Black Moon: The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield, #2 by Tegon Maus

7/30/2018

Multi-volume, multi-genre author Tegon Maus introduces us to his second in the fantasy series about the hapless Tucker, Black moon:

Every twenty-eight years, the reign of the old Shalic comes to an end with the arrival of the Black Moon. The symbol of the law is a spear that holds sway over the whole of the Kindred, and is passed onto the old Shalic’s successor with the passing of the Black Moon.
When the old Shalic is murdered, war between those who carried the spear and those who were to receive it divides the Kindred bent on settling old scores.

Only one man stands between them...Tucker Littlefield, and he holds the spear.

Tegon has done it again! He writes a story that is so hard to put down! One minute I am laughing my head off the next I am white-knuckling my kindle!
I promise, no spoilers from me!
Tegon is a master of plotting and brevity, this is not a long book, but it’s packed with terrific scene-setting, great characterizations, and dialog that makes me laugh over and over! Tegon really makes the characters come to life, they have hopes and fears just like the rest of us, even when they are sworn enemies! With Tegon’s masterful plotting I was squirming in my seat to see who would kill who first!
This is so good, just like all the rest of his books. I award Black Moon: The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield, #2 the top score, 5 stars, even though there were a few spelling errors, which have been corrected. That is how much I enjoyed this book! I have the inside track today, Tegon is working on the third volume, a working title of “The Rise of the Norha”.
Also, it is on preorder for only 99 cents, until August 15, 2018, then it goes to $3.99. So be smart and preorder it now. It will be auto-delivered to your device on the 15th.
Get the first volume, “The Gift” now and be all caught up! Here is the link to my review: http://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/-the-gift-the-chronicles-of-tucker-littlefield-book-1-by-tegon-maus

You can buy the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Black Moon Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield vol 2
http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Maus_Tegon/black-moon https://www.goodreads.com/40882162-black-moon

You can follow Tegon Maus:
https://twitter.com/TegonMaus
http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Maus_Tegon/index.htm
https://www.facebook.com/Tegon-Maus-150255051766767/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tegon-maus-93160662

Tags: Urban, fantasy, paranormal

58 Comments

Tegon Maus link

7/31/2018 07:16:13 pm

Thanks for the great review Mark !!

Mark

7/31/2018 07:26:05 pm

I am happy that you are pleased. You have written a lot of books and I have reviewed most, if not all, as far as I know.
Several of your previous books have been scifi, one is semi-romantic, and one is contemporary drama; all have a large dose of humor. I get more laughs per mile than anywhere else!
Where did the inspiration for a fantasy quest come from?
This book seems shorter than the first volume of Tucker Littlefield. Is that my imagination, if not why?

Tegon Maus

7/31/2018 07:36:59 pm

Nope... not your imagination ! It's shorter... just enough to introduce the Kindred.

7/31/2018 07:34:25 pm

No... it's shorter. I wanted it to be a bridge to get to book 3. Book one was to introduce Tucker and I got a lot of feed back about his being an anti-hero. I never saw him that way. I think everyone does things they don't want to do because they are forced too... either by need or by someone placing them in that position. That is how I want readers to view Tucker. Book 2... Black Moon was the set up for all the terrible things he must endure to be free of other people's expectations.

7/31/2018 07:40:46 pm

If he has gone through all of that to go through I can't imagine what, I feel sorry for the guy and what he has yet to go through. There must be a million stories in the kindred. What a great introduction!
So where did all this inspiration start for the fantasy? Is it something you have always wanted to do?

7/31/2018 07:49:40 pm

Writing ? No... writing is an accident. Back in the 89's my wife and I joined a Dream interpretation group... we meet Sunday mornings and for the most part it was an excuse to get together with friends and drink wine, eat cheese and have something to talk about. Unfortunately I suffer from night terrors... I can not tell the difference between being awake and asleep. At that time I walked in my sleep a lot... Dearheart would hide the car keys just to be safe. If you have read Machines of the Little People the scene where Ben is dreaming of being attacked my trees and almost crushes Audrey face in is far more true than either of us would like. Book one is the dreams I wrote down and turned into a story.

7/31/2018 07:56:41 pm

I would never have guessed of course. That is quite amazing. Have you heard of lucid dreaming? Travis Borne seems to know something about that, he wrote Lenders which I reviewed a few weeks ago.
Was "Machines of the Little People" the first book you wrote, if not, what was the first book you wrote? That book had some elements of fantasy or urban fantasy in it.

