The Written Wyrd

A Non-Profit Literary Trust In Washington State

Greetings And Welcome!

Offered Works
The Interstellar Concord Saga
Click the image for more info.

The Diplomacy Trilogy

Humor

The MacKenna Trilogy

Military Drama

The New Generation

Young Adult

Writing is a labor of love by which those who possess the Gift of Story-Telling reach out to the world and make it a little bit better by their labors.

It is also a complex, time-consuming process, fraught with missteps and the need to understand many subtile tricks not apparent to the untrained eye. Even those with good language skills can easily get lost in the maze of plot progressions, story arcs and character evolutions.

And for all the effort put in, the chances of the unknown author making it through the traditional 'New York Market' are dismal at best. It is disheartening for the up-and-coming generation of spec fi authors to think that their labors are in vain, but the sad truth is that the present system just doesn't work for newcomers: which brings us here.

The rise of Print On Demand and downloadable formats like Kindle and ePub have changed the publishing world. Now the only thing keeping the would-be author from publication is the knowledge to do and the will to act. And therein lies the rub: for the road to self-publication has many potholes and blind ends.

The Written Wyrd* is a literary trust created by a typical self-published author who has been down this road. The goal is to support self-published and small press authors and cover artists by recounting my own efforts, successes, and failures in order to smooth the journey for others.

The works listed at the edges of this page are my own efforts at independent authorship, which I offer world-wide as a charitable activity. The income is used to support new authors and cover artists with technical advice and resources on this site. The goal is to help them develop their skills and get their names before the reading public - to provide them that little edge which can make the difference between a wannabe and someone with honest accomplishments in hand.

So please come in, look around, explore the world of speculative fiction as seen through the eyes of the self published author, and above all, enjoy!

Thank you for your time and interest. I hope these efforts will prove helpful.

All my best,

Bob Boyd
Founder

* The term 'Wyrd' is Olde English for one's fate or destiny, as in 'he met his wyrd'.

What's New On This Site:

Prepping To E-Publish With Open Office

New To Authorship? Check out

About Writing

To begin your creative journey.

A Special Appeal To The Industry

Established Writers, Publishers, SMOF, Please Read.

The Ideas Board

Ways You Can Promote The Art Form.

A Quick Note About Writing:

Above all, characters have to be believable, which is not to say they can't have eccentricities.
A character who is all-talk-and-no-action, or who is obsessed
about something or someone can be a major plot driver.

Visit our writing section for more detail.

Looking For A Good Read? Check out our

Shopping Cart

to review our offerings.

All proceeds from sales go to support interest in speculative fiction and the efforts of self-published and small press authors.

For Your Consideration:

From 'TRIAL':
"Gawd." His tense look deepened. "Like a fuckin' football game, pardon my French." He scanned the frenzied humanity barely held in check by a thin cordon of city cops and National Guard troops, then turned his attention back to her. "So what brings the Palace Guard to our little shindig?"
"That."
'That' seemed innocent enough at first glance: a perfect sphere twenty-odd feet in diameter made of some shimmery, pearly silver material with no markings, seams, openings or any other detail. The catch was that it descended out of a clear blue sky three days ago, and it now hovered six inches above the center of the cluster of softball fields in Central Park next to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"An honest-to-God flying saucer," she whispered. "Jesus."
Watching TV wasn't the same as actually standing there and seeing it. An alien space ship: product of a civilization far more advanced than mankind. The reality of it chilled her. Her first rational thought as she studied the enormous pearl was that the automatic tucked in her waistband was about useless.

Your Disturbing Thought For The Day:

In Indonesia, there is a rule that one can't join the police force if they've had sexual enhancement surgery. Armed men with performance anxiety: scary.

From The News Room:

My Writing Career Is Restarting!
As many of you know, I have been absent from my writing for some time - years - brought on by a combination of health issues, several unexpected household moves, and some severe writer's block as a result.
I am pleased to announce that my writing has taken the first tentative steps to restarting: first by a long overdue upgrade to this web site, followed by completing several novel length works.
First of these will be the third of the MacKenna trilogy, which I can see will need some substantial rewrite. After that are two epic fantasies, two mainstream novels, a third YA demi-novel, and another short story collection.
This will take time, especially as my writing efforts are still problematical, but - hopefully - things are moving again.

Famous Last Words
"I'd swear that boy spun out on the learning curve."
(Admiral MacKenna - 'Diplomacy's Stepchild')