Resolutions

The house is quiet. My wife is out to dinner with some old work friends who wanted her to bring Maddie along. I just finished my own dinner (a toasted chicken and bacon ranch on the Italian herbs and cheese bread from Subway) while watching some episodes of Star Wars Rebels (an incredibly good and addictive show - I'm very impressed at how adult it is and how dark it can get), and thought I'd take advantage of the time to listen to the soundtrack for The Force Awakens (scores are my absolute favorite type of music, and already I'm loving the minute changes to the Main Title - quickened pace with the horns and trumpets) while I update the blog.

Resolutions are cliche - I don't think anyone will raise a hand to deny that - however they also serve as a guide towards self-betterment. For the last couple of years I've kept mine simple - eating better, exercising more to be in better shape (not with any specific body goals in mind), and staying on top of my writing work. The goals heading into 2016 don't change much, with the exception of one: I won't be stressing too much on my writing for the New Year. In place, I want to focus more on family.

My daughter is at the stage where she's ready to play and interact, rather than just be entertained by toys that make sounds, shine lights, or have different textures (as she was a year ago). Today I was home with her and we played all day with almost all the new toys she got for Christmas - watching how quickly she picks up using these toys the way they were intended is quite amazing. I'm taken aback, but also very much proud, at how quick of a learner she is. And now that we're in this stage, I find myself strangled with guilt when it comes to any work that might get in the way of time spent with her, not to mention getting in the way of time with my wife. As adults, we always have work to be done, whether it's work around the house or a story I need to finish or something she has to bring home that couldn't be finished during the day. It happens. It's also unavoidable. But I want to do less of it when I can, especially when it comes to my own work. Right now, I'm writing during my lunch break and after Maddie goes to bed. When I feel up to it, that is.

Tonight I'll finish my second draft of An Unexpected Visit (out in October from Winter Goose Publishing), then I'll take a month off and won't touch it again until February, where I'll work on the draft that'll be proofread by my wife and a select group of close friends. Draft three will be complete by the end of March. I'll then take April off, and use the following two months to completely finish the book. The way it looks now, Visit will hover confidently in the novella realm, and I'm happy about that. Like I said in a previous post, this book will have no subplots - the whole thing is the main event.

Once Visit is finished, I really don't have any pressing work. I want to take a bit of time before working on what will be my fourth book, which will be a novel, and which is already titled, outlined, and prepared (just not written).

In addition to focusing more on my family in 2016, I also want to read more. In 2013 I read twenty books. Respectable. In 2014 I read fifteen. Not bad. This year I read nine. Whoa... I'm hoping to get that number way back up.

I also want to blog more, so here's hoping I can keep to that.

Before I call it a post, I want to share these, as I discovered I hadn't yet here on the blog: these are two professional reviews for The Painted Lady, one by fellow author Kathryn Mattingly (Journey), and one by Chef John Malik of The Huffington Post. I am incredibly thankful to them for the words of praise they used toward my work.

Kathryn's review: "An Emotionally Haunting Tale"

John's review: "The Painted Lady"

To all of you that read this blog, thank you for following me on this incredible journey. Have a wonderful, and safe, new year. See ya in '16.

An Update

For those of you that follow this blog, I don't have to tell you it's been well over a month since my last post (even longer when it concerns my own writing). What I can do is explain that my absence has been for a good reason.

I haven't had anything to say.

Which is not to say I haven't been keeping busy. In fact, being busy seems to be what my days are all about now. And that's a good thing. A very good thing.

After The Painted Lady came out back in August, so to began the back-end of my summer vacation at home with my daughter. It was around this time that came a dawning thought: From the moment I began writing Seeing back in the fall of 2010, I've taken very few breaks, and even then nothing too extended. At most I've put my pen down for a couple of days at max to recharge the batteries.

With Maddie (my daughter) being more active, and my desire to spend as much time with both my girls as I can during the week when my wife and I are working, it really comes down to priorities, and my family (and thus quality time with them) will always come first.

Not that I feel I need to explain myself but just know my reasons for the lapse in content here.

Now for a writing update.

In what spare time I can manage to find these days I'm scratching away at the latest draft of the next book, titled An Unexpected Visit, which will see release next October. Visit will be a hybrid between thriller and family drama, much in the way The Painted Lady was, however the new book is a bit more intense, and comes from the rare pessimistic side of me. It is also a bit darker. It'll be a shorter story - possibly a novella or short novel - which means no subplots; the entire book is the main event, and that excites me to share this story with you, my readers.

