Earlier this week, I signed a two book contract with Raven Tale Publishing! Raven Tale is a relatively new imprint of Dusty Saddle, one of the leading Western fiction publishers working in ebooks today. They are currently working to expand their roster of horror/creature authors, and this lead to them to learning about me and my work.
Most of you know I publish the majority of my books through my own small press, but I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting opportunities to help my work reach new audiences. Raven Tale approached me and, after some negotiation, we’ve agreed to do two horror/creature books together!
Here’s what I can tell you about the books I’ve agreed to write at the moment:
Megabat Resort
A mystery author attempts to save his failing marriage by bringing his wife to a high-end Maldives resort that appeared in one of his novels. What he doesn’t know is that a rogue scientist is also staying at the resort and experimenting on the local fruit bat population. And, of course, those experiments go horribly wrong! When the dust settles, our author friend and the scientist are all that can stop the infected, bloodthirsty bats from leaving the island and taking over the world.
Tessie (Working title)
A recently widowed captain must take a group of rowdy teenagers and a grieving family out on Lake Tahoe, but the fishing hasn’t been good for months. Something has gorged itself on all the trout in the lake, and it just took a bite out of their boat! Now, the survivors are forced to band together until rescue crews arrive. But in the tense moments between attacks, emotions run high, and our crew must face the demons that lurk within themselves while fighting off a beast of myth and legend.
What does this mean for my other books?
Under the terms of the contract, I can continue to self-publish my other novels. I can also continue to work with other small presses like Primal Publishing. So Mars will still get her well-deserved revenge in Hivemind Godqueen, and Jason and Glock will soon return in The Mothman of Mt. Shasta!
Also, the publisher has clarified that I can include folklore/cryptid creatures from my books with them in my other novels, and vice-versa. The only stipulation is that their origins must be different. Similar to how the Sasquatch has different origins in the Godqueen Trilogy, The Opus, and in the Jason Long novels, I can write about them again for Raven Tale as long as it’s not the same Sasquatch. So someday, if enough people ask for it, Jason Long can still fight Tahoe Tessie or a giant bat.
Of course, this means that I will largely devote my free time to these books for the next few months, at least. However, I have some great updates regarding future releases that I’m going to share below!
What’s next?
There are two books I’m currently trying to finish for my small press. Those books are The Mothman of Mt. Shasta, and a horror/speculative short story collection. All I have to do is finish editing them, and covers for both books are now done and waiting patiently to be revealed!
Oh, and I haven’t forgotten about the next book in the Opus, which I finished earlier this year. But I’ve put that one on hold until I have all my ducks in a row, so to speak. But it’s coming, I promise. Just not as soon as I would like it to.
On top of those, Hivemind Godqueen is nearly complete. I think this last book is shaping up to be the best of the trilogy, though it has exploded in length beyond my expectations. Admittedly, I should have seen this coming given everything that needs to be wrapped up and everything our heroes need to do first. It’s possible that I’ll trim it down just a little, but this will absolutely be the longest novel in the series. As of this writing, the current draft is longer than the first two books in the trilogy combined, and it’s my second longest novel to date!
I’ve also begun working on short stories again outside of the horror and monster genre. I think that I’m going to try submitting them to magazines, which means it could be a while before any of these stories reach you. But I’ve wanted to see my name in the classic sci-fi publications (among other magazines) for a while, so I’ve now made that a personal and professional goal. If nothing else, I want to embrace the hustle of it. I want to follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite pulp authors, and the sci-fi space is one of the few remaining areas with good, widely available publications. But I’m also on the hunt for any good western magazines looking for stories. It’s been a favorite genre of mine for as long as I can remember, and after years of chipping away and plenty of false starts, I recently completed a western story that I love, and I mean LOVE. But, sadly, it appears to be too long for the current market, as far as I can tell. But if anyone knows any western publications looking for stories over 10,000 words, I’d love it if you could point me in the right direction!
In any case, I’m crossing my fingers that I can sell a story to one of the heavy-hitters within the next 5 years!
I think that’s all I’ve got for now! To be blunt, these last few months haven’t been great, but recently I’ve been feeling far better about myself and my work. Here’s hoping that things keep looking up, and that new readers can find my work thanks to Raven Tale!
Oh, and if you’re looking for some of my best monster/creature stories ahead of my books with Raven Tale, I’ve got a few recommendations!
Click here to check out the Jason Long novels! A disgraced LAPD cop turns cryptid hunter after accidentally bringing the first Sasquatch to science. And things only get crazier from there! Book 3, The Mothman of Mt. Shasta, will be out soon as well!
I’ve also got a weird western about an outlaw that finds and raises a baby T-Rex. It’s included in a collection of other monster stories. You can check that one out by clicking here.
Oh, and if you like your creature features with a touch of the bizarre and a few gut-punches, I’d recommend the Godqueen Trilogy. Those books follow the (sometimes unwilling) employees of a genetic engineering company that builds cryptids, prehistoric beasts, and creatures from classic fantasy novels from scratch. Click here to buy or learn more about the series.
I’d also love it if you checked out my latest release, Dear Departed Strangers, which is a ghost story set in my multi-genre Opus universe. DenCom, a secretive mega-corporation, binds a fictional universe through its appearances in thriller novels, cryptid books (coming soon), and now a ghost story featuring the CEO long before he was a part of the company.
