I’m Back!

ExpeditionWriter caving in Arizona!

Hey y’all, sorry for the break in blogging! All of my personal time in the last couple of weeks has been piled into editing my current novel project, an adventure thriller set in one of the world’s deepest supercaves. Here’s a short excerpt from one of the first chapters.

Some time later—Milo did not know exactly how long—the monotonous savannah was broken by the sound of a single cargo helicopter high above. The behemoth slowly passed, a massive generator dangling from a cargo net like a teardrop hanging from spiders’ silk. Cresting a hill, the Rover made a careful final descent down a steep bluff, turning onto a freshly‐bulldozed triple switchback above a pastoral tree‐ lined dry valley. Their view was blocked by the descending helicopter as its rotor wash kicked up massive clouds of grit. A scramble of local porters unhooked the bulky cargo net and cable from the helicopter, which then flared and soared away.

The red dust settled, revealed a sprawling encampment of trailers, olive‐drab tents, off‐road vehicles, local and foreign personnel all busying themselves with equipment and temporary structures.

Milo scanned for the archaeological site, some indication of purpose to the mind‐bogglingly vast encampment before him. He saw no test‐pits, no marked‐off areas. A brief flash of intense annoyance crossed his face—without basic protocols, the trailers and trucks would destroy irreplaceable historical treasures.

“Where’s the dig?” shouted Milo over the whump‐whump‐whump of the departing helicopter.

“What dig?” asked the driver as the aircraft disappeared into the distance. “We’re not going to a dig.”

“Then why am I here?”

“You honestly don’t know?”

“I have no goddamn idea.”

The driver smiled and leaned towards him conspiratorially. “You ever explore a 150‐million‐year‐old lost cave before?”

A select cadre of friends and readers have been doing an amazing job of providing insight and edits, for which I am eternally grateful. Always looking for more readers/editors, so if you’re interested, feel free to get in touch with me through the blog.

Thought I’d share some of my inspiration for this project as well. Whenever I get stuck, I go back to this collection of photos. There’s a reason that the subterranean world is called the “eight continent” by some, it is a vast and mysterious world, one of the last frontiers of exploration.

Also wanted to share this video as well. Gives a good sense of what our heroes are up against. Warning – it’s pretty intense.