I have a few different projects under development.

One is a heist novel, much like the movie Ocean's 11, but the target isn't a casino or money, something more interesting, and in a way, much more valuable.

Whatever I do, I'm trying to write the next novel in such a way that it can launch a series of novels featuring the same few characters, with different situations in each book. I'm having a lot of fun creating characters, although none of these characters have "spoken" to me yet in the same way that Mulder & Scully, Skinner and TLG did. Until Ms. Muse strikes me again, it is an interesting but somewhat frustrating experience.

My plans for this next novel are to make it available on the web as a downloadable E-book in Adobe PDF eBook format. It will also be available for portable, handheld devices such as Palm Pilots and PocketPC devices. The cost of this 100% original novel would be around $5. The idea is to build up a reputation as being a writer of solid, popular thriller fiction, and acquire an agent and a publishing contract that way.

After all, what publisher wouldn't want to take a chance on someone who has a proven track record of selling?

Of course, there'll be nothing preventing you from downloading your $5 copy of my eBook and giving it away to all your friends. This will work on the honor system. I ask that you consider this question: If you want to read my stuff in print, in hardback, I have to get a publisher to agree to a contract. For a small, one-time fee of $5, you can help encourage that. Conversely, there'll be nothing stopping you from downloading 5 or 6 copies of my book (at $5 each) to drive the "sell-through" numbers sky high, which might give my future publisher enough incentive to give me an advance large enough to enable me to quit my day job and write full time.

I'd appreciate any feedback you have about this idea, both positive and negative. Just a short note in the vein of "Good idea!" or "no way I'd pay for your crap, LOSER!" is all I'm asking for. Click here to leave a fast feedback note about the eBook idea.

To answer the question before it is asked, if I do get a publishing contract, would the books still be available in eBook format for $5 each? Probably not. Publishers invest a great deal of time and money in authors, and they recoup these costs through the sales of hardcovers and paperbacks. With the average cost of a paperback being almost $8 these days, and the way that publishing contracts are written, I probably wouldn't have the legal right to publish any additional books as eBooks. However, if no publisher likes my stuff, but I am getting sales off this site, then I'll keep writing as long as people keep reading.