Keith Robinson's Blog, page 4

A faun with a mist-erious power

I'm about 75% through Island of Fog Book 10, Forest of Souls, and expect to be finished in the next three weeks. Then it'll be ready for beta reading, and then a release on July 20 as planned.

I had also planned to finish Island of Fog Legacies Book 5, Death Storm, and release that on August 20. Yeah... I don't think so. That was always a bit of optimism on my part! Still, I'll be well into the first draft by then, so I don't know, maybe it'll be ready in October.

Anyway, Forest of Souls is going great! I thought it would be much harder to "find" those old characters again, but no, they were always right there waiting for me. Three months have passed since Hal and his friends had their epic battle on the beach at Brodon, and things have been quiet since, so the shapeshifters haven't worked as a team lately. They jump at the chance to get out of school to deal with the very serious matter of a magical faun with an evil agenda.

The situation quickly gets way more serious. The faun is ruthless and will stop at nothing to see her plan through. And what is her plan, exactly? Well, I can't tell you everything, but I will say that she can conjure a weird blue mist from the palms of her hands that causes people to explode into dust. There's a purpose to this, and though everyone thinks she's nuts, she comes across sincere and uncomplicated, true to her simple belief... which is that humans should not exist.

I always had in mind that this book would be a self-contained story, and it is. Death Storm will be a sequel, but one that can be read on its own as well. Two independent stories with a similar threat, twenty years between them. If Forest of Souls is a villain at ground zero testing her powers on a handful of victims, Death Storm is the same villain sitting aloof in her secret lair while her magic runs riot on a much grander scale. I think readers of both series will get a kick out of the continuing theme and references between the books, but readers of one series or another will enjoy either book on its own, in any order.

I'm finding it interesting to work on the Island of Fog series again. Can you believe it's been four years since I wrote Castle of Spells? I'd moved on to the Legacies series (set twenty years later) and expanded on the New Earth setting, introducing new monsters, characters, and settings, and now here I am adding earlier versions of the same into the Island of Fog series -- so it's like circling around between timelines, the future seeping into the past and vice versa.

Despite having a pretty good memory for details, there are some things I've had to go back and look up. I have a feeling it might be a good idea to read the last few books in the series again. Did I mention it's been four years? I have a few creatures that I first mentioned in the creature-heavy Castle of Spells, so I had to check the descriptions there. To my surprise, I found that I'd written about a faun already. That particular faun was described as fairly small but agile and tenacious. Well, I had the agile and tenacious bit right, but not so much with the small, so I'll be going through Forest of Souls adjusting that detail.

Here's a funny thing. While searching for images to use on the cover, I found this faun-ish person quite easily and just needed to make a few adjustments -- removing the weird single horn and adding two traditional goat-like horns instead, and also adding the blue mist, which is a major part of the story. Well, I didn't realize until later that the female model in the photo is the same model used on the cover of Gargoyle Scourge. It's fairly obvious when you compare, but -- well, I just found it strange.

As I was writing last night, dumping our heroes into a perilous situation and urging Hal to come up with a way to get out -- yes, I really do that -- I had a sudden vision of the next Island of Fog episode, Book 11. This is what happens with ideas. A book just presents itself in the form of a single image or short scene. So now I have the germ of an idea for Book 11 ready to be nurtured into a full-blown plot. And it'll be a completely different setting to anything I've done so far, so I'm looking forward to it.

But, for now, Hal really needs to deal with this faun.

Think your book doesn't need proofreading? Think again!

I've been offering a proofreading service for a while now, and it's turning out to be quite a nice sideline business. What can be better than reading a book for money, right?

Except it's actually quite hard work, because I have to study every single word rather than just fly through at normal reading speed. Also, because I comment or mark things every minute or so, I need to read it on my laptop rather than on my phone; the laptop is just easier to use when it comes to writing suggestions.

Every book I proofread, no matter how clean it appears on the surface, has a pretty good number of small typos regarding commas and other punctuation. I also add a whole bunch of suggestions or comments about repeated words, confusing statements, ambiguity, and so on. For a typical manuscript, I'll leave somewhere in the region of 300-800 comments.

Sounds like a lot, right? Well, I consider 300 a reasonably clean book. With 800, perhaps the author should have checked the book over one more time before sending it to a proofreader. Either way, anything up to around 800 is within the "acceptable" range as far as my very reasonable proofreading rate goes.

