NEWSLETTERS

 

 I drop a weekly newsletter. On it are my upcoming event dates, the status of my next projects, and a twisted thought (or three) of the week. I might even throw in some story generations from the Batchery series and/or The Antagonists' Cookbooks.

If you want to be on the mailing list, please e-mail me at: tansomtales@gmail.com. Below is the latest incarnation . . .

NEWSLETTER RANT #142 – 01/07/24

  

Hope all is well.

As of today, here are my next gigs:


1. 02/01/25 – Akronomicon – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562512430811&sk=about

2. 03/07 to 03/09 – Cleveland Concoction – TBD

3. 03/16/25 – Cleveland Comic Book and Nostalgia Show – https://fancons.com/events/info/24851/cleveland-comic-book-and-nostalgia-show-2025

 

Latest word:

1. Batchery, Vol. 6 is now available on Amazon and Kindle.

2. Expect my next collection of short stories by 2026. I’ve put up two new stories since last week’s posting (below).

3. The Antagonists’ Cookbook, Vol. 4 is done and in the polishing phase. Expect it in mid-2025.

4. The 2024 Rants are now available (both via email and on the website).

5. Tales Unlimited Kitchen Rants – These are the first podcasts I’ve put up since 2022. I think I’ll make it an ongoing thing. Enjoy the links (below).

 

Twisted thought(s) of the week:

 

Kitchen Rants

 

Now on YouTube. Please like and subscribe. The topics will likely center around future short stories and the concepts behind them. Still, you never know . . .

Kitchen Rant #01 – The DUI – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je9MHD_SC68&t=12s

Kitchen Rant #02 – Armor w/powers built in – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlye7UnEfUc&t=9s

Kitchen Rant #03 – Foe Armor – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZaTgs7_J97E

Kitchen Rant #04 – Honest Grigor’s – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Ghiu7bH0U&t=27s

Kitchen Rant #05 – Seven Pills – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXt2EZ_WvQY

 

Weekly Tales

I’m still going strong with the short stories. Expect a finished product in 2026. It’ll include the best 25 of this bunch and be the first of an ongoing collection series.

40. “Seven Pills” – A clandestine operations team stumbles across a “high-value” temporal terrorist, on U.S. soil.

39. “Honest Grigor’s” – A shapeshifter tries to steal an alien muscle car from a used spy car dealership.

38. “The DUI” – After an embarrassing DUI incident, a demon asks a Catholic priest/occultist for some divine assistance.

37. “A Private Heaven” – Someone’s murdered your son and kidnapped his soul. You’ve hired someone to settle the matter.

36. “The Damsel” – Your ex-SEAL monster hunter of a brother tricks you into hacking covert files, regarding a team of female mystical assassins. Guess who gets sent to kill you all and retrieve the missing intel?

35. “The Carolers” – What if a singing group of assassins specialized in singing carols as they tried to kill you?

34. “The Plea” – A modern-day mage story that involves Jack the Ripper.

33. “The Widower” – How could a dying billionaire happen to outlive each of his gold-digging wives?

32. “The Bagman” – As your cartel's second-in-command, even you've never met the boss (an eccentric, genius-level drug chemist). So what do you do if he/she got kidnapped?

31. “Damned Elites” – In a near-futuristic college class, a history professor explains how democracy destroyed itself.

30. “Mirror’s Key” – For eight generations, a defeated general was locked in a hell mirror by a tyrannical dynasty. Then some careless mage gave him a way out . . .

29. “A Sculpted Future” – A super genius son tries (and fails) to destroy his dad’s super villain empire. Even worse, the son’s best weapon becomes the dad’s key to ultimate world domination . . . sort of.

28. “Patient Eleven” – I recently ran into a screenwriter/critic who claimed that it wasn’t possible to craft a non-gimmicky story about a zombie superspy. I decided to prove him wrong.

27. “The Cupless Sage” – An aging warrior/spy has three unique split personalities. To switch between them, all he needs is a cup of wine.

26. “The Bloodmate” – A botched delivery forces a group of vampires to use the delivery guy in an unorthodox experiment.

25. “The Sleeptalker” – A clever hacker arranges yet another drug-induced kidnapping. Ransoms aside, he’s also after more lucrative blackmail from his wealthy hostage-to-be. What could possibly go wrong?

24. “Gaia XII” – Two British Imperium survey teams have gone missing on a promising, Earth-grade world. A third team’s been sent out to investigate the disappearances . . . with a squad of marines to keep them company.

