Blood Skies: An Introduction

For roughly the past 10 months, I've been hard at work on a novel project called "Blood Skies". Originally entitled "Red", this work -- which I've been revising and expanding since about March of this year -- is a bit different from my previous novel attempts in that it is neither "traditional" high fantasy nor horror, but a combination of both, with healthy smatterings of post-apocalyptic science fiction and surreal drama thrown in for good measure.

As I've said before, revising my own work is NOT my strength, but with this project I feel as if I'm finally learning to embrace it. That could be growth. It could be the natural byproduct of having attempted six previous novels, only to leave the four for which I'd completed rough drafts languishing in "pending" status because I couldn't make myself comfortable with the notion that revision is somehow a lesser effort than writing something new. It could be a mental disorder. But whatever the case, if I've learned anything, it's this: revision is a bitch.

So here I am, roughly 1/3 of the way through Draft #4, comfortable that what I'm written isn't nearly as terrible as I thought it was...in fact, occassional passages are pretty darn good. =)

So what's it about? "Blood Skies" is a dark fantasy set in an uncertain time. Our world has been ravaged by a magical cataclysm known only as "The Black", an unnatural disaster that somehow fused the world we once knew with other, primeval places. Now the Earth is a barren waste, much of the population gone, its cities transformed into fortress towns where humans hold up against the hostile entities that have invaded from these other worlds. The biggest threat to our existence are the vampires, organized legions who focus their military campaigns on wiping out humankind. But there are other monstrous beings and dark arcane mysteries set poised to destroy us, and it is only humankind's stubborn determination and mastery of magic that has allowed them to survive.

Only now, the existence of magic is threatened. Without it, we have little chance.

So, with introductions aside, I'll post some tidbits while I continue to revise; now, as ever, I relish feedback and test readers whenever and from wherever I can get them. =)