Zeitgeist

Well, it’s been a while since I posted. I know, I’ve probably lost even the few followers of this blog I have. I really need to rethink my social media strategy. Problem is, even something like that takes time, and I have been super busy actually writing.

What have I been writing? Well, the latest news is that I rewrote a novel I originally drafted probably six years ago called The Rose Garden Arena Incident. It was good then, it’s great now. I have completely rewritten this book from scratch now three times. The first time it came out at 95,000 words. The second time, 140,000 (my biggest to date at that point). This time around, I just third drafted to 177,000 words, making it currently the second longest novel I’ve ever written.

My agent, along with a few other people who’ve read the now finished book, say it’s far and away my best work to date. I think so, too.

So what’s the biggest book I’ve written to date? Well, coincidentally, that leads right into the next little factotum. My latest Alvin book, Sticks and Stones will be coming out at the end of June. That book third drafted to 185,000 words and then, after my editor found fourteen superfulous pages, wound up at 181,000 words. I am excited about this release–of all the Alvin books, this one’s the most “grown up.” Leah and Dan’s relationship, Abe and Dewey, Caroline and Jonathon–everyone’s grown and I think I’m finally really nailing my stride with these novels. I’ve figured out “what they are,” and what I want them to be.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

On other fronts, the first book of my Alvin series, Dream with Little Angels is being released in Mass Market Paperback at the end of April. This is a good chance for anyone who hasn’t started the series to jump in. Also, for the month of April, the ebook version of the second title in the series, Close to the Broken Hearted goes on sale for $2.99.

That’s about it for now. I will post again, soon. Promise.

I will have upcoming information about a reboot of my writing book Shadows under the Moon: Writing the Hero’s Quest that will hopefully be flanked with a series of webinars. The ebook version will be much better this time around and I will make sure all of you who purchased it the first time around get updates for free. More on all that in the coming weeks.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot. I think I’ve mentioned on here before about my upcoming new short story collections, Unbroken Horses and Sneakers. I had originally hoped those would be released this spring but, alas, it looks like they’re going to be pushed back a year. I will be releasing those and also rereleasing my current collection, Sometimes the Angels Weep with new and updated content, probably staggering them a month or two apart. They will be available as trade paperbacks and ebooks. Like SHADOWS, I’ll have more information about these in the coming months. Right now, they are being copyedited by the incomparable Teri McKee.

And I do plan to blog more. Maybe as I put together the SHADOWS reboot I can talk about the individual topics while I rewrite. My philosophy toward writing has changed somewhat since I first wrote that book and there are some outright errors in it. There will be lots of additions and lots of little changes. And the ebook will be much closer to the print version this time around. The ebook was terrible with the first printing. Again, everyone who bought it will get the new version for free (providing they have that option turned on in their Amazon Device Settings).

After all of that, there’s the question of where do we go from here? Well, I am right now fleshing out the idea for the next Alvin book which I will be proposing to Kensington as soon as I have my head around the whole story, and I also have plans for a new one shot. Hopefully something a little shorter than 180,000 words. These big books are killer. Every draft is like a marathon. The good part? Going back to 100,000 words should be a breeze.

Happy end of February.

Michael Out.

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