I’m a reader – maybe even more of a reader than a writer. (I know, scary thought.) In the past few days, I’ve read a number of “2013 – A Year in Review” type writeups, mostly focusing on how bad a year it was. Even on my Facebook feed, a number of acquaintances exclaim how they hope 2014 will be so much better than that dastardly 2013.
Personally, 2013 has been a great year for me. I quit my management job at a Fortune 500 company to pursue writing, penned two novels that have seen overwhelmingly positive feedback, doubled the size of my house (while doing the vast majority of the work myself), and saw the birth of my first son.
That’s sure as heck not a bad year, as far as I’m concerned.
But 2013 isn’t the point of this post; as the old saying goes, past is prologue.
I’ve been working on a plan to get writing done in a timely fashion – after all, success in the independent world requires regular feedings of the beast (or in my case, liquor for the (Angry Villagers so they don’t ever get riled up enough to take those torches and pitchforks after me). Nothing breeds success on Amazon (and the lesser ebook sellers) than putting out high-quality fiction on a regular basis, with a huge emphasis on “regular basis.”
Now, I already missed one deadline – I wanted to have Contract Hunt done by Christmas, and I’ve written a whopping two chapters. Now, granted, I was very productive during the period between the Dead Man’s Fugue release and Christmas, but it wasn’t the kind of productivity that brings in royalty checks.
So, I’ve been working on a new writing schedule to keep me focused – which is, I know, boring and dull stuff. (And no, I’m not going to post it here. You guys don’t need to know how badly I miss my own projected deadlines.)
Written into my new schedule is, one day a week, time set aside for “free novel writing.” Yes, a free novel. (Not free writing, which is something else entirely and seldom yields anything readable from me.)
The new novel is a project that’s been pestering me for a while, but I’ve kept pushing it to the side because I didn’t think it’d sell. For that matter, it still probably isn’t salable in large quantities, so it’s going up here on Writing Under Duress first. After it’s completed, it’ll be pulled down, edited, and made available on the various ebook platforms for a small price.
Meaning?
You now have a reason to visit Writing Under Duress on a weekly basis!
Urban Fantasy is all the craze right now, from the titular mad wizard Harry Dresden of The Dresden Files to more militarized versions like Joe Nassise’s Templar Chronicles to the ever-devolving Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series which has turned into a parody of itself. So, being a good writer, I’ve been plugging away at a new urban fantasy novel (in contrast to the high fantasy of Destiny’s Heir and the science fiction of Shattered Expanse). That isn’t the novel I’m posting here. No, what I’m putting up here is a prequel of sorts, set in the rough and tumble days following the American Civil War. It follows the footsteps of a Confederate veteran whose family was killed during Sherman’s March to the Sea, and sets out into the post-war West to exact revenge on the Union officer who ordered the killings. Unfortunately for him, nothing is as it seems, and he quickly finds himself over his head dealing with citizens of the Old World who are decidedly unimpressed with little toys like black powder, and with an enemy seeking power – the kind of power to reshape a world.You can expect the first chapter of Six-Guns & Sorcery on Friday, January 3rd.