The Magic...It's Happening...Again!

Hello, Void. It's me again. This writer who won't give up. Won't stop quacking into the vast nothingness in this nook of the internet. After my one past last year, I decided to drop another update for 2018. Will this be like last year and be a single post for the year? Probably. But I hope not, because I come bearing some news!

First, let me say that I'm now a New Yorker. I spent forty-six years living in the south. Georgia to be specific. I mentioned in my last post that my wife had accepted a position out of state and we would be moving. Our new home became Cohoes, New York on June 5 last year.

Second, last time I posted, I was unemployed (Fuck you, Mark W!), but now I can report that I'm gainfully employed and have been for nearly a year--it'll be officially a year next week.

I survived my first winter in the northeast. Yay. Hopefully, this coming winter won't be as bad as the last. At least, I've been told by others that last year's was bad. What do I know? It was my first up here!

I haven't made any close friends like I had in Georgia, but that understandable if you know me. I'm a pretty solitary individual. My wife is my closest friend. As long as I have her, I'm happy. Other friendships will develop organically and over time, so I'm not worried about that. (Although my wife seems very concerned for me that I don't have any pals to hang out with.)

Now for the news I came here to announce: I've recently been editing a story that's been lingering for a long time. It's called The Consuming Darkness. Originally, it was called The Shadow People and I've posted about it before. I'm not going to bother linking to those posts since they're peppered throughout my blog. After all, this was the first book I'd ever written; I think it was back in 2005. That's the date on the first draft I still have lying around anyway.

It was horrible. I was stoned most of the days I wrote it, so that says something there about how bad it was. I'd edited it and rewrote it before letting my wife read it. She suggested major changes, which sent me back to the drawing board yet again. Since I've made my feelings known about how much I hate the editing process, you can probably imagine why it was so easy for me to walk away from this project.

Well, after my lengthy hiatus, I've decided to buckle down and edit this damn thing into publishable shape. Or maybe I'm just masochistic; a glutton for punishment. I don't know. Anyway, I've currently edited 60 pages of the 350 page manuscript and I'm determined to try to finish it before Halloween. That's the plan anyway. Whether I accomplish my goal by that time will remain to be seen. Regardless, I'm determined to focus on completing this one book before being distracted by another.

I've also tweaked the cover to renew my enthusiasm for accomplishing the goal I've laid out and I want to share it with you now. So, without further ado, here's the cover.

I hope you (yeah you! the only person who's visited in...ages) will come back for my announcement that it's been published and maybe grab a copy. In the meantime, please, check out some of my other works. And, thanks for stopping by.

I'm Baaack

Wow! It's been a long time since my last post. I'm done apologizing for my lapses. Why am I done apologizing? Mainly because I doubt anyone really cares or has been waiting with bated breath for one of these posts. Not looking for pity, just being a realist.

I figured it was time to check in and update anyone who cares to read this about my current status. Also, I'm sure anyone who's made the effort to search for this blog might like to know I'm still working on stories; they're just coming at a slower pace than my previous material.

Let me also just put this out there: I really don't enjoy writing these blog posts. I do it for the aforementioned reason; so anyone interested in my writing will know that another book is forthcoming (at some time in the future, anyway). I haven't stopped writing. Although I do have several irons in the fire, I've fallen into the trap of jumping from one to the other and then to another, which is not progressing the needle as fast as concentrating on one book at a time. So, rest assured, a new book will materialize eventually.

I've discussed in the past my obsession with achieving financial independence. I have an addictive personality, which means when I find something of great interest to me, I give it laser-like focus until I can succeed at it. I did this with my finances. I won't bore you with the details as I know most people find discussing finances the cure for insomnia. However, I'm very glad I followed this path because I lost my job in January and have remained unemployed since. If I hadn't socked away a lot of my income, I'd be in dire straits right now. But, as it turns out, that exercise saved my hide! I'm also proud to say I've reprogrammed my mind about spending/saving and improved my financial situation as a result.

This brings me to yet another hiccup in the journey to publishing another book. My wife accepted a job out-of-state, so we're trying to get our house ready to put on the market. In the process, I've been visiting friends and family before I go. Needless to say, I've been very preoccupied and busy with this. I decided it was fruitless to look for another job only to leave it after a few months. Of course, getting ready for an out-of-state move would probably jeopardize my performance anyway.

These are not merely excuses for why I haven't done much writing lately, although it has made it more difficult to concentrate on sitting down to create. This is my current state of affairs and I felt that I owed it to anyone who's interested to provide an update.

This blog isn't for me to dispense writing advice. There's enough of that out there on the interwebs. Also, I don't think there's much advice to give aside from read voraciously and widely, then sit your butt in the chair and start writing, if that's what you feel compelled to do. There's no magic in it, but at times there are some glorious moments. Those moments are few, though. A lot of the time is tedious and doubtful. And don't get me started on editing. I hate editing! However, it's a necessity if you want a publishable story. The most enjoyable thing about writing/publishing, to me anyway, is holding that polished, finished product in your hands. Knowing you've written; you've created this little gem. And what's more exhilarating is having someone who has read your book talk to you about it! That's priceless.

Instead, I use this blog (or intend to, going forward) to let readers know the status of my work and to vent or share things that capture my attention. I'm not in this for the money. I know, I know. A lot of authors tout that same thing, but for me, IT'S TRUE. I don't think this is a viable means to a living. If you think that, I urge you to research more authors who claim to make a living writing (much less novelists).

I started out in 2005 with visions of grandeur, thinking I would be the next [insert famous author here]. As I wrote, studied the market, queried, received rejections, and trudged along, I also researched the incomes of other authors (who would actually tell), noted their workloads, how long it took them to finally get published, and realized this was a grueling, arduous path for little money (if one was one of the lucky few to actually run the gauntlet). After all, there were a series of gatekeepers blocking the path and if you didn't appease them, well...

Then, something great happened. The stigmatized self-publishing arena blew up with the digital revolution.

At first, I was just as skeptical as nearly everyone else. Self-publishing was for those who couldn't write. They hadn't been validated by the so-called gatekeepers; the one's who distinguished between garbage and literary genius. Or so I thought. That's largely bullshit. Sure, there is a bunch of horrible writing that gets published via the "easy button" of self-publishing. But there are also some geniuses who go largely unnoticed. Those gatekeepers, the agents and editors, don't know everything. They try to cling to a formula, and that, I think, is what's responsible for the glut of zombie books, vampire-romance, erotica, etc. that has saturated the market. Just look at 50 Shades of Gray or Twilight. And don't even get me started on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! What a rip off! Take a classic and add zombie to market it as your own?! Fuck you, Seth Grahame-Smith!

With a new, more realistic view of the writer's life, I decided to continue it as a hobby. I would self-publish, where I had total creative control of the entire process. From inception to cover design and interior layout, I set out to create my own art at my own pace. Deadlines? Nope. Someone dictating what should be on the cover? Nope. Separate contractual obligations for digital vs. paper-copy? Nope. Writing in just one genre to appeal to a certain audience? Nope. I do it ALL myself and, so far, couldn't be happier with the result. If I want to try my hand at a murder mystery, I do it. If I want to write southern fiction afterward, I do it. My only criteria is that I produce the best piece of fiction I possibly can and that doesn't mean just making sure there are no typos. I rely on my wife (an English professor) to catch any of my big mistakes and help me clean up my major mistakes. Then I get input from some graphic artist friends about my covers. And, finally, I don't feel comfortable until my beta readers have weighed in with their opinions and helped to identify as many typos and places that need clarification as possible.

Of course, reading is very subjective. Everyone is not going to embrace a book like we want them to. So, I make damn sure I put out the best possible book I can with a story I like and would want to read. There will be others who praise it, just like there will be detractors. There's nothing you can do about those who don't care about the genre or the subject. Everyone's different.

