Blog Log #1

So, I’ve been meaning to get to this for awhile, but have found a lack of time to do so. Considering it’s almost two months since I’ve posted anything on this I figured since I have some downtime I’d give an update with a few things.

Amaford Trials

As some of you know, the first book (well, Novella) of the Amaford Trial series is up for pre-order on Amazon. That is planned to be released on January 1st 2019, so do me a favor and go pre-order that shit.

I’d like to just take some time and talk about the HNTBAR, it’s origins, development, and plans for the future.

So, when it comes to it’s origins the story idea came to me from a charater I had played in a D&D group. He was a really fun character to play, dumb, smart mouthed, and over always impressing everyone with what he was able to accomplish.

At the time (and still am following) I was listening to the podcast of Authors & Dragons who I recommend looking into if you enjoy the idea of a bunch of comedic authors who decided to play D&D and royally screw it up. Hilarious podcast, and some really talented writers are involved. So check them out if you get the chance, they have years of content to listen to. Anyway, like I said, I had been listening to them and reading some of the authors books when I was inspired to actually turn Jimmy (the character) into a story. So, while I was sitting there waiting for my car to be inspected, I pulled up a app on my phone and just started writing the first chapter. From there I wrote bits and pieces of it over the next couple of years. I had created my general outline, and was just getting to it when I could. Around last winter in 2018, I decided to really sit down and crank the book out.

In a couple of months I had finished the first draft. It felt amazing. That is, until I started the editing process myself and reading through what I was quickly realizing was barely readable. From August to October of this year I spent countless hours pouring over my work, editing here and there trying to make it at least somewhat readable. Once I had done as much as I could by myself I decided to take a chance on submitting to a publisher. I only had one in mind Falstaff Books, which was created by one of the authors from A&D. It felt like a good fit to their style, and figured I would give it a shot. But, it is my first piece of series writing so I didn’t have high hopes of it actually making it through the whole process. To my surprise they did ask for a full copy of my manuscript and I got a little excited. In the end, I did get a rejection letter, but it was actually more empowering with the feedback I got than anything else. That is when I decided I wanted to try this out on my own. It would give me the freedom I needed with what little time I get as a writer. I was right.

Boy is it expensive. After getting a cover which ranged around $200, editing through my editor who I love, and all the necessary things needed to do to get it out there and published by myself it’s on it’s way to the actual public.

Now, I’m currently working on the second Novella of the series, where it will introduce a new character to the time-line and how he came to be in the city of Amaford. I am about a third done the first draft, and am trying to work on it when I can. But, between the holidays and getting HNTBAR all set up it’s a bit of a struggle. I’m hoping to have the first draft done sometime early next year, and hopefully get it up and running sometime next summer or earlier.

But, that’s not all I have planned for this series. There will be another Novella, introducing the last main character of the series, before it shifts gears into the main story in a traditional novel form. I plan on that being a trilogy, so there won’t be a lack of content when dealing with the main characters. I do also have two other stories in mind that will be added as kind of a spin-off. They will be stand alone novels following some of the side characters from HNTBAR. Now, these spin-offs might grow as the other stories are completed. Needless to say, Amaford is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Other Projects

If you’ve browsed my site at all, you will see in the book section that I have a few short stories coming. These short stories are a long term side project that I plan to continue with. The series is following a Cupid named Charlie, who works for one of the Fate sisters in Boston. Clotho, the sister of love, has employed the Cupid race to further her influence and keep the threads of fate in check by setting up couples that are meant to be together. Charlie is a smartass, an asshole, and generally really hates his job. But, he does it anyway since it’s a paycheck. I have completed the first two shorts, which should be released and available on amazon next month (so keep an eye out for that). I’m currently working on the third short. After completing about seven or eight of them I plan to release them as a compilation, create a paperback form so those who prefer a physical copy can enjoy the shit show that is Charlie’s life/job.

I’m really excited about this one, and am having a blast writing these stories. So, be prepared for a lot of those to come. I have at least four compilation’s planned out, all including at least six shorts, and maybe a novella or two thrown in the mix. I can’t wait for people to actually get a chance to read them.

Life outside of writing

If you know me outside my writing, you know that my wife and I had our third baby in September. Needless to say, we have our hands full. We both work full-time (my wife’s the bread winning) as a store manager for a retail store. Meaning, this time of year is really crazy for us both. Luckily, our oldest who is 5, is in kindergarten. Our middle child (3) is in preschool. So we aren’t constantly surrounded by three crazy boys all the time. But it’s still really demanding on us with everything going on.

I also am still taking online classes, working towards my BA (I’m getting damn close) so that’s another thing to throw onto the pile of shit on my list to do. Sometimes I honestly wonder how I manage to get anything done. But, I manage.

Wrapping it up

Since, we are going into the holiday season. Thanksgiving is now two days away, and it’s becoming less and less of a holiday to me and my family (we are both working Thurs, and Friday). So, I hope you all enjoy your holiday, and let me know how it went. I’ll try to keep up with blogging, but no guarantees haha.  In the meantime, spread the word about my pre-order for HNTBAR, pre-order it yourself, and just keep in contact with me on what’s coming up. Enjoy!