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Halfway There

Reached the 45K mark in my current work-in-progress, which should be the halfway point if it ends up being the same length as the first book in the series. I've got the plot arc mapped out with plenty of room for surprises along the way. Added some political intrigue to make things interesting, as well as some trust issues the protagonist has to work through. Hoping to keep the momentum going and have the first draft completed in time for summer edits.

In other news, I decided to give the Virtual Voice robo-narrator a chance with one of my short eBooks, just to see how it turned out. I've gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised with the result. It's much more lifelike than the text-to-voice function on my 2009 Kindle. While I don't plan on taking this route for all of my books that aren't currently available in audio, it was a fun experiment, and I'm always up for trying something new. Check it out here: Out of Time.

The Author Hop fast approacheth! Here are the glorious details for my first-ever in-person event: 

March Update

Making good progress on Infidels & Insurgents, the sequel to Dust Freaks & Demigods. Hit the 30K mark this week, and that's about a third of the way, methinks. Doing my best to average 1K a day, even if it means only 500 words on some days and 1,500 on others. So far, so good.

I'm fully immersed in this world again, but I still have to go back to the first book to make sure certain details and descriptions are consistent. Sometimes I have both documents up at the same time as I search for specific terms. All part of the world-building fun: sticking to your own rules.

Easter eggs are always a hoot, so I'm referencing a character from one of my other series each time the protagonist dives into VR to meet one of her underworld contacts. The interactive storyline is a Future Noir environment, so of course one of the avatars had to be Charlie Madison.

In other news, I think I'm prepared for the Author Hop at the local library later this month. I'll have a few of my paperbacks for sale and flyers with a QR code so folks can sign up for my newsletter (and get a free eBook each month). First time I've ever tried selling my books IRL, so I told my wife that if I sell one, I'll consider it a success.

Galactic Mysteries StoryBundle

Galactic adventures await! 

With this StoryBundle, curated by Simon Kewin, you name your own price. Pay whatever you feel the books are worth (above the minimum), with a portion of the proceeds going to charity. The bundle runs for only three weeks (2/28-3/21), so don't delay. Grab this great deal today!

> For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle 
of four eBooks in EPUB format: 

Infinite Waste by Dean F. Wilson
Synthesis: Weave by Rexx Deane
Grand Master's Pawn by Aurora Springer
AGROTHARN the Interstellar Semi-Barbarian! by Milo James Fowler

> If you pay at least $20, you'll get all four of the basic bundle eBooks, 
plus seven more—11 eBooks in toto

Loophole by Ian Stewart
Milijun by Clayton Graham
Dead Star by Simon Kewin 
Lift Off by Tyrean Martinson
Birds of Paradise by Rudolf Kremers 
The Galathea Chronicles by J.J. Green 
Dark Nebula - Books 1-3 by Sean Willson 

> And if you sign up for the free StoryBundle newsletter, you'll get a copy of:

Home World by Simon Kewin (to be read prior to Dead Star)

What are you waiting for? Order your Galactic Mysteries bundle right here.

No Bare Chests Allowed

Since I started participating in BookFunnel promos last year, I've noticed there are a lot of books out in the world displaying all manner of moobs. That's right: muscly man-boobs. I guess it's an entire subgenre of speculative fiction where half-naked men transform into animals. And it's somehow considered romance? Not sure exactly, but I know there's been some pushback amongst BookFunnel organizers, and now promos have rules along the lines of: "No nekkid man chests!"

How does this affect my books? Well, I don't write romance novels, but AGROTHARN does happen to be bare-chested on his covers, and that isn't always looked upon favorably. I've had Book 1 kicked out of multiple promos because of it. The organizers apologize, saying they realize it's not erotica by any stretch, but they're sticking to their guns. NO bare chests allowed.