So there you have it; my state of affairs, basically. I mentioned earlier that I had a lot of irons in the fire. Currently, I'm jumping between eleven different stories, some I've worked on, some are written (they just need to be edited), and some are fleshed out ideas. But, I'm working on all of them, even if just a little. They range from southern historical thriller to contemporary horror to crime fiction.

I'll probably write a follow up post (this one's getting a bit too long) about those stories where I'll ask for input from you, the reader, as to what you'd prefer to see. This is something I've never done. And, of course, I'm hopeful if I expect to get one or two responses. In which case I'll do what I always do; focus on whatever appeals to me at the time. Damn, I love the freedom of self-publishing.

Thanks for dropping by!

Dealing with Apathy

Hey. I'm still here, believe it or not.

If you've read my previous posts, you probably noticed they're laced with apathy. Also, the frequency with which I post is horrible. I'd be surprised if anyone still visits this blog (not that there was much traffic before). However, I like to convince myself that someone visits even if once in a blue moon. Am I actually reaching anyone?

Lately, I've been dealing with these thoughts in addition to the number of books I want to write. I've got about 8 or 9 book ideas that I've started and left in various stages throughout the writing/editing process. I feel the weight of that work and the doubt resting on my mind and shoulders. I feel buried in my art. Mired down in it. And it's not a very good feeling. It's daunting.

Throw my regular day job on the heap and it'd break the back of a pachyderm.

Expectations.

I think this might be the root cause of my malaise.

I've been wrestling with this dilemma for quite a while. Wondering what to do, how to overcome it so I could get back to my usual writing routine and book output. But I can't seem to break out of its gravitational pull. I'm hurdling toward that singularity of despair and it worries me. Until now.

Like I said, I think it stems from expectations and some of those expectations are false, self-imposed expectations. Recently, I've become fascinated with financial independence. As with anything I become fascinated with, the more I researched it, a passion arose from facing a challenge.

I doubt this is a unique to just me. I believe that people who are passionate about something will immerse themselves in whatever they're passionate about to succeed. And there are some people who do this over and over, seeking out new challenges to overcome. I've come to realize I'm in the latter group.

Looking back at my life, I can see time and time again where I developed a passion for something. I become obsessed with it. Dive into it, become a sponge so I can soak up as much knowledge as I can in order to succeed.

Very early, I wanted to become a fireman. There are long waiting lists for candidates who want to be firemen. Those with experience are picked first. Then there are those who already have some qualifications that help them, such as hold medical certifications. I didn't have any of these. In order to get experience, I would need to at least volunteer, but there were no volunteer stations where I lived. So, I decided I'd go to school and get my EMT (emergency medical technician) certification. It was a tough class with an extremely high drop rate. Yet, I studied my ass off and ended up being one of seven to become state certified. Next, I moved to an area where there was a volunteer station and volunteered. A paid position became available, but there were several volunteers vying for the spot. The captain pulled me aside and let me know they were considering me. I busted my hump to show them I could do it and I did. I beat out the other candidates and became a fireman.

Another example was when I decided to change careers. I realized I couldn't handle the stress and physical rigor the job demanded until I retired (if I ever did). Not to mention the danger. There was a very good chance the next call could always be my last. I could leave my family without a husband and dad. I wrote down what I wanted from a career. Things like: more pay (it's criminal how little public safety workers are paid); low stress; not working weekends and holidays; working in a climate-controlled environment; and on and on. I opened the classified ads section of the newspaper and went through the As, Bs, etc., comparing what I knew about each profession to the list I'd made. Then I came to Computer Programmer. I really didn't know much about what they did (this was the mid-90s), but I knew they worked in offices. They didn't get their hands dirty, lift heavy objects, and...THE PAY! The salaries listed in the job postings caused my head to spin. I made up my mind. I knew what I wanted to do.

But, where to start? I didn't know the first thing about computers and I didn't even own one. I didn't let that stop me though. People with a burning passion don't give up when they meet obstacles such as this. Instead, I went to the bookstore and bought a book to learn programming. My father-in-law was a tech-hound and gave me one of his old 286 computers. For Christmas, my brother gave me the software to write programs. I spent every spare minute during the course of the next year with my nose in that book or in front of my little computer, inputting the lines of code from the book's examples, compiling, executing, and/or debugging the small programs I was writing. After a year of this, I began to circulate my resume. AND I GOT RESPONSES! I landed my first job about a month later and it has turned into a 20 year career.

I approached writing novels the same way. I read Stephen King's On Writing and came away feeling empowered. I knew I could write a book, so I sat down every day after work (well, a lot of days anyway) and wrote, trying to log a thousand words each time. After three months, I finished the first draft. That book still hasn't seen the light of day, but I have written several published novels since that time. I've got so many ideas, I could stay busy writing into my golden years, if not for this current rut.

My latest passion is financial independence, like I mentioned earlier. I pinched my nose and plunged in, learning everything I can, taking the steps to build the discipline to live on less and save more. It's taken time away from writing and so I'm torn. Like the obstacle that presented itself when I set out to learn programming but didn't have the tools, I'm not going to let this discourage me. I have written and I have several books available. So I haven't failed.

I find comfort in the fact that I've succeeded as a writer, a novelist. I know I am capable of producing interesting worlds and characters to inhabit them. It's not something someone can take away from me. I think I will push my writing aside for now and focus on this new goal. Writing occasionally when I find the time, but not getting wrapped around the axle and beating myself up because I haven't published something this year or the next. My production will slow down and I've told myself that's okay.

The self-imposed expectations (engaging with my readers, blogging, meeting deadlines) are the hardest things to let go of when you've honed your discipline (or hard-headedness?) to strive for success. But this is something I've got to deal with now. Something's got to give.

I'm not saying I'm quitting writing. Absolutely not! Instead, I'm just going to let off the throttle to focus on something else for a while. For what it's worth, I am working on a new novel right now that's based on an actual event. The working title is Hinterland. More on this in a future post. I promise.

Anyway, this post was therapeutic in that it let me put down my thoughts on the matter. Thanks for reading.

[Insert Title Here] AKA Blowing Off Some Steam

*** WARNING: What follows is a rant. This is just some raw emotion I'm letting out. I'm not usually this cynical, so please bear with me. ***

Oh, look at that...I didn't write any blog posts during January. Tsk tsk. Truth is, I'm getting burned out on writing these posts. It almost feels like an obligation I don't want to see through any longer. It's become a chore to think up something I think the world will be interested to read. I'm not sure if that makes me sound pretentious or what. For the record, I know "the world" isn't reading this little blog of mine. Hell, I'm delusional enough to even think readers out there are eagerly awaiting anything I've got to say. You know what? That's fine with me. Really. It is. Which is precisely why I find it hard to scrounge the motivation to yell into the void that is the internet. Why waste my effort?

Here's another truth: I do this for myself, mostly. For posterity's sake. I started out using this as a space to market my writing, to build a "platform" for when I became a professional novelist. Well, that was a few years ago and things definitely change. I mean, I can look back and see the optimism I had in the beginning. Of course, during the following years, my mindset changed. Reality set in. I no longer have those daydreams of becoming a full-time writer sitting at home working on my next book that hoards of adoring fans are clamoring for. Please! While I don't have those visions of grandeur any more, I do still spend time working on the next book. As a matter of fact, I received proofs today of my second anthology, Negative Spaces. More on that a little later (as well as a glimpse of the cover).

After learning the success rate of writers who go on to have lucrative careers as full-time novelists, I realized it ranked up there with becoming a rock star or winning the lottery. I know someone reading this might say, "Wait a minute; That's not true! I'm a writer who supports myself with just my writing. What've you got to say about that?" Here's what I say to that: How many books are you on the hook to write each year? How much are each of the advances you get? I'd be willing to wager money you've got to complete at least four novels a year, not including all the social media you've got to keep up with almost daily, such as blogging and tweeting to stay relevant to your fans. In other words, you're writing ALL THE DAMN TIME! What I envisioned when I started out writing was becoming the next King, Grisham, or [insert best-selling author here]. Writing one novel a year that would go on to sell thousands of copies that my publisher would market extensively. I learned that's not the case. Up-and-coming writers have to work their asses off to get those kinds of breaks. Also, since the digital revolution/self-publishing paradigm, things have changed even more. I know there're self-published authors out there who are making a living (some making fat cash, even) from their writing and I think that's awesome. However, there's still a lot of work involved in churning out content for voracious readers and blogging/tweeting/whatever-other-ways-to-stay-relevant that those authors must do. To be honest, I'm not good at marketing and networking. So, for me at least, I prefer to just keep writing at my own pace and publishing the stuff I like.

