Blood Skies: So What The Hell Do I Do Now?

WARNING: This post doesn’t have much of a point. Just so you know.

“Blood Skies” in on sale, at least in the digital sense. You can grab a copy for the Kindle at Amazon, or just about every other ebook version over at Smashwords. The print edition should be available in just a few days, and I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as it is.

In the meantime, Jen Kirchner was kind enough to give me my first review. It’s been posted at both Amazon and Goodreads, and it’s certainly a promising start. Thanks a bunch to anyone who’s grabbed an E-book copy of the novel already, I really apprecite it!

So, having spent entirely too much time getting “Blood Skies” ready for print, what the hell am I supposed to do now? Now that I’ve survived the whole “draft to novel” experience and I’ve written “The Great American Novel*” and come through with most of my limbs (but very little of my sanity) intact, I’ve been left with something of a void inside of me, a sense of emptiness. It’s like quitting an addiction — your relentlessly obsessive behavior needs something to take the place of whatever it was that you just quit. (Filling that void, of course, is one of the worst possible things that you can actually do if you have an addictive personality, but that’s an entirely different can of tamales.)

Now that I’ve finally published a novel, what will I use to fill that gaping void in my tiny, weather-beaten little burlap sack of a soul?

Well, more writing, of course! I’ve got plenty more!

First of all, you may already know about my Tales of A Blood Earth series, featured on this very site. This ongoing tale transpires in the world of “Blood Skies”, and it may very well wind up tying in with the novels. (Or, it may not. I’m not telling. )

Wait, “novels”, as in plural? Well, yeah (duh). I’m 20,000 words or so into the sequel to “Blood Skies”, which at this point bears the dubious working title of “City of Scars”. Now that “Blood Skies” is largely behind me (sans an endless tirade of self-promotion, which is sort of like running a marathon that you know will ultimately kill you because there isn’t actually a finish line), I have time to get back to Book Two and get a complete rough draft cranked out sometime before I forget how to write again. I’m in the midst of what is one of my favorite parts of the creative process, where I’ve written enough of the novel to feel good about it but where I still have enough writing left to do that the thrill of just getting started is still very much alive. (What can I say? I’m a creature of transition, I guess.)

I’ve also been doing a fair amount of peer editing/feedback giving as of late. Not having been part of a regular writing workshop for a while (save for a group I briefly joined earlier this year but left because…well, frankly, because I’m difficult), I’ve really been enjoying this. I’m not entirely sure why anyone thinks I’m qualified to review their work**, but I’m happy to do it, and I love reading material written by other Indie authors. Plus it seems that fixing other people’s syntax errors just makes me feel all saucy, so it’s a win-win situation.

And, last but not least, I may actually do the unthinkable and write a review or two of some other Indie authors’ books. I’ve already posted a review of Alan Edwards‘ excellent Curse of Troius. I don’t consider myself a fantastic critic, or anything, but I’m (relatively) well read, and I know what I like. And hey, if even one review draws some attention to a fellow Indie author, then it’s totally worth it. (Even if that author goes on to greatness and I’m forced to resent the hell out of them. No, I’ll be okay. Really. <sniff>)

So I encourage you, good readers, to stick around, and join me as I transition from a purely self-promotional blogger to…something else. I’m not entirely sure what that “something else” will be, exactly, but I’ll try to be at least moderately entertaining while I try to figure it all out. Maybe by the time I do, I’ll have another book written.

* What the hell is the “Great American Novel”, anyways? Does it have to be written by Jack Kerouac? Does it have to involve roadside diners and bad coffee? Can it involve the Great American Hero? Can a “Great American Novel” even HAVE vampires? I’m guessing not, but apparently I don’t know.

** Yes, I suppose I was a Creative Writing Major in college, but chances are you didn’t know that before you asked me to proofread your stuff. If you did, I’m going to have to ask you to stop stalking me now. Thanks.