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Creating a Unique Creature
JaqueJaw follows a broken, brilliant man with childhood trauma, a twisted fascination with chaos, and unchecked scientific ambition, who creates the ultimate predator and unleashes it on hikers and townsfolk, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the setup of the story: I had an image of one of my characters pop in my head before writing. Benji Crudry. I saw him talking to a group of scouts in my mind and the JaqueJaw was peering through mangled brush, as they were sitting upon logs around a campfire in the woods. In the final draft of JaqueJaw though, Crudry talks to Albie and Nathan and they see the JaqueJaw weave in and out of view. So, slight change.
Were you able to achieve everything you wanted with the characters in the novel?
I am generally happy with the characters I’ve created. This being noted, I think there could be room to delve deeper into each character and possibly create stories based upon the individual characters e.g. more of their lifestyles, their dreams/interactions, pre and post. There could be offshoots in other words depicting their minds and associated attributes including their various flaws/dysfunctions. The impetus of the story or the skeleton of the story, if you will, originally revolved around the premise of writing a simple type trope where a monster i.e. the JaqueJaw attacks a variety of people and kills them off mercilessly. I realized later on that I needed a type of storyline and other characters that could serve to embellish the story and flesh it out more to better entertain.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The theme of revenge seems to be embedded in human nature via jealousy and hate/rage. I am interested in understanding why people and why my characters do what they do and perhaps more importantly, how they do what they do, all in all. The theme of social interaction is big on my list as well to explore. How are the characters interacting with one another? What motivates them to act, and how do they treat one another based on their flaws and attributes in general? Additionally, another theme I found important to explore was/is the idea of JaqueJaw and how to make it frightening to readers. Consequently, I found that Bardd needed to be portrayed as having a type of “hypnotic romantic” relationship with JaqueJaw in terms of subjective creation and exploration of creating a unique creature, which even though frightens Bardd, still makes him proud and protective of his creation because he created it. So, in this way, there is a type of egomania and moxie in Bardd and also a curious contradiction here. That is, there’s an equation of fear and love that Bardd has for JaqueJaw, but also a willingness, especially towards the end, to give up and forget about his creation and even Darla, his sister, in the end. These aspects serve to provide David L. Bardd with more complexity I feel.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I’m working on a romance story now. It’s too early for me to pin a date of release. To provide some context, JaqueJaw and A Love Refracted In A Stream took me about seven years to write(I started them both circa 2017) So, it will depend upon a couple of things, in terms of actual writing and editing. Also, the preparation and “finalization” of the manuscript (with a publishing group) may be an issue.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Website | Amazon
Echoes We Leave: Book 1: The Collective
In Echoes We Leave: Book 1: The Collective, Leah Scudder offers an immersive plunge into a futuristic dystopia where a sophisticated neural network, Synexis, intricately binds humanity into a seemingly harmonious collective. Beneath this flawless integration, however, pulses an unsettling signal, intentional, enigmatic, and quietly invasive, that disrupts the very essence of autonomy and identity. Scudder adeptly follows a handful of scientists, particularly Livia Arden, as they grapple with this anomalous entity and uncover deeper truths about survival, adaptation, and sacrifice in a carefully regulated world.
Scudder’s writing pulls no punches; it’s gripping, vivid, and profoundly unsettling. Her narrative dances elegantly between moments of high-octane tension and poignant introspection. Each sentence, stripped of cumbersome jargon, cuts directly to the emotional heart, resonating with a genuine sense of urgency and dread.
I found myself invested in the characters’ fates, particularly Livia, whose struggles against conformity and control echo deep human anxieties about autonomy in a connected age. The descriptive prose vividly captures the bleak grandeur of the book’s setting, especially the juxtaposition of technological precision against the underlying, creeping menace, giving me chills.
While the atmosphere and prose captivate, moments of suspense sometimes unfold slowly, building up carefully but then resolving quickly. This rhythm created a sense of emotional tension that was occasionally satisfying. Although the philosophical exploration of unity versus individuality was genuinely compelling, I feel the shifts between detailed technological intrigue and intimate personal drama occasionally made the narrative feel a bit less cohesive.
The Collective shines as an astute examination of humanity’s fragile balance between collective security and individual freedom. This book is particularly suited for readers who crave thought-provoking dystopian fiction rich with emotional depth and social critique. Fans of speculative narratives like Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s Brave New World will find Scudder’s exploration of autonomy and connection particularly resonant. It’s a gripping read that not only thrills but also invites reflection on our current trajectory toward digital interdependence.