Since having the revelation that I'll never be some best-selling author and living the life I daydreamed about, I discovered the blogosphere of personal finances. I've stumbled upon people who've lived below their means, saved the excess, and (most of them) retired at an extremely early age. This opened my eyes to the fact that my daydream hadn't vanished like smoke in the wind. Sure, I'm 43 and squandered much of my income up to now. I was never very good with money, usually earning a dollar but spending two. That's the best way in the world to stay broke. However, I've since been getting my financial house in order. This has become my top priority. Writing, mask-making, blogging, etc has all taken a backseat to getting my finances in order so that I can increase my savings rate so I can invest as much money as possible.

Since I've become fascinated with financial independence and early retirement, my net worth has increased by $25,000. That's a rough figure. I've spent hours creating spreadsheets for a budget and to track monthly and annual net worth tracking so I can maximize my savings. Later, I plan to post more detailed accounts of my financial strategies and progress as well as any set backs. With that said, I think it's safe to say that this blog has stopped being strictly focused on my writing and thoughts on writing and the publishing industry. But, I guess I broke that rule back when I posted about making masks. Oh well, whatever. It is my blog after all. And I'm sure the four or five readers won't mind.

I feel like I've simply been rambling. I started out not knowing what to blog about and then just started saying whatever came to mind. Most of this has been me ranting aimlessly. I guess I just needed to get it out of my system. Mainly, what I felt when I started this post was uncertainly; I had no idea what I should say, yet felt compelled to say SOMETHING because I didn't want to neglect my responsibility to provide a post. In other words, I felt like not writing something would be letting myself down. After all, I made a promise to myself when I started this blog that I wouldn't be like so many others who start and soon fizzle out. I don't like to think of myself as a quitter, but I also don't want to waste my efforts doing something like this if there's no benefit to it. Then, I thought of a benefit I could be sure of: I could document my progress to financial independence so my future-self could look back on.

In a nutshell, I'm saying that if you come here to find out about my books, you'll still be able to do that. However, there are going to be more posts about finances, too. And, probably whatever else I'm excited about at the time. Also, I don't always feel encouraged to write posts at regular intervals. Of course, if you have been keeping up with this blog, then that probably comes as no surprise. If you keep coming back, then great! If this is your first time here and it's going to be your last, bye. Sorry I wasn't interesting enough for you. I'm getting older and trying to appease everyone isn't something I care about trying to do anymore.

Okay, I mentioned earlier that I am just about to release my second anthology and I would provide a glimpse of the cover. I keep my promises. So, this new collection has thirteen short stories and the book is called Negative Spaces. So far, I've got it formatted for paperback distribution only. I haven't published it yet, but I will do that soon. I have to create the digital version first so they release fairly close together. That means I also have to update my website so any visitors will know about it. The stories are either horror stories or weird tales, bordering on the bizarre. Before I show you the cover, though, let me also add that I'm running a giveaway on Goodreads to give ten lucky winners autographed copies of my mystery novel, Carniville. I'll do another post soon with more details on that along with a link to enter. Okay, enough of my aimless tirade. Here's the cover...

I hope you'll go buy a copy. Thanks for reading.

Financial Retrospective - First Steps to FI

With this post, I want to capture where I'm at financially for posterity's sake. I hope to fine tune my savings/investing strategies in 2016 to better achieve my goal of getting closer to financial independence within the next decade. I'd like to revisit this post in the following years to gauge my progress. So, let me lay out what I've done so far:

I didn't get serious about becoming FI/REd until August or September of this year. I discovered some subreddits of interest (Personal Finance & Financial Independence) and, from there, some blogs by individuals who had already reached FI and chose to write about it. Many of them tell how they did it and then there are some who tell about the psychological changes they experienced on their way to FI. This really helped to fire me up.

I already had a Roth IRA at Vanguard with a target retirement fund. I moved my money into a more aggressive fund and purchased another to better diversify my allocations. In addition, I opened an investment account with Betterment. I increased my 401k contributions at work, too. Previously, I was only contributing about 4% (without employer match--won't get that until 2016). Now, I'm contributing 10%. I exchanged the funds in my 401k to some that were more aggressive with lower expense ratios.

I attempted to make a budget and am still trying to fine tune it to maximize my savings rate. Initially, it looks like my savings rate was about 58%, but I'm not confident with the accuracy of that number. I managed to cut spending by switch car insurance to save about $1,500 annually. I reduced my budget in other areas to maximize savings. Mainly, I stopped eating out and cut my daily work commute to only 2 days a week, which helped cut costs. The biggest hurdle was my grocery budget, which was difficult to cut because I enjoy good food. I managed to slash it more by eating more left overs and buying stuff to make more sandwiches and soups.

Overall, I built an emergency fund of roughly $15-20k. I contributed to investment accounts (taxable and non-taxable) to increase my net worth, which has finally broken the $40k barrier (just barely).

Some set-backs I encountered:

• Got started late in the year
• Had to buy a car for my son
• Unexpected repairs on my vehicle

I'm not sure what else to document in this post. Like I said, I'm just starting out on the path to FI with the hope to reach my goal in 10 to 15 years. I plan to take what I've learned this year into 2016 and make more changes to get the greatest returns I can. I think having a full year's worth of data will better help pinpoint areas where I can make changes. However, knowing that I've finally opened my eyes to the fact that FI is definitely attainable within that time frame is like a breath of refreshing air. All I have to do is look back at the last 10 to 20 years to see how bad off I was financially. My only regret is that I didn't discover this way of life earlier, so I could be much closer to, if not already, financial independence.

As for my plans once achieving FI, I want to indulge more of my time in my hobbies: reading, writing, making masks, drawing, and piddling with my guitar and bass. I have a bunch of novels that could occupy much of my time. As a matter of fact, I have a second anthology due out in January 2016 called Negative Spaces. With more free time, I could publish more books faster. Time will tell what happens. If you're interested in following the path to FI, then I encourage you to come back and see my progress.

Return from Sabbatical

It's been a year since my last post. I won't offer any apologies because I just didn't feel the need to post anything. For me, blogging is not organic, it feels forced most of the time. I don't like to be forced to do anything. My job is something I'm forced to do, but that's different. Everyone needs money to pay bills and survive. My writing, however, is something I do out of passion. Even then, I only write when I feel the need to write. I don't force myself, which is a reason there is no book to publish this year (more on that a little later).

I've mentioned before that I have several hobbies. Mask-making, drawing, writing, etc. When I have news on any of these fronts, I like to share it. Well, I experimented with making a paper mache mask this year and it was quasi-successful. Enough so that I will take another stab at it now that I know what pitfalls to be aware of. That's not really why I'm writing this post though. During my break I found another interest. Something I was never passionate about before and, looking back, I kind of regret that. I discovered the world of Financial Independence and Early Retirement.

There's a lot of forums out there where people on the path to FI/RE discuss this subject and, as I read some of this stuff, I found myself intrigued. It's always been a dream of mine to be my own boss, not have to wake early to commute to a job where I sit in a cubicle and perform a task for someone else in exchange for money to get by on. This is one of the reasons I started writing years ago. However, I learned that supporting myself through writing was extremely competitive and a big gamble. For every one hundred writers, probably only a small group (enough to count on one--maybe two hands) will go on to make it a sustainable career. And by "sustainable career" I don't mean they're rolling in dough, living a life of luxury. They will, most likely, be writing day in, day out trying to hit multiple deadlines with several publishers in order to cobble together an annual income somewhere in the range of $30-$60k. I make way more than that now doing IT work and I have evenings and weekends free (time I use to pursue and indulge in my hobbies that bring me happiness). Not to mention, I'm fortunate enough to work for an employer who allows me to work from home three days a week, so I only commute twice a week. Win!

