Mistakes have been made. By me. I made them.

Status

The Wizard’s Next Thing
I made next to zero progress on the word counts. The story stalled out in May. June did me no favors except that putting it down gave me a chance to let the story stew instead of slinging words at the page for the sake of putting words down. Sometimes that works. I want more than that for this book. I’ve been putting time in over the last few days. I think I’m in a better place, or will be once I figure out where the story went wrong. Probably Albuquerque.

Everything Else
No real change. At some point I’ll get back to those worlds. I just need to finish up with this one, at least temporarily.

The Wizard’s Cat
The audiobook dropped on June 16th. It is Audible exclusive, at least for now. Podium has been experimenting with wider distribution so keep your eyes peeled, if that’s something of interest to you. They generally don’t tell me when a book goes wide.

What Am I Reading?

I’m always on the lookout for some good new, self-published space opera. I found some last month with a collaboration between John Walker (an author I’ve read before) and David Cooper (whom I haven’t).

When a routine asteroid patrol turns up something that’s not an asteroid, it keys a series of events that unfold in unexpected but – to me – very satisfying ways. This is not your normal shoot-em-up, alien invasion story. Instead it’s an alternate take on what it might mean for humanity to join the interstellar community.

I just noticed book 2 dropped a few days ago. I know what I’m reading next!

But don’t take my word for it. Maybe grab a sample and see what you think.

About the Newsletter
I publish a newsletter every month on the 15th. You don’t need to subscribe to get the mid-month update. You can find them archived on my newsletter’s public page at Kit.

Looking Forward

I feel a binge coming on. The game I’ve been playing (No Man’s Sky) to let my brain stew on the Shackleford problem has become a bit too humdrum. There’s no purpose in a fresh restart. The universe is still the same. My old game would still be there. Somewhere. Polluting the universe.

What I’ve gained in distance has given some new ideas room to breathe. How do I want this story to go? More to the point, how can I recapture the feeling of fun and discovery from the first book? I feel like it didn’t quite translate well into the second.

Don’t get me wrong. The Cat is as good a story as I could tell at the time.

But my goal is always to make the next story better. The difficulty comes in defining better.

I’m beginning to get that itch again. Jones-ing for the feeling that hammering out a few thousand words a day for a couple of weeks brings. The immediacy that it brings – and that I’ve missed over the last few books when I tried to write the way others thought I should.

Can I do it? I don’t know.

We’ll see what happens.

I’ll keep you posted.

Until next month, safe voyage.

The story grows stronger. The word counts haven’t shrunk.

Status

The Wizard’s Next Thing
The story got a few more words. I got some new ideas that are vying for attention. All positive signs, but I don’t think I’m going to have a draft before Labor Day. Maybe by Thanksgiving.

Everything Else
Ishmael and Zoya are playing bridge with Tanyth and Frank. Natalya’s elbow deep in administrivia and Pip keeps adding new businesses to their portfolio. Everybody’s being cool and keeping themselves entertained, I think.

The Wizard’s Cat
Audiobook drops on the 16th. I don’t know if it’s an Audible exclusive. Podium has been experimenting with wider distribution so keep your eyes peeled, if that’s something of interest to you.

What Am I Reading?

Honestly, not as much as I have been. More catching up with old friends by way of “next in the series” books.

I was bemoaning the dearth of decent space opera and stumbled onto my first space opera/cultivation novel. I’d been seeing it pop up on my recommendations but kept getting side tracked by series. I pulled it out of the line up when I realized I needed to read something else for a while.

I’m glad I did.

J.P. Valentine expertly blends two of my favorite genres into a smooth mix of both. To Flail Against Infinity, Book 1 of the Stargazer’s War, sets the stage for Caliban’s tragic entry into the high-stakes world of intergalactic cultivation, where status gets measure by power and power comes with pain.

I siphoned these first two novels up over just a few days. Loved every minute of it.

Maybe you will, too. Why not grab a sample and find out?

About the Newsletter
I publish a newsletter every month on the 15th. You don’t need to subscribe to get the mid-month update. You can find them archived on my newsletter’s public page at Kit.

Looking Forward

I made my 40 miles last month, with some finagling, day shuffling, and leaning on the treadmill. It wasn’t a pretty month but I got the miles in. I’m hoping that June goes more smoothly as the household seems to be settling down again.

The word count isn’t climbing very fast. I’m counting that as a Good Thing. I’m taking the time I need to let the story sort itself out a little. I’ve always said I write what happens next but that’s predicated on having a half-decent grasp of what happened just before. I didn’t do that with the Cat. I won’t make that mistake again.

We’ll see how this month goes, but I’m feeling really good about the writing work that needs to happen before I put words on the page. It’s always paid off in the past. I have no doubts that it’ll pay off in the future.

Until next month, safe voyage.

I made good progress in April. Until I ran into a brick wall.

Status

The Wizard’s Next Thing
The writing was ticking along nicely. Making daily progress. Slow and sometimes cumbersome but regular. Then the City decided my landscaping was problematic. I’m putting my plan back into action as of today. We’ll see how well it does.

The Wizard’s Cat
As reported earlier, the audiobook pre-order is up. We’re just waiting for Podium to work through their production process.

Everything Else
I’ve gone through the catalog and set the flags so you can now download the epub versions of all my books. I think. If I missed one, let me know. Eventually I get back to those old familiar worlds and add more to them.

What Am I Reading?

I spent the month catching up with old friends (ie, ‘next book in the series’) for a bunch of stuff that dropped recently. I’ve recommended most of them in the past. Along the way I found Tom Larcombe’s series Sponsored System.

Basic apocalyptic rpg mechanics take over the Earth story with an amusing fillip–the alien overlords step in early to help train the natives. For a price. Hijinks ensue.

Fun characters. Interesting skills and a consistent setting. Really made me want to find an RPG I could play. Maybe when I retire. (As if.)

I’ve read a bunch of Larcombe’s work and enjoyed it so I siphoned up this one and now I’m looking forward to the next.

But don’t take my word for it. If it sounds interesting, go grab a sample and see for yourself.

About the Newsletter
I publish a newsletter every month on the 15th. You don’t need to subscribe to get the mid-month update. You can find them archived on my newsletter’s public page at Kit.

Looking Forward

It’s been something of a roller-coaster month. The first two thirds of the month ratcheted along smoothly. Walking my 2 out of 3 days. Writing. Reading. Et Cetera. Then I came home to a code violation warning taped to my front door.

To be fair, absolutely warranted which made it all the more important that I get on it.

For the last 10 days, with the help of off-spring, I’ve done what I have the strength and stamina to address. That’s meant everything else took the back burner while I worked to put out the fire in front. I still have work that needs doing, but I’ve hired the various crews (yes, multiple) to do the tree work and deal with the winter-killed irrigation system, among other things. The city inspector will be back on the 5th but I’ve done what I could do and have to trust that the crews will follow through.

So I’m back in harness as of this morning. I’ll get the routine re-established and try to put this pending work out of my mind. At least until the next flare-up of reality lighting fire to my carefully curated personal reality.

Until next month, safe voyage.