Sean D Gregory's Blog, page 2

A NOTE ON BOOK REVIEWS AND ARCs

Here’s a funny and slightly relevant anecdote. I met my wife through a dating app. I tell people I ordered her from an online catalog. Back in 2012, when I found myself back in the dating world, I went on a couple of blind dates. Literally, two. The women were kind and things were jovial on those two dates, but in both cases, we weren’t good matches for one another. So, I decided I really needed to not rush things and had no intention of dating.

But some freinds did me dirty and signed me up to Match.com when I wasn’t looking. Honestly, they did a great job with the profile because when I found out, it was exactly me, and after being mad a bit, I was fine with it.

My profile sat there a while as I ignored it completely. Then one day, when I was sitting around the house contemplating what it meant to be single again after 19 years, I decided to goof around on Match.com and look at some profiles that the algorithm thought would work for me. It was a mess. None of the expertly curated matches matched me. It was so far off that I was going to delete my profile.

While seeking out the big delete button I saw something. Up in the top right corner of the website sat an enticing offer. “What if?” The idea being that if one thing was different in my profile or preferences, just one, then I might have been matched with these “others” that Match.com was refusing to “match” me with. I clicked this magic button and swiped through tons of pictures of matches that almost were.

I just kept swiping. That is, until this one picture appeared. I clicked it. I kept it. I still remember the gasp that escaped my lips when I saw it. I remember the surge of adrenaline as my eyes locked on the eyes of the woman in the picture. I remember my hands shaking as I read the profile. I laughed at the personality contained within, sharp, self effacing, witty, and honest.

I clicked the “contact” button and wrote what I thought was a pretty witty, well crafted, and thoughtful introduction. I referenced items in her profile that struck me. I asked questions. I gave little tidbits of me. I put my best foot forward. And I hit send.

It was the first time I ever contacted a stranger for a date through online means. It still stands today as the only time I ever contacted a stranger for a date on my own. Ever.

She replied.

We emailed for two weeks, with increasing frequency as the days went on. And then she ghosted me. No explanation. No return reply…silence. For almost two weeks.

Then one day a new email came. She was back. With an apology and a plausible explanation. It was sincere and honest and deeply personal. She wasn’t interested in a new beau. And I did something I never did before. I swallowed my wounded pride and said it was okay. Strangely, I meant it. And then I did somehting else I had never done before. Rather than moving on, I simply offered to be a friend. Just a friend. I even gave her my number just in case. And that was the last I heard from her.

Via email.

“Hey, Sean Gregory,” a random text from an unknown Florida number a week later.

I waited almost two hours to reply. I thought it was spam. Then I thought it was my old high school friend that still lives in Florida…same area code. I thought she got a new number and was goofing off. I called her on her old number and she assured me it wasn’t her. So I stared at the phone for a while longer. My daughter kept nudging me to find out who it was. I’m adventurous and curious so of course I was going to reply.

“Hello. Stalker,” I replied.

“You don’t have any pet rabbits you’d like boiled, do you?” came the response. It was within minutes. I had no clue who this person was but this response was too much for me to leave be. I had to play along.

“A Fatal Attraction reference. I like it,” I replied.

“Do you know who this is?” the stalker asked. I did not. And it was starting to make me nervous.

“I don’t.”

“Yet you still talk to a stranger? Even after they threatened a defenseless bunny?” the texter asked. “You sicko.”

“If you know me, then you know this to be true,” I play reply. Who ever this is, I am enjoying the anonymous banter. Really I’m buying time trying to figure out who I knew from Florida other than family and one freind. I was utterly clueless and the mystery had my wheels turning. I lived in Ohio at the time. I hadn’t lived in Florida for nearly thirteen years.

And then it came. The big reveal.

“It’s Jill, silly!”

THE picture of THE girl that changed my life.

When I tell you I have a wickedly eidetic memory, it’s no overstatement. It’s not as good as it used to be, age doing what it does, but I remember every detail that came next after she revealed that she was the very ghost to whom I’d given my number just a week earlier. I remember it all. Every. Single. Word.

Every word. Because every text that came after would irrevocably change the course of my life. Every word of those early days that remain stored inside this brain of mine is why you, dear reader, are seeing this website. Every word of that wonderful exchange is why I am taking this journey to publication.

Sean And Jill on the day Sean knew he was the luckiest man alive

It’s been nearly 12 years since that exchange. Every night I get to look at her face. Every night I get to kiss her lips. Every night I get to live life with Jill as I walk beside her, sharing our moments together. I struck gold on my first foray into the online dating world. Match.com matched me to my soul mate on the first try.

