It just occurred to me -- and do I feel silly for not noticing it earlier -- I owe you some sample chapters. All this time I've been telling you how good of a fantasy/comedy romp The Gullwing Odyssey is, and yet I haven't put up anything to sink your teeth into.

Well, enough telling. Let me show you how much fun this book is. Now you can sample the first three chapters of The Gullwing Odyssey for FREE.

Don't be shy -- let me know what you think of the sample in the comment section below.

I've been paid a huge honor. The Book Review Depot, a group of avid authors and readers with membership just shy of 700, has voted The Gullwing Odyssey their book of the month for January 2014. Needless to say, I'm really flattered!

Darkwater Syndicate has asked me to tell you about this special promotion they're running as a show of thanks to Book Review Depot and everyone else who enjoys great books. Everyone who purchases a new ebook copy of The Gullwing Odyssey from Amazon from now through midnight on January 31, 2014, and leaves a review on both Amazon and Goodreads, will receive a free ebook copy of their short story anthology, Transit Dreams.

Just to clarify: only your purchase must be made before January 31. Your reviews can come afterward. And please be sure to keep your Amazon purchase receipt -- in order to receive your free Transit Dreams ebook, they will ask that you email it to them along with the links to your reviews

For more details on how to get your free ebook, click this link to visit Darkwater Syndicate.

Writer's block is like Bigfoot -- depending on who you ask, it either exists or it doesn't.

Talk to a motivational speaker and he'll tell you writer's block doesn't exist, that it's just apathy, or lethargy, or laziness. But what does he know? He's paid to speak, not to write. Now, if you were to ask me, I'd tell you from experience that it does exist. Oh, does it ever. And just to beat a dead horse here, how would I know writer's block exists? Because I've got it.

It's irritating since I'm under deadlines to produce. I've got my regular contributions to Darkwater Syndicate and some other writing projects -- not least of which is  the Gullwing sequel. On that topic, the frustrating thing is that I get ideas all the time. I'm never at a loss for good scenes to include in the novel, the hard part is putting them together in a way that makes sense. It's like putting together a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the finished puzzle is supposed to look like -- or knowing whether you've got all the pieces to begin with.

Bear with me, this'll pass. All traffic lights turn green eventually. Except maybe for those ones that constantly flash yellow. Even so, occasionally people roll through those when nobody's around -- not that I'm condoning that, of course.

Just saying.

It wasn't long ago that I confided in you that I am, indeed, a nerd. (See here for context). Today's article will further cement that fact.

I've been fortunate to have enjoyed many role-playing games throughout the years -- from pen and paper tabletop games to computer and home console games too. Then one day I got the idea that I should devise my own. It's been a long while now that I've had a role-playing game system in the works, but today I'm excited to announce that a beta version of the system is almost complete.

The game system will be completely original, simple to learn, and flexible to accommodate many styles of play. And most importantly, it will be fun, because what good is a game that isn't fun, right?

Don't fret, though -- I'm still working on the Gullwing series. In fact, some of the ideas utilized in the game were drawn from events in the book, and vice versa. Just between you and me, it'd be really cool to see the novel done up as an RPG using this new system.

Miss me? I've been out for two weeks on a much-needed holiday vacation in Portugal. During that time, I was in absolute radio silence -- no calls, no texts, no emails, no Internet -- which is why you've not heard from me. This cutting-off from the Internet and all its trappings was a bit disconcerting at first, since I've come to rely on my smartphone more than I'd care to admit. But all in all, the trip was an amazing experience, and all the more so since my phone sat dead in the drawer for the whole time.

During my stay there, I've learned firsthand that the Portuguese culture is a vibrant, welcoming one. The food is great, and there are cafes on practically every corner where you can sip an espresso with the locals.

Even more striking is that the Portuguese are nothing if not practical, and this is evident in their language. For instance, the city of Porto, (which means "port" and was so named for the port in the city), the town of Batalha ("battle", named for the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385), and the region named Trás-os-Montes, which literally means "behind the mountains." Heck, I even met a family whose pet dog was named "Cão" -- in other words, the dog's name was "Dog."

Now that I'm back and settled in, I'm gearing up for 2014. Last year saw the release of The Gullwing Odyssey in both e-book and paperback formats, and this year will see sequels. Until then, be sure to check in every Friday for updates, news, and any other random thing that may occur to me that I may deem blogworthy.

All the best for 2014!