Pages: 397 | ASIN : B0F8MFJBBS
That Dark Edge
That Dark Edge is a cerebral and vividly textured science fiction novel set in the Unified Terran Alliance universe. The story follows Hedda Tocq, a genetically enhanced Bastet and exoethnologist, as she investigates the enigmatic culture of the Vyssae—an alien species with a unique social and linguistic structure—on the planet Vyss. As tensions rise due to a fatal misunderstanding between humans and the Vyssae, Hedda is forced to navigate layers of political tension, cultural mistrust, and personal trauma. The narrative switches between action, introspective memory loops, and philosophical questions about humanity’s evolution and morality, all wrapped in the richly imagined backdrop of interstellar colonization.
I found McGarry’s writing to be both ambitious and meditative. Her prose is poetic in places, dense with meaning, but never self-indulgent. The integration of science fiction tropes such as genetic engineering, interplanetary politics, and AI technology is handled with confidence, but what really resonated with me was the emotional depth beneath the tech-heavy surface. Hedda’s memory loops, especially the ones surrounding the loss of her family, broke my heart in quiet, aching beats. McGarry doesn’t just world-build, she soul-builds. The dialogue can be cryptic at times, laced with allusions and codes, but I grew to enjoy its rhythm. The characters feel like old friends that keep you coming back.
I occasionally found myself needing to slow down and reread, especially during early chapters packed with new terminology and cultural cues. The glossary helps, but I wish some of that worldbuilding had been woven more naturally into the dialogue or action. Also, the constant memory recalls, though meaningful, can get heavy. Still, there’s a lyrical quality to how McGarry treats memory and grief. And there’s a quiet feminist thread I admired. Hedda isn’t just strong, she’s complex, vulnerable, and unapologetically driven.
This book is not your average space opera. It’s smart, layered, and patient. If you’re into character-driven sci-fi with moral gray zones, deep cultural clashes, and sharp emotional undercurrents, this one’s for you. Fans of Ursula K. Le Guin or Octavia Butler will find echoes here. It’s not for folks looking for fast-paced adventure or explosions every ten pages, but if you’ve got a taste for nuance and depth, That Dark Edge will reward you.
Pages: 288 | ASIN : B0D364RKGP
JAQUEJAW: A Horror Story
JaqueJaw is a chilling tale that blends genetic science, backwoods folklore, and psychological unraveling into a brutal and oddly poetic horror story. The novel follows the gruesome rise of a monstrous creature, the Jaquejaw, engineered deep in the woods of New Jersey by a broken, brilliant man named David L. Bardd. With childhood trauma, a twisted fascination with chaos, and unchecked scientific ambition fueling him, Bardd becomes obsessed with creating the ultimate predator. The story unfolds in a fragmented, fever-dream structure, alternating between past and present, visions and reality, offering a tapestry of madness, myth, and gore as Bardd’s beast is unleashed on hikers, townsfolk, and, ultimately, himself.
I liked the writing style. It’s raw, jagged, and often poetic. Hanson’s prose doesn’t play it safe. Sentences dart, stutter, and roar just like the monster they describe. One page feels like a nightmare; the next, a tragic journal entry. There’s a strange beauty in the horror, especially in Bardd’s hallucinations and his descent into isolation and obsession. The Jaquejaw is more than a monster. It’s a metaphor for guilt, trauma, and the madness of unchecked genius. Hanson doesn’t just want to scare you; he wants you to squirm, reflect, and maybe even feel a little sorry for the monster and its maker.
This book is not an easy ride. It’s dense. It veers off into tangents. Characters sometimes feel like sketches pulled from a dream, not fully real, just symbols or shadows in Bardd’s spiraling mind. But somehow, that works. It makes you feel like you’re in a warped fairytale told through the mind of someone unraveling. Still, I found myself wishing for more grounding at times. The horror is vivid and unrelenting, viciously imaginative, but the emotional weight is what lingers. Bardd’s loneliness and the strange tenderness he sometimes shows is the reason why Jaquejaw stuck with me.
JaqueJaw is brutal, weird, and doesn’t hold your hand. But for fans of horror who appreciate raw, unfiltered storytelling and want something with psychological bite beneath the blood and teeth, this book delivers. It’s like Frankenstein meets The Thing with a heavy splash of hallucinogenic dread. If you like your horror loud, sad, and just a little too close to home, then JaqueJaw might just burrow into your brain and stay there.
Pages: 157 | ASIN : B0DW3MSMVW
Alphamind: The Collective Consciousness
Alphamind is a science fiction novel that follows the journey of Adrian Silva, a driven neuroscientist who joins the prestigious Crestwood Research Institute. There, he becomes part of an elite team pushing the boundaries of neuroscience and artificial intelligence, aiming to revolutionize neurorehabilitation. The narrative weaves together cutting-edge technology, human emotion, and ethical quandaries as the team grapples with the consequences of their breakthrough: an AI system that adapts in real-time to brain feedback, potentially becoming more than just a tool. The story is deeply personal at times, with emotional flashbacks and evolving relationships, all while exploring the gray areas of ambition and responsibility.
