Overdue Update

Star sez, “Ai can’t b bovvered.”

How long has it been since I’ve posted here? I honestly don’t remember. Sorry about that.

This past month or so has been somewhat busy and rather strange. I’m currently in the tail end of my 1st, and hopefully only bout of COVID. I thought it was a head cold, but the test was positive. Never had a fever or chest congestion, at least. It cropped up less than a week after I got my second booster, so I know the shot hadn’t had adequate time to reach full effect.

Meanwhile, I’ve finished the editing on Silent Fathoms: Waves of Darkness book 3 (2nd edition). I’ve started putting it into the various formats required by the different platforms I publish/distribute the series through. I am determined to be waiting for the publication date rather than scrambling to meet it.

I plan to add text to the artwork for the cover of this month’s episode of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe. I will be uploading it to KDP next Monday night or Tuesday morning.

I’ve also gotten back to writing today, after a couple months’ hiatus. I’m finishing up the 1st draft of episode 41, which will have season 4 halfway complete. Once I finish the season (if not before) I plan to start plotting the 9th Waves of Darkness book (book 8 is already drafted and through the 1st round of edits).

I’m trying to stay on top of things. I still hope to start a new (for branding purposes) Youtube channel for my publishing. I still need to contact more reviewers.

Oh, and I just got my 1st royalty payment from Audible. It’s not huge, but I hope to remedy that in the future. I’d really like to be able to justify putting the entire series into audio.

That’s all for now.

Overdue Update

Star sez, “Ai can’t b bovvered.”

How long has it been since I’ve posted here? I honestly don’t remember. Sorry about that.

This past month or so has been somewhat busy and rather strange. I’m currently in the tail end of my 1st, and hopefully only bout of COVID. I thought it was a head cold, but the test was positive. Never had a fever or chest congestion, at least. It cropped up less than a week after I got my second booster, so I know the shot hadn’t had adequate time to reach full effect.

Meanwhile, I’ve finished the editing on Silent Fathoms: Waves of Darkness book 3 (2nd edition). I’ve started putting it into the various formats required by the different platforms I publish/distribute the series through. I am determined to be waiting for the publication date rather than scrambling to meet it.

I plan to add text to the artwork for the cover of this month’s episode of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe. I will be uploading it to KDP next Monday night or Tuesday morning.

I’ve also gotten back to writing today, after a couple months’ hiatus. I’m finishing up the 1st draft of episode 41, which will have season 4 halfway complete. Once I finish the season (if not before) I plan to start plotting the 9th Waves of Darkness book (book 8 is already drafted and through the 1st round of edits).

I’m trying to stay on top of things. I still hope to start a new (for branding purposes) Youtube channel for my publishing. I still need to contact more reviewers.

Oh, and I just got my 1st royalty payment from Audible. It’s not huge, but I hope to remedy that in the future. I’d really like to be able to justify putting the entire series into audio.

That’s all for now.

Overdue Update

Star sez, “Ai can’t b bovvered.”

How long has it been since I’ve posted here? I honestly don’t remember. Sorry about that.

This past month or so has been somewhat busy and rather strange. I’m currently in the tail end of my 1st, and hopefully only bout of COVID. I thought it was a head cold, but the test was positive. Never had a fever or chest congestion, at least. It cropped up less than a week after I got my second booster, so I know the shot hadn’t had adequate time to reach full effect.

Meanwhile, I’ve finished the editing on Silent Fathoms: Waves of Darkness book 3 (2nd edition). I’ve started putting it into the various formats required by the different platforms I publish/distribute the series through. I am determined to be waiting for the publication date rather than scrambling to meet it.

I plan to add text to the artwork for the cover of this month’s episode of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe. I will be uploading it to KDP next Monday night or Tuesday morning.

I’ve also gotten back to writing today, after a couple months’ hiatus. I’m finishing up the 1st draft of episode 41, which will have season 4 halfway complete. Once I finish the season (if not before) I plan to start plotting the 9th Waves of Darkness book (book 8 is already drafted and through the 1st round of edits).

I’m trying to stay on top of things. I still hope to start a new (for branding purposes) Youtube channel for my publishing. I still need to contact more reviewers.

Oh, and I just got my 1st royalty payment from Audible. It’s not huge, but I hope to remedy that in the future. I’d really like to be able to justify putting the entire series into audio.

That’s all for now.

New (video) Review for Blood Curse

Recently got a rave review for Blood Curse on one of the BookTube channels I follow! As well as sharing it here, I’ve linked it on the books landing page on this site.

Be sure to check out Kate’s channel for other great reviews and weekly content at The Literary Apothecary. Her Bibliotherapy Sundays are fantastic!

Captain’s Log: LibertyCon 34

They’re baaaaaaack!

Brandy Bolgeo Hendron welcomes every back to the first in-person LibertyCon since 2019.

It felt fantastic to be able to attend my favorite convention in person again! Brandy and her staff outdid themselves. Rich Groller made sure the programming was so loaded attendees had to make hard decisions between which panels or workshops they wanted to attend. Vonn and the consuite volunteers kept everyone well fed. Also, a full, all-ages masquerade made a return, under the direction of Debi Chowdhury, after a couple decades ‘ absence.

There were a few panels I wanted to attend which I had to forego. Being one of the masquerade judges, prep took precedence over some publishing panels. I also ended up missing Atlanta Radio Theatre Company and the Mad Scientist Roundtable due to bladder issues. Of course, the latter allowed me to get a full night’s sleep instead of the 4 hour nap I would’ve gotten otherwise.

We only had 12 entrants this year, but we expect it to grow in the coming years. My co-judges were Jonna Hayden and Susan Brady. The whole thing went pretty well, for organized chaos, and was completely drama free. Chris Kennedy emceed the event.