One recent example: a 55,000-word novel with around 650 typos, comments, and suggestions. Remember, not everything I comment on or suggest is an error; it's just something that could be improved or needs checking. And the majority of typos are comma related; very few are incorrect spellings, because most software nowadays has a built-in spell check that underlines errors with squiggly lines the moment you finish typing them.

Another example: 72,000 words with 260 typos, comments, and suggestions. And another: 51,000 words with 800 or more!

So it varies, but in all cases, the author is usually very happy they spent a little extra money. A recent customer said, "I'm halfway through your corrections and man they are thorough and I totally agree with every single one so far. Including all the places where you recommend me putting in dialogue tags earlier. That makes a huge difference and really makes it read so much better. Your help at proofreading is extraordinary and I'll take all your suggestions on board and hopefully not repeat them all over again in book 2. Some of them are my habits! Thanks again for such a fantastic edit."

But what does this proofreading service cost? At the moment, it's very reasonable indeed, no more than 0.004 cents per word, or $0.04 for every ten words, or $0.40 for 100 words. Of course, novels are typically between 50-150k, a price range of $200-$600 (US Dollars). You can find out the exact cost by using the simple calculator on my novel proofreading page.

I expect to increase the price a little as time goes on, so if you have a completed novel or one that's nearing completion, and you want a final proofread, book it in now by emailing me at keith@unearthlytales.com. Allow me 10-15 days to work on it.

And if you don't think commas are all that important, just imagine a bunch of happy kids shouting, "Let's eat Grandma!"

If you can't see it, then you really need a proofreader.

Results of BookBub promo for Sleep Writer (Book 1)

Recently, the book promotion giant BookBub ran a feature for Sleep Writer. I've had several features for Island of Fog in the past, but this was my first non-Fog book in the spotlight, so I was excited to see how it fared. Well, it did pretty darn well.

Placement of the book on BookBub's site happened pretty early on April 7th, 2018, and I started seeing results from that. But the real power came from the email blast they sent out around mid-morning.

Both Island of Fog (Book 1) and Sleep Writer (Book 1) are free, which is a standard marketing ploy to get readers hooked so they hopefully buy the other books in the series. Currently, the Fog series has nine books, and the Sleep Writer series has four. Island of Fog typically gets around 1000-1200 downloads a month without any promos, whereas Sleep Writer gets... about 50.

So I was pleased when the BookBub promo the other day got me around 10,000 downloads for Sleep Writer on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and Kobo.

Sales of the other books in the series were up, too, and on that first promo day I nabbed five times what I usually do. The next few days have dropped off a little, but it's still a good result. Years ago, when I ran a BookBub promo for Island of Fog, I got 11,500 downloads the first time and $2000-worth of sales over the next six weeks. A similar thing happened the second time, but with 6500 downloads. And the next time. But the last time I did a promo, I nabbed a staggering 43,000 downloads and had mediocre sales from it. Something has happened over the years, something that's affected the conversion from free downloads to sales of the next books. Too many people nowadays just routinely grab all the free downloads they can get their hands on and don't have time for anything else, whereas years ago free downloads were more of a novelty and always led to sales.

Anyway, Sleep Writer has done pretty well. Also, the book made it higher in the overall free Kindle book chart than I've ever achieved before:

#12 is... well, eleven places away from being the highest ranked free Kindle ebook in the entire USA. That's pretty incredible!

I've also gained a few more reviews. Here are some from US readers:

bookyloo reviewed Sleep Writer (Book 1)...
Keith Robinson has apparently hit a home run with this sci-fi series! Friends Liam, Ant and Maggie are flying through worm holes and having all kinds of alien encounters while their parents remain essentially clueless -- even when the roof of Liam's house is shredded by an escaped, gargantuan space creature. Loved it!! ...Except it ended too quickly and a few prepositions were perhaps misused, or are they used correctly in Robinson's neck of the woods?

