In the Beginning...

I've embarked on quite the journey. I've been through a lot since I released The Path of the Sword. I'm a pretty private kind of person so not much of what I've been doing gets posted here--which, in retrospect, you're probably grateful for. I mean, who wants to hear about my work day? Really? I suppose if you had a case of insomnia I could help you out. Or if you were suffering from a rough case of "good mood" I have just the cure.

But I'm digressing. I haven't even gotten to the point and I'm already digressing. This bodes well.

With the holiday season at hand, I find I'm reminiscing about things past; between memories of my daughter taking her first steps and my son hurling his very dirty diaper across his bedroom (that was a good day), I somehow managed to think about how I got on this whole writing kick.

First, a little background. I'm a reader. I've always been a reader. I don't think I've gone anywhere without a book since I was ten. But writing...not so much. You see, I was a COMPUTER GUY. I didn't have time to write stories. I was busy writing code.

But about a decade ago, I got an idea for a story. I was excited by it so, naturally, I sat down to write it. It was the first thing I really tried to write--besides creative writing assignments in high school that is. I wrote approximately ten pages--the prologue and the first chapter. Then I read it. Then, horrified by the atrocity I had committed to computer screen, I repeatedly slammed the delete key until all trace of what I had done was gone forever.

It was bad, is what I'm saying. It was eye-gougingly bad. It was...well I think there are statutes in the Geneva convention that make what I had done a crime against humanity.

Resigned, I decided I would--could--never try again.

Yeah. Okay.

About three years ago, an image popped into my head. Clear as day. It was the climax to The Path of the Sword. I don't know where it came from but, by golly, it was compelling. I dared not ruin it by actually writing it, but I thought about it. 

Over the next few weeks, more images came to my head, surrounding the original climactic scene like a posse and I couldn't shake them. Those scenes stuck to me like glue. It got so bad, I started telling my lovely Cori about them. I told her over and over again about the scenes that played out in my head (but did not dare write) and she listened. At first, she listened because she thought it sounded neat. Then, after a week or two, she listened because it was polite. After a month or so, I think she listened only because she loves me just that much.

I was annoying, is what I'm saying. I never shut up about it. I actually had the whole damned thing in my head from start to finish and she heard it all. Over and over again. And soon her smile started to seem forced. If you've ever seen someone smiling while their jaw muscles are clenching repeatedly, you know what smile I'm talking about.

Well, one day, I was talking about it again. Yes, imagine that. Somewhere in the middle of my monologue, Cori sighed deeply and loudly. She leaned forward and placed her hands on my cheeks. She smiled. It was a radiant smile, the kind of smile that stops hearts and turns knees to water. She looked deep into my eyes, and she said, "Sweetie, I love you. More than anything. But please, p*** or get off the pot."

"Huh?" I stammered as my head tried to wrap itself around the incongruity of her words and her smile.

"Either write the thing or shut up about it."

I don't really know why, but it was as if those words were a kind of...mitigation, maybe a pardon for my previous atrocity. I could write it--no one had to be exposed to it if it sucked.

After I finished, Cori read it. She knew the story, of course. I'd told her often enough. But she wanted to read it. I spent the next two days cringing, just waiting for her to tell me what I already knew: "Sweetie, you know I love you. But..."

When she put the last page down, she looked at me and said, "Sweetie, you know I love you. But...How long do you expect me to wait for the second part?"

"Huh?" I stammered.

"This was awesome. I want the next one."

"Huh?" I stammered (She does that to me a lot).

And here we are. The Path of the Sword is out and readers seem to generally enjoy it (though I've taken the criticisms to heart: from now on, I'm going to ask a professional editor to tear my work apart). Blood of War is out and, again, readers seem to generally enjoy it. I'm writing book 3 of Rites of Ascension (title still pending). I have a half dozen other ideas that I want to get to. I have this blog (that I fully admit is not updated nearly enough but, come on! You don't want to know how my son and daughter can get into a screaming match over a sticker book!)

Looks like I'll be writing for a while. Who'd a thunk it?

Thanks everyone.

Decisions, Decisions

You know, I never knew the writing process could be so difficult.

I'll explain it briefly...then I'll end my little rant. Then I'll probably go to bed. After a bowl of chips.

Here's the deal. Rites of Ascension III is well under way. Jurel and his friends are embroiled in some pretty dicey stuff. So far, so good. The problem lies in that I have more ideas for dealing with their situations than I have pages. I've hit a couple of spots where I'm not sure which one is the best.

Now, there are a few solutions:
1) Eeny meeny miney moe. Yeah, I don't like that one either.
2) Play out each one in my head and write the one that sounds best. This one makes me uncomfortable: I can never be sure I've explored it all until it's down on paper.
3) Write them all. Then pick the best one. Ooh. Time consuming. But at least I'll know.

No one ever said this was gonna be easy.

I'm working on it. It'll be out as soon as I can get it done--to my satisfaction. I want the story to be right!


Thanks for your patience, folks.

Okay, rant done. I'm going to go check up on Metana.

To Promote or Not to Promote

There is an issue that has been at the forefront of my mind for months now. It's an issue that is a hot topic among indie writers. Can you guess what it is? Can you?

Oh, right. It's in the title.

Promotion. Ads, giveaways, book-signings, interviews, reviews, rinse, repeat. Is it important? Is it necessary? I don't know. But to some authors, it seems that promotion is more important than production. I mean, they spend months or years producing the next great literary work, then when they publish it, they seem to forget that they're writers. They become marketers. They work constantly, obsessively at it, always trying to find that one great technique or method that'll guarantee bestseller status.