Still, I have to wake up early in order to join conference calls and do work I don't feel like doing. That may sound like a privileged person whining. I realize things could be worse for me. After all, I had worse jobs in my youth, so I am thankful for where I'm at. Yet I'm at a place in my life where I need to start planning for the future. Something I should've done when I was much younger. I don't want to do what I'm doing for the rest of my life. I'd like to have whole days free to indulge in activities I want to do. Not doing things dictated by others.

Enter FI/RE. I read many accounts of people who have managed to work hard for ten years or a slightly longer, socking away half or more of their net incomes in investment accounts, who were able to finally walk away from their jobs to enjoy early retirement. It was very much like reading the success stories of people who've managed to win the lottery but not fritter it away. For someone who hasn't been putting money away for retirement, this came as a revelation; a breath of refreshing air. So, I opened an investment account, started socking away money, changing my spending habits so I transition from consumer to saver. I've been watching my net worth rise and that builds momentum, much like the snowball effect, that keeps me on track to retire early.

So, that's what has consumed much of my year. And, since this blog is where I discuss things that interest me, I decided to write about it. Finances may or may not interest you. That's okay. I will warn you now, though: I will be writing more about my travels along the path to financial freedom in addition to my other interests: making masks, writing, etc.

As for my writing; I'm still very much plugging away at it. As a matter of fact, I've written numerous short stories this year as well as moved the progress needle on some novels I'm working on. I don't like to let a year pass without publishing something, but as I've stated many times before, I won't publish anything not up to my standards. I was hoping to publish my novel What Goes Around. Unfortunately, it hasn't met my standards, so I will need additional time to edit/rewrite it. With that being said, I decided to gather some of my shorts to produce a second anthology. I'm getting close to finishing, but I doubt I will be done before the end of the year like I'd hoped. So, it may not get published until January 2016. I already have the cover finished. It's called Negative Spaces. It contains 13 stories ranging from the bizarre to horrific. I hope you'll enjoy it when it hits virtual shelves soon. Here's a sneak peek of the cover. Also, I hope you'll return to see how I'm doing on the road to FI/RE and, most of all, I hope you get a lot of knowledge from my progress that will help you too.

A Sale!

I know, I know! I've been away from the blog for a long time. I apologize. (See explanation below)

I have news of a sale, though. That didn't seem big enough. How about...

Don't miss the sale of my novel Carniville on Amazon. From today, 12/23 through 12/26, the digital version will be $0.99. It goes up to $1.99 after that until 12/30, at which time it will return to its normal price of $2.99.

Blake Stanwick has visions, not that they ever do him any good. But when he wakes up one morning after a particularly unsettling dream about the murder of a dear friend, he can't shake the feeling of doom.

Death is coming to Carniville, the small Florida apartment complex that is home to a tight-knit community of carnival workers and human oddities. Carniville has it all -- the Fat Lady, Half-Man, Thumbelina, the Human Pincushion... Despite their impairments, they've all made a life for themselves at Crystal Springs Apartments. But for one resident, that life is coming to an untimely end.

When, inevitably, Blake's vision comes true, the authorities aren't much interested in looking past the obvious suspect, the victim's husband. But Blake knows they're wrong -- he just has to prove it. With the help of his misfit friends, Blake begins conducting his own investigation.

This is a great gift for yourself or a reader in your life. Don't miss your chance to grab a copy while the price is low and spend the holidays curled up with a whodunit.

Now, to explain why I've been AWOL for so long. I started a new job. A job that's kept me pretty busy. In the meantime, I've been working on two novels I hope to release in 2015, two novels I'm very excited about. In addition to working and writing, I've been learning German on Duolingo. I've got a 315 day streak as of this posting. Das ist gut, ja? I don't want to break my streak. I'm a bit OCD in that regard, so most all of my time is eaten up and I haven't carved any out for blogging. Hopefully, that will change in 2015. I want to keep everyone updated with my writing and book releases. Hopefully, you'll forgive me. Maybe you'll buy a copy of Carniville.

Happy holidays! Happy New Year! See you in 2015! (Thanks for stopping by.)

Feeling Overwhelmed

First and foremost, today is my son's birthday, so I'd like to wish him a very happy birthday and extra-special day.

As the title of this post suggests, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, but also very relieved. I've been unemployed since July 1st and was trying to cope with my sense of worthlessness and lack of income. The job search was tedious and stressful, especially since I'd been comfortable with my previous job for four years. You might say I'd grown complacent. You'd be right. Suddenly finding yourself without gainful employment in an employer's market is not a fun place to be. I work as a computer programmer, have been doing this for nearly twenty years. I'm no stranger to formal and technical interviews, but this time around it seemed that every employer wanted to quiz me like I had just entered the market from school. The tests and questions ranged from defining certain programming terms (many of which come from first-year textbooks) all the way to writing small programs to accomplish some mundane task. I get it! You wanna make sure an applicant actually has the abilities their resume claims. But, seriously, EVERY interview?

Needless to say, I didn't concentrate much on my writing or editing while I was looking for work. However, I'm pleased to announce that I landed a job with a company that seems like a good fit, with great benefits, solid colleagues, and the commute and money are right. That's where a lot of my relief has come from.

The rest of the burdens weighing on me stem from my current novel as well as various stories I've begun or have recently been thinking about. First, I'll tell you about the current WIP, What Goes Around. This is the story of nine children who vanish from a carousel in 1958, while their parents are watching. Sixty years later, when some teenagers turn on the carousel, the nine children reappear on the ride. I think it's an interesting concept and has started to take shape, becoming something I'm eager to finish molding and polishing. I recently handed it to my wife, my first beta reader. Her reaction wasn't quite what I expected. She didn't think the scary parts were very scary, nor the ending as satisfying as I had hoped. However, she saw the potential in it. She provided her feedback, and, while it doesn't necessarily require a rewrite, it's close. She gave some fantastic suggestions that will make it a much stronger story.

I've just finished the first pass through the manuscript to correct the grammatical changes and typos she identified as she read it. Now, I've got to go through it a few more times to change large swathes by altering some of the characters' roles and motivations. Before handing it off to her, I had gone through it four times. That's a heck of a lot when you're editing a manuscript nearly three hundred pages long. I hate editing. It's tedious and with each pass, I become less enthused about the story because it all starts tasting like beans. At this stage, I can foresee several more iterations through the story just to get it up to her standards. This is causing me to procrastinate and think about newer, shinier stories I could be working on.

As I've said in the past, I am always working on new stories. I usually have a couple going at the same time, hopping between them whenever I need a change of scenery. I'm wrestling with these compulsions now. I desperately need to finish the sequel to my crime novel, Majoring in Murder. I have two other horror novels that I need to work on: Into the Black Mirror and A Consuming Darkness. These are only a few of the stories scattered throughout the production pipe. My notes contain a wealth of material for me to mine. In addition, I've recently been thinking about two characters I invented years ago and still have not used them in a story. That's because I think these two characters could carry a story by themselves, much like George and Lenny from Of Mice and Men. The more I think about them, the more details from their story emerge. I don't want to rush it, because doing that will only hurt the work.

In addition to all of the above, I recently wrapped up a free 5 book giveaway on Goodreads. Overall, I think it went well. The giveaway had a higher interest than I anticipated. Now, I just have to wait and see if any of the readers will leave a review. I'd also like to see if any sales result from it. Basically, I'm anxious to see if the giveaway results in any benefits. I enjoyed the process. If for nothing else, it made more people aware of my work and maybe they will become potential fans. I already want to hold another giveaway with even more books, but I have to exercise patience. And for me, patience is a hard row to hoe. I'm always eager to jump right in.

