S.C. Mitchell's Blog, page 45

Recovery and beyond.

I apologize for the lack of posts over the past few weeks. I spent most of last week at the Gencon Gaming convention in Indianapolis. I was able to do a bit of promotion and made some great contacts. The payback has been a few days of lethargy and lousy writing. I feel I’m back on track now, though, and ready to plot my way into the future.

I’m going to be stepping back a bit, over the next few weeks to reevaluate my game-plan. The past two years have been a real learning experience. One of the things I have decided to do at one point, is to pull all my books and redo the covers. This will make those original versions incredibly rare. So if I ever do make it big, my original fans may have a real collectors item.

Anyway, around the time I finish the third Demons Rising book I will be pulling the other two off the market for a bit then relaunching the series. I have also decided to scrap the title of the third book. I haven’t come up with the new title yet, but Knight of the Night just isn’t fitting the story that’s emerging.

Also on my platter for later this year, I have decided to self-pub my Fantasy novel, Amulet of the Fallen God. I am considering doing a Kickstarter on this book to raise money for professional editing and a nice cover. It is again something new to look into, but I was able to talk to some people doing this and it seems a good path to take.

Anyway, that’s what’s happening in my little world. Now back to writing…

Until next time,

Steve

Reaching 100

Well it happened over this weekend. I reached 100. In fact, I reached 100 twice.

I reached over 100 ‘likes’ on my Facebook Author Page and over 100 followers of @AuthorSMitchell on my Twitter account. I’d like to extend a big THANK YOU to all those who ‘Like’ and ‘Follow’ me as I learn the ropes of Social Media. Also Thank you to those who follow this blog, and have commented on my work. It warms my heart to have such great support as I take my first steps into this strange, new online world.

I feel like I’ve come quite a ways, but I still have so far to go.

Thank you all again,

Steve

The appeal of the new.

Well, I’ve reached the halfway point in the first draft of Knight of the Night, and even though the characters have taken me places I didn’t imagine I would go, things look to be on track. I’ve never had two lovers so reluctant to climb into bed, but Ryan and Salina finally got there. I’ve also engineered the (temporary) return of Geoffrey and Kelly from The Forsaken Templar and incorporated Jack and Anna from There’s no such thing as Werewolves, to give you some new insights into their lives and set the stage for the series of novels I plan to write set 25 years in the future in the Demons Rising Universe.

I love this world I’ve created, and enjoying telling its story, but I am ready to take a break from it. Daughter of Darkness and Destiny: Cloud Fist have both been calling to me lately, and a fist full of new tales, set in new worlds, keep tumbling through my crazy, little mind. There’s an appeal to dropping what I’m currently doing to embrace something new and different, but I plan to push through and have Knight of the Night ready for release by the end of September, then give myself the rest of the year to explore other worlds.

Now, I have to get back to work. Nathan Gray just made his way back to Earth, and he’s got some things to tell me that I don’t imagine I’m going to like.

Until next time,

Steve

Werewolves of London – A personal appearance

Well, the Adopt a Werewolf program is over and I’m pleased to say we found new homes for over six hundred of the little fur-balls. Once again I was surprised with how well represented England was, adopting over 200 of the beasties,  especially as there is somewhat of a huge distraction going on over there right now. We also sent out 9 werewolves to Germany, and one wonderful person in France found a place in their heart to adopt. Overall it was a great promotion, and I thank you all for your support.

Also, I am pleased to announce that I have a personal appearance scheduled for this coming Monday. On August 6th, at 6:30PM I will be at the Tomahawk Public Library for my first ever, author meet and greet. Tomahawk is in north-central Wisconsin, and if you are anywhere in the area (or even if you’re not) I’d love to have you stop in. I’m really not sure what to expect. I’ll be telling a bit about myself and my writing, and answering any questions people have about my books and publishing in general. I will also have a reading from my soon-to-be-released novella, Knight of the Night, if anyone is interesting in hearing it.

It should be an interesting experience.

Until next time,

Steve

The Adopt a Werewolf campaign is on!!!

That’s right. Now you can have your very own soft, furry demon from another dimension. Thousands are waiting to be adopted right now. Yes, we know, There’s no such thing as Werewolves, but if we’d called this the Adopt a Whargan campaign would you be here now?

Think of it. Your very own snarling Whargan demon. So many are homeless right now, baying at the moon, waiting for a place they can call home. (They don’t even need shots. I mean rabies is scared of these guys.) Surely you have a place in your heart, or on your Kindle device, for a furry, snarling creature from hell.

