My Author Site Has Moved!

I created a more professional site at http://davidjnix.com. I will leave this one up for a while for historical reasons. Feel free to cruise the new site!

Well Done: The Third and Final "Well" Installment

After a summer hiatus, I began work on the third and final installment of "The Well" series. "Started" is perhaps the wrong word, though. I actually wrote the final chapter of the series shortly after finishing the first installment, and everything else has been leading toward that specific conclusion.

As you may have guessed by the plot of "The Well", I enjoy a good twist. I may have saved the best for last, but that is for others to judge, not me. If all goes according to schedule, I should release the last installment around the end of October. My regards to Arthur C. Clarke, Agatha Christie, and others who raise the literary twist to an art form. You blaze a trail that few can follow but that many may aspire to!

The Well 2: Falling - Now Available on Amazon

After escaping the Well, the underground bunker that has sheltered his people for fifteen generations from the horrors of Surface, Singer and his three cohorts find themselves falling from the frying pan and into the fire! The world outside the Well could not be more hostile – a place of barren desolation and airless death. However, the blue and white orb hanging in a black sky beckons them toward the true path to Surface.

The escapees promptly run afoul of others that occupy the desolation, and land in confinement with death or return to the Well as the only viable options. Faced with the puzzle of finding a third option – one that takes him to Surface – Singer works to keep his small crew alive long enough to convince his captors to spare them. When the moment of epiphany occurs, Singer’s existence becomes more endangered still, for it requires a return to the Well – which has descended into madness. Even success of his plan may not save his life, let alone take him to mythical Surface. And even a journey to Surface to face the menacing mystery of The Darkness may result in certain death!

Sequel to "The Well" Is Nearly Done

My recent novella, The Well, works as a standalone story given the little slap-your-face twist at the end. Some of my favorite sci-fi short-story writers employed this strategy on a regular basis: give a story a twist ending that does not really settle the story but does make you think. This approach can annoy, I know. But it also provides a jumping off point for personal imagination. Thank you, Arthur C. Clarke, Gordon R. Dickson, et. al.

That said, The Well begs for more telling, and I intended to expand the story from the beginning. The second as yet untitled novella is nearly done, pending final copy edits and a cover. Oh, yeah - and a title. There is always the pesky nuisance of thinking of an appropriate title, which is often more difficult than it should be.

Anyway, the sequel is coming, and a third installment will wrap up the story. All is Well. Stay. Tuned.

The Well - Now Available on Amazon

Fifteen generations before, the horror of Surface chased Singer’s desperate ancestors into the vast underground bunker of the Well. In a moment of darkest despair, Singer unsuccessfully attempts to breach the long-obstructed hatch that leads outside – to certain death, as everyone knows! In punishment, he is cast down from the most privileged level of Seven into the hell of the Well’s lowest layer – the damp, crowded, and stinking Pit. Despite the bleak turn of events, Singer’s harsh new surroundings begin opening his eyes to the truth of the Well and of humanity, his revelations helped along by the wise old Tech and his too-forward, too-unconventional, too-maddening daughter.

Resigned to his prison far from Seven, Singer’s hope rekindles with the discovery of a means to climb the central shaft that leads back to Seven – and to the outer hatch. He joins uneasily with the Tech’s daughter in a lunatic plan to ascend the shaft and escape the Well. But can they dare hope to succeed? And if so, will they find a livable world outside on Surface? Or will the terror that propelled their ancestors underground have the final laugh? These questions seem unanswerable, for no resident of the Well is equipped to imagine what lies above … especially not Singer!

Ugly Girl: Now Available on Amazon and Createspace

After an experiment with a different title and cover, I re-published Ugly Girl with the original cover art created for me by Mark Bulahao. Chalk it up to an exercise of over-thinking marketing. The original title of "Ugly Girl" perfectly captures the tone of the novel, so now it returns!

Also, I chose to market the novel for 99 cents - a departure from my $2.99 strategy with Shore of Monsters. There is much debate about the pricing of a novel, and the belief that 99 cent pricing places a novel into a category of "buyer beware" or "it stinks". There is a certain truth to that logic. The majority of 99 cent novels suffer significantly when compared to professionally published novels in many areas: cheesy covers, poor writing, poor story flow, significant editing mistakes, and general unprofessional presentation all around.

However. However. However.

I notice that very well-written, well-edited, well-packaged stories with compelling plot flow tend to sell, and some sell incredibly well. I would like to think that my novel fits those criteria, but I am the least objective consumer at this point. That said, no guts, no glory. My interest is in having as many readers of the novel as possible, whether the copy be free or 99 cents. Volume readership!

New Story: The Climb

After a hiatus from writing to re-consider my hobby, I started again with what I love: post-apocalyptic fiction. "The Climb" takes place in a world that should be readily recognizable as post-apocalyptic or at least dystopian. I don't believe the story will reach novel length, so I plan to offer it for 99 cents as an e-book. So fans of the post-apocalypse - here is the first page. See what you think!

The Climb

In a moment of simple clarity, Singer left behind the recently deceased bodies of his wife and newborn son and set out across the fields toward the walls of the world. A primeval desire to move, to escape the despair, drove him mechanically forward. And “out” seemed the best place to go, despite the inevitable horror crouching there. The sleeping community of Seven failed to notice his run, each person caught as they were in a personal clash of dreams, nightmares, and the oblivion of slumber.

Within minutes, the mangled barricade obstructing the hatchworks emerged from the opaque gloom of nighttime. Singer hesitated briefly, scanning the arc of the stony wall for a patrol. No movement stirred the edges of the world.

“Yoshida.” Singer mumbled the name of his old friend, because tonight was his turn in the rotation. More than likely, the man was on the other side of the great circle of Seven, studying his letters under the dim lamp that continuously illuminated the stairwell entrance. Or stealing a forbidden moment with someone else’s wife. Regardless, the barricade stood unwatched.

A final glance across the fields, and Singer slipped into the twisted metal of the barricade. Clambering over, under, and through often-jagged obstructions, the man traced the path he and Yoshida had discovered as boys still young enough to slip away without notice or consequences. His labored breathing marked time – perhaps a few minutes – before he slipped beneath a rusting beam to emerge into a clearing. The hatchworks stood before him, still untouched for many lifetimes. Even he had never dared reach out his hand. Until now.