Welcome to your monthly writing update! It’s been an insane month behind the keyboard so let’s catch up, shall we?
NaNoWriMo Insanity!
I set a pretty big goal this year. Last year it was a single novel. This year it is three novellas. Why? Because I want to put a pin in this project before New Years.
As I type this I am only 12 chapters away from completing Book Six of the DSA’s inaugural season. 12 CHAPTERS!!!!
I love working on this series. I absolutely adore the scope. No matter how terrified I become because of the sheer weight of managing the series, the format, the sub-plots, the cast–all that STUFF– I love the story being told here.
It’s grown so much over the year. Not just the size of the undertaking but the evolution on such a grounded level. Down to the very core of each character. It’s become this defined entity and when something new comes up it makes complete sense in where things are heading. It’s fantastic to watch. It truly is.
When I finished Book 5 last weekend, my initial plan was a four day break. Maybe watch some movies, catch up on my reading, remember the names of my children. That sorta thing.
I outlined a new book instead. More DSA. Season Two, Book Three. It’s the second of four planned spin-off pilots within the confines of the main series. The concept stems from one conceived a decade ago. I even wrote the first book way back then – it was terrible…
Coming back to it though, I remember the joy of piecing together the mysteries involved. That’s what this is and why the DSA has been this dream project for me. There is weird science fiction aspects, there is the conspiracy thriller side of the main series but every once in awhile it branches off into these new areas.
The first spin-off deals with ghosts and the law. This one? Pure mystery bordering on the cozy mystery side of the genre. An amateur detective working on disparate cases in an attempt to piece together a broader mystery and understand the disappearance of someone close to her.
It’s called The Missing. And yes, I am YEARS from unveiling this beast on you and, yes, it is unfair to tease you so, but it is so exciting to discover these little explorations that I had to share with you.
Hope you don’t mind.
Thanksgiving fun
Thanksgiving is around the corner. I have a HUGE Greystone promo in the works. Two FREE books and the other three for only $0.99! Head over to Amazon for more details starting THIS FRIDAY!
Speaking of Amazon…
For the last six months I’ve been exclusive to the platform. It was my hope to bolster the exposure of the series and pave the way for what comes next.
It was a fun experiment and certainly hundreds of people snagged copies at a steep discount. But I don’t think Amazon is the same marketplace it was a year ago. Things have changed, demanding authors pony up more in advertising than is feasible for someone like me at this stage in the game.
So starting after this session in KDP Select – December 19th or so – Greystone will be available at all major ebook retailers once more! Apologies if this set you off for one reason or another, but I had to see how things worked out and I intend to play with them many more times in the future no doubt.
In Remembrance of Stan.
Stan Lee passed away on November 12th. If you weren’t aware, I am and always will be a huge fan of the comic book medium. To say Stan didn’t have an impact on who I am today would be an utter and complete lie. The man enriched millions of people over the decades and I am lucky to count myself among them.
I had planned to write a piece solely about the man but there is little I can say that you probably haven’t read by much more intelligent people than me.
I can only say thank you to the man once more for all he has given me and also for all he has given my daughters who have absolutely fallen in love with his early work from the 1960’s at Marvel. Watching them tear open a comic written by Stan and enjoy the hell out of it no matter the age is a true testament to the man’s talent and his enduring legacy.
Excelsior, Stan. Thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
