I haven’t updated this blog for a good million years. I know that sorely dissapoints a good million readers, so I’m sorry.

We have left our comfortable surroundings in Texas for the wilds of central Michigan. I now work at Delta College, starting classes tomorrow. The weather up here agrees with us a good deal–I’ve never before in my entire life considered turning on the heater in August, but here I am wearing a sweatshirt inside! I don’t think I’ve ever done that, either. Hell, I don’t think I’ve worn a sweatshirt in August, come to think of it.

At any rate, I’m hoping that once the dust gets settled, I’ll be able to announce a couple more writing projects. I have to unpack boxes and get classes ready to roll first!

You can now buy The Traveler at Amazon.com for 11.95. Read more about the book on the Book tab above.

The first review for this book has come in! Read the Review page.

Wow!

A few months ago, an editor from New Zealand contacted me about using one of my articles from Badassdad.com for her Home Birth Association Newsmagazine. Not only did I say yes, but I asked her to please use as many articles as possible and that she was welcome to use a picture from my site, if she’d like.

Well, was I ever surprised to open a package from New Zealand yesterday to find a copy of this magazine. I was even more surprised to see that I had three articles inside and that I was on the cover! That picture of me wearing one of my daughters and letting the other ride on my shoulders was front and center.

This is the kind of encouragement that a writer waits for. You do your job, you write when you can, you send stuff out, you collect rejections and celebrate the positive ones, but once in a while, validation finds you.

If you live anywhere near the southern hemisphere, make a trip out to New Zealand to pick up a copy. If not, head over to http://www.homebirth.org.nz to check them out.

The Traveler

ISBN: 978-0-9820050-6-4
Length: Novel
Price:$4.95
Release Date:October 14, 2008

Instructed in the Wiccan path by her mother and father, Abigail is a solitary Witch and very accomplished for her young age. After her mother’s sudden death leaves her feeling isolated and alone, she finds solace in the art of witchcraft and dedicates herself to the study of the Old Ways.

Between her father’s new girlfriend and being caught in a love triangle with her childhood friend Vic and fellow witch Erica, seventeen year old Abigail finds herself growing quickly dissatisfied with her life and the world. Seeking comfort, she reclaims her mother’s extraordinary antique bed as her own, hoping the energy it holds will help ease her pain. But Abigail soon discovers that the bed contains a ghostly power that wants more than just to help her.

My book is published!

I’m very excited about this. I have wanted to be a writer for as far back as I can remember (well, at first I wanted to be an eagle, but that didn’t work out). I wrote a short story called “Traveler” about 10 years ago, at the end of my undergraduate studies. For years I let it swim around in my head as something that I wanted to novelize. Then, two years ago, I started writing as part of the NaNoWriMo challenge. 8 days later, I had the first draft of this novel.

Last year I read a post by the new publisher, Jupiter Gardens Press. What they were looking for sounded exactly like this novel. I cleaned it up and submitted it. I’m thrilled to be their first novel and I hope that we are both very successful.

Don’t hesitate; buy now. It’s cheap, it’s a good read, and you totally rock for buying it.

After you buy it, I would love it if you wrote an honest review of it on one of the many places where it is sold (I will supply links later). And, of course, if you like it, I would be honored if you would recomend it to your friends, your blog readers, your enemies, whatever.

One more week until my first novel comes out. I’m very excited about this, and I hope for your support in this venture. If you could buy it, read it, and write an honest review on Amazon or wherever else it sells, I’ll be in your debt–emotionally; I’m not paying you.

Really, if you just buy it and read it, that’s good enough.

I’ll even be happy if you just buy it.

So, withou further ado:

We’re just two weeks away now, from my first novel coming out. So if you subscribe, or if you’ve just happened by this post or if you’ve search with vigor, mark your calendars now.

We’ve got the cover in the bag, and you can check it out on the “books” page on the navigation bar. My wife put it together and I’m very happy with it.

Until my book comes out. Be sure to check out the “Books” Section and check back often to be the first to get a copy. The cover art should be coming soon. Once 300 e-copies have been sold, the book goes to press–that’s right, you can buy it twice!

Awesome.

Right now on Ebay, as a desperate move to make money and be funny, I am selling an original story.  The terms and conditions are found here. Good luck in the bidding war!

For the past month, my family has been on a road trip. We’ve been driving and camping across the western US and visiting family. It’s been a wonderful opportunity. I have also finished the first two parts of my dissertation and done almost zero writing other than that. Oh yeah, and there’s that little detail of finding out we’re pregnant again! Baby number 3 is on the way. Wow!

I need to buckle down and write more. The publishers of my first book (coming soon) passed on publishing the “sequel” that I wrote for it for several reasons. I have another sequel in mind that doesn’t have quotation marks around the term because it’s much more traditional in the sense that it follows the other story. I need to write that. I also want to get started on another month of micro-fictions on fictionalpublications.com. But we will see when that can start, since we’re headed back to Texas in about a week.

We’re counting down until all good people out there can purchase The Traveler. Just a few months now…