Bookwyrm reviewed Sleep Writer (Book 1)...
Liam's new neighbor has a secret skill -- she foretells alien incursions. When Liam and Art accompany Madison to a nearby cemetery in the middle of the night, they're halfway convinced they're being pranked. Until the aliens show up. Sleep Writer is a fun, energized read that's marked as aimed at ages 9-12. Well, it doesn't talk down to that age group, has a sophisticated plot, and is a great read for any age. I should know, as I haven't been 12 years old for decades, get a bit jaded with some of the poor writing sold on Amazon, and I can only say that I was more than pleasantly surprised and immediately bought the next book. I fully plan to read the whole series based on the quality of Sleep Writer, and I don't do that often for free books I find on BookBub. Yes, you find good books that way, but the truly excellent are few and far between. Highly recommended for anyone who'd love a chance to jump in a wormhole and/or have a time wand. Also recommended for fans of science fiction and fantasy or anyone with a child who's a reluctant reader. Too much fun!

Kindle Customer reviewed Sleep Writer (Book 1)...
Sleep Writer has heart -- together with a fresh premise, compelling characters and believable writing that makes the most unbelievable things not just possible, but inevitable. Would be a great choice to read aloud to any ages, young and old; anyone who likes a good story with a big ending.

Lee Enslow reviewed Sleep Writer (Book 1)... I enjoyed this book. It's a page turner for sure. Fresh concept. I've read/watched hundreds of this genre but this idea is a first. I did find a couple mistakes, however, most people won't. Worthy of a read. Enjoy!

If any of those reviewers are reading this blog post, THANK YOU! And Lee, please do let me know what those errors are so I can correct them.

All in all, it's been an exciting few days for my Sleep Writer series, and I'm pleased to see the second, third, and fourth books are selling as well. This series is so much fun to write (as all my books are), and a fifth book is in the pipeline for early 2019.

Download your FREE copy now:

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(For Amazon outside the US, just click on the Amazon link and then change the web address to .co.uk or .com.au or .ca or whatever your country code is.)

Also available in print.

Warp Giants (Sleep Writer Book 4) is published!

I think the Sleep Writer series will be getting a lot of movement in the coming weeks. Not only is the fourth book now out in ebook form (with the print copy to follow shortly), the first book in the series is about to be featured on the giant promotional website BookBub. For a writer, that's a pretty huge deal.

In case you've missed previous posts about my latest release, here's the blurb:

WARP GIANTS
(Sleep Writer Book 4)

Liam, Ant, and Madison have a busy weekend when the sleep writer predicts three separate events -- a flying saucer landing in the woods, a frightening mind-swapping experience, and a trip to a distant planet to save the last of a mysterious species known as the warp giants. The fourth book in the series contains three interconnected novellas full of excitement, terror, and downright weirdness...

WARP GIANTS is the fourth Sleep Writer book.

The first three books in the series are full-length novels, but while the fourth is the same length overall, it's actually three distinct stories linked together and followed by an overall epilogue. I think this format works really well, and each story is told from a different point of view, namely the three main characters.

So what's it all about?

The basic premise is that 15-year-old Madison writes herself messages in her sleep. She scribbles on a notepad and wakes in the morning to find a cryptic message, usually a place and a time. Madison visits that place at the right time to witness something pretty darn spectacular, often the arrival of a traveler from a distant planet. She's had this peculiar gift for a while, but when her family relocates south and moves into Brockridge, she befriends her new neighbor Liam and his friend Ant, a couple of 12-year-old geeks. She shares her unusual gift with them, and naturally they're enthralled. What follows are plenty of crazy adventures in space... and, alarmingly, in their backyard.

There are now four book in the series:

I'll be writing a fifth in 2019.

As mentioned above, I have an upcoming feature for Book 1 of the series on BookBub on April 8th. This will most likely mean thousands of downloads of that free book and, hopefully, a spike in sales for the others in the series. I remember the first time BookBub featured Island of Fog. There were five in the series at the time, and while Book 1 was free, I had great sales for Books 2-5 in the following six weeks. So, fingers crossed for a bit of Sleep Writer action!

Here's a quote from a pretty famous author that I'm always proud to show off:

"For my taste this is one of the best novels I've read regardless of genre; it haunted me for several days after I read it. Read this novel regardless of your age; I doubt you'll be disappointed, and your mind may be stretched a bit. The final ten percent blew me away." —Piers Anthony, New York Times bestselling author of the Magic of Xanth (full review at HiPiers.com, July 2015 newsletter)

Remember, Sleep Writer Book 1 is FREE on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and Apple.

