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

Greystone Box Set One – On Sale Now!

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The Greystone Saga Volume OneThe Greystone Saga Volume One is on sale NOW!

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!!

WHAT?

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!!!

Order your copy today!

 

           

The Saga Begins…

Catch up on the Greystone series before the release of The Medusa Coin on September 8th!

Reviews for Signs of Portents:

http://signs of portents”Deeply immersive and imaginative — very strong debut novel.”

“Dark ,engaging, gripping story.”

“This paranormal thriller was pretty intense…”

“The characters in the book were well developed and the story line was intriguing and definitely a page turner.”

Reviews for Tales from Portents and Resurrectionists:

“Excellent Collection of Stories”

“Pick up this book it is unique. None of the same old same old. What a strange city.”

“Very well written…enjoyed every minute…it was a real page turner.”

PLUS enjoy a preview of The Medusa Coin, a game changer for the series:

Death has come to the city of Portents.

Dozens have fallen before a mysterious menace hiding among them. Their only connection is the grisly condition of their bodies—hollowed-out chasms where their eyes used to be.

Setting aside the aging case on his wife’s murder, Detective Greg Loren has returned to the city with the task of stopping the bearer of the Medusa coin—an artifact with power over Death himself—from continuing to slaughter the people of Portents.

Soriya, no longer able to control the enigmatic Greystone, grapples with the decision to forge ahead in the case on her own, leaving Loren behind. But without the two counterbalancing each other, Death may be the force that levels them both.

 

Order Your Copy of The Greystone Saga Volume One TODAY!

           

 

Tales from Portents Connecting Factors 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.

Connecting Factors

It was important for me to filter little threads that tied events in the collection together. I mentioned this previous when discussing the use of Robert Standish as a connecting factor. For me, short story collections tend to fall flat in that they have no impact compared to the full length installments.

I wanted to break that trend by connecting seemingly disparate events. Some are simple, a character that shows up consistently.

Others were more subtle.

Chaac and the Storm

When I was developing the collection the original idea was to offer a free story to fit prior to Signs of Portents. (What eventually became Resurrectionists… sort of…) This seemingly simple plan turned into two stories told concurrently.

One for Loren. One for Soriya.

Eyes in the Storm and The Consultant.

If I wrote about one it was important to write about the other. Two equal partners to the story. Balance.

I decided to take it further and make the connection between the two clear, to tie them in a way to show they occur at the exact same moment in time for these two characters.

Hence the storm.

Building that bridge through subtle references in The Consultant, including the end of the storm in the final chapter of Soriya’s story, kept the two main players in the series connected in a way during their separation.

Both need each other, something they need to be constantly reminded of, during the series. This was a nice way to keep them part of the same world, even if all Loren wants to do is escape it.

Evolution of the references

This connecting factor didn’t exist in the original drafts. Chaac was very much a part of Eyes from the start. He was the device used to pull Loren back into the insanity that tends to follow anything Portents related. But The Consultant had no reference to the storm.

Except for one line.

When Soriya is hanging outside the apartment of the first victim it mentions the spitting rain. An annoyance and nothing more.

From that little nugget I went through the entire story to filter more references to the rain and its unsuspected nature. When it ends Soriya is elated, the same smile she wears whenever Loren returns to her world. That was my way to keep them tied together.

Their partnership has become the cornerstone of the series and something that should be explored with each story. I was surprised by the sudden connection and completely overjoyed it was able to come together in the way it did.

I hope you felt the same.

Next time:

One last connecting factor and then the mother of all tales; Resurrectionists!

Thanks for reading.

June Promotions

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The Medusa Coin Advance Reader Copies

Advance reader copies of The Medusa Coin will be available starting July 1st. Interested in receiving a FREE digital copy of the book before the release date of September 8th?

Sign up to the Advance Team List today.

I want to thank everyone that has already signed up. I’m extremely excited to share this book with you and I hope you enjoy it.