Reading Alphamind was a rollercoaster. The writing was vivid and often poetic, especially in its quieter moments. I appreciated how the author gave each character their own distinct voice and emotional depth, especially Adrian, whose childhood memories and personal struggles made him relatable and grounded. I found the blend of hard science and human emotion to be surprisingly fluid. Some parts had me glued to the page, like when the AI began adapting on its own. That twist gave me chills. But there were moments when the pacing slowed with technical explanations. Still, the heart of the story—the ethical tension and the drive to help others—shone through.
I enjoyed how the book questioned the nature of progress. Is innovation still noble if it ignores its consequences? The characters’ moral debates felt real. Vanessa, in particular, was a thorny presence, but she made the team—and the reader—think harder about safety, control, and accountability. The writing reminds me of Michael Crichton for its blend of scientific intrigue and ethical tension, with a touch of Blake Crouch’s emotional depth and fast-paced, tech-driven storytelling.
I’d recommend Alphamind to readers who enjoy science fiction with a beating heart. The book speaks to the dreamers and the skeptics—the kind of people who believe that science can change the world but wonder if it should. For me, it was a thoughtful and sometimes thrilling dive into the future, with just enough humanity to keep it grounded.
Pages: 397 | ASIN : B0D2WVG3SN
Redemption
Heavy Weight of Darkness follows a disgraced former officer given one last chance to redeem himself by hunting down a once-privileged woman turned revolutionary who has become a symbol of the uprising across colonies.What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The story continues the story of the Endless Fall of Night from the perspective of Captain Willard Bennett, former captain of the Jefferson Davis where our heroin, Cassandra Kurtz, escaped and started of movement on Mars to rid the fledging colony of imperialism, racist patriarch. In a desperate act to curb insurrection on Earth, space command’s admiralty and tribunal branch offers him redemption in the form of a new mission: track, find and kill Cassandra Kurtz. In return, he will receive his freedom, commission, life extending health care and a return to his former glory. He does find redemption but not in the way he expects.
I find the world you created in this novel gripping and immersive. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
Drawing inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the Heavy Weight of Darkness is the sequel to the Endless Fall of Night where questions are answered, lives are altered, and truths come out in the final confrontation between Acting Captain Willard Bennett and the infamous disrupter, Cassandra Kurtz.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Heavy Weight of Darkness takes a look at Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s work that found stupidity to be the driving force of heinous crimes against humanity. It was not mere evil or malice that convinced an educated population in an industrialized, cultured society in the 21st century in the middle of a “civilized” Europe to embrace genocide, accept racism and to practice wholesale fascism, but rather it was good people who suspended critical thinking, believed one small lie after another until the “truth,” irrefutable facts became inconsequential, irrelevant and incidental. Bonhoeffer’s work is cautionary postscript of one of the darkest periods of human history while Heavy Weight of Darkness is a tale of how history can rhyme when it doesn’t repeat.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
There is another chapter in the works that will return to Casandra’s world as a new instrument of destruction, XO Robert Lee VI of the Robert E Lee, picks up her trail and is tasked with completing the mission that Captain Bennett abandoned.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Website | Blog | Second Website
In a desperate act to curb insurrection on Earth, space command’s admiralty and tribunal branch offers him redemption in the form of a new mission: track, find and kill Cassandra Kurtz. In return, he will receive his freedom, commission, life extending health care and a return to his former glory.
Originally enthused, he researches Cassandra’s origins, the once first class, full citizen from the oldest family of the Third Republic turned insurrectionist on Earth and a full-blown terrorist on Mars. But it’s after his investigation of the Delta Quarter, where it all started for Cassandra, that Bennett’s resolve diminishes.
Drawing inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the Heavy Weight of Darkness is the sequel to the Endless Fall of Night where questions are answered, lives are altered, and truths come out in the final confrontation between Acting Captain Willard Bennett and the infamous disrupter, Cassandra Kurtz.
Heavy Weight of Darkness
Heavy Weight of Darkness is a dystopian science fiction novel set in a future where slavery is institutionalized, patricians rule with unchecked privilege, and rebellion brews in the shadows of Mars. The story follows Captain Willard Bennett, a disgraced former officer given one last chance to redeem himself by hunting down Cassandra Kurtz, a once-privileged woman turned revolutionary who has become a symbol of uprising across colonies. Told through sharp scenes and immersive internal monologue, the book is a gritty, fast-paced exploration of power, corruption, and conscience.
