My Year In Review Post

I've been a bit absent on the ol' blog . . . again. Big shocker, I know. My apologies. It's not you. It's me. I live what you could say is an anticlimactic life. Anyway, I've been a bit busy these past couple of months, but I thought I better get one last post in 2013.

As I wander through my self-publishing adventure like a blind man in a smoke-filled rave party, I've inevitably stumbled along the way. One of my major mistakes was wasting a bunch of time trying to promote old works instead of welding my rump to the chair and super-gluing my fingers to the keyboard. I've heard it said many times the best way for an indie writer to succeed (or at least increase sales) is to have multiple works out. Despite knowing that, I still had trouble pulling away from the promotion side of the business.

Mid way through the year though I turned over a new leaf. I started writing feverishly on a new project. I had in my mind that I would write a series. Around mid-September I completed book one and now I'm three quarters of the way through book two. In the traditional realm I know that it's not advisable to write book two until you're sure book one will sell, but indies play by different rules. Besides, it's turning out to be more of a continuing story--like Lord of the Rings or The Dark Tower Series--that I'm breaking up into separate books.

I haven't yet churned out the second draft of book one mostly due to the day job and writing book two. I'm hoping to put in some writerly overtime and get book one out soon. I haven't released the name of the series because . . . well, I'm a bit paranoid that the name will be taken before I can get the book published. Stupid, I know, but it's my own little piece of neuroses.

I received some bad news a few weeks ago that my job will be going away. I'm searching for a new job, but as any of you in the same situation know, the pickin' sure are slim. So, I'm rushing to finish book two because I just don't know where I might end up in the next month or so. There's a good chance I may get stuck on 3rd shift and if I do I'm sure my writing time will suffer.

If things go well, I'm hoping in 2014 to publish the two books I've written and write another three. Wish me luck.

I would like to thank all of you that bought, read and reviewed my stories this past year. I hope you had a great 2013 and may 2014 be ten times better.

Happy New Year!

Anno Domini Two-Thousand and Thirteen

Out with the old, in with the new.

The year 2012 was a strange one for me.  My writing life didn't quite measure up to what I had hoped, but it wasn't terrible, either.  I'm learning and growing all the time, and I believe my writing is getting better with every typed word.

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions, but I have some plans and goals to help my writing career grow.  Let's hope I can stick with it.  If all goes well, my wife will be graduating from nursing school in May and reentering the work arena.  We are both looking forward to that.

It's been a tough year.  Not bad.  Just tough.  My deepest hopes and prayers are that 2013 will be a better year for us all.  A safer, steadier, more productive, and more prosperous year.

Happy New Year!

My Twen'y 'Leven

The past year has been a year of changes--some good, some bad--for just about everyone I know.

After deciding on a career path, going back to school (while working full time), my wife was accepted into nursing school and successfully completed her first semester. Yay!  Then her job was outsourced so people with more money than they know what to do with could afford another ivory back-scratcher.  Boo!

My house became officially diaper and pacifier free.  Both children are now in their own rooms and their brains have become Johny Five style super computers, absorbing every bit of input available.  Needless to say, we can no longer watch Family Guy, Futurama, and certain Simpsons episodes while they are awake.

As far as my writing goes, it was the year I said goodbye to traditional publishing and jumped on the indie bandwagon.  I self published Guarding the Healer at the end of May and Contemplations of Dinner just a few days ago.  I upped my virtual presence in the digi-sphere in a valiant attempt to self promote my work.  I'm a blogger, a Facebooker, Goodreader, and even a Tweeter.  If you would have called me that ten years ago I probably would have taken it as an insult. 

I also wrote another novel titled Predatory Animals.  I know several people wrote novels (sometimes two or three) but this means a lot to me because after a long time of seeking an agent, I had lost my love of writing.  Those of you that have traveled the Traditional Path know what I mean.  You pour all you have into a novel, spending several months or even years just to perfect it, then your only hope of landing a publishing contract is to convince an agent to take you on.  But you can't query all of them at once.  At most ten.  Six months go by and half don't even bother to respond.  Three say they like it but don't feel "passionate" about it.  The other two ask for a partial read, hold the manuscript for another four months to six months only to send you a form rejection letter.  Then you have to start all over again with another group of agents.  If you are lucky, you sign with an agent and the same mess starts all over with publishers.

What insane person wants to go through that?

Self publishing changed all of that.  It set me free and the words started flowing again.

It's been one of the strangest years for me in memory.  Not a bad one by any means.  I'm thankful for another year with my family and friends and I'm looking forward to 2012.

Happy New Year!