Click here Jazz Fan

Yeah, it’s been that long since I posted. Funny (by funny I mean sad) that no one, including me, noticed. C’est la vie. Gone all this time you’d think I’d have a lot to say, but I’m going to keep this one short.

The news, for now, is that there’s a new Jazz story out, episode 14. Actually it’s been out for a while; it’s one I’m pretty happy with, Jazz, Monster Collector in: Down with the Clowns. Jazz has reached the last stop on her runaway rampage of revenge. Jazz and her trusty sidekick, DJ, ride straight into the heart of Clowntown with the intentions of taking out her last enemy just before the magic stone in her belly kills her. But hey, we don’t always get what we want, especially our favorite monster collector. Check it out for free by clicking the image or clicking Jazz ep_15. I hope you dig it.

So where have I been? In a funk mostly. And not the cool, get you dancing the rabid dingo, Bootise Collins kind of funk, just the creative slump kind of funk. But I have been busy rewriting, then editing, my first novel with the intention of publishing it through Tricorner. It will arrive at the editor’s this week, and needs artwork and formatting, but I’m hoping to have both the paper and the ebook versions out by the holiday season. I’m very excited about getting Strange Craft out for its fifteenth anniversary.

Jazz, season one, has been done for a while now. I fully intend to have the next story, Broken, out next week, but no promises. I will promise not to make you wait as long as last time, and no, my fingers aren’t crossed…much.

See you soon…ish,

Tallyho-Yo,

RyFT

This is a stereotypical and well understood process and yet so many publishers forget or ignore this when publishing an Ebook. Do they think the process of shopping for an Ebook is different from shopping for any other kind of book? A store is a store, whether made of bricks or bits of data, we’re the same customers and shop the same way.

Let’s pretend I’m looking for a something new to read on my Kindle, but don’t really know what I want. I go to the Kindle store and browse the ‘aisles’ via recommendations or ‘books like’ or lists. When a cover jumps out at me, I read the copy in the details section and, if I’m still interested, I download the free sample. Only the sample I’ve downloaded ends right after the introduction. The sample doesn’t include a single word of prose so guess what? Yup, Delete Sample! Potential sale lost all because the publisher didn’t think to include any actual content in their sample. Dumb, isn’t it?

So why do they make such a simple mistake? No idea. The big publishers still don’t seem to get ebooks (or perhaps refuse spitefully to get ebooks, but I’m only guessing). Most times the big five fail to price point ebooks correctly; they make the point unfairly high. Maybe they’re expecting ebooks to help cover the higher overhead costs of their paper books. They also often fail to include the ebook copy in the purchase of the paper version; yet another sales and pricing faux pas, but one that I’ll set aside for a future post.

But there are many small publishers and self publishing authors who make this same mistake. Maybe they’re afraid of giving too much away. I can’t imagine PB choosing against making a purchase because she was given too large a sample (unless you know that your story falls apart after the first bit and that you should fix anyway). I can clearly imagine PB choosing against making a purchase because she was given too small a sample. Personally I always give as large a sample as allowed by my distributor. Each and every PB represents a golden opportunity because PB can quickly become PR (potential reader) and gaining readers who can become dedicated fans is a golden opportunity, one that should not be taken lightly. Heck, as for me, I’d invite PB over, make her a pot of tea and massage her shoulders while she reads all but the last chapter of my book in hopes that she might be willing to hand me a couple of bucks to get to the end. I love my readers, both current and potential, and want to provide them every possible opportunity to sample my wares. If PB can sit at the in-store café with a cup of tea and read half of my book, then I want her experience at the virtual store to be equally enjoyable.

And while I’m on the topic of free story samples…

 Three For Free

In case you haven’t noticed, or don’t receive my amusing and unobtrusive newsletter (and why not, it’s fun, it’s free, and it’s quick—just fill out the little blue box to your left), over the last two weeks I’ve released three (you heard correctly, three) Jazz Monster Collector episodes.

