April Showers

It's raining today here in West Michigan, which always seems to boost my word count. 

I'm up to 40K in the third Inspector Broekstein murder mystery, Whispers in the Woods, and on track to wrap up this draft by the end of the month. The first book takes place in a mansion, the second in a soap factory, and this one's deep in the heart of Maine. I'm imagining the area around Camp Fowler as I write it, but of course I'm changing the names of everything to protect the innocent.

On the paperback front, I haven't decided which one to revamp this month, but I'm thinking it will be a short story collection: Coyote Cal or Soul Smuggler. Maybe both?

Short & Strange New Release

My last short story collection (for now) brings nineteen darker tales together for the first time. Seventeen of them were included when Shadowland Theatre had its serialized run on Kindle Vella last year, but for the eBook release, I've added a couple stories that originally appeared here on the blog. 

As with After Thoughts, each of these flash-sized tales (600+ words) is based on a haiku from Maikro. Short & strange standalone episodes of horror, science fiction, and fantasy guaranteed to stay with you long after you've turned out the lights for the night—should you dare to do so.

But don't take my word for it. If you're in the mood for something along the lines of the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, check out Shadowland Theatre for yourself at an insanely low new-release price:

Amazon

After Thoughts: The Audiobook

Amazon       Apple       Audible

After Thoughts collects 12 speculative fiction tales you'll never forget, now available in audio and featuring the voice talents of Craig Waletzko: 

  All That's Left Behind     Entrepreneur of the Year

  Better View Desired       Danse Nocturne

  Collateral Damage         Supersonic

  Collective Bargaining      Favorable Winds

  Absolute Magnitude        Kagemusha

  First People                    Monochromatic Mandate

Novel #19

Finished drafting Lives on the Line (Inspector Broekstein, Book 2) a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure exactly how I would write a murder mystery set in a late 1940s Connecticut soap factory, but somehow I managed. The twist at the end surprised me, which is always fun. No matter where I think a story is going, there's always a chance it might veer in an unexpected direction, and as long as it makes sense, that's alright by me. I enjoy surprises as a reader, and probably even more so as a writer.

Now I'm 17K into the trilogy's third installment, and this time, Inspector Broekstein finds himself deep in the heart of Maine, contending with ornery wildlife and thick accents. If I keep up my current pace, I should have it drafted in a couple months. Then the plan is to release all three cozy mysteries this summer. A small press rapid-released my post-apocalyptic trilogy in 2020 and my comedic space opera in 2021, but this will be my first solo flight in a completely different genre. Should be interesting.

March Madness

Real life has been hectic lately, so I haven't written a whole lot, but I am two chapters into the third Inspector Broekstein mystery, Whispers in the Woods, so that's something. I also finished updating the paperback version of Westward, Tally Ho! and, by all indications, it turned out well. 

This month's goals: make it a third of the way through the first draft of Whispers in the Woods and revamp the paperback edition of Double Murders are Twice as Bad. That should be doable.

In other news, my flash fiction collection After Thoughts is getting the audio treatment, courtesy of Craig Waletzko who produced Alienated. Based on what I've heard so far, it's going to sound great. He really knows how to bring characters to life.

How I Publish a Paperback

After seeing how well Uncommoner turned out in print, I've decided to overhaul my entire paper-and-glue backlist and spruce them up a bit. I plan to refer back to this post whenever I'm working on a paperback, so I may update some things as I go along.

First up, here are a few sites that really came in handy:

> 7 Steps to Format Your Paperback

> Paperback Manuscript Templates

> Cover Calculator & Template

> Using Canva for Book Covers

And here's the path I took:

1. Copy and paste the single-spaced manuscript with chapter headings into the chosen trim size template: 5.25" by 8"

2. Use a free, commercial-use font: EB Garamond

3. Change line indents from 0.5" to 0.2" and add running headers + page numbers; turn off page borders in design to delete horizontal lines in headers/footers

4. Add section breaks in page layout to eliminate running headers above chapter titles, which should be twice the normal font size to ensure consistent spacing between text and page numbers in the footer

5. Set full justification and check for any weirdness at the ends of pages and chapters; ensure that widow/orphan control is turned off

6. Input the page count in the cover calculator and download the template; use Canva to create a custom project with the cover dimensions in inches; assemble the cover with free, commercial-use art from Pixabay, keeping all text lined up inside the template's white space

7. Save the book and cover as PDFs, and carefully review every page prior to publishing

February Goals

This month, I'm planning to finish the first draft of my second Inspector Broekstein mystery, Lives on the Line. Murders at the Manor ended up being 53K, and the sequel should be about the same length. Right now, I'm at 45K, and things are ramping up toward a wild and crazy finale.

