Better late than never

It has been a long few years for me. I was diagnosed with spondylosis, an rheumatoid arthritis back in 2015. Since then I've been trying to deal with that. I did step down from being the webmaster for the Nebraska Library Association, but I then volunteered to be the recording secretary for the Nebraska Writers Guild.

I'm still working on a first draft of my historical fiction based on the history I researched for my earlier book. I'm still excited about it, and I do find myself improving with each chapter I put together. I'm both looking forward to and dreading the revision phase for this one. 

I'm also a co-host for a podcast on writing based out of the website Write Good Books. We've been going strong for over a year now.

I've dropped the ball on a lot of facets of promoting my writing career, but for a while it was in doubt if I would ever have a second book to promote. Things are looking up, it is just going to take more time than I thought it would.

Taking it back home

Tomorrow night I'm speaking at the Nebraska Prairie Museum in Holdrege.  This is where I got almost all of the photos I used for my book, plus my research there plugged a few holes in what found at the public library.

I'm excited and honestly, a bit nervous.  This is the crowd that would be able to call me on if I got anything wrong.  Many of the people in the audience could have family stories of those days that got passed down through the generations.  This is where my research will really pass the test or not. I

Not only that, but a bunch of my former schoolmates have let me know they will be in attendance. Hopefully I don't get flashbacks to 11th grade Speech Class.

Right now is when the nerves gets the worst.  After tonight, I know there's no more prep I can do and no more pictures to add to the slide show. The roller-coaster has reached the top of the initial hill and is about to take that first heart stopping drop.

I've always held onto the belief that being nervous before a presentation or performance is a good thing, because that means you do care if your message gets across.  It doesn't get any easier, but it helps me sleep at night.

Oiling the wheels

This old wagon got rather stuck in the mud, didn't it?

I'll be slowly getting back into writing here more often.  I had to let something slide as I was on the road a lot with my day job. On top of that, I developed arthritis so my time actually typing had to be reserved for what currently pays the bills.  I'm doing better and can now stand to spend more time in front of a keyboard that I did a month ago.

Some interesting things are in development that I just can't share right now.  One is a project in a area of media that I have wanted to work in for some time. Hopefully all the stars align and we can launch shortly.  It should be a lot of fun to do and fun for you to participate in as well.

After the rush

My book has been  distributed to all the people who pre-ordered and copies have been sent to the various organizations who I though should get a free copy.  It is now available up at Amazon now and I am working on getting my author credentials verified over on Goodreads.  I know it is in a handful of libraries here in Nebraska, and at least one school.  I've had a much better reception for it than I expected, and interest for it in places I never expected. I'm very happy at this point with the results.

I'm now rather busy with my life as an author, but I'm not actually writing that much.  What free time I have to give to it is being spent on the business of selling my book instead of writing my next book or short story. I know I need to get back into social media and schedule some more book talks. I also need to find places to carry my book, since as a self-published author I don't have the machinery and outlets traditionally published books have.

It doesn't help that I'm currently going through a very busy period at my job and I'm on the road over 12 hours at a shot some days. Take this coming week for example. I'll leave home at 7:00 AM on Monday and won't be anywhere near city limits again until late Thursday afternoon. 

All that aside. I know I'll probably get the bulk of my next book's first draft written in the summer months, as that's when the travel component of my job dies down considerably. I would have liked to have it done by the end of this month, but there isn't much you can write in 15 minutes a shot.

What is the next book you ask? I'm working on a historical fiction story based loosely off the events of the Loomis fires book I just released. I'll have more to say about it after I get deeper into the process, but I think there is some interesting opportunities for story telling in that setting.

They have arrived

After many months, my living room floor has boxes full of books like some sort of librarian's holiday morning scene.  There's a part of me that doesn't believe it happened, and yet there is physical proof that it has.

Unfortunately, time is short as I have to go back to my office and get ready for a board meeting, but I will relish this accomplishment tonight.

I'll be at the Kearney Public Library tomorrow and at the Omaha Public Library's Author Fair on the 28.

Three more weeks! (Give or take a week)

It is almost done. The book is at the printers and in about three weeks should be in my hands ready to distribute.  I have learned so much about the process of putting together a book.   I knew there would be some more follow through on my part since I self-published this book, but I had underestimated just how much more work it would be.

I enjoyed learning about the process, and am so happy to see the finished book finally on my door step.  My family says that the people back home in Loomis are also looking forward to seeing the book.  I hope I've captured the history to their liking.

If you want, you can go ahead and order the title, by clicking on the "Shop" link up above.

Another status report

Preorders are still continuing and I am about 30 short of the target number  to be able to donate back to all the groups on my list.  Preorder at the shop or send me a note and help me give back to my hometown.

Design work is progressing and I'm being told I should see the layout shortly. I'm really excited to see this next step completed!

November 21

A few updates for today.

1) The release title of the Loomis fires book I've mentioned before on this site has been decided. It will be titled "The Phelps County Phoenix: The Loomis Fires of 1914".

2) Preorders for the book open up today. A percentage of all preorder proceeds will donated to various Loomis & Phelps County organizations. The book should be out in late December. You can reserve your copy here.

Today is the 100 year anniversary of the first fire of the two spotlighted in the book. I had hoped for the book to be available for purchase on this date, but I'm happy to at least have it available for preorder.

I'll be at Loomis this weekend, speaking a bit about the fires at the annual Turkey Day celebration on Sunday and then spending some time at the school to talk to a couple of the classes there about some other bits of history.

Update on Loomis Fires of 1914

First of all, thanks to all those who either contributed to the indiegogo campaign for my book on the Loomis fires of 1914, or just passed the link around!  Even though we didn't hit the goal, I do have enough to pay for editing.

Speaking of editing, I sent the manuscript, images, and initial deposit in tonight.  This is later than I had hoped, and this probably means the book won't be available until December. I apologize for that.

Thanks again for all the support!

Welcome to the new site

Now for some words I never expected to say, "Welcome to my new site". It strikes me as odd, as I've been posting to my personal blog since 2001. Looking back at my earliest posts, I can certainly tell how my life has changed over the past decade. I called out to friends by name, and basically used it as a diary. My relationships with my friends and a lot of the details of my daily life there for everyone to see, well before facebook came around.  Lately I had mostly concentrated on posting about my writing projects

I'm still deciding if I want to keep that domain up and running or not. It took me a while before deciding not to move the posts here. I need a bit of a fresh start and this is it.

Soon I'll have more information about my book project, especially after I get a cover design.