The Merc Series
*Disclaimer. If you haven't noticed, I like to use a lot of inside jokes. Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand everything I babble on about. If you do get one of my references, know that it was just for you. Ssshhh.*
WHO AM I?
Just your average geeky left-handed, blue eyed, red haired, definitely not heavy-handed (I can’t help it if things tend to break when I touch them) Christian, who found out he had cancer one Monday night and said, “But I have to work tomorrow, can this wait?”(Doctor’s response, “Um no.”)
What? That’s not average? Have I mentioned my odd sense of humor and my use of really long sentences?
I like to alternate between scaring the people around me by reminding them of all the horrors happening in the world, to making them laugh at my all around funniness. Sometimes I get the “Who ties your shoelaces?” look but it’s all good.
I’m always the DM/GM never the player. The one who reads all the rules for the new board game and teaches the rest of the group. Yeah, I’m that guy. See, you do know me.
I met my wife at my first job and we’ve been best friends for over 23 years and married for 19 of those years. We live in Maine with our 5 kids. There may or may not be 21 years between our oldest child and our youngest...
A WRITER’S JOURNEY.
I’ve been writing pretty much my whole life as I always like to tell stories but that real aha moment came 26 years ago. I had just finished reading Hell-O-Ween by David Robbins and thought I should write a story like this but with teenage versions of my friends going camping. I added a vampire because why not, can’t totally rip off Mr. Robbins. I showed it to my friend, of 31 years now, (What? I’m a Virgo, we make long lasting friendships) and she loved it. Next thing I know it’s getting passed around for others to check it out and people are waiting for me to keep writing more. Talk about surreal. I continued to write through out high school, those that knew me saw me as ‘Scott the writer’, and as a writer from Maine who wrote horror, there were more than a few Stephen King jokes thrown my way. At some point I moved away from the vampires and zombies but kept my characters. They were all kick ass and take names ala Sam and Dean Winchester and I continued with that theme.
My first novel, Red Diamond, took 11 years to write. And it was probably re-written at least 11 times. (Not to mention several dozen drafts) Half of those re-writes could have been completely separate books as they were that drastically different. My sister will attest to that as I had her read every single version and draft. (Make sure you keep your facts straight sister)
WHY MERCENARIES?
Because I like them.
THAT’S IT?
Does there need to be more? Well… Okay here goes.
I’m one of those writers that believes in writing what you love. And when it comes to things involving mercenaries, assassins, bounty hunters, the military, or ninjas, well color me intrigued. My first comic book was Captain American and Wolverine fighting The Hand. (The Uncanny X-Men #268) Favorite GI Joe, Storm Shadow. Star Wars, Boba Fett. And my fondness for Deadpool runs deep. (#CaptainObvious)
I may or may not still have my VHS copies of the American Ninja Series with Michael Dudikoff (80’s child, no judging) And who doesn’t enjoy a good Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. What can I say, I like me some martial arts and shooting action. (Original Power Rangers, what.)
My real world fascination with mercenaries came when I had to do a current events assignment in high school and I learned about Executive Outcomes,(EO) one of the world’s first Private Military Companies (PMC), which lets get this out of the way now, PMC, Security Contractor, it’s all PC for MERCENARY. I’m not sure why some consider it a dirty word but whatever. If you’re paid to do a job then double cross them just because the other person pays you more or whatever, it makes you an asshole regardless of what you want people to call you. Anyway, back to EO. There was all kinds of problems in Africa and they were hired to help solve some of them and they turned out to be super effective. (Yes this is super vague but you can Goggle it after if you really want to know more, it’s a cool story.)
I really liked the idea that a group of people could come in and solve problems that no one else could (for whatever reason) and they didn’t really have to answer to anyone. I also liked characters that were a bit of a wildcard/neutral aliment. They could be fighting against each other in one story but then join forces next time against someone else.
Combine all this with girls that can kick your ass just as well as the guys and you get The Merc Series. My hope is people will see how much I enjoy this cast of characters and they will as well.
SO WHAT’S NEXT?
I’m currently working on my daily writing habit (where I've now written over 500+ days in a row) and working on building up The Merc Series Brand. I’ve just scratched the surface for all my ideas with The Merc Series. I hope you'll come along for the ride.
If you would like to keep up to date you can check out www.facebook.com/TheMercSeries and find me on Instagram @silencer978 where I show my daily writing process, share Merc Series content and my love of pizza...
You can also e-mail me at Scott@themercseries.com
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, REMEMBER WHEATON’S LAW.