After next October...well, to be quite honest, it's going to be a long while before another release. I really want to take my time and enjoy the accomplishments I've already achieved with having three books out in three years. No easy feat, I assure you. I also plan to spend more time with my girls, and, when it comes back around to writing, I've always wanted to completely hand write a novel. There's just something so romantic about filling entire notebooks with the next tale. And seeing as I'm in no rush to complete anything post-Visit, what better time to begin at my leisure.

In the meantime, when it comes to this blog, I'll try to come up with more things to say :)

The Journey of Journey, An Interview with Author Kathryn Mattingly

Journey, a novel by Kathryn Mattingly, author of Benjamin, and Fractured Hearts, is out today in paperback and e-book.

I had the immense pleasure of reading Mattingly's Journey a few months ago and interviewing her regarding the genesis and process of creating her latest tale. What you'll read first is my Q & A with Kathryn followed by my thoughts on Journey.

**

Tell me about the journey of Journey – from how the idea struck you, your process of writing it, any research, struggles along the way, beta-readers, all the way to the finished book. How many drafts did it take? Did anything change drastically (avoiding spoilers) from first draft to final?

This story has evolved quite a bit from conception. When the idea first came to me it was because of all the press about runaway teens. Like all writers with runaway imaginations I wondered about different scenarios and what-ifs surrounding circumstances that would cause a teen to runaway. That gave me my basic plot. What I really write about in all my books is what makes people tick, what drives them to do what they do leading up to and well beyond one action such as running away from home. The plot is just the glue to hold all those intricate psychological and emotional fibers together.

My writing process is simply spilling out the guts of the story onto paper. Then I slowly transform and finesse that raw unfiltered thinking and emotion into something (hopefully) refined. To me refinement is when it sings and dances on the page instead of trudging along clunkily amid too many adjectives and over-thinking. There should be an easy rhythm that allows the reader to seamlessly follow one scene and thought to another without ever getting confused, bored, or bogged down by bad mechanics, inconsistencies, and repetitions. This is not to say a reader will never take pause to ponder what has affected them along the way in terms of a new perspective or overwhelming emotion.

I have been fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of time in Maui and on The Big Island, which is where Journey takes place. My locations are always somewhere I have lived or travelled, and whatever my characters thought processes or emotions are, I have also experienced. This is not to say I have experienced everything my characters have, but only to say I have experienced something similar which allows me to relate to them. This keeps research about everything in my books to a minimum. Rule number one is to write what you know, and so I do.

I don’t use Beta-readers. Once I believe that the manuscript has evolved all that it can I send it to a few trusted colleagues for reader input. These are long time author friends whom I respect for their work, intuitiveness and insight regarding all written work. I soak up their suggestions for how the story may still need to evolve or could be made tighter, clearer, better. After I rework it using their input, I send it to a couple excellent line editors that I know and respect personally for their expertise in this area. This whole process from start to finish can take a year or 10 years depending on that particular story.

I have to be honest: In the beginning I felt a little frustration with Kylie – out of nowhere she became incredibly hell-bent on finding her niece and making this child she never knew a part of her life, even though she knew nothing of Alana outside of the letter she reads from her recently-deceased sister. My question is was I supposed to feel that way? You write complex characters and they’re not black and white, which makes me think I was supposed to wonder why she acts the way she does – of course through the book we gain a much greater understanding of Kylie and her marriage and life. Give me your take on Kylie, and what was her life like before the book begins?

All of my heroines have a Scarlet O’Hara from Gone With The Wind angst about them. You love to hate my protagonist for her need to control and manipulate the ‘floor has fallen out from under me’ environment she suddenly finds herself in. But then again, underneath your frustration with her obsessive-compulsive behavior toward a seemingly contrived outcome you find yourself loving her for the motives she displays, which are always about saving someone (or several someone’s) from what she perceives to be a disastrous fate and future for that particular individual.

Most of us can also relate to the bad choices made before good decision making, but we fully understand how this is the process to success- learning from our poorly executed and impulsive, short sighted plans. Watching and wondering how this process will unfold, I believe, is what draws you in and makes you turn the page.

As for what Kylie’s life and marriage is like before the start of the book and for that matter, after the last written page is up to the reader. I would take it one step further and say that everything Kylie was and is and can ever hope to be is something each of us must determine for ourselves based on our own personal relationships, world view, aspirations, frustrations, achievements and failures.

