I’m not sure that too many people are reading my blog at this time, but if this site becomes more popular in the future and these blogs actually get read, it will probably look like I can’t stay focused on one project for more than a month or two (y’all don’t even know the half of it).

Promotion Plans

The next step for promoting Frozen Secrets was going to be ordering a print run of 1-2K to giveaway to school libraries throughout the country. The idea there being that a print run like that would probably cost around $2-3K plus shipping from China, and would be about on par with advertising in a library Continue reading “Quarantine Changes Things”

Excluding a few scenes that needed some heavy rewriting last summer, I haven’t been actively creating storylines in the Europa Academy world for about two or three years. This last month, I decided to dive into it again. And diving in would be a good metaphor, because a good portion of this story will take place in the oceans under the ice.

Reader Excitement

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve received enough positive reader feedback that I think it would be best for me to continue to focus on the Europa Academy series before going in another direction. At least, that’s what I’m thinking right now. There may come a tContinue reading “Back on Europa”

These are the last few days before my Frozen Secrets book officially launches. It’s sort of like a birthday, so I figure it will feel like any other day (like when you were a kid and grown-ups asked if you felt any older – ?).

Book Launches and Stuff

I would love nothing better than to host a huge book launch party with signing desk and long lines of fans waiting for a chance to talk to me. But this is my debut novel. And I don’t want to waste my day. I was chatting with a book reviewer a few weeks ago, and she said I should go ahead and do one, that I might be pleasantly surprised.

Tempting, but no.

Continue reading “Book Launch”

Europa Academy: Book 1 still doesn’t have an official name, but I’m working on it. I’ve been working on this story off and on for the last ten years at least. It’s the story of a mischievous, adventure-seeking boy named Max who finally gets to go to space. He travels to Jupiter’s moon, Europa, with several thousand colonists to live in a new city.  Chaos and excitement ensues.

Self-Publishing

After I queried this book for 4 or 5 months, I started researching the options a little more. What I discovered is that I think I’m much more cut out for self-publishing. I hate the idea of sitting back and hoping other people are doing what’s best for my book. The real clincher, though, was finding out that Continue reading “Spacey Teens – In Space”

As of this writing, the first book in the Europa Academy series is inching closer to self-publication. Since I’ve never done this before, I can’t say exactly how close or far it still is, but I’ll try and post updates.

Fiverr beta readers

A few weeks ago, I employed the services of five Fiverr beta readers (appropriate, right?). I started receiving the feedback last week while I was at a family reunion, and this morning I had a chance to read through it completely. With the exception of one reader who didn’t seem like she had actually read the Continue reading “Beta Reader Feedback”

My writing might be having an identity crisis.

It’s the result of two separate events on the same day (coincidence? probably not). I read this week’s newsletter from Mark Dawson, and it included the self-publishing advice he would have given five years ago compared to the advice he would give now. The second thing was hitting a pretty serious obstacle in my story-line.

Mark Dawson’s Advice

Mark Dawson’s advice list had three things on it. They were all good, but it was the third item that really hit me. It was to write what you love. Actually, he said five years ago he would have given the advice to write what people want to read (essentially, write to market), but now he says write what you love. This Continue reading “Identity Crisis”

I’m about 8,000 words into the first draft of the second book in the BANAnas series, and I’ve discovered something interesting.

I love writing action scenes.

Action Movies vs. Romantic Movies

It’s funny to find out that I love writing action scenes, because you would be forgiven for thinking that I don’t consume much action in my entertainment choices. When I sit down to watch a movie with my wife, nine times out of ten, we’ll watch a romantic comedy or a straight-up love story (like Pride and Prejudice). We rarely watch action movies. I’m sad to say that I have missed all of the recent superhero movies (except for Iron Man because I’m an engineer, Continue reading “I Love Action”

Writing is fifth on my job list. I know it doesn’t seem very fair, particularly because it’s what I want to do more than all of the other things on the list.

(Not Quite) Full-Time Job

The job at the top of my priority list is my full-time job. I guess technically it’s not a full-time job. When they made me the salary offer, I commented that it sounded more like 3/4 time based on our earlier compensation discussions. Their response was, “sure, that would work.” So I go to work every day around Continue reading “No Time”