Well, let's make a little entry in the blog here to remember the day and the moment when I finished Mary of Cosmos, and thereby completed the four volume series that began with Mary of the Aether. Indeed, I just wrote the word "end" on the last page of the manuscript not three minutes ago. And when I say "end" this time, I do mean "end." It is a complete and utter end to the series that I thank wraps everything up nicely.
So there you go.
Now, go read Mary of Shadows, people. When you finish it, you will be halfway through the series, and I will be proud of you. Yes, I truly will.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The Latest Goings On
Well, a lot of stuff has been happening lately, so I thought I'd give a rundown for all who might be interested. Let me list them numerically for maximum ease of following along.
1) Mary of Shadows is now available as an e-book and trade paperback at Whiskey Creek Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.
2) Mary of the Aether was part of a workshop this summer called So Many Book, So Little Time in which it was promoted to thousands of teachers in the region. My publisher created a special order form just for this workshop, offering the book at a special rate, and those forms have started to turn up at the publisher.
3) My publisher created 500 little postcards as a follow-up to the workshop, reminding teachers about the book and giving them information on how to order it. I am sending them out to English teachers and librarians all over the state of Arkansas.
4) I have been invited to attend the Northwest Arkansas Authors Book Fair at the Springdale Public Library on October 5th, where I will be promoting and selling my book, meeting other authors and readers and offering a copy of my book for a random drawing.
5) I have also been invited to speak at a meeting of Springdale Librarians next Wednesday to give a thirty minute talk about my books and myself.
6) Mary of Shadows is being featured this week on a blog called Tess Three in the Morning.
7) I have a rather lengthy interview at the website ArkansasAuthors.com appearing on Tuesday, August 20.
8) I am one chapter and an epilogue away from finishing the final volume of the series. Mary of Cosmos is full of epic, troubling, harrowing scenes, but it will wrap this whole aether saga up nicely, I believe. I'll get the first draft finished this weekend.
Alrighty, I believe that's about all for now. My novel, Children of the Mechanism, is still sitting in a publisher's office somewhere, waiting to be either accepted or rejected, so there's not much to say about that one yet. I'll let you know how it goes.
1) Mary of Shadows is now available as an e-book and trade paperback at Whiskey Creek Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.
2) Mary of the Aether was part of a workshop this summer called So Many Book, So Little Time in which it was promoted to thousands of teachers in the region. My publisher created a special order form just for this workshop, offering the book at a special rate, and those forms have started to turn up at the publisher.
3) My publisher created 500 little postcards as a follow-up to the workshop, reminding teachers about the book and giving them information on how to order it. I am sending them out to English teachers and librarians all over the state of Arkansas.
4) I have been invited to attend the Northwest Arkansas Authors Book Fair at the Springdale Public Library on October 5th, where I will be promoting and selling my book, meeting other authors and readers and offering a copy of my book for a random drawing.
5) I have also been invited to speak at a meeting of Springdale Librarians next Wednesday to give a thirty minute talk about my books and myself.
6) Mary of Shadows is being featured this week on a blog called Tess Three in the Morning.
7) I have a rather lengthy interview at the website ArkansasAuthors.com appearing on Tuesday, August 20.
8) I am one chapter and an epilogue away from finishing the final volume of the series. Mary of Cosmos is full of epic, troubling, harrowing scenes, but it will wrap this whole aether saga up nicely, I believe. I'll get the first draft finished this weekend.
Alrighty, I believe that's about all for now. My novel, Children of the Mechanism, is still sitting in a publisher's office somewhere, waiting to be either accepted or rejected, so there's not much to say about that one yet. I'll let you know how it goes.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Mary of Shadows is Available!
Well, it was slated for an August release, but it came out one day early, so there you go. Mary of Shadows, the first sequel to Mary of the Aether is now available at the publisher's website in various formats (specifically, pdf, html, epub and trade paperback). Go forth and check it out. Buy yourself the appropriate version and read the further adventures of our Lightbearer. The stakes are raised, people, and the things that happen in this one will propel us into the rest of the series.
Click right here to go there.
In other news, I'm just a few chapters away from finishing the final volume of the series. Mary's tale is drawing to a close, people.
Click right here to go there.