And that’s it! Now, I’ve got to get back to work and get all these books done!
A pivotal year of my career will soon come to an end. But as I look back on the promises I made at the beginning of the year in my previous “2022 In Review, 2023 In Theory” blog post, I am left disappointed in myself. But that’s nothing new.
But I can take some comfort in the fact that I simply couldn’t have foreseen a great deal of what came to pass this year. I could have changed things. I could have handled some creative problems I encountered differently. But the past needs to stay in the past. So with this post, I fully intend to put 2023 behind me and focus on what I pray will be a busy and prosperous 2024.
But if I don’t remember the past, I am doomed to repeat it. And that’s what this post is about: Remembering our mistakes and, bizarrely enough, celebrating them. Learning is hard, and it only comes with failure. So, I treat each and every one of my mistakes with the reverence and respect they deserve. Each taught me a valuable lesson, and that can’t be ignored.
That said, I can not forget the good things that happened and the progress I made toward my goal of a lifetime author career in 2023. Although this can be hard for me, I need to celebrate the good and the bad things that happened in equal measure. If all I do is look back on my mistakes, I’ll feel like all I do is make mistakes. And the hardest part is that, while some dreams came crashing down, others flourished despite my creative and personal tribulations. I would not say the distribution was equal, but the seeds have been planted to tip the scales. I just have to keep my head on straight long enough to tend to those seeds and watch them flourish.
I am in a far better place mentally than I was even a couple months ago, and the creative work has begun again. So, let’s dive into what went wrong, what went right, and what we can expect from the future.
But this year, I will make only one promise. More on that later.
Anyway, let’s get into it.
Failures
Last year, I started the post with my accomplishments and saved failures for later in the article. This year, I want to end things on more positive terms. Plus, I enjoy getting the hardest part of anything I do out of the way first. So, with that in mind, let’s dive in.
I promised at the beginning of the year that I would try to publish six novels in 2023. As you can see, only one book made it into your hands. The reasons for this are two-fold:
One: Life just got away from me. I tried to make more happen than I could, and I crashed. I got a lot done, but not enough to make that ambitious goal happen. I was doomed from the start, and I’ve learned a great deal from this mistake. But, strangely, it was a blessing in disguise because…
Two: The Beast of Big Timber needed room to breathe. That little book did far better than I thought it would, and even early in the year I knew I had something special on my hands when pre-order numbers shot past any book I’d published before it. And, when it just kept doing better and better, I gave it some breathing room. That room gave me time to evaluate exactly what I did right and contemplate how I might repeat it. Plus, I knew that putting out a new book when my latest was getting all the attention might swing the almighty algorithms in a direction that would take readers’ eyes off Beast. That new book might be just as good, if not better, but as Jason Long would no-doubt say, “don’t leave fish to find fish.” As in, don’t put out a new book when the one you have is still doing very well. So I waited at first, and then I found myself in a position where I couldn’t write or edit a new book even if I wanted to.
But, all that said, I’ll give a brief update on some of those projects I announced in the previous post:
One of these novels I shelved indefinitely, that being The Anubis Contingency. That novel was part of a trilogy that I still love, but that I want to dedicate more significant research and world-building time to. So, for now, that whole trilogy is on the back burner.
Asher Bryant 2 is still in the works, and I would love it if I could pencil it in as my next project. But for the last year I’ve taken a step back from that sequel because, to be honest, the first book sold well but didn’t receive as many reviews as I had hoped. Feedback on that novel was minimal, which was surprising because a lot of readers picked it up. When the book finally got reviewed, though, the response was positive. The novel currently boasts a solid 5 stars on Amazon, but that’s only with 2 ratings. I really don’t know what happened here, and it’s made me nervous to continue the series when initial sales were good, but feedback has been slow. It makes me think something is wrong, and it could be a lot of things. It could be my marketing, the characters, the cover, the ending, and literally anything in-between. I just don’t know, so I’ve only chipped away at the second novel and shelved my original plan for writing 5 of them until I know for sure what readers like and don’t like about the series.
Feedback is so important to writers, and readers should never belittle how much good an honest review can do for a writer’s career, and for that reader’s future enjoyment should they return to that author’s work. Authors need to know what readers want, and if readers don’t tell them, all we can do is give it our best shot. Sometimes, that’s not enough. Without further input on the series from readers, I’m worried I was just “nose blind” after that year of writing the novel and couldn’t see my own flaws. When no one tells me anything, I can’t get better. Maybe the series is fine, but I just don’t know and want to give it more time before I write another book.
But I have written a new Asher Bryant Adventure. It’s just not a novel.