The line is open now, straight to Amazon.com, and they are FREE, FREE, FREE, FREE, FREE!!!

Yup, the Kindle version of There’s no such thing as Werewolves is FREE, now through Monday. Get yours today!

Follow me on Twitter @AuthorSMitchell or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorSCMitchell to follow the Adopt a Werewolf campaign.

Steve

Interview podcast

Quick update:

I found the podcast of my interview on WJJQ. if you’re interested you can find it here: http://www.wjjq.com/FORM724.mp3

Steve

Am I really here?

I just finished up a radio interview. It was an amazing moment. Yup, it’s just my local, small market radio station, but still…I was interviewed as the author of three books. I have an appointment on Thursday with a reporter from my local newspaper. In two weeks I have a ‘meet the author’ at my local public library. Sure it’s just a small step on my journey, and nowhere near where I want to end up, but as I look back just six months ago (before I published Swiftly Beats the Heart) I find myself happy with the progress I’ve made.

I am rarely satisfied with where I am – always wishing I could write faster, publish more. There is always so much more I want to do. But I think for right now, today, I will be happy with where I am.

Until next time,

Steve

The world keeps moving

As I have aged I have noticed how much harder it is becoming to embrace new technology and ideas. It is so much easier to stay in my well-worn groove. But the world moves on, and if I am to continue on my path, I know I must occasionally exit my comfort zone and explore new areas. A year ago this blog was a big step into the unknown. Yesterday I took two large steps into new realms. The first I posted about – I tweet. I have started ‘following’ people that interest me. To my surprise, people have already started to ‘follow’ me. At the time of this posting I have 8 followers, only 2 of them are people I know. So Twitter is not so scary anymore.

My second step yesterday was to purchase a domain, and begin the process of setting up my web site. This presents a real challenge for me, and there are a number of hurdles I will need to jump before www.scmitchellauthor.com is a real thing. (www.scmitchell.com was already taken) Originally, I planned to use this blog as my website until I had made it big, then hire some company to build my web site. But this blog has limitations. I need a separate page for each book I publish, and the room to expand beyond one layer. So to that end, and with a little help from my friends, I am going to learn how to set up and administer a web site.

The world moves on. I must move on with it, or stagnate. This was brought home to me clearly yesterday after taking these two big steps. I was standing in line at the grocery store, wondering if I should have taken those two big steps. I had my groceries on the check-out counter and my credit card in hand, as an older woman stood in line in front of me writing out a check for her purchases. She had to ask the checker the date, and spent quite a bit of time writing out the check, that the checker had to then process through the cash register reader. “Why doesn’t she just use a credit card?” I wondered, and then it hit me. She couldn’t. She’d found her comfort zone and stayed there…as the world moved on.

I will get there, eventually. I’ll be holding up the line at the grocery store, waving my old, slow credit card, as the younger woman with the new body-scan-credit-tatoo-thingy waits patiently behind me just shaking her head.

So I blog, I tweet, and I’m learning to set up a web site, swimming against the current of complacency. Some day I will give up, and be carried away, unable to grasp the new concepts ahead, but not today. Not today!

Until next time,

Steve

I tweet therefore I am

Okay, I did it. I now have a Twitter account. @AuthorSMitchell is a thing (I think). Anyway, I’m still not sure how, or how much, I will be using this new tool but I’m out there in the Twittersphere. Tweet at me, follow me, all that stuff.

Also remember my Adopt a Werewolf campaign starts Thursday. I’ll probably be tweeting about it.

Until next time,

Steve

The Adopt a Werewolf campaign.

So many of you have commented to me about the joys of having a werewolf around the house, and it has warmed my heart. I’ve even heard of people passing around their werewolves just so others can know the joy of cuddling up with a vicious, fanged creature. I sent my children out into the world, and the world responded, even across the pond. (Yes, I’m talking about you, my faithful British readers.)

But there is a dark side to all this joy. Many homes are still without their very own copy of There’s no such thing as Werewolves. So many Kindles are starving for the story. But now you can help!

Spread the word: Starting next Thursday, and running through Monday, July 30, anyone with a Kindle device or Kindle app on their computer, iPad or Droid can get their own cuddly werewolf. There’s no such thing as Werewolves will be FREE for five days.

The Adopt a Werewolf campaign is on. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Shout it from the rooftops!! (okay maybe don’t go that far)

There are so many werewolves waiting to be adopted.

Look into these eyes: (.) (.)

Can you say no?

Steve