Richard Schiver

Tag: Fiction

  • Discover Steel Machines: A Dark Fantasy by Dan Franklin

    I wanted to give a shout out to a writer I have a great deal of respect for, Dan Franklin. I’ve read his previous works, These Things Linger, Down Into The Sea, and Eater of Gods. He’s a writer who is an instant buy when I see a new release from him. His latest is Steel Machines. It’s on pre order until August 19, 2025, and the kindle edition is only $0.99. Check out the details below.

    Prague, 1945

    Eight year old Otto Braum is the sole survivor of the massacre that claimed his parents and left him sustaining himself as best he can in the ruined attic hideout above his childhood home.

    But Otto is not alone.

    His father had a secret—a creation, unfinished, that he left behind. A secret that is pitiless in nature, relentless in design. A secret with the heart of a steel machine.

    From the Amazon best selling author of Down Into the Sea and These Things Linger comes a horrifying reimagining of the story of the golem. Part I Am Legend and part Caging Skies, STEEL MACHINES is an unrelentingly tense tale of haunting, of vengeance… and of survival at any cost.

    “Both Intimate and epic, brutal but beautiful, unapologetic yet restrained… STEEL MACHINES is a perfect novel.”

    – Nick Roberts, bestselling author of The Exorcist’s House, Mean Spirited, and the upcoming Lyla, in the Flesh

    “A heartbreaking tale of survival amidst tragedy and horror, this is a beautifully written dark fantasy that will remain with you long after you’ve read the last word. Highly recommended!”
    – Tim Waggoner, internationally acclaimed author of The World Turns Red

    “This is the best kind of horror.”
    – Leigh Kenny, best selling author of Cursed, and Hush, My Darling

    “If this was made into a movie, it would be an international blockbuster.”

    – MJ Mars, best selling author of The Suffering and The Fovea Experiments

  • Navigating Life’s Paths: From Military to Author

    I grew up during the space race of the sixties. While the war in Vietnam raged my eyes turned to what waited for us beyond the earth’s atmosphere. I was a big fan of Star Trek, catching every new episode when it aired. I followed the moon landing like a religious zealot updating their progress daily as the they traveled to our closest neighbor. My father understood my obsession and on the night the video feed was broadcast live of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the surface of the moon, my father woke me up so we could watch it together.

    My goal in life was to work for NASA, to be involved in some way with the space program. I had the smarts, but for me school was boring. I had been offered a four-year scholarship to the University of Maryland, that I turned down. I wanted to see the world so I joined the military with the intention of learning how to work on missiles, a skill set I believed would put me on a path to NASA.

    Unfortunately, between the moon walk and my graduation from high school, my father became quite ill. He had type 1 diabetes. He always tried taking better care of himself but as was the case with this disease, no matter how hard you tried, it eventually got you. I had spoken to the recruiter about working on missiles, and was scheduled to report to basic in Fort Bliss, Texas for my training. With my dad not working because of his health I chose to go into combat arms, armor to be exact, for the enlistment bonus that would help save our home. Sadly, my dad passed eight months after I joined, and we lost our home a year later.

    While serving I had plenty of time to read, my tastes running to the more macabre as I devoured works by authors like Lovecraft, Richard Matheson, Graham Masterton, William Peter Blatty, to name a few.

    Would I do it differently if I had the chance. I doubt it. I enjoyed my time in the military, the friends I made, the places I saw, the brotherhood I became a part of. It became a big part of who I grew up to become. Who I am now. I know there are many different paths I could have taken to follow my dream, but a new dream emerged for me, one I played around with when I was in high school, and that is to write about the things I love.

    I still dream of going into space. I’ve watched all the movies, good, bad, indifferent. Alien, Start Wars, War of the Worlds, Interstellar, The Right Stuff, Armageddon. You name it, I’ve probably watched it. I also play a game called No Man’s Sky on my xbox. It gives me a chance to pretend, if only for a little while, that I’m exploring space. Here’s a little clip from gameplay.

    I’ve had many false starts with my writing, but now, at 66, I’m fully committed to finishing what I started to do. You may have noticed I’m now sharing a new sentence every day from my WIP I’ve titled Bitter Hollow. I do hope you’ll follow along. Here’s the link.

    https://richardschiver.com/my-journey-with-bitter-hollow-a-work-in-progress/

    Thanks for stopping by and listening to me rambling. I hope I haven’t bored you too much. Drop a comment below if your so inclined, I’d love to hear from you. I’d also appreciate a like, or a follow on social media.

    Thanks,

    Richard Schiver

  • Exploring Time Travel in 11/22/63 by Stephen King

    In 11/22/63, written by Stephen King, the hero of the tale, Jake, is shown a portal to the past. It’s where Al, the proprietor of the small diner where it was located, has been buying his hamburger, taking advantage of the price. Offering a much better reason for his lower prices than was generally believed by those who thought he was using stray cats and dogs. It’s here we get to the gist of the story. Al enlists Jake’s help to save President Kennedy from his assassin. Those who have read the story know what happened. I don’t want to post any spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that. If you’re wondering what happened, go grab the book, it’s worth the read.

