Personal Update – New Year 2023 – January 3rd, 2023

I have a lot in the works for this year, but it’s a lot of uncertainty right now. My biggest goal for 2023 is to get these stories done and out there. Last year I finished several shorts but in my opinion… they weren’t great. I still haven’t got the brevity of a short story down, despite literal decades of poetry. It’s something I need to work on.

And now everyone’s favorite time, the part of the update where I describe upcoming projects and where the are in the process!

Long Fiction:

• “The War of Four Worlds” Volume I (Tentative Title) – My fleet military science fiction book is almost done! Looking at it, after editing and modification it should sit at around 80k words. I hope to have it completely edited and the cover ready by March. To be honest, some character work needs to be done to make the main captain a bit more sympathetic, but I think I have a plan. However, I’m questioning whether I should ship it off to Baen Books since they usually have open submissions for military science fiction. Only problem is that it would take a year or two to hear a response and that response is probably going to be a negative one. I might be better off self-publishing the first few for practice and growing my brand. Unfortunately, my works are either military scifi or fantasy and I’m not sure how those would work together online.
• “Lady Ophelia” (Tentative Title) – I think I mentioned this one previously. It’s still progressing, though I started to write more of the next one instead of this one. I like how it’s gone but I feel like it’s a weaker story than the next one. This book is actually about half written, shooting for a 65k word count. Basically, Ophelia is a noble girl, a duke’s daughter, who sees a possible future and seeks to avoid it. She works hard as a knight and spy becoming skilled in both. At 16 she enters the Imperial Knight Exam and attempts to pass to prove her capability to take over her father’s provincial army. I like this one quite a bit but find Ophelia herself to be less interesting than some of my other characters.
• “The Villainess Named Selina” (Tentative Title) – This book is in the same universe as Ophelia, though set nearly a hundred years after the events of that book. I wanted to get this one out first, though, given the strength of its main characters. I have a soft spot for fantasy romance, despite my predilection towards military science fiction. The book is only about a quarter of the way through and should be closer to 65k words when finished.

Short Fiction (these are subject to change):

• “Warriors of Ice and Snow” – A story set in the Northlands Saga setting that I like to use for some of my stories. I’ve sent several for review in short fiction magazines and none have gotten through. They’re based on Alaskan/Canadian Native myths and legends with a hint of Conan. I wanted adventure action fantasy stories set in snowy wastes using bows and spears. Here’s my synopsis:

When the five villagers retrieve the medicine for their chief’s sick daughter, they assume the trip back will be the hardest thing they have to deal with. However, betrayal, bandits, and battle all lie in wait in the snowy forest between them and their goal. Set in the mythical Northlands, a land based on Alaskan/Canadian myths and legends, this tale is an action-packed thrill ride.

• “Rusted Blades Still Cut” – Three brothers help strangers who are attacked in a merchant convoy and unwittingly become the targets of assassins. Of the people rescued, the old man seems to be a skilled warrior on the decline with a mysterious secret. I have to admit, this story is fun but I haven’t finished it yet. I hope to have it complete soon.
• “Duel at Dawn” – I wanted to make an American fantasy story that used magic in a way that wasn’t European. What’s more American than revolvers? (Yes I know it was technically created in London and guns were technically created by the Chinese) Two wizards agree to a duel the next morning. You begin to understand in this short story why both of them agreed to it, despite their lack of personal disagreement. We also learn the rules of magic duels and how it works with the revolvers. A slow build up and character exploration leads to a heart-pounding gun fight using magic.

So that’s what’s in the works this year! I hope you stay tuned since several light novel reviews are coming up as well as poetry and updates on my new books.

Thank you, and Happy New Year!

Personal Update – New Works – January 11th, 2022

It’s been some time since I updated you on my personal activities and prospective work. I work a full time job in technology for a financial firm. As such I can get pretty busy! I was also promoted at work, so I have a lot more responsibility. Needless to say, my first book in my dark fantasy series I tentatively called Kill All Spiders is delayed for at least a year or two.