Early this year, I was asked to take part in the Desert Writers Guild’s 2023 anthology. The theme was History: Past and Future, and I could think of no one better than Asher Bryant to take on a short historical adventure out here in the desert. Plus, I’d been looking for an outlet to experiment more with him as a protagonist and see what I could improve, so I took the plunge. I got to work crafting a story about a lost Mohave artifact supposedly hidden in Wonder Valley, California that climaxes on a hill I hiked on and lived in the shadow of in 2020. Just as I was about to complete the story, I found out that I had been told the wrong guidelines for the collection. I swear I had originally been told the story needed to be under 5,000 words, which I was already struggling to achieve. But the limit was actually 1,500 words, if I recall correctly. So, I put that story aside, not sure if I’d ever return since there wasn’t an obvious outlet for it. But recently, Asher started calling out once again, so I completed Draft 1 of the story at nearly 9,000 words, which I feel serves the story better, as 5,000 words would have been far too short as it was. So, there is a new story I need to revise, during which time it will probably accordion into and out of the 10,000 word range repeatedly, but I don’t know what to do with it yet. Maybe I’ll publish it on its own, or pair it with the previously published Asher Bryant story The Golden Key and another story or two I could write, creating a collection.
Anyway, that’s what Asher is up to. We’ll see how things change and evolve as the year begins.
Last year, I also announced that I would write Swim 2. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you a lot about the plans for that novel as negotiations are ongoing. However, I can give a reason for the delay: Faryl, the co-author of the first novel, has taken an extended break from their creative life. Before they made this decision, we completed a thorough outline for Book 2 that I am thrilled with and a rough outline for book 3, but the future of the series remains unclear. They would like to see the book written and the series continue through, and possibly beyond, our 4 book plan. But negotiations on that front are ongoing. When I know more, I will pass any updates along just as soon as I can.
Lastly, the DenCom stories have flipped in publication order. The Benedict prequel will now come out first, and the DenCom cryptid spinoff will come later. Continuity wise, it changes nothing since the prequel takes place so far in the past and already had almost nothing to do with the cryptid story anyway, so no worries there. But neither story will be ready this year. The prequel could have been if I’d done my job, though. The editor came back with fantastic (and thorough) notes after their first pass, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get back to work until far later in the year. But now, it’s back with the editor for the final round, albeit a few months later than expected. We’ll talk more about the future of this book later in this post.
The books themselves aside, I feel like I’ve failed to connect with my audience this year. Social media has been a tough beast to tackle for me, but I’m doing what I can to get over it. That said, I still feel like I’m just screaming into the void sometimes with no hope of being heard beyond a few loyal followers the algorithm thinks deserve to see what I have to say. I appreciate everyone who follows my page, not just the high-engagement crowd, and I want to make sure everyone gets to see what I post regardless of how often they engage. And this is coming from someone who rarely engages with his favorite artists and is frequently punished by Facebook for this himself. No joke, my favorite band put out a new album this year, and I totally missed the news because I wasn’t liking their posts! I think liking the page should be enough to let these sites know you want to see someone’s content, but I guess I’m in the minority.
But all that said, I’ve tried to diversify how readers can find me and interact with me, but that also proved to be fraught with failures this year.
One such failure that may (or may not) be apparent is that Publisher’s Cluttered House, a podcast which I co-hosted, didn’t release an episode all year. This stems from the same issue that has held up production of Swim 2. My co-host (and co-author of Swim) is taking an extended break from their creative life, and that meant Publisher’s Cluttered House went on hold. This was particularly hard for me, as I really enjoyed hosting the show, but thankfully it’s not dead.
Just like with Swim 2, Faryl wants to see the show continue, and so do I. But they are not interested in staying on for the time being, and officially left the show earlier this year, leaving the podcast firmly in my hands. However, I’m not confident in my abilities as a lone host, and while I might experiment with that option in the coming months, I’m currently on the hunt for a co-host. Maybe more than one if the chemistry is there in practice recordings. So, if you are a creator that knows me (or doesn’t) shoot me a DM and maybe we can schedule a call or a “pilot” episode to see how things go.
Once I know the future of the show is solid, I’ll update everyone once we’ve decided on a release model.
Another failure, which admittedly fits in more with connecting with fellow authors rather than readers, was that I had to cancel my trip to 20BooksVegas at the last minute. For those that don’t know, 20BooksVegas is one of if not the largest self-publishing conferences in the USA. I’m lumping this in here because, as I’ve said before, I’m not confident in my ability to communicate with readers. I was looking forward to learning a great deal about the industry and new ways I could reach new and current readers alike. Sadly, a few days before, I found out my house sitter wouldn’t be able to make it, and with only days to find someone else to watch my animals here in the desert, I knew it was a lost cause. However, I’m told there will be a new convention in 2024, and I will see if I can’t make it this year depending on how things go.
And I guess the last semi-failure of the year was YouTube. I preface it with “semi” because I didn’t really try to be active on that platform on purpose. I love making YouTube videos, but they’re just to time consuming. I’d like to give it another shot in 2024, but uploads will probably be sparse, and that’s if I post anything at all. But I do plan on doing a release party/livestream for whatever my 10th book happens to be. I just don’t know if it’ll be on YouTube. But if it goes well, maybe we’ll make it a tradition.
And that is all the failures I can recall at the moment. But now that I’m good and depressed, it should make the next section of this post far more enjoyable.
Let’s dive in.
Accomplishments
The Beast of Big Timber killed it this year.
More eyes are on my work than ever before. New readers are finding my work thanks to Beast, and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s done. And now that the amazing audiobook hit shelves, listeners are loving the book just as much as readers are! This has been the little book that could, and it’s done so well that…
The Batsquatch of Yellowstone, the sequel to The Beast of Big Timber, is almost done! This is the first thing I’ve written almost entirely after my creative funk, and I think it’s a worthy follow-up that readers will love! My plan was to get it to Alpha and Beta readers before Christmas, but I decided to hold off on that until the new year since everyone is so busy right now. This book will probably come out after the DenCom prequel novella, but it could always snag that 10th slot. We’ll just have to wait and see on that one.
