Writer, podcaster. and streamer
The final adventure of Books & Braun — OPERATION: ENDGAME — is now live on all digital platforms. (Audio and print coming in January.) Both Pip and I are hoping this final chapter will offer up a finale that leaves you wanting more.
But when you are done with the read, I got a favor to ask…
Recently, The Curse of the Silver Pharaoh went live on Amazon, print editions premiering this week at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, provided we get no unforeseen whammies from CreateSpace. (Thanks, Hurricane Matthew!) Silver Pharaoh is not my first novel, nor is it my first foray into steampunk, as many of you know. The thing about this book that has me fidgeting nervously as reviews start to trickle in is that Silver Pharaoh is my first step into the realm of Young Adult fiction.
And that terrifies me. Greatly.
I’ve got a lot of feelings about Y.A. Fiction, one being that those reading Y.A. are not necessarily “young†adults. Think about it—while Harry Potter could be easily dismissed as a “kid’s book†and is found in the Children’s sections of bookstores and libraries everywhere, just as many adults devoured the adventures of the Boy Who Lived just as ravenously as its target audience.
So, yeah, working in the wild and woolly world of Y.A. for the first time, I picked up a few things… [Read more…] about Five Things I Learned When Writing a Young Adult Book
Woah! Three blogposts in a week?!
It’s been that kind of week, I guess.
Today, a new book comes out. You would think on the fifth book in a series, this would get boring. It doesn’t. On this go-round, honestly, I feel like there’s more riding on this title than the previous ones. I don’t feel like I have anything to prove, and yet I feel like I have a lot at stake.
I knew that going into it. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel as anxious as I’ve been in the past. I’ve been on edge for well over a year.
The fear started with making the decision. Pip and I could have gone ahead and wrapped everything up with The Diamond Conspiracy, but we stopped and asked ourselves “Are we done?†The answer: We were having way too much fun with this series. We knew we could have wrapped up the story arc beginning at Phoenix Rising. Wellington’s and Eliza’s story? That was a different matter altogether. We knew two more books were in store for the two of them, and we knew if we wanted them to happen then we would have to fund them independently. I could still recall how hard my heart was going when we said “Let’s do this.†It would mean returning to Kickstarter, a whole new level of stress. [Read more…] about Reflections on a Rebellion:  Another Book Release That Is Something Entirely New
Hey, everyone.
It breaks my heart to look at how long it has been since I have blogged, and yes, it matters a great deal to me. This blog is my getaway, my soapbox, and my coffee shop where I enjoy a heart-to-heart with you.
So where have I been?
Bonus points if Lord Flashheart’s reply
popped into your head…
So yeah, it’s been Crunch Month, and on top of all that, Pip and I hit the 2016 Steampunk World’s Fair (which was great fun, I can tell you…). When not getting ready for the Fair and continuing our streak with the podcast (recording tonight!), it has been recording the audiobook while checking the layout of the new book.
In other words, I have been here… [Read more…] about Where Have I Been? (A #TeaserTuesday from the TeeMonster)
Welcome to Cover Reveal Day, and I can tell you this, we are very, very happy with the end result…
When we kicked off that Kickstarter back in October, today seemed very far off but we’re here. This means we are one step closer to the release of The Ghost Rebellion, the fifth book in the award-winning Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series. Kickstarter Backers will be getting their copies in May, but the book will be available to the general public (in both digital and eBook formats) on June 8th.
Today, you can pre-order the ebook now.
The amazing creative team that made this cover possible:
And here it is… [Read more…] about Cover Reveal: The Ghost Rebellion (Book Five of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences)
You know, I wish we didn’t need to have this conversation, but yeah, we do.
Everyone has their own way of dealing with reviews, and let’s be frank—not everyone will like what you do. Reviews, good or bad, are part of the territory. Reviews are a rite of passage for authors, the objective points-of-view that sit down with the final product and say, “Holy crapbuckets, this is the best book I’ve ever read!†or “Many trees died to make this book. Avenge them.†Whenever a new work hits the shelves, virtual or literal, I am always on edge. You have been working closely with editors and peer readers who all invest a part of themselves in your title because they believe in what you do; and if you are fortunate, these voices because they believe in you are going to be blunt, honest, and sometimes cruel to be kind. “My job as an editor is not to change a book,†I heard Ellen Datlow say on a podcast. “My job is to take a good story and make it great.†[Read more…] about What You Do When Your Book Gets a Bad Review