We writers all have piles of work that no one will ever read – it’s a sad truth that we spend a lot of time (months, years even) on work that doesn’t get beyond the first draft and ends up being a “trunk novel.” Tell me about one of your “trunk novels” and would you ever consider revisiting/revising it?

My ‘trunk novel’ is my first novel on which I cut my teeth… ALL of my teeth – one painful day at a time for what seemed like forever. After being consumed by a whirlwind of passion to pen the story so vivid in my mind, I soon realized it was a muddled mess. This realization came after taking it to writing conferences filled with best-selling novel speakers, and attending retreats where I had icon authors, masters at their trade, teach me what I thought I knew and yet didn’t have a clue about. I rewrote it numerous times and finally, a compassionate editor at a conference gently informed me that my plot was as uninteresting and ordinary as my characters and scenery were fascinating and extraordinary.

It was like a light went on in my head as he spoke. He was absolutely right. I had lost the forest for the trees. I put it on a shelf and never looked back, and immediately wrote a brand new novel that had been simmering in the back of my head. The very next year I won an award for that manuscript and landed a New York agent with the JC Literary Agency. That book was Benjamin – my debut novel.

I know writers don’t like the “what’s next” question, but do you have ideas down already, saved in a journal or notebook, or do you wait and let the ideas come organically?

I have a file of plots and characters, written when they come to mind- usually after just enough wine, but not too much wine. It’s a magical place where the imagination knows no limits – and for that matter, life has no limits in that moment of not completely sober but not inebriated either. I think every creative person on earth has been to the sweet spot of which I speak. It’s fleeting, but the mind does take flight in that space, where all my novels have been birthed. My next two projects are completed books that I will perfect before publication at one a year, and then my new work will see the light of day- a dark and scary thought, because like all good fiction- the truth is in the lie. Most nonfiction I read is more fictitious than the sobering truth of courageously crafted fiction.

That knowledge alone is reason enough for a fiction writer to keep a well-stocked wine cellar.

**

My review:

To be frank, Kathryn Mattingly is far more eloquent with words than I. Journey is simply, and profoundly, damn good writing. A tragedy early on, along with a letter, provides the springboard into an emotional page-turner that finds our heroine, Kylie, challenging the life she’s been occupying against a life she could have – one she wants. Mattingly’s story of a woman refusing to be denied her chance at experiencing some semblance of motherhood draws you in and forces you to think, to feel.

This is no easy-breeze beach novel you can just flip casually through unaffected. Mattingly makes you pause, makes you wonder, makes your heart clench up, and challenges you with her characters. We feel their pain, their anger, their surprise, and can sympathize in one way or another. With Journey, Mattingly proves herself an extremely gifted storyteller fully capable of weaving difficult choices, complex emotions, and painful secrets all against the beautiful backdrops of sunny Maui.

Journey is available now at all major booksellers.

Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

THE PAINTED LADY Goodreads Giveaway Underway.

How's about we start the week off with a giveaway?? If you're a member of Goodreads head on over for your chance at one of three signed copies of THE PAINTED LADY. The giveaway has already started and will end at midnight on October 9th. If you're not a member of Goodreads it only takes a minute to sign up and, like the giveaway, it's free.

What do you have to lose?

Release Day!!!

I'm excited to announce that The Painted Lady, my second novel, is available now wherever books are sold! (!!!)

Here are just some of the fine online retailers where you can get your copy in whatever your preference, print or eBook:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

Books-A-Million 

Enjoy! :)

Tales of The Painted Lady #5: From Downstairs

Micro-story #5

From Downstairs

She was burning up one minute, freezing the next. Perpetually her skin was slick with a cold sweat. She was comfortable on her right side for a while and then her lower back would cringe and tighten up and she’d have to roll over to look up at the ceiling to gain any sort of comfort. It was only a few breaths before the muscles in her neck, shoulders, all the way down to the backs of her calves, would twinge and she’d turn onto her left. An ongoing cycle. She couldn’t taste anything, smell anything, and whatever she coughed up had the consistency (and texture) of tapioca.

Awesome.

Fortunately her husband, thus far, had managed to avoid catching any of it. And it wasn’t for a lack of exposure. He’d made more rounds to their bedroom than a nurse in a maternity ward, bringing with him all kinds of fever reducers, expectorants, food and juice that felt like swallowing glass when she ingested it. All the while, not one sniffle out of him.

