Projects
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Welcome to the projects section! Here you can take a look at some of my current projects, both free and not-so-free. Poke around and see what I have for your reading pleasure! Most of my items for sale have samples, so you can at least figure out what the hell I'm on about before giving me your money.
I contributed to a collection of flash fiction to help #SaveOurStages!
From the Amazon page:
"Curtains is a flash fiction anthology where 84 authors tackle 84 different interpretations of what "the last concert" could look like. This is a charity project, with all proceeds going directly to #SaveOurStages, whose mission is to help venues and musicians survive until we can rock in person again. Edited by Brock Wilbur and Meghan Ball."
Available Now on Amazon (With Extra Content)!
Olivia, new to her high school and not wishing to spend the night alone, attends an annual party hoping to socialize with her peers. When the doors slam shut, what the partygoers think is a prank rapidly turns into a nightmare of flame. A killer stalks through the fire, carving a path destruction toward Olivia. Escaping with the help of a stranger, she must continue to evade the unstoppable hunter or fall victim to the living nightmare.
As the body count rises and Olivia is pushed ever closer to her own death, one question looms: why her?
Available Now!
Click to Huge-ify
Cover Art by the Glorious Ashley Ruggirello
Improbables
Abigail Wren’s new life fresh out of college is dull, even with her (almost) dream job at the local newspaper. The only real excitement she can get is found between the pages of an endless stream of paranormal romance novels she can’t help but love.
Then, on a snowy night in December, Abigail catches a glimpse of what could only be described as a werewolf. Enamored with the possibility, her investigation leads her to discover a paranormal population—improbables—harmoniously living in the midst of humanity. Between making eyes at a perpetually grumpy werewolf and hanging out with a vampire with a lust for life (and liquor), Abigail’s life takes a shaky step out of the ordinary and into the fantastic.
Just outside of the sleepy town of Whitewater, however, a force of rage is building. Born of hate and delusion, a living cataclysm threatens to devour everyone in its path—human or improbable.
Available Now!
Click for Big McLargeHuge
Washed Hands
Breaking up can be one of the hardest things a person can do, something that the dedicated team at Washed Hands, Inc. thoroughly understands. Whether one’s soon-to-be-ex is manipulative, violent, or anything else that makes a clean break difficult, the company’s rejection counselors ensure that the split is established and maintained in no uncertain terms. And in the toughest cases, no one’s better at this than Monica Deimos.
Brought in on what appeared to be a relatively straight-forward domestic nightmare, Monica realizes all-too-late that she has been set up to take the fall for the murder of a wealthy socialite. As the police close in, Monica needs to discover who she can trust, who wants her out of the way, and why she was framed.
She’s no fool, though. The best case scenario ends in a jail cell… the worst in a body bag.
“A witty thrill ride from beginning to end that will leave the reader begging for more!”
Shay West, author of The Chosen and Dangerous Reflections
Project Northwoods
Heroes and Villains Aren’t Born…
They’re Certified
In a world where heroism and villainy are 9-to-5 gigs, Arthur Lovelass’s life has reached critical mass. Every attempt he’s made to humiliate his popular and heroic father has failed,
his girlfriend has left him, his sister won’t talk to him, and he’s jobless. As if that weren’t bad enough, his roommate is threatening to kick him out of the apartment after he
causes an embarrassing accident which leaves her just as unemployed.
Things get worse when Arthur guilts his best friend Tim into accompanying him on a prank at the Heroes’ Guild. Instead of petty vandalism, the two stumble on a conspiracy which leaves four dead and the ‘Lord of Justice’ Arbiter on a campaign of revenge which threatens the very
world Arthur longs to be a part of.
The clock is ticking for New York’s villains, and Arthur may be the only one who can stop it.
Part One is Available Online!
“This is the kind of story I love. Resonant, unpredictable, self-aware, rife with witty banter, and with a creative and amusing use of superpowers, Project Northwoods pits absolute villainy against overwhelming heroism – a refreshing take on a classic genre.
Jonathan Bruce's knack for creating fantastic villains makes me want to become one.
If he continues this way he'll soon take over the world. I call sidekick.”
Jinn Nelson, author of Fear the Hunted and Pirated
“This book is action packed from start to finish. You will run through a range of emotions; laughing out loud to snippy one-liners between characters, biting your nails as the action goes into full swing and you have no idea which way it will go, and even shedding a tear or two when… well, I can’t give that way now can I?”