The new stories are numbers twelve, thirteen, and fourteen and represent the first three parts of the four episode revenge cycle. And the good news doesn’t stop there, next week I’ll be releasing Jazz Episode Fifteen, Down with the Clowns, the final installment of the revenge cycle. Just click the little covers below to go to each episode’s Smashwords page. Ohh, you’re going to like these…

Jazz Episode 12

Jazz Episode 13

Jazz Episode 14

One of my favorite benefits from a writing life, aside from the writing, is being able to work wherever I am–my back deck, the coffee shop, on my boat, in the hotel, and two of my favorite places, camping in the woods and sitting on the beach.

Ah, nature, you inspire me.

 Now I am geared up for this. One of the tools in my arsenal is an HP Mini net book (remember those?). Mine has a solid state memory, meaning no battery hungry disc drive. I have a small shoulder bag I carry it in. The bag fits the netbook, a spare extended storage battery, a mini-mouse, headphones, note cards, pens, pencils, and highlighter. Pretty much everything I need to get work done. I took the browser off of the netbook, making it a dedicated writing device, and meaning that I cannot get tempted to waste time on the internet (too bad my smartphone still temps me…see the blogpost on discipline). This little laptop is great. It’s light, runs a long, long time on a single battery (I have two remember) and does everything I need it to do. I’m sure the same thing could be accomplished with a properly arranged tablet, but I like that the netbook allows me to keep an extra battery and reads memory cards.

Now don’t get me wrong, when I’m home, or know that I have access to an AC outlet, I still prefer my desktop or my wide screen laptop, but the netbook is a grand traveling companion.

So after a long, cold, snowy winter, my wife and I headed to a day on the beach. Here, in the Northeast (Long Beach Island, New Jersey in this case) it was still chilly, but nothing that a cable knit sweater couldn’t handle. My wife’s a painter and loves to paint ocean scenes. I knew that I had to get the final edits on the Jazz, Monster Collector double episode completed, so she grabbed her easel, I grabbed the net book, and we had a terrific day down the shore, and I got the stories completed.

To be a writer, no matter how lowly one’s position, means making many sacrifices. It means skipping television, missing friends, and events, and sleep, lots and lots of sleep, in order to keep up with page counts and deadlines. But aside from the pure satisfaction of creating, it’s a job one can do just about anywhere, anytime, and in whatever clothes one enjoys most.

So did you catch that the new, double episode of Jazz, Monster Collector is done? Well it’s also out and available to you right now at Smashwords. All the other ebook retailers will have it available very soon. So click over and grab it because you know that it’s free! That’s two for the price of one…I’m so nice. We’re moving closer and closer to the big, season finale too, so you’ll want to keep up.

Don’t forget to click the Club Sheen Frisco logo to your left. It’s the hot spot for what’s good to got in the RyFTiverse, so you definitely want to join.

Free! That’s right, Free Jazz, Monster Collector double issue. Get episodes 10 and 11 for the same great price! Just click the cover and off you go. Also available at major ebook retailers…hey, I like to make it easy.

Faked TA sighting…maybe

Speed Racer has Racer X, Big Bird has Snuffleupagus, Rescueboy has The Black Spot (oh wait, you haven’t read that yet), and I have TA Cuce’, a mysterious, helpful, elusive character that disappears whenever someone else is around. Eventually (if you haven’t already) you’re going to start thinking him a figment of my imagination.

Come to think of it, maybe he is. That would explain a lot.

But alas, Mr. Cuce’ is very much real.  

We have, in a variety of mediums, been collaborating creatively for over twenty years. A couple of times before I’ve promised to talk about FHM, the New Psychedelic Blues band I was in, and I’m going to go ahead and promise that again now. I will share with you that TA was a formidable part of the creative force behind the band, and that FHM was the vehicle for our first mutual creative efforts. But, for reasons that he alone knows, TA wishes to remain predominantly anonymous.