7/31/2018 08:08:09 pm

Tucker Littlefield was the first book I wrote. I thought one would do me... you know get it out of my head and then everything would be okay. I sent it EVERYWHERE to EVERYONE... no E-Books, nothing. I sent out a dozen reams of paper in an effort to find a publisher... I have been rejected 211 times but at one time I had 4 different publishers for different stories.
Machines of the Little People was a result of my job... I bought houses... fixed them up and sold them. My realtor who would find me houses and then sell them when I was done inherited $1.3 million dollars and used it up within 9 months. A man I admired and respected became so "substance enhanced" that he lost everything and I lost a good friend.

7/31/2018 08:22:51 pm

You thought "The Gift" was all you had inside. How long did that last, before you realized you had to write more?
That is so sad about your friend. I am going to guess that was a long time ago.
What did you write after "The Gift"? What inspired that story?

7/31/2018 08:35:26 pm

Yeppers !! I spent well over 2 years trying to find a publisher for The Gift. Worse yet being new NO ONE wanted to read anything I wrote. I wrote tons of short stories just to get my name out there. I got tired of the rejections and started Machines of the Little People as I watched my realtor friend's life fall apart. I wrote the Gift because I felt like Tucker... overwhelmed, drowning under the pressure of all that was expected of me... there was no room for error, my wife counted on me and I could not fail.

7/31/2018 08:48:07 pm

That is quite a back story, perhaps still a little bit painful for you, a loss like that we never completely recover from. I lost my best friend to MS many years ago.
What did you write after "Machines of the Little People"? BTW, that book had some serious plot twists! I almost got whiplash!
What inspired that next book?

7/31/2018 08:57:12 pm

After Machines... I wrote The Wishing Stone... I so loved those characters I couldn't let them go. They are such fun to write I had to think of something else that would happen to them just to be with them. The third book in that series ( the Eve Series ) is called THE CORDOVIAN EFFECT... its about our hero becoming a machine himself and about the murder that is hunting him down and the others like him to make things right..

7/31/2018 09:04:49 pm

Is "The Cordovian Effect" new? I have read and loved the first two. In "The Wishing Stone", there seemed to be a great deal of affection, an underlying current. Now, I think I might know why.
Will there be more in the series of "The Eve Project" after "The Cordovian Effect"?

7/31/2018 09:10:02 pm

No I don't think so... the story will have come full circle with book 3. I have other stories that I'm working on... 4 of them right now and I'm anxious to finish them. I can hear them barking in the back of my head... "My turn... My turn !!"

8/1/2018 11:38:48 am

Four new books! That is certainly good news for me.
Are any of these sequels, or are they all new stories?
Back to Black Moon.
Do you have pieces of story that were removed from this book? If, so why did you remove it?
Have you ever used other acquaintances as the basis for a character, to the point they have recognized themselves in your book?

Erinn Price link

8/1/2018 12:11:03 pm

Hi Tegon, my question is more for your advise than concerning your book, I hope that is okay. I am a new author and worried about the fact that my first series crosses genres, as in the books in the series fall into different genres (2 litrpg, 2 genetic engineering relic hunt, 2 superhuman military,2 space adventure) , they follow a specific story line but need to be in different genres. So many people tell me this is wrong and be to my disadvantage as I have no following, as an established author that writes in multi-genres do you have any tips or advice? How have you found people responding to you writing in different genres? Do you have cross-over readers, or mostly new readers for new genres? Then if I write a completely separate book in a different genre (paranormal romance) would you use a different pen name , or keep it under existing name?

8/1/2018 08:14:13 pm

Hi Erinn... it's hard to say from your description. I think having several books that follow a single story line is a good thing... the trick would be in meshing the thought from one to the next. Without a smooth transition from genetic engineering to super heroes your story dies on the spot... make it a believable, logical step by step and you will be fine.

8/1/2018 08:22:47 pm

Thanks for dropping by, Erinn. That's an interesting question. I am not a writer, and I realize that a lot of people use pen names for a variety of reasons. I am inclined to think using the same name is best, unless there is a good reason not to.

8/1/2018 08:24:23 pm

HI Mark... In my day job I see a large number of people. All kinds of people... it is very easy to turn them into my characters... as far as they being able to tell it's them in my book... highly doubtful... most don't know I write !!

8/1/2018 08:29:34 pm

Nice. Out of all your books, is there one character that is like you more than any other?
Can you tell me anything at all about the four new WIPs?

8/1/2018 08:36:57 pm

All of them are like me !! Well, at least on some level... the most like me ?? I would have to say Ben Harris. I identify with him more than the others.

