Category Archives: Promotion

Post 150!

Today I took a ride to Newport to find the radio station WADK that I’m going to be on November 8 at 10:30. I found the offices, but I don’t think that’s the studio, so I’ll call them tomorrow and ask for directions. This Tuesday at 9 a.m., I’ll be on WNRI talking about Grimaulkin.

Finished the final edits on Grimaulkin Tempted. I did them in about 6 hours. Just little things like extensive commas. I am a comma abuser.

I wrote a tie-in story called “The Joint” which I’m letting rest right now. It’s about Mike in prison, but told from a different point of view.

This NaNoWriMo is going to be a memoir, which I suppose will be published posthumously. It’s going to go into my life, how I was treated by my family, how I treated my family, and about cancer, death and living with autism. I think I’ll get 50K words out of it. But it’ll be hard, because it will be narrative non-fiction, something I’m not really good at.

On the blog of Paper Angel Press will be a press release for Under the 13th Star which has my short story in it. My website will have a link to that book. I might actually send the press release out to the Providence Journal or the Pawtucket Times or even the Valley Breeze to get an interview. If I do, I’ll be sure to post it here. And I’ll buy up all the copies!

 

Don’t try this at home

After the festival, I ended up in the hospital for dehydration and elevated potassium. Oops.

So lesson learned: don’t not eat or drink anything for two days.

Finished the editing for Grimaulkin Tempted, and awaiting a new cover.  Also trying to think up the blurbs for it.

I think I might do NaNoWriMo this year. I have a few days off next month so I’ll be able to do it. I have NO idea what to do since I started War Mage already. Maybe add 50K words to it to make it viable? I also started Earth. Those are the two books that are on the schedule for next year. I don’t want to do Grim 3 because I have just the major plot in mind for that. The muse needs to percolate more ideas for that one.

I would hate to waste a month on something that I’m not going to publish, considering I have deadlines.

Also, I’m in an anthology, Under the 13th Star, which is a showcase of Rhode Island authors’ short stories. articles, and poems. My story is first in the anthology! I’m so excited! It will be officially released on Monday, but it’s on Amazon right now with print-on-demand.

Music to Write To

I have a playlist for Grimaulkin. But I’ve found a radio station on Sirius XM called Turbo that has a lot of the music for the mood of Grimaulkin. It’s hard rock from the 1990’s and early 2000’s, just around the time period that Grimaulkin takes place. (Trust me, I’d rather listen to that than Y2K Pop.) So when you read Grimaulkin Tempted, know that I listened to this radio station which caused a lot of the action scenes–especially during Rage Against the Machine songs.

Water was written over three years. Cancer was written first and set aside; Pisces written earlier this year. Scorpio was initially the prologue, but I didn’t like it because there was no sex, and it didn’t espouse the, er, talents of Scorpio. When I changed my initial Scorpio into the prologue, that set me free to write Scorpio as you see him, which I’m very proud of.

So good news, I was able to put my book in a store! Bewitched of Scituate is a little witchy store in Scituate, RI, where I got a card reading. Afterward we talked about putting Grimaulkin in her store. She said that she would be happy to put my book on her shelf if I would donate one to her library. So I provided three copies to sell (because three is a magic number) and donated one.

Next is getting it in the library. My next day off is September 8, and I’ll get down to the Pawtucket library to beg them to take Grimaulkin. Maybe head up to Worcester to donate Homecoming, too.

Meanwhile, my plan is to hit the 45K mark with Grimaulkin Tempted this weekend (I’m at 44,783 right now, so it won’t be difficult) and start tying up loose ends. I was thinking of continuing a plotline into the next book, but decided against it. I want this to be tidy, because the next book is going to be really deep and conflicted. Maybe I’ll finish it by Labor Day. If so, I’ll put it aside to rest and rise, then work on Earth. After I write one of the novellas in that series, I’ll go back to Grimaulkin Tempted and do the first edit. It will definitely be on its way to the editor in October.

Things are going well!

The Loof

The Loof Festival happened yesterday with the constant threat of rain overhead. The authors had a great spot. I sold 1 Grimaulkin and 2 Homecoming books. Anything is better than zero!

A few people asked me if it was in the library. Next on my list is to screw up my courage and beg my library–and the Pawtucket library, where Grimaulkin takes place–to take a copy.  When I get a day off, I’ll start doing that.

My next event is the Calamari Festival in Narragansett, on September 9 (the Saturday after Labor Day). If you don’t like books, you can always taste-test fried squid rings from restaurants all over the state. I tell you, if you like Italian seafood, you’ll love this festival.

