Jump and Streetlights Go Audio!

My apologies for not checking in here more often since these days since I more often post at my other blog but I wanted mention that both Jump When Ready and Streetlights Like Fireworks are now both available as audiobooks! This was a very cool new development for me and I think those of you who prefer listening to reading (or if you enjoy a bit of both) will find really enjoy checking these out. Happy listening!

A Boxed Set and a Snow Day (Life is Good)

 I guess it could be argued that putting together a boxed set isn’t much of an achievement. After all, you already wrote the books and all that’s involved is some formatting and bit of legwork on Amazon or whatever platform you choose. And, except for promos, you’re not likely to sell as many copies since fewer people are likely to invest in buying all three (even if one book comes basically free) which will, of course, result in fewer reviews. So, what is there to be excited about? Well…

It’s only been about a year and a half since I first decided to jump into indie publishing (pun not intended but, okay, I’ll leave it) when I decided to put Jump When Ready out there. I’m sure I won’t be the only one to report that going it alone that way was kind of scary when I’d always imagined having an agent and publisher behind me to boost my confidence. But things went well, as it turned out. Jump When Ready got great reviews from bloggers and customers while selling pretty nicely. Still, all I had was the one book and it seemed like it would be a very long time before I’d see my blog and Amazon author page featuring multiple books, not to mention a boxed set.

The great thing about indie publishing is that there’s nothing to stop you from writing and putting out three more books within a year. I honestly had no idea I could produce that much but somehow I managed to do it (I know there are quite a few out there who produce much more rapidly but, for me, it’s an achievement). Consequently, I’m feeling quite excited and proud at putting the Jump When Ready Boxed Set out there into the world. It’s one of those author milestones I can now tick off my list, one I didn’t see coming so soon. And, as I mentioned before, there’s another milestone achievement coming along too (one I didn’t even really think about a year ago) with the audio book of Streetlights Like Fireworks coming out next month.

Onto some totally unrelated stuff here (I hope no one minds) since I can’t help report being in a fantastic mood. I know so many people are utterly beyond sick of winter but, here in Richmond, we’re just now getting our first significant snowfall and resulting snow day tomorrow (schools have already cancelled). We get winter late here, quite often not seeing snow until January or February (occasionally March). So, tonight we have a fire going while we all watch a movie. Tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll break out the sleds. Then, tomorrow afternoon, I’m anticipating enjoying some perfect winter writing weather while I work on the follow-up to Streetlights Like Fireworks. So, who knows? Maybe there will be a another boxed set coming along in the future. If so, great. But I’m perfectly happy right now with things as they are at this moment.

Hey, why not celebrate the moment too buy grabbing a copy of the Jump When Ready Boxed Set? Perfect reading for your next snow day!

Honored

So honored to have been included!

New Year, New Book!

What better way to start a new year than to publish a new book? Stepping into the Sky (Jump When Ready, Book 3) is now available on Amazon!

Here’s a link to Stepping into the Sky.

Thanks for making last year such a good one! Here’s to 2015. I hope you’re all off to a great start too!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays (and, yes, I really created this book banner – my apologies)!

Well, we’re closing in on the end of the year and it really has been a good one. It’s been exciting to have three books out and Jump When Ready, Book 3 will be published next month (working on the follow-up to Streetlights Like Fireworks too, as well as other ideas). But, more importantly, I wanted to thank all of you who’ve read my books this year, those who’ve left reviews (really, thank you so much!) as well as you guys who’ve subscribed to my newsletter (I’ve really enjoyed talking to you and I look forward to receiving emails from you in the future). Thank you for making it such a great year! I thought I’d pay you back by creating possibly the dorkiest book banner ever (notice the fine details on this masterpiece, once again suggesting that a little Photoshop knowledge can be a dangerous thing). Anyway, before I get totally distracted by family, friends, food, presents, food (and more food), I just wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope all of you have fantastic holiday season! See you soon and thanks again very much!

Hot New Release

Just realized I forgot to add this post to this blog. I have a new blog now but I do like to stop in here from time to time. Anyway, a few weeks back (well, like September), the second book in the Jump When Ready series, Memories From a Different Future, made the "Hot New Release" list on Amazon. Pretty cool! Here's a link to read that post.

But the way, I finished the draft of Jump When Ready #3. I'm in the process of editing and that one should be coming soon!

So, kind of a roundup of what’s been going on lately (some pretty cool stuff). Most of this is book-related but not all (I’m not entirely convinced a writer’s blog should only be about writing and I'd love to hear others’ thoughts on that).

First and foremost, the second part of the Jump When Ready series, Memories From a Different Future, is now published! Yes, I’m kind of excited about this as I am each time I’ve published a new book. So far, it’s not getting any less exciting for me. This one will be exclusive to Amazon for a while so my apologies to you Nook and Kobo readers. The book will be available in print, of course, so that’s always an option. Also, I’ll let you in a secret: those who subscribe to my newsletter have learned about other options in the past. If you subscribe, give me a shout and we can talk.

Another milestone this week for me: Streetlights Like Fireworks crossed the 50 reviews mark on Amazon (and so far it seems like people really like that book)! I know there are writers out there with hundreds, even thousands, of reviews but, for me, crossing the 50 line is a first. I’ve only been at this about a year, so I guess that’s not too shabby and reviews from readers make all the difference in helping books get noticed by other readers. So, thank you to all who have read and reviewed so far!

And there’s this bit of ridiculousness to share with you guys. I was peeking at Streetlight’s sub-categories last night and saw this. That’s right. My book next to George R. R, Martin’s. Now, to put this bit of algorithmic strangeness into perspective, Mr. Martin’s book is evidently not for sale yet. Still, how it bumped into mine in a subcategory is something of a mystery. Either way, I guess it’s something like Robert Downey Jr. driving past you on the highway. You might say, “Wow, I’m on the same road as Robert Downey Jr!” Which just means that Robert Downey Jr. drove past you and obviously you’re not going to end up at the same party. All the same, how could I resist grabbing a screen shot of that one?

Now, this really has nothing at all to do with writing but the new season of Doctor Who kicked off last weekend featuring Peter Capaldi in the role of the doctor for the first time. Why am I including this here? For no reason other than we’ve become geeked out Whovians over the last year or so, which means this event was on par with how some people feel about the Super Bowl. We had a family Doctor Who night and did not come away disappointed. In fact, we unanimously agreed that Peter Capaldi is going to make a fantastic and intriguing new doctor and we’re totally on board for another season of adventures in time and space.

Okay, well it’s Labor Day weekend for those of us in the US. Does anyone else feel that this is the lamest holiday of the year? I don’t know about you, but I don’t really get too excited at the prospect of the pools closing, the kids going back to school (well, that part does have its upside but I know they’re not happy about it) and the raking starting (we have tons of trees). Have I also mentioned that I love fireflies? Obviously, I love summer. Oh, well. Cold weather does make for more writing time so there’s that to look forward to. Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!