Before the Initialization, preparation was the key to surviving any engagement. In the new world, though, it is often overlooked and discarded in favor of overwhelming power. This is a mistake, and one the world will realize once the aliens descend upon our world.
Jeremiah Braddock...
2022-11-02 13:13:01 +0000 UTC View PostI have killed thousands of people. Some deserved it. Others decidedly did not. All were, at least in my mind at the time, justified. But it does beg the question – why do I get to decide? What makes me special? I can kill, and I do it extremely well. But as I’ve proved, time and time agai...
2022-11-02 13:13:00 +0000 UTC View PostConsequence. It is the only thing keeping humanity in check. Before the Initialization, breaking the law meant arrest, a trial, and incarceration. After, though? For the longest time, the worst parts of human nature were allowed free reign, and the whole planet suffered for it.
Jer...
2022-11-02 13:11:01 +0000 UTC View PostSlavery doesn’t look like people imagine. It’s not a bunch of prisoners walking around with collars around their necks. In reality, the bonds of slavery aren’t physical. Instead, they’re circumstantial. They are societal. They are cultural. Whether it’s a pleasure slave on Bourbon S...
2022-11-02 13:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostI won’t claim that my life since the Initialization has been all bad. I am continuously amazed by the many miraculous things that are now possible. But sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who realizes that all of those miracles came at a high cost.
Jeremiah Braddock III
<... 2022-11-02 13:09:00 +0000 UTC View PostI am not and have never been a hero. I have saved people. I live in a brutal world, and in turn, I’ve been forced to become a ruthless killer. Channeling that into saving people doesn’t make me one of the good guys. It just means I’ve managed to balance the scales a little.
J...
2022-11-02 13:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Mirabelle’s mother died, I took it upon myself to raise her. At the time, her father was still around, but he couldn’t even take care of himself, much less a little girl. Two years later, he was gone, too. A tragic, but ultimately common tale in Nova City.
Jeremiah Braddo...
2022-11-02 13:07:01 +0000 UTC View PostSo many people refuse to understand that every great accomplishment requires incredible sacrifice. Be it time, tears, or sweat, the cost is always high. But that feeling you get when you truly accomplish something worthwhile – there’s nothing like it. That feeling alone is enough to susta...
2022-11-02 13:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostI pity those who were born into a post-Initialization world. Sure, there’s the glitz and glamour of all the new technology, but it’s all an illusion. Pretty, useful things that make us that much easier to conquer and control.
Jeremiah Braddock III
That night, I got a surp...
2022-11-02 13:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostI had plenty of advantages going for me. Training. Experience. Skills. But even then, I often found myself woefully outmatched when I went up against the aliens. My potential was higher, but they’d had decades to make the most out of what they had. And that made all the difference.
... 2022-11-02 13:04:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe journey home was a depressing one, but I had to know who had survived the Initialization. When I got there, I was unsurprised to discover that, of all my friends and family, only my sister and her son had managed to survive. Even after seeing so much death, that was a sobering thoug...
2022-11-02 13:03:01 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone reacts differently to battle. Some people freeze. Others surrender to the adrenaline. Still others react indifferently. I always counted myself amongst the last category of people, but I sometimes wish I was the kind of person who would hesitate before killing. It would make me feel ...
2022-11-02 13:02:01 +0000 UTC View PostStupidity and overconfidence cost us more lives than anything else. Entire generations had been raised on games, and they all thought that their familiarity with similar systems would give them an advantage in the new world. And in a few cases, they were right. In so many others, reality soon...
2022-11-02 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I first gained my skills, I thought they were underwhelming. Minor increases in fire rate and damage. However, when I reached the fourth tier, I realized that I’d barely scratched the surface of what was possible.
Jeremiah Braddock III
I awoke well before dawn. The cot...
2022-11-02 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostSome of you might've noticed that one of the upcoming chapters for Mistrunner was released a day early. I'm really not sure how I flubbed it that hard, but I've removed it. It'll be back tomorrow (when I release up to Chapter 25). Sorry about the confusion!
