Cindy’s Story Trivia

This story originated from a random story I told someone on Facebook chat one day to entertain them while they were at work. It was all just spur of the moment and off the top of my head, but I liked how it came out, so I started working on it after I finished book 20 of the Unseen Things series.

This book was only ever intended to be a standalone. I wanted to get a non-series book done and published so I could not only use it to introduce people to my writing, but also so I could possibly farm it out to an agent who might be more reticent to accept a huge series rather than a single novel.

In chapter 3 when Frank comically feigns caffeine withdrawal, it’s a nod to Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy, when Bobby’s mom has the “brain pain”.

In chapter 4 Frank mentions losing his penis in a bizarre gardening accident when he was twelve. This is a little nod to how one of Spinal Tap’s many drummers died. Then when she calls him on it because she’d already seen it during her interview, he says, “Well, it got better.” This is a nod to Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s witch burning scene where John Cleese says she turned him into a newt, but he got better.

In chapter 15 when Cindy says she was just hangin’ out, playin’ Nintendo, that’s a reference to the movie Baseketball.

In chapter 16, Frank says, “Lotta people tell me that.” That’s a reference to a bit at the beginning of one of Andrew Dice Clay’s concert videos.

 

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Cindy’s Story

After her temper led her to walk out on yet another convenience store job, Cindy needed to find herself a new job fast, otherwise she’d end up broke and living on the streets. After discussing the situation with her apartment manager, he informs her that he has a brother who’s been looking to hire an assistant. The only problem is that he’s a private investigator, which is a career field that she has no experience in whatsoever. Still, she was pretty much ready to jump at any opportunity. It was a chance at not only quick employment, but possibly a whole new career that would get her out of the convenience store business once and for all.

As it turns out, being a private detective isn’t as glamorous as they make it look on television. It comes with certain indignities and moral issues that she’d never really considered before. Not only that, but her new boss, Frank, seems to delight in going out of his way to piss her off. The only thing he seems to enjoy more than pissing her off, is complaining about how horrible her coffee is. Still, for some reason that she can’t seem to figure out, he also goes out of his way to help her succeed in any way he possibly can.

While Frank can be terribly passive aggressive, he’s nothing compared to his sister Kayla. She’s like a nightmare on wheels, with no empathy, and no filter whatsoever. You never know what’s going to come out of her mouth next, but it’s a safe bet that it’ll be something infuriating. When your temper is already the stuff of legends, having to deal with someone like her, without the encounter ending in a murder rap, requires a tremendous amount of willpower.

The one thing that Cindy has going for her is that she’s got a super high aptitude for the job. All she needs to do in order to succeed is to work hard, learn how to control that legendary temper of hers, and most importantly, learn how to make a decent cup of coffee. The first two are relatively simple. The third…not so much.

The Unseen Things series is a new adult, contemporary fantasy / sci-fi hybrid series.  While the first book of the series may read a bit young adult because of their age, the series as a whole is actually a new adult series that is not intended for readers under the age of 17.

Another note about the series is that these books are not stand alone stories.  It’s a series in the true sense of the word.  The books must be read in order because of the story and character developments that take place.  Each book leads into the next, so if you read them out of order you’ll likely get quite lost as to what’s going on.

I wrote this as a true series, because there’s a progression of development with the characters that I wanted to follow as they aged, learned new things and gained more experience.  They start out in the first book at eighteen years old, and by the eleventh book they’re around twenty-four years old, so there’s a definite time progression that takes place.

Yes the series contains profanity, non-explicit sex and violence.  That’s why it’s a new adult series.  It’s written for and intended to appeal to adults from college age on, and contains a variety of elements to appeal to adult sensibilities including things like love, romance, friendship, family, dealing with loss, personal growth and whole lot more.  There’s also a considerable amount of humor throughout the series.

On the fantasy and science fiction front, you get dimension travel, various species of intelligent beings, genetics and genetic engineering, advanced technology, the enslavement and abuse of various species, etc….

It’s a series that’s as much about the characters and their relationships with each other as it is about all of the other story elements that are taking place.  I’ve worked really hard to make the characters feel like real people that you can truly identify with and care about.  Hopefully, at least for some of you, they’ll feel like people you know, or people you’d like to know, and it’ll make the time you spend following their lives and adventures all the more pleasurable.

Origins (Book #1)

No one believed fourteen-year-old Jarrod Grant when he told them what happened to his family. They said it was just a coping mechanism to deal with what he’d seen, but no matter how hard they tried to get the truth out of him, all he could talk about was the portal that had opened in his room, and the creature that had come through it to abduct his mother, and his younger brother.

His story hit the local news, and he was thrown into a social system that only seemed to exist to make him feel like he was insane. Soon enough he was placed with a very loving set of foster parents who did their best to help him through his trauma, but his school life was a different matter entirely. He was treated like a freak, and turned into a social outcast whose only comfort was a notebook, which he obsessively filled with illustrations of what happened to him and his family on that fateful night.

When he started his senior year of high school four years later, he expected it to just be more of the same. He never dreamed that he’d meet two amazing girls named Tina and Sarah, who were actually interested in listening to his story. Not only did they believe him, but they made it their mission to try to find him some answers.

Their search eventually leads them to a woman named Patricia Samuels, the caretaker and record keeper of a library full of lost information. Her books, some dating back centuries, contain mere hints of the answers they’re looking for. To get the rest of the story however, Patricia must visit an old man in Ohio named Jack Wilson, the only living person who could possibly hold the key to the knowledge they seek.

 

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The Hunt (Book #2)

When Jarrod Grant was fourteen years old, he watched helplessly as a troll-like creature emerged from a portal in his bedroom and abducted both his mother, and his younger brother.  He spent years brooding over the fact that they were gone, but during his senior year of high school, two very special girls would change everything.

Tina and Sarah, made it their mission to find him some answers about what had happened to his family.  Their research led them to a woman named Patricia Samuels, who gave them far more answers than they’d bargained for.  Not only was she able to tell them what happened to Jarrod’s family, but she also provided them with something far more valuable.

Through her research, she was able to locate the only person who’d ever returned after being abducted.  That man provided her with notebooks full of information about his time as a slave in another dimension, and he also provided her with something she hadn’t dared to hope for.  He gave her the amulet he’d used to get back home.  An amulet that was capable of opening portals to five different dimensions, including the one where Jarrod’s family were being held in slavery, along with many others.

With this ability now in hand, they set off on their first forays into the Faranox dimension with the goal of securing an amulet for each member of the team, after which, the planning and execution of the rescue mission will finally commence.

 

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Exploration (Book #3)

With their mission to rescue Jarrod’s family now behind them, the group finally has time to focus on other things, like Jarrod’s birthday, learning more about their blue fin friends, and expanding the boundaries of their relationships with one another. However, before they do all that, they have a little unfinished business with Diedre, the girl responsible for the suicide of Derek’s brother. After her violent and psychotic outburst during the sentencing phase of her trial, the judge sent her to be held in a psych ward for evaluation and treatment. Unfortunately for her, when the people who have a grudge against you have the ability to go out of phase and walk through solid objects, there’s nowhere you can hide, and no one who can save you from the consequences of your actions.

Also, as their friendship with the blue fins continues to grow, their blue fin friend Freddie expresses a desire to visit the human dimension. Looking forward to the opportunity for a cultural exchange, they’re more than happy to oblige. It started off well enough, but when Freddie shows an unbelievable capacity for learning and retaining new information, they begin to realize that they may have inadvertently opened a Pandora’s Box by exposing him to the wonders of the human world. Life on the island would no longer be enough for him, leaving them all with some hard decisions to make, not only about his future, but the future of his people as well.

Finally, when portals begin to open on the blue fin island while the team are there installing a new solar power station for their friends, a desperate fight ensues to stop the agaronin from capturing themselves a new batch of slaves. While they were able to fend them off this time, it quickly becomes obvious that for their own protection, the formerly peaceful blue fins would have to be armed, and then trained to defend themselves against the unpredictable threat. Fortunately, the skills that Freddie learned while he was in the Human dimension would leave them in the hands of not only a capable trainer, but someone who could turn them all into unstoppable killing machines.

 

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Revenge (Book #4)

When word started to spread among the tribes in the Faranox dimension about the raid on one of their villages by five humans who’d killed many agaronin and freed their captive slaves, they came up with a plan to combine several of their villages into one massive settlement, so they could defend against any such attacks in the future. To create such a settlement however, they would need more slaves than the ones they currently possessed, and that’s when they did something they shouldn’t have done. They went to the Blue Fin dimension, attacked Freddie’s village, and captured at least half of the blue fins on the island.

When the blue fins make a desperate call to Freddie to ask for help from their human friends, Derek must come up with a rescue plan that’s larger and far more involved than the one they’d used when they rescued Jarrod’s family. They’re also going to need some help if they’re going to have any hope at all of pulling it off. To that end, several of their parents are recruited to help, along with Jeremy and the gang, and the rest of the blue fins from the island who are brought to the human dimension, not only for their own protection, but also so they can be trained for their role in the mission.

Time is of the essence, but developments in the Faranox dimension threaten to throw a monkey wrench into their plans. Fortunately, with the help of the backers and their mysterious rep, they may just be able to pull it off.

Also, when the backers suddenly start feeling even more generous, the rep tells Patricia that they’ll be tearing down their current home, and replacing it with a new home that will better serve their needs. What they received when all was said and done however, went far beyond any of their wildest dreams.

Revenge continues the Unseen Things saga with new team members, new revelations, and a visit from someone who’s about to become an even more important part of their lives than they already were.

