Michael Tefft's Blog

A Voice Emerges From The Darkness

At long last, the author emerges onto the Internet…

The reason I’ve been quiet is that I’ve been heads down trying to finish the newest book…and I’m happy to report I was successful! The next book in the Reluctant series arrives September 5th!!!

On the morning of their long-awaited wedding, Commodore Malcolm Robertson disappears without a trace. No note. No struggle. Just a vanished groom and a stunned bride left behind in an empty country church.

Malcolm���s enemies have always been powerful and far-reaching. As a decorated naval officer entrusted with Britain���s most sensitive missions, he has faced dangers few even suspect exist. But nothing has ever cut so close to the bone. Nothing has ever taken him in silence.

Joan de St. L��ger, brilliant linguist, former intelligence agent, and no stranger to risk, refuses to accept the official explanation. Malcolm would never leave her���not willingly. With the help of his closest friend, the ever-watchful Charles Saxon, Joan begins a desperate search through a world of coded telegrams, shuttered safe houses, and secrets.

Alone and disoriented, Malcolm plots his own escape from an enemy from his past, the only thing keeping him going is the thought of reuniting with Joan.

From the quiet hills of southern England to the shadowed railways of central Europe, Joan and Malcolm find themselves caught in a widening storm. Old rivals resurface. And the fate of more than one life may be at stake.

Time is running out. Will she find Malcolm before time���and trust���runs out? Or will their love be extinguished in silence?

It’s available for pre-order in ebook, paperback, and hardcover at your favorite online retailers here: https://books2read.com/u/br8QOW

I plan to have a launch event in September, but by pre-ordering now, you can get your copy on the day it’s available!

In Other News…

Now that summer is halfway over, things are hectic with summer concerts, since I’m playing in three community bands and a Big Band. In fact, in the next week, I have five concerts. I love playing, but I’m getting what I call “concert fatigue” – the stress of trying to make sure I can get to every concert on time, while working a full-time job. It has left little time for writing, but now that everything is streaming ahead with the launch of The Reluctant Fugitive, I hope to return to the next Reluctant book.

Yes, the next Reluctant book is under way. While I was waiting for the edits for The Reluctant Fugitive, I went on my annual writing retreat and started the next book. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I forgot my laptop. Fortunately, I had my iPad, so I spent the time typing on that. I didn’t get as far as I had hoped, but it’s a start. While I may not be successful in updating everyone here, I am trying to deliver books on a faster schedule than three to five years. It takes place roughly six months after The Reluctant Fugitive. I can’t tell you much else about it because I’m really not sure what’s going to happen. I have a rough plan, but we’ll see what happens; it will be a surprise to both you and me.

An Upcoming Event

I’m going to be at the inaugural E-Ville Comic Con at the Earlville Free Library, Earlville NY on Saturday, August 9th, from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM. I’ll be there to sign (and sell) my books. I hope to see you there!

That’s all the news for now!

Happy Journeys,

Mike

What’s The Story, Morning Glory?

Hello from our vacation cabin at an undisclosed location. I’m sitting on the deck, enjoying my coffee and the view.

Summer band season is done, which (hopefully) means more time to write. I intended to spend a couple of days during this vacation doing just that!

Talk of the Town

On Saturday, August 24, I was honored to do an author talk/signing at the Earlville Opera House. Although only a few people came out, I think that those who did attend enjoyed the talk. Here are a few pictures from the event.

My displayGiving my talkReading from The Reluctant SpacefarerAnswering Questions

A very special Thank you to Michelle and Ben at the Earlville Opera House for hosting this. And thank you to those who came: Rick, Bruce, Betty, Colleen, Keven, and Melanie, who attended. Note to self: next time you schedule an Author Talk, make sure there aren’t competing festivals happening on the same day, like the local Pride Festival and the Renaissance Festival!

Coming Attractions

I’m working on doing an Author Talk/Signing in the near future. Also, I might be part of the Literary Tent and the Colorscape Chenango Arts Festival on September 7 and 8 in Norwich, NY. Watch this space or my Facebook Page for more details!

And One More Thing…

I neglected to mention, but I am now an Associate Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association! This is the organization that presents the Nebula Awards every year. I’m excited to be part of this organization and look forward to when I can become a full member!

That’s all for now. I’m going to get back to relaxing and writing.

Until next time,
Happy Journeys!
Mike

Lots of News

Greetings! It’s been a while since I’ve made an update but lots of things have been happening since the last time I posted.