Speaking of which, that DenCom novella (almost novel length now) is due back from the editor in January. I really think readers will love what I’ve done here. It’s my first time telling a first-person story in The Opus, and I could think of no better character to attempt in first-person than Benedict. This first story about his past takes us to a haunted house on the beaches of northern California during a pivotal point in Benedict’s life. It’s an emotional journey that finally gives fans more of the supernatural side of DenCom they have been craving.
And, speaking of more DenCom, we’re finally getting that Hail to the King audiobook! Keegan Reese, who narrated The Beast of Big Timber, has signed on to narrate Hail. I approved the first 15 minutes a few weeks ago and I couldn’t be happier! We’re hoping to have it ready sometime in the summer of 2024!
On the anthology front, I appeared in 2 new collections, one of which I had the honor of organizing.
In Conclusion was the third and final in a series I worked on with the Write Stuff Authors Group of Canton, Ohio. The theme this time around was one I am still proud of: Write from your deathbed. If you were dying, what would be the last thing you ever wrote?
We presented the concept long before Covid, but the pandemic lead to some truly moving and raw submissions that were left largely un-edited on purpose. Sadly, I will admit that everything that happened this year, coupled with communications issues with the group that I’m now 2000+ miles removed from, lead to a far more time-consuming and frustrating venture than I was ready to take on at the time. Had I known what was coming, I never would have taken this on, and doubt I will again anytime soon. But, with this already being planned as the final anthology in the series, I did all I could to get it out, and while I failed many times along the way, I am still proud of the collection.
Mr. Ridding, We Collapse is a loosely DenCom-adjacent story I wrote that was published within In Conclusion. I wanted to tell a story about how I would feel if I could never finish The Opus. I then paired that concept with my thoughts and reflections on something that is often overlooked about Covid: the friendships and connections that it, and our opinions of it, took from us. The collection is print exclusive, but I do plan to re-publish my story later, as all authors kept immediate re-print rights. Where it will go, I do not know yet. But I do plan on making it more widely available, perhaps in a collection of DenCom stories later on. It could also possibly appear in an upcoming horror collection, but I’m not sold on that idea yet. We’ll see what feels right at the time.
Shortly after In Conclusion came out, the Desert Writers Guild released History: Past and Future, which my story The Hangman’s Tears appears within. As you read earlier in this post, I originally started an Asher Bryant story for this collection, but when I learned the true word limit, it forced me to change my plans. Luckily, I once again found inspiration in the desert.
Early this year, our car broke down in Las Vegas while we were in town for a wedding. Since we had no way home and a hotel was out of the question since we had dogs waiting for us (we lived close to Vegas, but not Uber close (trust me, we tried)), we rented a car and drove back. However, over the course of the following two weeks, we had to make two additional trips to Vegas, and during each visit we’d stop at the Kelso Depot, an old train-station turned visitors’ center for the Mojave Preserve. It was between some of these trips that I wanted to learn more about the building. It wasn’t long before its haunted past came up and I started reading about the supposed “ghost zombie” that haunts the halls. After some additional research, I knew I had to write about it, and the resulting story made it into the anthology.
The Hangman’s Tears is currently available in paperback form within the Desert Writers Guild’s 2023 anthology listed above, but I will republish it in time. There are 2 collections I’m currently preparing that it could appear in.
And, for my final accomplishment of the year, I made my first public appearance since Covid-19!
As a member of the Desert Writers Guild, they invited me to join them and sell my books at the 29 Palms Book Festival. It went incredibly well, better than any first show I’ve had the honor of attending before! And, to top it off, I shockingly made the cover of the local paper’s article talking about the event! I joked that it was the first time I’ve been in the newspaper without “Wanted: Dead or Alive” written under my name, but I was truly shocked and honored that it happened. Fun fact: I didn’t even know about it until my grandparents called to tell me they got the paper that morning and saw my face in it!
Oh, and I almost forgot: I also made a guest appearance on the Atomic Shaman Sweatlodge podcast! Although I could tell my podcast skills were a little rusty (and that’s assuming I ever had any) I had a great time and I hope that I can join them again someday. And Keegan Reese, the narrator of The Beast of Big Timber and the upcoming Hail to the King audiobook, also was a guest pretty recently, so go check both episodes out if you haven’t already!
And that’s all that’s coming to mind right now. I can’t thank everyone enough for supporting me this year!
Now, let’s dive into our last topic of the post…
What’s Next?
Since Christmas just came and went, I’ll start off by saying I’m trying to figure out how to release the DenCom Christmas story I’ve worked on for a few years.
For those that don’t know, I spent roughly six Christmas seasons chipping away at a fun, non-cannon story about Benedict visiting Michael and Aron for Christmas. He gets into some corny Hallmark-movie style fun along the way, and Santa Claus even shows up!
Not really…
Maybe.
But a year or two back, that tradition came to an end with the completion of the one and only DenCom Christmas story, tentatively titled A DenCom Christmas.
