It’s really hard to believe that my first book was published back in 2009. Over a decade ago this publishing journey begin, and finally I am getting all of my books back on the market. Happy holidays! And, yes, soon to be merry Christmas as well. Let’s talk about fantasy writing during this season of family, generosity, and kindness.
Although progress has been slow this last month my second novel will soon be re-published. The new title is Dragon Offspring and so far it has expanded by an astounding 20,000 words. Much of the story is exactly the same as it was before, with small alterations that greatly enhance the characterization and dialogue. I cannot wait to publish this for you guys! At last the original artwork will be used just as I had originally intended.
In addition to this, you may have seen my announcement that I now have a dedicated home office. I have set up audio recording equipment and started audiobook recordings. My time is so limited and I am trying to manage that better, but my first project is an audiobook of Neverqueen. Some of you might be wondering why I didn’t start with Swords of the Six, but that’s because that is such a large novel and I want to make sure that I get my audio feet wet on a smaller, more manageable project.
There has been much to celebrate this year! Including the publication of the extended edition of my first novel. For the first time I am seeing real growth in my ebook market, which is really exciting. That format of my books has always lagged far behind my paperback sales and I know there is a huge fantasy ebook readership that has yet to be introduced to The Sword Of The Dragon series.
The past four months of this year has been filled with selling our old house and moving into the new one. That slowed down my writing and publishing considerably but has set me up for success in 2020.
My favorite writing tool this year has been my Surface Go. I used it extensively in the rewrite of Swords of the Six, and am employing it with equal effectiveness to Dragon Offspring. It is such a basic little machine but incredibly portable. My only complaint about it has been that it is significantly less efficient where battery power is concerned. I am only getting a few hours of writing in with the keyboard attached before the battery needs to recharge. The solution has been to always keep my charger handy!
I want to thank all of you for your patience as I republish the material that was originally available with the traditional publishing house in Tennessee. This has been a long journey but with every step I have learned what didn’t work and determined what works best to deliver you stories that will inspire our lives.
The best fantasy stories encourage us to be better people than we are now. We need heroes to whom we can aspire, not heroes who we see as more flawed than ourselves. We want to expect a higher standard from ourselves and from others.
Thank you for being a part of this journey!
Wow, sounds like you’ve been busy! I’m glad there was a lot to celebrate. 😉 Keep up the great work, my friend, and may God bless your writing in 2020. 🙂