The Road Ahead

It isn’t easy being a prognosticator. You stand on the edge of a fog shrouded precipice and try to guess whether or not there’s a place to step just within the gloom. You try to look into the future based on the present and decide what comes next, and it isn’t any fun. Alas, in life, we are forced to try to choose our paths as far in advance as possible so we can avoid any deadends that may lay ahead. With writing it’s all a matter of looking at projects that are unfinished, undone, or not yet ready for release and you sometimes lose focus on the task at hand. For me there has been one book I have wanted, no, needed to be released and that is my novel A Shadow Over Ever. This is a book that began as a short story in 1994 and lead to a novel that has been sitting drawer-bound for years. I have added, I have edited, and I have passed it on to friends but it has yet to see the light. I adore this book. There is a lot to it and I have been dying to get it released for ages. This was the book though that I wanted to have traditionally published. This was the ‘big one’. Alas, the world has still not discovered the awesome that is my writing so it comes down to two choices –

Self Publish.

Or.

Wait, wait, wait.

I am tired of waiting. I have sought tradtional publishing for the book and have failed at every turn so it falls to me to trust in the book, in the work, and to release it myself. I have no problem with this and have quite enjoyed the books I have self published thus far. The thing though is that there are limits to where self publishing can get you and I really thought this book (and The Meep Sheep to be completely honest) was saleable. I thought it was a desirable property. Perhaps it is. Time shall tell.

As of this blog the book is in the hands of a friend who is editing it for me and when she is done I will get it back and begin the arduous task of fixing the mistakes and mending the fences. After that it’s on to art for the cover, layout, and then publication next year. When next year? I can’t say for certain. Probably Spring, but time will tell how big of a job it is ahead of me. But with this book’s release finally approaching it brings me back to where we started, and that is with prognostication.

May of 2011 will see the release of the follow up to The Meep Sheep, a book that is sort of like an addendum to the first but which fills in some of the details about the places, people, and events that shaped that world. It’s a pretty dark but pretty fun book. After that I have the novel, which will release next year. And after that?

Nothing.

I have made the decision that I will stop publishing my books indefinitely after A Shadow Over Ever is released. As of that time I shall have six books out that all need to be promoted and supported and I need to focus on that and not publishing any longer. I have been blessed with the ability to put my work out these past three years and it’s been amazing. It made me remember why I fell in love with writing in the first place. I love doing the conventions, the art shows, and every manner of show in between and have loved getting the books out in front of people. Having said that though the fact remains that none of these books is in great demand and it seems pure folly to keep putting new books out until I rectify that or come to terms with it. I love what I have done and truly could put a LOT more books out but it just makes no sense. So after the novel is released I will take a hiatus. I will still write, and to some degree I will support the books but I am not sure what that entails or what comes next. I am open to everything and can hope that there’s a great response to the novel and what I am doing. I have to gird myself though for the possibility that that will not be the case.

So what comes next?

Well, first is The Kreep Sheep, which I am hoping you’ll all love the heck out of as much as I do. After that is A Shadow Over Ever next year, and then, well, nothing. I will keep writing and doing the rest of the stuff I do but there won’t be any more books out for a while. I promise at leasr one more book after the novel, some day, even if it’s the last book. I have SO many stories and I want you all to be able to read them all but, time shall tell.

For now it’s on to The Kreep Sheep, the Motorcity Comic Con and beyond and then there is…

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