Or so I thought…
This year, some of our friends at DenCom started calling out, and I took time out of Christmas Eve to write two more short DenCom Christmas stories. One centers around Michael Ridding stopping a terrorist attack in Palm Springs and is appropriately titled Michael Ridding Saves Christmas, while the other is a currently untitled story about the DenCom Knights being sent off on a special Christmas Eve mission. And there’s still one more story about the cryptid hunters in the upcoming spinoff novel I want to write, but it’s hard finding anything Christmas related that could be considered a cryptid that isn’t copyrighted. Once I figure out what that cryptid story will be, I think I’ll compile all of them into a collection.
However, I wanted to figure out a way to sell it with all the proceeds going directly to charity. I’m currently still searching for a platform that has this option built-in. Sure, I could list it on Amazon and send the funds myself like some authors do, but I would rather the money just go directly where it needs to go. Plus, Amazon takes a while to pay out, so I’d rather find an alternative that would avoid lengthy processing times. Oh, and Amazon would likely take a large cut of the earnings. I know there will always be processing fees to contend with, but I want to be sure I can donate as much of the proceeds as possible, and I’m not convinced working with Amazon is the way to go here. But I doubt they’ll make all these changes anytime soon, if ever, so I’m still looking for the right platform. And once I know that platform exists, I’ll start revising the stories and see if I can publish them the following Christmas!
But in the more immediate future, The DenCom prequel story about Benedict will probably come next, then The Batsquatch of Yellowstone. The cover for the prequel still needs work, but I did receive the final version of the Batsquatch cover recently. It honestly blew me away. A.A. Medina, the designer, went above and beyond to make this cover pop right off the screen! Keep your eyes pealed for that reveal sometime following the launch of the Benedict prequel novella. Unless Batsquatch gets bumped up, of course.
After those two, I think it’ll either be that horror short story collection, or a standalone creature-feature I’ve been working on. But I’ve been toying with sending the latter off to a publisher. I have 2 publishers in mind it could work for, and I’d like more of my work to reach small presses so that I don’t keep all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. But if need be, I have a cover ready, so I might just put it out myself and try to submit a different book if this one isn’t what they are looking for.
Admittedly, the DenCom cryptid story could be next after the prequel novella or Batsquatch. I completed work on it and plan to send it to the editor right after they’re finished with the Benedict novella, but the cryptid story is quite a bit longer than my typical novel and will likely require far more time to edit.
There’s also a chance I could finish the final novel in the Godqueen Trilogy and publish that, since Primal Publishing has officially asked me to write it. But they haven’t given me a deadline. Primal Publishing is really laid back, which is the reason I really like working with them. So it’ll get done when it’s ready. But that said, I’d like to get the bulk of the work on that finale done this year so I can be sure I’m putting a bow on it before readers forget what the first two books were about (lol).
But I’m not promising that any of those books will come out next year. Yes, the DenCom prequel should be ready. So should the Batsquatch book. But I’d like to think I’ve finally learned my lesson about making promises. I can have all my ducks in a row, but that’s not enough anymore. It never was.
So, here’s what I’m promising:
More books.
Sometime.
Someday.
Maybe this year, maybe not.
But there will be more books unless I drop dead first. I just don’t know when anymore, and I don’t want to say when I think they’ll come out because that’s almost always doomed the book to being late, or just getting shelved all together.
So, that’s what we’re looking at as far as new books are concerned.
When it comes to previous releases, there’s going to be some re-branding taking place. I recently had the cover of Siron re-done and it’s gained some visibility from this change, so I plan to rebrand Michael Ridding and Hail to the King next. This is partially out of desperation, since I lost the original files I need to create the new audiobook cover for Hail, and I’ve tried to use the old style for the Cryptid book and the Benedict novella to no avail, so I’m changing things up.
I’d also like to dive into some more short stories this year. I’ve got a cover secured for that new horror collection, and a few of the stories are ready. The title story still needs to be finished, but I’m only a few days of hard work away from completing it, and I’m thrilled with what’s on the page so far. I think it’ll be a fun addition to my backlist.
I also have another monster-themed collection in the works that will (hopefully) include a sequel to the first Sheriff Riker story, T-REX. There are actually two stories about him that I want to write, but I don’t know which one would be the better first choice. But a few other monster stories are almost ready to publish alongside it. I just need to decide which novella will act as the tent-pole for that particular circus.
Stand-alone stories in other anthologies and magazines are always a possibility. However, I like to keep my re-print rights, and that’s not always an option. I don’t mind signing away exclusivity rights for a few years, but I eventually want the story to fall back under my control.
Otherwise, I look forward to what my creative future has in store.
Conclusions
A promise made is a promise broken. I’m tired of making promises to people I can’t keep, and vice versa. But I can only keep up my end of it, should I offer to in the first place. So, in the end, 2023 was the year I learned to be honest. I hope.
There are just some things I can’t do, and I know that now.
So, for now, I’m going with the flow. Books will come when they’re ready, and when it makes sense to publish them. I’ll continue to fight to expand the books I already have into new markets like audiobooks and physical bookstores, but I won’t let it dominate the time I have to create. I will do all I can to use my time wisely, and I will fail. But maybe along the way I’ll do something that makes every failure feel like a footnote.