Look Closely

It’s all terribly mysterious.

Mr. Cuce’ has a unique and straight forward way of seeing life, and has a very Groucho Marx style of rapier wit and a keen sense of observation. He’s also, and I say this quite unabashedly, the funniest man I know.

But they say show don’t tell, so here we go…

Enlarged Section

PeeDee3 was an accident, an unwanted writing assignment that turned out funny. Frankly, I’ve fallen in love with hating the bug. He’s one of my favorite characters. TA Cuce’ loves him too, and very early on (episode 3, Another Time Perhaps) jumped in and wrote a story. Then (episode 6, The Pachydwerp in the Room) wrote another. We collaborated on these stories, but the truth of it is that in both cases I contributed maybe fifteen to twenty percent of the manuscript—at the most. These two episodes are both brilliant and fantastically funny.

Well TA Cuce’ is back in episode ten with another perilous adventure for everyone’s least favorite insectoid assassin, Battle Royale with Cheese, and I have to tell you, I think it’s the funniest PeeDee3 yet. And I’m not just saying that, it really is so you’ve got to check it out (what the heck, it’s FREE!).

Now when it come to asking him how smart or handsome he is, TA’s all about the wonderful, otherwise he’s one of the humblest people I know. Right off the bat he insisted I add my byline to the manuscript. I think I may have added two percent to the thing, hardly worth any credit, but he insisted. Point is that this episode owes its hilarity purely to one mysterious writer. He really is real, but you’ll just have to believe me.   

But wait! Where’s episode nine?

PeeDee3, episode 9, Scalapine Rex and his Band of Badass Barnacle Bedlams, is done, and is coming out soon, just not right now. Honestly, it’s alright, but still needs some work. And I’m under a very heavy work load at the moment, but I will get to it, I promise.

Hey, maybe I could have TA Cuce’ help me out with it. What? Still don’t believe he’s real? Read Battle Royale with Cheese, I’m just not that clever.

Click for the FREE Story

Tallyho-Yo

Productive habits, caffeine, a teeny bit of talent and imagination, and lots and lots of discipline, these are a big part of what it takes to write. A good way to develop said habits is by creating and practicing some simple rituals around your writing. Things like setting aside a regular writing time, making a pot of tea (or coffee, or cocoa, or whatever), closing the office door, turning off the TV (very important, and not just for writing), lighting a candle, starting some dedicated writing music…you get the idea.

It might seem silly—at first—but having some simple habits works. They are a signal to that annoying, nagging part of your brain that it’s time to get to work (especially important with so many other distractions so nearby. Brain: “Go on, hop onto the internet for a minute, a minute won’t matter…” Believe me, it’s never a minute and it really does matter.) As soon as I start preparing to write, putting on the tea pot, turning on the music, starting the computer, I feel my brain switching into work mode. By having and then consistently using productive habits, I’ve set up signals that tell the troublesome nag that like it or not, we’re getting to work. So, like a sulking child, he plops on the couch and leaves me be.

One of the best things I’ve done habit-wise was to create a dedicated space to work in. I’m lucky enough to have a small (virtually microscopic) office of my own. It’s not even a room; it’s just the landing at the top of the steps in my house. But I claimed a corner of the landing, found a way to get a small desk and chair in there, and a-la peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I have an office. Don’t have a little corner of a landing, then your office might be the end of the kitchen table, a briefcase full of your tools and notes that when you open it you’re in your office, maybe it’s a lap desk you use in your favorite armchair. Aside from being a signal to your brain, being in your office can be a good signal to friends and family that you are at work and, even though it may look to them like you’re doing nothing, it’s in their best interest to leave you be for a few hours.

Actually I don’t have a single space, not really, not anymore. My girls have (despite my forbidding them to) grown up, moved out, and started their very own lives. Also, my house is old, and drafty, and not very well heated, so I have a small table set up on my porch right beside my wood stove. It’s warm, and cozy, and my wife is very respectful and lets me be while I’m writing. In the nice weather I can also sit outside on our deck, or out on the lawn in a recliner, and type away.

