, there will be your traditional looming threat, some dark secrets, and adorable goats harassing Erika (it’ll make sense in context).

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: Editing underway.

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.

Action Oscars – Mad Max: Fury Road

First, thanks to everyone who checked out the first installation in this series, spotlighting Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy the next entry, featuring ‘s action epic…

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Stunt Coordinators: , , , , ; Supervising Stunt Coordinator: ; Fight Coordinator: ; Principal Fight Choreographer:

If you’re thinking that the above list is kind of long for a production, you’re right, but there’s a reason for that: Max Mad: Fury Road is basically a two-hour chase scene featuring some of the most insane action you’ve ever seen on the screen. Norris led the stunt team, which included more than 150 stunt performers and drivers, and about as many specially built vehicles tearing through locations in Namibia and Australia.

The sequences in Fury Road are the very definition of controlled chaos. At any given moment, there are multiple moving vehicles on-screen that have to hit their marks with precision and perfect timing so Miller, working in concert with cinematographer , could capture it all — and later pass it on to editor so she could stitch it together into a coherent narrative. The end product is a glorious example of a filmmaking team working in concert to create real movie magic — and with bare minimum CGI (mostly for removing visible safety gear).

Speaking of safety, it’s worth noting that none of the stunt performers were seriously injured during the production, which seems unbelievable considering the utter mayhem of any given moment in the film — perhaps most notably…

The Moneymaker

In the third act, we’re introduced to “the pole cats” — members of the People Eater’s crew who attack Furiosa’s () war rig atop bobbing counterbalanced poles. It’s tough to describe in a way that does the sequence justice, so just watch it and see for yourselves.

Even though Fury Road is one of the most action-packed movies around, Miller knows when to slow everything down and give the audience some time to breathe and regroup. It’s masterful storytelling in every moment, at every level — and trust me, the movie gets even better on re-watches. I experienced a bit of sensory overload on my first viewing, there was so much going on, but a second viewing allowed me to really take it all in and appreciate the sheer artistry of Miller’s creation.

As sheer visceral thrills go, Mad Max: Fury Road can’t be beat, but it’s also a stunning technical achievement worthy of Oscar recognition.

Other nominees: Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, Sicario, San Andreas, Terminator Genysis.