Anyway, 2023 was a year. But it’s unfortunately, and thankfully, almost over. Good and bad are a seamless continuum, and I expect nothing more and nothing less out of 2024. I’ll see you there.
Recently, Prehistoric Magazine, the publication that spawned Primal Publishing, published an interview with me in their December 2022 issue. With their consent, I’ve reposted the interview in full below for those who did not get a chance to read the interview when it appeared.
Q: What kinds of creatures will we be seeing in this book?
A: Given the arctic setting, the book largely focuses on ice-age creatures. We do get our fair share of dinosaurs and mythical beasts as well. Our villain pulls out all the stops, sending everything he can at our main characters. From T-Rex to orcs and everything in between, there’s quite a menagerie on display.
Q:How have you upped the ante from Island to Tundra?
A: This time around, we kick things off with a massive reveal that I won’t spoil here, but I’ll give you the basics: A major character who died in Island of Legends isn’t dead! From there, the story is propelled forward after our main character’s infant son is kidnapped.
I wanted to tell a story that asks the question “How far is too far?”, even for the sake of saving your child. How much of you is left after you’ve given all of yourself to the fight? Questions like this drove the plot forward for me and continue to drive me forward as I work on the third book.
Q: What role do creatures play in your fiction?
A: With few exceptions, creatures can serve two roles in my fiction: First and foremost, creatures are a narrative device that drives the characters forward, forcing them to confront parts of the world and themselves they fear. Secondly, the creature itself must be a character, facing the same trials and tribulations as the human characters in its own way. It may be subtle in the best of cases, but the creature needs to be a character, and not a secondary character at that. Too many times, the monster gets top billing while the human characters end up stealing the show. Both need to be treated with equal respect when balancing the narrative flow, even if the creature is just there to fight the main character once to move the plot ahead. Even if it’s just there for a chapter, it can’t be window dressing. It needs to have a purpose and a voice in its own way.
Q:What are your favorite kinds of creatures to use?
A: I’m going to be selfish here and say Kaiju first and foremost, even though they don’t play a huge role in this story. I mainly wanted to stick to small-scale creatures in this novel that would help me build the foundation of the third entry in the trilogy, and possibly a sequel series if there’s enough demand. So, I stuck with some of my favorites: dinosaurs, ice-age beasts, and genetic monstrosities made in the likeness of famous fantasy and sci-fi creatures. All have their place in this story, even if it’s just to let you know they exist and plant seeds for more novels.
Q: This series is a departure from the usual Jurassic Park-style thriller, and it takes quite a few risks, both in content and in choice of creatures. In what ways do you feel this helps the series?
A: In the first book, I had a line of marketing that still holds true: “Island of Legends takes the work of Michael Crichton to a whole new level. Dinosaurs aren’t enough for Xmortem, and they aren’t enough for S.T. Hoover!” I always try and take the genre I’m writing in to cool and interesting places, and sometimes, that leads me to push the limits of what’s considered acceptable. Don’t get me wrong, I love the books that color inside the lines, so to speak, but that’s just not the creator I am. I can color within the lines and create a fun story, but why not doodle some cool stuff on the sidelines as well? It may not be better than the foundation of what these thrillers tend to present, but it adds interest and intrigue that my readers enjoy.
Q: Without going into too much detail, describe Mars as a protagonist. What makes readers want to root for her?
A: Everyone loves a mother trying to save her child, but I wanted Mars to be so much more than that. I wanted her to be likeable in her own right, as well as driven by more than just the desire to save her son. I wanted her to feel betrayed, abandoned, and above all else, limitless. I don’t like characters who say, “I can’t do that,” be they female or male. Even if they fail, they need to get back up again with that same attitude that got them so far already. It doesn’t always work out that way, but that just makes Mars an even more real character in my eyes. In addition, I also wanted to give her some flaws, both physical and mental. I can’t say much more about that without getting into spoilers, but suffice to say that in this book, Mars will have all her strengths put to the test.
Q:You write a wide variety of fiction, from the mysterious DenCom Thriller series to the ambitious Asher Bryant Adventure series to experimental standalones like Siron. How have you integrated the experience from writing these different genres into making the Godqueen Trilogy as unique as it is?
A: In a lot of ways, the Godqueen Trilogy is a sandbox for me. I wanted to create a universe where anything goes, so far as creatures were concerned. I could bring in anything and everything I wanted, no matter where the creatures came from. The creatures I could feature in DenCom are limited due to the in-universe “magic system”—if it can even be called that—and Siron, while fun, was a standalone with limited sequel potential, if any. And Asher was a direct response to those few limitations the DenCom universe has.
I love being able to cut loose and not having to worry about any in-universe limitations governing the MacGuffin or monster of the story. And in Godqueen, I wanted to expand on that by creating a situation where any creature imaginable could be brought into existence. Mythical, supernatural, or extinct, it could be reconstructed in flesh and blood, and that got the creative juices flowing like never before. Literally any creature could show up, any monster could appear and serve a purpose in this series, where in my other series’ universes that are much narrower, crossing the streams—so to speak—could lead to a confused and even disgruntled reader base.
From the get-go, the existence of any creature is possible in the Godqueen Trilogy, and that’s why I love it so much!
START READING!
