How to keep up with me . . .

Every once in a while I just like to remind y’all that you can find me all over the interwebs.

So if you visit here, feel free to “like” me on Facebook

You can follow me on Twitter.

You can even subscribe to my email list, which I’m using more since there’s a free Bubba story every week nowadays!

Nah, I’m not giving you my phone number, that’s a little creepy. But you check out all that stuff above, and you’ll see I’m really easy to find.

A couple of those weeks . . .

I’ve been pretty buried this week, and I’ll be almost totally radio silence next week, so don’t lose hope, I’m still alive, just working my ass off trying to pay the bills.

But first – big news for Black Knight Chronicles fans – Book 4 has been delivered! To my publisher, that is. But the fact is that the long wait is almost over, we’re getting ready to start edits on it, and I really hope to have it delivered to folks this summer. In my dream world, I’d have print copies for ConCarolinas in June, but I haven’t even started that conversation with my publisher yet, and it depends on how much work the book needs before it gets to you fine folks. But the first draft (that they’ve seen, about the third draft for me) is in the hands of the fine folks at Bell Bridge Books, so we’re moving forward!

I’m still writing Bubba stuff, and there will be a Bubba story this month, but it will be the last week of January, because I’ve been covered up and see no end to that in the near future. Which is good, but it does slow down some of my output.

The editing thing is starting to take off. I’m currently full for the next four weeks, so if you have a manuscript you’d like me to work on with you, understand that I won’t touch it until Mid-February. I only work on one book at a time, so that slows me down a little, but it gives my undivided attention to each project, so I think it’s a fair trade.

Next week I’m not writing or editing, I’m playing lighting designer again. I’m working on two shows at the same time – Seasons for a local dance company and Next to Normal for a small theatre company here in town. If you’re around, come check them out. Both shows are pretty innovative in their own way, and Next to Normal features some amazing actors. I watched rehearsal last night and was blown away. So I’ll be living in the dark all next week, except for my post on Magical Words, which honestly, I’ll probably write this weekend and schedule it so that I don’t forget.

So there we are, a brief update, but an update nonetheless. And yes, Paint it Black will happen sometime this year, I promise!

 

Whatever

With apologies to Scalzi. But not really. He doesn’t own the term, no matter what the Google machine might think :). I hate titling blog posts. Frankly, I hate titling anything, which is why I rip off song titles for almost all my books and story titles.

First off, the Help Peter David contest will keep going until next Monday! You have more chances to win a t-shirt, but the real reason the contest is going to keep keeping on is because the awesome Davey Beauchamp is donating some signed Peter David comics! So I have more prizes for more winners! You don’t need to buy anything to win, but the whole point is to get people to buy Peter’s books to help him and his family deal with the bills from his recent stroke. So don’t be a cheap-ass, go buy something to help one of my favorite writers.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, either scroll down or click here. According to his blog, which his wife is keeping updated, he’s been moved to rehab, which is way less cool when you’re not a rock star drying out, and will be living there apart from his family for a month or more. That’s gotta suck eight ways to Sunday, and is going to be hell expensive any way you slice it, so reach deep and buy his shit while he’s sick. Hell, buy his shit when he’s well, too. Peter is a giant in the comics industry and I’ve been a big fan of his almost as long as I’ve been able to pay attention to the writing in comics. I think after Chris Claremont, Peter David was the second comic book writer name I learned to recognize.

Moving along, because this can’t all be a blog about me being charitable and nice, otherwise it would fuck up a carefully crafted reputation. I got an agent! Not a literary one, which might make a few people shake their heads. Some of y’all know I’ve been an actor for a long time. It’s what I went to school for, it’s been a passion of mine for many years, and now I’m taking steps to make it a secondary revenue stream. Hell, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if it became a primary revenue stream. But don’t sweat it, I’m still writing, I’m still editing, I’m still designing. I’m still doing all the things I’ve been doing, I’m just trying to add a little acting on top of that to help pay the bills. But I’m excited about the prospect of doing some commercials, maybe some small features. Who knows, maybe I can get a little spot on HomelandAfter all, it shoots right up the road!

