As the days fly by and the arrival of the Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novel becomes very, very imminent, I am contemplating how I got here, and just how damn lucky I am.
All this pondering could also have something to do with marrying my co-writer (again) in front of our parents and loved ones, or even getting confirmation this week that my greencard is winging its way towards me. All of these things are collaborations with Tee, and ones I never really saw coming.
But that is true of the best and the worst things in life.
The whole Ministry series was—if you haven’t heard the story yet—a complete set of staggering coincidences and good fortune. The series was originally going to be a podcast for pay. It then evolved into a novel, and got turned into a podcast anthology. Yep, that original podcast never actually happened, but we did eventually get it out to the podcast world in some form.
Even stranger was, the Ministry won a steampunk award, got into the top 10 science fiction books of 2011, was turned into an audio book, and got translated into Russian and German. Through all this, I can’t help but marvel at how the smallest, inconsequential conversation with Tee on a plane trip from Las Vegas to Washington DC became this thing.
I am proud of the Ministry books. I think they are fun, and Eliza and Wellington make me laugh and smile. Tee and I genuinely enjoy writing them, and it has been a joy to have someone to hold my hand, bounce ideas off and relish the successes of the ride. I could never have done this without Tee Morris, and I am forever grateful he took the leap into the creative soup with me.
So, I hope you’ll check out the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences website, download the podcast anthology or the digital editions of the short stories, and of course…naturally…pre-order the book. I have no idea where the series might evolve to next, but that’s fine. I am content to hold onto Eliza’s petticoats and see where the mad adventure takes us.
Oh and it you are curious, yes…this is a picture of how Tee and I collaborate together. We’ve never revealed this to anyone before, but I thought it was about time….
(photo shot by JR Blackwell when the Ministry was still not even a gleam in the Muse’s eye)