Writer of Fantasy, Science-Fiction, and Young Adult Fiction
Writer of Fantasy, Science-Fiction, and Young Adult Fiction
News and postings relating to my writing life, and sometimes just life.
April 12, 2016
As you know, I released Stinger and Bow, book 4 of The Sedumen Chronicles, not quite two months ago. And I’ve just completed the first draft of book 5, titled Watcher and Firebird. It is the second part of the story arc that began with Stinger and Bow. Completing the first draft is in many ways the most important milestone, because now the novel exists in the world. Until now, it was just an idea, an outline, a “scriptment,” but not a novel.read more about: Achievement unlocked: first draft of my next novel finished
March 31, 2016
I haven’t seen Batman v Superman: The Dawn of Justice yet. I’m sure I will. It’s the basis of the DC Cinematic Universe, after all, and I intend to see the future Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, etc. But I can’t say that I’m enthused about it. I think Henry Cavil made a wonderful Superman. I’ve read that Gal Gadot is an excellent Wonder Woman, and I’ve no doubt that Ben Affleck makes a fine Batman.read more about: Supergirl + The Flash: no “v” required
March 24, 2016
Happy National Puppy Day! And here’s a nice collage Michelle made of our three. Of course, Luna is now nearly 13, Reilly over 2, so only Drax is still a puppy at just over 11 months old. But they’ll always be our pups to us. Sure, a day to highlight puppies and promote puppy adoption is a pretty lightweight thing to focus on, considering the horrors and tragedies taking place in the world today.read more about: Happy National Puppy Day!
March 17, 2016
…but Reilly is an Irish wolfhound, and that has to count for something, right? We’ve even brought our dog to be one of the “exhibits” at the Irish faire in Long Beach, California. And tonight, Michelle and I are going to see Flogging Molly, a Celtic-rock band with an Irish (as in, born there, not here) singer, play a St. Patrick’s Day show here in Orange County. And one of my favorite urban fantasy series is the Iron Druid series, about an ancient Irish druid and his trusty Irish wolfhound.read more about: I’m not Irish…
March 17, 2016
When I was a teenager, I was tested as having better than 20/20 vision–I had 20/15 vision, meaning I could see from 20 feet away what person with normal vision could only see from 15 feet away. And when I became an adult, I simply took my great vision for granted. Recently, decades later, for the first time I found my eyes getting fatigued after staring all day at LED screens.read more about: Vision thing
March 2, 2016
I wanted to direct you to one more guest post. This isn’t a new one; this guest blog was actually posted to the Cover2Cover blog on Feb 19th, but I had other posts up and directing your attention to this blog escaped me. So here it is: if you go to the site, you’ll find a Message to Young Writers: Do’s and Don’ts guest blog. Also, we’ve been running a contest through the blog tour; did you know that?read more about: Full blog post list and contest for Stinger and Bow
February 26, 2016
All good things must come to an end, and so the Stinger and Bow book blog tour is coming to a close. On this last day, let me direct you to a review of Stinger and Bow on the Book Lover’s Life blog. Also, there is an excerpt of a fun little battle between Stinger and other worldly monster over at the CBY Book Club blog. I’d like to thank both sites for hosting tour stops, as well as everyone else who has!read more about: Stinger and Bow blog tour ends with a new review and excerpt
February 25, 2016
Another day, another Stinger and Bow blog tour stop! This time a review and an excerpt from Chapter 7 over at 5 Girls Book Reviews. My thanks to Arianna, 13, for reading and reviewing the book, and the whole team at the blog for posting both her thoughts and the review Be sure and give it a look!read more about: Stinger and Bow Blog Tour Stop: 5 Girls Book Reviews
February 24, 2016
I’ve missed posting about a couple of tour stops. My bad! But for those of you following along, even if I’ve been too busy for a daily blog, the stops have all been Tweeted/Retweeted. That is one of the strengths of Twitter; it’s so effortless. However, that ends today! I’d like to direct you to two reviews of Stinger and Bow, freshly posted today: First is a review and an interview over at A Page To Turn Reviews.read more about: Stinger and Bow Blog Tour Stops: Two new reviews!