Just as well, thought Stephanie. Had her husband come down with whatever flu this was, she wasn’t able to reciprocate the care he’d shown her. Not now anyway, and probably not for a while. She hardly had the strength to blow her nose when she needed to, or carry herself to the bathroom to pee. The latter she kept to herself. Her husband had been right there with a box of tissues every time but she didn’t need him traipsing off with her to the pot.

Poor Miles, she thought. He would do it if she asked. Poor, sweet Miles. He hadn’t wanted to leave her for his art panel in Scranton but she felt terrible that he’d already missed a prior engagement on her account. She wasn’t going to let him put everything on hold for her. They’d been together too long for that. It was cute when he did this kind of thing during the short time they dated thirteen years ago, but now that they’d been married the last twelve it still kind of shocked Stephanie that he hadn’t changed much in his devotion to stick by her side.

She smiled at the thought that he would stay with her on a sinking ship if the last lifeboat had only one seat. Even if her own death was imminent, he would not leave her side to save his own life. Kind of reminded her how a frog would stay put, remain sitting in a pot of cool water on a stove that was set to boil.

This was also a reminder that she needed to stop watching The Hallmark Channel while she was sick.

She supposed though, as she lay in their bed trying to find the best position to appease her aches, Miles had proved long ago he wasn’t going anywhere despite whatever situations arose, and that it was silly to even question him at this point. He remained with her, loving as ever, after they found out there would be no children.

That’s not to say he had been all smiles.

But that was nothing to think about now. It was long behind them.

And Stephanie was in no condition to go back, tearing off that old scab.

She’d found a good spot on her right side, and was about to doze off, when there came the incredible explosion of glass breaking. She nearly sat herself upright despite the pain in her back. The noise had come from somewhere downstairs.

“Miles?” Her voice was raw, hoarse.

He didn’t answer. Her husband was long gone by the time she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

Tales of The Painted Lady #4: At All Costs

Micro-story #4

At All Costs

With little effort, he strong-armed the cap off the neck of his beer before realizing it wasn’t a twist top. Bryan stared at the impression of the ridges of the cap embedded in his palm and realized he was more nervous than he thought. Standing alone in the kitchen, gripping now at the base of the sweaty bottle—hoping he himself wasn’t perspiring nearly as much—he drowned what he could of his apprehensions in a long pull and then poured a glass of Riesling from the bottle on counter next to him. He took a moment to gather himself—adjusting his tie and his sunglasses, going over his strategy one last time, and tilted his head both ways left and right, far enough to crack his neck—before taking both drinks out to the porch that looked over his wooded yard.

In one of the two Adirondack chairs facing the tree line was a woman whose years were at least a decade shy of him. This was a little off-putting because while Megyn was young, she held a great responsibility as the intern to the curator of the Garland Gallery. And Bryan wasn’t going to make any deals unless he went through this pup first.

“Thank you,” said Megyn, accepting her glass.

“No problem,” said Bryan, taking his seat next to her. They didn’t sit basking in the quiet serenity of their surroundings for long.

Megyn took a modest sip. “So what’s all this been buttering me up for?”

Bryan drank again, taking more than a modest sip, giving himself time to contemplate an answer. “What’s that?”

She shot him a glare that said he was kidding no one. “At first I wondered if this lunch date was a way of you offering to represent me. You’ve seen my work at the gallery. When Liza lets me put it up that is.”

He cracked a smirk. It was no secret between them that Liza Machiavelli, curator of the Garland Gallery in downtown Serling Oaks, had an extremely tough outer shell to crack when it came to getting stuff hung on her walls. The pickiest of the picky. And she could afford to be so. But usually once you wormed your way inside you found how soft (and accepting) she really was. It just took a lot of boring to get there. Bryan could only recall a few times he ever saw Megyn’s work displayed (and she’d been working under Liza for three years), and those days were usually stuck in the middle of the week when attendance, and eyes on the walls, was low.

“Then,” Megyn continued, “when you brought out the salted lamb that your wife prepared instead of you cooking burgers on the grill, and decided to wear a suit to your own house, I realized you didn’t want something for me. You wanted something from me.”

Bryan sighed. “You’re right, Meg. I should have treated you as smart as you are.”

She grinned. “You’ve already greased the entryway, Bry. Now, what do you want?”

There was no other way to go about it. She had him. Bryan dropped his act, removing his shades.

“You’ve heard of Miles Greene?”

She blinked her eyes a couple of times in recognition. “He’s local, right? Is that the artist whose wife was murdered back in…?” It could clearly be seen dawning on her then. “That was your sister, wasn’t it?”

He nodded. She gave her condolences.

