I have been writing, in some way, shape, or form, since I was very young. Having always been fascinated by the villains in stories, I’ve had several variations on Miles Maelstrom, over the years. This one is, by far, my favorite, embracing my favorite genre of fiction; the super-hero; and examining it from another unique perspective.

I see the world in which Miles resides as one built on a foundation of super-human protectors and their foul foes. The tradition of the super-being is one that extends through the entirety of the 20th Century, reaching into the Victorian Age to conjure tales of dirigibles, submersibles, and fantastic, impossible machines. From these origins extend the dual conventions of the super-hero and the super-villain.

This is not a world of moral grays (or, at the very least, obvious moral grays). In this universe, the villain seeks his prize, whatever the cost, and the hero saves the day. These roles are defined for each generation of hero and villain prior to their birth and bucking them is rarely without consequence.

The tale of Miles Maelstrom is exploring the ludicrous nature of the world of superheroes and, perhaps, helping to define why it is the way it is. It’s about building a fun, imaginative universe and then exploring that aspect of the universe people would rarely examine.

Some of this will seem silly to some readers. To this, I say, Good! I want to have fun and be silly and weird and embrace the strangeness that comic book readers have always tried to defend. This is not a world where ’silly’ necessarily equates ’ineffective,’ nor is it a world where ’serious’ equates ’competent.’ I hope to take all the tropes that have shown up in comics and cartoons and re-examine them; perhaps building a few new tropes, in the process.

The Miles Maelstrom series is envisioned as 8 separate novels (Book One is Sub-Titled ’A Smart Kid Walks Among Us’); 6 of which are about Miles and the remaining 2 having a focus on the world around him (through the eyes of some very unlikely subjects!); but has been developed in such a way as to be expanded far beyond that.

I look forward to you joining me on this journey! It’s one of the more fun projects that I have been kicking around over the years and I saw this as the perfect chance to see what I could do with it!