Release Day for The Second Death

A little over a year ago, I had decided to rethink my writing career. My stories weren't selling, and even the novella I had written for a specific editor had been rejected. So I was in the process of trying to decide whether I really should keep writing fantasy or begin working in a different genre, one better suited to my writing style, when my agent told me that David Pomerico at Harper Voyager Impulse was interested in publishing my novella, In Midnight's Silence. Of course, I was elated.

Then he wanted to know if I had more novellas planned for Los Nefilim, and of course, I said absolutely. The characters and story had been percolating for quite some time. The backstory was already there, and all I had to do was put the characters into motion.

I wanted to recreate the serials from the 1930s and 1940s--those action adventure radio shows that delighted so many. Just before the second novella, Without Light or Guide, was published, I wrote about the big idea behind the series here at Supernatural Underground.

Fantasy Faction recently did a wonderful review and called the series a triptych of novellas, which is exactly how they were designed to be read. Each novella is threaded into the next one with the final novella, The Second Death: Los Nefilim, Part 3, being published today.

I wanted each Los Nefilim novella to be a complete "episode," leading into the next installment. Thanks to David's excellent editorial advice and the great folks at Harper Voyager Impulse, I am exceptionally pleased with the result.

So today is the final installment to this Los Nefilim cycle. Will there be more? I don't know. Sales and reader interest will dictate the ultimate fate of Diago, Rafael, and Miquel. As for me, I would be delighted to keep writing their adventures.

While Diago is far from being the first gay protagonist in a story, I think he is an important one, because people need to see LGBT heroes who aren't placed in the story as a prop. I am exceptionally fortunate to have a great diverse group of LGBT friends who are heroes to me, and Diago and Miquel are composites the wonderful people who have so deeply impacted my own life with their everyday courage and compassion. The whole series has been a joy to write.

In The Second Death, Diago is given the choice to save the world or his family. While he grows more comfortable not only with his heritage, but also with his place among Guillermo’s Los Nefilim, he is still unsure if he truly belongs amongst them.

In a frantic race to save the future of humanity, Diago is forced to rely on his daimonic nature to deceive an angel. In doing so, he discovers the birth of a modern god—one that will bring about a new world order from which no one can escape ...

The year is 1931.

The city is Barcelona.

The angels war, and a new god is born.

And deep in the heart of an asylum,

Diago Alvarez must outsmart them all to save his son.