I finally have a title! The completed almost-final draft is off to one of my beta readers/my editor right now and I should have it back by the end of the week. I’m on track to publish it by Awesome Con DC in April. AND I should have a cover to reveal soon! Here’s a snippet from the near the beginning: The summer I turned twelve, my friend Tirta, his cousin Dathlo, and I were given the second significant test. Otso-ka decreed that we would steal wolf cubs. They would be raised until they were nearly adults and then killed […]
publishing
28 posts
I wrote this post over a month ago, and I’ve only just now gotten up the courage to publish it. What’s different now? Well… Things Unseen, the first book in the A Long-Forgotten Song series is almost done (I’m working on the final copy edits and formatting), and the third book in Erdemen Honor (which still needs a title) is not done but is still POSSIBLY on track to be published by Awesome Con DC in April. Basically, I was so discouraged that I didn’t even want to admit how discouraged I was. Sad, right? My sales are still excruciatingly […]
If you’re considering self-publishing, you’ve probably been doing some research about how to avoid the various scams and predatory “services” and vanity presses out there fighting for your attention and money. It’s a rough world… there are a lot of people and businesses who are eager to take advantage of authors. Before you give any money to anyone for any service, please check out the following links as appropriate: Preditors and Editors Writer Beware, and here’s the page on vanity presses and scam warning signs, along with an extensive list of other places to check out any publishing house you […]
No, this isn’t going to be a blog post about all the wonderful things I would do with a billion dollars… travel the world, devote tons of money to various worthwhile charities (some personal favorites are Gospel for Asia and WorldVision, but there are others I would support too), pay off our mortgage (buy a new house) and grad school loans, and all the other standard things most people would do. This is a “what would I do differently in my writing life if money wasn’t an issue” blog post. All those things I listed above are great, but this […]
One of the things I’ve realized about my writing is that it’s easy for me to write and edit and write and edit and write and edit some more and then rethink everything and lose confidence and…. never actually finish a piece. There are a few reasons for that: lack of planning (I tend toward pantsing, as in writing by the seat of my pants, even though planning would probably work better for me), lack of focused time to really dive into my work and figure out where I am and what needs to be done, and most of all, […]
On the first anniversary of publishing my first book, The King’s Sword, I thought it would be appropriate to post some statistics. It’s a bit scary to share book stats like this, but here goes: Books Published: 2 – The King’s Sword and A Cold Wind Books in Progress: 4 – A Long-Forgotten Song (publication in March 2014 – preorder here!), the as-yet-untitled sequel to A Long-Forgotten Song (publication in April/May 2014), Book 3 in the Erdemen Honor series (also untitled, publication in March 2014?), and Book 4 in the Erdemen Honor series (publication TBD) Books Backburnered: 2 Short Stories […]
I just read this fantastic article by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on A Career vs. Publication. If you’re an author, a wanna be author, a just-for-fun writer, or have ever thought about writing, go read it. You might have noticed that the publishing world is changing pretty quickly these days. Among other upheavals, indie publishing has become not just an option, but a good option. As writing blogs, conventions, and advice proliferate, both online and in the real world, there is a lot of advice out there. Have you ever tried to parse through that advice to find what will work […]
So I attended (and was a vendor) at my very first convention this weekend. It was fun! Although I didn’t sell as much as I’d hoped, I think sales were pretty decent considering that I only had two books available (in one series) and that I’m a mostly-unknown author. Aside from sales though, I had a great time! Some highlights: My table was next to Rebecca of lossingfeathers.deviantart.com and papertulipstudio.tumbler.com. She had mostly cat and kitten art displayed, but she showed me her portfolio, with some fantastic pen and ink drawings. I may have to commission her for some future […]
Paperbacks are now available! The King’s Sword: Amazon | Barnes and Noble A Cold Wind: Amazon | Barnes and Noble AND posters are now available! You can order them directly from my Zazzle shop. Kickstarter backers received signed copies, but these are not signed – they’re sent directly to you. If you’d like a signed copy, please contact me directly and we’ll figure out how to make that happen. Follow the links to find the posters for The King’s Sword and A Cold Wind. My personal favorite is the glossy canvas… the colors are gorgeous and intense, and the texture […]
Some of you know that I’m a martial artist. I’ve been training in martial arts for over 19 years as of this writing. I started in taekwondo when I was 12 and earned my first black belt in the now-defunct International Taekwondo Council (ITC). I trained for about two years in a Japanese Karate Association (JKA) Shotokan karate school before heading to college at 17, where I trained for a year in judo. When I transferred colleges, I ended up in a Chidokwan karate (basically Shotokan + escrima sticks + street-style self-defense) university club, where I trained for two years […]