Updates, Including My Next Release: The Ghosts of Chimera

I

have exciting news. I am finally, finally, finally about to publish my psychological fantasy The Ghosts of Chimera.

Busy with making final edits, I have not been on social media much lately, only peeking out of my cave every now and then to see how my friends online are doing. Although I have reduced my blogging to about once every other week, I promise that I am actually still here.

I am now transferring The Ghosts of Chimera to an Amazon file. After multiple revisions, I am finally happy with it, and it will be ready to go before the end of summer. Although I was advised to divide the 600 page novel into three books, I have decided to publish it as a whole, the way I originally meant it to be read.

The novel is about a 13-year-old boy who ventures into an alternate universe in search of the ghost of his younger brother, a place where it is hard to tell the difference from dream and reality. My novel was accepted by a traditional publisher over a year ago, but due to creative differences, I withdrew from the deal and decided to self-publish. My experience made me realize how important it is to me to keep my creative autonomy.

A couple of months ago I published my second novel, entitled Paw, and I am still trying to figure out how to promote a book about a bipedal feline slave. I am not sure there is an existing market for bipedal feline slave stories, but doggone it, a trend has got to start somewhere and it might as well start with me.

Now that I have finally finished editing The Ghosts of Chimera, I am working on my sequel to Paw.

Although I am primarily focusing on writing my new novels during the week, I have decided to start back writing short stories again on the weekends, some of which I will publish on my blog. Months ago, with great reluctance, I gave them up to focus completely on novel writing.

However, giving up writing short stories felt like giving up chocolate, which is why my abstinence was doomed before it even began. While writing novels is satisfying in its own way, it makes me commit to a single idea for many months. Short stories allow me to react creatively to my life in real time.  If I get mad at Donald Trump, or my cat, or a crabby doctor, I can reach for a metaphor and turn my woes into art. It is fun therapy, and lately I have needed all the therapy I can get. I recently finished a short story entitled “Binary Boy,” which is too long to publish on my blog, so I am considering posting it on Amazon as a “single.”

In the mean time, I am trying to figure out how best to promote my newest releases. After quitting Twitter in January, I sometimes miss it. Part of me wants to go back on to the site and promote Paw, which not many people know about yet. Maybe at some point the temptation to return will prevail, although I am not sure how effective Twitter actually is for promoting books. Still, it would be emotionally satisfying to tell more of the world Paw exists.  Publishing a novel no one knows about feels similar to dropping a megaton boulder into the ocean without a splash.

I recently went back and read some old journal entries to see what Old Me had to say about Twitter. My entries confirmed what I already knew, that Twitter and my bipolar disorder did not dance well together. If I returned, I would have to figure out exactly what I was doing wrong last time so I would know not to do it again.

For now I am searching for other promotional avenues, such as getting my books reviewed or entering contests. More importantly, I am writing constantly, and I hope to step up my blogging again soon.

Thanks to all of you who have been following my blog and reading my books. I will update you further when The Ghosts of Chimera is released at long last.

If you enjoyed this post you might like my other writing. Take a moment and sign up for my free starter library. Click here. Also my story collection “Remembering the Future” is available for purchase on Amazon.

The post Updates, Including My Next Release: The Ghosts of Chimera appeared first on PASSIONATE REASON.