 

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Immortals (Book #5)

When a mysterious woman showed up at their door after their party guests had all gone home for the evening, no one had any idea who she was.  She was young, beautiful, well-dressed, and up to now, had been barred from having any personal contact with them, so it was only natural that they didn’t recognize her.  You could have heard a pin drop when she introduced herself as Jan Brewster, the rep who’d been taking care of them behind the scenes from the very beginning.

Not only was she finally allowed to make personal contact with them, but the backers had been so impressed by their selfless actions in freeing slaves from the Faranox dimension, that she was granted permission to offer them a very special gift.  The serum she carried with her when she arrived granted them not only immortality, but everlasting youth, total recall, rapid healing, enhanced senses, and superior physical abilities.

Once the serum takes full effect, the first order of business is to finish training the new recruits, so they can be sent out on some training runs to other dimensions, both known, and unknown.  Unfortunately, while out on a training run with Brian, Jarrod runs into a situation that will put their newly granted immortality to the test, and his very survival hangs in the balance.

Old enemies return, new discoveries are made, and in the end, they discover that their lives are about to change in ways that they never could have imagined.

 

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Division (Book #6)

Emotions are running high as the team prepares to split into two separate groups, with one group staying in Washington, while the other prepares to move to the new home that the backers built for them in Scotland. With only a limited about of time left for them to spend together, they’re all doing everything they possibly can to make the most of it.

When Larry asks Jan to marry him, she happily accepts, but the rest of the family can’t let them get married without first throwing them a massive beach party, where debauchery is the order of the evening, as is a healthy dose of reptilian booze. Before their wedding takes place however, Derek and Jarrod have some proposal ideas of their own, but can they pull off their secretive plan without the girls finding out?

Also, there’s a tremendous amount of excitement when the backers send over a new version of the immortality serum. The new version takes their physical and perceptive abilities to new levels, and it increases the rate at which they heal, but it also has some unintended, albeit welcome side-effects.

It’s a sad farewell as the Scotland team says goodbye to their loved ones, but they can all take heart in the fact that they’ll be starting their lives over in a beautiful new place where they’ll finally have a chance to not only prove themselves, but to accomplish some truly amazing things that none of them would have ever thought possible.

 

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Trackers (Book #7)

When they volunteered to move to Scotland to start up a second operation, they all had their own reasons for doing it. Some wanted to prove themselves, while others just wanted to make a fresh start. Whatever their personal reasons were for going, they all still had the same mission, which was to free slaves in the Faranox dimension, explore new dimensions, and to make friends wherever they could along the way. Unfortunately, their first journey into one of the previously unexplored dimensions turns into a bit of a disaster when they encounter a very hostile race of creatures that are both primitive, and terrifying.

When an amulet is lost during a wild escape from these creatures and ends up in the hands of their queen, things go from bad to worse when she accidentally uses it to open a portal. Soon enough she finds herself in the human dimension, with a team of very desperate people trying to capture her and send her back home before she winds up getting spotted, or even worse, killing someone.

Later, while the team is exploring around in the Faranox dimension looking for villages with slaves that needed to be set free and sent back to their home dimensions, they come across a rather unique village, the likes of which no one from either team has ever encountered before, and meet a tribal leader who could very well become a key ally in the days to come.

 

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Ghost Worlds (Book #8)

Four different Earths in four different dimensions were left as nothing but lifeless balls of rock and sand after their moons were destroyed. Massive hunks of debris slammed into the planets, ripping away their atmospheres, and extinguishing every last bit of life. With a near infinite number of dimensions, was it beyond the realm of possibility that these four ghost worlds were nothing more than a coincidence, or was it perhaps a coordinated attack, the goal of which was to destroy whoever, or whatever inhabited those worlds?

Suspicions and theories abound, but they’ll never find the answers they’re looking for unless they put boots on the ground. In order for them to do that however, they’re going to need some new gear, including space suits, metal detectors and ground penetrating radar. If, as they suspect, these dead worlds truly were inhabited by the race they called the creators, then they not only need to find evidence of their presence on those worlds, but they also need to find out just who it was that attacked them, and more importantly, the reason why.

Also, in an effort to repair a relationship that had grown somewhat distant over the years, Jarrod, Derek, Tina, and Sarah invite Patricia to come down to the cabin with them for a little vacation, so they can get things back to the way they were in the early days. While there, they head out to explore an as of yet unexplored dimension. In the process, they find a world that’s beautiful beyond anything they could have possibly imagined, but they also find a large supply of an incredibly rare mineral that could just be the key to producing limitless energy.

 

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Resurrection (Book #9)

When Logan’s body was removed from its grave, no one had any idea just who could have committed such a heinous act. Never in a million years would they have dreamed that Derek’s brother had been taken for a very specific reason, nor could they have possibly guessed what that reason might be.

The serum had granted them immortality, as well as all of their vast mental and physical abilities, but what if it could be used for more than that? What if it could be used to regenerate the dead, and then bring them back to life with their memories fully intact? Freddie believed that such an achievement might just be possible, and after discussing it with Charles and Richard, they worked together to develop a process to make that theory a reality. However, the process would need a test subject, and that’s where Logan came in.

Freddie’s theory turned out to be correct, and soon enough Logan was back on his feet, and had even been age progressed, so that he and his brother would be about the same age. While the process worked perfectly however, there was another problem that would have to be dealt with. Unfortunately, while everyone was incredibly happy to have Logan back, the deep emotional trauma they’d all experienced in the aftermath of his suicide left a heaviness over their reunion that he just doesn’t know how to fix.

Another unforeseen problem arose as well. While they continued to bring back the loved ones of some of the others, the realization that one of them can never be brought back because she was cremated after her death, leaves one member of the family in a spiraling fit of depression and self-blame that’s almost more than he can stand.

Also, in an attempt to expand their abilities, they start experimenting with remote linking, and as a result of that process, they suddenly discover that they’re all far more powerful than they’d ever imagined.

 

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Encounters (Book #10)

The moons of seven different dimensions were destroyed by the nathalis in a effort to bring an end to the zethichtalarin, and while it did succeed in killing off the majority of their race, it was inevitable that some of them would escape to other dimensions before their worlds were destroyed.

It was assumed that whatever survivors had managed to escape would be so scattered throughout the dimensions that they would no longer pose a threat, but when Beth and Erin encounter one of their military officers in the Paradise dimension, that assumption is quickly proven wrong.

Now that the zethichtalarin have begun to show themselves again, what lengths will they go to in order to rebuild their empire? The answer may be found in the Faranox dimension, where there’s a suspicion that the survivors of that race may be using thousands of captured slaves to build themselves a new city. Unfortunately, no one knows where they are, and all they have to go on are rumors and suspicions.

With some of the survivors now showing themselves again, the groups in Washington and Scotland redouble their efforts to search both the command centers and the armories they found on the ghost worlds, not only to salvage the zethichtalarin’s advanced technology and weaponry, but also to find out what might have led to the nathalis’ attempt to wipe the zethichtalarin out of existence. What they find however, leads them to realize that the nathalis may have, just by the thinnest of margins, saved themselves from an unbelievably horrific weapon that they weren’t even aware of.

 

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Resurgence (Book #11)

The nathalis plan to wipe out the zethichtalarin was mostly successful, but a large number of zeths managed to escape to other dimensions before their worlds were destroyed. It was assumed that the threat had been eliminated, but assumptions can often be wrong.

After what was assumed to be a free army, led by a general with advanced tactical knowledge swept across the continent in the Faranox dimension, it was assumed that they’d done it to free all the slaves, and to wipe out the practice of slavery on the continent once and for all. Rather than releasing all the slaves however, they marched them back with them to the village where the army had formed. Why would a free army not just send the slaves back home, and where had this mysterious general come from that had the knowledge to lead his army to such a sweeping victory? The more the team in Washington thought about it, there was only one conclusion they could possibly reach. The zeths were back, and they were trying to build themselves a new home to use as a base of operations in the Faranox dimension.

Assembling a team made up of members of both the Washington and Scotland teams, as well as a newly human Thayelle, and a couple of ach’len who are hell-bent on revenge, the team heads out to the East Coast to begin their search. All the anecdotal evidence they’ve been able to gather so far has indicated that the mysterious free army originated from there somewhere, but with a lot of land to cover, the team has to disguise themselves as locals so they can gather information without raising any suspicions.

Back at home, a frustrated Jan discovers a new ability that will aid them all greatly on their mission. When the team takes that ability and comes up with some even more creative ways to use it, they suddenly find that they’re all far more powerful than they’d ever imagined.

 

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Emissary (Book #12)

How exciting would your life be if you were assigned to guard mineral deposits on an uninhabited world? Alarwyn thought that was going to be the sum total of her life, at least for the foreseeable future, but then one day, everything suddenly changed. Selected by her superiors to be their emissary to the Human dimension thanks to her friendship with Beth and Erin, she finally had a way out, but she never imagined what a life altering experience her new assignment would turn out to be.

Also, when Giles, Savaric, Billy and Sarah saved the inhabitants of dimension 3997C from an alien invasion, they had no idea of the repercussions they’d face in the aftermath. That is, until Colonel Andrew Swanson showed up at their gate one day wanting to speak to Charles and Richard. It seems that the alien invaders didn’t take kindly to having their invasion fleet wiped out of existence, so they sent a ship to Earth to demand that those responsible be handed over to them within a week, or they’d launch a full-scale invasion on the planet. The colonel was tasked with finding those responsible, but when he informs them of what’s going on, the aliens very quickly discover that they should have just left well enough alone.

Finally, now that Savaric has found himself someone to love, the others all take Giles out to a local club, in an attempt to find him someone as well. Fortunately, or unfortunately, as the case may be, the girl he ends up meeting turns out to be more than a handful, especially after she finds out the truth about just who and what they really are.

