Vinx the Mercenary Minx: A Bloody Good Prequel to the Infiniverse

Mookie steps away from interviews for a moment for a solo episode of Science Fiction and Fantasy Factory, revealing a new project and reading its opening chapter live: Vinx the Mercenary Minx, a prequel spinoff from his debut novel, Jonnie Fazoolie and the Transfinite Reality Engine.He starts with the origin story behind the original book: a short story written on Medium in 2020, during the pandemic, on the Lower East Side, about a hustler who discovers a machine capable of jumping between infinite parallel universes. That idea eventually exploded into a two-and-a-half-month, twelve-to-twenty-hour-a-day writing binge, the kind of manic, all-consuming creative stretch Mookie calls one of the hardest and most rewarding periods of his life. The finished manuscript ran so long it had to be split into two books, and Mookie gives a real, specific update on both: where book one ends, and how far along the sequel actually is.But the real reveal is Vinx. After months of interviews with military science fiction authors and publishers on this very podcast, Mookie realized a side character from the Jonnie Fazoolie series, a genetically cloned assassin built for a single purpose, deserved an origin story of her own. He's candid that he built her with zero agenda beyond simply liking the character, and then reads Chapter One in full: "The Selection," a violent, vivid opening sequence set at a mercenary auction where ten thousand cloned sister-assassins compete for one coveted position, and where Vinx's competing sisters discover, in the worst possible way, that being passed over isn't something Vinx plans to accept quietly.The Story on SubstackWant to be on the show? Have feedback? Send Mookie a text!Support the show