23. “The White Sheep” – A mad genius kidnapped six kids from a lab and raised them in his image. Five boys became villains. The sixth kid became a world-saving super heroine, until she lost her mind . . .

22. “The Supercop” – A tough-as-nails supercop mixes it up with a bona fide super villain, who’s nearing the end of a pre-paid killing spree.

21. “The Last Twin” – In this fantasy tale, a fallen prince-turned-pirate is betrayed by his crewmates and confronts his twin brother’s killer.

20. “A Bonding Thing” – A near-futuristic political satire that involves a SWAT cyborg, a pair of terrorists, and a truly dangerous liberal.

19. “Town Limits” – A grizzled ex-priest must free a small town from the machinations of a dream enslaver.

18. “Mr. Day” – The world’s oldest surviving super soldier thwarts a genocidal plot, only to stumble into a calculated trap.

17. “Follow the Bodies” – A pair of monster hunters quest onto accursed ground to halt the resurrection of an ancient earth demon.

16. “The Scholar” – Even after America collapsed, handpicked kids were hypno-trained to be free-thinking bastions of human knowledge. One such “Scholar” has a run-in with a group of fifth-generation zombies and a half-crazed scavenger (with a shotgun).

15. “Handshake Deal” – One of the world’s mightiest super heroes was kidnapped (by the American government) and left in stasis. Two decades later, a different President sends you to beg for his help.

14. “I’m Cheap” – Stuck between a hostile mob and the DEA, an ex-thief reluctantly turns to the only one he can trust . . . his imaginary friend.

13. “Lemon Eye” – The city’s matron super heroine just got murdered, leaving only her underaged sidekick to protect the streets. You’ve decided to collect the price on his head.

12. “A Quiet Out” – Ten years ago, you were a psychic mob’s top enforcer. Now, you’re dangling from the ceiling of an abandoned building—a pawn in someone else’s master scheme.

11. “The Threat Board” – A misfit team of heroes attempts to breach a heavily defended island fortress. If one of them wasn’t a traitor, their bold Plan A just might’ve worked . . .

10. “No Time” – A small-town sheriff has to conduct a hostage negotiation (in a bridesmaid gown) with tornadoes in the background.

09. “The Applicant” – A desperate mystical sleuth tricks a group of mystical academics into saving the world for him.

08. “The Relforde Choice” – Ten years after an actor marries into one of the most ruthlessly powerful families on Earth, his wife is kidnapped. He’s forced to choose between love and survival.

07. “The Fifteenth” – During an ultratech corporate heist, the only one who can save the day is a Game of Thrones junkie from I.T.

06. “Ninja Leprechaun” – Tired of burying his top lieutenants, a besieged crimelord hires a leprechaun hitman to resolve the matter.

05. “Unleash Him” – A street hero seeks vengeance against a black ops agency (and its top killer).

04. “The Blind Bard” – A womanizing bard (who’s also a sword master and can speak with objects) is attacked by a group of sword-wielding mercenaries.

03. “Closing Day” – A realtor closes a lucrative property deal with a genocidal alien couple.

02. “Loose Ends” – A corporate gangster has to solve his wife’s murder and avoid her killer’s vengeful trap.

01. “I Call Upon the Dark” – A summoner is hired to bring a unique form of justice to a child killer.

 

Well, back to work.

 

If you like my concepts, then maybe you’ll like my finished books. To date, there are eleven works of fiction (a mix of novels and short story collections). For writers, I’ve created six prompt books—each with 200 prompts apiece and advice on how to get started as an indie author. To aid both writers and evil GMs alike, there are three “cookbooks” for character creation.

They’re all available on Amazon and Kindle and accessible through this humble link: https://www.ivillain.net/projects/current-titles.

 

 

I, Villain Series

         I, Villain

         Murder Sauce

         Frag Code

         Coin Game

 

Unheroic Series

         Unheroic: Book One

         Unheroic: Book Two

         Unheroic: Book Three

 

The Book Of Schemes Series

         The Book Of Schemes: Book One

         The Book Of Schemes: Book Two

         The Book Of Schemes: Book Three

 

Stand-Alone Novel

         Tyrant’s Bane

 

Batchery Series

         Batchery, Volume 1

         Batchery, Volume 2

         Batchery, Volume 3

         Batchery, Volume 4

         Batchery, Volume 5

         Batchery, Volume 6

 

The Antagonists’ Cookbook

         The Antagonists’ Cookbook, Volume 1

         The Antagonists’ Cookbook, Volume 2

         The Antagonists’ Cookbook, Volume 3