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Whoa! March really snuck up on me. Not just because February is shorter, but rather life got busy. Starting a new role at a new company in the tech industry in your mid-fifties isn't a walk in the park. I'm on an emotional rollercoaster that goes from feeling like I know some specific thing better than most people, to dawning realizations that I have no idea how some other thing works and fear of when the new folks will realize how ignorant I am. Arrogance, fear, humility, once in a while excitement about something new--it's a lot. And I don't have time to work on all the non-work stuff that needs attention. An outside pipe burst during the last freeze, and it's waiting for me to fix it (not a critical pipe... it can wait for a bit), our ice maker in our fridge stopped working (I ordered parts), we've got work on multiple cars that needs to happen. I should probably restart the blood pressure medicine I stopped using when I retired. Secrets of Deara continues to improve. Right now I'm working on getting the timeline cleaner. This story is like Bones, where I march forward in time without hops back to the past. It takes place over a few weeks, and moving through the gaps smoothly has always proved tricky for me. I'm kinda glad for the opportunity to improve that skill. After that I have a couple of passes to clean up some character issues--I imagine those will go relatively quickly, but I've been surprised before. And that's really it. I'll send it for editing, await feedback, tackle any changes, and kick it out the door. Here's an early version of the cover for Secrets. I need to write the blurb. You'll probably get it in the next newsletter. I'm getting hammered on reviews lately. Let me share a few. These were for Mother of Trees... they're the two most recent. "Too much description". Oddly, the most common feedback I get from professional writers/editors is that I don't spend enough time describing the scene before I jump into the action. I'm doing a little better with Guardian of The Palace. Perhaps funny story--I've been criticized a lot for the saluting in GoTP, and the irony is that I have a lot of friends in the military but I was too embarrassed about writing fantasy to ask them to look it over. That was about four or five years ago... I wouldn't hesitate to ask now. We all grow and learn. Sometimes I consider rewriting The Guardian League. I could undoubtedly write a better story now. But I would rather spend my time writing something new. Still, what do you think? Finally, just for fun, here's midjourney-generated images of Illiara and Beldroth, just for fun. I can't use them in ads or I would be misrepresenting what the books are really about. 🤣 All books by Steven J. Morris Indie Author Showcase Previous Newsletters
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Hi! If you enjoy fantasy with snarky humor, I've got some books for you. My newsletter takes you along the creative journey, and keeps you informed of what's brewing.
Just a quick follow-up after my last email. I notified GoodReads of the odd reviews. They jumped on it and ran it through some checker and said it raised all their red flags, so they took down the reviews and removed the accounts of those folks entirely (so they said). I have a couple of marketing thoughts/questions for my fellow writers. 1) The first book of my epic fantasy series, Mother of Trees, almost constantly has a better ranking on Amazon than Guardian of The Palace, even when sales...
Resending (sorry, can't seem to work out the family updates section) My oldest came back from college (Univ of Arkansas) for the weekend, my middle daughter turned 18, and my youngest just about has her standing back-flip nailed. I haven't tried adding a video in a while... let me know how this goes. Busy (but very good) family time, and busy with work, so my writing got the short end of the stick for a bit. But lets face it, that's the right call.Click here to be removed from family content....
My oldest came back from college (Univ of Arkansas) for the weekend, my middle daughter turned 18, and my youngest just about has her standing back-flip nailed. I haven't tried adding a video in a while... let me know how this goes. Busy (but very good) family time, and busy with work, so my writing got the short end of the stick for a bit. But lets face it, that's the right call.Click here to be removed from family content. Shepherds of Truth — the last two weeksTwo fresh chapters landed....