Mars Spencer escaped the Island of Legends with barely a moment to spare. Now, she’s in a race against time through a valley full of unimaginable monsters. But nothing short of extinction will keep this mother from her son…
Mars Spencer must help save an island of genetically engineered creatures of myth, legend, and the prehistoric past. Can she save them all, or will Mars and her team end up as just another meal for the insatiable monsters?
That’s about all I thought I’d have to say, but obviously, since this post is up, I’ve got a lot more to reflect on. So, let’s dive in together and talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of 2022!
Accomplishments:
Three books with my name on them hit shelves in 2022, only one short of my original goal.
Early in the year, we released T-REX, a short story collection that featured several previously published stories that appeared in Prehistoric Magazine, as well as one brand-new story and the title novella, T-REX itself. All in all, the book did very well, and I’m currently plotting a direct sequel that I’ll pair with more monster stories. This sequel collection will be an “emergency button” book, which is a book I’ll write to cover a release window that I haven’t filled. Having a novel or two like this in my back pocket will help if things get in the way of releasing a new, full-length novel. I’ve seen a few authors try this now, and it’s an idea that I feel I should integrate into my writing routine; chipping away at a minor project like this every day can act as a fun palate-cleanser, so I’m looking forward to diving in!
As most of you know by now, 10,000 Treasures was delayed in the editorial phase by circumstances far outside the editor’s control. This meant that my original plan for quarterly releases in 2022 had to go out the window.
There were positives and negatives to this, one of the former being that I now have a book that rolled over into 2023, meaning this coming year can (hopefully) have a far denser release schedule than 2022 did. Another positive is that, instead of releasing a new book, we were able to put some of that effort marketing-wise into a rebranding of Island of Legends. While the novel launched with a working blurb and cover, after some time, both the publisher and I felt that neither fit the story and tone of the novel. The cover in particular needed work because too many people told me they thought it was a book for younger readers. Since I would rate the book a soft “R” for violence, gore, brief nudity and language, it just didn’t fit. So we’ve tried a new cover I’ve designed, and from what I’ve heard so far, people think we made the right choice.
Eventually, 10,000 Treasures did come out, and it has rapidly risen through the ranks, sales-wise. By my standards, sales justify a sequel, and my tentative plan is to bring the series to five novels before deciding if I want to keep actively developing this series. What do I mean by that? Simply put, I’m going to write five books in the ongoing series over the course of three to five years and, so long as the series is selling, I’ll keep writing more on the same schedule. If it’s not, I’ll take a break and let readers find the novels over time.
Lastly, an accomplishment that came in near the end of the year, and as of this writing hasn’t happened yet but is all but set in stone: Tundra of Terror will be released on the last day of the year, December 31st! I’m thrilled with how this second volume in the series turned out, and I think readers of Island are in for a different yet fun adventure in the same spirit as the original!
Now, onto the less happy stuff…
Failures:
It’s always difficult to deal with setbacks, but some things are just out of your control. I learned that the hard way a few times this year, and I hope that by sharing what I did wrong and what didn’t work with fellow authors and readers, it can help others avoid similar mistakes in the future.
Firstly, T-REX. The book itself is good, but we had a debacle early on regarding the cover where Amazon wanted us to prove we owned the rights (there is an entire PCH episode about this, and it remains one of our most popular to this day). Of course, they said this on Thanksgiving of 2021, and they gave us 48 hours to either come up with the “proof of ownership” or submit a new cover. If we did neither, they could have terminated our account.
Yes, 2021 is technically last year, but since it bleeds into issues we had in 2022, it’s worth it to bring it up for the sake of clarity.
Anyway, we could not do this in 48 hours, since everyone we needed to contact for the info was busy with the holiday, so I had to throw together a new cover. While I love the new cover, I still feel the old one fit the novel well, and I have not forgotten what Amazon did.
This led to my second failure of the year: Going wide.
When Amazon threatened to terminate my account over such a minor issue, I started seeing warning signs. I’d largely kept all of Project 89’s eggs in one basket up until that point, and when I saw how quickly my income could vanish over a minor issue, I decided that we needed to go wide and have our books in more stores than just Amazon.
This, in many ways, looked to be the perfect answer, and it may still be. So, we gathered our books that weren’t doing well in Kindle Unlimited, and we took them wide to other retailers.
So far, sales have been abysmal.
I want to keep the books wide, but with several of our books still doing well in KU, as well as new novels coming out in series that might do better with exclusivity, the coming year will mean we have to make some tough calls about my short-term future on various platforms.
Another failure was YouTube. I’ll be blunt: I love Youtube, and I love making videos. But the time it took me to make a video, even a simple one, was time I should have been writing words that could have come out in 2022. While I’m not done with Youtube, I’m planning on taking a break until I can justify the time and maybe hiring an editor.
A similar failure was blogging. I know, ironic, since you’re reading a blog post, but so far, I’ve just not seen enough interest in the blog to justify regular posts. I’ll reassess this next year, but for now, I’ll only publish the occasional post.
Lastly, Publisher’s Cluttered House floundered this year. We didn’t come into the year with a solid plan for this show, and it suffered for that. We’ve had some high and low points this year, but all in all, I just don’t think we were on our A-game. So, we’ll be reevaluating our plan and announcing it in an upcoming episode. But, as of now, it looks like we’ll be moving into monthly uploads themed around our publication plan for the year, with author interviews sprinkled in as bonus episodes.