“Miles is an amazing artist,” he said. “But the thing is he hasn’t had a show in forever.”

“You want him at the Garland.”

Bryan quickly picked up that she wasn’t asking. “I do.”

Megyn took a moment considering this. The wine in the glass in her hand swirled around the inside with turns of her slender wrist. “Didn’t he paint movie posters?”

“For some of the highest grossing films stateside as well as global,” added Bryan, slipping back into sale mode.

“He’s too commercial,” said Megyn, putting her glass down on the wide arm of the Adirondack. “Liza won’t go for it. You know her, she likes people to think her featured artists were discovered and grown by her. Miles is too well known.”

“The gallery has a vacancy in July,” said Bryan. “You said the featured artist had to bow out the other day when we spoke. Would Liza risk having no one during the First Friday Art Walk and be closed when all of the other galleries will be open, with fresh work by artists on their walls? She could have one of the biggest names to come out of our little area of nowhere. That’s a guaranteed full house.”

Again Megyn went quiet.

“Plus, it would mean a lot to me,” said Bryan. “Miles…he’s had it rough. And he would kill me if he knew I was here begging for him. But he needs this. He needs this, Meg.”

She sighed, fully aware her good nature was being taken advantage of.

“I need to know it’ll all be new stuff,” she said. “He can’t hang posters in the Garland Gallery. Liza will have my head, and my internship.”

Bryan made that promise. The show was only a few weeks away and he didn’t know if he could keep that promise, but he made it. He had to. “Does he have the spot then?”

Megyn eyed her glass of Riesling. “You’re a good agent, Bryan. Miles is lucky to have you as his. Which is why, if you want me to fight for him with Liza, I want you to represent me.”

In her piercing eyes and her unwavering tone he could tell there was no budging on this.

He had used her good nature and now it was he being held over the barrel. Bryan admired her tenacity, how she played the game.

She extended her hand. He shook it.

Interview and Excerpt and Possibly More? Oh My...

I am absolutely thrilled to share the news of what will be happening over the next two weeks leading into The Painted Lady's release on August 5th - these are things that will be in addition to the final two Tales of The Painted Lady micro-stories that will be dropping, respectively, Friday, July 24, and Friday, July 31.

First, this week I'll be featured in an interview with author Kathryn Mattingly (Benjamin, Fractured Hearts, and the upcoming Journey), where we go over some writerly topics such as where my story ideas come from and what tales I have lined up for the future. I'll post a link later in the week when the interview goes up.

Second, on Wednesday, July 29, (one week before Lady's release) horror author Armand Rosamilia (the Dying Days series) will be hosting an exclusive excerpt from The Painted Lady, which will appear on his blog. This will be your first look into the novel. Can't wait to share that with all of you - I'll be sure to post that link also. 

So to recap:

- This week: interview with author Kathryn Mattingly.

- Friday, July 24: Micro-story #4

- Wednesday, July 29: excerpt of The Painted Lady, hosted by author Armand Rosamilia.

- Friday, July 31: Final micro-story.

- Wednesday, August 5: The Painted Lady release day!

In the works are some other possible news items that I hope to share soon.

Tales of The Painted Lady #3: Anniversary

Micro-story #3

Anniversary

The first temperamental thaw to cut a swath across upstate New York came early, revealing the grass had grown mangy and long at Hillside Cemetery. Except at the grave where Miles Greene stood. The swollen mound of dirt that was fresh in October of the previous year had settled. Wiry patches of grass had sprung through the soil at his feet while all around him sporadic piles of snow still blanketed the earth. The morning had dawned gray in the valley, but now peeks of sun were burning through the cloudy canopy.

The stringy, naked limbs of the weeping willow beside Miles hung still. There were no bugs, no other nuisances like cars driving by on the cemetery roads snaking through the hill, and only the distant sound of a maintenance worker running a pressure washer could be heard among the solemn air hanging about the headstones. He had complete privacy and yet didn’t know what to say. It often felt absurd, and a bit cliché, to speak aloud at the grave. Yet it also never felt like he was talking to his wife at all if the words weren’t coming out of his mouth.

With the day being one of significance, Miles decided first to set down the pot of blooming white gerbera daisies he had brought, sweeping aside crusty snow and browned, dead leaves from the base of the marble stone. The flowers would likely be dead by this time tomorrow, but, he supposed, tomorrow didn’t matter, in more ways than one.

“I know it’s been awhile.” He swallowed, and shrugged. “I have no excuse.”

The distant pressure washer cut out. Miles looked around to make sure he was still alone.