In other news, I'm just a few chapters away from finishing the final volume of the series. Mary's tale is drawing to a close, people.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Latest Developments
Okay, I haven't updated the blog in a while, so here I am, people. Mostly, I've just been busy. Working during the day at a rather mundane "doing it for the paycheck" type of job and writing like crazy at night. My nightly goal is 2,000 words. The Mary Lanham saga is drawing to a close. In fact, I'm a little over halfway done with Mary of Cosmos, somewhere around 54,000 words.
In other news, a couple of updates on the first volume of the series, Mary of the Aether. Some editorial changes were made a couple weeks ago by my kindly editor to fix a few blatant and strange typos. The strangest of them was the one time in chapter three when Constable Mohler is referred to as Constable Rogers. How did it happen? Well, Constable Rogers was his first name. I changed it later to Mohler, but somehow the old name slipped through the otherwise intensive editorial process. I chalk this up to me being a newb at the time. Anyway, the new Constable Rogers-free Mary of the Aether is now available. If you've got one of the old versions, I guess you've got a collector's item.
In other news, my publisher and I are putting together a bunch of note cards to send out to schools in Arkansas. Mary of the Aether is being presented all over the region this summer as part of a workshop for teachers called "So Many Books, So Little Time," so we want to follow it up with a reminder. Maybe the book will catch a little more heat. That would be nice. Somehow, someday, I'd like to make a living at this writing business. We shall see!
Two more weeks until Mary of Shadows is available, by the way! Two more weeks.
In other news, a couple of updates on the first volume of the series, Mary of the Aether. Some editorial changes were made a couple weeks ago by my kindly editor to fix a few blatant and strange typos. The strangest of them was the one time in chapter three when Constable Mohler is referred to as Constable Rogers. How did it happen? Well, Constable Rogers was his first name. I changed it later to Mohler, but somehow the old name slipped through the otherwise intensive editorial process. I chalk this up to me being a newb at the time. Anyway, the new Constable Rogers-free Mary of the Aether is now available. If you've got one of the old versions, I guess you've got a collector's item.
In other news, my publisher and I are putting together a bunch of note cards to send out to schools in Arkansas. Mary of the Aether is being presented all over the region this summer as part of a workshop for teachers called "So Many Books, So Little Time," so we want to follow it up with a reminder. Maybe the book will catch a little more heat. That would be nice. Somehow, someday, I'd like to make a living at this writing business. We shall see!
Two more weeks until Mary of Shadows is available, by the way! Two more weeks.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Quick Cosmos Update
Well, I just thought I'd give a quick update about Mary of Cosmos. I am averaging a little over 2,000 words a day. Currently, the first draft stands at 20,277 words, seven chapters, and cataclysmic things are happening in the tiny town of Chesset, Arkansas. At this rate, I'll be done sometime in early or mid-August, and then *sniffle* I'll be done writing about Mary Lanham and her various friends forever and ever.
Ironically, just about the time I'm done writing about Mary forever, people will be able to read her second book and finally experience the increasing intensity of the series. Mary of Shadows is on the Whiskey Creek Press upcoming list, so keep an eye on the page for its sudden appearance!
In other news, my wife (who is my first draft reader) just finished Children of the Mechanism, and she suffered some lingering emotional trauma from it. So that bodes well. The manuscript has been sent to a publisher, so we'll see what sort of feedback I get.
Ironically, just about the time I'm done writing about Mary forever, people will be able to read her second book and finally experience the increasing intensity of the series. Mary of Shadows is on the Whiskey Creek Press upcoming list, so keep an eye on the page for its sudden appearance!
In other news, my wife (who is my first draft reader) just finished Children of the Mechanism, and she suffered some lingering emotional trauma from it. So that bodes well. The manuscript has been sent to a publisher, so we'll see what sort of feedback I get.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Mary of Cosmos
Well, I've finished all the revisions of Children of the Mechanism, and I've sent the manuscript off to publishers. I've decided to attempt a traditional publisher this time rather than self-publishing. We'll see what sort of response I get. It is a rather strange book, but I like how it turned out.
In the meantime, I've gone back to work on the final volume of the Mary Lanham saga. Mary of Cosmos will wrap up the whole story in epic, world-shattering fashion. And, oh, people, the first chapter is a doozy. Of course, I daren't say anything about it at this point, but just you wait and see. It's a chapter that was a lot of fun to write. I'll leave it at that.
The story is already worked out in my head, so the book shouldn't take too long to write. The sooner I get it to the publisher, the sooner it comes out. Typically, it is exactly one year from the contract date to the publication date. So what we're looking at now is Mary of Shadows in August of this year, Mary of Starlight in April of 2014 and the concluding volume, Mary of Cosmos, sometime probably in the early Fall of 2014. Then Mary's story will be fully told.
