A good kind of busy

I have a lot of work to do. I was going to do a lot of it tonight. But my sister and her husband’s work schedules happened to overlap an hour or so, and I got recruited to babysit.

It’s worth putting off the work.

Still, I’ve got a column due tomorrow, I’ve got reviews I should have done, and I’ve gotta get more work done on The Light Man.

Also, because I’m a stupid, stupid person and a glutton for punishment, I’ve started a Tumblr account. I’m the sort of person who always wants to try out new gadgets, new technology, and new ways to communicate, but I’ve already got a couple of blogs, a Facebook account, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn… what was I going to use Tumblr for that I wasn’t doing already?

A few days ago, an idea occurred to me. I’ll use Tumblr for “story bursts.” A Story Burst can be many things: my thoughts about a character or property I don’t own, random idea chunks that I may or may not want to play with later or also pieces of art that I find inspirational, exciting, or just plain cool. Plus, I’m going to use it when I’m writing to post the occasional fun quote or line from my work-in-progress. If you don’t want to get a Tumblr, I don’t blame you. You won’t have to get one to see this. I’ve got it set up to automatically post anything from Tumblr to Twitter and Facebook. You follow me there, you’ll see what I post on Tumblr.

And if you’ve got a Tumblr of your own, I’d appreciate a follow. I’m new there.

Gentle reminder…

I’m still working on The Light Man. And it’s actually getting easier now that I’ve changed my opening gambit.

I’m still waiting on the cover for The Beginner. As soon as I have one, that book will be made available both as an eBook and as a print book, just like Other People’s Heroes.

OPH is extremely available. Check it out on Amazon.com, where you can get the eBook for just $2.99 or the print version for $15.99. If you’ve already got it, thanks, and please help spread the word by writing a review on whatever site you used to buy it.

And if you DO have either OPH or my Christmas anthology, A Long November, you can request an “autograph” for your eBook 100 percent free of charge. Just check out Kindlegraph.com!

Back to the starting line…

As I mentioned some time ago, my current writing project has been work on The Light Man, the sequel to my young adult novel Lost in Silver. But despite working on it for a few weeks now, I’ve been unable to squeeze my way past the first chapter, and as excited as I was for the story, I found myself getting bored with what I was writing. And as any writer can tell you, that’s deadly. If I’m bored, there’s no way in hell the audience is going to be excited.

So I looked at the story, tried to figure out what was wrong. What I decided is that I was spending too much time on recap. Sure, this is a sequel, but that doesn’t mean I should go through ten pages of everything that’s happened in the six months since the first book before I get to something — y’know — interesting. Last night I scrapped everything I had written and started over, but this time I started right at the inciting incident, right where the thing that kicks off the plot actually happens. It immediately felt better to me — faster, more exciting, and more interesting.

I can’t throw away that gap. I’ll have to mention it. But it doesn’t have to be the first thing, right? If I do this properly, I’m sure you guys will wait for me.

Every Way You Can Get OTHER PEOPLE’S HEROES

Well, friends, for the last few months I’ve been deluging the hell out of you with each new announcement about the myriad ways you could get your hands on my novel, Other People’s Heroes. I’m very happy to announce that, as of today, it’s available in every conceivable format a person can experience the original novel. I’ll have nothing new to announce for OPH until somebody backs a truck full of money up to my house to make a movie about it. So let’s review…

• If you’re old-school… if you prefer to get your books on paper, you can order the print version from Amazon’s Createspace. The print version will cost you $15.99, but it comes with my undying affection.
• If you’ve got an e-reader, you have several options. Those of you with an iPad or iPod, you can just turn on your device, cruise to the bookstore, and do a search for the title or my name.
• Owners of the Amazon Kindle can get the book in the Kindle bookstore.
• If you’re the proud owner of a Barnes and Noble Nook device, the book is available in your store.
• And if you have any other e-reader, you can click on over to Smashwords.com, download the book in your preferred format, and upload it to your device. Oh — and ALL of the e-reader versions, no matter your format, cost a measly $2.99. You’re paying more for that for coffee at Starbucks, people.
• And finally, let’s say that you like your books in audio format. Let’s say you’ve got a long commute and you like to listen to books on the road. Cool. As of July 13, OPH is available to you as well. Cruise to Podiobooks.com and subscribe to the audiobook version of OPH, read and produced by yours truly. Oh yeah — and the audiobook version? ABSOLUTELY FREE.

So that’s it, right? We’re done? You’re never gonna have to hear me pimp my books again?

Oh, friends. Don’t you know me better than that?

At the present, I’ve got not one, not two, but four fiction projects in various stages. So here’s what you can expect in the future, probably in the order that you’ll see them become available.

1. The Beginner, my second novel, is completely finished and edited and ready to go to eBook and print. The only thing I’m waiting on is new cover art. I’d really like to get that done before I go back to school, but that’s up to my graphic artist (a.k.a. my sister, Heather.)
2. Lost in Silver, my fantasy novel for young readers, has been sent off to beta readers for their thoughts and commentary. Once The Beginner is done, my publish-fu will be dedicated to getting that in shape to release.
3. 14 Days of Asphalt, the sequel to Other People’s Heroes, has been in the works for a long time. As of last night, I have finished work on the second draft. Once LIS has gone through the beta process, I’ll be asking for betas again to take a look at that one.
4. And finally, my new year’s resolution back in January was to write or revise one of my fiction projects every day. With 14 Days finished, I need something else to start working on today, because I’ve hit it every day so far. So today, friends, I begin work on a new project. It’s actually the sequel to Lost in Silver, the continuing adventures of Linda Watson and her friends, and the continuing exploration of the strange worlds of Evertime. I’ll give you the title to chew on: The Light Man.

Damn, I’m busy aren’t I?