A week-and-a-half after retirement, my buddy sent a pic from the gym room at work, asking where I was. My first thought was, "Why are they in the office on a Saturday?" It was Thursday. That shows where my head is. π I haven't hit a home run in my job search, nor has anything knocked my socks off. I had an opportunity that appealed to me more than others, working at a startup called Tenstorrent. Though I didn't get the job, I realized through the process that I really like the idea of a startup. I've spent my life working for big companies. The idea of doing something different, at a startup, excites me. It's crazy, all the destructive weather on the east coast. Yβall are in my prayers. We've had a long, dry spell in Texas, though not as bad or as hot as last summer. There's always a lot of rush as a release date approaches. But, I'm taking a more relaxed approach this time. With Mother of Trees, I tried to create a big splash. Had a party, spent the month before coordinating release efforts on social media. It was too much. This time, I set up an auto-email chain. It'll pester you folks that signed up for ARC reads at the right times for reviews on GR and Amazon, but if you don't finish "in time", I'm not going to sweat it. You'll rate/review when you can, and it'll help when it's supposed to... I'm channeling my inner Beldroth. It will all go according to Her plan. I'm closing down the ARC signup on Oct 15th (today). Might have done already. Ironically, I have a publicity event going on around the 21st (don't remember exactly), so I might open the signup for a day for that crew, knowing they will automagically be late. Again, Her plan. In terms of things left to do, there's not a lot. Of course, thereβs always something waiting to bite you, so there's still plenty of time for mistakes and panic. Murphy will strike. But seems like we're on track for a Nov. 15th release, and I've written a few chapters of Book 3 now (restarted after all the changes I made to Book 2). The cover makeover for The Guardian of The Palace is done. I think I shared the early version last newsletter. If not, scream at me, and I'll add it next time. My plan is to wait for all four to get redone and then do the switcheroo. That's about it for now. Hope ya'll are all having a great October. πππ βAll books by Steven J. Morrisβ Indie Author ShowcasePrevious Newsletters
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