Once upon a time, there was a book called Dawn Before The Dark. It was a lonely book. It was the first of the series, but no more books showed up. Then, one day, the rights reverted to the author, who gave it a new cover and a new name: Dawn of Shadows. It is on pre-order, and it’s sequels will, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, follow shortly.
What I'm up to:
Hello and welcome to sunny St Louis! We're having a lovely spring this winter, with temps averaging mid-50's during the day. The cats love it. They can hang out in the screen porch, for a little while, at least.
Things are chugging right along in the lair. The pieces of book 3 are falling into place, book 2 is with the editor, and the new cover for book 1 is almost done. It's getting a new title, too. Dawn Before The Dark will become Dawn of Shadows. I wanted to freshen everything up a bit, although the story will be the same. I hope it will reduce the confusion with Amazon when I relaunch it.
More on that next month, I hope. My newsletter subscribers will get the first look at the cover. You can sign up here. Currently, I sent one newsletter a month, but when we get close to launching a new book, you may hear from me more often.
If email newsletters aren’t your thing, you can find me on Facebook and Instagram.
Until next time, enjoy your coffee.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. I put a lot of work into Coffee With Dragons last year, so this seems like good timing!
There is a line in "Inception" that has stuck with me over the years: "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."
I don't know about you, but that's scary to me.
The thing is, none of us are getting any younger. In most cases, fear is a liar. We don't get anywhere if we stay in our comfort zone. I've spent a few years stretching those boundaries, but this year it's time to dream bigger.
I have a lot planned for this year--four books to write (maybe more--there are two other projects on back burners), at least three published (two are already written), a conference or two, a half dozen or so live events, and a lot of marketing and advertising.
The other day, I heard someone on the radio say that nothing worthwhile is done alone. We all need a support system and people to help us. I have a good core, but I'm going to need more help in these areas:
- I need three people who read a lot of fantasy and want more dragons and magic in their lives, preferably ones who read fast and give honest feedback ("Wow, this is great" is nice but not helpful).
- I need a couple dozen who will buy an ebook, read, and review the new books when they launch.
If you fit one or both of these, get in touch with me.
New Developments
We've had some interesting developments here in the lair recently. I've parted ways with my publisher and have gotten the rights back to "Dawn Before The Dark." All of Balphrahn is now under my control! Mwahahahaha!
What this means in the real world (which is overrated, if you ask me) is I have a trilogy more than half done. Book 2 is with beta readers, and the first draft of book 3 is in the works. The plan is for all of them to be out next year.
In other news, Dorian Gray has been promoted from Apprentice Writer Kitten to Junior Writer Cat. He hasn't figured out that Play Time isn't work, but he's coming along. Our Senior Writer Cat, Ryan, has shifted to semi-retirement. He doesn't come into the office anymore--the commute to the end of the hall is too much--but he covers the satellite offices (living room and screened patio).
Since we have some new people who don't know them yet, here's a photo from their last team meeting.
Until next time, enjoy your coffee!
Zapped
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
-- Macbeth, act 4, scene 1
Photo credit: The University of Sydney
If you’ve read or seen Macbeth, you know about the cauldron scene. Chances are good you know about it even if you haven’t read or seen it. Shakespeare didn’t, at least to my recollection, give them individual names, but I know what they are: ADHD, anxiety, and depression. If you’re plagued by one, chances are you’ll be plagued by all of them at some point, and some studies suggest creative people are more prone to anxiety and depression.
I’ve had seasonal depression for years and can usually ride it out. This year it’s harder. If you’re having a hard time there are things you can do.
First and most important, tell your doctor, especially if you’re suicidal or engaging in harmful behaviors. Be honest about your situation. It’s not a moral failing; it’s brain chemistry.
Get some exercise, preferably outside in the sunshine, even if it’s just a short walk. The combination of fresh air, sunshine, and movement can lift the black cloud for a while.
Eat well. On my bad days, I binge on caffeine and sugar, which of course don’t do much to alleviate depression and, even worse, can trigger anxiety. That’s why, on the good days, I try to stock my fridge with prepped fresh veggies and extra portions of healthy meals. When it’s just as easy to throw leftovers in the microwave as it is to make a PB&J, the chances of making good choices increase. I don’t know about you, but when I get depressed, I get hungry, so this is an important step for me.
Sleep well, but not too much. The ‘too much’ part isn’t a problem for me; I have a 6-month-old kitten who gets me up too early every morning. I do sometimes have a problem getting to bed early enough. Depression increases inertia for me, and it gets hard to put the iPad down to go to sleep, even when I’m exhausted.
Speaking of inertia, find strategies to break it. Sometimes I need someone else to help me break mine. This is something I hope to learn more about when I start therapy again.
Don’t give up on your creativity. Art can help alleviate the symptoms for some people. For me, it’s been more frustrating than usual, so I’m trying to learn about things that will help me write faster when I get to the other side of this.
So that’s what is going on here. In case you missed it, Eclectic Adventures is available on Amazon in paperback, e-book, and on Kindle Unlimited. Check it out and let me know what you think.
All hands on deck!
Hello, friends!
If you follow me on Facebook, you already know about this:
It's a collection of short stories that were on my hard drive (several of which were previously published in my writer group anthologies). I put them in one book, added some new ones, and kicked them out to get a job.
Can I just be real for a minute? It's been available for pre-order for a few days, and it's not going great. I have 7 people on my launch team, and I could use a dozen or two more. The more, the merrier, of course. There are several ways to help:
Pre-order the book. Pre-orders tell Amazon people are interested in the book, and they put it in front of more eyes. It's $2.99 for the e-book, and it will appear in your e-reader on Feb. 7. I'll have a paperback pre-order ready soon. I'm waiting for the proof before I hit the button.
