2,000 Miles, Oceanview Camping and One Novel : How a Man in Boxers Inspired a Horror Story

Happy MONDAY!

It all started at work. And yes—I work—all summer long, remember my workamping post? For those who recall, I was a cook at Cherry Hill Park in Maryland for the past two summers (an announcement of where I'm working for the summer of 2026 coming soonish).

I was waiting for one of our servers to get back from a delivery, and when she finally walked in, she looked at me and said, "You're never going to believe what I saw."

When someone has that look on their face, that specific mix of awe and pure fear, my imagination immediately goes into a frenzy. Did she stumble onto a serial killer? Did she just find someone murdered in their half-a-million-dollar rig at the resort? Was she attacked by some stray animal that breached the park? My head was spinning as I waited for the reveal.

She took a deep breath and let it out: "I saw a man with a belly protruding over his boxers and a large white beard who answered the door to accept his food."

She laughed at the description, and I shot back with my own weird humor: "So, you saw Santa Snake?"

We laughed it off, but my brain didn't stop there. It started spinning a karmic tale of a weird, camper-traveling killer on the loose. I got home that night, jotted down some notes, and by the next morning, I began writing the story that became my new novella, Karma Cop, releasing this March.

People often ask how I travel, work full-time, and still complete stories to sell. The short answer? You adapt. You have to compartmentalize all the shit going on in your life. For me, that boils down to three things:

• Adaptation: Every summer brings a new job and a new rhythm I have to sink into.

• Resilience: Dealing with the inevitable breakdowns that leave me questioning, "Is this lifestyle really worth it?"

• Consistency: I write whenever and wherever I can. I pulled out the traditional dinette set in my rig and replaced it with a comfy chair and a corner desk. That’s my office.

  
  

What keeps me accountable is my notepad. I have a page for every story. I track the date and the word count religiously. My challenge is 500 words a day, and more often than not, I exceed it. My ideas keep spilling out of my head and onto the page faster than I can keep up.

Karma Cop is officially polished. My ARC team is diving into it as I type this, and I’ve successfully transitioned from the Dashboard of the Mothership to the Desk and finished this book.

What I’m asking you to do today is pre-order the eBook. Pre-orders help me gauge the interest in the work I’ve put in while traveling from the Maryland coast to the swamps of Florida. If you can’t squeeze out the $3.99, just think of it as sacrificing one daily cup of joe from Starbucks or Tim Hortons. Swap the caffeine jolt for a horror jolt written by my crazy imagination and drive!

Who’s with me? I knew you would be. Here's a few links where you can pre-order, Karma Cop (Take a screenshot of that pre-order receipt and message it to me on facebook/Instagram/ or threads, or email it to me with subject "pre-order", and I'll give you a free eBook of your choice from my book catalogue, make sure to tell me what book you want in the email or message.)

Amazon (pre-order)

Barnes & Noble (pre-order)

Apple Books (pre-order)

Everywhere Else that isn't listed above! (every link for every other book store will be listed here)

Thanks for stopping by this morning, and thanks for the endless support, whether it's clicking on this blog, reading my posts, or engaging in my horror, I appreciate you.

Thanks for reading!

Tim Eagle

Tim Eagle is an author of the novellas Stolen Seed, Life Ship, and the Vasectomus Collection. He lives full time, on the road, with his wife, Maria and cat Walter White. He grew up in Michigan and is inspired by the dysfunction of America. His books are available on Amazon, godless and this site timeaglefiction.com