Now that I’ve announced the release date to the final installment of my Ranger Martin trilogy, a heavy weight has lifted from my shoulders. If someone were to have said to me a few years ago that I’d have a trilogy out by Fall 2015, I would have thought he or she had lost their mind. Yet here it is, 2015, and in several months, the dream will have become a reality.
With the series fully complete, a number of other projects have fallen on my lap. I could easily tell you what they are, but then where would the fun be when I announce them? Rather, I’ll give you a hint about some of the things I’m working on, then you can tell me if you like the idea or not.
Part of my method to my insanity is diving into heavy research of a subject until I can make that research part of the story without it sounding made up. You can read some of the crazy topics I’ve written about here:
Why Don’t Zombies Eat Each Other?
Real Zombie Stories
Top 10 Most Horrifying Parasites
Zombies and Mental Illness
Zombie Animals
What Makes Horror Movies Scary?
Why do Zombies Eat Brains?
Zombie Apocalypse: Causes
A Zombie Primer
Death’s Cure
The other side of the research is byproduct subjects I never intended to write about, but nonetheless seemed fascinating to explore at the time. Things such as these:
The Human Brain
How to Sleep Well
Heads Down
Social Media Vacation
Being of Value
A Law of Success
A Day Off
Bully
Insomnia
Stream of Consciousness
Given this happens often, one of the settings to the first book in the Ranger Martin series takes place in a prison called Katlyn County Jail in Arizona. The inspiration for this setting was Perryville Prison located west of Phoenix in Goodyear. Little did I know that last month it had become the center of talk in the media for a famous criminal case that had ended. I won’t go into the details of the case, but I’m sure those familiar with it know what I’m talking about.
My natural inclination to write a book about prison life actually sparked an interest in me. That’s as far as I will go hinting on that idea. Okay, maybe I’ll go a bit deeper here. Prison can be the worst place on earth or a learning ground. Also, there are different kinds of prisons. There is the concrete kind where the prisoners are behind bars paying their dues, then there is the prison we create in our minds that we can’t escape without either helping ourselves or others helping us.
Another idea I’ve been looking at has to do with time. I like the idea of time travel, but in a non-linear fashion where the time continuum becomes corrupted. Einstein proved time is relative. Wouldn’t it be interesting meeting yourself and finding you’ve lived an entirely different life?
Well, that’s about it for now. I had other things I wanted to mention, but I think that’s enough to give you folks an idea of where I’m heading. These ideas may or may not happen, depends if I can find a story in them, but know I’m always open to writing about anything.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale now.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.
Do you like prison tales? What about time travel stories, do you like those?
Looking to God 
I like ALL of this. Can’t wait!
But… would you still be yourself if you had lived a different life?
I don’t think I could get into a prison novel because it has such a limited physical footprint, but if JOhnny Cash was in there playing a concer that might be interesting. Time travel: writers can go berserk with time travel (and the tv series Continuum had me totally flummoxed), but maybe a story in which someone discovers time doesn’t exist and whether the implication has potential for exploitation by nefarious types…
For me, quantum physics is where the biggest questions and conundrums lie.
Oy, time travel. ” 12 Monkeys “, based on the movie is hard for me to get my mind around. Add to that the fact the series won’t be back until sometime in 2016…..
” Quantum Leap ” & ” Doctor Who ” are more my speed, I must admit.
I never watched Quantum Leap, but there are times when Doctor Who starts to boggle my mind. I think it depends on the writer; if Mark Gatiss is handling the script you know things will make sense.
Doctor Who is very interesting. I’m hacked – off at my apartment complex’s new cable – provider because they don’t carry BBC / BBC America & I miss my weekly Who fix.
Quantum Leap was pretty interesting, because the episodes could either be stand alone or part of a story arc, depending.
You could try using get_iplayer and downloading the episodes from the BBC website when they’re available. Not sure if get_iplayer works for people outside the UK, but it might be worth remembering in the future.
Also dailymotion has entire episodes, I think, although one might have to pay for watching / downloading. Direct TV has better service, but the basic package is just a handful of channels. Comcast service was crap, but their basic package was upwards of 100 channels ( I’m not a 24 hour videophile, but it’d be nice to have them there ).
Non interrupted non linear time travel…I like the topics vary in interest 2me but write what u think…love the thoughts…crazy some but applicable in a hidden way dual meaning or one intentional meaning that has to be explored and understood through thought
Intriguing ideas. I like the possibilities for the prison story(ies).
….you inspired me to write a quick post about the possibilities…of meeting myself “elsewhere”.
This is awesome! I’m heading over to read it! 🙂
…meeting an alternate “Me”…wow! It’s frightful. To meet the guy who turned left instead of right….wow.
Meeting a rich version of ones’ self, a criminal version ( a rich & criminal version ? ), a ” Mahatma Gandhi ” version or even a religious hermit version…….. Interesting. 🙂
Congratulations on completing your trilogy, Jack, that is an awesome accomplishment. It’s fun to delve into new topics, isn’t it? 🙂
Thanks, Jet! And yes, as busy and crazy as it’s been lately, I’m having fun jotting down ideas for my next project!
Interesting areas of research. I sometimes research topics seemingly at random, discuss them with acquaintances, look into them, but Ive never really written about them, even the ones I’ve gotten familiar with ( Buddhism, transhumanism, anthropology, Taoism/Daoism, Quantum physics ( Sort of :), The epic of Gilgamesh, etc. ).
I like the idea of prison stories and your hints have me curious. As for time travel, I enjoy reading them, but they can give me a headache. I file the subgenre under stories that I shouldn’t think too hard about.
I love the concept of time and it’s ramifications.