This is a day late because a power outage that started yesterday about noon and continued for another 22 hours. I blame Mother Nature because, well, it was her fault after all. Colorado (and other places) were hit with a "Bomb Cyclone" that brought hurricane-force winds, loads of snow, and some some generally crazy weather. This caused headaches, heartaches, and troubles for thousands (millions?) of people around the area. I was one of those impacted, but I didn't mind because I was safe, mostly warm, and hanging out with my family during the worst of it. Others, like those keeping folks safe, doing rescues, repairing power lines, and so on didn't have the luxury of being home with their loved ones. I'm extremely grateful to all those that braved the Bomb Cyclone to help others. Anyway... Yesterday was the release date for the second Modern Mythology book! In this novel, Marcus Barber, the immortal Roman centurion, must rescue his friend, Eddie, from the grips of maniacal mercenaries hired by Marcus's former lover, Joelle. In addition to saving Eddie, Marcus must also track down the location of the Egyptian Ancient, Apep, and prevent a cult from using the Ancient's essence to poison the Riverwalk area of San Antonio. All the while, he continues his quest to find his father, and has a side gig of stealing corporate documents for a white-collar espionage job. I've updated my novel publications page with links to all of the fine locations you can find the paperback and ebook. I don't have physical copies in my hands just yet, but I'm working on remedying that right now. As soon as I get my sweaty palms on the "dead tree" copies, I'll update my shopping cart and make it available for purchase directly from me. Thanks to everyone out there that made this second book possible by picking up (and in some cases reviewing) the first novel. Also thanks go out to a whole slew of people that made this book better. I'm not going to bore you with the lengthy list, but if you did beta reads, the one gamma read (you know who you are!), edits, or final reads on this novel... THANK YOU! Now on with our regularly scheduled programming (which means writing book #3 in the series, which is tentatively titled "Coyote's Laugh" but that may change.)

My most recent (which wasn't really all that recent) post, I lamented about being nervous about my first experiences getting a novel edited. I shouldn't have been. Everything went great! There's an obvious fact that I couldn't quite conceptualize: A good editor wants me to succeed as much as I do. ... and I had a great editor assigned to me by WordFire Press! Manny knocked it out of the park and really challenged me to up my game and make my novel so much more than I thought it could be. Don't get me wrong. It was a long process (though shorter than I expected) with a couple of rounds of edits. That first round was tons of work that took 6 weeks. (To be honest, it was 5 weeks. I lost a week to the Man Flu.) In that first round (which was mostly developmental edits), Manny pushed me in several areas to improve where I got lazy or weak and cheered me on where I nailed it. It wasn't all "doom 'n' gloom." He sent me a great deal of praise along with the notes citing where I needed to step up my game. Because I worked so hard on the first round of edits, the second round went much more smoothly. It took me a whopping eight hours (split almost in half) to go through the track changes in the Word document and accept almost everything. Where I didn't accept things, I reworked it a bit to where I thought it would satisfy Manny. I could tell we were on the same wavelength and meshed quite well. Where he suggested larger changes, I'd almost smack my head at the obvious nature of the request... and then eagerly make the change. With the second round of edits done today and sent off, I took a few moments to breathe easy. Unsure of what would come next, I was utterly surprised when Manny emailed me back and said he liked the manuscript enough to send it along to the production team at WordFire. Woo Hoo! Now... I'm not sure what's next or when the book will hit the stands. As I find out more, I'll be sure to let everyone know. I hope (*fingers crossed*) the book will launch in time for Pikes Peak Writers Conference in April. I didn't think that was a possibility, but now... maybe. Just maybe. Now I'm take a brief break (like a few hours to play some video games) before I load up book #2 in the series and see what form of edits I need to put into it to make it better.

