iSoftwerks

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Images © by Steve Croy

iSoftwerks

CSS Template by templatemo.
Images © by Steve Croy

iSoftwerks

CSS Template templatemo.
Images © by Steve Croy

Recent
Projects

Upcoming in September, Friends of the Library in Decatur, Tennessee will be hosting a book event featuring my Western novel, Outlaw Brand. I've started a new Western. I have always had a certain fascination with fossils. Not many people realize, fossils and paleontology were a significant part of the Old West. The Bone Wars, a fractious contest between Othniel C. Marsh and Edward D. Cope, provided American museums with world-class dinosaur and mammal fossils from 1876 to 1892. I decided to use the Bone Wars as a backdrop for my new Western, tentatively titled, Bones of the Earth. O.C. Marsh's expedition in 1877 uncovered the giant sauropod, Apatosaurus, near Medicine Bow Wyoming. E.D. Cope's team, digging in the same Como Bluff area, uncovered the remains of the theropod, Allosaurus. The rivalry was intense: sabotage, intrigue, betrayal, and gun play all were a part of the contest to see who could discover and name the most extinct species. I am fast becoming a fossil as well. If you are interested in my efforts in digital art, and photography, you can review some of my artwork on Deviant Art, an on-line artist community.





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This is an iSoftwerks presentation.

Outlaw Brand will be the featured event September 30, 2023, in Decatur, Tennessee. Outlaws and lawmen were often one and the same in the Old West. The image of Marshal Dillon (James Arness) of Gunsmoke fame, presented a stoic and heroic figure. Such wasn't always the case.Texan John King Fisher was sentenced to prison for horse theft when he was only fifteen years old. He was known to have committed multiple murders. However, in 1883 he became a sheriff in Uvalde County, Texas. The idea of an outlaw becoming a agent of law enforcement provided the spark to write the novel. I hope people will enjoy the tale.

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Blog
Entries

You can keep track of publications and projects by checking the tabs below.
Upcoming events will be posted as they are scheduled.

  • Book Event!

    Sep 1 2023

    Upcoming this month, September 30th, 2023, the Friends of the Library in Decatur, Tennessee have invited me to give a presentation on my Western, Outlaw Brand. Currently, the planned date is Saturday, September 30, starting at 1:00 PM.I'm looking forward to seeing friends, and hopefully a spirited Q & A session after the presentation. Stay tuned for more information! In September, I will post a map with directions to the library and further information on the presentation.

  • Book Event!

    Aug 17 2023

    Upcoming in September, the Friends of the Library in Decatur, Tennessee have invited me to give a presentation on my Western, Outlaw Brand. Currently, the planned date is Saturday, September 30, starting at 1:00 PM.I'm looking forward to seeing friends, and hopefully a spirited Q & A session after the presentation. Stay tuned for more information! In September, I will post a map with directions to the library and further information on the presentation.

  • Bones of the Earth

    Aug 14 2023

    With Judgment Rendered published a new Western novel is underway, titled, Bones of the Earth. Dinosaurs aren't something considered 'Western', however the Bone Wars of the 19th Century were very much a part of Western lore. Noted professor, O. C. Marsh and his bitter rival E. D. Cope competed feverishly to find and name the most fossils from North America's richest fossil formations. Como Bluff Wyoming, near Medicine Bow became a treasure trove of Jurassic-age fossils. And the two camps fought bitterly over the rights to claim the bones buried there. But they weren't the only ones fighting in 1877. Dull Knife and his band of Northern Cheyenne still skirmished with the Army. Crazy Horse and the Sioux still rode the war trail. The competing bone hunters weren't at peace, and neither was the whole of the Wyoming Territory. Stay tuned for updates!

  • Judgment Rendered

    Aug 1 2023

    Judgment Rendered my latest Western project has been published. Feedback from the beta readers was positive. I think the novel contains some compelling characters as well as some vivid word pictures of the mining communities of the 1800s in Arizona Territory. The novel is available on Kindle and paperback from Amazon. Look for it on my Amazon Author Central page. Converting the document to ePub, it will be available later this month for Nook readers, at Barnes & Noble Press. The front cover art was created from a photo I took at the Booth Museum of Western Art in Cartersville, Georgia. If you haven't visited, I highly recommend a trip to the museum. There are brilliant examples of both traditional and contemporary art--sculptures, paintings, and multi-media presentations.

  • Bones of the Earth

    Jul 12 2023

    With Judgment Rendered (see below) in the hands of beta readers, I have started researching a new Western nove, tentatvely titled, Bones of the Earth. Dinosaurs aren't something considered 'Western', however the Bone Wars of the 19th Century were very much a part of Western lore. Noted professor, O. C. Marsh and his bitter rival E. D. Cope competed feverishly to find and name the most fossils from North America's richest fossil formations. The Morrison Formation proved to be one of the world's best repository of Jurassic Age fossils. The two paleontologists, Marsh & Cope fought tooth and nail to claim the lion's share of the bones and the glory. Stay tuned for updates!

  • Judgment Rendered

    Jul 1 2023

    Judgment Rendered my latest Western project is complete (but not necessarily finished). I think I have created some compelling characters as well as some vivid word pictures of the mining communities of the 1800s in Arizona Territory. Since the rough draft of the story is complete, I hope to hand off the manuscript to a few beta readers by the end of July. Hopefully, the beta readers will have positive feedback, and changes to the manuscript won't be extensive. Of course, I will probably revise the original document after several passes through the story. It's hard to resist tweaking! However, I think most writers go through the process of re-writing--adding to the character, smoothing the flow, or sharpening a particular element of the story. With good reviews and a little luck, I hope to have a manuscript ready for pulication by the third quarter of this year.

  • Judgment Rendered

    Jun 15 2023

    Judgment Rendered my latest Western project is coming along nicely. I think I have created some compelling characters as well as some vivid word pictures of the mining communities of the 1800s in Arizona Territory. A rough draft of the story is nearly complete. I hope to have it in the hands of beta readers by the end of July. with luck, I may have a manuscript ready for pulication by the third quarter of this year.

  • Price increase?

    Jun 01 2023

    I just recieved notice that Amazon is raising the cost of producing my novels, effective June 20, 2023. I am not sure what this means for my readers. I will have to evalute how this affects the printing cost. It wasn't exactly clear on the amount of increase. I am sure, with inflation the cost of paper has increased and of course, labor. I am not sure if this will impact the Kindle product--yes, they do charge me a distribution fee for Kindle downloads. If it is a modest increase, I hope I can keep the price of the Kindle books and the paperbacks at the current level (fingers crossed). - SC

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