The Wizard’s Butler

Posted on by Nathan

“He thinks he’s a wizard,” they said.

For five grand a month and a million dollar chaser, Roger Mulligan didn’t care how crazy the old geezer was. All he had to do was keep Joseph Perry Shackleford alive and keep him from squandering the estate for a year.

They didn’t tell him about the pixies.

Available at Amazon.com

April Fool

Posted on by Nathan 9 Comments

Well, March was fun. Not really. It did yield decent results and I’m not sick so let’s work on the positive.

First, the numbers

March: 84,346
Year: 225,826
WIP (Troy Harbor)44,931
Streak Words: 463,497
Days in a Row: 170
Average words per day: 2,726

STATUS

Audio:

  • Home Run is currently available on Audible. It dropped March 3.
  • South Coast is in production at Podium. Jeff Kafer will narrate. No word yet on schedule. I’ve contracted with Podium to produce all three Shaman’s Tales.

Paper:

  • The Wizard’s Butler should be available in paper this month.

Ebook:

  • The Wizard’s Butler dropped a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t even started thinking about audio for this yet.

WIP:

  • Hostage (Book 1 of the Barbarians series) is in second draft. This book will be a while in production because I’m co-writing it and we both need to agree on the draft before we give it to the editor.
  • Dark Knight Station: Origins is in second draft stage. It’s a mess and will take some time to get hammered into shape.
  • Troy Harbor – the last of the Shaman’s Tales – is the current “new words” project I’m hoping to wrap that up in the next week. I’d like to wrap that series up before I forget too much about the story line.
  • Next project will probably be the first of a new Ishmael series.

What am I reading?

I haven’t started it yet, but it’s next on my hit parade.

Glynn Stewart is one of the few writers I buy without sampling first. If you’ve been following his Starship’s Mage series, the next book dropped last month. I’ve got a copy already and should crack it open tomorrow.

Mountain of Mars

Last Words

March brought a lot of changes for a lot of people. My situation here didn’t change that much. The four of us in the household weren’t known for rampaging around town to begin with so the only real changes involve how many trips I make to the grocery store a week.

Maintaining focus. That’s been the real challenge.

Not to say the month didn’t have its high points, starting with the release of The Wizard’s Butler. A few friends and I also got together to run the spring NovelRama event where a bunch of crazy people tried to write 25,000 words in 4 days.

The event proved to be as much fun and exciting as it’s always been. So many people who never thought they could do it proved themselves wrong. Just goes to show what happens if you can put your butt in the chair and stay focused on the task for a few days.

Thanks for all your support. I’m hoping April will be less stressful and that all of you stay sane and healthy.

Safe Voyage.

Marching On

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February came through for me. I kept to my basic plan of 2,000 new words every day and using the rest of the day to work on second drafts, production, etc. I didn’t get as much walking in as I needed to, but there’s next month. Early on, I was still recovering from the January surgery. I got more walks in–and more talks in–near the end of the month.

Statistics:

February: 63,534
For the Year: 141,480
Current WIP: 117,500
Streak Words: 375,614
Days in a Row: 139
Average words per day: 2,702

Status:

Audio:

  • Home Run is currently available for pre-order on Audible. It drops March 3.
  • South Coast is in production at Podium. No word yet on narrator or schedule. I’ve contracted with Podium to produce all three Shaman’s Tales.

Paper:

Ebook:

  • No new books dropped in February.

WIP:

  • The Wizard’s Butler is with the editor and I’m still waiting for the cover art.
  • Hostage (Book 1 of the Barbarians series) is in second draft. This book will be a while in production because I’m co-writing it and we both need to agree on the draft before we give it to the editor.
  • Dark Knight Station: Origins remains the current first draft, new words project. I should find an end here in the next couple of days. When I do, it’ll slide into the “afternoon” queue.
  • Next project might be Troy Harbor – the last of the Shaman’s Tales. I’d like to wrap that series up before I forget too much about the story line.

What Am I Reading?

I neglected to recommend a book in February so let me recommend Carol Van Natta’s Central Galactic Concordance series. I inhaled the first two and forced myself to put down the series and address some of the samples waiting in my TBR pile. Great world building. Interesting characters, but (fair warning) there’s kissing. Which – for the record – I support.

Book 1: Overload Flux

Last Words

Two months into the “2k for 2020” campaign, I’m keeping up with the words. Shifting gears to work on a different book in the afternoon is more hampered by my ability to actually get the 2k in before lunch than my ability to shift my brain to a different story line.

Mid-month I felt the rise of incipient burn-out. I pushed too hard and neglected some of the self-care that I need. I’ve made some adjustments on calendar and expectation. The burn-out seems to be averted for the moment.

I feel good. I’m happy with the work. I’m looking forward to publishing at least one of these WIPs before April and I’m ready to roar into March.