I received an email from my publisher, WordFire Press , on October 25th asking for the "current final manuscript" of Griffin's Feather . They'd assigned an editor to the project, and were ready to move forward with the publishing process. Instead of being elated or excited, my main emotion was nerves. Loads of nerves. So serious, I grabbed my office trash can in case I needed to puke. Even though the book had already been acquired and signed for, I had the following thoughts rampaging through my psyche: What if it's not good enough? What if the editor hates? What if the editor hates me? Do I have time for another edit pass on my own? What will the world think of me when this worthless drivel hits the stands? What if someone thinks I faked my way through writing the novel? What will my friends think? What will my family think? AAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! ... Yeah... A serious amount of impostor syndrome hit me full in the face. It shouldn't have, but that was my reaction. I stepped away from the keyboard for about half an hour to get a little distance and let me process things. I've been through the editorial process before, but only on shorter works and non-fiction . I've been in a critique group for over a decade. I know how to "take a hit" and keep on truckin'. I know how to receive feedback and input and improve my work. I know all of this. I rarely feel this. Thus the pounce by the impostor demon. He snuck up on me, rolled a natural 20, and stabbed me square between the shoulder blades. Only by getting some distance did my nerves calm down enough for me to send off the manuscript to WordFire. The nervousness came and went and mostly settled down. I'd wake up in the middle of the night with the vision of my editor standing over me with a bloody quill in his hand stabbing down at me. I'm not saying my editor is a bloody-splattered, quill-wielding serial killer (how's that for a character idea?), but that's the impression my subconscious built for me. Until yesterday, I'd actually had no interaction with my editor. He lives in the Seattle area. I'm in Colorado. It's kind of hard to sit down over coffee to talk about the novel. Sure, there's Skype, but it's a bit early for that to fire up for us. Things changed for me and my weak, splintered, emotional brain when I received an email from the editor yesterday. He's been in the biz since 1976. That tells me he's experienced and manged to stick through things for decades. A total asshole or novel-shredder rarely lasts that long. At least, that's what I'm reading into it. He also told me that he's written quite a few short stories and has a novel under consideration at a Big Five publisher. This tells me that he gets writers. That helped put me at ease. Here's a quote from his email, "I always keep in mind that this is your story, and it's your name on the cover." You have absolutely no idea how great this made me feel. I've had an "editor" (loosely using that term) in a critique group before, and that "editor" made demands, requirements, and "must do actions" against me and my novel. Perhaps that's where my nerves come from because I had a critique partner put on the "editor hat" and tear me up rather than work with me to help the words become better. He closed out his email to me with, "I'm looking forward to hearing back and to working with you to make "Griffin's Feather" shine (and sell)." The phrase "working with you" (my emphasis) damn near made me cry from the release of emotional pressure I had built up for myself. Know that I have a partner (and a well experienced one!) standing next to me to guide me through things makes me happy enough to almost try and do a back flip.... almost. I know this has been a long and rambly affair of a blog post. I'm trying to come up with a pithy theme or a "you can do it!" message for those out there. I guess I'll close by saying there are people out there who on your side even when you don't know it. .... I'm also really looking forward to jumping into the nitty-gritty work and seeing what ideas my editor has for me to improve my work.

WordFire Press Archives

Viper’s Bane Audiobook
Gallery
Viper’s Bane Audiobook

Audiobooks, Modern Mythology, WordFire Press

Viper’s Bane Audiobook

J.T.2019-07-25T10:18:55-06:00July 8th, 2019|Audiobooks, Modern Mythology, WordFire Press|

The audiobook for Viper's Bane went live on Friday! Today is the first time I've had a chance to sit down at my computer and plink away at the keyboard, so here's my official announcement of the audiobook release. The same narrator, Charles Kehlenberg, did this book as well as [...]

Comments Off

Viper’s Bane
Gallery
Viper’s Bane

Modern Mythology, Novels, WordFire Press

Viper’s Bane

J.T.2019-03-14T21:20:34-06:00March 14th, 2019|Modern Mythology, Novels, WordFire Press|

This is a day late because a power outage that started yesterday about noon and continued for another 22 hours. I blame Mother Nature because, well, it was her fault after all. Colorado (and other places) were hit with a "Bomb Cyclone" that brought hurricane-force winds, loads of snow, and [...]