“Thought I saw you the other day. In the apartment. Even said something to you before I realized….”

He scratched at the length of growing beard irritating his neck. It would be nice, he thought, when the new facial hair got past the itching stage. On the plus it had been keeping his face warm against the winter chill.

“I’m…” He had a difficult time getting it out. Miles took a deep breath, cleared his stuffy nose, and resigned to the uncomfortable truth. “I’m gonna go see a therapist. Your brother’s idea actually. I guess to him it’s a weird thing that I keep seeing you everywhere. Maybe I just shouldn’t share everything with him. Anyway…my first appointment’s on Thursday."

His eyes wandered away.

“Not really anything else going on. Just…kind of…here.”

The pressure washer started up again.

“You got a subscription renewal notice in the mail for Cosmo. Kind of strange that you still get mail when I go back to the house to grab the bills. I cancelled it, by the way. Your Cosmo.”

Miles sighed, a long trail of steam exited his mouth. His minute attempt at levity did nothing to ease the heavy lump in his throat, in his chest, anchoring his sorrow.

“Can’t believe it’s been thirteen years since that day in the café. Right about this time I was sitting in the lounge, looking out the front glass, waiting for you.” He shrugged, shoving his freezing hands deep into his coat pockets. “And now...here we are.”

There was not much else to say. He had satisfied the urge, and obligation, to be there. Miles knelt down and, as he always did when he visited, placed his hand on the top of the stone, just above where Stephanie’s name had been etched.

“I’ll try not to stay away too long this time,” he said. “Happy anniversary.”

With that his steps crunched off the frozen ground as he turned and walked away, forcing himself not to look back at the settled mound of dirt, at the the small pot of white daisies giving company to the lonely grave, through the lifeless arms of the willow tree.

THE PAINTED LADY arrives AUGUST 5th!

Big news today, my dear readers and friends: my second novel, The Painted Lady, will be available Wednesday, August 5th!

Even the strangest things happen for a reason.

Miles Greene once spent his days creating beautiful works of cinematic art, all the while treasuring the deepening love for his wife, Stephanie. Currently his days are filled with the mundane as Miles, a recent widower, hides away in his ground-floor apartment, leaving his once-successful art career - and his drive to carry on - to complete indifference. With the sudden appearance of a mysterious woman in his building, Miles quickly realizes he is no longer in control of his destiny as forces beyond his control begin to influence his future. The path that unfolds in front of Miles may offer redemption at its end, but it promises a confrontation with the past, as well as coming to terms with the demon hiding within Miles and the burden of guilt he has carried all these years.

I've just had the wonderful fortune of seeing the digital galley and it is beautiful. I'm so excited to see - and HOLD - the book in its final form. 

I'm currently investigating options for an online release party. Details to come, but for now...mark those calendars!!

The Painted Lady will be available for  purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and where all books are sold.

Tales of The Painted Lady #2: For Rent

Micro-story #2

For Rent

When the touch screen of her cell phone lit up from an incoming call at eight-fifteen Wednesday evening, Evelyn’s leathery brow knitted. She didn’t recognize the number, though the area code said it was local, which meant only one thing: someone was calling about a vacancy in one of her rentals.

She took a long drag off the half-spent cigarette piped between her lips and considered whether or not to answer. It was late in the evening, for her anyway (especially when her internal clock still roused her at four every morning despite her being long retired), and she was comfortable lounging out on her back deck, taking in the scent of menthol mixed with the enticing smell of burning cherry wood wafting her way from down the block. The late November air was chilly but tolerable.

Though she was really in no mood to talk business, Evelyn had been faced with an exodus of many of her tenants as of late. Revenue was down. Young people either moving back home because they claimed they could no longer afford the rent (which she believed was quite fair in terms of being competitive with what else was out there), or they were shacking up with significant others to save on expenses. They claimed they were in love. Evelyn grimaced. In love or not it was costing her dollars and making more work for her to fill the empty spaces. She picked up the ringing phone; she couldn’t afford to miss this call.

“Hello?” Her throat was perpetually raw, her voice a constant rasp. Probably a result of too many smokes. But then she’d never had any other complication as a result of a habit that’s been keeping Big Tobacco in the black since she was sixteen. She just cleared her throat and said again, “Hello?”

“Yes, hi, I’m calling about a listing you have for a first floor duplex on Paden Road.”

