It’s Maggie’s time to shine. Platinum Donkeys, my novel about how insane geniuses take over the world, is available today on all ebook platforms. I just love this story so much, and Maggie…well, Maggie haunts me, and I’m thrilled that she might be haunting you soon. I think you’ll at least find her entertaining!
I have a bunch of new novels coming out in 2024! All of them are the beginnings of awesome universes, and with all these worlds there has to be something for everyone to enjoy.
Available March 2024
In the near future the world is almost a utopia, but there are still a few who are damaged, weird, and insane. The best (or worst?) of them are the Platinum Donkeys — too stubborn to quit, too excellent to fail — and they have chosen Maggie, a serial killing celebrity, to be their queen. If Maggie wants her freedom then she’ll have to choose to either help the Donkeys and reign over the ashes of the world, or face her own damage and stop them.
Platinum Donkeys is a classic hard sci-fi romp with larger-than-life neurodivergent characters. It’s a reflection of my own damage, and a dynamic, hopeful vision of the future. I’m proud to say that Alfred Bester would have loved it, and Joseph Campbell would have hated it.
A sequel is being outlined. Working title: Steel Elephants.
Available May 2024
Aliens came to Earth and offered us all immortality. Most humans took it and left for the stars. Eli stayed. He wanders a nearly empty Chicago, pining for love and making casual suicide attempts, until an alien social worker named Leon offers to find him just one reason to live.
But the search may have to wait. A parasite stalks Chicago, consuming the immortals. Trillions of aliens drop dead throughout the galaxy, and Eli’s journalist friend Suna finds that the cause involves ancient myths and the meaning of human life. But before they can solve those puzzles, they’ll have to tame Suna’s feral time-travelling daughter, dodge a rain of teleporting billiard balls, and parley with the King of Chicago and his army of pterodactyl-riding orphans.
ORTL is a philosophical sci-fi novel with a thoughtful presentation of immortality, life’s meaning, and why wise men drink. It is my love letter to humanity. There is no sequel planned; this book is a stand-alone.
Available July 2024
On a colony far from Earth, an orphan boy finds a pair of gravity boots and becomes the wall-walking thief known as Wally. But Earth’s war comes to his world when gigantic aliens invade. An ambassador arrives to negotiate, the governor makes plans to betray the Earth fleet, and Wally and his teenage friends learn about the Dark Colony plan, a policy that will doom them all. Wally must save the colony and stop an interstellar war, when all he wanted was three meals a day.
Wally and the Dark Colony is a coming-of-age tale in a time of space exploration and war. While I intended it to be for young adults, the themes got dark enough that I’m not sure it’s suitable for children — but adults who like sci-fi YA will love it.
A sequel is outlined. Working title: Franklin and the Pirate Fleet.
Available September 2024
Nita, a criminology student in Southern California, finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation involving fish-men, non-euclidean horror dimensions, a cult that may have the means to summon an otherworldly god, and the secretive always-smiling professor known as Chipper.
Chipper is a paranormal detective story and a look at how a Lovecraftian world would twist the minds of the people within.
A sequel is outlined. Working title: Chipper meets the Fun Guy.
Links to all these books will be here as they are released. 2024 is going to be an exciting year!
Welcome to the website (and possibly, someday, blog) of Pat Scaramuzza.
Pat is an aging scientist (a combination which always spells trouble for the immediate vicinity) who writes science fiction novels and comic books, and has dabbled in art despite colorblindness and a stubborn lack of good taste. He lives in the central Midwest of the United States with his dogs, Jack and Cinder. Pat is the ugliest one in the picture above.