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A book is finished, and a new one starts!

I finished Warp Giants, the fourth book in the Sleep Writer series. It's now in the proofing stage, so if anyone is interested in beta-reading it over the next two weeks, please email me at keith@unearthlytales.com and let me know!

Meanwhile, I started Forest of Souls, the TENTH book in the Island of Fog series. It sounds weird to say "tenth book" after saying "9-book series" for so long. It was mid-2014 when I published Prison of Despair and Castle of Spells, so it'll be exactly four years by the time I publish this new one in the summer.

Getting started on it has been... interesting. I've had an outline for quite a while now, and though I want to change a few minor things, the story is pretty much set in stone (in my head). But writing that first line? It was weird. I couldn't touch pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) because I feel like a distanced relative returning home after a long time away and finding myself out of touch with the rest of the family. It's like I gave Hal and friends their freedom from my evil plotting, and they've been happily going about their business ever since, and now suddenly I'm back to give them more trouble.

But, just a few lines in, I relaxed and got back into it. It really didn't take long. A few months have passed since Castle of Spells (a month in novel time for every year in reality, because time passes slowly in a fantasy realm), and most of the shapeshifters are already thirteen. Abigail is about to be, so Hal is buying her a gift. Here's the very first part of the very first chapter, written literally hours ago this afternoon, and as yet unedited, so if you see any typos, don't worry about it...

      "Has anybody seen Hal Franklin?"
      The sound of his name being shouted across the market square caused Hal's ears to prick up. He stepped back from the dizzying collection of brooches, pendants, and necklaces and squinted into the morning sun, looking across the bustling market toward the east.
      "You gonna buy that, sweetie?" the lady behind the stall asked.
      Hal blinked at her, then realized he still held two pendants that he couldn't decide between. They were both tiny wooden carvings no bigger than his thumb, one of a dragon, the other a faerie, dangling from delicate leather straps. "I can't figure out which would be best," he admitted. "Abi's a faerie shapeshifter, but . . ."
      "She's a faerie, you're a dragon," the lady said with a smile. "I know. Everybody knows. So which would she most like to have around her neck? Something that reminds her of what she is, like she doesn't know already? Or . . ." She tilted her head. "Or her loved one close to her heart?"
      Hal felt his face heating up. "It's a birthday gift," he explained. "She'll be thirteen soon."
      The lady nodded. "If you want my opinion, and if I were the lucky girl, I would like the dragon better. A constant reminder of her handsome and heroic friend."
      "Hal Franklin!" the voice yelled, closer now.
      He turned and scanned the crowd. Quite a few had stopped to look in the direction of the yelling. Something was brewing.

Since I'm writing this book and following up directly with Death Storm, the fifth book in the Legacies series, and publishing the two around the same time, I plan to write somewhere around 150,000 words by the summer. That's about 20 weeks away, which means about 7500 words per week. That's certainly doable if I can only find the time and energy, and if I can stop procrastinating. The good news is that I have Fridays at home now, so I can get some website work done and also some serious writing. I did 2500 words this afternoon, and I think I can do quite a bit more over the weekend... so we'll see how my goal works out!

The plan, then:

Forest of Souls (Island of Fog, Book 10) -- July 20Death Storm (Island of Fog Legacies, Book 5) -- August 20

These dates are arbitrary and may shift, but it would be cool to meet those goals because I released Prison of Despair on July 20 and Castle of Spells on August 20 back in 2014. Neat symmetry, huh?

Having a plan means I have a reason to get on with it. It's always worked for me before. But of course I reserve the right to change the deadlines. :-)

Finally, for now, I found an interesting post about the dragon flight for anyone who's interested in such things. Enjoy!

The Physics of Dragon Flight

Right -- gotta get some writing done. Bye for now!

Con Nooga... and reactions to my book selling techniques

So I did Con Nooga 2018. I bought a table (along with three 3-day passes) and sat myself down with my collection of books to see if I could make this convention thing work for me.

It worked just fine, as it happens. I didn't sell as many as I'd hoped, but I sold more than I expected. But apart from the networking with other authors, I got something else out of the weekend: experience and plenty of ideas for the next time. Now, I've done numerous book signings at libraries and book stores, and I've done book talks, so setting up a table isn't completely new to me. I did, however, adjust my sales pitch as the weekend went on, honing it as I went. And I learned something a little worrying.