Come see me this weekend at Illogicon! Here’s my Schedule!

The State of Short Fiction: (Friday, 5 PM, Reynolds)
Comedy in Sci-fi/Fantasy: (Saturday, 1 PM, Reynolds)
Reading (Saturday, 7 PM, Crescent)
Ebooks: (Sunday, 11 AM, Smith) (M)
Humanizing Your Villains: (Sunday, 2 PM, Smith)
Self Promoting Without Going Broke:   (Sunday, 3 PM, Reynolds)

Other times I can be found somewhere drinking, so come look for me!

Help a brother out. And win a free t-shirt!

There is a contest attached to this post, I promise. But you have to read all the way to the end of the post to enter. Deal with it, this shit’s important.

I’ve met Peter David once. For about ten seconds. I’m sure he doesn’t remember. Hell, I barely remembered until I sat down to write this. It was one of those con meetings, before I had any success or could get conventions to give me badges and spots on panels. I had watched him on a panel talking about his new self-published venture, and at the end of it I went up to grab a card for the new book and mentioned to him that I really loved his work on X-Factor and particularly his run on The Incredible Hulk, which to this day is the only run on Hulk I really got into. He said thanks, and we both moved on.

So let’s be totally clear – I don’t know the man other than as a fan. I’ve sat in rooms where he’s been on panels, and I don’t always agree with everything he’s got to say. For a while there he got a little Joe Konrath-esque in his lambasting of traditional publishers as he championed the cause of self-publishing, but most folks go through that. If we’re lucky, we do it quietly and very few people notice. If we’re best-sellers, we draw a little more attention to ourselves.

But I digress. Longtime comic fans got that joke, I promise. The point of this is not whether or not Peter David is my friend, which he isn’t, or whether or not I am still a fan of Peter David, which I am. The point is that right now, Peter David is my brother, and he needs your help. Peter had a stroke on December 30th, and is currently recuperating in the hospital. He is getting some movement back on his right side, and he can speak, but he has a long road to get back to the level of mobility and health he was accustomed to.

And it’s going to be f’n expensive. According to his wife Kathleen on Peter’s website, they have insurance, but getting hospital sick right around New Year’s bones you twice. It’s not like getting sick in July, where you deal with deductibles and copays ’til you max out for the year, then you’re done. Oh no! Peter did it up right. He got a couple days’ worth of hospital care knocked out under 2012 deductibles and copays, then stayed right on through until the insurance reset three days ago. So double the out-of-pocket for the Davids. If that’s not kicking a fellow when he’s down, I don’t know what is.

But thanks to Davey Beauchamp, who’s been keeping his Facebook updated with Peter’s situation, now I know how to help. And I’m going to share that information with you.

Buy his books.

Not his tradpub stuff, although those books are awesome and we want those to sell, but the Davids won’t see any money from any of his licensed property work or graphic novel work for months, if not a year or more.

No, this is one time when the quick payment of the self-pub world can really make a difference in an author’s life. Go to PeterDavid.net and read the post from Kathleen. Then buy one of his self-pubbed books. The money from those books will be in Peter’s bank account by the end of March, and that’s going to be a huge help for someone who is racking up thousands of dollars in healthcare costs every day. And that’s with insurance.

I don’t mind telling you that this is a couple of my greatest fears. Strokes run in my family, and my mother started having small strokes about the time she turned fifty. She has full-blown Alzheimer’s now, and it’s terrifying to watch. Since I turn forty this year, it’s on the list of things I worry about. And an extended hospital stay would be horrific to my financial situation right now, since I’m just making ends meet by hustling as hard as I can. So I feel for Peter, and I’m going to go buy some of his books.

