Update Of Sorts

It's been over a month. I haven't updated much on the goings-on here in my little corner of the universe. It's been a busy time and a time for continued reflection on what happens next. I've been looking at what it is that I've been doing as a writer and what I would like to do. There are differences. In some cases, big differences.

What is at issue is more than writing. It is what else in my life takes up the limited time each of us has day by days. The matter is deciding what to prioritize. That can be tough when there are so many possibilities. I've grown busier and honestly my priorities have been changing. I've been looking harder at what I'm doing and what sort of projects I'd like to do and find more options out there than I ordinarily let myself see. 

I'm a publisher. That's taking more or a front seat and I'm glad for it. But, there are other things too. I've always been something of a creative sort and that hasn't been limited to writing. Making art is a much broader description. I know this but I haven't lived this enough. So that's changing. I'll been informing on more than just writing.

As a writer, I've been very narrow on what sort of work I've been doing. Naturally, some would say that it makes sense to focus on a particular style of writing or a genre. There is some merit to that thinking, but it isn't always right. So, I'm moving past it, and becoming more experimental. Fantasy and science fiction are still important to me as modes of expression, but I want to see what else there is. I want to come more in line with where my tastes have grown.

I'll be trying to update on the goings-on as they go on and inform the interested on works completed.

So there it is.

A First Look At New Book Covers & Other Thoughts

I just wanted to post the first images of two upcoming novels. The first is Killer Of Dragons and the second is The Savior Of Ravenhold. I wanted to present a sneak peek because I was happy with the results. I've been responsible for the cover of just about every book cover. I've been getting acquainted with a new design program (Adobe InDesign) so these represent my latest handiwork.

There's always this giddy thrill that comes with putting my name on a book cover. It lets me know I'm in this game call publishing. I'm not just a writer but a published author. One book after another, I make strides, doubt myself, doubt this whole business, then I just keep on writing. I do finish stories--given enough time--and then I get to make the covers.

These books will come out in the near future and, with any luck, I'll be releasing paperback editions of two of my previous novels, A Kingdom Of Shadows and The Darkness Of The Deep. 

I'll let everyone know about release dates on everything so stay tuned for all of that. I'm hoping to get more stories together into further volumes of Other Realms. Plus, I'd like to do more cover for novels so I need to get another book written. Making covers is just a lot of fun.  Let me know what you think of the covers. I'm always trying to improve the quality of my design work even while I hope that each book I create covers for is a better bit of storytelling than the previous one.

The maxim of treating it all as "practice" holds just as firmly for my cover designing as it does for my fiction writing. This approach helps me not to stress out so much when I mess things up. So, I'll keep practicing.

Writing Streaks

I started writing again. I've not missed a day for three weeks now. So, I'm officially in a writing streak. I heard about streaks when I started reading Dean Wesley Smith's website three years ago. While I entertained the notion of officially doing a streak, I hadn't done so. This isn't to say I didn't have lengthy periods where I wrote every single day without fail. I did. But these periods were always separated by much longer stretch where little if any writing got done.

I know there are plenty of factors that cause one to not write during a given day. I won't talk about any of them. I'm sure any writers reading this will have their own lists of personal reasons. They may be good ones or just lousy excuses. Sometimes, a little of both. One reason I think I'm still going on the streak is that I just totally abandoned my efforts to maintain a writing quota. It seems I alway set myself up for failure by saying that I would need to hit a certain number of words daily or weekly.

The best I can say is that I try to get a single manuscript page. That's 250 words. Sometimes, I don't quite hit that minimum and, really, that's okay. I don't care if I get 100 words as long as I get some words. It all averages out. The goal is only to not miss a day of writing. 

I'm going to see how long I can keep this streak going. I'd encourage my fellow writers to try the same thing. Aim for a manuscript page. I've heard that even a page a day will get you a novel written by the end of a year. Just think if you get two pages a day. You could have two novels written. I know that sounds good to me.

Changed My Site's Look Again Or Killing Time While I Figure Out What To Write

Yep, it's come to procrastinating, friends. I'm having a moment where I don't know what the heck I'm going to write next. Part of me thinks I've just needed a break to allow for reassessment going forward. I did that all last week. Not a single word of fiction at all. I've been contemplating a nonfiction book of essays on a particular topic of interest to me (yes, being vague on purpose).

I've also been thinking about writing a novel again. (No, I haven't forgotten the short story challenge. I will finish at least the twenty stories I promised. Just might work them in over time while other projects arise. Additionally, it's possible I have another book project on the horizon--one that pays a little something, I hope. That means I'll have to strike a tougher balance in order to fit time for fiction and nonfiction. That is all ahead of me.

As the title states, I've changed the look of my blog again. The fact is that I didn't like how it looked. It was wrong. I was going for a look that leaned more towards my fantasy fiction writing, but then remembered that I'm more than a fantasy writer. I went with a more simplistic look. I guess I just like to mix things up some.

So yeah, trying to get a grip on the writing at the moment. Probably the most important thing is to get in the habit of writing everyday again. Then work on things like word count goals or project goals afterwards.

I guess that's it for now. I'll have some new releases coming up here soon, including Other Realms: Volume One, so stay tuned, folks.

Coming Soon: The Darkness Of The Deep and Other Realms, Volume One

With this year nearing its close, I wanted to come back here and give you some previews of what is coming in 2014. I've been trying to establish a bit of a plan for how I would work on different books and coordinate those projects with a publication schedule through my publishing company. When you try to balance the tightrope that is writing and publishing, you learn that not having a plan can lead to difficulties over the long-term.

I'm hoping to change that. I have two books coming out in the near future with a couple more on the way. At this time, I thought it would be nice to give you a taste of what's to come by showing you the covers to The Darkness Of The Deep, my first published fantasy novel since A Kingdom Of Shadows back in 2012.

In the same way, I have a collection of short stories, the first volume in what I'm planning as an ongoing series of collections titled Other Realms. This inaugural issue, Volume One, contains ten original, never-before-published short stories by me. Doing short stories helps keep me balanced between writing novels and novellas so I hope to keep up that work throughout 2014.

Another point I'd like to mention is that a few of my books currently available as ebooks will also make their way into print. (Finally!) I'm excited about those developments too and I will, of course, post about those updates as soon as possible.

2013 was a strange year and a difficult one in many ways. I was able to produce works of fiction despite the changes that were wrought and I'm glad for that. I hope that I'm getting better at this fiction writing thing. Only time will tell. I'm still having fun with all of this. Maybe I'll be able to make a living too.

Catch you later. I'll be updating about publication dates and other information as soon as those are available to me. Happy New Year. Make it a good one.

Great Speech By Neil Gaiman

I watched this wonderful speech delivered by Neil Gaiman earlier today and didn't think to share it with you here, but then Dean Wesley Smith posted it on his page so I figured I'd share it too.