Okay, I can finally talk about it.

I have a number of short stories published by Raconteur Press. They’re good people and seem to like my stories, even the ones they elect not to publish.

They also are in the process of publishing a series of Boys’ Adventure Books.

Generally, they’re short science fiction or fantasy adventure novels written specifically for young male readers between the ages of eight and eighteen in the tradition of Robert Heinlein’s juvenile books. While written for boys, they are intended to be equally enjoyable by girls as well as adults. But really, they’re mostly for boys.

The idea as I understand it, is that boys don’t read anymore in part because books aren’t really being written with boys in mind these days. With the surge in “updating the genre for modern audiences,” that “update” includes any audience except young boys. Boys (and often men) are thought to have been excessively marketed to in the past, and the current SFF gatekeepers thus decided to “move on” to other readerships.

I mean who is successfully publishing and marketing books in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter of Mars” or “Tarzan series? What about E.E. “Doc” Smith’s “Lensman” and “Skylark” books? Heck, if it were written today, Robert Louis Stephenson’s “Treasure Island” would probably never see the light of day.

But, this series is more than adventures FOR boys. These books are specifically crafted so that the main protagonist IS a boy. Think about the modern term “representation.” Boys want to be able not just to read about boys in exciting tales, but to see themselves as the heroes.

Why did Captain America need Bucky or Batman need Robin? Strictly speaking, they didn’t. I mean, in real life, who needs a twelve or fourteen year old boy in the middle of a shooting battle with Nazis or having a fist fight with the Joker or Penguin?

Teenage characters were included in comic books so the reader, other boys, could see themselves battling alongside their adult heroes.

And so this series was born and now I’ve become a contributor having just signed the contract for the publication of “A Wobblegong and His Boy.”

It’s a science fiction novel set on another planet where, for reasons too complicated to detail here, all of the adults aren’t available, just children. When the kids wake up from suspended animation upon arrival on their colony world, all the grown ups are still asleep and not waking up any time soon.

The image at the top was generated by Grok and is only a poor representation of my story. Well, I don’t want to give too much away too soon. I can say that the book includes lots of fantastic monsters, robots, broken AIs, sinister intrigue, spaceships, and of course, the mysterious Wobblegong (no, it’s not the lizard in the image above).

Editing and publishing a novel takes a while so the projected publication date for “A Wobblegong and His Boy” is sometime in March of 2026.

As time passes, I’ll keep you all updated. I have to say, I’m really excited about this book coming to life. Some of the basic concepts included in the narrative have been running around in my head for the past several years needing a suitable outlet.

I’m thankful the fine folks at Raconteur Press liked my story and are willing to publish it. In the meantime, they’ve got plenty of other adventure novels for boys already published or available for pre-order.

Visit Raconteur Press to find out more about them.