The thing I’m most excited about is that I will be doing an Author Talk/Signing at the Earlville Opera House at 1:00 PM on Saturday, August 24. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

In other news, all three books are now available on Apple Books as an AI read audio book! I’ve added the links on the right and on all the product book pages!

And finally, if you are a user of Hoopla, The Reluctant Captain and The Reluctant Spacefarer are now available for borrowing. I submitted The Reluctant Agent at the same time I submitted The Reluctant Captain, but I have no idea when it might be available. If you’re a patron of a library (like the Sherburne Public Library) that offers Hoopla, you can read books 1 and 3 at least!

Besides that, I have been working on the next Malcolm book. Currently, I’m at just over 48,000 words. Work has slowed because summer is band time and I have been busy playing in several concerts.

I look forward to seeing all of you at my book talk/signing! I know there are many things going on that day, but I hope you can spare an hour!

Until next time,

Happy Journeys!
Mike

It’s HERE!

After a very long time, The Reluctant Spacefarer is finally here! For my obligatory Star Trek quote, it’s been a long road getting from there to here. The new book is available at all of your favorite online retailers. You can find the link here:

https://books2read.com/u/3JLNYg

I’m planning on having a couple of events this year for signings, but right now, I have no stock of books. Because of an issue with the publisher (which is me), it’s taken me multiple attempts to get the book published correctly. First, my formatting software acted weird, sticking in a bunch of blank pages. And then when I republished it, I forgot to check the copyright page. I’m sure that everything is set now, but as a result, I’ve haven’t ordered any books. Keep watch here, or better yet, join my mailing list and I’ll let you know when I have book signings.

This coming weekend, I’ll be on a writing retreat to work on the next Malcolm book. My goal this year is to reduce the amount of time between books.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support. When I send a book out into the world, it’s a scary proposition. Having your support means so much!

Until next time,

Happy Journeys!
Mike

Pre-order The Reluctant Spacefarer

As promised, here is the cover for the newest edition in the Reluctant series, The Reluctant Spacefarer.

You can now pre-order The Reluctant Spacefarer from your preferred ebook vendor here: https://books2read.com/u/3JLNYg

The book goes on sale April 23, but avoid the rush and pre-order now!

Until next time,

Happy Journeys!
Mike

Coming soon to a book retailer near you!

I’m happy to announce the third book of the Reluctant series…The Reluctant Spacefarer! And here’s a teaser for the new cover:

If you were a member of my mailing list, you would already see the new cover. To join, just click on the link at the right to join The Crew of the Daedalus, my mail list.

The next steps are to finish the book setups (paperback, hardcover, and ebook) and proof the final copies. I’m tentatively shooting for a publication date of April 23, but it’s dependent on getting the proofs back in time. Again, if you sign up for my mailing list, you’ll be notified as soon as pre-sales are launched!

I’ll unveil the full cover in a little but, so check here to see the new book.

In other news, I went to a jazz concert in the city where I went to college to see Bria Skonberg, an excellent vocalist/trumpet player. I was fortunate enough to talk to her after the concert. Later, she and her band stopped at the bar my wife and I had visited for an after concert drink. We stopped to tell her how much we loved the concert and talked some more – she even gave us hugs!! Here’s a picture of me with her after the concert

Stay tuned for more news and events around the launch of The Reluctant Spacefarer!

Happy Journeys!
Mike

New Year, New Look – Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been updating the covers of my existing books. This month, I’m proud to reveal the new cover for my second book, The Reluctant Agent:

I’ve just spent the afternoon updating the covers…everywhere. Everything should be processed in a few days.

What Else Is Going On?

I’ve received most of the feedback from my beta readers and I’m making the final tweaks. Once I do that, I’ll take one more editing/proofreading pass and then it will be ready to start the publishing process. Given the lead time for getting a new cover (which I can’t do until I know exactly how big the book will be), I think that the actual release day will be in April – date to be determined. Watch this space for news of when the pre-order will be available.

Join the Crew

Once again, I invite you to join my email newsletter – You can do that over on the right under the “Join the Crew of the Daedalus” box. Members of the newsletter get early notifications about what’s going on and extras. Recently, I’ve shared some images I generated using Mid-Journey (AI Generative Art) to highlight some scenes from both The Reluctant Captain and The Reluctant Agent.

Until next time,
Happy Journeys!
Mike

New Year, New Look

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2024 brings you health and happiness!

2023 was certainly an interesting year. I finally finished the writing and editing of the newest Malcolm adventure. My daughter has started her own adventure with her new husband and my wife and I are adjusting to an empty house. And 2023 ended with the start of renovation of our kitchen. As I post this, we no longer have an oven. It won’t be long before the stove and sink are gone as well!

