Hero Among Us January 14th, 2024

Finally, some updates I can share.

I’ve been working on Hero Among Us for what feels like forever, but is somewhere closer to seven years. It’s my darling, one that I didn’t want to kill, and I’ve put tremendous focus and energy into ensuring it deserved the best opportunity to thrive in this crowded market.

The novel has gone through many revisions. I’ve had alpha, beta, and group critique on this work. I’ve let it cool in my hard drive while I worked on the sequel, then returning to it to make sure the story remains consistent between both works.

I’ve finally decided it was time to get this story out into the world. I’ve hired a notable editor, one who is an academic in the literary world and who is friends with the loftiest of authors, one specifically I treasure over all others.

The story is in his capable hands undergoing heavy scrutiny. Once he has returned it, hopefully not too heavily shredded, I’ll give it another revision pass and get the manuscript ready for publishing.

I’ve also hired a book cover artist. We’ve set for this project to start on February 1st, 2024. From our conversations, I hope to have the final cover back by the end of March, 2024.

If you are a fan of Mark Lawrence’s SPFBO contest hosted every year, you’ll note the above mentioned dates are intended to have my book ready for his 2024 contest.

The first novel clocks in at 112,000 words. A decent size, not too cumbersome, and told from the first person view of the main character, Jason King.

What is Hero Among Us?

It’s a superhero novel with heavy fantasy elements set in the very near future. I wanted to write a superhero story without the constraints of the superhero genre. Heavy focus is placed on a world that isn’t filtered through the narrative of one hero. Things happen outside of his influence. The world is living. Threads overlap, only to trail off and cross over other people.

Its a story with heavy focus on the character behind the legend. Too often, comics fail to capture the toll heroes endure through their sacrifices. These costs last only as long as they remain pertinent to the immediate plot and are forgotten once the villain tied to the plot has been vanquished.

But humans carry their pains throughout their lives. No matter how strong the hero may be, the emotional toll can bring the strongest person to their knees.

This is Hero Among Us.

I hope to provide more updates soon. Please follow me for more information as the date of the launch approaches.