The Mindsaga Series

The Mindsaga series comprises (for the foreseeable future) two books: Mindflight and Mindsearch. Each book stands totally on its own; you don't have to read the first to enjoy the second (but it certainly helps). A third book, Mindwar, has been outlined, but is very far down on my list of future projects.

Mindflight is about a spy who desperately needs to come in from the cold. Earth is able to maintain what control it can over its former colonies by using telepathic spies. But what even the spies don't know is that, once they reach their late thirties, they begin exhibiting mental instability and must be eliminated to protect the program as a whole. Alain Cheney is one of Earth's best telepaths, but this only makes him more susceptible. He has to battle not only his physical condition, but also his own organization in an attempt to survive.

One point that I, at least, find very interesting is something that grew out of this. I was playing around with names for the lead female character, the hero's antagonist and a very strong woman. I made a list of first names and a list of last names, and started mixing them around. One name that came out of that process was "Jade Darcy." I loved it instantly. I sat staring at it for a long time, then said, "No, that name's too good for this character. Jade Darcy deserves to be the star of her own book." And I moved on and chose a different name, "Joby Karns," for the woman who has to hunt down Alain Cheney.

But I never forgot Jade. And, years later, Jade Darcy did indeed appear in her own books.

Mindsearch, the second book, takes place almost twenty years after the end of the first. It concerns Alain's children, who have not only inherited their father's talents, but expanded on them. They're now on a crusade to find and rescue other telepaths -- a crusade that leads back to Earth and the Agency that tried so hard to kill their father.

But there's another force looking for telepaths, too -- a sinister group of alien telepaths who view these young people's project as unwanted competition -- and who are willing to kill to stop them. Caught between two deadly forces, these untested youngsters must find some way to survive.