Jack of Harts

Convention

by Medron Pryde on April 18, 2026 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

I spent two days at a toy convention. I did not sell as many of my toys as I wanted, and I bought more than I expected, but they were all toys I have an actual use for, so that is good. The good news is that my new job pays me enough to do this and have fun, so that is also good. I got a new piece of artwork that I will use as the cover for my next posted Transformers story, and I have reference models for my next Transformers stories. Life is good. I go home tomorrow and that will also be good. I love spending time with my fellow geeks. And I love going home to recover from the time I spent with my fellow geeks. Life is good.

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Convention

by Medron Pryde on April 17, 2026 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

I’m at a Transformers convention right now, the toys not the power convertors. And since I’m writing a Transformers fan fiction story, I’m taking the opportunity to research certain characters that I’m writing about. And by research, I mean looking for their toys and buying them. It is rather nice to be able to look at the character in a physical form when writing a story about them. And the quality of these late teens and 2020s Transformers when it comes to poseability is amazing. I can put them in whatever action pose I want and go from there. And yes, in the immortal words of Megas XLR, I do like big robots. 🙂

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Anthology Draft

by Medron Pryde on April 16, 2026 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

I just got another draft of an anthology I’m in. Sent to the authors for us to check things over and make certain they look good.

It makes me feel good to see one of my stories one step closer to getting published.

That’s pretty awesome.

The Day the Sky Fell is getting closer to getting in your grubby hands. I hope you are ready and waiting to get it and all the other fine stories in the anthology.

It’s a milestone for me. My first published story where the main character is a girl.

A very interesting thing is that this story was written for a completely different open call at a different company and they did not take it. I decided to send it in to this company for their open call, but my story was around 1k words too short for their guidelines. I thought about expanding the story, but then shook my head. The story is good as is. It’s just as long as it wants to be and not a word more. Making it longer would just make it longer. So I skipped it. And I did something I never do in short stories. I had a scene break, between two completely different scenes. Scenes separated not by years but by DECADES. And dozens of lightyears. It would be an epilogue in a novel. In a short story where it is a quarter of the word length all by itself? Ah, it’s a real part of the story. And it makes the whole story better.

Sometimes less is more.

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Wolfenheim Rising

by Medron Pryde on April 15, 2026 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

Malcolm McDonnell grew up in a world before Contact, when we still thought we were alone in the universe. Then the Peloran brought medicines that nearly wiped out diseases, and extended the human lifespan into the centuries. They helped us study advanced technologies, and expand our colonies hundreds of lightyears from Earth. It was a golden age for mankind, but the Peloran were not the only ones to make Contact.

Four years after the first Shang attacks, Malcolm had used his contacts to make the Wolfenheim Project a reality. He had the funding he needed. He had the ships he needed. He had the people he needed. He was ready to take humanity’s message back to the stars.

No alien power would drive us from our destiny. We were coming for the stars. We were coming for them.

Then the people funding the Wolfenheim Project found out they were funding the Wolfenheim Project and demanded their money back. That was when things started getting interesting. Malcolm McDonnell was not the kind of person to give up when the going got rough, you see.

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Wolfenheim Rising is available at the following retailers

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Angel War

by Medron Pryde on April 14, 2026 at 12:01 am

Posted In: Diaries

In 2205, we learned the answer to one of the oldest questions of all time. Are we alone? They brought medicines with them that nearly wiped out diseases, and extended the human lifespan into the centuries. They helped us study advanced technologies, and expand our colonies hundreds of lightyears from Earth. It was a golden age that many thought would never end.

Then their enemies brought War to us all. We gave them a belly full of it. We drove them out of Alpha Centauri and assembled the largest, most powerful fleet that had ever flown under Terran banners. Third Fleet was our best hope to defeat them and bring a quick end to The War. It failed.

Now the last survivor of that doomed expedition sails for Alpha Centauri. Returning home is always the greatest wish of a soldier, but home does not always welcome their return. The heavy cruiser Los Angeles and her crew have made enemies, both foreign and domestic, and they have plans for her. But she is not without friends, and they have plans as well. Can she survive when all of those plans crash into each other?

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Angel War is available at the following retailers

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