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.

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.

So, May didn’t actually work for me.

I only got 1/3rd of my goal in word for the month and made almost zero progress on any of the projects. I didn’t walk very often, managed to wrack up my rib cage while changing the filter in our furnace, and then got sick for a few days, just as icing on the cake.

Quick recap.

I have covers coming for Troy Harbor and Dark Knight Station: Origins.

Audio for the Shaman Tales will be coming this fall from Podium. I owe

Karen the draft for Troy Harbor tomorrow. I’m going to be late.

I have yet to find the thread on any follow up project which is the root of the problem.

• Ishmael and Company started up but I can’t find the handle on them. They’ve all achieved their goals and now they’re just boring.
• I’ve toyed with several choices of Shackleford House stories but can’t seem to make any of them gel the way that Butler did.
• I’ve explored other “Origins” stories but – as with everything else – nothing grabs me.

One positive note: I got the draft for Hostage back from the co-writer.

So, I’ve got three drafts waiting for me to do something with while I’m fighting a goal (2k a day every day) that feels more and more arbitrary as I go.

Perhaps I’ll be able to turn things around in June.