Kevin J. Anderson graciously stepped in as substitute GoH after health issues prevented Taylor Anderson from fulfilling the duty.

Speaking of organized chaos, the convention center triple booked. Not only were we there, we had a multi-day Indian wedding and a bodybuilding event keeping us company over the weekend. Definitely made for a unique convention experience.

On a personal note, due to the fact I make my Waves of Darkness print books available with a wholesaler discount through Ingram, Larry Smith Booksellers is now carrying them. They cater solely to the convention circuit. I signed 3 copies of Demon Bayou and 2 copies of Blood Curse for them. It’s cool seeing my titles on the shelf!

I plan to get with my cover designer to get the title more readable.

I also had my giveaway drawing for promo codes for free audio versions of Blood Curse on Audible. Joe Dog McKeel did the draws. The winner from WordPress entrants was Orvan Taurus by default (ox was ONLY entrant from WP); from FB, we had Julie Frost; from the convention itself, we had Johnny Minion; and from Plurk, we had CeeJay Writer (aka Lori Alsen Holuta). Lori’s is the only code not collected yet.

That wraps this log entry up. I do have another post or two to write, but they’re not convention related.

Countdown to LibertyCon

Last minute prep is kind of hit and miss this year. My book order from Ingram finally shipped on Friday, so they should arrive before the convention. I’m not counting on the card game sets to make it, however. Production delays due to real life being a total shite will probably keep them from shipping in time.

Meanwhile, I’m in the process of building a set of gallery pages here on the site. There’ll be one page each for Pern art, Waves of Darkness art, The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe art, and general fantasy art. I really need to set up a store site for my art, but haven’t really had the time to research the best platform for it.

While LibertyCon has always been my best con for book sales, I know I won’t be making a profit. It’s also the convention I buy the most books at.

My schedule is light this year, so I’ll be able to pick a few brains for tips on improving my craft and my marketing skills. I have my schedule up on the Appearances page here.

The contest to win a promo code for a free copy of the audio of Blood Curse will probably boil down to a drawing between any entrants gotten at the convention. So far, I only have one entry each from the earlier post and from Facebook. These two will win by default, if no other entries come from those platforms by Thursday evening. I haven’t received any entries through Instagram.

Liberty to Listen!

I will be holding a drawing for chances to win a free copy of Blood Curse, as narrated by Greg D. Barnett, at LibertyCon on Saturday, June 18th. There will be 5 winners, one each from entries gathered on WordPress, Plurk, Facebook, Instagram, and at the convention.

To enter on WordPress: comment “yes please” on this post. JUST LIKING THE POST WILL NOT COUNT AS AN ENTRY. YOU MUST COMMENT.

Sorry for shouting, but some people just don’t read the rules, even when said rules are simple.

Busy Month of June

Where to begin? First, I believe an update is in order.

Blood Curse is out in audio, and I need to check my ACX dashboard to see how many promo codes I’ve got for it. I plan to start querying audio book reviewers this week, but I also want to conduct some sort of contest for one of the codes.

I’ll be at LibertyCon over the Juneteenth weekend and plan to hold the drawing then. As soon as I figure out how I want to take entries, I’ll post about it here.

Demon Bayou is now available in print as well as ebook. Sales of the audio of Blood Curse will determine whether I continue to make the series available in that format. Audio books are not cheap to produce.

I will order copies of both books this week to sell at LibertyCon. I will also have copies of The Girl Who Fell from the Sky to sell. This month’s episode of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe will be uploaded to KDP the Tuesday before the convention.

There is a strong possibility I will have sets of the 5-suit Dragon Poker cards offered by Antiquarian Boardgames to sell (or at least show for the purpose of collecting orders). The game’s designer, who commissioned me to do the art for the face cards, had planned on launching the game at Liberty, but health issues prevent her from attending this year. She does plan on being at Dragon*Con, however.

I’ve also been asked to act as a judge for the adult cosplay contest, which is returning after many years. I’ve been attending since 2009, and this is the first adult contest I’ll see at this con.

If I can get my tookus in gear, I will finally revive my YouTube channel this month. I have got to start selling more books.

Oh, before I forget, I am well into the first round of revisions on the second edition of Silent Fathoms. I don’t want to put myself through all the brouhaha I went through with Demon Bayou. I even have a pretty clear idea of how I want the cover to look and will send concept sketches to my cover designer along with detailed instructions. I plan to get the book out on time, the first Tuesday of November.

That’s all the news I can think of for now, so I’ll hush and head to bed. 3 am comes very early, after all.

Double Release!

Due to unforeseen issues and interruptions this past weekend, Demon Bayou is currently only uploaded to Smashwords (be sure to turn off parental filters to find it).

I do intend to get it up on the other platforms I use, as computer time makes itself available.

The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe, Episode 17, Going Underground will be uploaded to KDP on time this week.

Meanwhile, the audio book of Blood Curse has hit a minor snag. ACX’s quality assurance doesn’t like that the cover includes my middle initial, while the audio credits and metadata do not. Nitpicky if you ask me, but I’m sure there are legal reasons behind it. Corrections are being made to the audio and metadata.

As soon as I get them to approve it, I’ll post about it here.

Demon Bayou 2nd Edition Cover Reveal

Over the next two days I will be uploading the various files to Ingram Spark, Amazon, Smashwords, Google Books, and GOATreads. Depending on their quality check times, both paperback and ebook should go live over the weekend or early next week!

Once again, thanks so Fatima Sadiqqa (femi_digitalist on Fivver) for her skills and patience dealing with my vaguish instructions and multiple revisions to achieve this cover.