8/1/2018 08:44:54 pm

As far as WIP... the next in line to publish will be LOVE EVER AFTER... its a paranormal story about a man who has died and now dwells in a limbo of sorts... he is a middle man. He has exactly the same number of sins balanced against his good deeds... not good enough to go to heaven... not bad enough to go to hell. In this limbo he learns that he himself was murdered. depending on his reaction to the truth of his death will send him in one direction or the other.

8/1/2018 08:48:59 pm

That is an interesting departure from your usual writing. More like a couple of steps to the side, because you deal with a little bit of the afterlife in several of your books, so the WIP is going to be more direct. It will be interesting.
And the other three?

8/1/2018 08:51:07 pm

The next is DEPARTMENT 29... in this story our hero... Johnny Buckles thinks he has gone mad. He comes home to find his dress shirt laying on the kitchen floor in front of the fridge... placed in the middle of that shirt is a half filled bowl with a wooden spoon sitting in it. He doesn't own a wooden spoon !! Shortly after this discovery everything he knows gets turned up side down.

8/1/2018 08:55:30 pm

That is a classic scenario for you, Tegon. You are so good at putting a character into a seemingly impossible situation and letting him struggle to find an way out. Of course, it will be oh so funny!

8/1/2018 09:07:40 pm

The next will be REMEMBER WHEN... in this story after her kids are grown and gone a woman, her best friend and her husband open a restaurant with a 1950's theme. A few days after opening a tea pot arrives... house with-in it the ghost of her recently deceased mom. She can not move on until she is forgiven by her daughter. Unfortunately only her husband can see and hear her and she goes out of her way to make sure he does !!

8/1/2018 09:10:32 pm

Oh Mylanta! I can imagine the hilarity that will ensue! I will have to call in sick when I get that book, because I won't be able to put it down. Wait. I am self-employed! Oh baby, come to papa!

8/1/2018 09:17:39 pm

The next will be RISE OF THE NORHA... book 3 in the Littlefield series. As you know the Kindred have troubles... including Tucker Littlefield as their leader. There are several attempts on his life in an effort to gain power over the spear. War stands on the door step and everyone is convinced the only way to stop it is to kill Tucker... well everyone but Tucker himself.

8/1/2018 09:22:55 pm

I am already so heavily invested in that series, it will be like a vacation when it arrives.
Can you describe where the inspiration for Tucker and his problems came from?
Does writing energize you or deplete?

8/1/2018 09:35:20 pm

Energize or deplete ?? I don't know... I average 120 miles a day... most days. I write in my head during the day and get it on paper after I get home. I don't know how to explain it... my brain feels all squirmy and bubbly when I write. I like it !! If I can make my wife laugh I did my job !!

8/1/2018 09:39:52 pm

Tucker's problems ?? I think its difficult to get through the day... what you have clear in your head seems like an insult to someone else. I have made jokes... that I thought was funny... and the other person looks at me like the stupidest thing they have ever heard. Trust me getting Tucker into a problem is far simpler than getting him out !!

8/1/2018 09:26:09 pm

When I get the time... THE CORDOVIAN EFFECT... book 3 in the Eve Project. Time has passed and Ben Harris has died and now finds himself to be one of Roger's machines... and has the next 250 years to make things right. His problem ?? Someone is hunting down and killing all the machines like him...

8/1/2018 09:35:43 pm

That sounds like a great continuation of the story. I know you have put a lot of thought into all the stories. We haven't even talked about My Grandfather's Pants or Service Before Self. Both of those stories bring me to tears from laughing so hard. You bring humor into some extreme situations.
Are you funny at work and home, or just in your books?

8/1/2018 09:46:34 pm

I think I'm funny... not everyone does. Dearheart and I have been together for 49 years come this November. She has heard every joke I have a good number of times. The trick is to come up with new ones to keep her off balanced... the rest I can take or leave. Her... she's always the challenge !!

8/1/2018 09:52:43 pm

I understand about you and Dearheart. I love to make my wife laugh and it's harder in some ways now. We celebrate our 42nd anniversary this month.
Do you have a favorite author or book that you find a pleasure to read?
Do you have a writing lucky charm?
Do you ever encounter a time when it's really hard to write, and how do you conquer it?