Then I'll have to decide whether to draft the third Inspector Broekstein book while his eccentricities are fresh in my mind or to continue Dome City Investigations with Insurgents & Infidels, the sequel to Dust Freaks & Demigods (in the same world as Spirits of the Earth).

On the paperback front, I'm planning to revamp Westward, Tally Ho! I updated the eBook cover a while back and will be doing the same with the print version, as well as resizing it to 5.25" X 8" and reformatting the interior. Eventually, all of my backlist titles will look as good as Uncommoner.

Keep reading

Novel #18

Mission accomplished: I finished writing the first season of AGROTHARN the Interstellar Semi-Barbarian on January 30. One hundred episodes (80K words) of sword & sorcery meets space opera meets gonzo insanity. It's a novel I never expected to write, each chapter inspired by four random story cubes. That could be a real challenge at times, and I had no idea how it would all turn out, but I'm very pleased with how it did. I probably had more fun with this crazy tale than anything else I've ever written.

While season one can stand alone, it might be even better with a second season, so I plan to start writing AGROTHARN: Blades & Blasters! this fall (after a summer of other projects patiently awaiting my attention). Already looking forward to that.

Eventually when I release the eBook and paperback, I'll use cover art similar to what I've included here. I want it to scream pulpy fun, like those adventure novels from decades ago. But for now, AGROTHARN will be exclusively available on Kindle Vella, where you can continue to read all of my recent works in progress—until this Amazon venture goes the way of Kindle Scout.

New Release: Unlikely Heroes Unite!

For fans of The Princess Bride, Shrek, and Fractured Fairy Tales...

When the eccentric Baron Rauxtund is kidnapped from Havenwaye Manor by a cabal of traitorous knights, it will be up to a handful of peasants to save the day. But what can a young serf, an old village priest, and a few loyal yet quarrelsome subjects do against such overwhelming odds? And who is this masked Strange One who rises to the occasion while kicking below the belt? 

WARNING: This is not your cute fairy godmother's adventure story. It is a tale of uncommon heroes and horrid villains, of virtues and vices, of courage against powerful evil schemes. Gird up your funny bone, for intense giggles, groans, and gasps in equal measure await! 

Originally on Kindle Vella, now available in eBook and paperback:  Amazon

Keep reading

Noveling Update

This month, my goals are to wrap up AGROTHARN the Interstellar Semi-Barbarian, make it to the halfway point of Lives on the Line (Inspector Broekstein #2), and get Uncommoner: A GrimFarce out there for the world to read in eBook and paperback. So, how am I doing? Glad you asked.

From the start of AGROTHARN I wanted to write 100 episodes. Arbitrary, I know; sometimes I just like to push myself. But four months later, I'm pleased to say I've got 95 episodes on Kindle Vella with another five to go. I'm on the final story arc of "season one," and things are shaping up nicely. I should be able to post the 100th episode by the end of next week.

As soon as I finished Murders at the Manor, I knew I wouldn't be saying goodbye to amateur sleuth Willem Broekstein anytime soon. Only a day or two went by before I dove into the sequel, Lives on the Line. 20K written so far with the target being a little over 50K. Here's the current blurb:

Quirky, lovelorn Inspector Broekstein is back, this time in a mystery that begins with a bar of soap and a simple message carved on one side: Help me. All is not as it seems, however, and he will need his wits about him if he is to solve a dangerous case of infidelity, misogyny, and revenge without losing his head or his heart in the process.

Last, but not least, I've been formatting the eBook edition of Uncommoner: A GrimFarce and re-learning how to format paperbacks. Instead of using the KDP method that does it all for you and ends up not looking so hot in print, I decided to do the interior myself with the templates they offer. Then I used the cover calculator and took the template/dimensions over to Canva to piece everything together. If the PDF files load correctly, it should end up looking pretty spiffy.