February 22, 2016
Another week, another stop on the Stinger and Bow blog tour! This morning I’d like to direct you to Candace’s Book Blog and her review of Stinger and Bow. She gives the most comprehensive review of the novel to date and still avoids spoilers, so if you’re curious please check it out. My thanks to Candace’s Book Blog for the tour stop and thoughtful review!read more about: Blog Tour Stop: Candace’s Book Blog reviews Stinger and Bow
February 21, 2016
Thanks to everyone who took a moment of their time to acknowledge the conclusion of my most recent journey around the sun, and to wish me well on my current one. Being completely sincere, the acknowledgments from people on social media are nice and welcome. I had a nice relaxing day. I got to tinker with some new toys and wrote the skeleton of a new song, which always makes me happy.read more about: Another trip around the sun
February 19, 2016
Another tour stop I’d like to direct you to: this one is over on Cover2Cover, and it’s a short review of Stinger and Bow. Lina (reviewer) had not read the previous three books first, so I appreciated that she jumped in! My thanks to Cover2Cover for hosting a tour stop, and I appreciate Lina’s thoughtful review!read more about: Blog Tour Stop: A Review of Stinger and Bow
February 19, 2016
Our little Irish wolfhound puppy isn’t so little anymore! Today Reilly turns two years old. Irish wolfhounds, like many larger breeds, develop slowly, so he’s really only just becoming an adult now. He’s reached his adult height–he’s three feet tall at the shoulder (which means depending if he’s hanging his head or holding it up high, he can seem even taller). He’ll probably still fill out over time, he’s a slender 135 pounds.read more about: Happy 2nd Birthday Reilly!
February 18, 2016
Here’s the next stop along the Stinger and Bow blog tour I’d like to direct you to: over at Bookhounds, you can read an interview with me. Not a ton of questions but it was fun to do. Thanks to Bookhounds for hosting a tour stop, and be sure and give the interview a read!read more about: Stinger and Bow Blog Tour Stop: Bookhounds
February 17, 2016
As I’ve blogged previously, when I write, I use music to set the mood, to speak from the characters and to the characters, and to keep me focused. So before I start writing I begin a playlist for every novel. My playlist for Stinger and Bow posed a bit of a challenge. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to read that I don’t share too many musical preferences popular with thirteen-year-olds.read more about: Words and Music: My Stinger and Bow Playlist
February 17, 2016
Here’s the next stop along the Stinger and Bow blog tour I’d like to direct you to: over at SolaFide Publishing, you can read a Q & A with me that covers both myself and some thoughts about this novel and The Sedumen Chronicles in general. Thanks to SolaFide Publishing for hosting a tour stop, and be sure and give the interview a read!read more about: Stinger and Bow Blog Tour Stop: SolaFide Publishing
February 16, 2016
Here’s the next stop along the Stinger and Bow blog tour I’d like to direct you to: over at Books for Thought, you can read an excerpt from Chapter 9 of the book. Thanks to Books for Thought for hosting a tour stop, and be sure and give the excerpt a read!read more about: Stinger and Bow Blog Tour Stop: Books for Thought
February 16, 2016
Here’s the next stops along the Stinger and Bow blog tour I’d like to direct you to: over at Driftless, you can read an excerpt from Chapter 7 of the book. Thanks to Driftless for hosting a tour stop, and be sure and give the excerpt a read!read more about: Stinger and Bow Tour Stop: Driftless
February 15, 2016
I said I’d be posting links to stops along the Stinger and Bow blog tour; here’s my first. Over on Sarit Yahalomi’s site, Coffee, Books, and Art, she is hosting an excerpt from Chapter 6 of the book. Thanks to Sarit for hosting a tour stop, and be sure and give the excerpt a read!read more about: Stinger and Bow Tour Stop: Coffee, Books, and Art
February 15, 2016
Book 4 in The Sedumen Chronicles, titled Stinger and Bow, is now available!
While this is the fourth book in the series, it is the first book of a new story arc, and a good starting point if you’re new to the series. You’ll get a richer experience if you’ve read the previous novels, but it’s not necessary. Here’s my description of this novel:
read more about: My new novel Stinger and Bow is out!