Jill tells me I am an anomoly. She’d know. She says she kissed a lot of toads to find her prince. She went on a lot of “matches” that weren’t.

So why the long story? What is it’s relevance to the title above? I’m getting there.

As I walk through this journey toward publishing, I am learning a lot. So much goes into getting a book published, especially for those new to the game, like me. I always thought it was “write a manuscript, get an agent, get published, get sales!” And while that is true, sorta, it’s very oversimplified. I’m a simpleton, so “yay me” for oversimplifying.

But as most of us have learned in life, nothing is truly simple. Getting an agent has been dauntingly and painfully complex. It took me several weeks to craft a suitable query letter. It took even more weeks to find out how to find agents to send query letters. Even longer to sift through and find the right agents.

Much longer than it took for that first email I sent Jill to turn into a first date.

This week I started sending out query letters to agents. The first five went out today to agents that specialize in speculative fiction. My hope is that I hit the jackpot the way I did when I met my wife on Match.com. Wouldn’t it be awesome if the first agent opens up my quety letter and screams “At last! The query letter I’ve been looking for! Look at this prose! ‘A Red Rider BB Gun with a composite stock and this thing that tells time.’ A+++++++++!” (What can I say? Ralphie and I have a lot in common.)

But I really did strike gold while riding a unicorn and getting struck by lightning when it comes to Jill.

I have no expectation of the same success here. I do, however, have a plan. Five agent query letters every three weeks. I’ll make minor tweeks to each round to adjust the letter, metaphorically clicking the magic “What if?” button on the top right. That’s the goal. And if, someday, I find an agent, maybe I can get that elusive “major deal” that Publisher’s Marketplace keeps taunting me with in the weekly newsletter.

It’s a dream. I know. Really, I just want to see people read this book. It’s taken many hundreds of hours of work to get to this point. Steven Moore has poured his blood and sweat into the editing process. Toulla Corti worked hard on the cover.

And Jill’s ears are bleeding from the constant chatter of every small victory celebrated or every setback lamented.

Jill, you’re amazing.

Anyway, the final and main point here and why the title has nothing to do with the ramblings above is this: one of the pieces of knowledge gained recently is the importance of ARCs. I’d never heard the term before this month. ARC is “Advanced Reader Copy”. Something I never knew I needed. Now that I know, I realize how important that is.

I have none.

As a result, I added an ARC sign up sheet to this website and need help getting the word out. ARC readers are voracious helpers in the book loving world. They get advanced copies of a book to read, review, and spread the word. They are lovers of books and authors. They are unsung heroes of the literary world. They relish in being the early readers of new works, find delight in discovering new authors, and do so much for those of us out here putting “pen to paper”. They have influence and followers and passion. They’ll eat you alive if the book sucks. They will shower you with praise if it doesn’t.

If you are an ARC reader or aspiring to be one, I need you!

If you aren’t, please help get the word out to the book loving community!

If you are an ARC reader, sign up to join my ARC Army here! Become and ARC Goblin in my fantastical worlds.

As always, thank you for liking, following, and reading! Find me on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and Goodreads.

All the best, —Sean

BIG NEWS X2!

Wow! What a week it’s been!

First, thank you to every single person that signed up for the newsletter and free e-book coming out Oct 24th (just the free ebook - formal book release date is still OCT 31st)! Thanks to each of you out there helping get the word out; we’ve reached the first milestone: 250 registered readers!

250!

I’m supper grateful to everyone who shares, likes, and comments on the social media posts. Still got a long way to go and I can’t do it without your support. Thank you! Please keep spreading the word. We’ve got a goal to reach 1000 by August 1st!

Oct 24th is coming fast. Still a lot to do. And that leads me to the second piece of news: the final content draft of The Growing Darkness landed on my editor’s desk this morning! Thank you, Steven Moore, for the great feedback and tough love. Your notes were spot on! What a slog that was. Full disclosure: as a new author publishing for the first time, I’ve never experienced the editing process. Finding my way through the manuscript, making changes to fix the weakness all while trying not to create new ones, well, let’s just say that wasn’t easy. Fingers crossed it worked!

I’m happy with the story now. There were major changes to the first 100 pages, (you’re welcome, mom), and a full restructure of the story. Everything from pacing to plotline layout to underdeveloped character arcs to droning sections of meandering thoughts have, hopefully, been corrected. It was an exhausting reread and rewrite but the end product is significantly better.

And now the book is ready for line editing! For those that don’t know, that means now that the story is structured well, poor Steven has to reread the book again and pick apart the prose for overly flowery language, repetitive phrases, ugly and cumbersome sentences, to dreaded clichés and pedestrian word choices (ick). Let’s face it, I’m no Truman Capote.

