Thanks to a fun little exercise at ConvertKit (my email provider, believe it or not), February got back on track and I made up three of the days I blew off in January. I also got my first vaccine shot a week ago and should get the second Real Soon Now.

No bad news this month. I just let the world go on without me while I worked on the 2k a day habit.

Status

Salt – Book 1 of the Barbarians – came back from Karen over the weekend. I let my co-author have first crack at it but I’ll be digging in over the next coupld of days.

New Ishmael
I’ve been beavering away on this story all month and it’s not over yet. I talked about it in one of my recent podcasts. I know where I want this story to go. I have some ideas about what it might look like but none of these characters are cooperating. Right now I can’t tell if I’ve got one book (that will need some serious pruning) or two books that might serve as the first two legs of a trilogy. The trilogy? That’s probably going to need sequels.

Wizard’s Cat
Every time I turn around, this story slaps me. I really need to clear Ishmael off my desk so I can get to this. Ever had a cat lick your arm and not stop? Yeah. Like that. But my brain. Stay tuned.

Tanyth Fairport
A lot of people have been asking questions on social media. Questions that I answered with “Tanyth Fairport.” Clearly, I’ve been thinking of her a lot. Salt is set in her universe, just not with her.

Audio

Dark Knight Station: Origins is due from Podium on April 20. It’s still in production but it’s getting closer.

Tanyth Audio
The producer (not Podium) still hasn’t given me the files. I need to find him again and get an update. If he can’t do it, I know somebody who can.

What Am I Reading?

I read so much in February. Tons of Glynn Steward. More litRPG. Deanna Chase. All three of T. A. White’s Firebird Chronicles. I just dove into those books like a 12-year-old cannon-balling into the hotel pool.

But somebody recommended this quirky book by C. Litka – The Bright Black Sea.

I’ve seen this book come through my various timelines off and on but the cover and the subtitle turned me off. “The Lost Star Stories, Volume One.” Made it sound like a collection of shorts and I’m too old to read short stories. This time something made me give it a try and I’m really glad I did.

The writing is quirky, atmospheric. The pacing is slow, almost glacial, but the story keeps strolling along. It takes a bit to find the rhythm of it but it’s clearly done with purpose. It’s almost steampunky in flavor but without all the steam powered rocket ships. The characters–specifically the captain Wil Litang–bring this story to life.

I’m about halfway through it but I’m enjoying every page. Maybe grab a sample and think what you think?

Last Words

February was a transformational month. I’ve got my writing going again, at least for the moment. I’ve had my first vaccine shot. Over the last few days I feel like I’ve gotten my feet back under me. In the metaphorical as well as literal sense.

It’s too early to claim victory in my war of the words. I’ve got a solid month behind me, a lot of momentum, and stories that I want to tell. I’m cautiously optimistic about finishing up the first quarter strong with at least one new book in the pipeline even while we work to get Salt produced and out for you to read.

In the meantime, stay safe. Keep reading.

January has been a cold car with a half-dead battery. Every once in a while I try to crank it over, but all I get is a few half-hearted groans before the starter just clicks.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that I’m getting a few more groans each time I try. The battery isn’t magically charging but there seems to be a trickle of juice coming from somewhere. I keep trying, hoping that maybe the beast will roar to life with the next turn of the key.

Status

Salt – Book 1 of The Barbarians
My editor has it. It’s a long book and I expect she’ll need some time to get through it. My co-author is working on the cover. The mock-up looks great. Magic 8-Ball says “February looks good.”

Dark Knight Station: Origins
Ebook is out. Paper is coming – eventually. Audio depends on Podium and I don’t have the dates from them yet.

You may not have noticed that the “Course Corrections” signup widget is missing from the sidebar and bottom of the post. I took it out because it didn’t work right. Never did. I set up a new landing page and linked it to the “Newsletter” tab on the menu above. If you’re not already subscribed, but would like to try it, come on in. The water’s fine.