8/1/2018 10:06:03 pm

As a rule I try not to read while writing... I don't want a good idea to turn out not to be mine !! I do read a number of articles about robotics, 3d printing and other techie stuff. As far as a favorite writer... E.E.Doc Smith. He wrote big Sci-Fi in the late 1930's. Ideas that came to life decades later ! He wrote big... John Wayne type characters with big big space problems and only the Lens men to hold things together. And a good luck charm ? Does a Hawaiian shirt count ??

8/2/2018 07:58:25 pm

The shirt counts if you think it works for you!
I have never read anything by Doc Smith, that I can remember. I will have to look one of his books up.
New questions.
What is the most valuable piece of advice another writer has given you?
What are common traps that beginning writers tend to fall into?

8/1/2018 10:11:06 pm

Times that are hard to write ?? Sometimes... it's one of the reasons I work on several books at the same time. When I run out of ideas for one book I switch to another. The larger problem is wanting to start another book from a fun idea !!

Elizabeth Delisi link

8/2/2018 05:54:57 am

Love the descriptions of your upcoming books, Tegon. When you write, do you have a critique partner or first reader who reads and comments on your first draft?

8/2/2018 07:49:55 pm

Hi Liz... thank you for stopping by !! Greatly appreciated !! As it turns out I do not... what I do have is a program that reads my story back to me. It lets me hear the rhythm in my story... I'm looking for a sing song sway in what I've written... highs and lows in the energy of the mental image I'm trying to convey. I write it over and over until I can get it to "move" the way I want. I am no good with other people. I have a picture in my head and work very hard to get you to see it as well.

8/3/2018 05:17:02 am

Isn't it fascinating how each author has his or her own method for turning out those amazing books?

8/2/2018 08:01:11 pm

Thank you, Elizabeth, for dropping in. That was a great question. Can I turn it around on you? Do you have a certain critique partner that you give a first look to? How many critique partners and beta readers should a writer have?

8/3/2018 05:19:13 am

My first reader is my husband. He's really good at spotting inconsistencies, where more detail is needed, when the plot threatens to derail, etc. I'm very lucky!

8/2/2018 06:41:02 am

I also love the Lensman series and Children of the Lens, to be truthful, I did not get his book Masters of the Vortex, think it was a bit above me, did not fit in with the series for me, but E.E Doc Smith is where my love of SciFi began. My parents are into Science fiction and Fantasy so actually can say got it from them. Do you have a family influence that got you started in Science Fiction and Fantasy? Or did you just develop a love and talent for writing about it from books and movies?

8/2/2018 08:06:33 pm

Great question, Erinn. I love it. That was quite an answer, wasn't it? My dad was in the Air Force Reserves and took me to the base every once and a while. I remember getting to see the inside of a C-119, the flying boxcar. As a boy of 10, I thought it was huge.
My sisters say we say a UFO when we were kids, I don't remember it. Have you ever seen one?

8/2/2018 07:59:37 pm

Hi Erinn... When I was nine I lived close to Norton Air Force base. They carried out training exercises on a regular bases doing what was called a “sac run.” Giant planes called Star Lifters that roared from the sky one after the other to have their wheels touch down for a brief moment and then take off again.

At that time there was a road at the end of the runway you could park and the planes would pass no more than thirty feet over head. Their power as they floated by shook me to the core. It filled me with fear, trepidation and excitement that has lasted a lifetime.

Late one afternoon as I sat on the hood of my father’s car, I saw it. It gleamed with the brightness of unimaginable silver. It was stunningly thin from tip to tip with a recognizable bulge at its center... a saucer. It floated silently in place, hanging stationary in the air like a balloon and my heart jumped to my throat in surprise. I stared in disbelief as several minutes crept by and it inched closer and closer, inching its way to the ground and to me.

My heart beat as never before and my mind filled with every Sci-Fi movie, every book, every abduction story I had ever been exposed too. I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t move. It was clear... they were coming for me.

At that instant as it was nearly overhead I crawled backward over the roof of the car to stand on the truck.
I was about to scream in terror and the craft turned slightly, banking to the right. It glided softly toward the runway becoming a Star Lifter once more as it roared over head. My father and I laughed wildly but to this day the image burns in my memory.

I saw it for myself and real or not I believe. If you can’t write Sci-Fi after a thing like that you’ll need the help of a tin foil hat… you know the one !

8/2/2018 09:18:13 pm

E.E. Doc Smith was one of the very first ! He wrote big stories with big hero's on a galactic scale. The Lens Men series are my all time favorite. My wife read the entire series to me over one summer. It was great !!

As a rule I have very little contact with other writers beyond the surface stuff. I make it a point to keep to myself... it never turns out well when I forget that rule.

