SPOTREPS – A Maelstrom Rising Anthology Foreword

This collection came together thanks to a couple of things. One goes way back to the beginning of my writing career. In a way, it could even be said that this entire book is Dave Reeder’s fault.

I sent Dave a copy of Task Force Desperate, in the hopes that he’d review it on Breach-Bang-Clear. He did, and the review was pretty glowing. Over the next couple of years, as the American Praetorians series advanced, his enthusiasm didn’t wane. In many ways, I’m indebted to Dave as a perpetual source of encouragement as an action thriller writer.

He also brought up the possibility of writing in one or another of my series. When the idea for the Maelstrom Rising series came to me, I initially worked up a little promotional graphic, a black and white photo of a raging fire on a street, with the following text:

Most of the pundits are calling it World War Three, though a friend of mine says it’s really more like Five or Six. Others are calling it the Great Global Breakdown, or the War of All Against All.

We Triarii?

We just call it work.

Dave immediately wanted to know what he had to do to play in that sandbox. And as the series got larger, that idea stuck around.

The final idea for this anthology came at Life, The Universe, and Everything, a writer’s conference in Provo, Utah, back in February, 2020. The series’ scope was getting bigger and bigger as I continued to map it out, and even with the POVs split between Matt Bowen and Hank Foss, there was going to be a lot going on that the main books didn’t cover.

So, starting with Jim Curtis, I asked if others who enjoyed the series, and/or were pretty good action writers themselves, wanted in. A sidebar conversation, completely separated from the panels and official meetups, had turned into a major project.

The end result is the book you hold in your hands.

The authors have brought their own perspectives and styles to events scattered all around a world going to hell in a handbasket. They’ve hopefully shed a little light on things going on well outside of Matt’s or Hank’s perspective.

It might take a lot for some people, particularly those who are used to a comfortable, relatively stable existence, to stand up and fight. It might take losing everything. These stories are mostly about those people. People who stand up and fight, because there’s no other choice left.

Join us as we venture back into the maelstrom of the next war.

SPOTREPS – A Maelstrom Rising Anthology is available for pre-order, going live on 7/14.