I’ve received some incredible emails over the last couple months. I could not ask for better readers and I truly appreciate you being here for this journey.

The Greystone Saga Volume One

The first box set on sale ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! Crazy how time has been blitzing through the hourglass this year.

The first two books of the Greystone series are only $0.99 until June 22nd so order your copy today at the following:

           

Over 500 pages of monsters, myths and murder! Can’t find a better deal this month!

Promotions

The Ultimate Paperback Giveaway is going on right now!! For a chance to win 52 of the best and brightest in the science fiction/fantasy genre enter today! Offer ends July 31st.

 

Looking for a new release to dive into this month? Look no further than SFF Book Bonanza for a list of the latest in science fiction and fantasy fiction.

Need more books but are strapped for cash after so many delicious new releases this month?

Enter for a chance to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card! A big thanks to Dean Wilson over at SFF Book Bonanza for putting this together.

Looking for the best place for free books? Check out The Prolific Reader today! Over 450 free books, organized by genre. Perfect for finding that next favorite author or if you want to send a friend a copy of Resurrectionists…

Hoping to have some kick ass reading recommendations for you in a few weeks. Most from these amazing promotions and freebies. Check them out and enjoy!

Thanks for reading.

The Consultant 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.

Final messages.

When I write I don’t try to put personal philosophies over the story itself. I think that is the downfall of a strong narrative. The author has his own role but it should remain the invisible hand, not the idiot jamming rhetoric down your throat at the expense of the narrative.

Which made The Consultant stand out for me.

In the tale, there were three victims of the Cerberus. All were tied to the villain and the reason for his vengeance. They either played a direct role in tricking the guard dog of Hell or were rescued because of the trick.

There was the baker, the singer and the hero.

Two were young and vital. The baker and the singer appeared to have their whole lives ahead of them and a successful career on the way.

The hero (Heracles), however, was old and at the end of his life.

Why?

It wasn’t intentional. Believe me. I didn’t even consider what I was trying to say until I was in the editing phase. While putting the finishing touches on the narrative I realized it was a viable question to ask.

There are many answers I could offer for Heracles’ age and infirmity when the singer and baker remained at the peak of their lives.

I could brush it off as a simple fact as to how things turned out for the characters. (A cheat, for sure.)

I could speak to the irrelevance of heroes in the world today. Or their stance in the modern world. Heroes, the good people that strive to make an actual difference in the world are berated and prodded from all sides. If their morals don’t match 100% of the population they are mired in scandal, pulled apart and torn down for the all to see.

Heroes aren’t allowed in the modern world. A sad state of affairs and one I truly hope we move away from as quickly as possible.

A reflection of Soriya.

Putting aside all personal preference, the truth behind the infirmity of Heracles, is that he offered a mirror for Soriya. To see how her journey might end.

He dies alone, something she has always assumed would be the case.

It also offered a thematic tie to The Medusa Coin and its inclusion of a physical manifestation of Death. It is the ultimate test for Soriya and her encounter with the fallen Heracles plays a role in it.

Then again, maybe it means nothing at all and I’m just trying to find relevance in a simple artistic choice. That’s the fun of it all.

Thanks for reading.

The Consultant Commentary Part 1

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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 Consultant – Evolution of a tale

story researchEvery story comes from character. That is the lesson I take from everything I put together. I might start with a scene in my head, a discussion, an event, a premise, but until it connects to a main character and an arc is present it means little to me.

A story doesn’t have legs until someone can carry the load.

When putting together The Consultant, I knew it was a Soriya tale. In the absence of Loren I wanted to explore how she operated in the city. The early drafts focused on the lack of trust between her and the police and how it hampered her work.

But it wasn’t enough.

The introduction of Russell Kerr started the ball rolling in the right direction. Kerr as a surrogate to Loren offered insight into her process and her need to have someone at her side.

It also showcased her weakness, something explored further in The Medusa Coin in September. (plug, plug…)

Adding depth through story research.