Read the book. I will send a PDF so you can read it before it comes out if you want to.
Tell your friends about it. Word of mouth has always been a powerful marketing tool.
Write a review on Amazon. OK, I get that this takes some thought, but it doesn't have to be detailed or long. A couple sentences is all it takes. If you really want bang for your buck, you can post the review on your socials with a picture of the cover while it's still on pre-order, and when the book goes live, you can copy and paste it.
Share my social media posts. I'll even send graphics if you want to post independently. Don't have a lot of followers? It's fine. Every little bit helps.
The more people I have doing at least one of these, the better the launch will be. If you will help, click here! Thank you in advance. Talk to you soon.
Until next time, enjoy your coffee
It's been a minute
When my calendar reminders go off telling me to update the blog, I think I have nothing to say and ignore it. And then a year passes and I realize some stuff happened. Most notably, I released the first book of a prequel series. Dawn Of The Dragon Riders explores Balphrahn’s history, specifically (as I’m sure you’ve figured out) how the Wybrens came to be, but also the lives of Brigid and Laoch.
The first book, Path Of The Goddess, came out in October and has done reasonably well. I’m working on the rest of the series, and when it’s complete, I’ll relaunch book 1 and continue with the rest of the series at a faster pace than I would be able to normally.
I will have another book to release next month, but it’s not a Balphrahn book. Well, not entirely. Eclectic Adventures is a collection of short stories I’ve written over the years. Stay tuned for more info on that.
On the home front, we’ve had some turn-over in the Writer Cat department. Chloe got out of the house the end of May and didn’t return home. Tess crossed the rainbow bridge surrounded by her loved ones in August. We thought we were going to lose Ryan a few times. Thankfully, we didn’t, but he’s 18, and I don’t know how many of his lives he has left, so we brought an apprentice on board the end of September. Dorian Gray will be a good writer cat when he’s trained. Right now he think it’s play time when I go in the office, and he often ends up on the other side of the closed door.
Writer cat training
Cat TV on YouTube is our friend. Paul Dinning is our favorite.
There’s more, of course. It’s been a year. But it’s mundane. Write, eat, sleep, play with the cats, fill the coffee cup, etc. Writing is glamourous. For now, I’ll just tell you to watch for updates on the next book. I’m aiming for a cover reveal the middle of next week.
Until then, enjoy your coffee!
Here but for a moment
I went for a walk a couple days ago down the road that leads to our neighborhood. This used to be farm land and, as happens so much these days, they sold part of it for homes. My first thought in these situations is to lament the beauty of the land that is lost to development. Then I realized I could see further than before. The trees and brush that had been in the ditch were gone, and I could see what was behind them the whole time. Probably this time next year, this view will be at least partially obscured by houses, but I can enjoy it now.
That’s how life works, isn’t it? Things change, for better or worse, and sometimes you can get a glimpse of something different while it’s happening. It’s much nicer to enjoy right now while we have than imagine how awful it’s going to be.
The book is coming along nicely. I’m behind on word count and have already accepted that I might not “win” NaNoWriMo. I’m not concerned. I’ve already beaten word count for several months this year, and I’m enjoying the view along the way. I look forward to showing it to you.
Mixed bag of life
Things are picking up here. It’s National Novel Writing Month, and while I’ve done (and won) it a few times, I decided this is a good time to do it again. The point is to spit out a draft, not a pretty baby book, and that’s what I need for the next step.
It’s going well. Now. I’m doing extra word count because I’ll be in the virtual 20 Books To 50k conference next week, and we’ll have family here the whole week of Thanksgiving. I planned super low word count goals for those days, so I have to make them up elsewhere.
When you add all that to normal work-a-day life, it adds some pressure. I’ll admit to being a little overwhelmed, but I remind myself it’s about making a book, not hitting a number. One of the things I’ve started doing is getting up an hour earlier so I can get in the office sooner. It seems to be helping, but it’s hard to get up when it’s dark. The up-side is I get views like this out my kitchen window most mornings, so it’s hard to complain. Well, a little harder. Not super hard. OK, there is grumbling right at first. It’s not as bad when I’m not awoken by a furry overlord before I’m ready.
I thought progress this week was great, but then I realized I’m supposed to be working ahead. Instead of keeping steady with the current projected normal goal, I need to be chipping away at next Friday’s word count. So while I’ve written a little over 11k this week, which is a lot more than I’ve done in a long time, I’m really about 8k behind. The good news is, according to the latest newsletter, the conference next week is going to be recorded, so if I get on a roll writing before my sessions, I can keep going and watch the replay. So it’s a mixed bag, really. Isn’t everything?
Stormy skies
This is Ryan. At some point before he came to us, he was in a scary storm. That’s all we can figure because this is what he does when it’s going to rain. When he can hear it, whether it’s rain, thunder, or wind, or something that sounds like one of those (like searing meat or the garbage truck), he hides and won’t come out until it’s over. I can’t hold Ryan when it’s stormy. He doesn’t feel safe. But if it’s going to storm, or just has, he becomes Velcro Kitty. (In his defense, he used to be afraid of the fireplace and the ceiling fan, too. He still regards the ceiling fan with some distrust, but he doesn’t run when it’s on.)
I get it. I used to be afraid of storms, too. I still dislike them when I’m camping, but when I have a sturdy building around me, I like them. Canvas? Not so much. Like Ryan, I’ve been in some scary storms while camping.
The last two years or so have been pretty stormy for everyone I think. I know I want to hunker down like Ryan and just wait it out sometimes. He has the luxury of doing that. The rest of us still have to go to work, cook, clean, and feed cats. But we also don’t have to be afraid. God is bigger than the storm. He gathers us in when we’re afraid, but only if we let Him.
I hope life is sunny for you today, and that the worst of the storms are over for a while.