I’m also a fan of the local coffee shops (I’m lucky to have several in my area, some within bicycle range). I’m an early bird by nature (please don’t hate me for it). I generally rise around 4:30. I’ll sit at home and write for a couple of hours, and when I start to get a little antsy, I’ll ride (bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, or (please, no) the car) to the coffee shop and write there a bit just for the change. Also, I find the muted sounds of ambient conversations relaxing. Like it says in my profile, I’m weird.

So what are your productive writing habits? You may have some and not even realize they were there until you thought about them. Care to share? Then please drop a comment below, I’d love to hear, I might even want to steal one or two.

Tallyho, yo.

Just out and hot off the internet, Jazz, Monster Collector, Episode Nine: Crime Scenes, It’s Jazz and Mickey the sasquatch thug versus a cadre of clowns, and the circus makeup adorned monster gang has enlisted a few magic users this time. I have a feeling someone’s gonna get hurt, big time. Grab it at Smashwords.

Jazz Monster Collector

“It’s supposed to be short, that’s why it’s serialized.”

There, I just wanted to say it…Excerpt:

107 AWM, the abbreviation stood for, After Worlds Merge, merge—ha! But that’s what they called it, they meaning just about every human but me. I called it as I saw it, an inter-dimensional hostile takeover, but then few were left that remembered the ID war. Most of my race’s survivors had willingly succumbed to a mass memory manipulation—the jerks. I remembered and I’m no jerk. I was called Jazz then, and worked as a ‘deferred species bond collector,’ that meant I collected monsters and I was all too happy to do it. Merth, as the dimensionally linked planets had been renamed, had become a Zion filled with idol, lazy, and easily manipulated masses, the masses were mindless because they wanted to believe the utopian lie they’d swallowed. But they were going to spit it out, it was going to hurt, and I was the one who was going to make them do it. This is how it started.

 That’s how my second serialized story, Jazz: Monster Collector, begins, and from there on it’s a rip-roaring, twisting, turning, frenzied ride as Jazz battles monsters, avoids the Enforcer Corps, stalks the secret force behind the inter-dimensional takeover of her planet, and all the while struggles to earn enough for a sandwich now and again. Whew…welcome to the world of Mirth.

Now I’ve mentioned Jazz more than twice in this blog, and subsequently mentioned how much I like these stories, here’s a bit of why…but first, let’s talk serialized—and yeah, I’ve talked about this before, a lot. I won’t define the term again, but I am going to talk serialized fiction as it pertains to my Monster Collector.

A lot of people like Jazz, but one of the (disheartening) comments I sometimes receive is that the stories are too short. The length of these stories was intentional. As the average reader consumes about one a page a minute, I wanted to keep each episode around the 20-25 page range—just the right amount of time for a lunch break or commuter ride. I was looking to fill what I saw as a niche time market, and Jazz, being action centered and fast moving, was well suited to that story length.

But there was more that made Jazz serialized-story appealing. Her stories have a very pulp-fiction feeling to them, and that played well into the cliffhanger endings I wanted for each episode. Right from the start I’d planned this as an ensemble cast, and the ongoing series format allowed me the room to explore many characters. About that; despite that the individual episodes of Jazz are short on pages, the tale goes on from episode to episode (there is an eventual finale), giving me a pretty much open-ended page count—I can make this thing as dang long as I feel fits the story.

Besides, the story length just felt right…so there.

Now who wouldn’t like Jazz? She’s tough and straight forward, but also loyal and committed to what she deems right. She takes action and doesn’t take crap from anyone. She has a crew of loyal, although somewhat bizarre, associates and a bevy of the super-coolest weapons this side of the Batcave. On top of all of that, even though she hates it, she lives on a world full of fascinating monsters and magic—the stuff of dreams. This thing is just plain fun. Give Jazz a chance and I think you’ll like her too.