There you have it. My baby is out of my hands for the next few weeks, so I’m going to work on a few short stories for the coming anthology (details coming soon!) In the meantime, Book II of The God Killers is only halfway through the first draft, but since the recent changes to Book I significantly impact the rest of the trilogy, it looks like I’m starting over there…yikes.

Do pay attention to your emails if you’ve signed up for the newsletter. If you haven’t, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Click here and press that Gimme That Free ebook! button below!

As always, thank you for taking to time to visit my blog! Please browse the website. Feel free to send me feedback on the Contact Me page. And don’t forget to like and follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

The Growing Darkness releases on Oct 31, 2024!

AUTHORS AND MARKETING - IT’S On US!

It’s a funny thing, telling the world I wrote a book. My family and friends, especially my wife, are extremely supportive. They help any way they can to get the word out. But, honestly, it’s not easy to keep plugging the same message. I fear it will get stale before the book actually releases. Social media pounds the imperative “You have to do something every day!”

Part of me feels an awful lot like it’s shameless self promotion, which feels a lot like I need to buy a bigger refrigerator, and more magnets. There’s just no more room after all my coloring book accomplishments hanging there.

Looking around at everything that has gone viral or worked, however, is just that. Self-promotoion. The truth is, most of us are not good at that. More of us feel the way I do than not. Petrified of looking vain. For writers, it’s why we choose to write and not act. We chose our vanity to be hidden behind the words on the page.

There are many great authors out here, putting words to paper (or pounding our fingertips to keys like I am doing right now), hoping an agent will answer our query letter, a publisher will like what the agent puts out there, or that readers will flock to the stores and websites to buy the damn book that we poured our souls into. We think the hard work is done when the last piece of punctuation declares the last letter of the last word of the last sentence of the last page of the last chapter.

Whew! That was a lot!

We couldn’t be more wrong. Most books sit, doomed to die in obscurity from a fate worse than never being written. I’m talking about good books, great books, by more talented writers than me. And why does that happen? Because readers don’t know these books exist. More importantly, most people stick to what they know. This is exacerbated by the author who doesn’t realize that marketing the book falls on them. So let me say it now for those in the back row.

MARKETING THE BOOK FALLS ON THE AUTHOR!

But how? Where do we start? There are many places to go to get information. And many that will happily separate us from our money yielding lackluster results. Within the effort lies more pitfalls than screaming fans at a Taylor Swift concert (or drunk ones at a Kenny Chesney concert). I am contacted, daily, (no kidding - it really is daily now), by people offering to promote my book, promising thousands of readers, hundreds of five start reviews, and podcast interviews. All for a fee. Those fees range from $22 t0 $300. The ick factor is high here. In an effort not to spend money and get taken for a ride, many of us chose self-promotion.

There is no A&R Rep like the one that landed the Foo Fighters, pushing them to Rock & Roll godhood.

It’s just me, pushing you, my dear discovered reader, to follow my pages, like my posts, share my news, and to read my book. It’s up to me to find undiscovered readers and turn them into discovered ones. Every week I try to post something interesting. It’s fun but it is exhausting. It’s keeping the creative juices flowing and are they flowing!

I am chosing to surround myself with supportive people. I am finding connections here in Pittsburgh and throughout the country. And I chose to lift them up however I can. So strap in for the ride and tie your laces tight, because there’s some pavement pounding to do (metaphorically speaking, of course) and I’m recording it here so that my fellow writers can follow along and learn from my mistakes and successes.

So once again, tell everyone you know because you never know what the tipping point is going to be. And fellow writers? You are your biggest asset. Find the community the wants what you are creating. That really is the key!

Either way, this is a slog for all of us. Especially us newbies.

JOIN MY NEWSLETTER and FOLLOW MY BLOG (see links down below!) And find my Instagram and Facebook (link also below). Browse the site. I’m adding to it all the time. Please leave a comment!

All the best! —Sean

the growing darkness - FREE EBOOK!!!

That’s right. You heard it here first. When we go live with PRE-ORDERS of The Growing Darkness, everyone actively signed up for the NEWSLETTER will get a FREE ebook and a 20% Discount on the Hardcover version of the book. Tell everyone you know! The list is filling fast!

No, I am not kidding. The EBOOK will be FREE to the first 1000 subscribers to my newsletter. All you have to do is click the link, enter your email, and click “Gimme That Free eBook!”. Come Oct 1st, you will get an exclusive invite to download the FREE EBOOK as one of the first 1000 subscribers.

