A very different journey from my work in fantasy fiction
My new novel, The Quiet Hand, is now available on my website and at Lulu.com. It’s a sharp turn away from the world of Taesia and the four fantasy novels I’ve written over the last decade. Those books grew organically from a simple desire to write a story I’d want to read. When I wrote Ohlen’s Arrow, I had already been daydreaming stories of that ilk for years, since I was a kid, actually. Each book that followed built on foundations and a genre I already knew how to work with.
Writing The Quiet Hand didn’t feel like that at all.
This was uncharted territory. A contemporary murder mystery demands a different sort of thinking. The puzzle sits at the center. Every clue needs to land in the right place. Every character must carry their own shadows. In my fantasy novels, I had the creative freedom to make practically anything happen, even violate the laws of physics if I wished. Here, I had to slow down. I needed to understand the chain of evidence, the psychology behind each motivation, and how the reader would track breadcrumbs chapter by chapter.
Readers of murder mysteries can pay attention to details equal to the best CSI investigator.
There were days when outlining felt like designing the electrical circuitry of the Space Shuttle. Move one thing out of place and the whole story changed shape.
And unlike my fantasy stories, this wasn’t part of a world I invented from scratch. There was no lore to lean on, no freedom to alter reality at my sole whim. Every location had to be grounded in the reality of actual criminal investigations. Dialogue had to reflect the subtle tensions of modern life. Even naming a character required a different sort of care.
The process was slower because it had to be. It was orders of magnitude more complex. It was also incredibly rewarding.
Stepping out of fantasy forced me to sharpen different skills. Pacing became a precision instrument rather than an instinct. Red herrings needed to feel natural, almost invisible, not contrived. And the antagonist’s identity required a quiet sort of discipline. Revealing those secrets demanded a deliberate patience that became one of the trickiest writing challenges I’ve taken on.
I loved it.
So here it is. The Quiet Hand is finished and finally out in the world. If you’re curious to see how my writing looks outside of magic and myth, give it a look. You’ll find familiar elements of my style: character-driven storytelling, a steady rise in tension, and the kind of descriptive action I’m known for. Plus, as any good mystery novel should offer, there are a few turns you might not expect.
You can pick up the ebook directly from this site or from Lulu.com. And as always, thank you for reading, supporting, and wandering into new genres with me. A creative life grows best when it occasionally veers off the trail.
Ad astra per aspera … through adversity we grow.