In other news, Mary of the Aether has been included on the booklist for a regional workshop called "So Many Books, So Little Time." You can see the full list here. Basically, these are books that are being recommended to thousands of teachers this summer, so Mary of the Aether should be getting a good amount of publicity in time for the sequel. We'll see how it goes.
As a final bit of news, I have an idea for another YA urban fantasy series I want to write next. It will be set in a trailer park in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Now, what could be more compelling than that? Anywho, sarcasm aside, it will be based on characters and ideas that I invented when I was a wee lad. Much like Cakey, these are characters who have lived in my brain a long time. It will be nice to get them down on paper and let other people get to know them. The first volume, The Figment Tree, will be the next thing I write.
In the meantime, I've gone back to work on the final volume of the Mary Lanham saga. Mary of Cosmos will wrap up the whole story in epic, world-shattering fashion. And, oh, people, the first chapter is a doozy. Of course, I daren't say anything about it at this point, but just you wait and see. It's a chapter that was a lot of fun to write. I'll leave it at that.
The story is already worked out in my head, so the book shouldn't take too long to write. The sooner I get it to the publisher, the sooner it comes out. Typically, it is exactly one year from the contract date to the publication date. So what we're looking at now is Mary of Shadows in August of this year, Mary of Starlight in April of 2014 and the concluding volume, Mary of Cosmos, sometime probably in the early Fall of 2014. Then Mary's story will be fully told.
In other news, Mary of the Aether has been included on the booklist for a regional workshop called "So Many Books, So Little Time." You can see the full list here. Basically, these are books that are being recommended to thousands of teachers this summer, so Mary of the Aether should be getting a good amount of publicity in time for the sequel. We'll see how it goes.
As a final bit of news, I have an idea for another YA urban fantasy series I want to write next. It will be set in a trailer park in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Now, what could be more compelling than that? Anywho, sarcasm aside, it will be based on characters and ideas that I invented when I was a wee lad. Much like Cakey, these are characters who have lived in my brain a long time. It will be nice to get them down on paper and let other people get to know them. The first volume, The Figment Tree, will be the next thing I write.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Lots O' Mary
Well, the first draft of Children of the Mechanism is complete. It's got some revision left to be done, and after that I have to decide what I'm going to do with it. I don't know if I want to self-publish this particular novel, or if I want to go the traditional publisher route. Decisions, decisions.
In the meantime, however, that book is on hold, because I just received the edits for Mary of Shadows, and I need to get all of that done as soon as possible, so I can get it back to my publisher. There don't seem to be many big problem to fix, just a few little grammatical things here and there. I always scan through the first time, looking for all the red text from the editor, and there's not too much. Anyway, the book seems on track to come out in early August, so be looking for it.
There is potentially some really big news on the horizon about Mary of the Aether, but I'm not sure I can share it just yet. Suffice it to say, if things work out, it's going to be getting a whole lot of publicity over the course of the summer *fingers crossed*. That would be perfect timing for the release of the sequel, so we'll see how things play out. Hopefully, I'll have some more concrete information to give in the next few weeks.
All of this makes me want to get to work on the fourth and final book of the series (currently called Mary of Cosmos). I've only written about half of the first chapter, and it starts off with a pretty big event. Just you wait and see, people. Just you wait and see.
In the meantime, however, that book is on hold, because I just received the edits for Mary of Shadows, and I need to get all of that done as soon as possible, so I can get it back to my publisher. There don't seem to be many big problem to fix, just a few little grammatical things here and there. I always scan through the first time, looking for all the red text from the editor, and there's not too much. Anyway, the book seems on track to come out in early August, so be looking for it.
 |
| Wandering off into the ominous forest, Mary? Whatever for? |
There is potentially some really big news on the horizon about Mary of the Aether, but I'm not sure I can share it just yet. Suffice it to say, if things work out, it's going to be getting a whole lot of publicity over the course of the summer *fingers crossed*. That would be perfect timing for the release of the sequel, so we'll see how things play out. Hopefully, I'll have some more concrete information to give in the next few weeks.
All of this makes me want to get to work on the fourth and final book of the series (currently called Mary of Cosmos). I've only written about half of the first chapter, and it starts off with a pretty big event. Just you wait and see, people. Just you wait and see.
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