Inigo Press

My new novel Terraformed Earth – Evolution is available on Amazon for pre-order at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H47PJ4XF. It will be published August 10.

Terraformed Earth is the three-volume story of a distant future after a genocide virtually eliminated humanity from Earth. Over the centuries, the Young, the gene-modified rulers of Earth, patiently sculpted Earth’s environment into a Holocene paradise. By the fourth millennium, the process is almost complete, and the Young are considering eliminating humanity entirely to prevent future damage to their manicured environment.

In 3262 CE, Ignatius Xavier Ryan, a Jesuit priest banished by his Church to the future to defuse a theological crisis, arrives after a millennium spent in a spaceship on a long cometary orbit. He descends to the surface and finds a group of survivors known as Cats living in the Ozark forest outside the climate remediation center of S’Loo.

In Terraformed Earth – New Millennium, Ignatius meets Morna, a Cat who is not who she seems. As he struggles with his lost faith, he finds himself called to share his values in a world rich in life but devoid of compassion. He and Morna have a child, Iris, and flee S’Loo to a hidden city known as Kaycee after the Young in S’Loo decree his death.

In Terraformed Earth – Discovery, Ignatius comes to realize that Kaycee is not the refuge from the Young he had thought. He and Morna return to S’Loo to confront the society at its heart, only to be accused of a great crime. Ansan, at 800 the eldest of the Young, comes to S’Loo to adjudicate the case. In her, Ignatius finds a leader willing to hear his vision for the future, but only after a verdict has been declared. The verdict is far from what they expect.

In Terraformed Earth – Evolution, Ignatius and Morna work to bring his vision of compassion to fruition against strong opposition from a faction of the Young. Even though Ansan supports them, she is nearing the end of her life. She must uplift a new member of the Young to take her place, but who will that be? Will any newly uplifted member be able to change the course of history against the entrenched resistance of half the governing council of the Young?

I’ve been tweaking my page, and I realize that my short stories appear in several anthologies that are not on the main page. Here are the anthologies published by the Science Fiction Novelists Facebook group that have my stories.

2024: Ryan’s Debt

2025: Martian Requiem

2026: UFO

My Worlds of Sol series now has a new novel: Thorium Blues. Some time after the Second Rebellion in the United Nations of So; settlement on Mars, Chris Lafontaine is tapped to lead an expedition to prospect for thorium in the Northern Lowlands. The UNS wants the thorium to power expansion of Tharsis City. Sadly, the Peoples’ Republic of China has claimed all thorium on Mars as its exclusive strategic asset.

Reassured that no other nation on Earth recognizes China’s claim, Chris heads north along Mariner Valley with a motley crew. The daunting Martian terrain is challenge enough. When they arrive on Chryse Planitia, a Chinese expedition is waiting to deny them access.

Chris learns that his team has brought weapons for just this eventuality. Now Chris needs to find a way to complete his mission without starting an international war.

Thorium Blues is available in Kindle and paperback formats, as well as in Kindle Unlimited.

Tharsis City on Mars needs to refuel its aging power reactors to keep the farms providing food and oxygen. Chris Lafontaine, bored and ready for an adventure, agrees to lead an expedition to Mars’ North Polar Basin to prospect for thorium.

Leading a motley crew in a convoy of vacuum tractors, he expects trouble from the hostile Martian environment. He does not foresee three armed tractors from the Chinese Martian research station waiting for him in Chryse Planitia.

The leader of the force tells Chris that the People’s Republic has designated all mineral resources in the northern plains as a strategic resource. He demands that Chris and his team leave. Chris refuses, and his crew begins the search for thorium. The Chinese tractors interfere, and things spin out of control.

Once the shooting starts, Chris will need all his ingenuity to evade capture, complete his mission, and bring his fellow adventurers back to Tharsis alive, all without starting an interplanetary war.

2026 is turning out to be a great year. I recently published a memoir about my time in Naval Aviation, Blue Water, Golden Wings. It’s a series of stories about how I managed to pursue the Right Stuff and avoided dying in a dangerous profession. It’s been my most popular work to date. I’m also working on three new novels.

Terraformed Earth – Evolution is the third novel in the Terraformed Earth series, about a distant future after a genocide virtually wipes out humanity.

