The good folks at Author-Con have a message they would like shared with as many people as possible. Feel free to pass this on to whoever you think might be interested:

There have certainly been A Series of Unfortunate Events spreading across the world over the last few months!  How are YOU handling your current circumstances?  Whether you work through knowledge, resourcefulness, or greed…remember…THIS TOO SHALL PASS!  And when things turn around, Lemony Snicket will have a thing or two to say to YOU!  
 
Come hear Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) share his journey on 28-29 August at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah.  He may even play his accordion for you!  So pack up the kids and join us for the AUTHOR-CON 2020: A CELEBRATION OF LITERATURE FOR ALL! event, where knowledge (conference sessions) meets resourcefulness (festival activities), and life gets exciting!
 
Insane Early Bird passes are available now at:  authorcon.co/
 
We are in need of department managers.

This book has special significance to me, because it's the first book I ever wrote, clear back in 8th-grade typing class on an old green-screen Apple IIe.

Well, it's the first one I ever finished writing. I had started one earlier in a notebook called The Bermuda Triangle, but I only got about three pages into it before I lost the notebook.

Now when I say the first I wrote, I don't mean that what I have now is even remotely the same book. Originally it was called Dragonslayer, but the dragon got slayed in chapter 2, so I changed it to Demonslayer. But then all the demons got slayed in chapter 4. You get the idea of how things went from there.

I've come back to this book off and on for the last twenty-odd years, and it's been mostly what I've been working on for the past couple of years as well. It's gone through at least five complete re-writes in addition to countless smaller revisions, and is now a trilogy instead of a single book. Hopefully the current version is a little more coherent than the original.

Owing to the current crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to put the ebook book up for free download on my website, so if you'd like something to read while you're trapped in quarantine, feel free to grab it! Keep in mind that this version is by no means complete—it's only been through a few proofreads, so I'm sure it's rife with typos and inconsistencies. If you find any, please let me know. Enjoy!

I attended Author-Con 2019 this past weekend. It was the first year it was held, and I had a really good time there. I'm looking forward to going again next year, and watching it grow bigger and better every time! If you like reading, writing, or hanging out with creative minds, keep your calendar open for next year's event.

The proof is approved, and Kalmanash is now for sale on the CreateSpace store! It's 392 pages, and is priced at $12.99. I hope you enjoy it!

​www.createspace.com/7122001

The second proof for "Kalmanash" arrived, and it looks much better than the first. Just a few details to take care of and the book will be available for sale!

The proof copy came. I'm not satisfied with it, though. It ended up being way fatter than I expected, so I'm going to reduce the font size and try to bring it down at least a hundred pages or so. I also tried a new matte style cover, but I think I like the old glossy covers better. So, back to the drawing board for a bit.

​Just a little update on what's been going on, as I haven't posted here in a while.

I've been sending submissions out for some time now for a book called "Daughter of the Mages." No bites yet, but fingers crossed!

I also have a plan in the works to self-publish another book, and am also working on a dice-based board game that goes along with it. I'm not sure how long it will take, as it's still in the planning phase, but my family has played some test versions of it and we think it's pretty fun. I'm still looking for the best platform to produce it with.

I'm super excited. The iOS version of Scrivener, my favorite writing software, is FINALLY coming out! It's been years since it was promised, and at times I was sure it would never happen. But it is now. I've been participating in beta testing for it for a while, and it works really nicely. It syncs very well with the Mac or PC versions and is without a doubt the best writing program for iOS I've ever used.

Head over to www.literatureandlatte.com for more information if you're interested. I'm not affiliated with Literate and Latte, and I'm not recieving any sort of compensation for touting their wares—I'm posting this solely because I love the software and think it's a great boon to writers.