Welcome, new folks!

Hi, there. If you've joined the mailing list recently, I want to make sure you get your free Frosthelm book, Traitors Unseen. If you haven't gotten it, you can get it free here (the site will ask you to sign up for this newsletter, which you're already getting) or here from Smashwords. It's also on Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Please, enjoy with my compliments.

My new project

I have a dear friend from the improv comedy club where I've been performing since 2006. He's a Shakespeare scholar (Ph.D.) and a very funny guy, and recently, he's gotten excited about trying his hand at a novel, a detective story set in Charleston, SC, his hometown. He was planning but hadn't started writing, and I knew I wanted to start something new, so we agreed that we'd dive in on July 1 on our respective projects, report progress daily, and keep each other focused and honest. That's been working well for both of us - we're both at about 16,000 words, which is about 15-20% of a novel. He's just sent me his opening chapter, which I'm excited to read.

I've done an epic fantasy and a modern-day mystery for my last two books, so I thought it was time to return to sci-fi. I came up with a basic concept (a couple paragraphs) for a sci-fi book start back in November, when I was deep in the weeds with What Grows From the Dead, so I put it in an email to myself and have snoozed it several times until now. It's set in the same far-future human universe as Daros and Kenai, but instead of being set on a planet, it's set on a Patrol research ship headed back towards the older human worlds, worlds from which not a whisper has come for over three centuries, and which are presumed destroyed and extinct. This ship, the Outrider, and its sister warship, Hotspur, have been fitted with extra-long-range jump equipment and sent into the unknown to figure out what happened to these earlier human colonies.

I'm having a great time figuring out how shipboard organization, command dynamics, and military life work in the Patrol, and coming up with plot and science and history details as I go. I've been able to use a little of my time on marine geologic research ships as background - I went on three research cruises on scientific ships of various sizes as I was working on my Ph.D., the longest a two-month stretch in the Atlantic with no visits to port the whole time. That was a really cool experience for 26-year-old me, and I've tried to add in some of the excitement (and the drudgery) of that life.

What Grows From the Dead hits some big numbers

In my last newsletter, I shared the major free promotion I ran for my mystery, What Grows From the Dead. Over the course of the five-day free promo, people downloaded 30,000 copies of my book, which was more than I ever imagined possible. For comparison, over the five years since I released Flames Over Frosthelm and then my other eight books, I've had 48,000 downloads total of all those books, most of them during free promotions. 48K in five years vs. 30K in five days - just surreal.

Although I make no money from the free giveaway promos, this one had two other secondary effects I was hoping for. One was launching the book into the stratosphere in Amazon's rankings, albeit only for a few days. For a short while, WGFtD was the 2nd ranked free book on all of Amazon, and it stayed up there for a while, especially in the mystery category listings. That boost led people to discover the book even after the promotion was over, and it also launched a surge in Kindle Unlimited page reads. People have read over 130,000 pages of WGFtD since the promo began, which is the equivalent of over 250 copies of the book read.

Both of these sources of new readers - the free promo downloaders and the KU readers - have been reviewing the book, too. It went from about 25 reviews on Amazon to over 300 now in a little under two weeks, with a similar surge on GoodReads. Only Flames Over Frosthelm has more reviews than that, and I'm certain WGFtD will pass it this week. I'm so pleased so many people are finding, reading, and reviewing my little book about an out-of-work professor whose life falls utterly apart.

Character interviews and a writing post

As part of a blog tour I did in June for WGFtD, I was asked to write some pieces for the tour stops. I always like talking about my process, and I had fun trying to come up with guest posts from the side characters in the book. I've copied these articles to my blog for easier access. Here are some links:

• Writing to genre
• Writing past your headlights
• Character guest post: Mindy
• Character guest post: Vampire Steve

Some stories to try

I'm part of several author collectives, and we share each other's work to try to help all of us reach more readers. In many cases, the books we share are are free or discounted. Sometimes, they ask that you sign up for a newsletter like this one. Here are some new books I have to share this month:

First, I have a group promotion of 75 fantasy books by a wide variety of authors, many of them women (it's sponsored by a women's fantasy group). All of these books are free, and you're sure to find something interesting here. Have a look!

Next, I have Gravity Girl by V.R. Friesen. This has an absolutely enchanting cover. It's set in a world where "grav walkers" apparently can ignore or change physics, which is a neat concept. The lead character, a grav walker, has a disease that will kill her early (and may threaten the world). She is living a rough, reckless life, but then she learns of a captive boy who might provide a cure for her. With elements of romance, adventure, and cool sci fi, this sounds like a really intriguing concept and story.

Next, I have The Sorcerer's Reward by Gregory Amato, a story about a crack team of vikings who solve problems. It's a free prequel to Gregory's longer series.

Finally, I have Outcast by Edita Petrick. This sci-fi novel, part of a series, is the story of two tough women trying to break into a prison planet to stop someone from creating a massive weapon. Sounds like great stuff.

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter. I'm excited to be working on a new sci fi novel for you to enjoy, and I'll update you with progress in my next one of these.

I hope you and your friends and family are having a safe and rewarding 2024!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave