Tag Archives: book

General Posts

Tuesday Afternoon Ramblings

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Some exciting news to report on book three.  I’ve been working with the artist on final tweaks to the cover art, and I must say that she has done a fantastic job.  I can’t wait to share it with everyone.  That means book three is almost ready for print, and pre-orders should begin sometime in October.  Once I know all the details, I’ll share them on here.  I’m hoping for some very strong sales with the launch coming right before the holiday season.  Also, Seventh Star has put together a fantastic platform for getting the word out.  I’m thrilled and grateful to be one of their authors.

On the other side, because Seventh Star will be re-releasing books one and two, I will cease publishing Brotherhood and Red Sky in mid-October, just before pre-orders for book three.  Anyone who wants copies of those versions either to read or as collector’s items, you have about two weeks to order them.  Once I stop production, I will be unable to order any more, and I only have a couple of copies of each in my possession.  So those editions, especially Red Sky, will be fairly rare items.

I’m excited about the future for the series.  The new covers are going to be eye-catching and have some sizzle.  Seventh Star has a pretty large group of reviewers lined up to review all three books, and I’m ready to hit a few interviews to launch the releases.  It’s time to fire the big guns, baby, and let her rip!

General Posts

Late Night Ramblings

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Sometimes, I feel as if every decision of my life has been wrong.  I question going to college when I had the opportunity to run a fairly successful business my father owned.  Instead of a mountain of student loan debt, I could possibly still have that business.  I question attending Memphis.  I question studying writing.  I outright regret attending graduate school.  All of these decisions have hampered my professional career and left me little more than a second class citizen in a nation that only rewards greed and corruption.

I married the wrong woman and then compounded that mistake by staying in the marriage much too long.  I love my children and wouldn’t trade them for anything, but the marriage was a mistake and has hampered every aspect of my life to this day.  I also regret how I handled my divorce, conceding way too much and leaving myself with too few rights as far as my children are concerned.  I also regret not taking the first two years after the divorce, staying alone, and healing.

I question my decision to teach for Tusculum, to teach period, but especially for them.  Simply put, they are a terrible school that treats their faculty like dirt.  I regret wasting my youth on them.  I also question my decision to return to education after I had escaped.  WSCC is a good school, but I’m no longer happy teaching and wish I had done something else.

I question my decision to self-publish.  I can’t really say it’s amounted to anything other than a few good friends and a handful of good memories.  Financially, it was a disaster.  Given the opportunity to go back, I probably wouldn’t do it over.

In short, just about every major decision of my life has been wrong in one way or another.  I feel like a fool of the grandest scale and also feel like I can’t trust my own judgment.

General Posts

Wednesday Morning Ramblings

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Here are some thoughts on writing fiction.  These aren’t directed at any individual; they’re just my personal musings about the craft and profession.

First, I believe good writing is a craft that must be learned and cultivated over a lifetime.  Sure, there are distinctive personality traits that draw a person to the profession, but more important is the time and energy that person puts into honing their voice, playing with syntax, polishing dialogue, developing descriptions, bringing characters to life, and building tension.  These are the framework of a good story, and without them, a writer is much like a carpenter who can’t hammer straight or read a tape measure.

Also, there seem to be two major categories of writers: the artist and the mercenary.  I don’t mean the latter as a pejorative, simply an observation of fact.  Last weekend, I heard from several of my peers that they write whatever sells.  Please, don’t misunderstand.  I’m all for making money and don’t begrudge them pursuing it, but as an artist, I’m more interested in developing the story that’s authentic to me.  If the money never follows, so be it.  I write because I have to, not because of the potential for making money, and since I have to write, I choose to create what matters to me, not what happens to be hot at the moment.  If the day arrives when I write about sparkly, wimpy vampires other than as a satire, that’s the day I’ve crossed over from artist to mercenary.  Of course, by that point, the new hot thing will be transgender zombies with a penchant for needlepoint, or something equally absurd.

Finally for this entry, I think the artistic writer needs to be subversive to a degree.  The current trend in society is a degradation of manners, etiquette, and general decency.  As an artist, I reject that trend, and my act of subversion is to carry myself as a professional, treating others with respect and dignity, unless they happen to piss me off.  Then, it’s both barrels.  But in general, I make a conscious decision to be polite and not give in to the decline of civilized behavior.  I refuse to play the “I’m cool” game that pervades the music industry and Hollywood because that’s not my nature and not my character.  I also refuse to follow the crowd.  I’m an independent, free-thinking person who conducts himself, most of the time, as respectful and courteous, and I tip my hat to my fellow writers, both mercenary and artist, who do likewise.

Those are my thoughts for now.  I hope to write more about the craft of writing soon.

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