I would never argue that promoting is useless. We've all got to get word of our masterpieces out, we've got to let all the readers out there know that we have something they'll love. But it's too much. Too much stress.

Let's see, between my efforts to get as much writing as possible done, a full time job, spending time with my wife and kids, chores, errands, and time to, you know, eat, sleep and have the occasional shower, I don't have a whole lot of time left over to devote to promoting my books.

Yet, I'm doing all right. Thanks to all the fantastic folks out there, I'm doing all right. J.K. Rowling does not fear that I'll break her sales numbers any time soon but readers are finding my books, readers are reading my books and it seems that readers are enjoying my books (and, hopefully, they'll continue to do so for years to come).

Can promoting more (in my case, 'more' would be read as 'at all') help my sales? Maybe. But enough to warrant all the time that I could have used to continue writing the conclusion to Rites of Ascension? Or even the time that I could be wrestling with my son, or playing tea party with my daughter? I don't know. It has worked for some. The big names in indie publishing--John Locke, Amanda Hocking, J.A. Konrath--have certainly benefited from marketing. But for every story I hear of promoting making a real difference, there are fifty stories of authors who have promoted the living heck out of their work and they're struggling to find even a handful of readers.

There's one more thing to consider. I, too, am a consumer. But when I'm online, I don't look at ads. I just don't register them. They appear all over the place and I sail right on by. Assuming I'm normal (according to my lovely Cori, that's a shaky assumption but never mind that) then it seems plausible to extrapolate that many others don't stop what they're doing to read the ads either. So what's the point?

This will raise many eyebrows among the indie crowd--to many, marketing is as important, or more important, than writing. To those, I say, "Hey, it's a free country. Do what you like." I think what I'd like to do is write a few pages and then color a picture with my daughter.

Rites of Ascension II: Blood of War Now Available

It's out and on sale at Amazon.com for $2.99!

Rites of Ascension II: Blood of War

The Journey Continues.
After his foster father's brutal murder, Jurel Histane unleashed powers beyond his comprehension, perpetrating a bloodbath that left him horrified to the core of his soul.
That day, he discovered the truth.
He knows who he is, he knows what he is.
And now he is on the run, accompanied by his only friends: Kurin, a Salosian healer; Mikal, the commander of the Salosian army; and Gaven, once Jurel's enemy.
He is on the run from a relentless foe: the Soldiers of God, the military army of the Prelacy, intent on destroying him before the truth gets out.
He is on the run from himself, from the darkness lurking, from the awesome power that he desperately does not want.
But there can be no escape. He must either confront the forces rallying against him, or he must die. And if he dies, the world dies with him.
Yet, before he can face his enemy, he must face himself. He must come to terms with the terrible truth that has been hidden all his life beneath the facade of the simple farm boy he once was.

Rites of Ascension II: Blood of War

The wait is over! Rites of Ascension II: Blood of War is finished! Look for it in the Kindle store at Amazon.com by the beginning of next week!

Thanks for your patience. And an extra thanks to Kathleen Valentine at Valentine Design for another phenomenal cover!

Ever Seen a Grown Man Cry?

Yeah, so have I. You hit him with a line-drive in the right place and he's bound to weep a little. But that's not the point here.

So.

Tomorrow is September 2nd. The Friday before Labour Day. Long weekend. Last big summer weekend. After this weekend, it's back to business, back to the slog, back to school.

My daughter is going to school. Junior Kindergarten. She's four.

Seems weird that I'm so choked up about this whole thing. It's a fact of life, it's a part of growing up, it is what it is. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, every time I think about it, I end up all teary eyed and caught between a deep sense of sorrow and a nearly overwhelming pride.

So.

Tomorrow, before I go to work, I'm going to drive her to school. I'm going to help her out of her seat belt (which seems to be more appropriate for a race car driver or a fighter pilot). I'm going to give her a big hug, and a kiss on the forehead. I'm going to tell her how much I love her and how proud of her I am. And then I'm going to hope she turns away before I sniffle.

Then I'll go and find a quiet place to continue working on Rites of Ascension III (title yet pending).

By the way, Blood of War is done. The final draft is here, and I like it. All I'm waiting for is the cover art. I realize it's an afterthought here but I'm thinking about my little girl.

Sorry for the maudlin ramble.

Oh My Goodness How Time Flies!

Has it been almost a month? Really? Where have I been?

More precisely, how did a month go by so quickly?

All right, well of course I know the answer to that. Between upheavals at work, a family vacation that covered half the continent (By car. With a hyper-active four year old. And a seventeen month old that has a scream that physically hurts--I know this. I heard it often), and house-type stuff that couldn't wait any longer, I've been busy. Like wake-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn-and-don't-sit-down-until-I-collapsed-zombified-into-bed busy.

So, I apologize for the dearth of updates here. I hope things have settled enough that I'll have more time to devote to this, my budding career.

There is some good news and some bad news:
The good news is, work on Rites of Ascension II: Blood of War continues. It's really, seriously, truly almost ready to hit Amazon.
The bad news is it's not going as quickly as I'd hoped. It's coming, and it's not going to be much longer, but I still need to finish revising it one last time--and I'm about half way through. The story is fine. I just want to make sure I get the words and the tone right. I'm still hoping for the end of August. There's not that much left.

So, to recap:
1) I am, in fact, alive. Sorry about the lack of updates.
2) Life happens; I've been insanely busy.
3) Blood of War is almost done. Really.
4) Thanks for your patience.
5) I'll be talking to you soon!

Now, back to getting pounced on by a hyper-active four year old and a seventeen month old with a painful scream.