So I'm trying an alternate cover as a workaround: 

Winter Book Blast

Release Day

Rookie investigator Sera Chen is having a rough week. Her partner is a clone of the man she killed. His ghost still haunts her nightmares. Her boss seems to be going out of his way to block her investigation. And not only has a dangerous criminal escaped from custody, but a bizarre cult may be involved in a rash of deaths across the Ten Domes of Eurasia.

Life has always been precious, but it's even more so now with the last remnants of humankind living in ten interconnected biospheres along the Mediterranean Sea. When dust addicts threaten to disrupt the delicate equilibrium of the Domes, it will take a demigod to balance the scales. But even with her special abilities, Sera must first overcome her personal demons before she can stop a powerful emergent threat intent on total domination.

eBook       Paperback

Not Much Writing Update

The goals this month were to finish final edits on Dust Freaks & Demigods, get the eBook and paperback formatted for their February 6 release, compile the AGROTHARN trilogy into a box set, and start drafting the next installment of Dome City Investigations: Infidels & Insurgents. With three days left in the month, I'm pleased to say I've managed to meet every goal but one. Then again, if I manage to write even the first line of Infidels by Wednesday, I'll consider that a win.

First, I need to go over the pages of notes I took while giving Dust Freaks a final read-through. Plenty of details to keep straight while expanding the world with new conflicts and characters. I'm looking forward to diving into Sera and Dunn's next adventure, but I want to make sure I've got everything just right before I knock it all down and make life difficult for them. Then I'll follow them around while they sort through the mess and hope they can figure it all out. 

They've done it before, and they make a great team, so I have every confidence they will. But will it be smooth sailing? No chance of that.

The Trilogy is Complete


Now available in eBook and paperback: the Chronicles of AGROTHARN! The first book is currently available wide, and both sequels will soon follow suit. Since Book 1 is going to be included in a StoryBundle next month, and it couldn't be in Kindle Unlimited in order to participate, I figured this was a good time to test the wide open waters again. We'll see how it goes. Sales have been pretty good so far, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. For what it's worth, these books won a fictitious "best trilogy in the universe" major award, after all!

Year in Review: 2023

I managed to write almost every day this year, and I'm feeling pretty good about that. No massive word counts, but at least a few hundred words a day, which tends to add up. Spent most of the year working on the Inspector Broekstein and AGROTHARN trilogies, and I'm happy with how both turned out. Also got some practice compiling eBook box sets, and I revamped all of my paperbacks, so they're looking much better. Might try my hand at selling a few in February when the local library hosts an Author Hop. New year, new experiences, right?

Novels Written

AGROTHARN the Interstellar Semi-Barbarian! (Added 18K for a total of 80K) 
Lives on the Line (Added 39K for a total of 54K)
Whispers in the Woods (54K)
AGROTHARN: The Blades & Blasters Show! (80K)
AGROTHARN: The Search for Demise-Bringer! (80K)

Books Published:


Audiobook Produced:


Blog Posts: 25

Another One Bites the Dust

Edits are DONE on Book 3 in the Chronicles of AGROTHARN! Next I'll take a day to format the eBook, another day to format the paperback, and then one more day to assemble the paperback cover. Probably won't tackle much of that until after Christmas, but I have plenty of time to get it uploaded prior to the January 9 release date. And having next week off work should be helpful.

So, what's next? Glad you asked. The plan is to format Dust Freaks & Demigods (Dome City Investigations, Book 1) for an eBook and paperback release in early February, then work on the Chronicles of AGROTHARN boxed set. At the same time, I'll start drafting Book 2 of Dome City Investigations with a summer release in mind. Working title: Infidels & Insurgents. Really looking forward to diving back into that world.

Speaking of worlds, since the Chronicles of AGROTHARN take place in a reality adjacent to the Captain Quasar books, I'm hoping readers will be interested in checking out Quasar after they've had a full helping of AGROTHARN. And since the Dome City Investigations take place in the same world as my Spirits of the Earth trilogy, I'm hoping readers will check out those books, too. I'll be sure to write a note at the end nudging them in the right direction.
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