And they’ll be awesome, because the man made me weep over an issue of The Incredible Hulk, so how can his other fiction now be amaze balls?

Your mission today – go buy a Peter David book, then come back here and click the little Rafflecopter thingy. You can get entries for every book you buy – but don’t bullshit me, I’ll find out somehow! You can also get entries for sharing this link on Twitter or on Facebook. One winner will receive a free “Read Recklessly” T-shirt in awesome black, and something cool autographed. I dunno what, maybe a neat Magic card or something. Drawing is Monday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.

Bullshit.

There, I think that’s enough of a post for one day, right?

No?

Okay, fine, I’ll expand a little. We’ve heard those words uttered for years about various teachers who have failed at various things, and I’m certainly guilty of throwing the phrase around more than once about a professor or two that I’ve had in my day. But now that I’m teaching with something resembling regularity at Carolina Learning Connection (next class Saturday, a few spots still available!), I realize what utter bullshit that is.

I am never focusing more on my writing than when I’m trying to explain writing to someone. This goes for editing as well, but for my post on editing you’ll have to wait until next week when I debut as the newest regular member of the Magical Words blog team! Yep, I’m no longer the pinch-hitter, I’m now a regular member of the team. I’ll be posting every other Thursday, alternating with the amazing and lovely Kalayna Price. So for more craft-specific posts, you’ll be able to find me there.

Eventually. For now, I’ll talk about these classes that I teach. So far, I’ve led three half-day workshops in rotation. One is called The Next Step, and it talks about the various paths to publication for various types of work. Since I’ve published everything from news articles to poetry to novels, I’ve seen a lot of angles of the publishing business in a very short time. The second class that I offer is Self-Publishing for Fun & Profit, where I talk about why people should self-publish, why they should NEVER self-publish, and what to expect if they decide to self-publish. Then I also teach a Social Media and Self-Promotion for the Writer class. This goes into Facebook, Twitter, blogging, why you should, why you shouldn’t, what you should do, what you should never do, and how to avoid my mistakes. :).

And other writers teach as well, frequently much better than me. If you want to see an amazing writing class, check out this YouTube series featuring Brandon Sanderson. 

I have a great time teaching them, and am looking forward to this weekend’s class, but I really do work at these things. It’s not like back-breaking labor, I am sitting in a conference room talking to people for four hours, but the prep is sometimes tough. This weekend we’ll be looking at shrinking markets, as mergers in publishing are going to eventually narrow the number of major publishers even further. And with the timeline of corporate mergers, that narrowing will take place right about the time that books bought by those houses today are ready to drop. That means orphaned books, kiddies, so be careful who you’re submitting to for the next six months or so.

Just a little Nostradamus (sp?) action from your favorite hillbilly.

On a completely different tip, I continue to be amazed at the consistent growth in Bubba book sales. All the collected volumes continue to do well, and I’m very grateful for that. If anybody out there has a hookup with the SyFy channel, feel free to slip a Bubba ebook under the door. I think the series would be so awesome on that network. But that’s beside the point. At last night’s writer’s group I knocked out the outline for Bubba Season 2 Episode 1, called Love Hurts. But gimme your feedback – is that too similar to Love Stinks, which I used last year? Leave a comment and let a brutha know.

I’m also hip-deep in editing clients, and do not have any more slots for edits until the last week of January. So if you have a book ready to go that you want to have drop in March, get on board with me now or we won’t make that deadline. It takes a couple of solid weeks up to a couple of months to get a book polished and ready to go, so don’t find yourself behind the eight ball.

I’m out – got a bunch of freelance stuff due and some invoicing to send out. Also booking some travel. Very excited to have snagged a table at MidSouthCon this year, which I’ll be sharing with the awesome James R. Tuck. If you’re going to be in Memphis, please come by and say hello. And if you’re going to be anywhere in the Raleigh/Durham area next weekend, please come out to Illogicon and say hi! I’ll be there all three days!