Something Clever
or a shameless pitch
You decide.
At long last, my first novel is available for pre-order! I began writing this story in 2020 as an epic fantasy. Since then, it has been changed to urban fantasy, revised innumerable times, read by a dozen friends, and gone through the publishing process with Jumpmaster Press.
How did it all begin? You ask. It all began when a fellow writer called me to brainstorm some ideas about a book he was writing (and promises to be very good). I threw out some ideas which he didn’t want to use, but suggested I write a book of my own.
What? Um... ok. So I started writing. It wasn’t great. It wasn’t really even that good. But I plugged away at it until I had finished manuscript. Off it went to a publisher. Back it came, rejected. Only, in the meantime, I’d learned about open call anthologies and had learned to write short stories which levelled my game up significantly. Significantly.
I got some editorial advice from a professional editor by the name of Christine Nielson, applied the lessons I’d learned writing shorts, and thus began the revisions. I turned a 150k word book into a 118k word standalone with 100k words left over to write into sequels if folks like the first one. (Make sure you let my publisher know you like it by buying a copy or two... if you want to encourage them to pick the next one up. Right Kyle and Gene?
I said... Right Kyle and Gene?
Moving on.
Next I sent the manuscript out for beta reads and then a second set of submissions. This time mailing it to five publishers instead of one. Mid-August 2024 Jumpmaster Press jumped on my pitch and asked me to see the whole thing. A month later they picked Dragonsworn for publication and we’ve been working together to bring you the finished product! How about that cover?
Sure, there were tears. Sweat. Elbow grease. I mean, the process took five years from start to finish. But now, here we are. A finished product available for pre-order. In a few weeks, I’ll hold a printed copy of my first novel in my hands. It’s exhilarating.
But it’s also daunting. What if it doesn’t meet expectations? What if it gets a cold reception? Do me a favor and let me know if you love it. Encouragement will speed up future offerings, I can promise you that!
Speaking of new projects, how about a quick rundown of what I’m currently working on? Next in the pipeline are a couple of finished stories. A novella called “One Man’s Treasure” in Jesse James Fain’s “Holy Diver” universe and a novel called “Resurgence of Light” (another standalone with the possibility of a series) which Raconteur Press will be publishing in (probably) August 2026.
In process are a novel for Three Raven’s Publishing’s “JTF-13” universe and a follow up novel to “Dragonsworn,” tentatively titled “Dragonstone.” I’m also working on a double-secret short story project, but otherwise I’m foregoing short stories for the moment to get these other novels out ASAP for you.
Well, I didn’t come up with anything clever to say in this post, but hopefully you’ve decided to see what all that work resulted in and buy Dragonsworn! Hmmm. Maybe I did something clever after all…