Desiree Putaski, The Bookie Monster - (5 out of 5)
“Sometimes I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for, and that made the story even better. The motives were plausible, the characters were solid and three dimensional… And if I say too much I’ll give everything away. Really, you should just read it if you like high octane.”
Allyson Lindt, Gemini Girls
“I am looking forward to Mr. Bruce's next book. I definitely hope it is set in this same universe. It's somewhere I want to visit again.”
Librarian Judith, Straight from the Library - (4 out of 5)
“I don't want to give readers spoiler but you'll definately love the book if you're really into reading fight scenes. :)”
Cagla Tasdemir, Booker Like a Hooker
Otherworld
On June 17th, 2004
Darkness Lives and Breathes
What seems to be a normal day in Andersonville, Illinois quickly spirals into a nightmare when an explosion rocks St. Michael's Hospital. In the aftermath, nine members of the staff wake up and discover they have no means to contact the outside world. Searching for coworkers and patients has turned up nothing, save for panicked screams from deeper within the hospital.
It seems that the survivors aren't the only ones left in the halls of St. Michael's - but they may be the only ones that are human. As their numbers dwindle, their only hope is a race against time to uncover their connection with the hospital's dark past and the secrets of the Otherworld.
Silent Hill meets 13 Ghosts in this horror stage play. Otherworld was originally performed at New Berlin West High School on November 5th, 2004.
The Otherworld cover design is the product of KZiegler Design
Otherworld: Infinite Requiem
Return to the City of the Dead
The horror didn't stop at St. Michael's. Within hours, Andersonville, Illinois has fallen to Dr. Iris's Cataclysm and the Otherworld's horde of ravenous aberrations. After the chaos, seven people band together in desperate bid to survive.
A state trooper following a runaway teen looking for her parents. A police sergeant escorting a violent convict en route to Tamms Correctional Center. A businessman with a gore-slick baseball bat. A housewife in blood-stained clothes - blood she says isn't hers. And a man with a gun missing two bullets and the memory of killing someone haunting his every move.
With paranoia threatening to betray their fragile alliance and the unspeakable horrors waiting to devour them, the survivors grow ever closer to becoming consumed by the Otherworld. And yet, there is an even greater threat beyond mere death. Sinister eyes watch their every move, biding time in anticipation for the ritual of the Infinite Requiem.
The sequel to Otherworld is a love-letter to horror, drawing inspiration from the unknowable terror of H.P. Lovecraft and the Silent Hill series of video games.
Artwork Graciously Provided by the Incredibe Steven Luna
Inspired by Jenny Trout's insightful and hilarious critical takedown of 50 Shades of Grey, join me as I begin my journey through the horror capital of the United States, Silent Hill. Join Travis, a trucker capable of hefting 400+ pounds of garbage and a tragic childhood™ as he teams up with a psychic murder ghost for reasons that may or may not involve a cult.
Highlights include the mischievous (and sexually predacious) Dr. Skeeves, a woman we meet in the first hour who goes unnamed for the next three, and Lisa, a nurse who adds precisely nothing to the plot but has more screen time than the other two combined.
Silent Hill, of course, belongs to the good folks at Konami. I'm just bringing a heaping helping of critical analysis.
Harry Mason comes to Silent Hill for a vacation with his seven year old daughter. Unfortunately, a ghost girl/hallucinogenic health drink causes him to crash his car. When he comes to, his daughter Cheryl is nowhere to be found and he must venture through the fog-covered and monster-infested streets to find her. He’s not alone, though—a cast of far more interesting characters alternately tells him what to do and ignores him as we push ever onward into the story. Will Harry find his daughter before he is lost to the darkness? Or will he be crushed by a narrative so amorphous that it’s kind of hard to figure out what any of the creators were going for?
Also, TITANOMOTH.
Featuring in-depth analysis of the story and characters, Traipsing Through Silent Hill takes the time to go over some of the doofier aspects of the game that are often overlooked thanks to the power of nostalgia. We also use the power of math to determine how many people live in Silent Hill and how tall Harry is. It’s a whale of a good time, especially if you don’t mind how much swearing I do!
Silent Hill is obviously owned by Konami Digital Entertainment. I just analyze the hell out of it.