 

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Companions (Book #13)

In an effort to get out there and prove themselves to the others, Alarwyn and Stephanie head off to the Reptilian dimension to do a little exploring, but things take a serious turn when they discover a zethichtalarin plot to destroy the nathalis homeworld. Now they must come up with a plan to stop the plot and kill the conspirators before they can bring their deadly plans to fruition. Unfortunately, their plan involves being gone for an extended period, as well as having to deal with the zeths all on their own, which causes Giles and Savaric no end of worry.

Also, when the hybrids start aging at a rapid pace, and the scientists at the base are clueless as to what’s causing it, much less how to stop it, Colonel Swanson shows up at the house to ask Charles and Richard for their help. Unfortunately, without knowing the cause of the aging, there may only be one way to save their lives, but getting them out of the base, and then figuring out what to do with them afterward are two hurdles that must be overcome before they can move forward with any solutions.

Lastly, while dining at a restaurant together, Derek and Jarrod meet a waitress named Darla, who becomes instantly obsessed with Derek. Unfortunately, this causes him no end of trouble when he runs into her at a club later, and she very physically thanks him for the generous tip he gave her…right in front of Tina and the others. Controlling her temper, Tina informs her that Derek isn’t available, but offers to introduce her to his brother Logan instead. Could this be a chance for Logan to fall in love again, or will the emotional scars of his past get in the way of his future happiness?

 

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Conspiracy (Book #14)

With the help of some very close friends in the nathalis intelligence services, Commander Arthwal’s investigation into the mystery surrounding the deaths of Alarwyn’s parents leads to a revelation that could rock the very foundations of the nathalis political system. Unfortunately, it also leaves him in a position where he must put his career on the line in order to give Alarwyn the justice she deserves.

Also, the hybrids are aging rapidly, and time is running out. In his desperation to save their lives, the colonel turns to Derek and Jarrod for help. Their plan to get the hybrids off the base however hits a snag when an administrator named Wilcox starts throwing some nasty accusations at the colonel, leaving them with no other choice but to expose themselves if they’re going to save the lives of both the hybrids, and the colonel as well.

Finally, when Tina, Sarah, and Jarrod kidnap Heather from the house in Scotland so they can take her out on a little adventure to a random dimension, they thought they were going to end up someplace exotic, or maybe even run into yet another strange species that they’d get to document and study. Unfortunately, the random dimension they happened to choose didn’t provide them with any of that. Instead, they find themselves in a parallel dimension, standing in the living room of their old house while they try to have a conversation with a parallel version of Patricia, who has no idea who any of them even are.

 

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Infestation (Book #15)

The akkelet started out as yet another zeth genetics experiment, but they quickly turned into something that even the zeths were deathly afraid of. When they escaped to another world and continued to breed exponentially, the zeths were left with no choice but to devote an inordinate amount of their military resources to wiping the akkelet out of existence. Unfortunately, before they had a chance to launch their attack, the nathalis blew up their moons and destroyed all seven of the zeth worlds. It seemed like the right move at the time, as the zeths had developed a nasty bioweapon that they were readying to use against them, but in doing so, they stopped the zeths from destroying a threat that would eventually find its way to all four of their own worlds.

Not only are the akkelet able to reproduce both rapidly and prolifically, but they’re telepathically connected through an intensely powerful hive mind, and since the zeths created them as an experiment using version one of the serum, their hive mind operates at a frequency that blasts through the minds of anyone who’s had the serum, thereby negating their ability to use any of their mental abilities. As the invasion begins on the nathalis worlds, their friends from the Human and Blue Fin dimensions must put boots on the ground alongside the nathalis military in order to fend off the threat. Unfortunately, the akkelet are advancing so single-mindedly, and in such massive numbers, that their only hope lies in Andrew and Naelen’s attempt to acquire a frequency jammer that’s capable of canceling out the hive mind, so that those on the ground will be able to use their mental abilities to eliminate the threat. The question is, will they acquire the technology in time to stop the invasion, or will their ground forces be overrun before they can return?

Also, when Derek, Jarrod, and Logan pry Charles and Richard out of the lab to go on a little trip to the planet Gliese 667 Cc, they end up finding a crashed ship and a dead bridge crew from a parallel dimension that leads them to uncover a tale of revenge against a massive and corrupt corporation that operates as their world government in exchange for free energy.

Finally, Darla and Logan’s relationship has reached the point where he’s ready to bring her into the family. Unfortunately, there’s a member of her own family who’s been missing for many years. Her father disappeared while on a trip to Texas to visit a friend, and no trace had ever been found of him. When Logan asks Derek to see if he can locate him, the search leads him somewhere he never expected, and leaves them with a lot more questions than answers about how he got there.

 

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Transition (Book #16)

It was a good run, but their patience has finally come to an end. In the year 2112, the military is forced to remove the government from power due to its deep rooted corruption. Half of the country supports that move, while the other half supports those who were in power, which leads to riots, looting and martial law. Not only that, but China and Russia are at each other’s throats once again, the Middle East is a mess, and there’s a new pandemic brewing in South America.

Feeling completely disconnected from the rest of humanity, they’re left with only three options. They can either mentally manipulate the whole of the Earth’s population to put an end to all the social and political turmoil, they could kill off most of the Earth’s population, thereby giving humanity a chance to rebuild itself from the ashes, or they could leave their home behind, and move on to greener pastures.

Unwilling to go with the first two options, and with no other options left open to them, the decision to move to the Nathalis dimension is ultimately made for them. Fortunately, this was a move that’s they’d planned on making for decades, so their new homes were already built and waiting for them by the time they arrived, thanks to the graciousness and generosity of the elders.

 

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Travelers (Book #17)

It was the year 2231 when they started coming through the portals. The echnids came looking for something specific, but that didn’t stop them from wiping out eighty percent of the Earth’s population, so they could also steal whatever other resources they found useful. Humanity may have been wiped out completely if not for what became known as the Day of Death, where all the echnids on Earth suddenly and inexplicably turned inside out.

Some people became victims in this post-apocalyptic world, while others, like Jake and Lana, found the strength within themselves to not only survive, but to thrive in this new world by taking on less than moral jobs in exchange for food, and all the other things they needed to make it from day to day. That all came to an end however when they reached the town of Cottonwood. The town was about the most normal and functioning place they’d run into in all their years of travels, and with life on the road weighing down on them so heavily, they decided that this was where they were going to settle down. Unfortunately, as the new sheriff and deputy of the town, they have to deal with a variety of issues in order to protect the people of Cottonwood, including random echnid incursions, roving bands of a biker gang known as Skinks, a drifter who lives to prey on the weak, and a very angry pregnant girl from a nearby town who has a bounty out on Jake’s head.

Making things even more difficult, when a random guy passes through town and tells Greg about some doors he saw standing amidst the rubble of some bombed out buildings up along the coast of Washington, his first thought is that they’re most likely the remains of some sort of an underground military facility. He becomes so obsessed with this thought, and what it could potentially mean for the town if they were to go up there and actually find something, that he attempts to enlist Jake and Lana’s help to make the trek up there with him. It would be a dangerous journey, but when four random strangers suddenly hit town, they might just have some information for them that’ll save them from making a useless trip.

 

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Repercussions (Book #18)

Actions have consequences. You may have done something in the past, or perhaps even on this very day that could alter the course of a whole civilization, or simply change the fate of one individual. The gang soon discovers this as they start checking in on some people and places from their past to find out how things have ended up for them over the course of the past two and a half centuries.
Actions have consequences. You may have done something in the past, or perhaps even on this very day that could alter the course of a whole civilization, or simply change the fate of one individual. The gang soon discovers this as they start checking in on some people and places from their past to find out how things have ended up for them over the course of the past two and a half centuries.

Also, when Beth organizes a whole new round of exploration runs, Giles and Savaric find themselves on a sunless world in a dimension filled with energy forms that appear to be the ghosts of intelligent species from a variety of different dimensions. When they bring in Charles and Richard to help them investigate however, one of the energy forms tries to get at them so aggressively, that Richard decides to capture it and bring it back to the lab in order to see if they can use that energy to restore the entity to its original form. Unfortunately, what they end up bringing back is none other than an old enemy that none of them had ever expected to see again.

 

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Reapers (Book #19)

When the reaper drones showed up at the party to kill Diedre so they could reclaim her energy and take it back to Purgatory, she and Logan had go on the run, hopping from dimension to dimension in an effort to try to stay one step ahead of them while the folks back home work on a way to rectify the situation without leaving all of the energy forms on Purgatory stranded there for all eternity. In their search for answers however, they make some incredible discoveries, not only about the dimension of Purgatory itself, but also about the root cause behind Diedre’s psychotic behavior in her former life.

Also, when Derek pays himself a visit from the future, he learns that their attempts at finding a solution to the Diedre situation appeared to have worked at first, but things ended really bad for them shortly thereafter. Now they have to think outside the box to come up with a new and unique way of solving the problem that they wouldn’t have otherwise considered, because if they don’t, then some people that they care very deeply about are going to end up dead, while others will have a falling out that will cause them to go their separate ways.

Finally, while out on the run from the Reaper drones, Logan and Diedre’s feelings for one another continue to grow, but can Logan resist temptation so that he doesn’t end up hurting Darla and destroying their marriage? Derek isn’t so sure, and every time that Logan returns and the others fail to catch him so they can swap out who’s protecting Diedre, his anger continues to grow. When he starts taking that anger out on the family however, Jarrod is forced to give him a harsh reality check to bring him back to his senses.

 

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Invasion (Book #20) (Coming in 2016)

Another day filled with boredom turns into story time when Derek, Jarrod, Tina, and Sarah prompt Jake and Lana to regale them with tales of their time on the road after the Echnid invasion.