First, here's my table:

Note the spiffy lighthouse and even spiffier fog. Note the really, really spiffy new edition of Island of Fog. This is the very first batch I've printed, which arrived just in time for Con Nooga. (Seriously -- UPS delivered the day before.)

Note also the lame banner hanging in the background. I'll forego that next time. But anyway, as you can see, I have a bunch of my books laid out. I have 22 in total, but I only brought 15 of them. I had loads of Island of Fog but only one copy of the rest of the books in the series. I had loads of Unicorn Hunters and a few of the others. I had loads of Sleep Writer and Fractured. Basically, I concentrated on the first books of each series. Despite that, a girl bought Fog Books 1-3 at a special discounted rate. Then I met a boy who'd already read Books 1-3, so he bought Books 4 and 5. That was pretty lucky!

My neighbor was local author buddy Kenyon T. Henry (Travis for short). Of course I ribbed him relentlessly for only having one book published, and naturally he took advantage of my absence one morning to add a stack of his books to my table. All good fun! But he never really mastered my trademark look of authorly contemplation.

Whenever people walked by and glanced over at my table, I looked for that spark of interest. Most people were fine to stop and chat for a moment whether they were interested in buying books or not. Some were interested but apparently a little too shy to stop, so it was a bonus to grab those people and get them talking, especially when they ended up buying. It was a bit of a mixture, and I think I got pretty good at judging who to stop and who to leave alone.

Some people made a beeline for my table and wanted to buy. Most of these happy readers had already stopped by earlier and picked up a business card, so I assume they checked out my website and books and liked what they saw.

Giving out business cards is THE best thing to do. On Friday, the first day of the con, people were browsing and not ready to buy anything. Saturday was the busiest, and quite a few were ready to buy. Sunday was the day some people decided to grab what they'd been hankering after for two days. So giving out business cards on Friday and suggesting they come back Saturday or Sunday seemed to be a good strategy.

I got my sales pitch down pretty well, first asking whether they liked sci-fi or fantasy, and then telling them about all my books anyway. I noticed most people were impressed that there are currently nine books in the Fog series, and even more impressed when I told them of another four books in the follow-up Legacies series.

I also managed to get them interested in my Sleep Writer book by flipping to the back cover and showing them bestselling author Piers Anthony's quote where he said "For my taste, this is one of the best novels I've read regardless of genre; it haunted me for several days after I read it." After that, I gave a quick summary of how Madison predicts alien arrivals, and then I flipped to the front cover where it shows the very first example of such an arrival. The quote and summary together with the images worked a treat.

But I started to notice Fractured is the one that impressed the most. The story involves a futuristic sci-fi city and a ghostly fantasy land, neither of which knows the other exists. Kyle escapes the city while Logan is exiled from the enclaves, and both end up in the wastelands between, where they eventually cross paths. Pretty much everyone loved the plot and found it super-interesting how I wrote the book with co-author Brian Clopper, alternating chapters the whole way through.

So I sold a fairly equal number of Island of Fog, Sleep Writer, and Fractured.

But I didn't sell any of the first Legacies book, Unicorn Hunters.

Here's what I learned that was kind of worrying. A young girl looked horrified when she saw that her favorite fantasy creatures, unicorns, were being hunted. That was an instant turn-off for her. I explained that the good guy, a 12-year-old boy named Travis, goes after the hunters to rescue the stolen unicorn, that the hunters were bad guys... but the girl had already lost interest in that book and was busy looking at the others.

Another person, a more mature lady, had the same reaction except that she was a horse lover and couldn't abide the idea of equines of any sort being harmed.

So... did I shoot myself in the foot with a title and cover that dares to suggest harm to beloved unicorns?

I came away wondering if I should alter the title. Would Unicorn Rescue or something similar be better? Should I remove the sinister shadowy hunters from the cover? But then the book might suggest it's a happy, sparkly, colorful, rainbowy, fluffy book about unicorns, and I'm sorry, I don't do sparkly or fluffy. A reader might pick it up and be shocked by the first couple of chapters in which hunters chase after and capture a unicorn.

There's no actual harm to unicorns, of course. I'm not a big rotten meanie. But a story without crisis is not much of a story. The darker the menace looms, the brighter the heroes shine.

