First things first:
Big deal, Varengo! You got all fucked up physically and mentally in the first months of 2022. So you’ve started a one-man campaign to make 2020 look like everybody’s kind Aunt Jenny. My car stalls at traffic lights. We all got problems.
There. Now all the people inclined towards having written me off (HA! Irony! You know, cuz I’m a writer… never mind) can go about their business and find some other poor schlub to destroy.
So what’s been going on, I suppose you’re wondering now. Unless you read the last post, of course, which pretty much lays it out. Look. Just go read the post. We’ll wait.
Are they gone? Good. We ain’t waiting for nobody.
But yeah, for those who hung around, my brain injury is still very real, very present, and very unwelcome. Of those three things, I can control exactly zero, but that’s baseball, Susan. What can I tell you?
The good news is that on the days I feel capable of doing anything, I can still write. Sometimes even in English, as opposed to broken Saturnian or something.
What am I writing, you ask? [Ed note: He knows no one asked him anything. I think he’s even gaining ground on his conquest of the idea that this is a blog post and since he’s writing it, no one really can ask him anything, and… holy shit, they were right. This is a hard gig.]
Well, the answer is perhaps best expressed thusly:
Craig and I have been fairly busy and we recently released the first book of a brand new series. It’s called Mayan Shadows, and it’s Hart and Varengo doing the sort of thing they do. (Something to with writing? Good penmanship, maybe?) And it’s gotten some attention and has found itself ranked fairly decently on this Amazon.com place, which, they tell me, is a real up-and-coming… thing, sort of.
Look, it’s a good, fun book, filled with some of the best characters Craig and I have ever done, as well as some really fun relationships among them.
Yer gonna freaking love it.
BUT the point here is that we are knee-deep in book two of the series. [Ed. Note: It has a working title, but Varengo just calls it “book two of the series.” Writer my a…]
It picks up, of course, where Mayan Shadows leaves off, (because it’s a series and someone told us once that’s how this sort of thing works. If you strongly object to this line of reasoning please DM Craig directly and while he’ll probably refer to the culprit by assigning made-up initials, he’ll quickly spill the full name and detailed directions to their home. I’ve seen him do this at parties. It’s uncanny), and will bring the reader right to the point of disbelief, as you lean forward in your chair… unless you use one of those beanbag things, in which case you might just kind of flop over on one side… look, never mind. It’s a good book and we’ll tell you more as we go.
But wait… there’s more!
Because Mr. Hart and I have reached a point in our career where writing one series at a time feels kind of like kissing your cousin, Olaf, (guys… this means you as well), we also want to talk about this.
Our other recent release, which is indeed yet another new series kick-off, is Easy Street. This is the first of the JJ Porter Suspense Thrillers, and it’s a doozy. A bit more on the gritty end of the spectrum than Mayan Shadows, it features JJ Porter (duh!) the daughter of Cleanup Crew assassin Nicole Porter. (There are four of those, but I don’t feel like embedding them, and besides, that’s not the focus of this post and why are we even discussing this?)
Once again there are a great collection of new characters, although throughout the course of the series you can expect to reconnect with many old names and faces.
And yes. We are working on book two of this series as well. It has a working title as well, chosen by Craig, and THIS one I will share with you. It’s Working Title. I don’t know the degree to which you all get to regularly work with a certifiable (loaded word, eh?) genius, but it’s pretty cool. Working Title! I have threatened to change the title every time I send the book back to him, and was considering, for my first, The Ballad of that one guy that time… you remember. I feel it says a lot without saying that much. Well, actually it does say “that much.” Also, it is ridiculously long and has nothing to do with the book at all.
So, that’s it?
Man, you guys are tough. [Ed. Note: He’s speaking in reference to the heading he just wrote himself. Remind me to look up what that means when someone starts doing that.]
Okay, Craig’s also got a cool project rolling out on Kindle Vella. It’s a new bit featuring an old friend, and you can check it out here.
I’ve been proofing a lot of audio for some upcoming releases, so keep that on your radar.
Let’s see, what else?
I don’t know. That almost feels like enough for the guy with a busted noggin. And that’s just Craig.
S.J. Varengo - Author 