I’d like to open by saying that I’m thankful to the voters of Bird Channel for voting Bubbles as the Bird of the Day for July 21, 2016. Thanks voters! Our whole “flock” is proud of Bubbles, and we’re overjoyed to have her in our home. You can check out her Bird Channel profile here.
July has progressed into an unexpectedly busy month. Not as bad as May and June, but definitely more than I expected. Despite that, I did get the revisions done on my writing as planned. Several people have been asking me about progress on The Earthside Trilogy and other works in progress. I actually had an interesting discussion with a coworker after my meeting at work yesterday that helped me get an idea of where to go from here with my works in progress. The thing that struck me the most was that he told me that he looks for new releases from his favorite authors about once a year. He said it’s easy to keep up with, and it also gives him time to check out their back catalog if he discovers a new writer he likes, or if he discovers that he missed a book by a favorite author. He said a year is just enough time to keep up with their writing without being overwhelmed by too much, or forgetting them because it took them too long to get a follow up book published.
I heard this from others, but having an avid reader verify it was helpful. You’re limited to publication timetables when you go through a publisher, but indie authors that self publish can do a lot to work with timeframes, and to release their books on a schedule that works for them and their readers. Of course, I pondered what this means for my current works in progress, and now I have a more definite answer for the “when is book 2 coming out?” question that’s been asked since Progenitor published in late April. Here’s an update on my writing:
Progenitor, Move, and Obsidian are on a $0.99 sale through July 31. This was at the urging of Smashwords, who has a huge sale on their website during the month of July. I figured I might as well put all three of my full-length published novels on the sale through all outlets (even Amazon). If you’ve been waiting for sale on these, go and get it now.
Metamorphosis, Book Two of The Earthside Trilogy is progressing well, and I believe it will be ready for publication next summer. I’m finally happy with this book, but I do want to go through it a few more times before releasing it. I made major changes to it in January, and I think it needs a few more drafts to tighten it up before going to the beta/proofreader. I anticipate doing that in the spring, and hope to have it out in the June-August 2017 timeframe.
Emergence, Book Three of The Earthside Trilogy is actually ahead of book two, since I made less intensive changes to it. It’s an awkward thing to have Book 3 ahead of Book 2, but alas, that’s where it’s at. I’m going to have to hold back on this one for a while to keep the timetable of releases right. I plan to complete this one next year, send it to the beta/proofreader in early 2018, and have a March –April 2018 release for it.
Joy on the Journey. I believe this long-deferred follow up to Battleground Earth – Living by Faith in a Pagan World has merit, and I want to pursue publication for it. The only problem is that it only has a little over 30,000 words, so it’s too short to be a full length book. I need to add at least 20,000 more words before it’s long enough to publish. I prayed and meditated on this book, and I feel that it’s a great project, but I’m not at a place to do it now. My head is still too much in science fiction, and I’ve had some random ideas for a possible mystery novel rattling around in my head recently. I also need to do more research, because I haven’t read much inspirational/non-fiction lately. I decided to shelve this project for now, so I can focus on getting The Earthside Trilogy completed and published, and to see where this mystery story idea is going. Non-fiction is a different kind of writing, and I need to focus exclusively on this project without being distracted by all of my other worlds. I’m disappointed because I want write this book, but I’m too immersed in fiction writing to do it to the best of my ability now. The work I’ve done is saved and I’m happy with it, so it’s there to build on when I’m ready to focus exclusively on non-fiction again.
Short stories. I wrote a couple of stories before I started on my revisions this month, but discovered that they aren’t “publishable.” I save them in case I want to use them as scenes or chapters for future fiction projects. I also queried a couple of my older stories last month, but I haven’t heard back on either of them yet. I’d like to do more in this area, so we’ll see if any ideas come that have enough merit to submit for publication.
So that’s where it’s at with my writing. I really would like for this mystery idea to pan out, but I also realize that the best ideas can’t be rushed and you have to give your subconscious time to develop it. Bits and pieces are coming, so we’ll see what comes together from it.