Thoughts, anyone?

All in all, Con Nooga was fun and eye-opening, and despite sitting or standing at my table for three days, it was only the last two hours on Sunday that I got a little bored, mainly because everyone was clearing out by then. Would I do it again? Yes -- next year. And there are other cons in the meantime, too.

Next up is an author book signing at the library in Dalton on Saturday, March 24, from 10:00 AM -2:00 PM.

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

As 2017 wraps up and I work my way through my latest book, Warp Giants (Sleep Writer 4), I'm already thinking ahead to my next project in 2018. And what a project it is! I'm happy to announce I'll be working on Island of Fog Legacies #5 at the same time as a brand new installment in the original Island of Fog series. Yes, Book 10 is on its way.

Here's a potted history, so you understand where I'm coming from. Back in 2002, a year after I moved from the UK to the USA, I started my first ever novel, Island of Mist. The first half went through many rewrites before I got as far as the second half, and I wrote it on and off while building a website business. What with a new baby girl and my wife going back to school, it wasn't until April 2009 that I finally published my first book, by then called Island of Fog.

Each book after that took eight months to write, and then six months, and then four, finally three if I pushed hard enough. Books 8 and 9 in the series, written as a two-parter, came along in July and August 2014. At that point, I felt I'd written all I needed to write about Hal and his friends, and I was keen to move on to other things.

Three and a half years later, after various Island of Fog Chronicles (short stories and novellas) and a new spinoff Legacies series featuring a new set of shapeshifter heroes, I find myself ready to step back into Hal's shoes.

The original shifters (Hal and friends) will deal with a deadly menace, and that menace returns in some form twenty years later to be dealt with by the new generation of shifters in the Legacies books. With that in mind, I want to write both books together -- Island of Fog Book 10 and Island of Fog Legacies Book 5 -- with a view to publishing simultaneously. Each can be read independently without the other, but for those who want to read both, they can be read in any order.

I have plenty of fiendish ideas to link the two books across time for those who plan to read both. I suspect readers will enjoy the cross-references scattered throughout. But it won't be a simple repeat story; they will be vastly different. I'll be straddling a fine line between two independent stories versus one two-parter.

I have a decision to make, though. Should I again tell the story from Hal's perspective? There's something to be said for continuing with the exact same format, style, layout, etc. as before, so that anyone who's read the series (or is about to) will know exactly what to expect from Book 10 and beyond. It's like trying on an old sweater; it's comfortable, and it works.

Or should I mix it up a bit? Should I tell the story from other points of view as well as Hal's? It would give me more storytelling freedom, but it would feel different to the other books, and a lot of readers hate it when writers change things up. It's one thing having a three-and-a-half-year break, but to highlight that break with a new look, new writing style, new everything... That could spoil things.

So I'm leaning toward keeping everything the same. Even the cover and title will look like it belongs. The story would pick up a few months on from the last book, so the kids would be thirteen rather than twelve, but otherwise it'll feel like we never left. I imagine new readers in the future won't notice the three-year publishing gap.

Anyway, what do YOU think?

#qp_main1992548 .qp_btna:hover input {background: rgb(0, 53, 95) none repeat scroll 0% 0%!important} #qp_all1992548 {max-width:815px; margin:0 auto;}Who should lead the charge in Island of Fog Book 10?Write the story only from Hal's point of view like the previous 9 books. (Keeps it tight but familiar.)Write the story from varying points of view as the story requires. (More freedom but a little different.)OtherPlease Specify: www.poll-maker.com

Some of you might not even want a Book 10. That's okay, too; you don't have to read it. But I get the impression most Fog readers would be happy to keep diving into Hal's world again and again as long as I have something worthwhile to say. That's the thing about the Fog world -- it seems I have endless stories to tell.

Meanwhile, I'm pressing on with Warp Giants. I enjoy the Sleep Writer series, and will continue to produce those even though they don't sell anywhere near as many as the Fog and Legacies books. Hey, maybe one day they will. I suspect there might be a positive tipping point with the number of books in a series; it seems to me that four or five is the magic number, where a series truly becomes established as an ongoing thing and thus picks up momentum as readers browse their favorite online bookstores looking for something to keep them going for a while. Of course, some readers see it the other way, that a long-running series is just too much to take on. It depends on the reader.

