Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

Greystone Saga Volume One

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This is something I always wanted to put together. When I thought about the publishing schedule for Greystone I knew there was an opportunity to fit in a special box set of the previous releases in preparation of the next installment in the series.

With The Medusa Coin set to hit shelves in September now is the time to catch up on the series with The Greystone Saga Volume One.

Volume One contains both Signs of Portents and Tales from Portents for your reading pleasure. I also contains a sneak peek at the upcoming release, The Medusa Coin.

The downside.

This is a digital only release. I toyed with the idea of a physical copy but the cost was too extravagant for the casual reader. This is meant to be a gateway into the series at a lower price point, to allow readers an easy entry to prepare themselves for the release of book three in September.

The cover.

greystone saga volume oneI can’t get enough of the cover. Kit Foster Designs does a damn fine job making me look way better than I have any right to be. I absolutely love new cover day.

Thanks are also due my lovely wife, who assisted me greatly with choosing this image. I spend way too much time in my own head so internal strife is rampant, even about the smallest of details. Thankfully, I have someone willing to listen to my non-stop mutterings and rants, who is also willing to tell me to shut the hell up and go with it when it is the definition of perfection.

(Like her.)

 

The bright side.

The Greystone Saga Volume One is out on June 15th.

To celebrate the launch and really make it appealing to new and old readers alike I am offering the set for 99-cents until June 22nd!!

You heard me. The first two entries into the Greystone series PLUS the sneak peek at The Medusa Coin all for under a buck! Only have Signs of Portents or Tales from Portents in your digital collection? Get the other AND a peek at book three for only $0.99!!!

And the best part? You don’t have to wait until June 15th to order your copy. The Greystone Saga Volume One is available now for pre-order!

           

Now is the time to catch up on the series and stare at that incredible cover the way I have been while typing this missive.

Thanks for reading.

Tales from Portents Connecting Factors

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

My problem with short story collections…

I’ve always had a hangup when it comes to collections or anthologies. There seems to be a disconnect from the main series or even from the stories collected. And I get it, I do. Every story should stand on its own. There has to be enough meat in it or there is no point in telling the tale.

But I always wanted more from the collections I’ve read. A level of connective tissue that made even the shortest of stories feel bigger in scope.

That became one of my main goals with Tales from Portents.

Connecting factors.

Like the threads left throughout Signs of Portents there had to be points of connection between the short stories in Tales in order to make the work feel like a larger whole.

I took every opportunity to make sure they flowed and were natural connections instead of forced or contrived. Connecting the stories in Tales just for the sake of doing it wasn’t something I was too keen on, so I took care not to force anything on the reader.

Robert Standish.

The biggest thread sewn between tales in the collection centers on Robert Standish. He is mentioned a few times in Signs of Portents as the reason behind Loren’s fall from grace. His “big mistake” that he refers to throughout the narrative.

That made him my go-to guy for this collection.

His fingerprints are in three of the six tales, each one building the relationship between Standish and Loren so that when it explodes it is completely justified.

Following the thread.

It starts with Gremlins and the characters introduction. This piece set the tone for their relationship and everything that came after it. I wanted Standish to play counter to Loren’s feelings in the police department. Someone not highly skilled at the job but ambitious.

Ambitious to the point of criminal in some regards.

His views are vile, his motives unclean when viewed through the looking glass that is Loren. Standish, to Loren, is everything he stands against.

Which made his appearance in View from Above that much sweeter. Forcing them to be partners, showing Loren at his lowest with Standish smiling and joking by his side, was impossible to pass up.

And it wasn’t even in the original outline! The opportunity came to have Vlad arrested and it wasn’t meant to be anything more than that but adding the dynamic between Loren and Standish was too good to pass up. I think it really helped capture the moment in time on display for the story and acted as a perfect midpoint in the story of these two polar opposites.

Leading to Resurrectionists.

Standish and the events that led to Loren’s departure for Chicago were the basis of this story when plotting. Having the earlier moments, showing their troubled relationship from start to bloody finish allowed for maximum impact on delivery.

It also left the dangling thread of Rufus Mathers and his hatred for Loren on the table. Something that will be playing throughout the first cycle of the series.

Consequences.

Being able to build on events and then show the fallout speaks to the wider scope I was hoping to achieve with this collection. Having Standish not only show up for the brutal beatdown that occurs in Resurrectionists but also weave him through a number of tales and situations allows readers to connect on a deeper level (not that Standish will ever be accused of being deep) and understand the motivations of Loren’s actions in the end.

And the fallout that continues to occur because of them.

Next time –

A very special announcement later this week and then next week a look at Eyes in the Storm.