So, as you can see from what I've laid out, I'm feeling the pressure of the stories I'm buried under. The good thing is that I'm not under any deadlines, except for the ones I set for myself. I tend to publish at least one new novel a year, more if I can do it without churning out crap. I think this is a respectable pace. Some very good traditionally-published authors work at the same pace. I just have to keep reminding myself that writing is a marathon, not a race.

Thanks for stopping by.

Picking up the series

My first published novel was a crime story called Majoring in Murder. It was meant to be the first book in a series, about a college student turned hit man. I published it in 2011, at a time when I was really big into reading crime stories. Since then, my interests have meandered through southern literature, fantasy/sci-fi, mystery, and then back to horror, where stories within me begged to be told. I obliged, telling some of those stories and began writing several more, across various genres.

Recently, I finished my first rounds of edits on a horror novel I mentioned some time ago called What Goes Around, which I am very excited about. I'm just waiting for my first beta reader (read: wife) to go through it and provide her feedback. In the meantime, I planned to return to some stories I've started and continue to work on those. However, I've detoured from that plan. Currently, I don't feel motivated to work on those stories, for reasons I'm not fully cognizant of; it's just how my writing process works. Instead, I looked over my various notes, folders, etc. on the small external drive where all of my worlds live and found that my hit man series needed my attention. The inner workings that dictate my writing--my muse, if you will--raised the flag, signaling me to start writing the second book in the Jason Mashburn series; it was time.

Long ago, I had jotted down a high-level road map for where I wanted the series to go, what each subsequent book would tackle, and then I walked away so that it could mellow. When I came across those notes a couple of days ago, I felt that Jason had time to mature (so to speak), which is what I intended. In the first book, he was a naive, yet deadly, young man. Throughout the series, I would like the reader to watch Jason grow and mature, become more adept in his skills, and understand the motivates behind his decision to return to the business. In a sense, Jason is like me as an author. I was naive and cocky during the writing of that first book and, with the passing of those years and more writing experience to my credit, I like to think my skills have improved and I've matured as a writer.

It is my hope that, for readers who don't care for series, each of the books can stand alone to tell a cohesive story; that each book can be read out of order, able to allude to any necessary details from the previous books without breaking the plot. As for readers who progress through the series, beginning with the first book, I want them to witness Jason's metamorphosis throughout the arc; from naive student to hardened, calculating executioner. Overall, I hope to maintain the reader's sympathy and understanding for Jason, which is difficult to do when your main character is a contract killer, but I think I managed to pull it off in the first book.

So, that's what I've recently been working on, the next book in the Jason Mashburn installment. Tentatively, I've titled the story, Extracurricular Activities. I hope it turns out the way I envision it. More importantly, I hope you, the reader, enjoy it!

Paperback book giveaway

I am currently holding a book giveaway on Goodreads for my novel The Old Royal. I will be giving 5 signed copies to some lucky individuals. The giveaway ends Aug. 23, so don't delay to sign up for your chance to win.

Anthony Jessup is a daydreamer who works at a dead-end help desk job. His greatest fantasy is to become a famous novelist like his idol, Roger Kurrey. However, Anthony's stories receive more rejections than accolades from editors. When Anthony receives an old Royal typewriter as a birthday gift, he soon learns that the typewriter is more than meets the eye. Armed with the ability to alter the past, Anthony realizes that he can fulfill his dreams. But, to do so comes at a cost. If you could change the past, would you? If so, at what cost?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Old Royal

by J.R. McLemore

Giveaway ends August 23, 2014.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Metamorphosis: introspection and retrospection

Tomorrow is Independence Day. I'm sitting here doing quite a bit of reflecting, evaluating, and looking toward the future lurking on the horizon, but it's hazy there and hard to make out. I have more time now for this sort of thing, since I lost my day job last week. Losing one's job is a stressful thing; I'm convinced there're stages to it like mourning a loss. I was mad, blamed myself, blamed others, felt humbled, experienced optimism, and well, now I've just accepted it. It is what it is. Life is simply a large maze with unexpected hurdles. Everyone experiences ups and downs. It's how we deal with the downs that shows the world who we really are, our true character. In the face of this, I've tried to remain diligent in my math and language studies as well as continuing with my writing/editing. In addition, I've done a good bit of looking inward and at my past. It's comforting during a time like this to see where you've come from and how you've (hopefully) improved as an individual. I like to think I've done pretty well and hope that I can continue to grow and become even better.

There've been plenty of times when I've neglected this blog. After all, who am I? Does anyone really read the things I say here? These are questions I ask myself a lot. I want to be a successful writer (whatever that truly means). I'd like to have a fairly large audience who I can interact with (much like Christoper Moore does--now there's a good author role model!) However, much of the time I just feel like a voice quacking in the void. I'm that tree falling in the forest with no one around to hear me.

I know I'm just one in several billion trying to stand apart and I'm self-conscious when it comes to marketing; it's absolutely uncomfortable and dreadful. It's often daunting and sad to think about, but think about it I do. These feelings are more prevalent during my down moments. At higher times, I meet someone who has read one of my stories and reaches out to me to talk about it (this is a grand experience! For me, they are also very rare).

Today, I looked back on the first post I wrote in 2009. It's odd to go back and read things you've written years ago, like glimpsing the mind of a naive you. My feelings while reading that first post are what helped spark this post. I may sound depressed and somewhat bitter, but, really, I'm not. I'm excited by what the future holds for me and my writing. I'm still editing What Goes Around and am nearly ready to hand it off to my beta readers. I have no intention of using this post to vent frustrations and/or petty grievances. I apologize if that's what it seems like. Basically, I just want to express the way I feel when faced with a transitional opportunity (the metamorphosis) that can come from a negative experience like this.

Instead of burying my head in the sand or throwing a pity-party, I want to use the time to get some things done. Finishing this book for one! In the meantime, I will continue doing all of the things I did previously: improving myself and my writing. Another job will come; I know it will, so I'm going to take one day at a time and enjoy it. So, it is with optimism that I put my foot forward toward that hazy future lurking on the horizon, with every intention to seize the day!

Horror? Not so much

I can't even begin to apologize for neglecting the blog for so long. What can I say? I've been busily working on some stories I've mentioned before, so that, hopefully, I can release them soon for your (again, hopeful) reading pleasure.

Which leads me to the point of this post. I've recently read two popular or well-known horror stories that I wanted to discuss. The first is probably not so well celebrated as it is known, among literary types anyway. It's Henry James's Turn of the Screw. This is a novella published in 1898. My wife (an English professor whose focus is on Victorian literature) recommended I read it. She said it was a good ghost story. I value my wife's opinion because I seldom disagree with her. However, I must disagree this time.

This story centers around a governess who is charged with overseeing the care of two young children, a brother named Miles and his sister, Flora. During the months spent together, the governess begins seeing a male and female apparition. She suspects these are former employees of her employer who were suspected of disreputable actions and that they have shown up to negatively influence the children. In addition, the governess must deal with Miles's expulsion from school for an action she does not know. This leads to the tension between her and the children as she tries to keep away the nefarious spirits.

To me, it sounded okay, like it might be a good creepy read. Boy, was I wrong! First, I learned that James's writing style was not to my liking. Evidently, he enjoys long, complex sentences, full of commas to break up whatever he is attempting to convey, and cram in as much information as possible, leaving me forgetting the concept the sentence was trying to deliver by the time I reached the end. (See what I did there? Did you follow what I was saying?) Imagine that same type of sentence repeated again and again with more difficult vocabulary interspersed and you'll get a sense for how Henry James writes. When I turned to my wife and remarked about the cumbersome sentences, she mentioned that later in his career, this trait worsened! Really? Worse?

Writing style aside, the story itself fell horribly short of being scary. Instead, nothing scary happened. I think this was more a psychological study of the governess's mental state than it was a horror tale. I won't go into much detail about what I think the author was trying to convey because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who still wants to read it. I will say, however, that you shouldn't go into this story expecting legitimate scares or creepiness. I found it rather boring and tedious to wade through the prose.