One little secret? You will get it a FULL WEEK before anyone else! SIGN UP HERE!!

BOOK COVER PREVIEW!!

I’m so damn excited, I can’t contain myself. If you are following then you are one of the first to see the new book cover for The Growing Darkness! Special thank you to Toulla Corti, my new cover designer. After a rocky start with the wrong designer, we made the change to work with Toulla. Best decision ever. After several discussions, some mood board work, a couple of revisions, and a very real effort by her to understand the story, the world I created, and the person of Shen (the main character), she nailed it all. I’m super excited to work with her.

I’m not ashamed to admit it, this brought tears to my eyes. There is so much more to publishing a book than I ever understood and we aren’t even out of editing yet. But this makes it all feel so much more real. Next step is the full spine/back of book design for the hardcover/paperback versions. But this is the major hurdle.

Thank you Toulla! I can’t express my gratitude enough! I love this cover!

Please dont forget, SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER TO GET EARLY ACCESS AND A PRE-ORDER DISCOUNT!

becoming an author after 50

I’m blessed.

It’s true and I should acknowledge that.

I’m blessed to have a partner sharing life with me that is intelligent, insightful, and honestly one of the most supportively honest people I’ve ever known. In the twelve years (wow, honey, twelve years!) that we’ve walked life together, she never pulls her punches, gives it straight, and charges forward with me, shoulder-to-shoulder, guiding my efforts, and recognizing when I’m getting in my own way.

For the record: she’s the reason my stories are coming to life.

Jill, you are the best thing to happen to this scrambled up dumpster fire of DNA strands you call a husband.

Ever.

When I told her I wanted to jump the cliff and actually publish rather than just talk about it, she told me to do it, without hesitation. Not because she was sick of hearing about it (which she probably was), but because she believes in me and genuinely thinks it’s a good idea. She took my hand and jumped off the cliff with me.

Let’s face it she and I are both dreamers.

The key difference is I’m a dreamer who flies by the seat of his pants. She’s a dreamer who plans. Without her, well, I’d be sitting here still talking about writing a book. Without her I wouldn’t have tried to find an editor. Without her, I wouldn’t have this website. And without her, I wouldn’t have a clue where to direct my efforts. We are working on that now. She simultaneously hates that I fly by the seat of my pants and loves it. Secretly I love that she is a planner, though I groan everytime she tries to make me sit down and plan with her…I hate planning.

It’s a chore.

But deep down I know the truth; she’s right. (Don’t tell her I said that.)

I’m grateful that she understands social media better than I do. I am a “fringe personality” who always struggles between trying to “fit in” and desiring to “be my quirky, unique self”, while she, in her uniqueness, is somehow more mainstream, naturally fitting in easily. Yet she somehow makes everyone, from the fringe to the perfect center, feel as comfortable around her as a cozy snuggle next to the freindliest puppy. She get’s people better than I do, understands them, and knows how to relate to everyone in a moment’s effort. It’s fascinating to watch.

So what’s the point? Well, becoming an author at 50, especially in today’s world, is no easy task. Becoming and author, by itself it difficult, at best. But at 52? I’d probably need to be struck by lightning…thankfully there’s a history of lightning striking my family (Hi, Grandpa!) and equally as thankfully, lightning does strike more than once despite the axiom.

But, how do you become relevant when you have no social media presence, aand have an aging voice, and have no skills in marketing? Am I crazy for trying? Is it too late? It would be easier if I wrote non-fiction, but, outside of developing sensors for rockets and satellites, selling sensors for rockets and satellites, having an affinity for nerdy things like fantasy/sci-fi and video games, loving Penguins hockey and Steelers football, nursing a not-so-secret penchant for watching Nick Offerman’s Yule Log and Whiskey video on YouTube for 72 hours during Christmas, and loving Pop Rocks, there not much I know anything about. Will readers of my preferred genres give a 50+ new author a chance when the average age of readers of fantasy fiction is under 30? Does anyone still enjoy HardBoiled Detective stories? Especially if those stories have werewolves and vampires and voodoo doctors?

I sure hope so!

When my awesome wife and I discussed this (literally this morning), we talked about whether it would be better to go with a psuedonym and hide my age or go with my name and be open about it. She didn’t have an opinion either way on that. She offered ideas. Ideas are great because then you have the freedom to work the scenarios.

I read an article recently, on Poets&Writers, titled 5 Over 50, 2022. It’s content is relevant to me: newly published authors over 50. In those five selections, I see something interesting. It covers women and men, whose ages range from 50 to 80. The authors span all ethnicities, backgrounds, and specialties. There are non-fiction writers, fiction writers, and poets. It’s a pretty nice smattering of all aspects of the published author landscape. And it gives me hope.