From the moment they first met at the police station when Lana released him from a holding cell and saved his life, Jake devoted his life to making sure she had as good of a life as they possibly could in the post-invasion world, and he often risked everything to ensure their survival, and even though he purposely sabotaged any chance they had at being together because of his own insecurities, neither of them ever doubted that the other would always have their back.

After their escape from the echnids in Los Angeles, they traveled from small town to small town, searching for jobs that would be more suited to a mob enforcer than they would be to a homeless guy and a mechanic. Still, they needed to be able to do these sorts of jobs if they were going to survive in this new reality, because the only alternative was hardship and death. Fortunately, they seemed to have a rather high aptitude for this sort of work, so they managed to keep themselves going by contracting themselves out to whoever was willing to pay for their services.

Also, when Sarah decides to use their newly discovered ability to alter reality to save Jake from having to live with a mistake from his past, it leaves them wondering whether or not they should continue to keep this ability a secret from the rest of the family.

 

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Genesis (Book #21)

When you have the literal power of gods, the ultimate accomplishment would be to use that power to create a living world out of a lifeless hunk of rock. This was the idea behind the Genesis project, but there was just one catch. They needed to find a lifeless hunk of rock to use for the project before they could set their plans in motion.

Fascinated by the potential of what could be learned from such a project, an amiable stranger named Gerald shows up seemingly out of nowhere, stating that he’s simply there to observe their progress. When asked about where he came from however, what he tells them changes not only their view of the universe, but it also changes how they view their very existence.

Unable to take Gerald at his word that he’s simply there to observe, and that he won’t do anything to help or hinder them in any way, Jarod opens as time portal that takes him far into the future. When he returns however, not only does he refuse to tell the others where he went or why he went there, but he’s suddenly plagued by massive headaches. Not only that, but since he’s returned, no one’s abilities work on him anymore. Even stranger, he knows when someone is trying to use their abilities on him, which was something that, under normal circumstances, he shouldn’t have been able to sense. As their fear of what’s happened to him continues to grow, so does his frustration at constantly being asked about it, since keeping that knowledge a secret could be the key to their very survival.

Also, during the search for a suitable planet to use for the Genesis project, Derek and Jarrod happen to find the Echnid dimension, and quickly discover that the downtrodden average citizens of that world are in desperate need of help. In another twist of fate, Giles and Savaric visit a dimension where another old enemy have embedded themselves in a mountain temple. They claim to be gods, and as such, they’ve forced the people of that world into literal slavery, punishing them with massive storms if they should fail to pay their required tributes. When Giles and Savaric go to confront them over their actions, they soon discover that things aren’t always as cut and dry as they may seem.

 

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Aftermath (Book #22)

They’d come so close to being wiped entirely out of existence when Gerald informed them that he was going to be removing them all from the sim, but Jarrod’s foresight, suffering, and self-sacrifice saved them from that fate when he used the sim to kill Gerald by overloading his neural interface.

Coming that close to death gives you a whole new perspective on life, so after a celebratory party that left everyone but Jarrod with a nasty hangover, they began to experience their lives with a new appreciation and vigor. This took many forms, depending on the person. Some launched themselves into a whole new slew of practical jokes, some took a well-deserved vacation, and yet others focused on new projects that would give their lives added meaning. As for Jarrod, not only does he find some very special ways to make the people he loves happy, but he and Derek start a project of their own, creating a porch swing for his house on Genesis. It may seem like a small thing, but to them, their little project was more special than anyone could imagine.

Aftermath is a slice of life look at the people you’ve grown to love throughout the series, and now that they no longer have to worry about their own survival, who knows what adventures await them in the future? Only time will tell, and thanks to Jarrod, their time has become limitless.

 

Origins Trivia

Several things in Origins were vague references to things from my real life. There may be more minor references to things, but these are the major ones.

The adult bookstore Jarrod mentions when he’s talking to Tina and Sarah in the park for the first time. He says if you’re underage, but walk into the place like you belong there, they won’t card you or anything. That was based on a real adult bookstore in the town next to where I grew up.

The spooky old abandoned house where Jarrod and Sarah make love for the first time is actually based on a real house I went to with some friends one time in the middle of the night. My buddy and I went in there with three girls to use a Ouija board and have a generally spooky time. The part about the birds was real as well. I don’t know where they all came from, but the sky was black with them and they’d swirl around in perfect synchronization with one another, like the flowing tide. It’s still to this day one of the most incredible things I’ve seen.

The part about how Derek’s brother committed suicide was loosely based on a real person I went to school with who committed suicide in a similar way. He was in the grade ahead of us, so I was in the 7th grade and he was in the 8th grade when he killed himself.

As for the characters Tina and Sarah, it’s funny, because for almost the whole of book 1 and a large part of book 2…well, you know how when you read a character in a book, you get a mental image of them?  It’s the same when you’re writing them.  I kept picturing  Sarah as Emma Stone with red hair.  Now here’s the funny part about that.  I was picturing Tina as Emma Stone with blonde hair, because I have a picture of her from one of the Spider Man promos where she looks just like I’d imagine Tina looking like.  Now (as of this writing) I’m well into writing book 2, and my image of Sarah has evolved into something different, but for me, Tina is always going to be that blonde Emma Stone.

Another little bit of trivia is a little something about the writing process. I find that my writing flows out of me much more smoothly if I have music playing in the background. For about the first 20% or so of Origins, I was listening to a lot of Diana Krall, but then I discovered Kelly Sweet’s 2007 album, We Are One, and I was hooked. I had it looping over and over throughout the last 80% of the book, and well as through the entire editing and proofing process.

Now that I’m working on book 2, The Hunt, I still have it looping constantly in the background. I even play along with it on bass and guitar when I’m not writing. I’m just absolutely in love with the album!

Now for the last bit of trivia. I don’t really plan out much of my writing. I may have thoughts about events that I want to have happen now and then, but for the most part, I just start typing and let the writing go wherever it feels right.

I had several ideas during the writing of Origins that didn’t make it into the book at all, or that changed completely once I got to whatever parts they were supposed to go into, because that’s just not where the writing was going. Invariably, where the writing took me ended up being far better than the ideas that got pushed along the wayside.

Here’s a good example. At one point I had thought about having one of the Faranox living in our dimension, because he didn’t agree with the taking of humans and as such, he was ostracized by his people and sent to live here. I was also going to have a permanent dimensional portal that was hidden in a cave somewhere. Neither of those things ended up in the book. Instead, I made it so the Faranox can’t exist in our dimension for long without dying because of the different gas mixture in our atmosphere (more about that in the 2nd book) and rather than a permanent portal, they get a portal generating crystal amulet that the Agaronin use to pop into our dimension when they kidnap people.

There were a variety of things with the main and side characters as well that changed, and there were also numerous things that I added as I went along.

All in all, the end result was something I was really happy with. I love the story, and I love writing these characters.

 

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The Hunt Trivia

When I started writing The Hunt, I knew what I wanted it to be in the most general of terms.  They were going to go to the Faranox dimension to rescue Jarrod’s family.  The journey they were going to take to get there and the personal revelations of the characters and their continued character development were all simply a product of typing.  No, I don’t mean character types, I mean actual typing, as in pressing keys on the keyboard.  What you get with the characters in both books is organic development.  I write them in the way that feels the most natural to me in their present situation, and I treat them like real life individuals.

That goes for the story as well.  Very few aspects of the story were pre-planned.  The one thing I can honestly remember pre-planning was the scene with the mounted Agaronin that was running down Derek and Jarrod.  The “punchline” of that scene if you will was pre-planned, but the rest was really just a matter of sticking them into that situation and seeing what happened.  Their dialog was also generated completely on the fly based on their situation, their personalities and their relationship with one another.

The final assault near the end of the book was something that I pre-planned as well, though I didn’t actually come up with it until just before I reached that point in the story, so I’m not sure how honest it would be to call that part pre-planned.  As with the other scene I mentioned above, even though I knew generally what was going to be happening, it developed organically as I wrote it, and turned into something that I was actually pretty proud of.

There are things in this book that are planned for by the characters that never come to pass.  Just as in real life, sometimes you buy things you think you’ll need, and then end up using something different entirely.  Sometimes you make plans, and then find that you have to change those plans depending on the current situation.  That makes the story feel like it’s real and fluid.  Nothing irritates me more than when I’m reading a book and the entire thing feels planned from start to finish.  That just doesn’t feel like reality to me.

There’s a particular scene in this book that gets me all teared up every time.  I got teared up when I wrote it, and I teared up again when I was doing the proofreading.  It’s a scene where Derek and Jarrod are talking why they’re waiting for the girls to come back from their amulet run, and there are some serious new revelations, especially with regard to Derek, that come out during that conversation.  I can’t help it.  I tear up pretty easily at stuff like that.  I always have.  I don’t want to reveal it here, but it’s a pretty heart wrenching scene.  There’s a part toward the end that kinda gets me as well.

The scene with the dead Agaronin in Patricia’s kitchen was very over the top, and was largely inspired by my love of various films, including the Evil Dead series.  There’s even a nod to Army of Darkness when Tina refers to the Agaronin as “primitive screw heads”.

I take you to the blue fin dimension several times in this book, and we get to meet the blue fin people.  They’ll be making a re-appearance in Unseen Things: Exploration.  I also introduced the two other races which are as of yet unnamed, although they were referring to one of them as leprechauns since that’s generally what they looked like.  There’s a very small mention of their dimensions as well.  Inventing new dimensions and new races is probably the most exciting and fun part about this series.  Each one presents it’s own problems and potential dangers, and it creates a vast canvas into which I can paint the characters from book to book.  I’m going to be devoting a fair amount of time to the blue fins in book three.