That’s all today. Take care. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow (I’m off work – yay!), and have a wonderful weekend.
Bye!
July has progressed into an unexpectedly busy month. Not as bad as May and June, but definitely more than I expected. Despite that, I did get the revisions done on my writing as planned. Several people have been asking me about progress on The Earthside Trilogy and other works in progress. I actually had an interesting discussion with a coworker after my meeting at work yesterday that helped me get an idea of where to go from here with my works in progress. The thing that struck me the most was that he told me that he looks for new releases from his favorite authors about once a year. He said it’s easy to keep up with, and it also gives him time to check out their back catalog if he discovers a new writer he likes, or if he discovers that he missed a book by a favorite author. He said a year is just enough time to keep up with their writing without being overwhelmed by too much, or forgetting them because it took them too long to get a follow up book published.
I heard this from others, but having an avid reader verify it was helpful. You’re limited to publication timetables when you go through a publisher, but indie authors that self publish can do a lot to work with timeframes, and to release their books on a schedule that works for them and their readers. Of course, I pondered what this means for my current works in progress, and now I have a more definite answer for the “when is book 2 coming out?” question that’s been asked since Progenitor published in late April. Here’s an update on my writing:
Progenitor, Move, and Obsidian are on a $0.99 sale through July 31. This was at the urging of Smashwords, who has a huge sale on their website during the month of July. I figured I might as well put all three of my full-length published novels on the sale through all outlets (even Amazon). If you’ve been waiting for sale on these, go and get it now.
Metamorphosis, Book Two of The Earthside Trilogy is progressing well, and I believe it will be ready for publication next summer. I’m finally happy with this book, but I do want to go through it a few more times before releasing it. I made major changes to it in January, and I think it needs a few more drafts to tighten it up before going to the beta/proofreader. I anticipate doing that in the spring, and hope to have it out in the June-August 2017 timeframe.
Emergence, Book Three of The Earthside Trilogy is actually ahead of book two, since I made less intensive changes to it. It’s an awkward thing to have Book 3 ahead of Book 2, but alas, that’s where it’s at. I’m going to have to hold back on this one for a while to keep the timetable of releases right. I plan to complete this one next year, send it to the beta/proofreader in early 2018, and have a March –April 2018 release for it.
Joy on the Journey. I believe this long-deferred follow up to Battleground Earth – Living by Faith in a Pagan World has merit, and I want to pursue publication for it. The only problem is that it only has a little over 30,000 words, so it’s too short to be a full length book. I need to add at least 20,000 more words before it’s long enough to publish. I prayed and meditated on this book, and I feel that it’s a great project, but I’m not at a place to do it now. My head is still too much in science fiction, and I’ve had some random ideas for a possible mystery novel rattling around in my head recently. I also need to do more research, because I haven’t read much inspirational/non-fiction lately. I decided to shelve this project for now, so I can focus on getting The Earthside Trilogy completed and published, and to see where this mystery story idea is going. Non-fiction is a different kind of writing, and I need to focus exclusively on this project without being distracted by all of my other worlds. I’m disappointed because I want write this book, but I’m too immersed in fiction writing to do it to the best of my ability now. The work I’ve done is saved and I’m happy with it, so it’s there to build on when I’m ready to focus exclusively on non-fiction again.
Short stories. I wrote a couple of stories before I started on my revisions this month, but discovered that they aren’t “publishable.” I save them in case I want to use them as scenes or chapters for future fiction projects. I also queried a couple of my older stories last month, but I haven’t heard back on either of them yet. I’d like to do more in this area, so we’ll see if any ideas come that have enough merit to submit for publication.
So that’s where it’s at with my writing. I really would like for this mystery idea to pan out, but I also realize that the best ideas can’t be rushed and you have to give your subconscious time to develop it. Bits and pieces are coming, so we’ll see what comes together from it.
That’s all today. Take care. Have a Happy Friday tomorrow (I’m off work – yay!), and have a wonderful weekend.
Bye!
RSS Feed