About
Genre: Sci-Fi, Buddy Cop, Thriller
Themes: Identity as Subjective Reality
Pages: 281
Words: 73,217
The Halferne Incubus was the first written, though second chronologically, in a cycle of six novels that can be read individually, with no knowledge of the other five books, or in order as part of a losely-connected story. It began in 2004 as one of the very first short stories I ever wrote, simply as an exercise in developing the backstory for a thin-but-interesting character in my larger project, The Malyon Gambit.
In 2020, wanting to participate in NaNoWriMo, but having nothing planned out, I decided to dust off the original short story and rewrite it as a full-length, stand-alone novel with a few new concepts and ideas I had thought of in the intervening 16 years.
All of the books in the series are told in a different genre — this one I would call essentially a Hitchcock “Wrong Man” psychological thriller with bits of “buddy cop movie” scattered here and there for decoration.
Back Cover Blurb
In a future world, the lines between the virtual and the physical are increasingly blurred…
A man who doesn’t exist is murdered.
A woman is tormented by his nightmares.
A mysterious dark figure only she can see will stop at nothing to know what they are.
A lone cop believes her and vows to protect her.
His dead partner isn’t convinced and wants to bring her to justice.
Can she unravel the mystery before losing her grip on reality?
Read the Latest Draft
Playlist I Listened to While Writing It
Revision History
| Original Short Story | November 2004 | |
| Nano Draft | First 53K words (NaNoWriMo draft) | November 2020 |
| Draft 0 | First Speed Draft — Rewritten second act; add third act | September 2022 |
| Draft 1 | Grammarly Draft | December 2022 |
| Draft 2.0 | Alpha Reader Draft — Added chapters 2, 4, 17, 18, plus story tweaks | May 2024 |
| Draft 2.1 | Adjust worldbuilding to address feedback | Feb 2025 |
| Draft 2.2 | Modifications to chapters 4, 6, 22, 23, 24 | May 2025 |
Current Issues Being Worked On
- Currently 50% dialog. Cut repetitive arguments.
- Vary sentence structure more
- More interior stakes for Parrino and Serah
- More distinct/consistent voicing for characters, late additions feel different from the earliest chapters
- Need a callback in the ending
