Coming soon... The End of the World and Some Other Things

So, I wanted to take a moment and give an update on what I’ve been working on.

For the last couple years I’ve been writing a dark fantasy series called The End of the World and Some Other Things. If I was to give it the Hollywood pitch, I’d say it’s like Hellboy meets 24.

The first book of the series, Death’s Good Intentions, centers on Trey Decarr, a contract killer chosen by fate to become Death, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. Disgusted by his new post, Decarr decides to resist rather than serve, making himself an enemy of Hell and an unpredictable nuisance for Heaven. Decarr finds himself in a losing battle against both angels and demons, while he scours the globe hunting the other Horsemen in a desperate attempt to stave off Armageddon. Meanwhile, a secret order of the church called the Gatekeepers is tasked with killing Decarr, likening him to a rabid dog that needs to be put down. Leading the team that hunts Decarr is young April Frausini. Her orders are simple: kill Death. But April is conflicted, sensing purpose in Decarr’s wild actions, and believes he could become a trusted ally in the fight to save the world from annihilation.

In addition to Book 1: Death’s Good Intentions, I wrote a couple of shorter prequel stories, which I'm calling Prologues.

The first Prologue is called Blood Child, which follows Ivan Tarkovsky, the man chosen to be Death during WWII. Tarkovsky resisted much like Decarr and suffered in Hell for his defiance, eventually becoming a twisted demon of a man. When Tarkovsky sees Decarr repeating his mistakes in modern day America, Tarkovsky makes it his mission to corrupt Decarr’s soul and put him on the 'proper path.'

The second Prologue is titled The Man with The Devil’s Tongue and focuses on April’s initiation into the Gatekeepers. April learns from her teachers how to master her gifts of sight and see the demons that lurk in the world of man. Meanwhile, one of her college classmates has become possessed by the Devil himself, and seeks to stab at the heart of the Gatekeepers by killing its leaders. 

The Prologues were actually written after Death’s Good Intentions. The original purpose was simply to give readers a cheap gateway into the series—but I really enjoyed working on these prequel stories. It gave me a chance to explore the world and the characters in more detail without worrying about the main story of the series, which doesn’t allow for such deviations. In the future I may write additional Prologues, either focusing on Decarr or April, or maybe other supporting characters that never had the chance to act as the lead.

The stories are completed but I am editing them right now. My plan is to self-publish them sometime in May or June. Still gotta get coverart, too. I’ll offer further updates when I have them.

I’m excited about these stories. The story of Decarr has been in my head for years and it’s gone through many variations (including one abandoned 650 page novel and a sequel to that novel) before becoming what it is today. I like the way it’s turned out and I look forward to sharing the stories with everyone when they’re ready.

In addition to the books of The End of the World and Some Other Things, I’ve also been working on a giant monster epic (I love kaiju!!!). Plus! a short story about creatures living in holes on a deserted island—that one’s weird.  But more on those later!

Thanks for reading!