The second book I read is well known and quite popular among fans of horror. It is Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. If you visit any popular forum where people routinely discuss books and ask for a recommendation for the scariest book to read, you will be hard-pressed NOT to see this book mentioned; this was my experience anyway. I'd seen it mentioned so many times on various book forums. Eventually, I thought, Why haven't I read this yet? So, I pulled it off the shelf at Barnes & Noble and read the blurb from The New York Times Book Review, which stated, "Makes your blood chill and your scalp prickle...Shirley Jackson is the master of the haunted tale". How could I turn down such a recommendation?

First, I'd like to recommend to the NYT Book Review to drug test their employees more frequently. Whoever wrote that blurb doesn't know their ass from their elbow because this book is not scary in the least. It had two ho-hum moments, but nothing we haven't seen done bigger and better since this book was written (which was 1959). While Jackson's writing was easy to digest the story was devoid of anything horrific (unless you consider Dr. Montague's wife scary, which would be rightfully so). The characters seemed unrealistic and were very narcissistic and/or juvenile; I couldn't care less for any of them. I think this story deals with social interaction more than it does supernatural. Again, a big let down!

If I were to recommend two books from similar time periods that I think are superior to these, I would encourage you to read Robert Chambers The King in Yellow from 1895, which is a collection of short stories; the first few center around a forbidden two-act play that is supposed to drive its readers insane.

The second book I'd recommend is A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson, written in 1958. This is a much better rendition of the creepy psychological/supernatural thriller, in my opinion.

If you're into creepy, psychological horror, then may I humbly recommend my own books too? Soon, I will be releasing a couple of books heavy on these themes. Stay tuned to this blog or my Facebook page for details. If you'd like to recommend a book you feel is worthy of attention, please leave it in the comment section as I'm always eager to hear from readers. As always, thanks for dropping by!

Musings and Observations

I know I haven't posted anything new since December and I apologize. It's obvious to anyone who visits this blog on a (regular?) basis that keeping up the posts is one of my lower priorities. To be honest, my mind is usually focused more on developing new stories than it is trying to think of something to share here. I'm not saying that I don't care to share with readers via the blog. It's just difficult coming up with something that I think you may find useful/interesting here. I tend to be a private person. I don't think I'm all that interesting (well, that's not exactly true. I think I'm interesting in some ways, just not on a daily basis.) So, I try to share via the blog when I have a new release coming out or when something compels me to write a post. Sometimes, like now, I write a post out of guilt. Still, I hope you glean something useful/interesting from this.

There is something I feel like weighing in about, and that is the quality of self-published books. When I first began writing, self-publishing was considered taboo. It was the last avenue for desperate authors whose writing was considered not worth reading. Since then, the self-publishing revolution has kicked open the gates so any writer could reach readers. I think that's a good thing, because I could circumvent the old gatekeepers, whom I considered elitist. Now, I'm thinking it's also a bad thing, too. There has been a deluge of self-published books, both good and bad, to saturate the market. While there are diamonds in the rough, I think there is far too much rough to sift through in search of those diamonds. Reading is very subjective. What one reader loves, others hate and vice versa. So, it's a complex thing to simply dismiss someone's writing as trash. Sure, there is plenty of garbage out there, but I don't think we can simply dismiss a book because we don't like the subject matter and expect everyone to agree with us. Fans of those books just have different tastes than we do. However, when a book is rife with typos and grammatical errors, well, that's another thing altogether, and that's what bothers me the most.

Since the digital revolution in publishing, the choice to self-publish has been embraced by more and more writers. Some, like me, chose this route for a number of reasons: total creative control, higher royalties, ability to cross multiple genres, ability to write controversial subject matter, etc. Others have simply seen the opportunity to cash-in on no gatekeepers who once stopped them from reaching the masses. This latter group are the ones, in my opinion, who are responsible for the lingering stigma of poor quality that the self-publishing moniker still holds. This is a shame because the authors who actually take the time to edit there work into publishable quality and create beautiful, eye-catching covers are toiling amid a cesspool hoping to give readers the quality that they're used to getting from the traditionally published market. Meanwhile, for each one of these quality authors, about ten to twenty authors are completing their first draft and clicking the Easy Button to what they think is the road to riches.

I know some of these authors who publish what I consider to be crap. It infuriates me to know they are flooding the market with inferior writing. I'm not talking about the subject of their stories, but the mistakes that are in them. It seems to me that these writers are more interested in quantity over quality, and I don't think they care about the readers who legitimately complain about the inferior writing. I believe writers who subscribe to this philosophy want to cast the widest possible net, hoping to snare a larger amount of first-sales. They don't concern themselves with retaining an audience. In addition, I think these are probably the same writers who spam the hell out of the public when they release a new book. "Hey, look at the latest book I wrote. Get your copy today!" is something you hear from them every month or two. They have vast shelves on Amazon, B&N, and elsewhere. I'd even venture to wager that these "books" are less than 10,000 words and priced somewhere around $3 or $4 (the price you might pay for an actual novel--50,000+ words).

There are a few things that bother me about the self-publishing business, but the authors who prefer quantity (of books, not words) is what bugs me the most. They're the ones responsible for flooding the market with crap that readers have to sift through to find quality material. I'm not only a writer, but a reader, too. As such, this bothers me even more because when/if I get a self-published title, I'm already going into the story with low expectations. It's akin to the justice system, but in reverse. Instead of remaining innocent until proven guilty, I view a self-published title as dreadful until proven otherwise, which is why I read so few self-published stories. It shouldn't be this way, but this is what happens when barbarians storm the gates.

I am NOT one of these writers who prefer quantity over quality. Quite the opposite! I try to craft the best story I can. Each story goes through several iterations of editing before I hand it over to a few beta readers (at minimum, two). Once I receive their feedback and address any issues, I give it one more edit to make sure the story stands up to my expectations. If it doesn't, then I don't publish it until it does. I want to fill my virtual shelf, too, but I don't want to fill it with shit. Instead, I want to fill it with treasures (at least, what I consider to be treasures). I can only hope my readers see them as treasures, too. I know I won't please and dazzle everyone, but for those that I don't, I expect their negative reviews to center on the subject matter and not that the writing was horrible.

Soon, I will be publishing a murder mystery called Carniville (mentioned here and here). I'm excited to offer this story because it's my first murder mystery and I really enjoyed writing it. I've already received feedback from my two beta readers and made the necessary changes to strengthen the story. I'm awaiting proof copies to send to several more beta readers so I can gauge whether the story is strong enough to release. If it is, then it should hit the shelves near the end of this month or in early March. If mysteries are your thing, then I encourage you to keep an eye out for it.

If you've read this, I hope you're a reader I was able to please, dazzle, and/or entertain. If you've read one of my stories, do me a favor and leave a review on Amazon, B&N, or wherever you got the book. Feedback (of any kind) is always appreciated and lets me know what I'm doing right or what I need to fix. As always, thanks for stopping by!

Wrapping Up Another Year

Well, this is it. We find ourselves on the cusp of a new year. I've neglected the blog once again (like that's unusual, right?) and would feel pretty bad if I didn't do one last post to close out this year. But what to report? I decided to write a post doing a very short recap of my successes and let you see what I have planned for the coming year. I'm excited about what's on the horizon. So, here it is...

2013 was a good year. I had several wonderful surprises in my personal life and I released a couple of books, both of them southern literature. First there was Lathem's Lament, followed shortly by Rabbit on the Run. I recently heard some feedback from a friend whose mother read Rabbit on the Run and he said she really enjoyed it. It's feedback like this that makes the tedious hours spent creating a story worthwhile.

If you follow this blog or know me personally, you know that I took up studying math using a website called Khan Academy. I started doing this seriously one year ago. When I began, fractions were my arch nemesis. I was unable to do any calculations with fractions. Anything more advanced than that, forget about it! I'm very pleased to report that I have now mastered 81% of the subject matter on the site and am studying precalculus and trigonometry. In the coming year, I hope to be studying advanced calculus.

