Since Last We Met:

I’ve gotten the website rebuilt. I think. I’m particularly proud of the new Books page. If you find something borked, let me know.

I’ve been getting more consistent on my podcast. I didn’t miss a day in August for either my morning or evening walk. That’s another 124 miles walked. This is important for both my physical and mental health because they’re the foundation for my writing.

Mid-month, we ran the summer NovelRama with the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers IPAL group and demonstrated – again – that 25,000 words in 4 days is possible, even if it’s not really sustainable over the long haul. I used the sprint time to finish the first draft of Cape Grace.

Speaking of which …

Work in Progress:

I finished the second draft of Cape Grace and sent it out to beta readers. The feedback is generally positive but I have some shoring up to do. I’m also still waiting for the cover art, which should be along shortly.

I’ve started roughing out the next series, a fantasy set in the Tanyth Fairport universe but not featuring Tanyth or her friends. It’s on a different continent and explores the idea of having the old women running things instead of being relegated to the cottages on the edge of the village. I’ve got a culture clash between the city people and the nomads from the steppes, an economy based on salt instead of gold, and a prince being held hostage instead of the princess. It should be fun and I’m hoping to get at least two of them done before year end.

Stay tuned because you know how accurate I am on my predictions of how fast I can get a story done.

Audio:

Podium tells me they’re expecting to release this on October 1. I’m looking forward to it.

I’m still waiting on Ravenwood.

Beta Readers:

In the past, I’ve chosen beta readers from my podcast audience. With the growth of both the Facebook group and my email list, this is proving to be a bit problematic.

First, I’m kicking out a new podcast pretty much every day (I haven’t missed one since June 15) which means a lot of regular listeners are skipping episodes in an effort to stay caught up.

Second, I keep getting people asking to be put on my list for beta readers. I don’t have a list. I ask for beta readers when I’m ready for them and basically, that’s a catch-as-catch-can process. It’s not ideal.

Third, the door gets opened up a bit wider than I’d like. I sent out 50 copies to betas on this last round. I got some good feed back but fewer than half have returned any feedback at all. I need to address that.

So, I’m going to start a beta reader list and roll it into my email server. I’m going to include the sign up in my monthly email so that people can volunteer for the list and be notified when the time comes.

For you, it means if you’d like to be a beta reader, you’ll need to be on the email list so I can get you properly tagged. Note that you can opt out of the monthly newsletter and only get the new releases if you want, but this allows me to get a “beta reader” tag on you so I can email you when I need to.

If you’re already on the list, thanks. Just watch for the link in the next email (Sept 15th) and click it.

A theme update tossed out my fancy-schmancy website.

I wanted to change it anyway. I guess I’m going to do that starting today.

I always think of Florence and the Machine when I think of the dog days. Technically, the dog days are ahead of us but I’ve just spent the month of July dealing with medical issues and wrestling with this troublesome story.

The good news is that I appear to have turned the corner on both of them. I know what the story is now. My instincts last month held up and I’m on track to finish this thing off.

Eventually.

I’ve learned not to count a book done until I write the last line, but maybe this time, I’m finally steering the proper course.

Seekers Tales are still on track for Audible release this fall.

The Tanyth Fairport Adventures are still in production.

That’s all I got this month.