Why? Because I was getting pretty bummed out while writing it. It’s sad, dark, and angry, and was negatively impacting my life. I have a deep fear of spiders, bordering on arachnophobia (hence the title). However I began to be nervous and anxious as I wrote, checking my room every few minutes to make sure no spiders were in it. When I say it borders arachnophobia, I’m not exaggerating. My wife once saw a spider in a paper towel tube and two years later I still check every paper towel tube when I pick them up, I check my bed every night before bed, the shower and entire bathroom before using the restroom, and other embarrassing wastes of time. So, I needed to shelve it. I’ll pick it back up eventually, since the world and ideas I really enjoy, but the story takes a toll on me.

Likewise I haven’t continued on Shadow of the Machine Gods. It’s a cool story mixing fantasy and sci-fi in the fictional far future city of San Teresa. I like the idea, but it was a lot to get involved with and my current project is one I’m loving every second of. So why shouldn’t I write what I like?

Speaking of which, I’m officially half way through the first book in my military fantasy series! I have no real name for it, but the main character Ophelia is a duke’s daughter who gets attacked as a child and sees a vision of a goddess of her religion. The goddess makes a deal with her to grant her blessings and strength in exchange for her sacrificing her music and song, which was all she had and desired at a young age. Could you give up what you love to survive?

Likewise, I’m halfway through the first book in a light novel series I’m planning tentatively called The Devil Destined to Fall. A young man answers a quiz online and is summoned to another world as a demon lord, with the catch that he’s to play the role of the villain and lose in the end to unite the continent. It’s a fun idea, but it needs some reworking and editing.

There’s two other book ideas I have yet to write fully: a light novel about swordsmen in a magic school who are looked down upon for using swords, and a litrpg inspired story about a U.S. Army soldier transported to another world with a magic rifle.

Beyond those books, I have two short stories and several poems I have yet to write. It’s a lot going on this year! Hopefully you’ll stick around for it.

Personal Update – Sight Restored – May 9th, 2021

I apologize for a lack of updates. Over the past few weeks I had projects at work, my second COVID shot, and LASIK eye surgery. As a result of all of that, I’ve had no time for my podcast or blog.

My sight has mostly returned, but it’s still a little fuzzy. I can’t touch my eyes, of course, and require constant eye drops. I already see an improvement, and honestly despite the change my headaches have gone down. I used to get bad headaches from my glasses, so this was an important change for me. Unfortunately, the change also means I have difficulty reading screens or books. That’s basically all I do for fun.

It’s also been strange weather at my home, with thunderstorms and bad winds. Today, especially, was harsh.

I hopeto have a few blogs coming the next few weeks as well as two podcast episodes. Look forward to that, and if you haven’t, give the blog or podcast a follow!

Personal Update – Smoke and Spiders – February 25th, 2021

February is ending and the next month begins soon. I’ve been through a lot this month, mostly at my day job. That said, I’ve shopped around a few short stories but nothing major. I still have two novels in the works that I’m planning to finish by Summer, but we’ll see how that goes. Oh you want a pitch? Let me oblige you…

Upcoming Work:

• “Shadow of the Machine Gods” – Scifi/Fantasy – FAR IN THE FUTURE technology is indistinguishable from magic. The gods, machine rulers of incredible power, rule over a regressed society. Long-lived humans call upon the spirits, the children of these gods, for fantastical spells to help them live in this dangerous world. Alden was born in a distant land to serve the gods. He rebelled against them but suffered great loss. When he discovers a plot to centralize the gods’ power in one nation, Alden must travel with the sprite Angel and a former enemy to search through San Teresa for clues to his sister’s whereabouts. She is the only person he knows able to petition the gods directly. With the most powerful figures on the planet in his way, it’s a race against time to find his sister before the gods lose their power to mortal men. So why are the elite of San Teresa pretending his sister never existed to begin with?
• “Kill All Spiders” – Military Fantasy – KNOWN AS THE EXTERMINATOR, a former soldier has taken as his mission in life to murder every spider he finds. These demonspawn spiders worked as war animals for the Orcs. However, in the ashes of the Second Orc War, the giant spiders escape into the countryside of Meridia. The Exterminator is hired by the Imperial Army to perform his specialty, eradicating the demons from every cave and forest he can find them in.