So as much as I'm enjoying Warp Giants right now, I'm also thinking ahead to the mammoth task of writing two books at once ready for a mid-2018 publication.

In the meantime... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tails of a Shapeshifter is published!

To all those Island of Fog fans out there who need a foggy fix, here's a collection of short stories to whet your appetite. It's the third book in the Island of Fog Chronicles series, and it features a whole bunch of "tails" you didn't know a shapeshifter had.

TAILS OF A SHAPESHIFTER
(Island of Fog Chronicles)

While Hal and Abigail fly off on a quick mission, seven-year-old Travis spends a snowy evening with his 'cousins' Melinda and Mason. And what better way to pass the time than Uncle Robbie telling stories in front of the fire? With two yarns centered around Christmas, a mysterious bag under the water, a box of photos with a creepy presence, a couple of romantic tales, and an epic ogre adventure, it's sure to be an interesting night with this collection of short stories!

TAILS OF A SHAPESHIFTER is the third Island of Fog Chronicles book.

You may recall that I posted a series of short stories through 2015-2016, one each month. Some of those ended up in Monsters in the Fog and formed an alternative view of the original story when the shapeshifters first began to experience changes. Now, three more of those free stories have been included in Tails of a Shapeshifter. But there are some brand new stories in this book as well.

Here's the complete list:

A Very Merry Shapeshifting Christmas -- From the website. It's their first Christmas in New Earth, and the children decide to recreate the festive season as they know it. It doesn't go well. The Mysterious Bag Under the Water -- New story. Robbie and Lauren find a waterlogged bag with startling and sinister contents. Be Good for Belsnickel -- From the website. New Earth has a festive tradition of their own, but it's turning a little sour. The shapeshifters are sent to investigate the story of Krampus. Shadow-Face -- New story. When Robbie finds a box of old photographs, he unleashes something quite nasty and must battle to contain it. Robbie and the Ogres -- From the website. On their return from the Mountain of Whispers, Fenton needs help releasing the Shadow Demon from her prison, so Robbie heads to ogre country to gather some shaggy-armed muscle. Popping the Question -- New story. Ever wondered how Hal asked Abigail to marry him? He wants it to be the perfect moment and goes out of his way to find the most romantic place possible.

Between each story is brand new linking material featuring Robbie and Lauren along with Travis, Melinda, and Mason. All in, it's close to 50,000 words, a substantial amount to chew on for the measly price of $2.99. (By comparison, Eye of the Manticore is 35,000 words, and Monsters in the Fog is 40,000 words.)

It's worth noting that one of these short stories introduces a new character who will feature heavily in the forthcoming Death Storm (Island of Fog Legacies #5). That character is sure to send a shiver down your spine! I can't wait to start writing that book in a few months from now.

Tails of a Shapeshifter is available from all the usual ebook stores. Visit the main Island of Fog page and scroll down to the bottom for the Chronicles section. Enjoy!

Sleep Writer series has a brand new set of covers

As I embark on a new adventure writing the next book in the Sleep Writer series, it's a good time to update the cover art for the old books. I started messing with them back in October 2016 (see my post from a whole year ago!) and sorta-kinda settled on a new style.

Here are old covers:

And here are the new ones:

The main reason for the change is that I got wind of readers thinking Book 1 was a supernatural teen romance. Well, it's sort of supernatural, and it has a teen girl in it, and there's a hint of romance... but it's not a supernatural teen romance. It's a middle-grade sci-fi adventure, and I think the new covers show that a little better.

So the biggest change is the first cover, which now shows an alien emerging from a wormhole. The font is updated on all three covers to a "younger," more sci-fi adventuring style.

If you haven't already given this series a try, now's a good time, because the fourth book will be out in a few months.

