Writer
Robert J. McCarter 
With the series I write, I always think of them in terms of the wider story arc, and in the case of Neutrinoman and Lightningirl in terms of Seasons. I call them “Seasons” for a reason. There is a larger story being told across all the episodes. And, yes, “Season” and “Episode” sounds like a TV show on purpose. It’s the way I think of this. These three books (Off Book, Hard Times, and Elemental …
Okay, Walter Anchor used to be an actor so why not have him solving a murder in a Hollywood? A murder with a particularly Hollywood kind of vibe. He’s a ghost after all and moving about is easy. That is the starting point to this unique murder mystery. Long ago when I was in high school and then again briefly about ten years ago, I did some acting. As a teenager it was plays, lots …
I am ending the Stir Crazy Story program, for now at least. I am leaving Meteor Attack! up for free for a while seeing how there are six episodes in the series now, but it feels like this program has run its course. When I started this, it was just COVID-19 and the world was on lock down. It’s a lot more complicated now with the economy, the racial unrest, and political madness all on top …
Today I am wrapping up Season 2 of Neutrinoman and Lightningirl: A Love Story with Elemental Factors. This season delighted me because in the writing it took so many interesting turns that I didn’t expect (yeah, I know it sounds strange, but it’s the way I write. I follow the characters and they sure surprised me here). I don’t have a timeline yet, but there will be a Season 3. There is a lot more …
I have no words for what’s going on right now in our world (writing this in early June, 2020), at least ones that seem useful. Except be kind. We are all on this planet together and kindness seems needed more than ever. The book choice for this slot was made before the particular madness descended, but it somehow feels right. “Toxic” is a good way to describe our current situation. And while I don’t think …
There’s are best practices for writing a series and then there are… what I did with this series. It has been an education on what not to do. My wife once jokingly called this story (in a different form with a different name) my “white whale.” She cast me as Captain Ahab on a quest to exact my revenge on Moby Dick. It wasn’t quite that bad, but it was a struggle. An unusually difficult …
Back in 2017 when I was doing my Short Story Marathon, stars kept coming up thematically. Or, more specifically, that feeling I get when I look up at the Milk Way on a cold clear night. Over and over stars appeared in those stories. There was this feeling I wanted to convey, this thought, this concept. And while a lot of the stories benefited from the idea, I knew it wasn’t quite there. Until I …
While things are starting to open up here and there, self quarantining remains in place for many, so time for another Stir Crazy Story. This time it’s my first and best reviewed novel, Shuffled Off (4.8 stars with 35 reviews as of this writing). This book will always have a special place in my heart. It was hard, it took a long time, but so many parts of the project was quite magical. There is …
Hey, it’s release day! Hard Times: Neutrinoman and Lightningirl: A Love Story, Episode 5 is out. I’ll have the blurb below, and yes, it’s on sale, but as this release has been approaching I’ve realized something strange. Even though I wrote this book several years ago (I’m really behind with this series) and planned its release last December, it’s a book for this moment. For those not familiar with this series, it’s a boy-meets-girl kind …
We past five weeks of staying home here this week and 2020 is not at all the year any of us thought it would be. I’ve got a lot to be grateful for. I have plenty of work to do and can get into the forest with the dogs, but boy is strange. This far in, I’m able to read fiction again and have been enjoying one of Jim Butcher’s Desden Files books. Very entertaining. …