    It’s a pretty good tale that grows into your typical King story that he is well known for. It also serves to make one wonder about alternate realities and the multiverse. Theoretical physicists have proven, via math, that alternate realities do indeed exist. Not every physicist subscribes to the theory, but it’s out there. Some believe every event, or decision, creates a new branch in the timeline.

    It’s here where things really start to get muddled. I’m sure there’s not a  limit to the number of timelines branching from each of the others, creating a swarm of timelines traveling in multitudes of directions.

    Could you imagine the headache that would cause to whoever had to keep these things straight.

    One of the first things you come up against is what triggers the timeline to branch off? Is it major events, such as the aforementioned assassination of a sitting president, or does the timeline branch based on either/or decisions? If so, is it a worldwide phenomenon, or say a collective decision? Or is it a more personal one.

    On the one hand you have a solitary timeline with other timelines branching off of it with every major event in the world. If it’s a more individual level, does the branching occur at major intersections in one’s life, or does the branching occur based on everyday decisions and changes in our routine.

    Like something as simple as forgetting to turn off a light causes you to leave the house thirty seconds later than you normally would. Now we have dual timelines for your departure where in one you arrive safely to your destination, while in the other you’re delayed by an accident, or possibly involved in one yourself.

    It starts to get really confusing when you consider all the possibilities occurring at every juncture in your life.

    The biggest question of all is what forces are at play to create the branch? Is it a mechanical process that requires extreme amounts of power, or does it use a type of power that for a lack of a better word we might call magic?

    Say these portals do exist. Are they visible? Are they permanent? Do they move? What would happen if somebody accidentally walked into one? Would that explain some of the assorted mysterious disappearances that have occurred over the years? Maybe it’s an explanation for the assorted mysterious strangers that have appeared throughout history.

    You would think these portals would have to be in remote locations to prevent major problems. Could you imagine one appearing in the middle of New York City during rush hour. That would be one hell of an excuse for missing work. Sorry I couldn’t make it in today. I fell into the stone age and couldn’t find my way back right away.

    It’s all just more fodder for the what if machine operating at the center of every writer’s mind. Of course it’s not really restricted to writers, as most people run into situations and events that prompt them to wonder, what if?

    But it’s usually the writer who takes that idea, throws a few characters into the mix, and hits the blend button. As a writer myself I’m always running into these what if moments. They fuel my fiction and inspire me to try harder.

    One such event occurred recently when my wife and I were visiting our grandson, he has two children of his own, a little boy, and a little girl. The boy is four, and his little sister is nine months old. I caught him looking at her, and the expression on his face was one of pure love. In my mind I saw them fifty years from now having to say goodbye to one another. It hit me pretty hard on the emotional level.. It’s one of those moments that will remain with me as my subconscious comes up with a vehicle to carry it properly.

    I’m sure everybody else experiences this. If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear it, put it in the comments below.

    New Update: Zomething Dead This Way Comes will be off to the editor at the end of this month. Had to find another one as my former editor is no longer taking work. It is what it is. See you next time. Be safe.  

  • Our Subconscious at Work.

    It’s amazing how the subconscious works.

    I wrote All Roads Lead to Terror, the first book in my post-apocalyptic series, This Lawless Land, way back in 2013. The story focused on four teenage boys exploring a world that had moved on. At the time it was only going to be a one off, then I’d move on to other projects.

    In All Roads Lead to Terror, one of the characters grabbed a bundle of hundred-dollar bills from a bank. Which on the surface made no sense. I mean in the world I’d built, who would want to be weighed down by such a useless object? But the character wanted it, so who am I to stand in the way? Right.

    One book became two, then grew into three. In 2018 I wrote book four of my supposed stand alone. I’m not as fast as many other writers out there, I usually only get about an hour a day to do what I love. But through all four books my character insisted on carrying that damn bundle of money no matter what. He’d been through a great deal by this time. He’d grown up a good bit, but a small voice in his head kept telling him to keep the money. Yet I still did not understand why he was being so particular.

    Book four burned me out on their story so I moved on to other things for a bit. But I never strayed far from the characters. My thoughts usually returning to them as I wondered what they were up to. During my break I wrote Not of Us, Cursed, and the third installment of a trilogy I started in 2012, I know another project I need to clear up.

    I returned to the story last year and recently completed the first draft of book five. Whereupon I turned my attention to book six, which I felt would be the last chapter in their story. But at this stage, twenty thousand words into the first draft, I believe there will be a seventh and final book in the series. One I hoped to dive into once I have finished the first draft of book six. Of course there will be the rewrites and editing and all that before my creation can finally see the light of a new day.

    In 2013 I never imagined that ten years later I would be writing book six. What’s more amazing, is that in book six I finally figured out why this young boy insisted on carrying all that useless money around with him. If you want to know as well, you’ll have to wait until I get the series done. Sorry.

    Update: I’ve found a new editor and will be sending him Zomething Dead This Way Comes, when his schedule clears up at the end of October. I’m also shopping for a good cover for it. If all goes well it will be available by the end of this year. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available. Things are finally starting to jell on the writing front, and I’ll be posting more often as more news becomes available.