Upcoming Release: The Cave

This blog post was scheduled for LAST MAY. That’s right… May of 2021. I’ve published it today because now that I’m preparing the final draft for publication in June of 2022, it’s kind of fun to think of where the book was then vs. where it is today (March 5th, 2022). Look for another blog post today! Or maybe tomorrow… but I promise it won’t be another year before I post again XD

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Work on The Cave has been consistent, which is very exciting for me to report :) I’ve been keeping up with my own deadlines and am about halfway through the book! I was hoping to be farther along, but as it turns out, The Cave may actually be a novel-length work on its own. Don’t blame me—there are a lot of loose ends to tie up in the series finale ;) Such as…

• Warren & April: Are they forever?

• April & Valentino: Will they finally meet?

• Damian & April: Will this get complicated?

• Damian & Wolf: DOES THE DOG DIE?!

• Valentino & Maggie: Yes, we see Valentino again… and he’s going to meet Maggie.

• Abigail & Emma: Who the heck are they?

• Nathan: Wait… Nathan, Nathan? As in… kept April imprisoned in a bunker, Nathan?!

Okay, so some of those characters are brand new, so if you’re scratching your head right now, it’s because you don’t know them yet. But you’re about to. And that’s why The Cave may very well end up being full novel-length! There’s just too much to pack into a novella. My original idea for this series was to test the waters of self-publishing and set the stage for By Scion and Sea with a prequel novella/short story. But the story grew. And grew. Aaaaand grew. And as the story kept getting bigger and more involved, it became more of a novel told in multiple parts.

So now here we are. If you combine the page count for the first three novellas (The Boat, The Grave, and The Road) you’d have a 240-page (or so) novel. And the more I write into The Cave, the closer it gets to another 250+ page no-longer-novella-length work.

So where do we go from here? If we’re wrapping up In Caves & Catacombs with The Cave, what happens next? Enter By Scion and Sea. This is the next full-length novel work, and thus begins the Efrenen Sea series, which is set in the year 2500. So hold on to your hats, everyone. The next year is going to be a doozy!

Audiobooks & Accessibility

Hello my dear readers,

Recording Studio

I am really excited to share my latest author adventure: working with an amazing group of voice actors to create audiobook versions of my ebooks! By the end of this year, you should be able to read and listen to my work as audiobooks, paperbacks, and ebooks. Naturally, I’m excited partly because I hope that this will open my content up to a new market audience. But it goes beyond that. By adding audiobooks to my repertoire, my content will be more accessible and inclusive to all.

Accessibility is something I think about a lot. As so many writers do, I have another full-time job in the public education sector. Specifically, I work as an Instructional Designer and Technologist, which means that I work in online learning and provide training to educators for delivering their instructional content at a distance. You can imagine how the demand for instructional designers has magnified over the past year!

Accessibility, put simply, is hugely important to instructional designers. At its core, this is because learning is for everyone. Period. Ensuring that your content is accessible to students with disabilities is critical not only because it’s the LAW, but also because it will make your instruction better when done mindfully. When you design for those in the margins, everyone benefits. I’ll give you one of the same examples I use in my training: how many of you have ever used the captions on a movie to better understand what was happening, even if you’re not hard of hearing? Or how many times have you been sitting somewhere in public, watching a YouTube video on mute with the captions on? Captions may be designed for those who cannot hear, but so many others benefit from their use.

The same principle applies to audiobooks. And that’s because reading is for everyone. Maybe some think of audiobooks as serving a small portion of the population, and thus, a small segment of the market. And maybe I won’t earn back much, if any, of the money I’m investing in the process. But putting in the time and money to add an accessible option is something I’m excited about, and I can’t wait to share the finished products with all of you!

And to those of you who asked me about the audiobook versions that started this whole train of thought: thank you! I’m listening!

On title changes and journeys

As I get closer to releasing the third short story of the In Caves & Catacombs series, I feel it’s time to announce that the title has been changed from “The City” to “The Road”. What once was an idea for a starting chapter has become a novella in its own right. Don’t blame me. Blame April, the blonde machete-wielding lead, for being so interesting.

The rewrite process on this one has been brutal. As in, toss out very nearly everything and start all over again. What was once a story about old lovers reunited under extraordinary circumstances has become a journey undertaken by two strangers and an examination of the meaning of community instead. This story has disrupted the arc of the entire series, but hers is a story that warrants telling.

Book 4 is an eventuality. And that will appropriately be titled “The City”. My only uncertainty is whether April will make it there or not. I’m just narrating the events as they unfold. I have no more control than you, reader.

Find out what happens soon!

Free Halloween Short Story: The Man in White

Yay! It’s Halloween! Almost, anyway. Your treat this year is the winner of last year’s Scheherazade literary magazine’s Halloween short story contest, The Man in White. Go download it today while it’s still free!!

“I’ve never been as close to death as the night I met the man in white. It began when I ventured onto that exit, where the side roads cut through the green foothills; a welcome break from the endless grey highway.”

Wizards in Winter is available now!

I'm excited to announce that Wizards in Winter is now available to download on Amazon Kindle! Curl up this winter with a Christmas-themed fairy tale that will awaken your sense of adventure as much as it will warm your heart.

In this story, Enoch the Red Wizard sets off into an enchanted wood on Christmas Eve, just as the worst blizzard in memory descends. Join him as he embarks on a series of quests for the denizens of the wood, in the hopes that he can create a truly magical gift for one special boy in the nearby village of Derrydol.

“Those in his youth had been happy days, and it stirred Enoch’s ancient heart to see Toby running for a long-fallen branch of oak alive with a thousand resting butterflies. At that great moment on Midsummer when Toby sent them scattering in all directions under the sun, he also awakened and scattered the sleepy butterflies of Enoch’s own memories.”

— Wizards in Winter

You like free stuff, right?

...Because The Grave is completely free to download until Tuesday (May 22nd) starting tonight at midnight! And YES you can read The Grave before you read The Boat (book 1)!

The Grave is more of a novella than a short story, and it follows Damian, an Iraq veteran and his dog, Wolf, who have been living on the streets of Oceanside in northern California. When the viral outbreak hits their town, they must survive not only the infection, but the nuclear fallout after the majority of the town gets evacuated. This second installment is an indirect sequel to The Boat, and allows readers to experience the apocalypse from a new perspective, while setting the stage for the most exciting chapter yet in the In Caves & Catacombs short story series. 

More announcements will come soon about Book 3! To get details about upcoming releases, appearances and book signings emailed directly to your inbox, sign up for the monthly newsletter now!

Download "The Boat" for free, now through the end of the week!

Looking for a new short story series? Get your copy of "The Boat" for free--it will be available today through April 28th in preparation for the upcoming launch of "The Grave" on May 2nd.

Reviews are appreciated!!

Announcing "The Grave", book 2 of "In Caves & Catacombs"!

More news! I've been deep in writing-land and as I move forward with my full length novel, I keep finding myself drawn to add more to the short story series, "In Caves & Catacombs". Enter "The Grave", book 2 in the series! An indirect sequel to "The Boat", the second installment in the series explores a new set of character experiences of the same apocalypse from the mainland in the USA. It focuses on Damian, a homeless veteran overlooked by the system, and his dog, Wolf, who find themselves struggling to survive as the world falls apart around them.

Look for a release date for book 2 to be announced in the coming month! Or, you can join my mailing list here.