Sam Flynn's Cabinet of Curiosities - Issue #6

Happy book birthday to The Mystery of the Pale King which turns one today! It has been an immensely gratifying year professionally thanks to the support of family, friends, peers, and my publisher. A profuse thank you to all of them as well as my Patreon subscribers new and old, free and paid. You deserve all the praise and - more importantly -writing I can offer and I’m going to give it to you as I ramp up my posts there. For those who have yet to subscribe, consider joining for free and see if you like what you read.

Book News:

An early birthday gift for The Mystery of the Pale King came last week when the book was named one of ten semifinalists in fantasy for the first annual Small Spec Book Awards! Five finalists and one winner will be announced Monday, Dec. 1. Congrats to all my fellow nominees!

I just completed work on Dweller in Darkness, the sequel and concluding chapter in the Deadlights Duology. My hope is for you to have it in your hands next year but a 2027 release isn’t out of the question. Here’s a secret YouTube playlist of music that inspired the writing if you want a peek at the aural landscape I wrote in or just want to listen to dope music. For background and an early synopsis, head over to my Patreon.

Less successful has been my recent stab at querying my epic fantasy-mystery novel The Darkest Fate. The agent I’ve spoken with most told me that many are looking to say no right now due to how narrow and competitive the market is. A lengthy passion project that defies easy categorization yet is somehow also too generic (real things I’ve heard) is the opposite of what an agent can sell to publishers, given the economics. I dive deep into the numbers in the above link. Personally, and I may be somewhat biased, I think publishers should give Patti what she wants.

With Dweller in Darkness complete, I dove back into what I affectionately call my “Space Columbo” story - real title Apocalypse Auditor - with the intent of making the first a novelette of 15,000 words or less. If I have my way, I’ll write several stories in the Apocalypse Auditor series, each following a different apocalypse averted by our Auditor.

Lastly, my comic book collaboration The Butler Manor Murders is chugging along slowly but surely over on Instagram, where my buddy John Vitale has been posting new sneak peeks at his art for our meta-murder mystery. As usual, head over to Patreon for details.

Recent/Upcoming Events:

After a relatively quiet summer, the fall events are ramping up now that it’s September. I’m excited to be a guest on the Hocking Hills Book Fair Author Podcast, pending scheduling. Give them a follow on your preferred podcast platform.

Speaking of Hocking Hills Book Fair, I’ll be at four of across Southeastern Ohio, with the first this Saturday at Logan Theater in Logan. I also hope to stop by GalaxyCon in Columbus come December. Stop by if you’re in the area!

• Logan Theater, Logan OH @ Saturday, Sept. 20, 10pm-3pm

• Elks Lodge, Nelsonville OH @ Saturday, Oct. 4, 11am-3pm

• Hocking Hills Resort, Logan OH @ Saturday, Nov. 15, 10am-4pm

• GalaxyCon, Columbus OH @ Friday-Sunday, Dec. 5-7

• Dairy Barn, Athens OH @ Saturday, Dec. 13, 11am-4pm

What I’m Reading/Watching/Playing:

I recently wrote about the new FX/Hulu series Alien: Earth and how it has continued to evolve the surprisingly-consistent symbolism of the sci-fi-horror film series in new directions. The first Alien either is my favorite film or in the Top 5 depending on the day and my wife feels likewise, so an Alien TV show actually being good is a welcome surprise.

I also replayed one of my favorite video games of all time, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Somehow even better than the stellar first game, I had never done a full playthrough with the decade-old restored content mod (available on Steam) and by Jove is it glorious. Development scars cannot change the God-tier writing from Chris Avellone, a master class in how you deconstruct a classic story and RPG mechanics, not in the Snyder make-it-as-grim-as-possible style, but, like Alien: Earth, by pushing the boundaries of Star Wars in ways the films would be well worth learning from. Remains a war crime that we were denied a proper KOTOR III.

That’s all from me! Send your comments/questions/suggestions on the newsletter to [email protected] and sign up for more updates via Patreon.

With authorly affection,

Sam