Grimaulkin Tempted is going along. I’m in the middle of one of the big reveals of the series, and I don’t want to do it, because it’s key to Mike’s character. But it’s at the right place and it’s something I have to do. I hope it doesn’t turn people away from the series. It’s a fine line that I have to keep in mind.

And my tent didn’t blow away this time!

 

 

When the muse dances…

My muse is happily writing Grim 2, though I’m just about half way through and I need to either add another subplot or do something else crazy to plow through the rest of the book. Discussed the cover with the publisher, and I hope they can do it. If not, I’ll take a new picture.

I’ll be talking to the radio guy for an interview, so I hope I can get in on August 15, when Water comes out.

I’ll be at the Loof festival on August 12 (with a new, blue canopy) from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. A long day. If the weather is a day like today, it’ll be awesome (70’s, light breeze). Need to purchase more weights. Just in case.

Royalty payments came in. Homecoming is still selling! One copy…yay!

 

 

Self Defense and book sales!

Had a successful book sale on July 1. Three sold books, mostly because people wanted card readings. Might have had more if I didn’t take so long reading cards. Had to buy a bigger table.

My next appearance is going to be on July 29 in Richmond, RI (Exit 3A off I-95 in RI).

“Self Defense” is available on instafreebie for the next 30 days. After that, it’ll be on Amazon and other places.

I sent Water back to Zarra Knightly Publishing, so hopefully that should be out next month.

I finally started writing War Mage. It’s like pulling teeth, though, even with the outline. Or maybe it’s because of the outline. I’m not an outliner. It did work for me once, but it’s not working for me right now. It’s still not the story I want to tell. The theme is something like, “Friends can be found in the most unlikely places” or “What might seem to be an enemy may be a friend”. Tyrath and Olron are keys to the theme. Makrah is like an aging hippie that loves democracy and the USA (I’ll have him come from the Rockies). The story is about control and freedom, how friendship and loyalty can overcome anything. Yes, I know that’s not my usual type of story, but I want to present something happy here.

Maybe that’s the other thing that is bothering me–a happy ending.

The War Mage cover is going to be a lie…I got rid of the riders.

Oh, and episode 3 of Dark Mystic Quill is out. This is all about Grimaulkin and why he stayed in my head these last 10 years.

Podcast, and more books!

Episode 2 of DMQ is up. So proud of myself–it only took me a few hours as opposed to a few days to get it ready. Even with breaks due to my refrigerator running.

I have injured myself. Somewhere, in my foot, is a sliver of glass. I went to the urgent care and they couldn’t find it. In the meantime, my foot is swollen like a balloon, and I can’t put any weight on it. They suggested I go to get it x-rayed to see if they can see the sliver and take it out. I have to go see my PCP tomorrow to get the x-ray because I’m sure not going to the ER for something as stupid as this. It hurts like hell.

Okay, so that was probably TMI, but that’s what’s bothering me the most today.

I’m supposed to set up the tent that we bought for my first appearance this season in Scituate on July 1. I’m also supposed to make tent weights out of old water jugs, bungee cords, and kitty litter. Yes, it’s a Yankee jury-rig, but it should work. In theory. But it’s raining. So no tent set-up today.

I don’t know how Grimaulkin is selling. I don’t want to know just yet. I want to be (hopefully) pleasantly surprised. One person I know read it and really liked it. The short, “Self Defense”, is going to be ready (hopefully) for July 1. If you’re interested in that, it’s a freebie on paperangelpress.com.

Water was edited, and I’ve been working on it for the past couple of days. After reading a few gay-themed short stories, I’ve noticed that I’ve put WAY too much sex in mine. The other short stories have usually one sex scene. In almost all of mine, I have at least three. So you get your money’s worth!

War Mage is still…I don’t know. I keep thinking about it, trying to turn it over and over in my head to try and get things going with it. Whenever I sit down to start writing it, I end up staring at a blank page and doing nothing. Or I write crap. Or I rewrite what I wrote before. Something’s just not in me to get this story out, and I don’t know why.

Well, I have one idea why–I don’t want to insult the people who were there in Afghanistan. I know, I just know, I’ll get the details wrong. Some Afghan vet is going to write “FOB Blessing wasn’t set up that way” and I’ll just hang up my pen and not write any more because I would have been seen as a hack, a fraud.

I have to get past that, saying to myself, “Your FOB Blessing didn’t look like that, but mine does.” Hell, if you’re suspending disbelief about there being magic in the military, can you get past the fact that Quonset huts were in rows and not a star-shape? (Though I’ve only seen a few pictures of FOB Blessing, I have no idea how the huts/containers were set up.)

