Click here to rejoin family content. A Dragon's Egg and a Full-Circle Moment Okay, I have to share this—because it's one of the coolest things that’s happened to me as an author. A couple of weekends ago, my family went to one of those paint-your-own pottery places. My wife and kids picked bowls and plates. I chose… a dragon’s egg. (Of course I did.) I had a reference image on my phone—Elliah and the black dragon’s egg from Secrets of Deara—and I was doing my best to recreate it in glaze. An...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Click here to rejoin family content. Not a lot of updates. Between the family trip to the Keys, and a trip to see a set of grandparents, I didn't get much writing time. That's okay... sometimes I need a break from writing as much as I do from work. I did write one chapter, so not zero progress. I sent what I have to my mother, still my biggest cheerleader... the beginning and end of Secrets. She had questions about how it all connects to Guardian League. Maybe I hadn't said this before, but...
30 days ago • 1 min read
Click here to rejoin family content. Book 4 is well underway now. I took a different approach this time and wrote the first 4 chapters, then the final 5 chapters. The ending has weighed on me for so long that I just had to get it done. So now I just need the silly midling bits and it'll go out the door. :D Frankly, the parts I have written are missing things. Bits that it is hard to tie up in action scenes without distracting. It'll be fun and interesting to work that out. I'm still trying to...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Click here to rejoin family content. Oddly enough, the twice-a-month cadence for newsletters won out over once-a-month, by one vote. So twice a month is borderline. Maybe I'll skip a newsletter once in a while. And more people liked seeing the indie book options than didn't, so I'll keep them, but I set up ways to opt out of both the non-writing updates AND the indie book showcase. So you should be able to click on your choices in an email, set your preferences, and future emails will be...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Click here to rejoin family content. Since release of Secrets of Deara, I'm pausing on Shepherds of Truth while I try to get my marketing game in better order. I'm considering restructuring the emails to be once a month instead of every two weeks. Let me know your thoughts. (I know I have a couple of folks who love the family updates, or at least they have in the past.) How often do you like getting newsletters? Two a month has been good Switch to once a month Just send me info about sales...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Went with my wife and oldest daughter to college orientation in Arkansas. What a beautiful place! I'm not exactly the most sporty guy in the world (my school didn't offer quidditch), so I never really learned my own school's fight song, and now I have to learn another? But it was fun, and it's great to see my daughter so excited. (I mean, sure, she's excited that she's leaving us, so grain of salt and all that.) Another interesting bit—I’m leave for England the day this is going out. For...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Life is incredibly busy, but, generally speaking, it's also a lot of fun. With three teenage daughters, and now four cars, we've always got something in the shop, always have kids darting in and out of the house, always have exasperating moments of schedule conflicts. But those kids darting about are fun and funny, and the schedule conflicts are because everyone has their interesting stuffs. So yeah, bedlam, but I'm sure I'll miss it. And my wife and I still manage to sneak away for date...
4 months ago • 4 min read
I showed my daughter and her friends how to use a miter saw and drill and set them loose for their school project. There’s still thirty fingers amongst them, so I’m declaring it a victory, whether they get an A or not I sent out the ARC ebook versions of Secrets. The paperback will take more time. Right now, only 11 people are signed up. That's the lowest I've ever had, which perhaps I should take as a sign. But this book is my favorite so far, and I think it is pretty solid with the rounds...
4 months ago • 1 min read
I haven’t divulged my marketing failures in a while, so I thought I’d provide an update. I mentioned before that I’ve stopped using Brian Cohen‘s strategies. I’m convinced they’re complete hogwash. Throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. I started using Matthew J. Holmes’s strategies. I began with Facebook ads, and more recently started doing Amazon ads. The strategies make a lot more sense, although I’ve still been unable to succeed with them. With Facebook, I moved from...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Due to a problem with internet magic failing, anyone who signed up for ARC of Secrets of Deara got lost. You should sign up again to be sure you're on the list. My apologies. Secrets of Deara is the third book in the Thaumatropic Roots series. May you get lost this week in another world. Follow me on Goodreads. Subscribe
4 months ago • 1 min read