Stoney Compton, Author

Welcome to my web page.

Well, I didn't make it to OryCon this year, nor will I be able to attend RustyCon. In October I learned that I was selected for a position with the Chief of Naval Air Training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas.

At this writing we are negotiating on a house in Corpus Christi as well as madly packing for our move. We are looking forward to living in Corpus Christi and as always I see it as an adventure!

I had a great time last June in San Diego at the Historical Novel Society 4th North American Conference. I met a lot of very talented people and learned a good deal about self publishing and eBooks as well. Next year the conference is in London - I'd love to make that one.

Thanks for reading my books!

I am a writer and a visual artist.

My first art gig was creating a comic book for the Tanana Chiefs Health Authority in 1975 and I stayed with them for two and a half of the most fascinating years of my life. Those years were the genesis of my first two published novels (and two published short stories).

I started writing in 1984 when, due to one of the eternal bust cycles in the Alaskan economy, my freelance graphics business dried up over night. I had to give up my studio in downtown Juneau where I also painted and did printmaking on my etching press.

After a few weeks with no creative outlet (be happy you weren't there!) I began writing science fiction after seeing the first Writers of the Future anthology. It took me until 1993 to take second place in the 4th quarter of the contest, but I did it.

Currently I am an illustrator for the Chief, Naval Air Training, NAS Corpus Christi, Texas where I am honored to work with some very professional military experts.

Front Street in Juneau during winter, 1918.

I mostly write about Alaska. Usually an imagined Alaska, but the real place served as my muse for over three decades and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of "what if" when it comes to the Great Land.

My alternative history work only begins to answer the question, "What if Count Baranov had not died in Siberia in 1807, and returned to Spanish California instead?"

In Russian Amerika we witness the birth of a new nation wet nursed by older republics who have their own agenda. Check out the blurb on the Books page.

Alaska Republik continues the story and opens even more story lines. See the Alaska Republik blurb on the Books page for more.

Having said that, I must confess that currently I recently released Treadwell, A Novel of Alaska Territory in print on demand (trade paperback, 558 pages, 66 illustrations). Treadwell is the first book of the Gastineau Channel Quartet and they are straight historical fiction based on actual events but twisted, of course. More about that in the Treadwell section on the Books page.

Level Six, a science fiction novel about an archaeological dig on an alien planet about 2,000 years from now, is being vetted by an editor friend. I am already 15k words into the sequel - nothing like writing two books at once.

For the fans of my Russian Amerika universe, the next novel will feature Yukon Cassidy and his belligerent buddy, Roland Delchambre. Many of the characters from the first two novels will also appear, can't live without them! I haven't completely decided on a title yet.

I want to thank the folks who help me find the flaws in my work. They include Walt Boyes, Paula Goodlett, Leonard Hollar, Jeff and Inna Larsen, Karen Bergdtralh, Sarah Maisie Campbell, Barb Caffrey, and my lovely wife Colette Marie.

I really couldn't do it without them.

Stay tuned!

Toni Weisskoph interviewed me for Baen Books in 2007 when Russian Amerika came out. You can read the interview here:
http://www.baen.com/Interviews/intcompton.htm

Morgen Bailey kindly interviewed me in July 2011 for her blog, you can read it here:
http://wp.me/p18Ztn-nT



K.S. Brooks has interviewed me for her blog,

http://www.authorksbrooks.blogspot.com/