"For my taste this is one of the best novels I've read regardless of genre; it haunted me for several days after I read it. Read this novel regardless of your age; I doubt you'll be disappointed, and your mind may be stretched a bit. The final ten percent blew me away." -- Piers Anthony, New York Times bestselling author of the Magic of Xanth (full review at HiPiers.com, July 2015 newsletter)

Buy now at your favorite store or in print

Book 4, Warp Giants, is a little different to the others in that it's planned as a collection of novellas in one volume, so it's like three short books in one. The titles are:

Flying SaucerMind SwapWarp Giants

These may change, but I have a solid footing to work from. There will be an opening chapter introducing Ant's new chauffeur (a nosy woman who digs a little too deeply into the affairs of Liam, Ant, and Madison), and that'll lead into Part 1, "Flying Saucer." The next ten chapters or so will be about that particular adventure. Then, after some more chauffeur wrangling, it'll be onto Part 2, "Mind Swap," for another ten chapters, and finally to Part 3, "Warp Giants," perhaps the most epic adventure of the collection. At the end, there will be an extra chapter or so to put an end to the chauffeur's nosiness once and for all.

Overall, it will feel like one complete novel but with three individual stories (four if you count the arc).

The idea of linking stories together in this way came from my current project, Tails of a Shapeshifter, which is now finished and due for publication this month. More on that soon.

Constructing, websiting, and writing all at once

I've been working part-time in a construction job for over a year now. It started out as a favor for a friend and a way to earn a bit extra since my website business had slowed down. I've helped build carports and kitchens, install floors, hang and finish drywall, more framing jobs, trusses, roofing, shingles, plumbing and electrical work, and so on. My 7-seater passenger van is now a tool truck. I'm at work by 7:30 AM and work 6-9 hours a day on my three (sometimes four) days a week, back in time to collect my daughter from school.

"Luxury," many of you are saying with a yawn. "You're lucky to have a vehicle. I have to carry my tools to work by hand. And three days a week? Pfft!"

Okay, but on Monday I start full time installing bathrooms and kitchens while my ongoing website business is crammed into evenings and weekends. In the meantime, I continue to write when I can, and I'm renovating our kitchen, bathroom, and mudroom at home.

"Well, of course we have it tough," you say. "I have to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I go to bed..." (see more such nonsense in the original "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch)

Anyway, this week is my last three-day week. In other words, Friday is my last regular day off. Sigh. I've become accustomed to flexible hours -- coming home mid-afternoon and changing my days when I need to. It's going to be a bit tougher now, the hours more rigid. Plus, I won't be able to spend a day writing if I feel like it.

I'm just going to have to find time somehow. I thought about giving up sleep. I like sleeping, but it's a big chunk of time -- six hours a night that I could spend writing!

"Sleep?" you say. "I don't know what sleep is."

Oh shut up.

Aside from my own website business, which in the past has always been very busy, I haven't worked full time hours for somebody else since 1999. I've had 18 years at home. While I've stayed busy for the most part, I can't deny it's been a pretty sweet life. But, when it comes to website work, the last couple of years have been slow, and it's time for a change.

HOWEVER, all that aside, I still intend putting out three books a year. I'm just about finished with Tails of a Shapeshifter, the third Island of Fog Chronicles book. It features two pre-written short stories and four brand new ones along with plenty of linking material. This book will be out later this month. Email me if you want to beta read it!

In the meantime, I'm starting work on Warp Giants, the fourth Sleep Writer book. And when that's done in a few months from now, I'll be starting Death Storm, the fifth Island of Fog Legacies book.

Maybe I can write these books while I'm tiling a bathroom or installing kitchen cabinets. If I can master the technique of using Google's speech-to-text tool to write my books verbally, then I'll be good to go. Or while driving. And I can do my website stuff in my sleep. As for renovating my own kitchen, I don't think my wife will mind if I leave the cabinet doors off and the contents of the cabinets on the kitchen table for another few months.

Oh, and did I mention mowing and yard work? Probably best not to.

I'll say one thing, though: With all this physical work, I'm in better shape than I have been in twenty years. I've always had elevated blood pressure, but not anymore. I've lost ten pounds since Christmas because I'm eating better (and generally less while I'm out being busy). This is mainly because I was told I was pre-diabetic, and my doctor tasked me with sorting it out before my next checkup in three months. Well, I did. I made some changes to my diet, and now I'm in the "safe" range again, crisis averted.

My knees don't creak anymore, either. I used to have terrible twinges in my knees, what with getting old and everything. (I just turned 48.) So, overall, I'm feeling good. I just wish I had more time in the day. But don't we all?

I'll write again soon with details of the new Chronicles book. Several people have asked me how Hal proposed to Abigail. Well, you'll find out later this month...