Hey nerds!

I received a message from my Kickstarter distributor a few weeks back, and it had some interesting news. Apparently, they were re-organizing the warehouse and found a few extra boxes of the special edition omnibus that they'd held onto for returns. So...

After going back and forth figuring out what to do with them, I've decided I'm not going to list them for sale just yet. For now, I'm going to bring a couple books to each convention I attend that will be available for purchase. But I'm not going to display or market their existence while there. So, if you see me at any of the following this year—Emerald City Comic Con, World Con, and Dragonsteel—ask me about buying one of these magical extra copies on the downlow. It'll be our little secret.

And just like that, another three months have flown by. For this update, I'll start off by sharing what I'm most excited about, because I think it will have the largest impact on my writing going forward. I'm part of a new writing group! You may recognize some of the names: JA Andrews, Andy Peloquin, Michael Webb, J.D.L Rosell, and ML Spencer. After critiquing some of their new works, I can safely say that they're all incredible writers and you're going to love what they have in the works. And...they're going to make my new books even better.

A note on writing groups

I joined my first writing group in 2020 shortly after publishing Voice of War, and I was with those guys for 3 years, meeting almost every week. It helped me to both improve as a writer and keep me accountable. If you're an author (or want to be), I highly recommend building yourself a writing group. Thank me later!

A related update (because most of the writing group members are part of the project) is that I recently sent back final edits for my short story that will be included in the Grim Oak Press Unavowed Anthology. That is "The Last Ride of Kanashimi" for those who are following along. I also recently finished another short story that I've been working on for a while called "The Boy With No Boon". This may be my favorite short story I've written, and it already has an unannounced home unless I decide to keep it for something else.

Beyond that, the first book of Cloudfall is moving forward. I've shared a few chapters with my writing group now and been quite happy with the feedback so far. I really think this will be my best book, and the series is going to be something special. For now, I'll keep whittling away at it.

My garage is ready for convention season!

The month of March is going to be super busy. For some reason, I have volunteered to coach my son's baseball team (yes, I also coach his soccer team) and both sports overlap this month. So I'll be coaching kids sports Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday for the next 4 weeks. AHHHHHH!

As always, thank you all for the support you give me. It means the world to me to receive comments and emails expressing how much you enjoy my stories. Never be afraid to reach out. I love hearing from you.

—Zack

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CHECK THESE OUT

Leatherbound giveaway!

I’m teaming up with 10+ authors to give away a copy of the leatherbound special edition of Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings. Enter by March 8th.

Enter to win

Michael Webb from my new writing group has a beautiful special edition omnibus launching on Kickstarter this month.

Check it out!