NEWS: Jazz, Season one: Earth’s Lament, the collected stories, will be available come late spring. Over the upcoming month, I’ll be releasing three new Jazz episodes, and I’ll have three more out before spring. Then I’ll release the collection in several options. One will be the ebook version, which will include a never before published Jazz story. A second will be the print version, which will include all the stories in the electronic version, and also include a bonus, exclusive Jazz story. The Third version is a surprise.

BETTER NEWS: All the current Jazz stories are available to you for absolutely FREE! That’s right, FREE!

Tallyho-yo

Now here’s some easy to use links:

FREE Jazz at Smashwords

FREE Jazz at Itunes Book Store

FREE Jazz at Barnes & Noble

Jazz (possibly FREE) at Amazon

(If it isn’t free on Amazon, please click the ‘tell us about a cheaper price’ link at the bottom of the story’s Product Details section and share a link with Amazon where it’s listed free. After enough of us say something, they make it free)

Naughty Claus Audio Story

Okay, so now it’s just tradition. About this time every year I head up to the attic, dig out the Andrew Ely I keep in a box with a bunch of garland, tinsel, and five year old fruitcake, and I set him in front of a microphone just so he can expertly read you, A Visit From Naughty Claus, my dark and dreary tale of holiday woe.

It’s a tale in verse about one family’s troubled Christmas that is brought to a catastrophic conclusion, all because one little boy delighted at being on Santa’s naughty List. But as the saying goes, bad kids get coal; really bad kids get a visit from Naughty Claus.

So garner up your holiday spirit, pour yourself a peppermint hot chocolate, and cuddle up with the naughtiest kid you know for a listen. Aside from a few snickers for you, that petulant child might just have a major behavior improvement after the listen. Besides, it’s totally free.

I mean come on, Mr. Ely is sitting here waiting to read to you, and he doesn’t get his Christmas pudding with a sprig of holly in it until he does.

Happy Tallyho-Yo,

RyFT Brand

Get the Ebook version free by visiting your retailer, or clicking HERE    

A Tale of Two Stories

They’re Great!

Hang with me here (please), because I’m about to make one of my grand errors. I know I should open this post with an attention grabbing hook or an objectively witty zinger, but instead I’m kicking off with the third most boring opening I can think of: a definition (surpassed in drollness only by the cliché and the dream sequence (which I did in StrangetaleS)). I have some really great news to share too, but I’m not telling you until the end. 

Serialized Fiction: a publishing format by which a large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous (typically chronological) installments.     —Wikipeadia

–see, boring, right? I’ll try to elaborate, then explain why I’m telling you all of this to begin with.

 I think the best examples of contemporary sterilized fiction are television dramas that feature an overall season (and mayhap series) long story arc. There’re a myriad of examples, shows like Lost, and Twenty-Four, and Breaking Bad, and (gasp) soap operas, but actually I’ve never watched any of those shows (I don’t really watch television). But I have watched Buffy.

 Each season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a major bad guy doing bad stuff all through the season that would lead up to the climatic season ending battle between the big bad and Buffy. There were other bad guys along the way who’d show up for an episode here and there, but the larger story was building all along.

 I’m not going to delve into a history lesson, but there’s nothing new about serialized storytelling. The Odyssey and the Iliad were serialized, as were the Arthurian tales. Pulp and dime novels did it, and there were the movie serials of the thirties, forties and fifties. I’m not actually old enough to have seen those, but one thing I liked about them was how each installment ended in a cliffhanger, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats, excited for the next episode so they could learn how their heroes faired (the sixty’s Batman television show deftly played up this comic book trope).

 And now for the ah-ha: I currently have two serialized stories out and available for your eager consumption, PeeDee3, Intergalactic, Insectoid Assassin, and Jazz, Monster Collector.                           

 I’m a fan of writer, Michael A. Stackpole. And while I am a fan of his writing (I’m really enjoying the Crown Colonies series), I’m especially a fan of his writing and publishing advice. I don’t know of another working writer who gives so much to the writing community (thank you, sir). Several years ago, I heard him expounding on the positive future of serialized fiction in the ebook age. And, as usual, he made many compelling points (I particularly like Mr. Stackpole’s Trick Molloy serial). One was just how busy everybody is these days (I don’t watch television, remember; no time). With our limited free time, an ongoing story designed to be consumed in short bits (like on one’s commute, or lunch break, or in the waiting room) can fit nicely into a busy schedule. I also like how each installment drops right into my various electronic readers, just like a great episode being beamed directly into our televisions. And since I always have my phone with me, I’m constantly grabbing a few minutes to read here and there, and serials fit perfectly into that space.  

 As it so happened, I had already written several of the PeeDee3 stories and really had no idea where to go with them. Now PeeDee3 isn’t really a ‘proper’ serial because the stories (at least for season one) don’t follow in a chorological order, but hold on because there is a season arc building –we are going somewhere. So with some formatting and research and more formatting, I was able to bring my first serialized stories to the world, and I really enjoyed writing them. Naturally we want to do more of what we enjoy.

 Almost immediately I had ideas for two other serials slam into my mind, one of which, about a surgeon in 1869 who bears a terrible curse, will be heading your way soon. But there was someone else, this young girl that kept nagging for my attention. She’d actually been in my mind for a long time, rattling the pipes and shaking the beams, but I couldn’t picture bringing her out yet, mostly because it would happen way, way out of chronological order. Finally, after I could no longer ignore her pleas for attention (meaning she kept slinging that Tazer-rang of hers against the inside of my skull) I had a realization—so what?

 That was the beginning of Jazz, Monster Collector. And she’s going to be the star of Serilized Realized part two. For now I’ll simply say that she’s quickly become one of my favorite characters in the RyFTeverse, that Jazz, Monster Collector, is very much a proper serial, and that I think you’re going to like her too.

 And now the great news…both of my current serials are available to you for free, no charge, zero dinero, nada, absolutely nothing! I’ll jam a series of links below this, but nearly everyone, Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Itunes, has the stories for you to download with a mere click of your mouse, pretty much everyone except for Amazon. Amazon, you see, won’t let me post a story for less than ninety-nine cents. But you can help out with this. About halfway down the book’s page on Amazon is a hyperlink titled, Tell Us About a Lower Price. Click that link and let Amazon know that others list the story for free. In the meantime, Kindle readers (like me) can get the story free at Smashwords and it’s easy to do.

 So read more serials, they’re good for you.

Tallyho, yo,

RyFT

The RyFT Smashwords Page with the FREE stuff

RyFT on iTunes

RyFT at Barnes and Noble

RyFT on Kobo

RyFT on Amazon    Tell them to make it Free!

 So have you read any Piers Knight yet? How about Jack Hagee? How about Teddy London, or any of the Kolchak the Night Stalker novels and short stories? Have you read Blakeley and Boles? Well I’m betting that you’ve read some of these, and if not, you’re missing out. Get one of them, read it, and I’ll bet you’re back to buy more. What all of these stories have in common is their author, CJ Henderson.

I first met Mr. Henderson three years ago at the National Haunter’s Convention. We were both there selling books. The main difference between us was that one, he has real talent, two, years of experience, and three, people actually know who he is. And, for the brief moments our paths have crossed, he’s always taught me something, whether in his workshops or just in passing conversation. The man is an author’s author, meaning that he’s forgotten more about writing that most of us will ever know. I feel that I owe him a good deal of thanks, mostly because he’s the one who introduced me to my Editor, Danielle Alley-McPhail. Have you read any Bad Ass-Faeire Tales? Have you read Yesterday’s Dreams? Okay, I’m not going to put you through all of that again. Take it from me, she’s a great writer and a great editor, meaning she calls me out when I’m being stubborn about my work. Read her stuff too, you’ll thank me.