2022-11-01 15:04:46 +0000 UTC View Post“It’s amazing,” said Zeke, holding up the breastplate. Like his previous armor, it was red, but it had white highlights along the ridges. Otherwise, it was unadorned, but the metal had a pearlescent sheen to it. “I expected it to have kind of a marbled look to it, though.”
“That...
2022-11-01 14:57:56 +0000 UTC View PostZeke sat cross-legged on the bare earth, his eyes closed and his breathing steady. Nearby, Pudge lay on his back as he grappled with a giant crab claw and trying his best to turn it into a proper chew toy. It was hard and dense enough that it could do a fair imitation, but if Pudge exercised his ...
2022-10-31 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I found out that many humans were working for the aliens, I didn’t want to believe it. Even with the evidence staring me in the face, I couldn’t fathom how someone could sell out their entire species. Now, I know that most people would’ve made the same choice. Greed is a powerful m...
2022-10-30 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostWe are exactly a month away from the release of book one of Death: Genesis on both Kindle and Audible. I got the audio files last week, and I'm super happy with how it turned out. Eric Michael Summerer is an absolute rock star, and I couldn't have picked a better narrator. So, I...
2022-10-29 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostCarlos sat at the bar, staring down at the brown liquid in his glass. His shoulders were slumped, and his dark hair made a curtain around his face. He didn’t usually drink, but it was a special occasion. After all, he’d just found out that he’d lost one of the few people in the entire world...
2022-10-28 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostJariq was a strange place, and it was wholly different from Talia’s home city in a number of ways. Some, like its location in the center of an unforgiving desert, were obvious. The sandstone construction as well as the city’s formidable walls were enough to make that clear. In addition, the c...
2022-10-27 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostIn preparation for publishing the first ten chapters of Mistrunner on Royal Road (when I do, I'll be dropping extra chapters here, too, so you all stay ahead), I've created the temporary cover art for the story. It's not perfect, but I think it'll do for now. Let me know what you all ...
2022-10-27 01:01:57 +0000 UTC View PostMy training gave me an advantage, but even that wasn’t enough to guarantee survival. To survive the Initialization, I had to become something more than a soldier. I had to become an unrepentant, unhesitating killer. And I did. God help me, I did.
Jeremiah Braddock III
“It...
2022-10-26 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostWith a sharp exhale, Zeke emerged from the pool of the orange, semi-liquid substance. It had the consistency of pudding, and it had a habit of clinging to everything. However, over the last month, it had proved an invaluable healing aid. Without it, he wasn’t sure that he would have ever recove...
2022-10-25 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“T-that…did that just happen?” mumbled Carlos, mouth agape. Abby could sympathize with his reaction; she’d seen the aftermath of Zeke’s last explosion of power, so she thought she was prepared for whatever might happen after they stepped through the portal. But that was different. It wa...
2022-10-24 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostHumanity had grown soft. Pliable. Weak. The Initialization drove that point home. So many people had no idea how easy their lives really were. When society collapsed, they found out.
Jeremiah Braddock III
“I…thought…you…” I tried to get out between heaving ...
2022-10-23 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, so this arc is about to come to close, and I have to admit that I was really happy with how it turned out. I'm sure it's not perfect, but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you've all been happy with it as well.
Of course, just because this arc is coming to a close doe...
2022-10-22 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAs he swung his mace, fire coursed through Zeke’s veins. Every contraction of his muscles brought with it a cascade of agony that even his pain tolerance couldn’t begin to handle. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t let it stop him from doing what needed to be done.
When Tucker had left h...
2022-10-21 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostTucker watched as Talia blurred toward the giant demon. Even as she darted forward, Abby loosed an arrow which blazed a silvery path through the air, striking the gigantic creature in the eye. It roared in outrage, hefting its axe for a huge, overhand strike. The weapon whistled through the air, ...
2022-10-20 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostMoney. Power. Influence. It’s all the same thing, and its pursuit is the one constant across the entire universe. In that arena, humanity is a collection of amateurs.
Jeremiah Braddock
For a brief second, I was in two places at once. That disorienting feeling faded...
2022-10-19 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post