But 2024 is a new start – As part of that new start, I’m “re-releasing” my existing books with new covers. While I love the artwork on my current covers, they don’t match other steampunk books on the market. So I’ve commissioned new covers that I plan to roll out over the next two months. Although I have already shared the new covers with members of my newsletter (you can be a member as well by clicking the link on the right to join the Crew of the Daedalus!), I present to you the new cover for The Reluctant Captain:

I will update the new cover on the various ebook stores soon – it will take me a little longer to get them in place for the print editions.

I’m still gathering feedback from my beta readers to see if the new Malcolm novel (which still doesn’t have a title) to see if it needs any changes before I publish it. I’m shooting for publication in March (fingers crossed).

If you want to be notified as soon as the new book is up for pre-order, I encourage you to join the Crew of The Daedalus, my sometimes regular e-newsletter.

Until next time, Happy Journeys!
Mike

Anticipation

Greetings! The good news is that Malcolm’s new adventure is in the hands of my beta readers – the bad news is that it didn’t make it there until November! Before I sent it out, I had Siri read the book to me to catch any mistakes I made (and there were plenty). That process took much longer than expected. As a result, the new book won’t be out until early in 2024. I’m also working to get new covers for both The Reluctant Captain and The Reluctant Agent as part of a relaunch of the series. In the meantime, I’m continuing to work on the fourth Malcolm book.

In other news, I dipped my toes into the world of audiobooks. I have an AI narrated book from Apple books for The Reluctant Captain nearly ready. However, the AI narrator mistook the St in Joan de St. Leger as Joan de Street Leger instead of Joan de Saint Leger. It’s being re-recorded and when it’s available, I’ll let everyone know.

Music, Music, Music

In the meantime, I’m working on the next book of Malcolm’s adventures and also gearing up for the many Christmas concerts. As an early birthday present, I bought myself a new trumpet – a Shires TRQ10S. I love my new trumpet and it’s even got me practicing regularly. Although playing in so many bands takes time away from writing, music has always been a big part of my life. When I was in high school, I seriously considered going to college for music, but got into computers instead. I figured it would be easier to be a computer person who played music than a musician that played with computers. Playing in the various bands gives me a view of what my life would have been like if I had gone the music route.

Happy Holidays

Let me close this update by wishing you the best for this holiday season!

Until next time,

Happy Journeys!
Mike

Status Report

Where have the last six months gone?

It’s been a whirlwind of activity here… both with the book and life. I’m happy to report that I sent the newest tale of Malcolm’s adventures to my editor… and it didn’t suck! I’ve had a very hard time judging if this book would work and I was thrilled to get objective feedback about the book. My editor assured me that the book was in pretty good shape, but needed some tightening up and to explore the world more fully, which was something I thought might need work. To that end, I spent a weekend in an RV at a local KOA for my annual writing retreat and concentrated on it for two and a half days. Here’s a picture of my home away from home:

I’m still making tweaks for the next two weeks, but I’ve decided that other than copy editing changes, I’m going to send it out to beta readers at the end of September. I hope to take the feedback and get the book ready for publication by the end of October, so that it be available in time for Christmas. I still need to decide on a title, but be on the lookout for future announcements!

Music, Music, Music

As if I didn’t have enough going on between working full time and working on the book, music consumed me summer. From May, I played in four concert bands and two Big Bands. This translated to something like four parades, twelve concert band concerts, 10 Big Band gigs, and playing in the orchestra for a musical (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)! That doesn’t count rehearsals, that’s just the actual performances. Things have settled down on the music front for the time being, but rehearsals start soon to prepare for the Holiday season!

Roam If You Want To

We also did some travelling this summer (besides the writing retreat). At the end of June, the whole family spent a week in Lake Placid, our last family trip together, as my daughter has now left for Nova Scotia. My wife and I spent a long weekend in Canandaigua – originally to see Pat Benatar in concert which was cancelled. Instead, we took a cooking class at NY Kitchen where we made our own dinner. After spending the morning wondering around downtown Canandaigua, we stopped at a distillery owned by a winner of the Discovery Channel show Moonshiners and at a farm stand where we picked up blueberries.

Our big trip will happen later this month when we travel to Nova Scotia for my daughter’s wedding. We’re taking our time getting there and we plan to spend a day in Bar Harbor, Maine on our way home.

That’s all for now. Expect radio silence until I return from our excursion to Nova Scotia!

Happy Journeys!

Mike