And that’s all I have right now. I’m especially partial to Kill All Spiders since I absolutely hate real spiders, and giant demon spiders are something I’d love to kill in a fantasy setting. I’m debating whether it should be “Kill All Spiders – Book I, [Book Name]” but I’m not sure.

Both books should be done by the end of summer, with Shadow of the Machine Gods slated for release by Summer, if I can get it written and edited by then. There’s also the cover, but I think I’ll be okay there.

On a personal note, our dryer caught fire so we had to evacuate our house. Everyone is okay and the house still stands, but it smells of smoke throughout. My office is the worse for the smoke smell, since it was poorly ventilated and is full of dusty books.

I’m glad we’re okay though.

Personal Update – Ups and Downs – January 28th, 2021

This will make the third update this week to the blog. A review is coming tomorrow as well.

To be honest I’m not feeling well. I had a root canal Tuesday that became infected and I’m in a ton of pain. The endodontist prescribed some medicine but I’m only taking OTC pain killers for now. It’s hard enough doing some of my work, but writing is tough right now.

As far as submission go, I’ve been focusing full time on my novel I’m writing. I got some help from my friends in a Discord chat over some basics for the book copy, and though I’m pretty far in the book it isn’t ready for publication yet. This one I’m planning no publishing through Amazon. The main reason I’m doing that is because I have a good handle on Amazon publishing and feel I could release something relatively interesting for readers of sci-fi/fantasy on that platform. I did have some time to write up a flash fiction story that I’m shopping around, but we’ll see what happens there.

My day job is technology in the financial services industry. That said, a lot of questions keep coming my way on the GameStop and AMC situation online. I don’t have too much to say, except that it leads to some interesting questions.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well. I hope my words reach you at a good time.

Updates and Changes

Surprise! I just published my first book of poetry on Amazon.

As you can see, the initial Kindle version is available, with a paperback coming soon. Many of the poems included have been published before on this blog, but many others are brand new.

If you’re a Goodreads reader, I have an author profile on Goodreads now. Be sure to give me a follow over there so you can see any new releases I might put out. I have two novels in the works as well as a short story collection, so it’s coming soon!

I actually have a second poetry book I’m preparing as we speak that should knock your socks off. It’s themed with a ton of effort put into it, so I hope you like it.

Again, the paperback is coming and at $5.99 it’s fairly affordable. Look forward to it!

UPDATE: The Paperback is available now!

October Reading List

I shared my reading list on Instagram, so I thought I would go through it here in detail:

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My October reading pile has been formulated! #amreading Should have a review of @matthewpungitoreauthor's Fiendilkfjeld Castle this coming month, as well as several Lovecraft and Poe stories. Ambitiously, I'm also considering a read of some true crime, an A. Merritt story, and The King in Yellow. We'll see! #bookstagram #books #booksofinstagram

A post shared by Frank Ormond (@frank_ormond) on Sep 22, 2020 at 7:40am PDT

I should be reading Matt Pungitore’s Fiendilkfjeld Castle this month as well as some others. If you’re interested in reading along with me, I figured I’d share a bit about what I’m planning on reading.

Reading list:

Fiendilkfjeld Castle by Matthew Pungitore – this is a weird Gothic story that I bought to support my friend Matthew, but I thumbed through a bit. To be honest, it reads really well and Matthew is obviously a good author. I’m excited to dive into it.

At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft – Antarctica and creepy monsters. I’ve read it before, but it’s worth a re-read.

Creep, Shadow! by A. Merritt – I’ve read several of Abraham Merritt’s work, and he’s always been a gripping author. I read Burn, Witch, Burn! so I’m excited for this one.

The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe – I know it’s a poem, but it’s worth reading this time of year. I encourage you all to do so, maybe your family would enjoy it! It’s grim and dark, perfect for October.

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft – Honestly not my favorite story of his, but it isn’t bad. Weird and creepy, exactly what you’d want this time of year.