I hope to carry the momentum of my writing into 2014. Back in March, I gave a sneak peek at the books I was working on. From that list, two of the books were released. Youthanasia is currently shelved until I find motivation to continue it. Carniville is currently in the last few stages of editing. I hope to release it sometime in February. My first beta reader gave excellent feedback for things that needed changing in addition to telling me that it was a good murder mystery. I'm excited about that! Consuming Darkness is another I hope to get out to all my readers in 2014, but it requires a rewrite that will take some time. With that said, I hope to have it out by the end of next year.

At the moment, the book that really holds my heart is called What Goes Around that I briefly mentioned here. This is a creepy horror story that I hope will unsettle anyone who reads it. At the time I announced this story, I was only scratching the plot's surface. Presently, I'm about 200 pages into the manuscript. I won't rehash the synopsis here as you can read it on the other post. However, I will give you a glimpse of the paperback's cover. I hope this book will be ready for release sometime around summer (unless, of course, I switch things up and release it closer to Halloween--how appropriate).

That about sums up what I've been doing and what I hope to accomplish. 2013 was a good year and I hope 2014 will be just as good, if not better. I hope your year has been just as good and I want to wish you a prosperous new year. Feel free to leave any comments or feedback. As always, thanks for stopping in!

A Special Deal...and *ahem* an announcement

First, apologies for being MIA for over a month. I've been busily working on several novels and moving one, Carniville, ever closer to publication.

Second, I want to tell you about a special deal I've cooked up for all of my readers (and everyone else in reader-land). If you'll allow me to stand atop my soapbox for just a moment. I promise I won't take long and I'll make this as painless as possible...

I've slashed the prices of all of my books at every one of my distributors. This includes Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. Every book and story I have available is a meager $0.99. Heck Starbucks coffee is more than that! What could be better than grabbing a novel (or two or three) for a buck or less than five bucks?

In addition, if you purchase a digital version from Amazon, you can also get the paperback copy for an extremely reduced rate (or maybe even for free, depending on the book) through Amazon's Matchbook program. I promise to sign it for you if you see me and want me to. It would be my pleasure.

This special pricing is for a limited time only, so act now. This is a great opportunity to try my writing if you've never read any of my work before. Also, if you're not into horror stories, but enjoy crime fiction, or you like southern literature but hate science fiction, then you're in luck! I write across several different genres. I have books in horror, crime, science fiction, southern literature, and more. Maybe you've read my horror and wonder whether I can pull off writing southern literature? My advice is to part with 99 cents and find out. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I also have to mention that I reduced these prices today and one distributor in particular hasn't reflected the price change yet. This is Barnes & Noble. They should have the newer, lower prices within a day or two if you insist on getting a copy for your Nook. Since Smashwords distributes my titles to iTunes, Kobo, etc., it will take a few days (or maybe even a week) for prices to trickle out to those retailers.

Oh, I almost forgot, I also have another promotion that I mentioned a while back that I want to reiterate here. I currently have a BOGO free offer for two of my novels over at Smashwords. Details can be found here.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. See? That wasn't so bad, was it? Now for the other announcement:
I have already dropped out of NaNoWriMo! Yes, that's right. I'm a big fat quitter. I had an idea and started off okay, but, quite frankly, I have way too many books in the hopper that I'm currently working on. Most of you probably weren't aware that I was even participating and, therefore, you probably don't even care. Instead of just winking out like a match in the dark, I decided to make my withdrawal formally, here on my blog. Maybe I'll pick up the story later. Maybe I'll put it aside and work on it during next year's NaNoWriMo. Time will tell. In the meantime, I plan to continue working on Carniville, the next novel slated for publication. In addition to Carniville, I'm working on What Goes Around and Consuming Darkness.

I hope you'll take advantage of my reduced pricing or, if you've already read my books, please tell a friend who might be interested. Stay tuned for more information about the release of my murder mystery, Carniville. And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

The Rabbit is on the Run

I have a new book out called Rabbit on the Run. This is a novella of southern literature--quite a departure from what I normally write. The story is set in the Depression-era south, about a field worker named Gordon Mosely who is running for his life from a lynch mob determined to see him swing from a rope for a murder he didn't commit. You can see the cover over in the right sidebar or click the link above to find where the story is available as well as read a little trivia about the story's concept.

If you're into southern literature, then may I also recommend my novel, Lathem's Lament. Despite taking place in different times, I think both stories go well together and compliment one another, especially if you're a fan of a bygone era.

These will probably be the last of the old southern tales I write for a while. I tend to write any story idea I fall in love with, regardless of worrying about staying within the boundaries of a certain genre, as some of you may already know. I'm working to try to finish several books I've already started, which I mentioned in this post and provided sneak peeks of the book covers. While I'm still planning to release those books, new ideas have come to me that I've fallen in love with and some of those have taken priority. My usual plan is to write the first draft of a story and then push it aside to mellow while I return to other works that have, hopefully, already mellowed. Lathem's Lament and Rabbit on the Run are two of those from the last batch of ideas that I've now harvested (so to speak). Carniville is in the editing process right now. Youthanasia and Consuming Darkness are still up in the air.

Lately, I've been returning to my roots: writing horror, and this is reflected in my next batch of story ideas. Currently, I'm hard at work on a story called What Goes Around, about nine children who vanish from a carousel in 1958, in front of their parents. Sixty years later, the children miraculously reappear when three teenagers sneak into the amusement park and spin up the old carousel. I've written nearly one hundred pages of this book, but recently put it aside to edit Carniville. I'm anxiously looking forward to returning to it as well as beginning some other stories I've recently had ideas for. That's about all the inside scoop I have to offer at the moment, and why I've been so aloof from my blog. Hopefully, I'll have more stories ready to publish very soon, stories that all of you who're reading my blog or my books. I want you to be satisfied with what I put out there for you. Thanks for stopping by, and keep a lookout for my next releases!

What's new, pussycat?

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. I've been busily working on some new projects. My son and I began a new silicone Halloween mask. He had never created one, so I wanted to walk him through the process with me. I figured it would be a fun learning experience, which it was. The sculpture turned out really well, as you can see from the picture(s) below. Unfortunately, when we began separating the plaster mold, it broke, so that was the end of that project. All that work down the drain. Eventually, I'll start over as Halloween draws closer.


In other news, I am wrapping up my novella, Rabbit on the Run, which will soon be available via all of my typical distributors. I will provide links for anyone interested in obtaining copies once it is officially released. In addition, I am dividing my time to edit Carniville, a murder mystery involving human oddities; rewriting The Consuming Darkness, formerly known as The Shadow People, the first novel I'd ever written and has undergone many rewrites. (Most of these books I've mentioned in a previous post, which you can read here).

I've stalled on Youthanasia, a science fiction novel about the pros and cons of immortality, due to a lack of enthusiasm. That's not going to stop me from finishing the story and publishing it, though. When I say "lack of enthusiasm", I don't mean it's a substandard or mediocre story. It just means that some other ideas have stolen the spotlight in my imagination and I'm choosing to focus on them right now, which I will talk about in a minute. Also, I've kind of run up against a wall as far as the plot is concerned. I'm not sure where to go with the story while keeping the reader engaged in finding out what happens next. After I let it ferment and mellow for a while on the back burner, I'm sure I'll find a way around that obstacle.

The story who holds my heart at the moment is a new work of horror that I'm currently writing called What Goes Around. I've only spent two days working with it and, already, I've managed to put down a little over twenty pages worth of story. If you don't know what to make of that, let me just clarify by saying that the words are flowing like Niagara Falls; coming extremely easy, which isn't always the case. Since it is still in its infancy, I won't divulge too much, but I will give you the synopsis to whet your appetite. It goes something like this:

In the fall of 1958, in front of onlooking parents, nine children riding a carousel suddenly vanish. Despite efforts to explain the phenomenon, the children were never found, questions went unanswered, and the amusement park was closed.

