2019 Wrap Up

Hello everyone, and goodbye 2019.

This year has been one, well, one of those years that would see great things. Even perhaps a new book out. Yet here we are, still with many promises but nothing finished.

As you may be aware, I've been writing on a new series. I split from the Mermaid Adventures series when I got an idea that wouldn't go away. At the time, I thought it would be finished quickly, such that I could get back to the 3rd novel to pick up after The Mermaid's Apprentice. In the time since, I've written quite a bit of material for the new books.

I'm what people call a "seat of the pants" writer. I don't create (and I'm having trouble remembering what this is even called, oh yes...) outlines. I get an idea, and I begin writing. That means I have a lot of wasted work. The early draft is little like the final manuscript, though I feel the sentiment is there in the first page. I'm a stew pot, that takes quite a bit of time to simmer and get the material I want to put down.

So, from the start of what for now I'm calling the "For the Empire," series, I wrote 3 first drafts to 3 books, and began on a fourth before going back to the first book to flesh it out. When I began on the first book, I had little concept of the world, who was in it and how it came to be. If it can believed, that it remains a work in progress. Each day I learn gain greater understanding of the people.

Approximately a year ago, I felt book 1 was ready for an editor. How wrong I was. At the time book 1 was 120,000 words long. Since then it has grown to over 450,000 words. Because of such, the first book was split into 3 separate books. Each act its own book. It became the only way I could manage it. I've spent the latter half of 2019 revising book 1 to be 3 books. I continue working on the project nearly every day.

2019 also saw my last website hacked and I had to move the website. You may have noticed the change. The new host (shopify.com) is good and maintains all the code, such that I don't have too, and it remains secure. If you purchased something on the old site, don't worry. All transactions were carried out in PayPal, and as such no financial information was compromised. 

My goal for 2020 is to get the first book of "For the Empire" finished. It still seems a pretty big task. 

Thanks to everyone that ready my books this year.

Please, if you want more information or news, leave reviews, comments or likes on Amazon (or wherever you read my books), Facebook or here. Without feedback, I feel I write to an audience of one (myself). Like anyone, we need each other. A writer needs readers and visa-versa.

Thanks. Goodbye 2019. Welcome 2020. Have a great year.