Comments Off

Griffin’s Feather Audiobook
Gallery
Griffin’s Feather Audiobook

Audiobooks, Modern Mythology, Novels, WordFire Press

Griffin’s Feather Audiobook

J.T.2019-02-11T22:31:29-07:00February 11th, 2019|Audiobooks, Modern Mythology, Novels, WordFire Press|

The audiobook for Griffin's Feather is finally live! If you want to hear the wonderful Charles Kahlenberg narrate his way through my words and push his fantastic voice into your ear space, head on over to Audible as fast as you can to get your copy. This is a limited [...]

Comments Off

MileHiCon Wrap-Up and Griffin’s Feather IS LIVE!
Gallery
MileHiCon Wrap-Up and Griffin’s Feather IS LIVE!

Conferences, Mile Hi Con, Modern Mythology, Novels, Publications, WordFire Press

MileHiCon Wrap-Up and Griffin’s Feather IS LIVE!

J.T.2017-10-30T10:34:43-06:00October 30th, 2017|Conferences, Mile Hi Con, Modern Mythology, Novels, Publications, WordFire Press|

I've been all over the social medias with the news, but I've not had time to sit down with this post until just a few minutes ago. I don't know how many people follow me ONLY on my RSS feed, but just in case there are a few.... MileHiCon 2017 [...]

Comments Off

Griffin’s Feather Update
Gallery
Griffin’s Feather Update

Modern Mythology, Novels, Publications, WordFire Press, WorldCon

Griffin’s Feather Update

J.T.2017-08-18T12:42:06-06:00August 18th, 2017|Modern Mythology, Novels, Publications, WordFire Press, WorldCon|

My debut novel, Griffin's Feather, is now in production with WordFire Press. The cover art is done. The cover layout is in process. The interior layout is in process. These are all great things. I know I'm sounding a bit analytical about it all, but that's because it's all so surreal [...]

Comments Off

Edits Done!
Gallery
Edits Done!

Editors, Modern Mythology, WordFire Press

Edits Done!

J.T.2016-12-28T22:42:17-07:00December 28th, 2016|Editors, Modern Mythology, WordFire Press|

My most recent (which wasn't really all that recent) post, I lamented about being nervous about my first experiences getting a novel edited. I shouldn't have been. Everything went great! There's an obvious fact that I couldn't quite conceptualize: A good editor wants me to succeed as much as I do. [...]

1

Nervous About Edits
Gallery
Nervous About Edits

Editors, Modern Mythology, Personal, WordFire Press

Nervous About Edits

J.T.2016-11-03T15:38:48-06:00November 3rd, 2016|Editors, Modern Mythology, Personal, WordFire Press|

I received an email from my publisher, WordFire Press, on October 25th asking for the "current final manuscript" of Griffin's Feather. They'd assigned an editor to the project, and were ready to move forward with the publishing process. Instead of being elated or excited, my main emotion was nerves. Loads [...]

Comments Off

Overdue WorldCon Report and Publishing Announcement
Gallery
Overdue WorldCon Report and Publishing Announcement

Modern Mythology, Novels, Publications, WordFire Press, WorldCon

Overdue WorldCon Report and Publishing Announcement

J.T.2016-09-13T17:04:31-06:00September 13th, 2016|Modern Mythology, Novels, Publications, WordFire Press, WorldCon|

So.... WorldCon was over three weeks ago, and I'm just now getting around to this. Most things are a hazy memory at this point, so this'll probably be the world's shortest WorldCon wrap-up report. The drive from Colorado to Kansas City was long and interesting. We got a little lost at one [...]

Comments Off

WordFire Press

July 2019

March 2019

February 2019

October 2017

August 2017

December 2016

November 2016

September 2016