Greeting my friends! Today's blog will provide a quick update on the status of my writing projects. Book one of my Find Your Truth series is in its final stages. It's currently in the hands of my editor, with changes expected to on their way to me within the next week or two. Depending on the complexity of the needed edits, I expect to send the book out to my beta readers sometime during the first half of May. At the same time, I'll begin working with my cover artist, a veritable artistic genius named Mike Corley. He's done a lot of covers, and I've yet to see one that wasn't amazing. If you're in need of an excellent cover check him out, but note that he has a relatively long waiting list.
My hope is to release book one sometime in early summer. I'm thinking my wife and I may host a launch party at our home to celebrate. We'll have to see about that one, however! One thing to note, is that I'm now "waffling" a bit on the title. Up until now, I've been calling it "Your Truth is Out There." After finishing my first draft, a member of my writer's group suggested a different title: "Dawn of Endless Beginnings" after the name of one of main character's paintings. I had originally wanted to keep the word "truth" in the title of all three books in the series, however, as the "Dawn" title rolls around in my head, keeping that consistency seems to be lessening in importance. I welcome any thoughts and input you may have!
So, while book one is wrapping up, work in earnest has begun on book two: Truth Be Damned (I'm pretty certain this title won't change). I'm through chapter seven and can't seem to write fast enough to keep up with the ideas. I can't wait to roll this one out to everyone. This will be a "middle" book, meaning that, while the story will have an ending, it will also leave various story lines unresolved, leading into book three. It will also leave at least some of our protagonists in a less than "happy" place in their lives. For all of you Star Wars fans, think "The Empire Strikes Back," and you'll be headed in the right direction. As with all of my writings, it may take a while, as my time for personal writing is limited, but the excitement of this story should keep me working on it as steadily as book one.
A couple of blogs ago, I mentioned a short story I wrote and submitted to The Magazine of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. They rejected it, but also gave me hope that it wasn't terrible. With that hope, I submitted the story to Asimov's and am awaiting their reply (it can take up to four months to hear back from them).
One final note about book one, I could still use a couple of additional beta readers. If anyone is interested, please let me know and we can discuss further.
Cheers!