An Update – Writing, Blogging, Etc.

Greetings! I haven’t had much to put here lately. Other than occasional book updates and minor announcements, it’s pretty much been crickets. I don’t know – maybe I’ve stopped getting worked up about things as much as I used to. Or maybe I just slap the rants and grievances on twitter now, rather than blogging them. Or maybe I just yell them at Kristen. I don’t know.

I’ll probably start blogging a little more. I have some ideas written down that I just need to sit down and work myself into a lather about. But most of my writing time these days is devoted to fiction writing, a thing that’s sort of taken front row for me. In that spirit, here are a few random updates on what’s going on.

On The Call of the Mountain

It’s doing very well. Thanks to all you strapping ladies and gentlemen that bought a copy and helped spread the word. No NYT list yet, but sales are good and I feel like it’s most definitely my best work to date. I’m as happy with it as I can be, considering writing books is basically an enormous voluntary nightmare in which nothing will ever be perfect. It’s a good nightmare (if that’s a thing), an exciting nightmare, but nonetheless…nightmare.

If you haven’t read it, I challenge you to give it ten pages. You can even read the beginning for free via Amazon’s look inside function, you miserable cheap.

On Book Publishing, In General

I’m pumping the brakes a little. Not on writing – doing more of that than ever – but on publishing, at least in the short term. There is a conventional wisdom in the indie (that’s cool/hip internet slang for someone who self publishes) community that the path to success involves writing long series’ (like, 6 to 10 books) and releasing books often (like, 4 books a year…at least). And there’s nothing wrong with do it this way AT ALL – I know a number of talented and prolific authors who follow this formula and build good, loyal followings and make good money writing books. Many of them have taught me a great deal about the industry, and for that I’m indebted. AND conventional wisdom is conventional wisdom for a reason; it does work. If you want to make a living being an indie writer, this is pretty much the way to do it.

So, until very recently, this was my intent. Not because I WANT to write long series’ and pump books out super quickly – I don’t, at all, and never have, and probably never will – but because I wanted to do the author thing full time. But here’s the thing: I’m 28. I have plenty of time to build a career. And there are a lot of ways to make money. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, I’m just going to focus on writing (and rewriting) the best damn book I possibly can, and if it takes a little longer, that’s fine. I’d rather write 1 book that has a real impact on someone than 10 books that don’t.

On the Next Book

Oh hell yeah there is one. The Bracket, a big, ambitious story about a group of coaches who team up to sabotage the NCAA basketball tournament in order to take an obscene amount of prize money. I’m not kidding – this is actually something I’m writing. The idea was borne out of a night of drinking in Boulder, and originally came from the lips of friend of the Lodge Chris Sheckman (unrelated, but check out his strength and conditioning blog, which he forgot to tell me about but I found anyway).

I’m about 1/3 of the way through the first draft. It’s extremely hard to write but I’m hoping that’s good. I have no idea when it will be released other than sometime before I die hopefully.

Otter Picture

Here is an otter picture. We’ll end on that note.