My new superhero novel, Heroic Lies, is now up for sale! WOOHOOO! :D

If you're in the mood for some mystery, adventure, and hilarious dialogue between a smooth villain and a cheerfully sarcastic reporter, click here to get your copy of Heroic Lies. 

In celebration of this new release, all of my books are now available for a reduced price. They'll be going back to full price before long, so enjoy it while it lasts.

In the meantime, have a happy New Year, and I hope your start to 2015 is as good as the end of 2014 has been for me.

2014 is coming to an end, and so is the process of creating Heroic Lies. Soon, my latest novel will be available on the web, and 2015 will force me to face a question I've been wrestling with for weeks:

What should I write next?

It's not a decision I'm taking lightly. I intend to create and publish a book every year, and to do that, I need to pick a project and stick with it for the next twelve months, or until the book is finished. That being the case, I'd better make a choice that will make me happy.

But there are so many to choose from!

Ultimately, I'll be the one to decide what I spend the next year or so working on, but I'd love to get your feedback on the top three contenders. Which of these book ideas are you the most interested in?

Catgirl Roommate

When Sam was offered a free place to stay in exchange for watching over the landlord's eccentric ward, he thought it was a great deal. A nice house at no cost, and a roommate who was described as 'friendly and beautiful'... what more could a broke college student want?

Then he discovered the horrible truth: his roommate is a catgirl. And not the sane, sexy kind who knows she's a human even as she rubs her graceful body against you.

Nyla is the kind of catgirl who annexes boxes, steals food, mangles houseplants, tries to lie on the keyboard, and brings gifts of dead animals to her new friend. And he's got to cope with her until he can scrape up the cash to move out.

If you enjoyed "Cat-Friend Vs Dog-Friend", or you own a cat and want to laugh at a fictional character's relatable trials, I think you'll enjoy this book.

Mindscape

All Anya and Senekai wanted was a classic fairytale. He would slay the dragon, she would be saved, and they'd live happily ever after.

And for a while, it looked like the Mindscape was going to give them what they sought. All they needed was for the author who'd imagined them to write the book, to solidify their story into written form, and their happy fate would be sealed.

But then the Mindscape changed. Scarred by events outside their safe imaginary realm, the young writer decided that happy endings were unrealistic, and the only fitting end to their tale would be stained by tears and blood.

Now, the knight and the princess are faced with a choice: allow their grim fate to be sealed by the writing of their story, or find a way to heal the Mindscape before it is too late.

Counterbalance

On countless planets throughout the cosmos, the forces of Heaven and Hell do battle for billions of mortal souls.

On Kalidar, that war has turned deadly in a new way.

The Kalidans have discovered how to channel the power of demons directly through their bodies, and the influence of Heaven has been all but forgotten. War has swept across a once-peaceful nation, and with no knowing mortals remaining to summon them, the angels' hands are tied.

But they aren't prepared to surrender Kalidar. Instead, a Counterbalance is appointed: a young believer from Earth, who must act as a catalyst to turn the tide and prevent a world from destroying itself.

Unlike the first two, Counterbalance is not a stand-alone, but is rather the beginning of an ongoing Christian Fantasy series. (It was originally a standalone, but it mushroomed on me against my will.) This is the one that daunts me most; it's the foundation of a vast and intricate continuity, so I desperately want to make sure I get it right.

Which of these concepts interests you the most, and why? Please take a moment to vote in the poll, and if you're feeling extra generous, share your opinion in the comments.

Or, in the case of Heroic Lies, a shapeshifter with no facial muscles using human facial expressions.

Writing Kadian has been weird that way.

Kadian's natural state is a pliable, rubbery semi-liquid, which he can mold into any form he chooses. All of his cells absorb and process information together, so sensory organs like eyes and ears are purely cosmetic features, deliberately applied to set the humans around him at ease.

This makes it strange when I want to write about his physical reactions to plot, because I find myself wondering, Would he be making that expression as a learned reflex? Would he have to do it deliberately, and would he have the presence of mind to do so?

Will the scene I'm writing have the same effect if he doesn't make that face?

At moments like those, I tend to fall back on the idea that, as part of an interstellar community, his species learned to mimic their neighbours' body language to facilitate diplomacy. So while most human expressions aren't natural to him, mimicking them has become almost second nature.

Which isn't to say he acts entirely human. He does occasionally move in ways that are more specific to him, like accidentally grinning literally from ear to ear when he's so happy that he forgets that he isn't supposed to look like Cheshire.

I like movements like that in aliens, where you can understand what they're conveying, but it's still distinctly inhuman. Farscape's Scorpius comes to mind; he has a way of tilting his head that doesn't quite seem human, but it's very recognizable as a way of scrutinizing whatever's in front of him, like a predatory animal seeking a better view. It really makes his alien nature feel more convincing.

And so I watch, and I learn, and I use it to make my writing better and my aliens more believable.

Have you noticed aliens that simply move like humans in costumes? Does that bother you?

What movements have you seen people use in sci-fi, to make their aliens feel more alien?

If you've got a favorite or least favorite example, I'd love to hear about it.

D'Argo and Chiana. One of those strange ships that worked to a certain degree, but never quite sat right with me.

Have you ever seen a relationship like that, where the characters were clearly happy with it, but it just seemed strange?

When Farscape first started hinting that D'Argo and Chiana were starting to get together, it seemed odd to me. Sure, Chiana is one of those characters who could generate chemistry with just about anyone if she wanted to - it's a skill she's very deliberately honed.

But she struck me as being too much of a bratty, free-spirited wild child for D'Argo. She's fun and sexy, but she's also flighty and promiscuous... not the stuff that long-term relationships are made of.

Despite my feelings about their relationship, I've wanted to make a music video of them for a while. It was just a matter of finding the right song. And a little over a week ago, I finally found the perfect one.

So, here it is: a portrait of D'Argo and Chiana, in all their turmoil, mixed feelings, affection, condescension, betrayal and lingering tenderness.

Enjoy.