I’m nothing, if not me to a fault. I don’t know how to be anything else, even though, at various stages of life, I tried to be. So here I go, at 52, with my real name, and frankly, I’m glad I’m doing it this way. And I’m glad I have this amazing partner helping find my voice: a voice I feared putting out there in a genuine way. You are never too old to try new things and you have to write what you know. I’m a nerd who loves fiction and enjoys new worlds, new ideas, and new experiences. I will do my best to make the worlds I create relatable to the new generation of readers as well as the existing ones. I hope you’ll give my books a chance.

It’s inevitable that certain elements will be misunderstood. It’s inevitable that I may write things that are taken poorly by some and celebrated by others. I can’t be all things to all people, even within the fringe world of nerdom that is finally finding itself more accepted as mainstream (I’m a nerd from the 1980’s). We can’t deny the difference in styles and points-of-view between the generations (which we have become rather adept at labeling and assigning generic all-encompassing traits toward). But, we are all human. We are all bound by similar hopes, dreams, regrets, aches, joys, foibles, defeats, and triumphs. It’s something we share as part of the human condition. And that is something that, regardless of age, all of us can write about in a fresh and relevant way.

So, yes, I’m doing this at 52 and hoping that 18-year-olds read my stories. And 30-somethings. And 60-somethings…hell, if you are 80+, I hope you enjoy them too. Because we could all use a little escape now and again and some of the best new books are being written by new authors that are older than the internet.

Please sign up for the newsletter so that you don’t miss the go live of The Growing Darkness!

PITTSBURGH

I’m going to admit something here. I didn’t always love Pittsburgh the way I do now. The shift from being the “I hate Pittsburgh!” idiot I was to the “Pittsburgh is the best place in the world!” Yinzer I am now was actually quite dramatic. It was an overnight change. I’m human enough to admit it. I was as wrong as wrong can be.

But, let me be 100% clear, I love this city!

Maybe it’s because I fell in love with a Pittsburgh girl. Maybe it’s because I didn’t know what I was talking about. Probably it’s both.

Actually it is both. But let’s just call it what is was: I didn’t have a damn clue what I was talking about.

Now before I pour my heart out, let me say that there was one thing Pittsburgh had that I always loved and will till the day I die: Penguins. Oh how I love the Penguins. Growing up in South Florida, hockey wasn’t something anyone followed down there. So when I discovered hockey and wanted a team to follow, the Penguins with the dynamic duo of Mario Lemieux (199 points in 88-89!) and Jaromir Jagr (4 straight scoring titles!) made the choice easy (the Panthers didn’t exist yet and while I did like them from their inception they never took the place of the Penguins in my heart). I’ve been a fan ever since and, well, they just made that choice easier as time went on. (Hi Sid! Just in case he ever reads this - a guy can hope, right?).

So back to it. Outside of the Penguins, I didn’t think Pittsburgh was anything but a dirty place that nobody liked. Admitedly, I let ignorance rule my thoughts on the City of Bridges and was fine with it. I used to say my favorite football teams were “The Washington Redskins and anybody playing the Steelers.” Before you lambast me on that, see some photos here. I bleed Black and Gold now and have even switched to being a Buccos fan (mildly because I am not really a baseball fan anymore).

It’s safe to say that I’ve learned some valuable lessons in the twelve years Jill and I have been together. All for the better.

After several trips to Pittsburgh for holidays with Jill’s family, a family reunion, and so many Steeler games (I married into a family of season ticket holders), Primanti’s, that awesome view coming through the Pitt Tunnels, and so many other gems, I instantly realized that not only was I completely misguided in my thoughts on all things Pittsburgh, I was, ashamedly, utterly clueless. Pittsburgh stole my heart in more ways than one and I am a better person for it. You can all thank the wonderful Pittsburgh girl I get the great fortune to share my life with.

For this reason, I am adding to my pages a love letter to Pittsburgh. You can find it here. It is a work in progress that will grow with time. There are a lot of reasons for this. First just because I want to. Second, I am gathering historical information on Pittsburgh in a single place. Especially anything prior to 1960.

Pittsburgh is a major setting for some of my upcoming work. In fact, alongside 1940’s Hollywood, Pittsburgh of the 40’s will find itself a major point of focus for many of the upcoming editions of Case Files of Miles Ward. So I’d like to gather as much information as I can.

If you happen to have great photos, awesome details, and any worthy stories of pre-1960’s Pittsburgh I’d love to hear from you. Click the contact me button up top if you’d like to share!