I also have an outline. I hate outlines. I used to trace pictures before coloring them because I would allow myself to color outside the lines. I found outlines to be good for me when I’m stuck on a deadline, especially when I did it that one year for NaNoWriMo when I had two weeks to write the novel. I stuck to it, but I also dictated the novel, which made it, um, novel and interesting. Now, typing it, no fun. And dictating–no fun revising. Trust me. I have until August to get off my duff and get War Mage finished. It’s already the last week of June, and my appearances are ramping up.

I’m going to see if I can get a web page for my appearances only, so you don’t have to look back for the post with it.

Grimaulkin…soon, very soon.

Ok, so the podcast didn’t drop. Technical difficulties that I can’t figure out. GarageBand has changed its format, so it no longer does podcasts, and my RSS feed has to have artwork, which I don’t have access to.

However, the good news is I got my second edits for Grimaulkin this Thursday and turned it around 3 days. I just sent it back today.

War Mage is still under surgery.

On July 29, I’ll be at a book signing in Richmond, RI. Hopefully I can figure out how to set up the canopy tent I bought.  I won’t be at the Big E unfortunately (in a way, I’m glad I’m not, because it’ll cost me oodles of money).

I gave one of my books away yesterday. It was bent and unsellable, and was one of the ten books that was cut too close on one side. So I would have pitched it anyway. Might as well give it to someone who would enjoy it. I just asked her to review it on Amazon for me. Sometimes you have to give things up in order to get something back.

Podcasting, editing, and revising, oh my

I so far have laid down five minutes of my podcast. It’s about “Writing, Witchcraft and Woe, but not necessarily in that order.” I have music that I bought to use for the beginning tracks.

I went and bought a nice expensive Blue Yeti mike. Problem is, it’s too good, and picks up everything. It picks up my refrigerator when it runs (it’s loud, anyway), my furnace when it goes off, and the cars outside. And my cat purring. Being that I’m an idiot when it comes to audio, I suppose I have to do something on the mike to get it to stop picking up ambient noise. So I’m using a headset mike, which isn’t as good and definitely isn’t as clear.

What a pain in the ass editing is though. I have to cut so much space (I wheeze when I breathe). that it sounds like I’m not breathing. I can tell editing now on other podcasts. It makes people sound so intelligent. Now I know why.

Segue into…

I got my edits back for Grimaulkin! I could sit here and say, “Oh, my God, it’s such a mess.” Nearly every page has an edit on it. I’m up to page 92 and there were two pages without edits. I use way too many commas and I don’t believe in the Oxford comma (the one that comes before and in a list). Maybe I should crack open that Chicago Manual of Style book I have if I’m going to line-edit.

There’s a few edits that I’ve chosen to take as suggestions. Most of the edits, though, clarify things or point out whether I should/could do something better. I have the curse of the pantser: I often write description after the object is introduced, not before.

Noticing this, it helps me to work a little on War Mage. I’m still deep in that surgery as well. Right now I’m clarifying the scenes I’ve written and noticed 1) I have no plot and 2) I have no action and 3) Brent reacts to nothing. I think I have to throw in a murder

Decisions, decisions

So, at present, Water and Grimaulkin are at the editor’s. Grimaulkin Tempted is up to 10K words already and I’m in need of another subplot. So far I have:

Main plot: Scott’s ex comes back.
Subplot A: Becky, his cousin, is being followed by a mysterious person.
Subplot B: Mike is being used as the downstairs mover.

I need a magical subplot C, something to get the Rosicrucians involved again. Or a subplot D, another Satanic murder (though that’s going to be be in the third book, I think). Another minor demon involved? Not sure. Also maybe something involving Rufus, the dog.

Earth is going to be the next erotica series, I think. I need to do more research on the Earth signs to find out good places to put them, and what powers they control.

Also, I was reminded of War Mage. In my excitement over Grim, I’ve let that go to the wayside. I didn’t care much for some of the editing, and so I put it aside. I tried to rewrite it from the beginning based on my beta reader’s suggestions, but it just didn’t want to work. Jake Logan is a gay writer. L.A. Jacob can write both gay and straight, but the military has to come from Jake. L.A. Jacob reins in the sex part, which is why the sex is alluded to in War Mage, not explicit. The Dark Prison, the third book, has no sex (yet). War Mage has to be complete by July for a September release.

Man, I have so many irons in the fire. And I’m going to buy a microphone to start doing podcasts! Maybe. But I am buying a mike. The podcast will be about writing and magic. I will probably have it “sponsored” by Paper Angel Press and Zarra Knightley Publishing. In other words, I’ll shill their books. Not sure about author interviews yet. I’m not one of the best interviewers –it’s been a very long time since I’ve done interviews. There’s one podcast I listen to where the guy asks the same questions of every guest, and I don’t want to do that. You can tell he doesn’t do much research on the guests he has.

So that seems like enough for this week.