The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers – I tried to read this last year but never got to it. I’m going to try and remedy that this year. It’s a collection of short stories, but it’s centered around a play called “The King in Yellow”. It’s creepy and spooky. The first story, “The Repairer of Reputations” may be worth reviewing on its own.

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule – if you don’t know Ann Rule then you don’t read true crime. Ann Rule’s famous book The Stranger Beside Me partly describes how she worked at a suicide hotline beside notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. In reality, this story is scary and real. I’d recommend it if you’re into true crime, for sure. It’s almost required reading at that point.

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Anything else listed above is basically optional reading that I may or may not get to. Hopefully, of course, I get to it.

I hope you have a spooky October!

Personal Update – Different Worlds – May 24st, 2020

It’s fascinating to think my third child was born at the end of February, right when this whole situation we’re in now started to be taken seriously. He hasn’t even seen his grandparents yet because of the state of things. I wish the world was more safe, more comfortable for him, but it’s hard.

Writing is still something I love. I just submitted several poems to contests and publications for review. Hopefully I get in somewhere, but if not I just continue writing and submitting.

I suspect once I have enough poetry, I’ll probably do a simple poetry book for submission to either agents or publishers. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll self-publish. Either way, I want to get my words out there.

Personal Update – Working and Doing Things – May 9th, 2020

This is a personal update. Honestly I’m so busy now I’m not sure what I’m doing anymore.

I love writing, and I have tons of ideas in my head. The time commitment to put them on paper is difficult.

You see, I started a new job not too long ago. Went from being in finance to being in financial technology. Not a bad place for someone who likes both technology and money.

The problem is that this takes up all of my time, and my hobbying time is eaten up by either video games or video editing (I sometimes make YouTube videos). I may end up giving up YouTube again, since writing is far more enjoyable to me.

But enough whining. Let me lay out some of my projects for the next five years:

1. The War of Four Worlds – This is a Military science fiction series I’m working on involving instant travel and how it can be used in war, the limitations of it, and sociological differences between alien civilizations. This setting is all capped off with a character story of a grieving captain at the end of her career who would prefer to retire, but is thrust into the role as ranking captain of a leaderless fleet.
2. When Iron Clouds Roar – I haven’t decided if this is going to be a series or not, but it’s an airship war story involving magic and kingdoms in conflict. The main characters are the members of a Tressian battleship given a secondary role in the war, but quickly thrust into the center of it.
3. Sagas of the Northlands – This series is a fantasy series set in a world influenced by Alaskan Native mythology. It’s not so alien to be completely foreign to fantasy lovers, and tends to veer towards heroic fantasy. The first story involves the lone survivor of a village massacre living as a hunter when he’s confronted by a village seeking the women who were taken as slaves. Since he’s a skilled tracker, they enlist his help to find the missing women and kill their captors.
4. Stellae Verbae – This is a hard science fiction story. It may not even be a series, but so much thought has gone into it I feel like it’d be a waste not to expand on it. I don’t want to reveal too much of this one, but it’s a story involving AI, space travel, ancient aliens, and decoding the mysteries of the universe.

And of course I still have poetry as well as my reviews. Hopefully there’s something for you in there!

Personal Update – May 15th, 2019

Hello! Thanks for reading this. I just wanted to let you know that I still read and write, but my circumstances have shifted slightly. To be honest, I have a new job opportunity at work, and I’m going to be working on it over the next few months. Because of that, I’ve been a little preoccupied at work and unable to focus enough to write a book review, or even finish a book I felt like reviewing.

Oh I’ve read plenty, but I don’t feel like they’re worth writing reviews of (lots of graphic novels and light novels, as well).

Speaking of graphic novels, I thought about reviewing the Sandman series, since I’m a pretty big Neil Gaiman fan. Let me know if you’d be interested in that!

I’ve also got a poem or two I’ve been working on. One’s been rounding through the submission cycles, and if it doesn’t land at the tenth one, I’ll probably just post it here!

Anyways, I appreciate you reading this. I’ll update with something writing related tomorrow. Thanks for reading, again!