Hey all!

It has been a VERY busy month for me, including a trip to Atlanta for DragonCon and a trip to Disneyland with my family! My daughter is finally old enough to go on all of the big kid rides, and it was so much fun to be there through all the laughter and happy screams. It has been so refreshing to spend so much time with all of the people I love. And DragonCon helped kick my creative juices into high gear for some great writing sessions.

A few pictures from the fun!

See any faces you recognize?

Also, I wore white pants. Does that make me cool?

Best part is that the fun isn't over yet. I'll be heading to Salt Lake City next week (bringing my white pants) and then to London for my day job (not bringing the white pants), where I'm hoping to find some time to meet up with some bookish folks in the area.

KICKSTARTER UPDATES

We have entered the waiting game stage of production. The printer is going to send me a proof copy of the omnibus, which they make by hand, but they've been having issues with the foil not setting properly. I was supposed to have it in hand today, but it's looking like that will be delayed a week. I did ask for them to send the signature sheets while we wait, so at least I can make progress on those and get them mailed back for when production is ready.

It's a long process, but my distributor is helping ensure everything goes smoothly. We should still be on track for a December timeframe.

As a reminder, until the final order is paid for, we can still add on orders. If you haven't and would like to, you can still snag an omnibus from our Pledgebox store.

WRITING UPDATES

"The Snowmaker's Child", my short story for The Advent of Winter anthology, is finished and sent off, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. On the other hand, my short story "The Boy with no Boon" for the yet unannounced anthology didn't quite work the way I wanted, so I'm scrapping it and trying something else. Maybe I'll come back to it if I can figure out a way to fix it.

As far as novels go, I've finally settled some key world history issues for Symphony in the Skies that have me really excited for the future of the series. If you thought the twists in Threadlight were great, you aint seen nothing yet! The word count has been steadily rising here, and I'm hoping to have the book finished and ready to either publish or submit to agents middle of next year. No progress this month on the other secret project, though I may have spilled some secrets about it to some folks at DragonCon...

Transparently, one of the most difficult parts about being a part-time author is trying not to compare yourself to full-time authors. I have friends (like Andy Peloquin and Ryan Cahill) who write SO MUCH. They're lucky that they have the time and freedom to do that, and I have to remind myself that I just don't. Between a demanding day job and two young children, I have to set realistic expectations for myself. Move forward. Make progress. Slowly but surely we'll get there.

UPCOMING EVENTS

FanX in Salt Lake City, UT. I'm teaming up with 15 indie authors to create a bookselling extravaganza! We've got a huge section booked for all of us, and I'll have 160 books with me to unload. If you're in the area, come stop by and I'll sign anything you want, including Ryan Cahill's books!

Barnes & Noble Southcenter/Seattle area (link). On October 21st, I'll be on a fantasy panel with some other amazing authors (I've met Clay and Travis, and they're fantastic people). The store will also have the brand new Legends & Lattes prequel in stock. Don't miss out!

🔥 EPIC GIVEAWAY!!!

I've teamed up with 8 epic authors to give away a total of 27 books! Best part is that it is super easy to enter. If you haven't already, go check it out here!

Enter the Giveaway!

NEW RELEASE

Fun fact: about every other month, I go out to dinner with some other local authors at Red Robin. They're awesome. One of them is Alison Kimble, who happens to be the blurb at the top of this new epic fantasy series by David Hopkins! I haven't read this yet, but she says it's fantastic, and I believe her! You can check it out here.