I had Kelly Sweet’s We Are One album playing throughout the entire writing process, just as I’d done with the first book.  I’m so used to it now, that as soon as I hear it, it completely shifts me into writing mode.

As with Origins, I’m extremely happy with how this book came out and how the story and the characters developed.  This book is a completely different animal from the first one, because I wanted it to be.  The first book was an introduction to literally everything, and that’s exactly what it was intended to be.  It was a book that had to happen for me to be able to write this one, and I’m incredibly proud of both.

 

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Exploration Trivia

When I finished up the main storyline in The Hunt when they rescued Jarrod’s family, I wasn’t really sure where I was going to take the series from there.  My plan was to take a little break to let the next idea just come to me naturally, but after just a couple of days, I couldn’t stand not writing anymore, so I just sat down and started typing.  All I knew was, I wanted to put a lot more focus on their relationship with the blue fin people, but outside of that, I really didn’t know what I was going to do.

The opening scene of the book that involves the confrontation with Diedre almost didn’t happen.  Before I started writing the book, I was actually debating whether to turn that whole thing into a full on scene or to just leave it as something that they made reference to as something that had happened between the previous book and this one.  Ultimately I decided I not only wanted to do the full scene, but I wanted it to be the opening scene of the book since the reference to them wanting to do it occurred at the end of book 2.  It just seemed like a natural place to pick up again, so I ran with it, and it quickly turned into one of my favorite scenes.

Something else that almost didn’t happen was the blue fin village.  My original idea was to have the blue fins living in undersea cities, but considering the fact that the Faranox had captured them as slaves, it didn’t make sense to do that, so it ended up being an idea that was quickly discarded.

Several of the biggest revelations in the book about the blue fins, the amulets and Derek’s mother were all ideas that just flowed out of me as I typed.  None of it was pre-planned.  In fact, very little in any of the books in the series has ever been pre-planned outside of having a vague idea of things I wanted to do here and there, and even then nothing was ever set in stone.  I just typed and it became whatever it was going to be.

Some people may be a bit shocked by the development in the relationships between Jarrod, Derek, Tina and Sarah, but to me it felt like a natural extension of what they already felt for one another.  If it hadn’t have felt so natural, or if it had felt forced in any way, I wouldn’t have included it in the story.

I actually considered killing off Derek’s mother in this book, but I figured it would be too cruel considering his brother had already committed suicide.

There are scenes in every book that actually make me cry every time I read them.  Mostly because I’m a big sap when it comes to sentimental stuff.  In this book, one of the ones that was getting me every time was the scene where Derek sees his mother in the hospital.  Another was when Sarah was in bed, staring at the photo of the four of them in their gear outside the cabin.  I always feel stupid when I cry about stuff like that, but I can’t help it.  I also make myself actually laugh out loud every time I read some of the scenes as well, like the meal scene in the blue fin village.

The revelation about the amulets will lead to something down the road, but I haven’t written it yet, so I couldn’t even guess at what it’ll be.  I guess I’ll find that out when I get to it.

The developments regarding the blue fin people in this book were conjured up on the fly, and it all really started with Freddie playing video games with the guys.  Something as simple as that actually led me to some incredible new revelations about their entire race, which has added immeasurably to the series and has led to the development of a story idea for the fourth book.  Many of the major developments in the series have spawned from seemingly minor, innocuous events.

Once again, I had Kelly Sweet’s We Are One album playing in the background throughout the writing of this entire book.  As soon as I turn it on, I just go into writing mode.  It’s become habit now I guess.

While there was a bit of a nod to The Evil Dead movies in The Hunt during the kitchen scene in chapter 5, I actually make reference to two films in this book – Conan the Destroyer and Tremors.

 

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Revenge Trivia

Revenge was actually written in two weeks.  I started it on December 31, 2013 and completed the story on January 13, 2014.

I’ve included small nods to various movies in the different books.  In this one, there’s a small nod to the television show Sanford and Son when I mention that Patricia looks like she’s about to have the big one.

The developments that happen with the blue fin people in this book weren’t planned.  I came up with them on the fly as I was writing, simply because one thing led to another and they led in a logical direction toward what’s coming in the future books.  It also makes them far more interesting as a race and a way larger part of the overall story than if I’d have just left them as a simple, island dwelling people.

Even though this book explores the leprechaun and insect dimensions a bit, I purposely haven’t gotten too involved with those people or those dimensions as of yet, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to.  One option is to leave them behind as they start exploring new dimensions, while the other option is to leave them as a more major story element for Jeremy, Mike, Jenny and Laurie to explore.

There’s a huge development coming in the next book that came to me while I was thinking about the Jan Brewster character and about how the beginning of the next book, Unseen Things: Immortals, was going to play out.

Barbara’s unexpected kinks came to me as I was writing as well.  I wanted to have a funny scene involving her, Billy and Freddie, and that one scene added a whole new dimension to her character.

Very little of any of the books have been pre-planned.  I usually just start writing and let the story go wherever my fingers take it.  The part in this book with the confrontation between Tina and her mother had been semi-planned for a while now.  I knew it was going to happen eventually, but I didn’t know when.  I also didn’t plan how it was all going to play out ahead of time, and to be honest, I actually had a hard time figuring out how that scene was going to conclude.  Without giving anything away here, they ended up in a pretty tight spot that could have landed them in some legal trouble and I had to figure out a way to get them out of it.

 

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Immortals Trivia

This book had several references in it to various films and books.  Some are rather overt while others are more subtle.  See if you can pick out the references to They Live, Star Trek (The Trouble With Tribbles episode), The Evil Dead 2, The Waterboy, South Park and Twilight.  There are also mentions in passing of some notable characters, like when Tina calls Sarah Nancy Drew.

The whole thing with the Steve the insect man was intended to be a funny bit, but then it quickly turned into a running joke.

The reptilian booze was something that was completely random.  While I was writing that section, I was unsure exactly what I wanted to do with them in that dimension.  Ultimately I decided to make the dimension rather boring, so I threw in the part about the reptilian booze to make up for the boredom of the dimension, because that particular detail led to some very amusing scenes later on.

I came up with the whole leprechaun, amulet thing on the fly.  I was trying to figure out how to make the leprechaun dimension more interesting, so I figured I’d give Jenny and Laurie something to find outside of the village.  It added a new aspect to the story while at the same time creating an interesting mystery for them.  It also gave them a really awesome way to wrap up their first mission.

The Ach’len race are based on the whole Nordic alien story.  There’s reportedly a race of aliens called the Nordics that look similar in appearance to the Ach’len, so I used them for inspiration.  If you’ve never heard of Nordic aliens, look it up.  It’s pretty interesting.

What happened to Jarrod’s arms was one of the few things I really pre-planned.  I wanted to have a scene that showed off their new regenerative abilities, so I figured what better way to do that?

For the scenes in Scotland, I spent some time with Google Street View looking around Killearn and the surrounding area so I’d have a rough idea of where I wanted the events of that part of the story to take place.

Making Dylan McKenzie drunk when the girls first meet him was something I came up with just as I was writing that scene.  It was a random thought that led to some very funny moments and also his reasons for being drunk and not wanting to keep the records anymore.  There have been a lot of random little thoughts and details like that throughout the series that have led to far bigger and more involved things.

 

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Division Trivia

This book had more references in it to various characters and films than any other.  See if you can pick out the references to Twilight, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Revenge of the Nerds, Highlander, They Live, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Sealab 2021, Strange Brew, Rodney Dangerfield and David Beckham.

Billy referring to getting fitted for tuxes as a long, slow death was a little inside joke I threw in.  One of the Kelly Sweet songs I have on loop while I write is her cover of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight.  She can’t stand the original song and refers to it as feeling like a long, slow death.

At some point, Sarah calls Jarrod “Muffin”, which is a pet name I call my wife frequently.

Tina says, “What’s up buttercup?”  This one will take a little explaining.  Our border collie Buddy has trigger words that make him go nuts.  There’s a whole list of words and phrases that make him freak out, and that’s one of them.  It’s really hilarious.  He’s such a quirky, awesome dog.  The funny part is that if we stop saying whatever trigger words we’re saying, he looks at us and smiles, waiting for us to say more so he can keep freaking out.

Like many things in the series, there are a variety of elements that become major things in the story that I just came up with on the fly as I was writing.  Their developing the ability to link and bringing back Martin Decker are just two examples, but a major example of this is when I decided to have Jarrod and Derek work on a secret project that eventually led to them marrying Tina and Sarah.  I had no intention of having them get married when I started the book.  As I was writing however, it just felt like it was time, so that’s what I had them do.

 

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Trackers Trivia

This is the longest book in the series.  The entire book comes in at over 105 thousand words.

There are only a couple of references to things in this one.  See if you can spot a quote from Cheech & Chong, and another reference to a joke that Sam Kinison once used in his act.

I named the character Heather after Connor MacLeod Heather from the movie Highlander.

While they’ve all been of varying lengths, all of the books in the series so far have had sixteen chapters.  I find that if I set an average goal of around 5,500 words per chapter, the books end up being the proper length for the stories.

I hadn’t originally intended to bring Beth forward as a leader, but as I wrote the story, it suddenly occurred to me how awesome it would be to take the one person who was the least likely to become a leader and turn them into one.  I absolutely love what Beth has become, and I had a seriously great time writing her.

The part about possibly having to kill Heather if she didn’t work out was something that just popped into my head.  It was a good way of showing the change in Beth and her willingness to do whatever it took to protect the team and what they were doing.  The whole theme of the job being more important than the life of any one individual sprang from that initial thought.  In a way she’s like Carol from The Walking Dead.  She’s wiling to do anything it takes to protect the team and the work, even if it means killing someone.  Fortunately, she didn’t have to.

The part about Jarrod’s eyes changing was something I hadn’t really considered the first time I wrote that he was able to see through Steve’s eyes while they were linked.  It was actually an idea I came up with while I was writing this book, and I think it turned out rather well.  The changes in their eyes will come into play in the next book, Ghost Worlds.

 

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Ghost Worlds Trivia

Ghost Worlds is the first book in the series to really become a fantasy / sci-fi hybrid.  The only time they’d dealt with an advanced civilization in previous books was when they visited the Ach’len dimension, but that wasn’t a major part of the storyline.

There are two references in this book, one to a film and one to another book series.  When Billy says, “Well honk my hooter!” that’s a reference to a line from the film Better Off Dead.  As for the book reference, at one point Beth is talking to Thayelle and offers to take her dimension hopping.  This is a reference to the Myth Series of books by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye.  That series involves multiple dimensions and dimension travel as well, and they refer to it as dimension hopping.  They even have a device that allows them to travel from one dimension to another called a d-hopper.

I had originally planned to kill off a character in this book that had appeared in previous books, but as the writing of this book progressed and I actually remembered that I’d wanted to do that, I was too far into the book to include it any sort of a natural feeling, organic way, so I’ll be adding it to the next book instead.

I rarely plan the events of my books ahead of time.  As such, things like breaking up the human trafficking ring, the dimension of Paradise with the super tame and fearless animals, the mineral they found there that was the key element used to create zero point energy and a variety of other events were all completely written on the fly.  I did pre-plan a few things for this book, as I often do, but I didn’t plan very much.

This book, as with all the others, continues with the 16 chapter format.  I find that 16 chapters with a certain average word count brings me exactly to the length I want my books to be.

 

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Resurrection Trivia

I skimped a bit in the references to different things that I threw into the last book.  This one has several.

Derek tells Logan, “Wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which gets full faster.”  This is something my father used to tell me when I was a kid, and not only did I find it funny, but it’s also a very good way of telling someone that nothing’s going to happen unless you make it happen.

When Tina is demonstrating her new mental abilities on Derek and Beth, she casually and randomly changes their colors a few times.  This was nod to the movie Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.

The part where Derek hugs his mom and he’s so big and muscular that he can’t quite close his arms around her.  That’s something I’ve had a problem with many times, especially when I was heavily into weight lifting.

When Heather tries out remote sensing, and in fact the entire method that goes into them using their new mental abilities, that comes directly from a method I was taught by a psychic many years ago.

There’s a reference to The Undertaker and his patented choke slam move when Erin choke slams a purse snatcher in Italy.

Tina makes a reference to Meatloaf and his song, I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).

The part about being able to project disguises over themselves is a little nod to Robert Asprin’s Myth Series.

The whole thing with relation to Thayelle and Jonathan near the end of the book was simply an impulse on my part.  I came up with it while I was writing the conversation between her and Beth, and it just felt right, so I ran with it and turned it into something that became a major part of the end of this book, and will play a major part in the beginning of the next one as well.

As far as the new mental abilities are concerned, I hadn’t originally intended to take it as far as I did, but what I did end up doing added a hell of a lot of fun to the story.  The more I developed those abilities, the more fun it became, so I just ran with it.

The hobbies I gave to Giles and Savaric were things I came up with on the fly, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.  It gave the characters some unique and distinct qualities that were indicative of their personalities.

This book was almost the first book to have more than sixteen chapters, but I decided in the end that it would be better to stop where I did so I could pick things up right where they left off in the next book.

 

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Encounters Trivia

There’s a part where Savaric is drunk in the control room and they hear him burp loudly over the intercom, followed by Diana shouting at him, “Sav!!!  That’s rude!!!”  This is a direct reference to something I personally did in the second grade.  We were all sitting around the reading table, and while one of the other kids was reading, I had the guy next to me lean over so I could whisper something in his ear, only instead of whispering, I ripped out a big ol’ chunky belch.  The teacher was all, “Duane!!!  That’s rude!!!”

When they’re trying to decide on who the strippers will be at the party, Derek insists he’s not going to do it again because he looks like a wounded moose when he dances.  That’s something I’ve personally said many times, because that’s exactly how I look when I try to do anything but slow dance.

Explaining how the blue fins built the building on their island, as well as their process for making glass was a lot more of a pain to write than I originally thought it would be, mainly because I had to come up with reasonable ideas for how they made both the building materials and the glass they created.

I actually disgusted myself a little in describing Thayelle’s transformation, because I could see it all in my head as I was writing it, and I was like, “Ick!”

I came up with a different job for the parents of Mike, Jeremy, Jenny, Laurie and Heather because I didn’t want their team to be doing the same things the others were.  My plans for them are that they’ll be mentioned from time to time as to what they’re working on, and once in a great while I may have Heather’s parents in it for a bit, but as of now I have no plans to turn any of them into fully active characters.

The new mental trick that Tina came up with was something that just popped into my head as I was writing the scene, and as with so many other things that just popped into my head as I was writing, it turned into a major thing that’ll see a lot of use down the road.

I purposely limited how much I included Alarwyn and the other Nathalis in this book, because I want the relationship between them and the humans to develop slowly.

The stories Giles and Savaric tell the others about their time in the Zethichtalarin labs is something I’ve had rolling around in my head for quite a while, but there was never an appropriate moment to include it until now.

Likewise, the entire part with Sarah’s mother Deborah in this book is something I actually planned on doing two books ago, but there was never an appropriate place to fit it in until now.

 

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Resurgence Trivia

The new telekinetic abilities the characters develop in this book is a bit of a nod to the movie Zapped!

When a robber comes into the restaurant, Martin called him “My weasly little friend.”  This is a reference to a line in the film Detroit Rock City.

When Sheryl holds her chest and starts staggering around saying, “I’m comin’ ta join ya Elizabeth!  This is the big one!” it’s a reference to the 70s sitcom, Sanford and Son.

When Heather’s drunk and talking to them on the phone, she says (talking about her brother), “He’s just a boy.  Poor little feller.”  This is a reference to a line in an episode of South Park, which in itself was a reference to a line in the movie Sling Blade.

When Jarrod is irritating Sarah and he says, “It was totally worth it,” that’s a reference to a line from animated series, Sealab 2021.

In chapter 13 there’s another vague reference to the Twilight books and films that’s sort of a running joke in the series.

When it came time to do the spell checking in this book, the scene where the girls drunk called the guys had so many slurred words and odd spellings that it caused the whole spell checking process to take considerably longer than usual.

 

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Emissary Trivia

This book is the longest in the series, coming in at just over 120K words.  It also took the longest to write and edit due to some personal issues.

I had originally intended the book to focus more on Alarwyn, but that isn’t the way it ended up because of the addition of another new character named Stephanie.  As Alarwyn and Stephanie become fast friends and practically sisters in this book, the next book will have quite a bit of content with the two of them getting their feet wet by heading out on some explorations runs together.

There’s an Are You Being Served? reference when Beth is talking about ways they can steer girls in Giles’ direction at the club.

There’s a quote used by Derek: “With great power comes great responsibility.”  Many people mistake the source of this quote.  It’s actually a quote from Voltaire in 19th century France.

There’s a Gordon Ramsay reference with regard to Giles’ cooking.

When they go to see the raccoon lady, Diana projects herself as the old woman from the movie Drag Me To Hell.

The colonel makes a small reference to stepping into the Twilight Zone.

Stephanie makes reference to the first Highlander movie and then goes on to talk about how all the sequels sucked.

The colonel makes reference to the aliens in The Simpsons in the last chapter.

Some of the information and references to the aliens known commonly as the grays are based on real accounts from abductees.

I hadn’t originally planned on bringing in a new main character as Giles’ love interest.  However, as I wrote their conversation in the club, the personality that came out of her made me absolutely fall in love with the character.  Plus, adding her into the mix allowed me to connect her and Alarwyn together as best friends since they were dating Giles and Savaric.

Bringing in someone from Area 51 is something I’ve been planning on doing since the last book, though I didn’t know what form their involvement would take.  Even as I was writing it, I still wasn’t sure.  That’s what’s fun about organic writing.  You just sort of let the story write itself as you go along.  In this case, the colonel turned into a relatively major, recurring character, which wasn’t my first thought at all.  I originally planned for it to be a one time encounter, or maybe just a character that would show up once in a great while, but that all changed as I wrote his initial scene.

The part with Tina’s biological mother Helen getting sober is something I’ve had planned for a while, but it needed to be done at the right time, and this book was that time.  As of now I have no plans on bringing Helen back into the story.  This, at least for now, was just sort of closing the chapter on that whole thing, while at the same time making Tina and Barbara even closer than they were already.  It also gave me a chance to bring up Sarah’s sadness over the fact that she’d never know the love of a real mother.

 

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Companions Trivia

Demond, the guy who took the promotion from Stephanie right before Giles met her is named after Demond Wilson who played Lamont on Sanford and Son.  Why?  No particular reason.  I just like that show and the name popped into my head while I was trying to think of a name for him.

Stephanie is surprised when Alarwyn cracks a joke, so Alarwyn says something about not being allowed to have a sense of humor just because she has pointed ears.  This is an obvious Star Trek reference.

Jarrod calls the prehistoric dimension Jurassic Park, though it doesn’t retain that name in the book.  That particular dimension is simply referred to as the prehistoric dimension.

While the girls are out on their mission, Giles tells Savaric that he can’t keep walking around like a miserable old boot.  This is a reference to a line from an episode of Are You Being Served? in which Mr. Grainger had been walking around the store for days in an extremely bad mood.

There’s a reference to a surstromming challenge video on YouTube.  The video I was referring to is here, and I highly suggest subscribing to Jeff’s channel as he does wonderful review videos on a variety of things.  He also has some very entertaining story time videos where he relates different amusing stories from his past.

When they go into the distillery on the reptilian dimension so that Giles and Savaric can see how the reptilian booze is made, Savaric says that some things really are better left unseen.  This is a vague reference to the name of the series.

After Derek’s unpleasant shopping trip with the girls, Jarrod has a talk with him, and at the end of it he gives Jarrod a Chris Reeve large Sebenza knife.   This is a real knife made by Chris Reeve Knives right here in Boise, Idaho.  Maybe someday if the series really takes off I’ll actually make enough money to buy one for myself.

At some point Stephanie and Giles are talking, and she says, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”  He asks, “Do you?” and she says, “Not at the moment.”  This is a direct quote from the movie Better Off Dead.

There’s a small reference to the face huggers from Alien movies when they’re talking about how Darla latched onto Derek at the club.

There’s two Ghostbusters references in the haunted house part.  The first is when Patricia says she forgot to bring along her unlicensed nuclear accelerator, and the other is when she mentions later that they’re not the Ghostbusters and that she doesn’t have a trap hanging off of her belt that they can use to toss under the ghostly creature they found.

Tina says, “If we had a nickel for every time we beat up some ass hole who deserved it, we’d have a shitload of nickels.”  This is a reference to a quote from the movie Baseketball.

When Jarrod tells Derek what scares him.  He says, “The thought of living an average, boring life and then dying someday without having done anything at all of any real value.”  That’s a direct reference to how I feel about my own life, which is a big part of why I’m so passionate about writing this series.

 

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Conspiracy Trivia

The first book of the Unseen Things series, Origins, was published on November 23, 2013.  Conspiracy, the fourteenth book of the series was published on November 22, 2014, one day before the one year anniversary of the publication of the first book.  That means that I’ve published fourteen books in one year, with a combined total word count of 1,437,533 words.  That’s not counting the bonus scene and the deleted scene that are posted here on the website.  That’s just the count for the books themselves.

When they find the parallel dimension and discover that Martin is homeless there, they do a remote viewing on him and find out that he’s in Spokane at the House of Charity – Catholic Charities homeless shelter.  This is a real place in Spokane, Washington.

Tina asks, “What’d you do?  Twiddle his knobs or something?  He went out of focus.” – Loose reference to a quote from a very drunk Mrs. Slocombe on Are You Being Served?.

There are numerous references to Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson and the film Stroker Ace.  I also threw in a reference to the Cannonball Run movies.

When Jeff, Steve and the colonel go to the prehistoric dimension on an exploration run, there are several references to the television show Land of the Lost.  There’s also a reference to the film Quest for Fire in this scene.

There’s a Captain Kirk reference made by Derek after Jeff has an unexpected sexual encounter in the prehistoric dimension.

When Tina’s upset about Alarwyn’s situation and the guys are talking to her and Sarah about a side job that Patricia told them about, Tina gets irritated and says, “Fuck him and everyone who looks like him!”  This is a loose reference to a George Carlin quote.

When Steve and the colonel disappear for several days and then eventually return, Patricia asks them where the hell they’ve been.  The colonel says he left them a note on one of the wall panels and Patricia gets upset because she never thinks to check those.  This was a reference to something similar happening to her in an earlier book in the series where she didn’t think to check the wall panel.

 

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Infestation Trivia

This book was originally planned to be the penultimate book of the series, but those plans changed as I was writing it.  There was no way I could wrap things up with the main part of the series within this particular book.

I always have music playing while I’m writing, and I have some standard artists that I listen to.  During this book I was listening to Queen, Kelly Sweet, Teagan and Sara, Echosmith and Aur Revoir Simone.  From chapters thirteen through sixteen however, I had one song playing on loop throughout, simply because it fit the mood of what I was writing.  Those chapters are the lead up to the big battle, the battle itself and then the aftermath.  The song I was listening to was Robert Tepper’s There’s No Easy Way Out from the Rocky IV soundtrack.

Charles mentions that perhaps it hasn’t been the wisest of decisions to grow their numbers the way they have, but also notes that in a way it’s been highly beneficial to them.  This was a reference to how I felt as the author about bringing in so many characters.  They’re needed in their own capacities, but having so many has become a bit difficult and burdensome at times.

While I was editing this book, I discovered a plot hole that would have made the last four chapters of the book completely unnecessary.  I had to rack my brains trying to figure out a way to make it all work, and grew ever more frustrated as everything I came up with had the exact same issue.  Fortunately, I finally came up with a solution that only required a small bit of editing and made everything work out perfectly.  Phew!

Gilese 667C c, which plays a rather large part in this book, is an actual planet thought to be habitable. (Yes, that small “c” on the end is supposed to be there.  It’s part of the name.)

The part with the crashed ship on Gilese 667C c was simply a thought I came up with as I was writing the scene, and that one little event ended up turning into a major part of the storyline.  Many of the more major story elements in the series either came from a random thought or a small event that ended up turning into or related to something much larger later on.

The part where Richard explains to Jarrod why using crystals to amplify the power of a zero point bomb wouldn’t result in a significantly larger explosion by showing him what happens when you plug a resistor into standard AC power is something we used to do back in electronics class in high school.  We’d plug the resistor into the socket, turn on the power and it’d either burn up or pop like a firecracker.

The use of the adrenaline needle to revive Raina after they restored her body was a reference to Pulp Fiction.  Later, there was a direct reference to it as well.

 

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Transition Trivia

Tina complains that there’s nothing to watch on television because there’s so much crap and filler.  This is a common complaint in my own household.  It’s like, why are we paying for so much stuff we have no desire whatsoever to watch?

When Tina tells Naelen that all the freaky stuff is kept hidden from people in the human dimension, he notes that none of them seem overly freaked out by any of it, to which she replies, ‘That’s because we’re the ones who knock.”  This is an obvious reference to the show Breaking Bad.

Derek asks Jarrod in the bathroom at Gencore if he’s got any big, mean dookies on deck.  This is a reference to the Bad Lip Reading video, Everybody Poops.  Look it up on YouTube.  It’s pretty funny.

In chapter 12, Jarrod calls Derek bro and Derek questions him about it, because that’s not the way it usually works.  Derek calls him “bro” and Jarrod calls him “man”.   This was a little acknowledgment of the fact that I’ve always had them refer to each other in this way, and when it was suddenly reversed, it threw Derek off a little.

Chapter 13 jumps to June 12, 2112.  I chose this year because it was about in the right date range for where I needed to take the story, and it’s also a nod to Rush’s 2112 album.

In the riot scene in chapter 13, Tina says, “Let me do the talkin’.  I speak their lingo.”  This was a reference to the Cheech & Chong sketch, Ralph and Herbie where Ralph (Cheech) says that when he spots a French poodle named Fifi.

Tina uses one of the rioters like a ventriloquist’s doll.  This was a nod to a similar scene in the film Killer Klowns from Outer Space, when one of the alien clowns uses the town sheriff in the same way.

 

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Travelers Trivia

This book (book 17) was written before book book 16 because it was supposed to be the first book of a companion series that takes place in the same universe called the Wasteland Earth series.  As I wrote it however, I decided that it would make a much more fitting end to the main series, so I scrapped the idea for the companion series all together and used it as book 17 instead.  Plans to have it end the series changed as well, because while I was writing book 16, I came up with ideas for three more books.

In my head, Jake’s character is sort of like a slutty version of Bruce Campbell.

The reason I wanted to write this book was so that I could work with an entirely new group of characters who had to face everything without godlike powers.  They’re just normal folks who survived the Echnid attacks and are struggling to rebuild everything so they can get their lives back to some semblance of normalcy in a world that’s gone through a drastic and devastating change.  It gave me a chance to write new characters in a world that was unfamiliar, facing an enemy that was completely new, and other enemies of the human variety (the Skinks), that were somewhat based on the baddies in the Mad Max films.

 

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Repercussions Trivia

In chapter three Jake tells a story about the homeless shelter he stayed at, and in the story there’s an old guy named Eddie who lives there.  This character was loosely based off of a real person, though he wasn’t really homeless.  When I was seventeen years old, my first job was working at a gas station, and living behind the gas station in an old trailer was this guy named Eddie who used to come over to talk to whoever was working there at the time.  He was old and had been smoking all his life, so his voice sounded like five miles of bad road, but he was a nice old guy.  Anyway, I happened to think of him when I was writing that character, so that’s why I named him Eddie.  Sadly, the last I heard of the real Eddie was that he passed away a very long time ago.

 

In chapter six, the following comment is made:

Derek: “That’s the problem with immortals that breed. There gets to be too many of ’em after a while.”

Patricia: “Kinda the same for those that don’t breed as well.”

This was a reference to the large number of characters I’ve brought in throughout the run of the series.  I’m sure you’ve noticed by this point that I have members of the “family” that don’t even have names and are rarely ever even mentioned.  That’s because they do their own thing outside of the context of the main story.  Mike, Jeremy, Jenny and Laurie’s parents are a good example of this, as is Thayelle’s father.

In chapter 9, Jarrod says: “Hell yeah, I’m totally in!  Just let me know when and I’ll be there with balls on.” – I’ll be there with balls on is a quote from Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie, when Cheech is talking to Donna on the phone.

There are two references to the Adam Sandler film, The Waterboy.  The first is in chapter 12, and the second is in chapter 14.  This is one of my all time favorite films.  In fact, I’ve seen it so many times that I can pretty much quote the entire movie verbatim at this point.

In chapter 16, Stephanie says, “Buck up little trooper.”  This is a quote from Better Off Dead, when Lane is nervous about having to ski the K12, and his friend Charles says that to reassure him.

