June Bugs

June 1, 2021 by Nathan 5 Comments

I’m getting better. Really. I made a lot of progress last month. There’s a light on the horizon.

At least I hope that’s the horizon and it’s, you know, a light and not something like a forest fire burning inexorably in my direction …

Status

Salt. Yeah. This is one of the things that’s bugging me. I’m going to have to get out the heavy guns and resort to some kind of bribery to get myself off the time. It sounds harsher than it is. I haven’t dug into it because I’m burning all my writing time on the next project.

The New Ishmael
I don’t even know what to call this any more. The manuscript I’m working on is way too long for one book. I’m well over 300k words now, but the positive news is that I know where the ending is. I just need to get to it. I’m still not sure how many books this will be. At least two. Probably three. It’s going to take a while for me to a) get to the end, then b) cut it into the right pieces, and c) do the patching to make it all make sense. (It’s kind of a mess.)

The Wizard’s Cat
When Roger finds a feral gray tabby lurking in the gardens behind Shackleford House, things get a little tense for the pixies. (It’s coming. We’ll see how this looks by the end of the month.)

AUDIO

Dark Knight Station: Origins is available for pre-order from Audible. Drops June 29.

What Am I Reading?

Where to begin. I’ve read a lot of quirky books this month. It started a new Glynn Steward book (Eyes of Tomorrow), then went to a paranormal romance by Deana Chase (Witching for Clarity), a couple of really dark fantasy stories by Krista D. Ball (Fury, Schemes), a contemporary romance (Her Big City Neighbor by Jackie Lau), a weird western (Sidewinder by David Faux), shifted to xianxia by Tao Wong (Thousand Li: First War) … I’m leaving some out, I know.

It’s been a big month for reading and I’m pretty sure that’s the reason I’ve made so much progress on my writing.

The recommendation this month is Bob’s Saucer Repair by Jerry Boyd. Somebody recommended it to me in response to the last newsletter and I’ll be honest. I really wasn’t sure about this one.

But I fell in love. It’s a goofy, spoofy book with so much heart, I started reading and couldn’t put it down.

See Bob comes home one Friday night and finds Nikki’s stashed her broken down saucer in his garage and … yeah. Hijinx ensue, as they say.

Looking for a fun read, maybe grab a sample and see what you think.

Last Words

I can’t tell you how much better I feel about this new Ishmael … thing. Being able to see an end point–a place where I can actually break this thing off–has made me push my word counts up a little higher each day as the end gets nearer. I made my monthly goal for May and made up for three more days from January before calling it a month.

It feels pretty good and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next.

In the meantime, safe voyage.

May Be

May 1, 2021 by Nathan 5 Comments

When I look back, last month was pretty much all writing. My walking didn’t happen except for a few scattered instances. That problem needs to be resolved this month.

I wrote every day last month except for the one day I took off last week.

Status

Salt is still hanging fire. Neither of us could get it together to finish the cover or the edits. It’s one of those tasks that just seemed to get put off day after day.

The New Ishmael
The bad news is that I still haven’t found the end. The good news is that I’ve found the story. Yes, this is definitely more than one book. At 250k words already, I’m relatively certain it’s going to be three before I’m done.

The Wizard’s Cat is on deck and mewing for attention.

Audio

The Wizard’s Butler dropped. I’ve swapped the covers to use the Podium artwork.

Dark Knight Station: Origins should release on 6/29. Look for the pre-order mid month. Podium shared their version of the cover and it’s pretty spiffy. I may adopt it the way I did for the last book.

What Am I Reading?

The stand out read of the last few days has been book three of James Beamon’s Pendulum Heroes series – The Pendulum War.

I’ve talked about this series before and the newest volume reminded me just how much I enjoyed the first two and Beamon’s ability to spin a tale. It continues the story of four guys caught in a game and learning that, sometimes, winning isn’t everything. The stand out feature in this volume has been the character growth for each member of the ensemble cast. James has woven a terrific tale.

I’ve linked the first book of the series Pendulum Heroes. Maybe grab a sample and see what you think.

[Transparency: James and I both serve on the board of directors for SFWA. I’m not getting anything for promoting this book beyond the knowledge that I’ve shared a good book with you.]

Last Words

April was as much of a struggle as March, but I’m feeling better about May. My ADHD is still kicking my butt, although I’ve made progress on rebuilding the cage around it. Ishmael’s adventure has some form now. I’ve redone the alarms on my phone to help me stay in the moment and focused on what’s really important instead of what’s shiny. I’m fully vaccinated and the rest of the household should be within the next couple of weeks.

In short, I’m doing better and looking forward to what may be a more productive month.

Safe Voyage.

Spring Cleaning

April 1, 2021 by Nathan 9 Comments

I spent the month writing and not walking. I need to do both but since I couldn’t seem to to that, I wrote.

I got my second shot, spent a couple of days just contemplating my navel. I missed one day’s writing in there. I just couldn’t seem to focus. It was like I was asleep with my eyes open and sitting up. I’m not sure if it was the vaccine doing its thing or exhaustion from the snowpocalypse.

Status

Salt – book 1 of the Barbarians – should be out in the next couple of weeks. The artist is putting the final touches on the cover and I’m only a couple of days away from finishing the edits. Note: This is the book I co-wrote with my daughter and I’m looking forward to having everybody read it.

New Ishmael.
I don’t know what the heck is going on with this. It’s the story that won’t end. I’m pretty well convinced that I’m writing more than one book under this working title but I can’t tell. I’m just pushing to get new words put in it every day and trusting that my vision for the story will clear up once I can see it in its entirety.

The Wizard’s Cat is still on the list. I’ll be ready for it by the time I get done wrestling with Ishmael and company.

Audio

The audio coming from Podium is The Wizard’s Butler. It’s up for preorder now. Release date is April 20. Last month I said it was Dark Knight Station. I claim brain cloud.

What Am I Reading?

I found a new author this month and I’m intrigued. The generation ship genre isn’t my normal fare, but I got pulled into the universe and I’m enjoying the stay.

I can’t tell you too much about the story without spoilering it, but good characters in bad situations. The story is a ship captain whose primary selection qualification not her license. In spite of that – or perhaps because of it – she’s a great character faced with terrible choices.

The book is Exodus by T. S. Valmond.

Maybe grab a sample and see what you think. I’ll be going to the second book as soon as I finish the series I’m almost done with now. 🙂

Last Words

March was a struggle, but I’ve made some progress. In April I need to follow up with getting back on the sidewalk, getting Salt out, and finding the end to the story that never ends. (There is an end. I just haven’t found it yet.)

On the upside, I’m fully vaccinated. My spousal unit will be soon. My kids will be eligible in a couple of weeks. There might be a light at the end of the tunnel after all.

It’s still going to be awhile before I go out without my shemagh. 😀

Safe voyage.