This book doesn’t pull punches. Erickson’s writing is blunt, sometimes brutally so, and there’s an edge to the prose that kept me a little on edge in a good way. One of the most powerful moments for me was when Bennett visits the Delta Exchange. It’s grotesque, honestly. The smells, the heat, the masked patricians casually buying children like products. It’s a gut punch. And that’s the turning point, not just for him, but for the reader. Bennett, once a man who benefited from the system, is forced to see it for what it is, and the way Erickson layers his disgust, confusion, and growing empathy, it feels real. The writing is raw and broken, like Bennett himself. And that makes it work.
But here’s the part that surprised me: I liked Bennett. I didn’t expect to. He starts out as a selfish, complicit jerk. But his transformation is subtle and kind of tragic. He’s not some hero on a redemption arc. He’s a man caught in a machine that’s already chewed him up. And Cassandra is barely even on the page directly, but her voice haunts everything. Those intercepted transmissions, where she calls out the hypocrisy and brutality of the patrician class, gave me chills. She isn’t just a character; she’s an idea, and you can feel it spreading like wildfire.
If you’re into sci-fi with a heavy dose of political commentary and psychological grit, this book will be your jam. It drags you into the mud and makes you look around. That said, it’s also not for the faint of heart. There’s graphic content and brutal realities, and Erickson doesn’t shy away from any of it. But if you can handle the darkness, Heavy Weight of Darkness is one heck of a ride. I’d recommend it for fans of The Expanse series, or anyone who likes their dystopias unapologetically grim and their characters complicated.
Pages: 210 | ISBN : 1942708556
Breaking Free From Addiction
The Karma Sequence follows a young man embarking on a journey to find himself and the meaning of life, who finds himself entangled in a mystery that will impact the future of humanity. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration came from my own spiritual search and my desire to share the insights and reflections I’ve gathered throughout my life. The central idea behind The Karma Sequence is the belief that there is a technology-based explanation for all phenomena in the cosmos — even the supernatural and transcendent.
Additionally, a major motivation for writing The Karma Sequence was my wish to share my personal experience with addiction and the tools and methods that made a difference in my recovery. My hope is that some of these experiences might be helpful to others who are trapped in substance abuse and addiction.
Dan and Ryan are complex characters with intriguing and unique backstories. What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
The protagonist, Dan, is based on my own experiences and my desire to share that story — particularly the realization that a deeper understanding of the spiritual and transcendent is essential for breaking free from addiction, and for finding deeper meaning and understanding in life and in the significance of each individual existence.
Several passages in the book were difficult to write — primarily because Dan’s story needed to reflect my own journey and transformation. It was important for me to make the description as precise and complete as possible, so that it could carry real value for readers.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Behind the overarching plot of The Karma Sequence, the central theme is addiction — in this case, alcoholism — and how a spiritual understanding can be an invaluable support in breaking free from addiction. At the same time, this insight offers a profound sense of unity and connection with life, and a path toward finding true meaning and purpose in existence.
Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?
The Karma Sequence is the first book in The Karma Kantata series, which consists of three books. In the next two volumes, we continue following Dan and his efforts to solve a series of unexplained mysteries, while he gains deeper insights into both the forces that govern the world and the transcendent system underlying our understanding of the cosmos.
While the underlying theme of The Karma Sequence is alcoholism and the struggle against addiction to physical substances in general, a central theme of the second book, The Karma Topology, is transhumanism and a critical exploration of the idea that it might be possible to experience life and the world without a physical body and sensory apparatus.
A major theme in the final book of the series, The Karma Ubiquity, is globalism — and the dangers of consolidating global power into a few obscure structures, while simultaneously losing cultural diversity and meaningful traditions.
Although these themes have been important for me to explore, they are still just one part of my larger goal: to write books that are engaging and thought-provoking, offering readers an enjoyable experience while also providing perspectives on how certain challenges might be understood and addressed.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
The Karma Sequence is a thrilling novel of high-tech suspense – the story of a young man’s incredible journey to find himself and the meaning of life while trying to solve an ominous mystery directly affecting the future of every single human being.
Dan, an introverted computer genius, has fought his way back from a life-shattering crisis that left him isolated, powerless, and close to death.
Now, he is asked to investigate a computer system for gene analysis. On its own, the system he helped to develop has started predicting the exact date on which the analyzed people will die.
Several deaths confirm the system’s predictions.
While searching for an explanation, he also tries to find a new purpose in life and how he can help other people struggling with addiction.
With its thrilling plot and captivating characters, this story will keep you hooked until the very last page. An intensely mesmerizing novel you will never forget.
This book is for you if you’re looking for a model to understand life’s purpose and a deeper meaning of existence.
All this, in addition to a fascinating and immersive story.
LITERARY TITAN 