Next Steps

I’m working on the next Ishmael book. It’s something to do with the academy and a new ship – the Marva Collins. Also some new characters. It’s setting the groundwork for a new series – three? four? I don’t know – of books featuring the fearsome foursome.

On deck after that is The Wizard’s Cat. I’m getting a lot of suggestions of how it should go. I’m still cogitating on how this will roll out, but I think you’ll be pleased with the result – even if I don’t take any of the suggestions.

I may have to go back to Finwell Bay for another story about Otto. I didn’t think that I needed to, but I keep being drawn back to the sound of the surf and the slow beating heart of the tides.

Then we’ve got the next volume of The Barbarians. That’s going to take a lot longer because we’re only barely done with book one. We’ve got some mythology and folklore to develop to make the next books work. Stay tuned on this one.

What Am I Reading?

I’ve been getting serious about reading this month. While it may seem counterintuitive, if I’m reading a lot, I’m more likely to be writing a lot. It’s kind of like setting the table with the good china. I’m more likely to cook something nice.

I’ve read a lot of Women’s Paranormal Fiction this month, a ton of space opera, and I’ve just picked up a GameLit title by Dustin Tigner. I know Dustin from an online group and we’ve been teasing him unmercifully for months about “going to write a book” but never doing it. He’s finally done it and he satisfied the first criteria. I got through the sample and hit the Buy Me link at the end.

I hate the title, but it’s funny, quirky, probably appeals more to me as a gamer than a reader. If you’ve wanted an introduction to the GameLit, rpgLit genres, you might grab a sample of Wrong Divinity.

Last Words

It’s still winter here on the High Plains – both literally and figuratively – but I think I’m beginning to smell spring in the air. I’ve written more in the last week than the last three months. I don’t like a lot of it, but they’re the first trickles of new work and it makes me happy that things feel like they’re moving again.

Fingers crossed that it’s not just a January thaw before being plunged back into the icy grip of February. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Until next month, safe voyage.

Looking back, 2020 was my most productive year in terms of publishing, and one of my poorest in terms of new words. The majority of the words published got written between November, 2019, and March, 2020. In the 445 days since I started using 4thewords.com to keep track, I’ve written 609,523. A lot of those are in the trash because they didn’t work out, but I’m resetting the counter to sync up with the year.

Words aren’t that good a gauge, but they’re something I can count. The more words I write, the more stories come out of them. Making myself accountable for the words means I have to do all the other stuff, too, and helps me focus – usually. Sometimes it just makes me melt down.

So, word counts are important to me. A novel is 100,000 words more or less. I draft at about 1000 words an hour which means a novel is 50 days at 2 hours. I’m coming back to this because it worked for me very well for months before it all crashed.

So much happened last year.

Text releases of: Cape Grace, Finwell Bay, The Wizard’s Butler, and Dark Knight Station: Origins. I’m caught up on paperbacks except for Dark Knight Station. (I’m waiting for the inevitable typo reports before I commit to paper.)

Audio releases of: Home Run, Cape Grace, and – just under the wire – Finwell Bay.

I have a new series starting up that I’m co-writing with my daughter. The first book will probably be the first thing we publish in 2021. Look for Salt, Book 1 of the Barbarians, in February-March.

Yeah. I’m going to gloss over the pain and anguish and move on to my goals for 2021.

A. Restore a 2000 word daily average (by month) for the year. In theory that’s about five or six novels. I know how to do it. I just need to get it done.

B. Get my walking and talking back on track. I only did about half the days in 2020 and that’s bad for me – mentally and physically.

C. Publish at least three books. My TBW pile has the next Ishmael book on the top (tentative title Semester in Space), The Wizard’s Cat behind it, and third is either a new shaman’s tale or another Ishmael book.

So that’s it. 2020 is gone. I’m hoping for the best in 2021 and I’ve got plans, tools, and techniques that can help me achieve them.

Thank you for all your support over the last decade. Here’s hoping you all have a safe and healthy new year.

Time to turn the page.