Hey there!

So a joyous and less-joyous thing happened today.

I received the edits back from my line editor on Dragonblooded. This is the dreaded moment when an author sees very critical feedback about the writing and the story. It's amazing how I have done this five times already before now and it doesn't get easier. Still, I'm grateful for editors and all that they do for us authors. The best part is that it's one step closer to being in your hands for enjoyment.

We decided to build an outside run for our chickens to give them some more space to poke around and be happy. So, naturally, I spent the better part of the day on Saturday digging post holes manually. There's nothing like standing in the heat of the son beating the ground to death, chipping away at the hardened ground until I can get a foot two feet deep. Ironically, it felt a lot like the whole self-publishing process. Slow. Challenging. But very rewarding in the end.

My Progress This Week

As mentioned above Dragonblooded edits are back with me, but I'm not sure I'll be diving into those quite yet. There may be a moment where I peek just to get that initial dread and overwhelm, then I'll set it aside until I'm finished with edits for the whole Cybercity Trilogy (see below).

I read through The Search for Silence, Book One of the Kids of Cybercity and pumped that manuscript through ProWriting Aid. Now that I've finished that, it's on to book two! I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by what I read and how few the edits were that I needed to make. It's amazing how our vices as authors manifest differently project to project. (Evident by how often I was deleting the word 'really' from this manuscript) All said and done, edits are panning out with a great timeline.

New Episode of The Casual Author!

Your story needs to be told. Oftentimes we have clear and important messages we want to convey with our stories and writing, but how can we know that we did it effectively? Join Dee Ray and me as we discuss her method of delivering key messages through her children's stories.

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Remembering the Important things

A few weeks ago I mentioned that it was the first time in three years my whole family (siblings and parents) was able to get together again. Growing up, family was always the highest priority over everything else. Even though my siblings and their spouses live far from us, and we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, it was incredible to see them all again at our quirky homestead here in Idaho.

Here's some evidence of how we all felt seeing each other again.

And a nice one so you can see we aren't all goofuses.

As an independent author, it's important to get your priorities straight. How else can we navigate the complexities of life and all the joys and challenges that come from it? When my wife and I decided to have a lot of kids, we knew it would bring so much joy to us.

Even though my writing takes a piece of my days and my life, it will always come second to my family. Does that mean I will write and publish slower? Definitely. But it also means that I get to experience the richness of life with those I love most. Writing will always be better with that.

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warm regards,

Dan