The thing that strikes me most about CJ Henderson is his truthfulness, not to say he doesn’t lie, I have no idea if he does or doesn’t, what I mean is that he’s a straight shooter, he tells it like he sees it. I was sitting in a workshop he was teaching, one that came shortly after Danielle had tattled to him that I had been less than diligent about getting some work back to her. In the middle of the workshop he said to me, “I recommend that you watch more television, drink a beer (actually I don’t drink), take a vacation, do anything but write—I don’t need the competition. But if you really want to write, get off your ass and write.”

See what I me, truthfulness. I respect that, especially when he’s right, and he was very right.

Now to the point, I just found out that Mr. Henderson has lymphoma. Contrary to common belief, and to what television and movies would have you think, most writers are not rich, in fact most hold other jobs because they have to. The margins in publishing just aren’t very high, not on the author’s end for sure. Most writers write because they are following their passion. Some very good folks have set up a fundraiser for CJ, and it’s as simple as can be to do, and even a very small donation can be of great benefit. Just click HERE, or on the link at the bottom of this post, click Donate, and you’re very nearly done. In fact here’s a little incentive, make a donation to Mr. Henderson’s fund in any amount, shoot me an email (be honest please) and I’ll send you the complete Jazz: Monster Collector, Season One collection for FREE! This is literally hot off the presses (meaning my hard drive) and won’t be available to the public, in its entirety until January. Just don’t forget to let me know what format you want it in.

 I know Danielle would write, Cliché, in a red marker in the margin, but this is for a good cause.

Tally-ho, yo.

RyFT

Click HERE to make a donation.

Click HERE to visit Mr. Henderson’s website

Email me HERE, or click the RyFTgraph to the left to let me know you’ve made a donation and I’ll send you your free stories (please include which format you would like).

Never saw this coming. At a recent appearance I was protested by an angry mob; assumedly over my lack of new material for my serials, PeeDee3: Intergalactic, Insectoid, Assassin, and Jazz: Monster Collector. It’s my own fault, I did leave the stories hanging in limbo (in PeeDee3’s case, literally) for many months now.

Imagine that, little ol’ me the center of a protest. Imagine—imagination—so very similar.

So I took some literary license here. There wasn’t so much as a mob as there’d been a crowd—that is if one guy constitutes a crowd. And I wasn’t at an appearance so much as I was at another site for my bothersome day job. And, as long as I’m all up in confession mode here, the crowd of one protester was a guy that I work with who I’m fairly certain has never read a single story I’ve written.

Still, the attention felt nice. Might be cool to be protested; sounds like good advertizing.

According to his signs, he wasn’t even upset about my lack of recent published work, he was complaining about my plot and story abilities despite the fact that he hadn’t read my stuff. Apparently he’d heard from someone else about my poor plots and storylines. Still, he felt compelled to complain. I suppose that shows some interest.

A nurse working at the site asked what the signs were, and I happily explained thinking she might then be interested enough to pick up a free story, read it, love it, start sharing it with friends who would share it with friends and start a whole download flurry.

She wasn’t interested.

So where the heck are those last PeeDee3 and Jazz stories to wrap up their respective season one’s?

They’re coming…I promise.

I have been working. I’m busily editing my new novel, first in a trilogy. But the work’s going slow (my editor has the patience of a saint). I am excited about this book, I think it’s going to be grand.

In the meantime, Jazz is all written. The last three stories just need editing. They will be out very soon, and PeeDee3 will quickly follow. I’ll have more information about the new novel posted here soon as well.

Maybe I should talk to that guy from work, see if he’s interested in organizing protests everywhere I work. He could become a professional protester, kind of like a profession mourner but who makes a scene everywhere a virtually unknown writer appears somewhere.

In all fairnesss, my storylines are unreal and my plotting–trully unfair. I think I’ll join him.