It's a future post-apocalyptic (but not grimdark) America full of magic, madness, war, adventure, and -- when it comes to the Tom Vargas Mysteries series -- jokes about movies. So many jokes about movies. Banshee Beach is the third book in the series: check out the Add-ons section for print and digital copies of the first two books (Frozen Dreams and Tinsel Rain).

Tom is the guy with the hat, wise-cracking hero of my post-apocalyptic high urban fantasy pulp detective series. As the above picture suggests, he lives in an... interesting place, full of glitter and mystery. Tom is a Shamus who Clears Cases in Cin City (more formally Cinderella, tinsel crown of the magical Kingdom of New California.) Shamuses may look like detectives, straight out of the Lore, but it's a lot more complicated than that.

But, in the end, it's largely just an excuse to make a lot of wisecracks about movies.

(Oh, and hi. I'm Moe Lane (website, Patreon, books).)

As described elsewhere, the central conceit of the Fermi Resolution is that in 2100 AD, somebody very smart will discover the laws of magic. Shortly thereafter, somebody very stupid will work out a way to put spellcasting on an app, and download it into everybody's phones. Shortly after that, civilization collapses.

It turns out that the discovery of magic is the Great Sort for planetary civilizations, and we did not avoid the usual fate.

Surprisingly, things are not universally grimdark, although in Tom Vargas's time period (mid-26th Century AD) things aren't all that great. His own country of New California is safe enough, but Sonora to the east and Deseret to the north are both recovering from wars of conquest and pillage. And in the center of the continent perches the horrible Universal Dominion, always hungry for more mages to kidnap and convert.

But that's all right. They don't have mages in New California. Just ask anyone. Honestly, the Tom Vargas setting is mostly an opportunity for me to make jokes about movies, pop culture, and general wisecracking. Tom is a Shamus, whose holy calling is to Clear Cases, whether people want him to, or not. Mostly it's 'not,' as per the tradition -- and, more importantly, the Lore. Oh, and this isn't the last story I'm going to write about Tom, but this also isn't an epic trilogy or anything like that. Tom is just having adventures. The world isn't about to end. 

I mean, technically it's already ended, or it's going to end again in another few centuries. The term 'post-apocalyptic' has more give in it than you'd expect.

Currently there are four [three]!

I am mostly focusing on getting Banshee Beach out as early as possible, and I don't want to overpromise. That means the stretch goals as currently planned are going to be, ah, efficient.

Tom Vargas is part of a larger universe. If you're unfamiliar with it, we can get you up to speed real quick. Note that all physical rewards are US shipping only.

Because self-publishing costs money. I paid for a real cover artist, and I will be paying for a real cover layout artist and a real editor. All of those folks need to eat. If I want to get this book out before the end of 2027, I'm going to need a little help getting over the finish line.

And that's where crowdfunding comes in. Supporting me now gets the books out more quickly. Which obviously benefits everybody, from my new and ongoing readers, to Western Civilization itself. The world needs more good books.

I anticipate that Banshee Beach itself will be ready in 2027, as early as I can arrange.  Obviously, the better we do, the earlier the release date, but this project is largely paying for editing and maps. Both of those tasks take time to fulfill.