Category Archives: Update

Mask of the Crime Czar – Update

by VJ Miller, Sr.

Some Backstory:

Back in the 1980’s I came up with what I thought was a good Idea for a novel. A man with extraordinary powers that would fight crime in the city of Philadelphia. I chose Philly because I lived a half-hour away over the Ben Franklyn Bridge in New Jersey.

I had vivid memories of the city and what it was like at the time. So, it was quite easy to use it as a backdrop. There were no superheroes working out of Philly, thus I thought it would be unique in some way.

I typed it by hand on an old Remington typewriter for the first draft, then for some reason which escapes me now, I laid it aside to languish.  Continue reading Mask of the Crime Czar – Update

Voice Before Facts When Writing

by VJ Miller, Sr.
Planet of Statues cover
Issue #2

Why Voice before Facts? As I zero in on the final chapters of my next book, Planet of Statues, I stand at 40k words; where it will top out is beyond me right now. Planet of Statues is the second book in the series, Realms Uncharted Presents. I’d planned on a one story per issue format of 18 to 20k words; something easy to read in one sitting. As has happened in the past, one of my stories has taken on a life of its own. One short story, Beware the Pedaler, was planned to be only 8 to 10k but finally topped out at 18k. My novel, Mask of the Crime Czar I expected to be around 60k actually ended up with 85k.

Planet of Statues is the story of the hyper-ship, Searcher and its crew who are on a deep space survey mission to find planets similar to their own home world for either colonization or a source of elements they can exploit. The one caveat; any planet with intelligent life or what may evolve into such life must be avoided. Continue reading Voice Before Facts When Writing