8/2/2018 09:25:04 pm

New questions.
What is the most important thing you learned from publishing your first book?
You have multiple projects going on, and that eliminates the issue of writer's block. But there is also the issue of deadlines to meet. How long do you let a project sit while you work on something else?

8/2/2018 09:37:53 pm

I only get to write nights and weekends... that means it takes me a year to write a book... plus or minus a few days. It also means I have no dead lines to speak of so if it takes longer to complete a story it takes a little longer. I finished Black Moon last year and gave it to my publisher Jan 9th. It takes that long to get here now !

8/2/2018 09:45:36 pm

The publisher spent a lot of time with it. I am sure they know what they are doing.
New questions.
I keep returning to the dream interpretation group you mentioned before. How long were you in that group? Did it help with the sleep walking issues?
Do you feel you were you born to write or did you learn the craft?
Where did you learn to write?

8/3/2018 06:50:58 pm

Born to write ? I don’t think so… I like to do many different things… I get bored easily… so I chase whatever it is that stirs my curiosity most. I am self taught… well mostly. I have learned a good number of things from different publishers and friends that write.
Sleep Walking… it was a real problem for the longest time. As it is now I still can’t tell if I’m asleep or not but don’t wonder around as much as I did in the past… better meds… less pain. It was one of the reasons we joined the dream group. It was fun but I’m a very competitive person and if your dream was about flying… mine was about flying naked !!

8/3/2018 07:05:44 pm

Not only do you make me laugh with your books, now I am laughing about your competitive comment! That was hilarious! I needed a good laugh, thank you.
Direction change. Is there going to be a sequel to "Service Before Self"? That may well be the book that I laughed the most. It may well be the creepiest in a spot or two. You know what I am talking about.
Another question or two.
Did you read a lot before you started writing?
What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

8/3/2018 08:35:30 pm

Service before Self... I'm not sure. Not a lot of room to go with a follow up. I have the same problem with BOB. I would love to another BOB, everyone asks for another, my publisher asks for another but I'm not sure where I could go with a 2nd story. If something comes up for them I differently will.

8/3/2018 08:43:15 pm

As far as reading goes... not so much. Not now not ever. I can scan a few pages in seconds... I can tell you what it says but I won't remember it a few minutes later. Reading is difficult for me... if my wife reads to me I have a picture in my head... I remember every detail, the exact spot we stopped, feel everything described... it's like watching tv or a movie in my head. For some reason I can not produce the "picture" and read at the same time... it just doesn't work. I have to read a few pages and then wait to see the picture they created. I can't make it simultaneous so I avoid it for the most part. When I write I see the picture and action in my head like that movie and simply write down what I see and hear.

8/3/2018 08:53:20 pm

That is an interesting spot and you found a good way to deal with it.
When I read, the movie plays in my head. I become the characters. Whenever I tried to write creatively in school it was so hard to come up with anything. I didn't perform well at all. Even now, the thought of writing is cool, but there is not a book screaming to get out of my head, not even a whimper.
Have you ever heard of synesthesia? It's an interesting topic. It affects different people in different ways. One person I recall saw numbers as colors and he was able to perform calculations very quickly.
New questions.
How much research did you do for the Tucker books?
Was it more or less than any of the other books?
Do you write your notes by hand or computer?

8/3/2018 09:09:47 pm

synesthesia is a cross wiring in the brain linking 2 or more sensations at the same time... the smell of gasoline with the color red along with a faint taste of chocolate. I used it in the Eve Project... Marcie - in the Wishing Stone. her problem with it helped Roger work out an operating synthetic brain. As far as research goes I did a lot for The Wishing stone... genetics, robotics, synthetic hair growth, Ion exchange for body heat... I did more for the Wishing Stone than any of my other books !

8/3/2018 09:16:56 pm

I remember now, there was a lot of science in that book. It was thrilling for a nerd like me. Darn, I want to reread those books now, and I can't. I am booked into November for book promotions and lots of proofreading is inbound several authors have said.
New questions.
Do you remember what you bought with your first royalty check?
How do you celebrate when you publish a new book?

8/3/2018 09:18:40 pm

By the way... when synesthesia occurs 97.7% of the time it happens to women... of those almost all of them are left handed !!

Research for Tucker... very little. Almost none beyond a few names that I want to say something about the character... I want to shape what people read... I want to hold their hand and lead them down the garden path and then when they think they know what is happening or is going to happen make sure they do not !!

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Black Moon: The Chronicles of Tucker Littlefield, #2 by Tegon Maus

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