Hey Fiction Fans,

Spring has sprung here in Colorado. I’m getting out of the house and getting some hiking and dog walking in. And, of course, diligently working on Fairy Farts. I’ve made some progress on the main scene that’s been giving me trouble. Turns out that the thing that was giving me the most problems was Sina. My elf maiden needed more character depth before the scene could take shape in my head and move forward. I found inspiration in another story. It helped me define what was missing.

Excerpt:

“It’s chocolate. The stuff on the outside is a wrapper to protect it until you’re ready to eat it.”

Sina held it gingerly in hands. “An artifact from across the great divide. I’ll cherish it always.”

“Well, it’s food,” I laughed at her reverence. “So, don’t cherish it more than a couple of months. It’ll go bad.”

Sina leaned in and kissed me. It was sweet and tender, and I wanted it to go on forever. It also lasted longer than a friendly thank you.

Reluctantly, I separated my lips from hers. I took a breath to steady myself. When I could trust myself with words, I said, “Wow. That was great and all, but… aren’t you engaged?” 

In other news, I’ve been unhappy with the selection of art available from various services for my ads. Like many writers, I buy licenses to use art made by various artists for my ad copy. I dusted off my image editing skills and made this pic of Mark and Sara on the bridge of Queen Nephanie. And yes, I bought the licenses for all the pieces that went into the final product. I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.

That’s all for this week, so y’all later Fiction Fans.

Thanks to you the recent sale of The Burning Son was a fantastic success. My books moved way up in the Amazon rankings which means so many more people will see it and enjoy my stories. Thank a million!

Mark isn’t afraid to fight for what he believes in, but three years under siege from an alien fleet is enough to wear anyone down.

Until the aliens break through, and all hell breaks loose. With the planet shield destroyed and alien shock troops landing by the thousands, Mark has no choice but the run for his life. But he won’t leave without his family. He saves his sister, but his father, an influential senator, is taken. Mark is forced to bargain with the only ride off planet he can find: gun runners.

Escape is only the beginning. As Mark travels with the smugglers delivering weapons and medical supplies to war torn systems across the galaxy, the aliens keep showing up looking for him. What makes him so important that they’ll scour the stars to find him? And who aboard their ship is feeding information to the alien menace?

It’s a race across the galaxy with an evil empire hot on Mark’s heels. Will he discover their secret before he’s captured and faces a fate worse than death: becoming a brainwashed thrall of their twisted religion.

In case you haven’t heard, we had a blizzard here in Colorado. At my house we received just over two feet of snow. I’ve posted a few pics and vids of my dogs playing in it on social media. One advantage of being snowed in is that I’ve had plenty of time to write. Fairy Farts is chugging along and my critique group is rolling on the floor laughing and demanding more chapters.

In D&D news, I’ve got four D&D session going; three where I’m the DM and one where I’m a player. Most of it is on Fantasy Grounds (I’m a big fan), but I am running one in person game with my family. I’ve also discovered that I’m not in the last round for vaccines because I’m over 50. In the state of Colorado that puts me ahead of most of the population by the tiniest degree. I’ll take it. If I can get vaccinated and take a trip to visit my parents, I’m all over that.

I’ll also be a judge in an upcoming literary competition, so I’ll be reading a few more books. For those that don’t know, I’m a voracious reader. I plow through about a book or two a week. More if I get three chapters in and the story goes stale (Yeet. Next.).

In the meantime, I’ll be digging myself out and writing more words. See you next week!

Poor Evan, stuck doing the bidding of the elf queen. Still writing Fairy Farts (I don’t have a better name yet). Lot’s of situational comedy and puns. I’m struggling with the audience chamber scene. I keep wanting the queen to say something like, “Evan, it’s so good to see you… alive.” Like Scar does in The Lion King, but it doesn’t fit. She’s not bad, just Machiavellian. Oh well, the queen will find her voice, even if I have to stuff it down her throat like a garlic stuff olive.

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I reached a transition point in the Fairy Farts story. I sometimes have trouble with those. My word count slowed to a crawl for two weeks while I figured it out. Back in the saddle, we’re getting words down at a prodigious rate. I’m a bit worried about the title as it no longer fits. The original idea was that Evan has a pocket full of chocolates and that chocolate causes fairies to have very bad gas. I’m a third of the way through the story and… Only one fart joke so far. And it’s not related to chocolate. Perhaps I need a better working title.

What a great day. I wrote 2k words, did some authorly house keeping, took a hike with the enticing Mrs. Leatherman, and finished up with a date.

Today was a good day. 🥰

Hey Fiction Fans,

What does my schedule look like? Write in the morning and promote my books in the afternoon. The rough draft of Fairy Farts is about 20% done. Evan is getting to know the other characters and cracking jokes along the way. The other main characters being two elves named Sina and Daric. Both are elf warriors who teach Evan about the world he finds himself in. One hates him the other finds him amusing. Guess which one is which.

The picture above is the stock image I’m using for Sina. Badass elf chick who has a big secret. Dun dun dun.

I’ve spent a lot of time revamping the front and back matter of The Burning Son series books. I’m a lot happier with the blurbs and taglines. This should help me reach more readers and sell more books. Yay!

Other than that, I’ve been making puns and training the new puppy. She requires a lot of attention so that she stops chasing the cat and learns the rules of her new home. There’s a picture of her on the Jasmine page on my website.

Until next week, stay stellar!