Until Now...

Nearly sixty years later, three teenagers sneak into the newly-opened park on a dare and spin up the old carousel. They face a startling discovery when the nine children unexpectedly reappear. The boys and girls look the same as the day they vanished, but something is fundamentally different, because...

What Goes Around, Comes Around

I'm excited by this story's potential and hope readers are, too. I've already developed a cover for it and plan to hone this story into a reasonable facsimile of the product I see in my imagination. If I'm successful, then this will be a creepy romp through a sinister landscape that keeps readers captivated, turning pages to find out where these children have been and what mysteries the merry-go-round holds. Already, while writing it, I've given myself plenty of goose bumps. I hope I can pass them on to anyone who chooses to indulge in the story. As I get nearer to finishing it, I'll release a sneak peek of the cover.

Finally, I have some exciting news about an available title. My novel, The Old Royal, has been optioned to be made into an audio book. The narrator is a talented individual named Stephen Self. I've already listened to his audition for the book and his performance of the first chapter. I'm excited by what I've heard and anxiously await the finished product, which will be available on iTunes, Audible.com, and Amazon. Once I know the details for where you can get a copy, I'll post the links.

Stay tuned for further details. And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

The virtue of knowing where you're going

Before I jump into the meat of this post, I want to address something I'm sure will pointed out by more astute readers of this blog. I've mentioned before why I don't post advice about writing. Some of you may think this posting will run counter to that notion, but I'd argue that it doesn't exactly. When I said that I don't like to dole out writing advice, what I was referring to was the actual nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing. Nor will I blow sweet-nothings in your ear in order to try convincing you to sit your butt in the seat and commit to writing when you don't want to. Hell, I don't even do that when I don't feel like it...anymore. Although, there was a time I did do that. Also, every writer is different, approaching the task a different way with various motives. Writing is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Therefore, I will assert that I do not create blog posts instructing other writers how to go about the task of writing.

There. Now that my little disclaimer is out of the way, I want to talk about why I think outlines are a good idea when writing. Again, you might be pointing to the disclaimer, saying "Hey! You just said you wouldn't tell others how to go about writing." To which I would agree and point out that I am only illustrating why I think they are good to use. This blog is about me, my writing, and my other hobbies. Now, I don't always use outlines when I write, at least, not the traditional outline we learned in school. But, I do use some form of outline, in the loosest sense of the word.

If you're like me, the word outline probably makes you cringe as you think back to that rigorous, structured form the teacher made you write in grade school. Forget that. Unless, of course, you think back on it with warm regards. If that's the case, then, by all means, embrace it. Also, if that's the case, then you probably already use outlines. For the rest of you, I want to paint a better picture of the outline. It doesn't have to be that stodgy old tool you're imagining. When I sit down to write, I don't like feeling confined by rigidity and rules. I think that stifles creativity, which should flow like a river, free and wondrous. So, my writing environment is as free from rules as possible. I want to be comfortable. My outlines hold to that philosophy and can differ from outline to outline. One might be a list of bullet points, each corresponding to major plot points I want to cover in the story. Another may resemble that more rigorous, traditional outline if I can visualize the story more deeply and want to capture those details for days or weeks down the road when I might potentially forget them. And, still, others may resemble notes more suitable to appearing on napkins, pieces of cardboard, or what have you.

The outline is only there to serve you, the writer, in whatever capacity helps. When you're writing a novel, it's like setting off on a quest through a forest. You might clearly see the trail heading off into the trees and gleefully follow. But, at some point, that trail may begin to disappear among the brush until you are lost among the trees. Having an outline is like having a compass and map as you navigate the unfamiliar territory. If you've written before, I'm sure you can recall times when you've sat down to write and soon find yourself floundering with what you've written, unable to determine where you are in the plot or where you need to be heading. If you've outlined, you can reference it to get your bearing and get back on course. I've done this and been thankful for having my outline to keep me on track.

I've mentioned that I go about creating my outlines differently each time. Here's why: each story, like people, are uniquely different. Stories demand different kinds of attention. Sure, I've written spontaneously without having the benefit of an outline, but these are rare cases for me. More often than not, I will have some form of outline as I get started. These outlines may contain the high-level bullet points I mentioned earlier, illustrating the course of the story from a bird's eye view. Typically, obstacles will crop up during the course of writing, however, that need to be circumnavigated. At times like these, I will resort to making another outline, one more granular, pointing out how to get me from point D to E in the larger outline. But, as I've said, my outlines differ from story to story. Case in point, I've also written with a partial outline, leading me the first chapter or two into a story. Once I get to that place where the trail ends, I stop writing, pick up my outline and brainstorm about where I want to go from there. Then, I will sit and outline the next chapter or two until, finally, I have reached the end of the book. Each of these techniques depend on the story I'm writing and whichever one feels good to me at the time.

This is how I go about writing. Every writer is different, so I don't recommend you do things like I do. Unless, of course, you feel comfortable doing this. Writing is hard enough as it is. Feeling good about how you approach and feeling comfortable while you're doing it are keys to finishing. So, if you find that you can't finish a story because you often find yourself lost in the woods, maybe creating an outline to chart the rest of your journey will help you across the finish line. It's definitely beneficial for me. And, if you came here seeking writing advice or words of motivation, I don't want to disappoint. Instead, let me recommend a blog that I find instrumental in these areas. Chuck Wendig's Terrible Minds is a great source for writers and he's very funny (at least, I think so). Thanks for stopping by!

Better late, than never

I know it's been a while since my last post, and I apologize for that. Since that last post, I released my latest novel, Lathem's Lament. It seems that a new release would be an exciting occasion for any author. So, you might be wondering why there wasn't more fanfare. Well, that's because I've been very busy--er, distracted--lately. You see, I've been concentrating my efforts in areas unrelated to writing. Namely, I recently gained custody of my youngest son, which is a huge relief and something I've been working toward for some time. However, there are still some legalities I must contend with, which are causing distractions.


But, of course, you didn't come here for any of that extraneous stuff. No, hopefully, you're here to learn more about my latest book. Well, thanks for your interest! Let me indulge you. Lathem's Lament is a Southern Gothic that I released April 4th. It's the story of few residents of a Georgia farming community in the summer of 1952. The main family, the Whitfields, are worrying about their oldest son, Lathem, as he fights in Korea. In addition, they also must contend with failing crops, mounting bills, some nefarious neighbors, and racial clashes.

The plot of the book came to me after reading several authors, namely, Faulkner, Caldwell, Steinbeck, and, probably more importantly, John Grisham. It may strike some people as odd to see Grisham's name among those who influenced a work of southern literature. First, I want to point out that I was largely inspired by William Faulkner's presentation in his book, As I Lay Dying. I thought it was brilliant how he told the story from each character's point-of-view. Of course, Faulkner is probably best known for his stream of consciousness, which is something I don't necessarily enjoy, but did execute. In my book, each chapter is from a different character's perspective, even their thoughts. What better way to get to know the people in the story than to get inside each one of their heads? Second, I have to give John Grisham a large part of inspirational credit, because it was his book, A Painted House, that really fueled my desire to write a southern novel. After reading his book, Lathem's Lament had taken root and began to grow quickly in my mind.

If you're a fan of southern literature, I highly recommend you read Lathem's Lament (of course, you saw that plug coming, didn't you?) Also, if you're not really a fan of southern literature, I'd still recommend it. Despite the rural southern setting, this book is an engaging character study, chock full of diverse characters with varying situations. And, what Southern Gothic doesn't have a supernatural element? As an added bonus, I've included the first chapter of my next story, Rabbit on the Run, at the end of the book. (You can find a lineup of my next couple of books here.)

So, if you haven't gotten a copy yet, see the book's page on my website for links where you can get your copy today. I think you'll enjoy it. And, if you do, please, leave a review. I'd certainly appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by.