So, that is the bulk of 2022.
The year had its ups and downs, but we’re looking toward a brighter future!
As of this writing, here is what we expect to do in 2023:
Six Books.
For years, I’ve been told by very successful authors that a consistent release every two or three months can lead to a profitable career. In 2022, I tried and failed to make one book a quarter happen. But the difference is that, unlike in years previous, I did the work. But when one of my editors had to take time off for health reasons, and my publisher of the Godqueen Trilogy decided to push our release back a few times, it meant that plan couldn’t go forward.
But it also meant that a good portion of work had already been done.
Here’s where we’re at right now:
I’ve divided my work into three batches for the year. The first batch containing The Beast of Big Timber and the next novel in the Opus are in the final stages. Beast is being proofread before being sent to beta readers, and the next Opus novel is being line-edited.
The second batch, containing the second Asher Bryant book and The Anubis Contingency, is my current project. I enjoy writing multiple books at once, and since one is in third person and the other is in first person, it’s easy to tell the difference between the two for me. Both are progressing well, and I plan to have drafts of both novels on the ground in January with editing over February and March.
The third batch is a little tricky, I’ll say that from the outset. Three books will make up this group, one being an Opus novella about Benedict’s college-age ghost hunting experience with a former girlfriend. That novella has been done for some time, but I’ll be putting it through a final edit later this year.
The two new novels will be Swim 2 and the final book in the Godqueen Trilogy, Hivemind Godqueen. Both are being outlined, and I plan to start writing both by April or May.
I am purposely planning Hivemind to be released in 2024 so that I remain in total control of the 2023 schedule, but if Tundra of Terror does well, I will happily move Hivemind up in the schedule and get that book in the publisher’s hands. If this happens, our bi-monthly release plan may go out the window, but it will be sacrificed for a worthy cause. It’s all up to the readers and the publisher at this point, but as of now, here’s the release schedule I’m planning on:
Beast of Big Timber: February 2023
DenCom Cryptid Spin-off (The Opus, Volume 3): April 2023
The Anubis Contingency: June 2023
Asher Bryant 2: August 2023
DenCom Benedict Novella (The Opus, Volume 4): October 2023
Swim 2: December 2023
As far as what else I’ll be writing this year, I’ve got a rough plan that includes Asher Bryant 3 and the sequel to The Anubis Contingency. My guess is that it will be the fourth batch of the year if I have time. The fifth is undecided, but my options are plentiful! I could finish the first Opus novel about the DenCom Knights, I could write the third Anubis book or the fourth Asher Bryant. Or, I could get around to one of those standalones I’ve been meaning to. Hell, if Beast of Big Timber performs, I’d love to write some more short novellas in that universe.
We’ll see what makes sense as the year plays out.
Yes, this could all fall apart tomorrow.
Yes, this is crazy. But I’m finally seeing real potential for a rapid schedule like this to come together. When Beast got pushed into 2023, I knew I had an opportunity to see if what so many successful authors have done before me will work for my career. I’m always creating, and for many years, I tried to slow myself down to one, maybe two books a year because that’s what I could afford to publish.
That’s not the case anymore.
There’s a very real chance this could all work out. By April, I could have ten books under my belt and many more nearing completion. I can finally put all the words out there that I ever wanted to. I can finally meet my potential, or at least what I think my potential is. I could learn a very hard lesson this year, but I’ve failed before and I will fail again. And every time I get back up, I get stronger.
So, pass or fail, this is the plan.
There are only two things separating those who succeed in this line of work and those who do not: mindset and dedication. Not giving up is half the battle, and knowing how to handle success and failure makes all the difference. I’ve learned a lot since publishing my first novel, and some of those lessons were devastating. 2023 could be another devastating lesson, but it’s one I’m game for if you are!
Conclusions:
My plan feels solid, but it will begin with not doing anything at all. I’m taking the next couple weeks slow to focus on writing the first act of DenCom 4, as well as catching up on movies and TV shows I put aside earlier this year. If you have any recommendations, please let me know! Streaming works for me, but I might also be able to get a DVD of something obscure from the library, so don’t hesitate to make suggestions!
Starting in January, I’ll resume work on The Anubis Contingency and the second Asher Bryant novel. Both are novels I absolutely love and have been trying to write for some time, and it will feel good to get both ideas out of my head.
Everything else is going on the backburner. Youtube, the blog, and, as always, my mail list will be restricted to just the most necessary news regarding my releases, as well as relevant deals, but only when justifiable.
Social media will be up and down. I’ll be on when I can, but I’m more concerned with writing good books than ever and I hope my readers understand that.
All in all, I’m happy with 2022, even with its failures. I’ve learned a lot that I can bring with me into 2023, and it should help make 2023 an amazing year for my writing and readers. There’s never been a more exciting time to be a fan of my work, so if you haven’t already, consider picking up one of my books! You might just find something on sale if you look soon!
And that’s what I’ve got!
Thanks for reading this far! I know this was a long post, but it was one I needed to write. Thanks for sticking with me!
I hope you enjoyed the read, and don’t forget to follow me online to keep up to date with all the latest goings-on, or sign up to my newsletter for automatic updates sent straight to your inbox!