Thanks for reading.

View from Above Commentary Part 4

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

The Fight Scene

I mentioned in the first part of the commentary for View From Above about Soriya’s rage and her need to hit something. This built from a lack of action as well as her anger at Mentor’s constant lecturing. So when it finally came down to it, when the first was finally in front of her at the abandoned theater at the climax of the narrative I had two choices.

Show the scene, a fight against a group of thugs with little or no skill at combat. Or skip it completely.

I skipped it.

Why?

This was one of those moments I continually went back to in order to argue with myself over my own decision. Part of me will always feel like the fight was necessary but at the end of the day I ruled against it.

The short answer for why is that I liked the irony of the moment. Soriya’s rage has built and after everything she has had no release. She needs this fight. She needs to get it out of her system. And she does.

But we don’t have to see it.

Knowing Soriya’s skill in combat from earlier with her struggle with Vlad as well as the numerous tales before this, we know these six punks have no shot. By not showing the fight my hope was to illustrate this point in full. The drama of the pitched battle is that there is no drama at all.

fight scene

Puts the emphasis on the real struggle.

The other reason to ignore the fisticuffs with the Teen Brigade (super old Marvel reference for you there) is to keep the focus on the real climax to the narrative. The reveal of the Kitsune and the (mostly) verbal conflict therein is the meat and potatoes of the story.

Anything before that point distracts from the actual conflict and Soriya’s arc in the tale. Her anger comes from her burden, from the constant lessons. The Kitsune represents the opposite end of the spectrum with her need for mischief. Keeping the focus on these two for this chapter and driving it home in the conclusion with Soriya’s discussion with Vlad keeps the plot centered on character instead of needless action.

Was it the right call?

Every decision, every fight scene, every conversation or setting, all of it can be argued for and against. Always. At the end of the day I hope the majority of the choices made are the best ones for the story. As long as everything serves the story and the characters within, I know I’ve done the best I can.

And that will have to do.

Next time –

One of the principal connecting factors throughout Tales from Portents: Robert Standish.

Thanks for reading.

May Promotions

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Very excited about today’s post! Last month I really wanted to branch out and promote a number of great giveaways and sweepstakes for free books. The trend continues this month with new May promotions and the return of The Prolific Reader because the site is an amazing catalog of top tier free books.

Explore New Worlds

May Promotions

A Science Fiction and Fantasy cornucopia of deliciously free books for your reading pleasure is here in the Explore New Worlds promo. It runs until May 15th and includes a chance to win a $50 gift card giveaway so enter today and snag some great summer reading.

It is hosted by My Book Cave, which I’ve only recently discovered as another great source for fiction.

Spellcaster Giveaway

May Promotions

A.J. Martinez is hosting an incredible giveaway focused on the fantasy side of things. If you’re on the market for a magical read check it out. Genres include Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy (including a certain Greystone novel), Sword and Sorcery, and more!

The giveaway runs until May 14th so hurry over to A.J.’s site and snag some great reads!

 The Ultimate Paperback Giveaway

Enter for your chance to win 52 paperback books delivered right to your doorstep! Giveaway runs through July 31st so spread the word!

Your next great read.

Authors put everything they have into their work and in today’s crowded market it is difficult to get the level of exposure needed to make it as a writer. These May promotions are helpful in spreading the word about these authors and I hope you take a few minutes to see if anything strikes your fancy with these and any of the giveaways promoted here.

If you do download any of their free work, please consider leaving a review once you’ve had time to enjoy the book. It is greatly appreciated!

The Prolific Reader

Melanie Tomlin continues to be a force of nature on the web. I can’t thank her enough for including Resurrectionists in her catalog of more than 450 free books. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet do so. Lots of great talent lined up and it is no wonder her site continues to grow in leaps and bounds.

Have a great week and happy reading!

View from Above Commentary Part 3

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

Kitsune time.

Figuring out the threats for a Greystone tale one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the writing process for me. I spoke about this more in depth a few weeks back.

When it came time for View From Above, most of the pieces were in place. It was a Vlad story to examine his relationship with Soriya in an attempt to build on what was seen previously in Signs of Portents.

It was also a Soriya story, dealing with her anger and the burden of her task ahead. This was early in her career so the challenges therein were nice to play with.

But what about the big threat, the big baddie for the narrative?

My number one edict.

KitsuneI had a rule when plotting this story. No murders allowed. As I started coming up with the slate of tales from this collection this was one of the main challenges I faced. Signs was essentially a giant murder mystery. The Great Divide, while eventually riffing on the drug angle of the crime started with a death. The same with Eyes in the Storm and The Consultant, both of which are coming up in a few weeks.