Ah, yes, Evelyn thought, the end of the cigarette glowing bright from her deep inhale. Her lips pursed tight around the ashy tasting cylinder. Paden. That duplex was one of the few properties she had in her arsenal that featured a low turnover. The location was in the middle of a quiet suburb stretch of mostly retired folk like herself. The upstairs unit was occupied by an elderly man named Lou who had been there almost a year. Poor man had been stricken with Alzheimer’s, one of Evelyn’s biggest concerns as she approached her eighth decade on Earth. A concern far greater than whatever mounds of tar were covering her lungs. The downstairs of the Paden duplex had only recently become open after a four-year occupation by a student taking early-education courses at the university.

“Have you spoken with Jimmy already?” she asked the caller.

“I did try the other number in the listing but no one picked up.”

Evelyn sighed. Typical that her grandson, who was her handyman and filter for most of her prospective tenants, couldn’t be bothered to answer. Likely too busy lighting up himself. Except he didn’t dabble in the legal stuff.

“Well,” she said, “if you’d like to see the apartment, I can arrange sometime tomorrow in the late aftern—”

“I don’t need to see it,” said the man. “If it’s available, I’ll take it.”

Evelyn snuffed out the last quarter of her smoke, sitting straight up in her wicker porch chair. “You don’t even want to see the place?”

“No need,” said the caller. “Just let me know what you want in terms of first month and a safety deposit, and whatever else you need. I’ll bring you a check tomorrow.”

Evelyn didn’t know what to say. This was most peculiar. Never before had she heard of someone taking an apartment sight unseen. She cleared her throat, suddenly feeling skeptic and a little irritated. She wanted to huff on another cigarette immediately. “Is this a joke? Did my grandson put you up to this?”

The man on the other end of the line assured her this was no joke.

She didn’t know why, but Evelyn believed him. Something in the sincerity of his voice.

“Well,” she said, “rent is eight hundred, deposit is the same, and I require first and last months.”

“I’ll make you out a check,” said the man.

Evelyn almost laughed, not because she found the situation funny, but strangely absurd. “Who is this, by the way?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the man. “My name is Miles.”

“Miles,” she repeated.

After the call ended, Evelyn sat back in her chair and lit a new smoke. For the longest time she remained under the starry ceiling of the clear night, a trail of smoke rising over her, wondering what would cause a man, relatively young by the sound of his voice (and young compared to her) to settle so quickly on a home, one that would initially set him back twenty-four hundred dollars, that he’d never seen before.

What was he running away from?

Tales of The Painted Lady #1: Moving Dad

Micro-story # 1

Moving Dad

The last box of her dad’s things came out the front door, carried in the arms of the tenant who lived on the first floor of the duplex. Claire could have carried it herself—it wasn’t heavy, just the odds and ends: a few paperback books with the spines completely intact, the roll of packing tape used to seal the other boxes, some dishtowels, packages of loose batteries, a pair of scissors, a fork discovered in the back of a drawer—but the man insisted on helping when she first started carting boxes out the front door, said with a smile that he had nothing better to do.

“Thank you so much.” Claire accepted the last bit of her father’s things and slid it atop the other boxes stacked in the back of her van. She wore a weary smile while sweeping the strings of her blond bangs away from her forehead.

The man waved this off and shrugged, letting her know it was no big deal. “Your dad gonna be OK?” With his bearded chin he made a passive gesture at the front passenger seat where the elderly man named Lou sat, staring blankly out the front glass.

Claire sighed. “Yeah. This will be better for him, anyway. And me. Just got to be too much to keep coming here and taking care of things every day. I have a husband who’s needy enough and doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.”

The man shared in her laugh. It felt good to laugh, even if it came more out of exhaustion and relief than it did pure joy.

“Well,” said the man, “I’ll sure miss seeing him up on his porch and waving to him every day. Seemed whenever I came out to go for walks your dad was looking out, just keeping watch over the street I guess.”

“Did he ever wave back or say anything to you?”

The man didn’t need more than a moment to think. “Umm…no. I can’t say for sure he ever did.”

Claire accepted this truth with a heavy heart, but flashed another tired smile to reciprocate. This wasn’t surprising news but it was still difficult to hear. Many months after the diagnosis had time to sink in, she accepted her father was no longer the outgoing, independent, and aware person he once was. Right before her eyes, like some evil magic trick, he had withered away, his liveliness receding into an invisible shell. It was rare anymore to catch little bursts of his character come out of dwelling so deep within a blank slate. For Claire the struggle now was imagining her father spending the days she couldn’t be at the apartment every waking hour as a complete vegetable. Or doing something dangerous.