February 15, 2016
The whole Valentine’s Day/Anti-Valentine’s Day beef I have is that it puts undo pressure on being romantic/in a relationship–or on making a show of not caring about it, which is in fact just another way of showing you care about it. If you’re not with someone, that’s okay. Even people with someone today were alone prior, or may be alone again one day. That’s the ebb and flow of life.read more about: Valentine’s Day Take Away
February 11, 2016
My previous site design is from when I started writing The Sedumen Chronicles. With the first story arc trilogy complete, and the second one about to begin, I thought a redesign was in order. I was aiming for an uncluttered look and feel, and a site that was fast on mobile and desktop devices. I also wanted to simplify navigation and search. I think this design achieves all those things.read more about: A new look for orrenmerton.com!
January 27, 2016
This is not about the new shiny I liked at the 2016 NAMM show. For that, see my post on my Ember After page. This is more my impressions of the show. I had long heard, read, and believed that trade shows, at least for tech companies, were on the way out. They were a fossil of the era when the only ways that companies could demonstrate products were to gather in one place, and the Internet had rendered them all obsolete.read more about: NAMM 2016–Trade shows aren’t dead
January 21, 2016
It’s that time again–the NAMM show, the big shindig in which the music instrument (MI) manufacturers, marketers, and developers show off their wares to both retailers and everyone else who can score an industry-only badge. I go every year, which is no surprise, considering I work in this industry. I’ve rambled about going nearly every year, so let me just say that this year it almost snuck up on me. I think it’s because what with the new house, new puppy, and all that, it’s been quite a busy period here at Casa De Merton.read more about: Back to the NAMM – 2016 edition
January 11, 2016
It is 11:47pm as I write this. I’m in a state of shock. I knew Bowie had stopped touring, but to the outside world, he’d seemed stronger than he’d seemed in years. He released a new album just a couple of days ago on his 69th birthday. But its confirmed: David Bowie died in his sleep today after an 18-month battle with cancer, surrounded by family. It doesn’t seem real, and it seems all too real, at the same time.read more about: David Bowie has left the building
December 29, 2015
Lemmy Kilmister saved my life. Okay, maybe that’s a little melodramatic. But high school is a pretty melodramatic time of life, and that’s how it felt to me. The situation was this: I was a 15 year-old, sheltered little nerd boy, starting huge new high school. Lockers were assigned alphabetically, and none of my friends had lockers anywhere near mine. As fate would have it, one of the punk rockers had a last name that began with “Mey” so his locker was pretty close to mine.read more about: Lemmy and Me
March 18, 2015
It’s been a while since I posted about Firebird Vengeance, book 3 in The Sedumen Chronicles, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight a major real location I use in the book. Alex and her companions find themselves on two occasions at a hospital. I could of course have invented a hospital but I like to think that by using real places, I help ground the fantasy in a more real environment.read more about: Real Places in Firebird Vengeance: Western Medical Center
February 27, 2015
I was five years old when my dad sat me down in front of the tiny TV set on a bookshelf of his home office, and told me that I’d probably like this show called “Star Trek.” I immediately fell in love–I fell hard, and I fell for life. My first real work of art as a six-year-old child was a construction paper, glue, and crayon diorama of the bridge of the USS Enterprise, with Captain Kirk and Mr.read more about: Leonard Nimoy has left for the Undiscovered Country
February 9, 2015
As part of the promotional materials for Firebird Vengeance that I created to promote the book to the YA book blog community, I wrote the text of a briefing given by a police commander to his officers. The idea of this piece is to give people a taste of what sort of events take place in this story, but from outside the perspective of our heroes. I thought you might enjoy it, so I’m reprinting it here.read more about: Firebird Vengeance: Police Commander Briefing
January 16, 2015
One of the great joys of being a writer is when readers engage you about your work. In a discussion about the Jewish elements of Firebird Alex, an article written in 2010 positing that Jews don’t write fantasy was raised. In fact, on my other blog I had written a counter-essay. I am proud of that essay, and it’s not readily accessible anymore, so I thought I’d repost my nearly five-year-old essay on my current blog. It’s a little longer and more academic than my posts these days, so be warned, but if the subject matter interests you, enjoy!
read more about: From the Archives: Do Jews Choose Not To Write Fantasy?