I didn’t want to fall into a routine with the same formulaic devices used to drive the stories along.

So no murder allowed.

How about some petty crime?

Revealing the Kitsune as the ringleader for a petty crime brigade of thugs and hooligans felt like a great change of pace for the series. No life altering battles, no great stakes with the city of Portents hanging in the balance. Just a bunch of punks that needed a beatdown… with a shape-shifting fox as their boss. Simple and straightforward.

It also played into the role of the Kitsune in the narrative and as counter to Soriya’s arc. It always comes back to character for me so having a trickster as the threat, having the Kitsune not really care one way or the other about what she is in charge of or the effect it has on anyone or anything really struck home the difference between her and Soriya.

Dangling threads…

I wrestled with this one as well. A definitive end meant no more threat or a neutralized threat. Something else we had seen previously in the Greystone series. By having the Kitsune escape, a point that seemed spot on for where the narrative was headed, it opened the door for her return. Leaving threads for later is the hallmark of a great series, in my humble opinion.

And I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to our foxy fiend just yet.

When will she return? Ah, that would spoil the surprise. You’ll have to wait to find out.

Next time:

The fight scene never seen from View from Above.

Thanks for reading.

View from Above Commentary Part 2

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The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.

Soriya in the spotlight

View from Above offered a very unique situation when coming up with the plot, something I hadn’t come across before when putting together a Greystone tale. A story solely from Soriya’s perspective. When I originally thought of the series, Soriya was the lead. There was no story without her and to an extent that remains true.

Soriya's perspectiveWhen I received the edited version of Signs of Portents from my editor, Kristen Hamilton of Kristen Corrects Inc. so many moons ago, she also wrote up the back cover description. When I read it I flinched, I balked, I couldn’t believe it. The whole thing centered around Loren.

And she was absolutely right in that assessment.

Loren was our window into the city of Portents and Soriya’s world. Unlike something like Dresden Files where we follow Harry Dresden and his view of the world including his relationship with the police and Detective Murphy – a relationship I was very cognizant of when developing the Greystone series – we only learn about the city because Loren has to learn about it at that moment.

Sure, there are chapters from Soriya’s perspective and her own arc in Signs, but the driving force of the initial novel was Loren.

Tales offered a change. And I took it and ran with it.

How best to show Soriya in a solo setting?

This was my first question. How did she fit in the world without her connection to Loren, her seemingly only normal connection to the city of Portents? How did she go about investigating on her own?

Soriya, at the time of View from Above, is 20. She’s barely out of teenager mode or, if she’s like I was, still caught firmly in its clutches. Emotional. Quick to anger.

Pretty much angry in general. And that little tidbit was my starting point with her for this story.

Once I had her anger, her need to punch, kick and maim whatever the hell was behind the latest insanity in Portents, I had my starting point.

And I had Soriya Greystone down.

Playing her off Vlad

Soriya's PerspectiveSoriya doesn’t play well with others. And when she does they typically come from a place of authority. Mentor. Loren. Ruiz.

Vlad offered a change. He’s around her age. He carries a burden he can’t really share with people, outside the Corwell family. They both share that connection.

His presence also allowed me to graze the subject of romance with Soriya. It hasn’t really come up with readers so far but I always worry about falling into the Moonlighting (dated reference!) or Friends (somewhat better, old man) dynamic of “will they, won’t they” when it comes to a male and female led narrative.

I get it. Romantic tension is a great tool, one seen hundreds of thousands of times before. I made Loren slightly older than early drafts to escape some of that thinking. Soriya’s encounters with Vlad and even Russell Kerr in The Consultant to some degree, allowed me to somewhat wipe that notion away completely.

Will it stay that way? Will there ever be a time when Soriya and Loren can evolve to that next level? Have they even considered it?

I don’t know. I’d like to say no way, no how, but I can’t say definitively one way or another how the entire series plays out.

Not yet.

Easter Egg

Soriya’s need to punch something, that burning desire at the start of View from Above, actually came from the first draft of The Medusa Coin. Back in my heyday, dreaming of using Greystone as a potential comic book franchise I outlined the four issue mini-series that became the spine of the third novel of the series.

In it, I soon realized there was little action in the first quarter and that stood out to me as something Soriya would not stand for. Ever.

I dropped the idea when putting together the latest iteration of The Medusa Coin as it didn’t fit with her arc through the novel. But I was happy it circled around to this tale and fit so wonderfully with the approach to her character here.

Next time:

Insight into the Kitsune and her role in the narrative for View from Above.

Thanks for reading.

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