The city keeps glowing, and Thursday it steps out into the world.
The Republic of McCoy is out October 15. The ebook is $2.99 for launch week only.
Pre-order here >>> The Republic of McCoy.
🎶 Listening to Still with Me by Chicane. To me it’s Marlowe’s song, and it’s on the McCoy playlist with the rest of the music I listened to while writing.
I can’t write without music. Every chapter of The Republic of McCoy had a song playing behind it, some of them on repeat for weeks, and by the time I finished, the list had grown to 43 tracks.
Twenty of them are listed in the front of the book. The full playlist, every song I wrote to, is here: The Republic of McCoy: Full Playlist
If you only listen to one, make it “Krazy” by Seal.
The Republic of McCoy launches October 15. The ebook is $2.99 on pre-order, free ARCs are still open on BookSirens, and the Goodreads giveaway runs through October 14. All the links are in my last post.
— Tori
The Republic of McCoy launches October 15. It’s a neon-noir cyberpunk novel that started as a single image of grey concrete back in 2017, and after a lot of years and ten rounds of edits, it’s finally ready.
Marlowe takes a security job at Cleancore Industries guarding Trevor Ledeus, heir to the company. The job comes with a helmet she doesn’t take off and a number where her name should be. Cleancore also builds the machines that clear the debris fields, and the machines are built from the dead. It’s legal. Then the newest line is unveiled, and Marlowe knows one of the faces.
Read it before launch day. Advance review copies are open now. Grab a free ebook in exchange for an honest review: Get your free ARC.
Enter the Goodreads giveaway. 100 Kindle copies are up for grabs through October 14: Enter here.
Or pre-order now. The ebook is $2.99 for launch: Pre-order on Amazon.
It’s been a while since I’ve written here. There’s a good reason, though: I’ve spent the past year inside a city called McCoy.
Today I’m happy to share that The Republic of McCoy is available for pre-order and releases on October 15, 2026.
Marlowe wants a Central job and the real money that comes with it. When her roommate moves out, she can’t cover the rent alone and takes a security job at Cleancore Industries. It turns into something else—guarding Trevor Ledeus, heir to the company. The job comes with a helmet she doesn’t take off, a number where her name should be, and one condition: ID 7 does not show her face. Trevor asks for her real name anyway. She doesn’t give it to him.
Cleancore sells security services and builds the machines that clear debris fields. The machines are built from the dead. It’s legal.
Then the newest line of units is unveiled, and Marlowe knows one of the faces.
He didn’t choose it. He can’t come within three feet of her. And he no longer registers the name Marlowe.
This book took nearly a year and more edit passes than I want to admit. It pulled me somewhere new as a writer, and I’m proud of where it ended up. I can’t wait for you to meet Marlowe.
The ebook is available for pre-order now on Amazon, and the paperback and hardcover will follow on release day.
Pre-order The Republic of McCoy
Thank you for sticking around while I was quiet. More soon, including the music that kept me company while I wrote it.
— Tori
I finished my NaNoWriMo story. Not only did I reach the goal of 50K words, I also ended the story. What I’ve learned from this experience is that I’m capable of cranking out a full novel within less than a month. It’s not perfect and it’s basically a super rough and dirty draft but the story is done.
Goals going forward:
Here is a cut-and-paste from my Nano page with the updated “Marlowe” synopsis (still somewhat rough) and an excerpt. The excerpt is the scene just after Marlowe fights a cyborg that detonated.
Last November, I didn’t do National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) because I was finishing up my master’s degree. I had wanted to but knew it couldn’t be possible. I’m excited to say, I am able to do it this year.
The first time I did NaNo (2016), I didn’t make a cover and didn’t include a synopsis. I rushed into it. I didn’t outline but did have a pretty good idea on what the story was about. I finished my 50K words, but it was tight. I felt like I just threw whatever I could into the story to hit my numbers per day. In the end, I felt I lost track of the plot and the main reason for the story. This time, I’m outlining to avoid all that. I’m sure there will be moments of the aforementioned, but my hope is to have less of it.
If you are not a member and want to give 50K words a try, go to:Â https://nanowrimo.org/.
If you are a member and want to be buddies, my member name is, waltzoftheflowers.
My story is a sci-fi dystopian speculative with some cyberpunk. It’s called, “Marlowe.”
The rough synopsis (will likely change):
After the great war, in what was once the United States, a new government emerged. They hired a clean-up company to remove debris and junk to clear out land for homes and farming. This company used machines and robots to assist in the cleaning. The robots are cyborgs: half human, half robotic parts. Cyborgs could only be created by using dead human parts but there are secrets the government doesn’t intend for anyone to learn. A girl named Marlowe will unearth the truth.
The temporary cover:
I have a playlist I’m putting together for my story. Here’s one that I’ve imagined to go along with a scene. The scene is when Marlowe learns that her friend was converted into a cyborg without his consent. He finds a way to talk to her and asks her to turn his switch off (to kill him). She refuses.
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