I wanted to write this book in such a way that it could be the final book in the series, if that’s what it ended up being.  As such, I wanted to revisit a lot of things from their past, so we could see what happened as a result of their influence on various people and events.  A part of this book however opened up a story line that can be continued in a subsequent book, so there will be at least one more book in the series after this one.

Bringing back Diedre was something I’ve sort of had in the back of my mind for a while now, but I hadn’t really anticipated the direction it would take until I actually wrote it.  As it turns out, it all ended up being way different than I had imagined.

I realized right before I was ready to publish that I forgot to write Steve into the party scene at the end of the book, so I remedied that by including him in the after party group discussion where they ask him if he had a good time, and it’s at that point that he tells them how things went for him.

I really wanted to write more of the Jake and Lana characters, because they’re just insanely fun to write.  Jake in particular has quickly become my favorite character in the series, because he’s not only hilarious, but he manages to be completely shallow, reckless, irresponsible and cocky, while at the same time he’s also deeply honorable, loving and sincere.  His past regrets weigh heavily on him, but he doesn’t let that stop him from living his life and loving the people around him.  He internalizes those regrets, and every so often then when he talks about those regrets and the stories behind them, you get a glimpse of just how deeply he’s been hurt by them.  I’ve considered writing a whole book about his and Lana’s experiences from right before the met, all the way up to the point where they reach that town in Utah they ended up at in Travelers, so that may still be in the pipeline somewhere before I end the series.

 

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Reapers Trivia

In chapter 3, Jake says “What a rush, huh?” after Jarrod tells Slappy that he’ll be reverting back in age.  This was a little quote from Chong in Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke.  He said it after Cheech ate a whole handful of acid.

In chapter 4, Jarrod asks why the guys messed with that building on Purgatory and then and then had to go on the run afterward.  He says, “We need ’em here right now, not out there dimension hopping.” Dimension hopping is a reference to The Myth Series, by Robert Asprin.  That’s what they call traveling dimensions in that series.  They even have a device called a D-hopper.

In chapter 8, Jarrod asks Charles if he’s sure that Freddie’s not gonna train the guys from the parallel dimension wrong as a joke or somethin’.  This was a reference to the movie Kung Pow, when Master Tang says that they trained Wimp Lo wrong, as a joke.

In chapter 9, a colossal drunken roar emanated from the house.  This was a reference to the Black Adder II episode where they had a drinking competition on the same night when Edmund’s puritanical aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Whiteadder came over for dinner.  They hear something, so Lady Whiteadder asks what it was.  Edmund says he didn’t hear anything, and then he asks Lord Percy if he heard anything.  Percy responds, “No.  Apart from that colossal drunken roar.”

In chapter 10, Charles is drunk and suddenly he wakes up, gets to his feet and asks, “What place is this???” before he passes out on the couch again.  He says it again after Richard puts him to bed later.  This is a reference from the classic film The Comedy of Terrors.  Basil Rathbone’s character suffered from catalepsy, so every time they thought he was dead, he’d eventually wake up and say, “What place is this?”  It’s one of my all time favorite films.

Entangling the two Purgatory dimensions was something I came up with on the fly while writing that particular discussion.  It worked well to not only explain what happened to the sun in that dimension, but it also explained the corruption of the energy forms, and I was able to link the cause of it back to a malfunctioning portal generator on a random alien ship.

Derek visiting himself from two years in the future was also something I came up with on the fly.  I wasn’t really sure what I was going to put there when I started writing that scene, but having Derek coming back to warn himself about future events worked out perfectly.  Originally I was planning on having it be a bear that would have attacked the girls if Derek hadn’t have stopped it, but that would have just led to a whole lot of nothing later on.

Jarrod figuring out how to alter reality is something I’ve been planning for the characters for a very long time now.  I knew they’d eventually reach that point, and even though it’s not explained in this book, I generally know why they can do it and how it works.  I’m not sure if I’ll ever actually explain it in the books though.  I’ll just have to see how things progress.

My original plan for Diedre was to have her regain her memories, after which she would turn psychotic and try to kill them all.  I decided against this, because I thought having her find redemption and forgiveness was a far nicer and more interesting way for her character to develop.

This book is the first time Jarrod has really gone off on Derek and bitched him out for his attitude and the way he treats everyone when he’s upset over what’s happening with Logan and Diedre.  The only other time I ever did this was when I had Sarah bitch out Tina over her attitude in one of the earlier books, but even that pales in comparison to the bitching out he gets from Jarrod in this one.

Bringing Peter into the story 19 books into the series was something I wanted to do simply so we could hear his story.  What I wasn’t planning was just how horrible his story actually was.  That all just came out as I wrote it, but I think it works really well in establishing not only why he’s so close to Charles, Richard, Giles and Savaric, but also why he’s been such a recluse for so many years.

 

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Invasion Trivia

As ridiculous as some of the names are, all of the towns mentioned in this book are real places.

I suffer from primary acute insomnia, and I went through a severe episode of it for about two and a half months during the writing of this book.  As such, I only had maybe a few hours a day where I had enough focus to actually get any writing done, which is why it took over four and a half months to get this book written.

Something else that delayed me in my work on this book is that I was editing a cookbook for a neighbor as a favor to her.

In chapter 2 when Danny says to Mike and Jeremy, “Yeah well, I’m over it.  Sniff you jerks later.”  This is a quote from Captain Murphy on Sealab 2021.

In chapter 3, Chapter 3, Jarrod quotes the movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, where the character Chiun said, “Assassination is the highest form of public service.”

In chapter 5, Tina says, “But that would actually require us to do somethin’.  We’re already too busy doin’ nothin’.”  is a reference to a quote from the movie Trinity is Still My Name.

In chapter 8, Jake talks about his lack of life skills because his parents loved him so much that they did everything for him.  This is the same thing that happened to me with my own parents.  To this day I’m still not very good at being a self sufficient adult because of it.

In chapter 9, Jake has a giggle loop welling up inside of him.  The giggle loop is a reference to an episode of the British comedy, Coupling.

 

In chapter 10 –

“Ugh…thanks for reminding me.  I swear, a week ago if you’d have told me that aliens were gonna show up and destroy the world, and that I’d be stealin’ some rich guy’s car and goin’ on the run with some guy I sprung from jail, drivin’ from one shit town to another, killin’ people for food and blankets, and fixin’ cars for a bunch of inbred rednecks with extra digits and wonkey eyes…  I mean, if you’d have told me all that literally just a week ago, I’d have dragged your ass to the nearest rehab facility and had ’em lock you away.”

“Heh.  I wouldn’t blame you a bit.  It does sound pretty ridiculous when you throw it all into one long sentence like that.  Oh hey, there it is there I think,” he said as he pointed to the left side of the road up ahead.

Jake was goofing on the fact that what Lana said all came out in one really long sentence.  I love self aware humor, and the fact is that I reread that sentence over and over again like ten times and I couldn’t really think of another way to word it, or figure out a way to break it up in a way where it would still convey the same feeling.  As such, I figured I’d just goof on it instead.

In chapter 11 Jake asks Max if he’s got somethin’ gnawin’ on his conscience.  This is a quote from My Name is Trinity.

In chapter 16 –

“Well what is it then?  Fires, floods, earthquakes…double A batteries…,” Richard asked with all the dryness of one of Savaric’s finer comments.

“Double A batteries?  What the fuck man,” Jarrod asked with a laugh.

“I dunno.  It just popped into my head.  So seriously now, what did you want to tell me?”

Double A Batteries is a reference to a line in Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy where the evil CEO of the pharmaceutical company is offering Dr. Cooper a bunch of random stuff.

 

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Genesis Trivia

In chapter 2 Sarah puts her arm around Freddie and says, “Now chin up little buckeroo.”  This is based off a line in Better Off Dead when Lane’s friend Charles is trying to encourage him to face the K12 ski slope.

In chapter 2 after Sarah transforms into an energy being and then back again, Gerald said, “What a rush, huh?” This is a quote from Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke movie.

In chapter 4 after Jake links with Snots, Jake says, “He likes me!  He really likes me!” This is referencing that famous quote from Sally Fields.

In chapter 6 at the temple, Giles says, “This way.  Follow me.”  This is from the movie Cheech & Chong Still Smokin’.  Chong said it in a silly Dutch accent, so every time I see this phrase I always think of it exactly the way he said it in the movie.

In chapter 6, Savaric says, “Uh huh.  Ok.”  This is Captain Murphy quote from the animated series Sealab 2021.

In chapter 9 when they’re calling Logan a little bitch in the locker room, this is based on a bit from the movie Baseketball where Coop and Reamer keep calling Squeak a little bitch.

In chapter 10 Derek says, “It ain’t that kinda party.”  This is a quote from the movie Fear of a Black Hat.

In chapter 16, Derek says, “All right, all right!  Jeez…always bossin’ me around.”  The always bossin’ me around part is a reference to a line in the movie Strange Brew.

This is the 22nd full length novel I’ve published in less than three years.  The first book of the series was published on November 23, 2013, so this one was published 24 days before that, on October 31, 2016.

I realized during the writing of this book that I’d written the Zethichtalarin race in a way that makes them seem very similar to Nazis.  They’re very science oriented, they see other races as inferior, take slaves from other species, and they’re very militaristic and disciplined.  To be honest, it hadn’t really occurred to me until now just how much like Nazis they really are.  It’s sort of an interesting revelation.

I wasn’t sure this was going to be the final book in the series until I actually started writing it.  I hate to say goodbye to the characters, but the series has finally run its course.  I’ve had the idea for this story playing around in my head for quite some time now.  It wasn’t originally intended to be the series ending story, but I think it worked really well in that regard, and I’m incredibly happy with how the ending turned out.  I see it as a fitting end for both the series and the characters, and while it makes me sad to move on to different stories, in my heart, these characters are always going to be a part of my family.