Thorium Blues is the third novel in the Worlds of Sol series, about a future in which humanity moves mining and manufacturing into space. A restructured United Nations of Sol has developed a colony on Mars, a mining center on the asteroid Ceres, and is reaching beyond the Belt for more resources. Of course, humans being human, conflict simply morphs into different forms.

The third WiP novel is an alien invasion story. I can’t say more about it now, but a publisher has expressed some interest in it.

Until my new stories publish, please feel free to browse my existing novels and short stories. If you find them interesting, I would appreciate a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other sites. Reviews are the lifeblood of an indie author.

So, check out some of my stories and enjoy.

No, 2026 is not the start of a new millennium. I was referring to my novel Terraformed Earth – New Millennium. It’s the story of Ignatius Ryan, a Jesuit priest sent in cryosleep to the thirty-third century.

Ignatius returns to Earth after a millennium to find a constellation of military satellites orbiting silently above a pristine environment with little sign of humanity.

On the surface he meets a tiny remnant of humanity locked in a struggle with their gene-modified rulers for control of Earth and their future. To each side he represents both opportunity and threat.

When Grace, the AI who shepherded him through centuries, hacks into a military satellite and fires its laser, the rulers fear Ignatius’ power and decree his death.

Ignatius, feeling abandoned by God and betrayed by the Church, is seduced by Morna, a survivor who is not what she seems. He dreams of a quiet life with her but cannot ignore the events that led to humanity’s disappearance.

Seeking to understand an ancient genocide, Ignatius raises questions no one wants answered. As he struggles to recover his lost faith and find purpose in this new century, he finds love, uncovers dark secrets, faces betrayal, and fights for the life of a daughter he never imagined.

I just finished a collection of sea stories from my fourteen years as a Naval Aviator. For a sample, check out Smoke Light Approach

If you like the story, you can find a lot more in my recently published memoir, Blue Water, Golden Wings – Confessions of a Naval Aviator

Here’s hoping you have a great holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate.

I’m starting early with a new attention to my site in 2026. I’d like to share my writing journey with you all.

First, I recently published my memoir of my career in Naval Aviation.

Blue Water, Golden Wings is now available on Amazon. The book illustrates the challenges, both personal and professional, in surviving a career in Naval Aviation.

Here’s a clip from a customer review:

“You will enjoy this book if you like candid, easy-to-read tales of the career of a Naval Aviator.”

I’ve also had a story accepted for 2026 SciFi Writers Anthology Pre-publication orders are now online.

My story, UFO, is based on my actual experience flying off the USS Wasp (CVS-18)—up to a point.

I have two sci-fi series currently available: Terraformed Earth and Worlds of Sol. More about them in future posts.

My series Worlds of Sol has two novels and six short stories. A third novel, Thorium Blues, will appear in early 2026.

Tharsis City in Mars’ Mariner Valley is running out of power to grow food and create oxygen. New nuclear reactors need a fuel source on Mars, not one a ruinously expensive distance away on Earth.

Chris Lafontaine is bored and looking for an adventure. He volunteers to lead an expedition to the Northern Lowlands to find thorium for the city’s reactors.

Never mind that the People’s Republic of China has claimed all thorium on the red planet as its strategic resource. Or the fact that the UNS Guardsman on the crew for security has brought a cache of weapons. So what if two members of his crew are probably spies? What could go wrong?

Chris and his crew head north aboard four vacuum tractors. They encounter the expected challenges from the unforgiving Martian terrain. Chris does not anticipate sabotage of a tractor or a freak accident that threatens his crew.

When he arrives at his destination, an armed Chinese expedition is waiting to block him. The task of accomplishing his mission and getting his crew home safely just got a lot harder.

Here’s a link to the short stories.

Worlds of Sol Short Stories

As 2025 draws to a close, I realize I’ve neglected this site too long. I’ve been involved in several projects developing in parallel, and they’ve consumed most of my time. Beginning now, I’m going to post more regularly on this blog about my stories. I’ll start with an outlier, my memoir of my career in Naval Aviation.

Blue Water, Golden Wings – Confessions of a Naval Aviator