What I Write and Why
With so many great books already out there by other people, why do I want to contribute any of my own? What are my stories about? Since a lot of you have just recently heard of me, most through reader magnet signups, I'll have a brief get-to-know-me post. I have also (finally!) merged my two email lists into one. The lists were duplicates in the weekly content they sent out, so subscribers merged into this list won’t see anything different except the email subject line is a slight variation and the emails go out on Saturday instead of Friday. (And the email header image is updated.)
Essentially, I write because I like to take on ideas that I see other people aren't doing as much of. My stories aren't oddities--they should feel at least moderately familiar--and all are family-friendly. I don't do less common concepts because I want to include above-common levels of violence, for example. But if there's something "different" about an idea it's usually because that idea has a different audience attached to it. Perhaps an unexplored or even an actively secretive audience. Genre concepts on, for instance, the future can seem similar in many books after you've read a lot of them. But what if there's someone out there--someone lurking--who has a quite different view of the future? In their fiction, their cliches and world-building might surprise you. And just because they're not as visible doesn't mean they're not out there.
I've been publishing for 12 years and I mention futuristic fiction as an example because many of you will have downloaded The Birthday Present. (And it's also the first sample in the 9-chapter Sampler others of you might have caught.) The Birthday Present, which is a set of two stories, was actually my first publication all those years ago. For many years I was so wrapped up in throwing out all these obscure ideas as they came to me that I didn't do a good job of marketing at all. So starting in 2017 I reprocessed my publications so they could be more accessible. In a sense, more competitive. The front page of my website briefly overviews some of the improvements to my work's marketing during this time.
And there will be more updates.
Essentially, I write because I like to take on ideas that I see other people aren't doing as much of. My stories aren't oddities--they should feel at least moderately familiar--and all are family-friendly. I don't do less common concepts because I want to include above-common levels of violence, for example. But if there's something "different" about an idea it's usually because that idea has a different audience attached to it. Perhaps an unexplored or even an actively secretive audience. Genre concepts on, for instance, the future can seem similar in many books after you've read a lot of them. But what if there's someone out there--someone lurking--who has a quite different view of the future? In their fiction, their cliches and world-building might surprise you. And just because they're not as visible doesn't mean they're not out there.
I've been publishing for 12 years and I mention futuristic fiction as an example because many of you will have downloaded The Birthday Present. (And it's also the first sample in the 9-chapter Sampler others of you might have caught.) The Birthday Present, which is a set of two stories, was actually my first publication all those years ago. For many years I was so wrapped up in throwing out all these obscure ideas as they came to me that I didn't do a good job of marketing at all. So starting in 2017 I reprocessed my publications so they could be more accessible. In a sense, more competitive. The front page of my website briefly overviews some of the improvements to my work's marketing during this time.
And there will be more updates.
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