The blog tour: one author tags three others, and they share information about themselves and their work.  In this case, J. Kent Holloway has tagged me.  You can read his blog post here.

1) What am I working on?

I am in the process of pulling together revisions on the final drafts of book #2 and #3 in the Cyrus Cooper series.  The books will be titled Rogue Faction Part 1 and Part 2, respectively.  The project was too big to fit into a single release, so I’ve split it into two parts—both of which will be longer than book #1, Dangerous Minds.

Since I don’t like the idea of leaving book #2 on a cliffhanger, I’m planning to release book #3 soon after #2.  Both parts have already been written.  It’s just a matter of finishing work with beta readers and the editor before I can put the books on virtual shelves.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

The Cyrus Cooper books are thrillers, first and foremost.  But I’m a big fan of the paranormal and sci-fi, so each release in the series has at least a taste of something more.  Nothing that will push the bounds of credibility—I just like to challenge readers with ideas that may be a little outside of what they might find in other thrillers.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I write the types of stories that I want to read.  For me, that often means mashing a number of genres together to create something a little more unique.  I love action and espionage, and I love a good thrill.  I also love cutting edge science and story ideas that keep me thinking long after I’ve closed the book.  But more than anything, I believe that a story should be fun.  Depressing, or slow moving stories drain me.  I have no interest in reading them, and I certainly have no interest in writing them.  As a result, the things I write are fast paced, fun, and must to be interesting.  I won’t write something that I wouldn’t want to read.

4) How does my writing process work?

My “process” is a work in progress.  The Cyrus Cooper series has followed a very unconventional path.  While Dangerous Minds was the first book to be released, it was actually the 4th book to be written.  I wrote Halon-Seven first.  That book will be the fourth release in the series since it’s the fourth story to occur, chronologically speaking.

I introduced Cyrus Cooper in Halon-Seven.  By the time I was finished writing that book, I was so fascinated with the character that I felt the need to explore the events of his life prior to what happened in Halon-Seven.  That resulted in the writing of Rogue Faction Parts 1 & 2.  But by the time I finished writing Rogue Faction, the editor was still working on Halon-Seven.  I needed something new to work on and Rogue Faction had left me with more ideas for Cyrus Cooper.  Oddly those ideas served as a prequel to the events of Rogue Faction.  This resulted in Dangerous Minds, and what would ultimately become the first book in the series.

The unconventional process ended up being that the books were written in reverse chronology.  Problematically, this also meant that the first book penned, Halon-Seven, couldn’t be published until after the other three.

It’s a goofy way to write a series of novels, but a very interesting way to explore your lead character.

Now it’s my turn to tag two authors for the next round of the blog tour.  I’m going with three authors whose work I’ve personally enjoyed and also highly recommend.

First up is Graham Brown.  Graham has an impressive body of work that includes the recently released, Shadows of the Midnight Sun, and the even more recent, The Gods of War.  He’s also the author behind the fantastic Hawker and Laidlaw series that includes Black Sun, Black Rain, and The Eden Prophecy.  Astute readers will also recognize his name from the books he’s co-authored with Clive Cussler: Zero Hour, Devil’s Gate, the Storm, and Ghost Ship.  You can find Graham’s blog here.

Next we have Seeley James, author of the Pia Sabel series.  The first book, The Geneva Decision was an amazing debut.  Seeley did fantastic job of creating an interesting and powerful female protagonist who was strong enough to launch a series of novels.  Seeley followed that book with a series of novellas that have since been compiled into an omnibus titled, Bring It.  In this book, Seeley adds to the series with the introduction of a powerful and dynamic primary character named Jacob.  He also mixes fist and third person point of views to great effect.  Book #3 is currently in the works.  You can find Seeley’s blog here.