15 October 2015

Bricks, Mortar, Art, Paperbacks



My books are now on sale here in Hagerstown at the Washington County Arts Council Gallery Shop. The Gallery Shop is directly adjacent to the gallery itself in the Arts and Entertainment District of downtown Hagerstown, across the street from the historic Maryland Theatre. I highly recommend stopping by and checking out all the great book, but be sure to walk out with a copy of one of my books. You won't be disappointed.

Here's the scoop:

What if? That's the question from which each of my stories originates. It might be sparked a random thought or when I take note of someone on the street. I must write the story even when what the character is going through on the page is entirely alien to my experience, even if it's just to clear space in my head for the next idea. And if it's a poem? That is when things can... 
To read more and view the titles I have on sale, click here >>

05 September 2015

Breaking Orbit: Writing the Future

Breaking Orbit cover art.
Note that this may change between now and publication.
It's been a few years coming, but what started as nothing more than a clever elevator pitch and some character sketches is now taking real shape. I am, of course, talking about my upcoming novel "Breaking Orbit: Volume I of the Titan Run Trilogy."
It hasn't all been smooth sailing and evenings sipping at tea while crafting a story, in fact one night recently. I was so happy to finally be making progress with the second draft, and then, like hitting a deep pothole that you had no idea was in the middle of the road I came upon a line of dialogue I had written that's just ridiculous. The usual rules of the first draft are to just get the story down, but the problem here is that I remember thinking this line was brilliant when I wrote it, but when I was working on that second draft, well, it damn near broken the axle on my thought-car. It's pretty bad. And it will never see the light of day until someone discovers this handwritten manuscript amongst my papers and says "Oh thank God he didn't keep that line."
Because it is silly.
But there has been progress, and before I knew it the second draft was a complete work and I had a few copies printed up for my wonderful team of volunteer reader/editors. Nor have I rested on my laurels, chuffed with seeing that manuscript sitting on my desk while the editing process is ongoing. I've also been working on the cover art, which you see above. There's also the cover blurb, and planning the next move, because I promise you it will not be more than a year (well, maybe 18 months) between the first and second volumes of this trilogy. Yes, I have been working on this novel for several years already. Not that this has been my only project in that time, but I digress. In addition to the cover design, I also have the rough plot outlines for Volumes II and III of Titan Run, which I will be refining and maybe even working on some early drafts of while the editing of Volume I is ongoing.
As of this writing, I am hoping to have "Breaking Orbit" for sale in time for Christmas this year; stay tuned for further updates as the second draft becomes the third, birthing a novel I know you'll love. And not just because of the amazing cover art.