Story research is great. It can add certain layers to stories you never considered. Or it can completely suck the life out a story and read more like a college paper instead of a thriller.

I enjoy the research aspect and dread it at the same time. Mostly because you can never know every angle. If I read four hundred pages on Cerberus there are still four thousand more out there that I will never get to because I have to eventually write the story.

What if I read the wrong four hundred pages? What if I take away the wrong conclusion?

A fear for sure when putting your work out into the world but there is also this:

Research builds a compelling narrative.

Having Russell Kerr, Cerberus, in the story gave me a starting point.

Until I had Cerberus in place I didn’t have a connection to the deaths involved. And they had no connection to the killer. BORING.

Research gave me my victims. What would Cerberus hunt? Who would piss off the guard dog of Hell so much that they would reach into the mortal world for revenge?

Delving into the lore of Cerberus offered me insight into its history, into its failures, and those failures gave me my victims.

The Consultant is one of my favorite stories because of the extra mile I went to include these small details. They never derailed the story, they never had to be explained by Soriya or other characters. They simply exist and add that touch, that flair, that if a reader was interested in knowing more of what was going on in the background they could do the research as well and find the answers.

I absolutely love that about the story.

Each element pulled from the research added details throughout The Consultant, and it all stemmed from character.

Easter eggs –

Russell Kerr’s name – Kerr or “cur” = dog. (Aren’t I a stinker?)

Barking at Hady Ronne – What the hell was that all about? All I can say is wait until you read The Medusa Coin! It will all make sense, I promise.

Thanks for reading.

Eyes in the Storm 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.

Naming Characters

Finding the right name for each and every character in your novel is a difficult task. Stretch that out into dozens of novels and it can be downright frustrating. Sometimes I find it is my biggest hangup when outlining a draft.

Series can actually help because for the most part the principal players remain consistent. New characters come and go but the majority of the cast is already in place. This held true for Greystone…

Until Loren decided to move to Chicago for three months in Eyes in the Storm.

Loren’s New World

With his return to Chicago there came a need to introduce an entire new world to the Greystone series and to Loren himself. Colleagues, family, neighbors, threats… anyone that had an interaction with Loren suddenly needed a backstory (some more extensive than others) but also a freaking name!

The secret behind the names in Eyes…

I could not for the life of me figure out how to name anyone in this story. It took days to figure out a theme behind them and it only came to me while taking my kiddos out for a morning stroll.

Street names.

I know, ridiculous, right?

Kendra GIRARD, Noah SOMERTON, Blake EISEMAN, Martin SHEPPARD – all are nearby streets. Once I settled on one, I believe Eiseman was first, it just clicked for the rest and became a lot of fun to insert that connection in the story.

If I’m being all literary I could also say it played into the theme of Loren returning home and not knowing anything about his old neighborhood, something I feel as well when I walk down the streets waving to perfect strangers. But that would be a happy coincidence to the whole thing.

Name resources

I have used a few nice resources since then to come up with names in my work:

Oh, Baby Names – I was on here anyway a few years ago so I bookmarked it and have since come back time and again to find a name (and appropriate meaning) for any new or recurring character introduced. The site has a great directory, including unique baby name ideas and the most popular names.

Behind the Name – This is important, especially when trying to tie theme or a character’s arc to their name and this site offers a unique search into different thematic categories that names fall into.

Alejo was one such name I pulled from a site like this when coming up with the character and I’ll be talking more about that next year in more detail. I will say, that the meaning shaped how Ruiz’s role turned out in the series so I’m very glad sites like this exist.

A special thanks to The Write Life for posting the original article where these resources came from. They also give other great tips for coming up with names.

My important takeaway is this: naming characters is a tough racket but, thankfully, there are plenty of different avenues to explore when coming up with the perfect name for your characters. (Get it? Avenues? Street names? No? Yes? Maybe?)

Next time

The Consultant begins. A look at the research side of things when developing a plot.

Thanks for reading.

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