A convention

I was a literary guest at ConGregate in Winston Salem last weekend, which was a lot of fun. I and a team from my comedy club, The Idiot Box, did an improv show on the opening night to an appreciative audience, and then I was in five other events including a signing and a read-aloud session in addition to some panels on writing and book marketing. All in all, a fun, rewarding time at a nice smaller convention with some really interesting people.

During my hour at the guest signing table, I was actually right next to guest of honor Timothy Zahn, well-known author of hundreds of books, including many, many Star Wars novels. He's credited with getting the literary world of Star Wars going back in the 1970's and 1980's, which greatly expanded Star Wars lore beyond the movies. Here's a photo of him sitting just a little downstream from my table. Past him is another guest of honor, Milton J. Davis, who writes Black sci fi and fantasy, and with whom I was on one of the panels. Really interesting to hear their perspectives as people who are a lot farther into writing as a career than I am.

Writing update

I'm nearly done with my final major edit of Unwelcome Matt. I should finish that this week and have it off to Tami for copy editing and proofreading. It's nearly here! I'm so excited to share it with you.

I'm also still hard at work on my joint romance novel project with author Sarah Estow, and we're up to nearly 30,000 words with Mark and Fiona having an unexpected moment of, well, something, and some mysterious parties messing with them anonymously.

I'll have a short story submitted to another anthology soon too, a sci fi short about a soldier posted to a remote planet to help rebels.

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 The Adventures of Space Girl Red by R.A. Davis. This is described as a "retrofuturistic" story, and I think that fits - you've got some great space opera elements that wouldn't be out of place in books from the 50's or 60's. There's a whole series of Space Girl books to explore if you like this one.

Next, I have a free sample of Beyond the Blood Veil by Nicholas Woode-Smith. This is a preview of a book about a reporter investigating child trafficking in a world where shapeshifters and other supernatural beings are real.

Next, I have a three-book series, William of Alamore, by C.J.R. Isely. This popular series is a coming-of-age tale of a village boy who dreams of becoming a knight but meets conflict, danger, and political intrigue. This set is free on Kindle Unlimited or $8.99 for three books (less than $3 each).

Next, I have a free sample of Wilderness Five by Craig Walton. This is a hard sci-fi space opera story that reviewers have compared to 2001, Planet of the Apes, and Jurassic Park. A mysterious new technology allows evolution to proceed rapidly, allowing rapid terraforming of worlds, but (as you might guess) it gets very much out of hand. Give it a try for free, and if you like it, the rest of it is $4.99.

Finally, I have The Midnight Society by Orion Blake, the third book in the Rise of the Skinwalkers series. There's a team of intrepid folks on the heels of evil shapeshifters, and like Scooby-Doo, they have a dog on the team, one whom the blurb indicates develops new abilities. I'm assuming that's more than shake, roll over, and sit. If monster invasion and body-snatching is your thing, check this out.

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for upcoming books! I love hearing from people. I'm so excited to share Unwelcome Matt with you soon!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave