Hello there. I feel like it has been a while since I just blogged here. I mean, I have made a few announcements, but I used to use this blog as, well, a blog. I am not sure how much you care, but I thought I would go over what has happened to me during 2020. I probably need to do this for my own sanity more than any real interest on your part, so if you are bored with this, check out all my amazing books, audiobooks and short stories HERE at Amazon.
First, let me start off by saying I do hope you and your family/friends are all doing well. Please stay health. Wear a mask. Stay home as much as you can. Wash your hands. I also hope you have managed to weather as much of the sh*tstorm this year has been as best you can.
As for me, you may have known I work a day job as a marketing guy. I was working for a local resort, which ended up being a very bad place to be during a pandemic. I was furloughed in April. Then, I was brought back for about three weeks, only to end up re-furloughed. This eventually became a full time lay off at the end of June.
What fun!
However, this page is not about my day job. I have talked about how I love being a self-published indie author, but that I am at a level where I don't make enough money to pay all the bills. It has been tough interviewing and going through the job process, but what about the fiction and book writing?
Well, during the first furlough, I was inspired to write a short story. Yes, it was a short story inspired by the pandemic, but it eventually became the story of people living on an island during an outbreak called Safe Haven. Its available for just 99 cents for the Kindle over at Amazon.
However, my working for the resort inspired me with an idea for a novel. I had this idea of a tropical resort that ends up in the hands a a total megalomaniacal madman. I started writing this just after I was laid off and just finished the first draft this week. It's off to a Beta Reader.
Before the outbreak happened, I was writing a horror novel called Lydia. I finished that right as COVID was tearing the world apart and now that is out with a Beta reader, too. I hope to have this one out in 2021, as well as the thriller about the resort (titled Totality).
I finally took the plunge into creating a horror fiction podcast. Although I didn't have much of a recording studio, I have a great mic and some basic stuff. I wrote, produced, recorded and
released my horror tale Ovule. The story of meteors falling from space, the strange flowers which grow near them, and the horrific things which happen when people run into them. All 10 episodes are out there and you can find them HERE, but also at your favorite podcast app.
Somewhere this summer I had this idea for a straight up murder mystery tale. I knew it would have a very slight sci-fi bent in that a currently-unavailable technology would be involved, but I wanted it to be a police proce
dural. I wanted this to be told from the cop's point of view. A woman is murdered, and at first glance it seems open-and-shut and everyone wants it closed. Two cops, though, think something isn't adding up and think one of the richest men in the world might be involved. This became my very first novelette - REDUX.
All in all, 2020 has been a busy year. I released my novel Black River at the start of the year. I then wrote a
nd released Safe Haven. Redux came during the summer. For Halloween this year, I have a collection of my scariest novellas called At Dawn, Before the Cold coming out and you can pre-order the Kindle edition now.
What about the rest of the year?
Well, I just finished the first draft of Totality. I hope to have that out next year, too. I have already started writing another horror tale and it is a brutal story, which may become a short story or novella. I may still publish that this year.
Finally, I have been working with the amazing voice talent of Allie James (who got married this year! Congratulations, Allie!) to finally bring you the horror anthology podcast When the Night Comes Out: The Podcast. It has taken a lot longer than planned to get this near completion, but Allie has really been cranking out the episodes. They sound amazing. You will love it!
So, that's what I have been busy doing in order to try and stay sane. I am hopefully going to be working again full time very soon, but I am still going to be writing books, creating podcasts and doing all I can to release tales or horror and suspense to you fans.
Thanks for all of you who have kept with me this year. You all just keep me going by buying my books, audiobooks and stories. You leave reviews and share things with friends. Keep that up.
Stay safe. Stay tuned. Keep reading!