Falling Leaves

Posted on by Nathan 6 Comments

We’ve had our first snow, I’ve been skipping a lot of morning walks lately, and the trees are shedding their fall finery in piles. In spite of all that, I’m feeling better than I have in weeks.

Status

The Wizard’s Cat
I’ve made a lot of progress in re-imagining the story. I’ve known what the cat is for months. The struggle is trying to fit him into the book. It’ll get there. Eventually. I’ve notified Podium that I’m not going to make the December date for them. Rather a good book than a fast one.

Marva Collins
The audio for School Days is up for pre-order, due Nov 21. Working Class should be next but I’m not seeing any news from Podium on that yet.

What Am I Reading?

A lot of comfort reads last month, continuations of previous series including Tom Larcombe’s Crow Hill and Small Town Crafter, Jerry Boyd’s Bob and Nikki, and a new series – Rachel Rener’s Gilded Blood. Liked them all.

The recommendation for the month is a book I did a beta read for in September – Chris Lewis’s book Trouble Wore Red. Chris is a pen name for an author I’ve read and enjoyed a lot so when the opportunity came for the beta read, I jumped on it.

The characters grabbed me by the ears and dragged me through a twisted tale of luck, skill, and derring-do. It’s a sci-fi spy story set on Mars with a lot of fun scrapes, interesting problems, and a locked door that shouldn’t exist – but does.

Loved it. I’ve just been waiting for the release so I could tell you all about it.

But – as usual – don’t take my word for it. Maybe grab a sample and see what you think.

Big purple chevrons form the background. The silhouettes of a pole dancer with long hair and assorted club goers make up the foreground.

Looking Ahead

The month ahead looks like “more of the same” with me wrestling with the cat, tuning up my new computer, and generally settling in for a long winter ahead. With the end of year holidays coming up, I’m not looking for a lot of new words. After the first seven months of the year, it feels good to let my well fill up a bit. Giving myself some breathing room has loosened a lot of knots.

Whether those knots are holding me up or holding me back?

That’s a harder question.

Until next month, safe voyage.

Cool Down

Posted on by Nathan 8 Comments

The shift in temperatures has brought me back to life, I think. After a less than stellar September, I’m kicking into October with new vigor.

Status

The Wizard’s Cat
The story wasn’t working. I got stalled out on it but I think it’s purring along again. We’ll see how long it takes to wrap it up.

Ishmael
The manuscripts are all at Podium. School Days is up for pre-order on Audible. Look for Working Class soon, but I haven’t heard from them about it.

More than a few of you have written, hoping that this isn’t the end of Ishmael Wang. I don’t believe so. I think there are a lot of stories for him to tell us yet. I don’t know what they’re going to be. We’ll have to see what percolates up.

What Am I Reading?

I’ve been reading a ton. Lots of Tom Larcombe litRPG, a book 2 by John Wilker, but the absolute banger is Gwen DeMarco’s Sophie Feegle series.

Sophie Feegle – down on her luck, one step from homelessnes – gets a reprieve when she gets a job assisting the local coroner on the graveyard shift (heh) in the local morgue. She finds a family among the Odd Ones who work with her, augmented by the randy old lady who lives next door and a detective who has a problem with too many people dropping dead.

I siphoned all five of these books up with a hose, one after another. My Kindle usage stats went up for a few days. I loved them.

But you might want to grab a sample of Book 1, Sophie Feegle and the Odd Ones, and see what you think for yourself.

Looking Ahead

After a few weeks of barely crawling around on my metaphorical hands and knees in this Wizard’s Cat story, I think I’ve turned the corner. Or at least another corner. I should know better than to push a story that doesn’t want to go in the direction I’m heading. It’s about as effective as pushing on a rope. The last week or so has seen more positive movement than the preceding month and I’m hoping that it’ll continue.

I’m terrible at predicting, so we’ll see if it comes true.

I don’t know what I’ll write after that. Probably nothing else this year but who knows. Once I get cruising again, the words might just keep on flowing.

Fingers crossed.

Until next month, safe voyage.

Half-Way

Posted on by Nathan 50 Comments

Six months behind me. Six months ahead. A good place to take stock on how the year’s going.

Status

School Days (Marva Collins Book 1) is out in ebook and paper. I pushed a typo correction out a couple of weeks ago but it’s not clear whether or not it has registered with Amazon. Podium says the Audible edition should be available Sep 15.

Working Class (Marva Collins Book 2) is out on ebook and paper as of today. Podium has the manuscript. No word on availability.

Hard Knocks (Marva Collins Book 3) is back from the editor. I have yet to get through all the edits. This one was a bit rough. I’m expecting cover art mid month.

The Wizard’s Cat is on the word processor. It’s taking a while for me to get it settled down but I think I have a solid story. At least in my mind. Getting it all on the page? Yeah. Still working on it. I’ve got an editor slot reserved but getting the manuscript ready for her? Yeah.

What Am I Reading?

I haven’t picked a classic for the month yet. Might go with H G Wells.

Just finished John Wilker’s Any Job Will Do – a fun read with a serious Firefly vibe, but my recommendation is book 1 in a fantasy series, A J Lancaster’s Lord of Stariel.

The main character Hetta Valstar has a serious problem when her father dies. Over and above the loss of a parent, the estate needs a new lord. Hetta has to return to the family home, leaving her career and lifestyle behind to return to what promises to be just another bucolic ramble.

Yeah. Hijinks, as they say, ensue.

Loved the characters. Loved the setting. I’m reading book 2 right now because I needed to know what happened next.

As always, don’t take my word for it. Maybe grab a sample and see what you think.

Notes in the Margins:
I read a lot over the course of the month. I review many of them on my BookWyrm account at The Unseen City.

Looking Ahead

This year has been one of the most productive I’ve ever had. I owe a lot of it to work that I did in 2021 that got sidelined by 2022. Another big piece is that last year gave me a reset point. It’s a rare opportunity to re-imagine – and then build – the kind of life I want to live.

Thanks to all of you and the support you continue to give my work, I’m in a position where I can do that.

I don’t have any big plans for works beyond The Wizard’s Cat other than to take a couple of weeks off from writing to give my brain a chance to regroup. I need to let the well refill, as they say.

I’ll continue to write my daily haiku. Continue the morning walks. Continue working on my mindfulness.

And I’ll probably play a few games, just to see what stories my brain might tell me when I give it a chance to talk to me.

Until next month, safe voyage.