CMDR Publishing

11/22/2021

So I was asked this week by my publisher to write a short description for 'fictionalized true crime,' the genre we're pioneering. Basically, I want to write about true things I've seen and been a part of, but build them into compelling, character-driven stories based on facts. What do you think... does the phrase 'fictionalized true crime' work for you?

10/03/2021

His childhood memory invades the living room, and he hears gunshots, lots of them. He sees holes in people, blood, faces of the little girls turning from laughing to screaming. Rae’s seductive curves shattered. Ice’s young shoulders, full of potential, smashed to pieces. Fade’s determination all for nothing, blown away by machine-gun fire that rips apart the world she had been desperately holding together without him. Deuce and Jiggy, lying still in death, forever part of the family they found. His family, all dead.
He knows he can’t leave. The tunnel is collapsing, the light from it too far away to see now. His life with Liz feels like it is dying, bleeding out like the man he once murdered. Maybe my life is the one I owe.
An icy sadness flows from the thought and down his spine. As it spreads through him, it blends with a new feeling, rage.
This is an extract from my latest book, Killing Redemption. I hope you like it! Right now there is a Goodreads competition running to win a copy - check it out. (URL) Thanks for your support!

09/30/2021

100 copies up for grabs…! 

Hey everyone, Goodreads is running a limited-time free giveaway of a 100 Killing Redemption digital copies!
Head over and add it to your "want-to-read" list for a chance to win.
If you've already read it, I'd be stoked if you'd take a minute to rate it on Goodreads as that really helps me out. 🙂

09/18/2021

Joel Cutter, what a talent!

“RUN, Anne!” Her instincts scream inside her head, driving her weary legs faster, forcing her gasping lungs to greater effort.

Fear claws at her, for the moment defeating the constant hunger and weakness of body. Fear drives her, consumes her, a base human instinct honed the horrors of war she has witnessed.

A frantic glance back sees those fears take on human-ish form behind her; two N**i soldiers bull through the thick underbrush that slows her progress, their larger, stronger forms making short work of the sparse lead she has.

At 13 years old, with more than a month since she last had a decent meal, her efforts are a last gasp of desperation, not likely to keep her from her pursuers’ grasp for long.

Must. Not. Stop.

Her world is tunneling, lack of oxygen slowly clouding her vision, but she senses a greater darkness permeates the forest. Something joyously cold and hateful.

“C’mere, girl. Don’t make us hurt you!” The man’s voice sounds no more than twenty feet behind her now, but she dares not look back.

An odd fact penetrates her fog of exhaustion: He sounds happy.

It’s not fair.

I’m just a girl.

Someone should help me.

The fleeting thoughts seem as useless as her flight, but both persist even as her strength fails.

Her vision tunnels further, and her terror mounts at the realization she will soon be literally running blind.

She looks up, toward the sad winter sun, as if to confirm that light still exists in the world.

“Help me!”

A branch snakes out of the growing darkness and she sees it too late.

THWACK.

Stunned, she lies on the ground looking at the sky, watching the sun dwindle to blackness.

Help me. Her lips move silently now, the capacity for audible speech departing with the last of her ability to fight.

As darkness rushes in, a concussion of air accompanies it.

WHUMP.

Her eyes are already closed, and she does not behold the figure who appears next to her, nor the flaming sword he holds.

Full story at: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/guardian-universe/a/anne---desperate-orphan-article

08/31/2021

He thinks for a moment that she is going to step forward and hug him, but then something crosses her face, and she doesn’t. Once they were very close, like two sides of the same coin, but now a gulf stretches between them, a chasm of different circumstances and life choices. For the last several years, they have been living very different lives. The distance has never felt further than in this moment when he wants to connect with her, but she holds back.
- Killing Redemption.

Joel's comment:
A significant theme of this book is the hard choices that stretch a young man between loyalty to those he loves, and vision of what he believes is right. The same tension exists in many of our lives, and I'll be the first to admit I don't always make the right choice.

What will Pro do?
What would you do, if you were him?

08/23/2021

Just wanted to say thank you to those of you have reviewed the book on Amazon and Goodreads. You guys are the best! Every review helps get the book out there, and inspires me to keep going. So, thank you! :)

08/22/2021

Check out this sneak peak at Joel's latest book, "Killing Redemption"!

Hey everyone, check out this scene from Killing Redemption!
___
“What gang are the YG’s?” She asks.
He shakes his head. “Not a gang, a generation. Young Gangsters. These kids are born into it and start out as Baby-G. Around seven to twelve, they graduate to Lil-Gangster, like a hang around, wanting in the gang. Then at around 13-14, they are normally getting jumped-in -officially initiated- then they are a YG, a Little Homie.”
“So, you think a 13-year-old kid shot Sleepy the South Side Loco? I thought they were supposed to be hardcore?”
“Oh, they are, trust me,” he says. “Very violent, very territorial. Fewer in number than the 60s or GBC, but really volatile. But YGs start hitting 14 and 15 and want to prove themselves. They won’t rank up again until about 18-20 unless they put in some serious work, and even then they normally have to do prison time.”
All of this is new information to her, and she realizes the man truly is a walking library. Her head is starting to swim with the detail though, and they are only 10 minutes away from Hillcrest. “OK. Let’s focus here. How does all of this have to do with Williams, and why do you think it’s connected?”
“I was getting to that,” he complains before mentally switching gears, “OK, basically we start hearing about a click, a mixture of different gang sets. All Crips that have been involved in a series of back-and-forth retaliatory drivebys over the last several months with the Locos. See, since Sneezy, there have been several more. We get a lead that one of this group is a South Side Pl***oy Gangsta Crip, a subset of the 60s nicknamed “Four,” and that he is planning another move.”
____
Want to see what happens next? Check out Killing Redemption on Amazon!

08/19/2021

Killing Redemption centers around the question of family, in this case, a gang family under immense strain and beset by tragedy. When tragedy comes, which way do you run?

08/07/2021

☺️Thank you to everyone for the 5-star reviews on Killing Redemption, what a great reception!
Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about my upcoming project in the Guardians Universe, provisionally titled Spritikind - Dark Garden.

07/20/2021

Killing Redemption: Faith or family - one will burn