That’s why he was coming to live with her and Eric. Besides it being easier to tend to her father’s needs in her own home instead of driving to the apartment every day, he just couldn’t be left alone anymore. No telling what would happen. In a best case situation he would just sit all day, but that left messes of its own kind for her to later clean up. Her worst fear was what if he got a bit of inspiration and tried to use the stove? Or worse yet, what if he went for a walk and forgot where he was? This was all dependent on him climbing out of his chair, of course, but these weren’t impossible scenarios. At least Eric worked from home and could manage the small things during the day in between Skype sessions with the home office in Fort Worth.

She closed the rear door, resigned to her fate. “Thank you again for helping, Mr. Greene. And for trying to give my father some attention. Hopefully it won’t be long before someone comes and takes the second floor.”

I'm not worried about it. I'm sure someone will come along." He then extended his hand. "And please," he said, "call me Miles."

Tales of The Painted Lady begins this Friday

It's almost July already???

Not only am I sitting here at my desk left wondering where June went, but with the onset of the new month that means we're only one month away from the release of The Painted Lady, my second novel being published by Winter Goose Publishing, which drops in August.

As stoked as I am for everyone to read it - and I do believe I have hurdled what is called the "sophomore slump" for those of you that fell in love with Seeing - I am also thrilled to start building the anticipation for Lady, and that starts this Friday, July 3, with the release of the first of five original micro-stores in a series dubbed Tales of The Painted Lady. The four subsequent stories will appear each Friday, with the last on July 31.

Because the stories are so short - glimpses (prequels, if you will) of what is to come in the novel through the perspective of five different characters - there isn't much I can say about them. What I can say, though, is that these micro-stories will be exclusive to my site, this blog, my Facebook, and a few other areas online. They will not appear anywhere in the novel itself. The other thing I can say about them is their titles.

Here is the schedule of the micro-stories as to when they will appear online:

July 3 - "Moving Dad"

July 10 - "For Rent"

July 17 - "Anniversary"

July 24 - "At All Costs"

July 31 - "From Downstairs"


See you on Friday!

5 Fun Facts About THE PAINTED LADY

Please excuse my excitement.

Today was the last day of the school year (yay!!!), and for the next 76 days (who's counting?) I'll be living the summer of Maddie & Daddy (it's my Summer of George). Just my eight-month-old daughter and I during the day. Hanging out, going to parks, playing with lightsabers and Minnie Mouse and Doc McStuffins. Unfortunately, mommy being an assistant principal doesn't nab the same amount of time off as I do. That being said, this is the first summer I've had off since...well, junior year of high school, which was fifteen years ago.

Whoa.

Anyway, I mention my long vacation because I'm hoping to be more productive here on the blog during my time off, in addition to writing the second draft of next year's project. Right now, I'm enjoying a comfortable lull. I'm awaiting the editor's word to come back on The Painted Lady, and I know work will pick up on the book once those edits comes back, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to punch out a fun post and give a quick shout-out regarding five things - fun factoids/bits of trivia - for you to know about my upcoming second novel.

If any of the following appear on a future episode of Jeopardy, you'll know they were posted here first.

1. The original title was Pictures.
The cover page of the first draft reads Pictures OR The Painted Lady but the header of each page throughout the manuscript read Pictures. At the time (this was two years ago...more on that in a bit) I was in love with both titles and couldn't make up my mind. What eventually helped me decide was that my first novel was titled Seeing and I didn't want another book with a single word title. Weird as it is, I felt I would be pigeonholing myself by having two consecutive first books with single word titles. I didn't want readers to believe I was establishing a theme that linked all of my books together.

What also helped me decide was I had heard of a novel called The Light Between Oceans (it's on my to-read list) and thought it was such a classy, beautiful, very-literary title. The Painted Lady read and sounded much classier than Pictures, so I went with it.

2. The idea of Lady stems from the first novel I ever tried to write.
Back in 2007 I gave a serious attempt to sit down and write my first novel. It was titled Pictures (hey look at that). While that initial attempt differs from what The Painted Lady has turned out to be, the central idea of the protagonist being a talented artist who is affected by strange happenings remains. What drew me to finally write this novel was the right ideas came at the right time.

3. Finishing the book took two years.
The first draft of The Painted Lady was written between July 22, 2013 and October 24, 2013. The first draft was about 63k words. My first two novels have not been overly long because they've been written from a single point of view, plus I don't like long subplots that deviate from the meat of the story.

4. A mysterious, underlying fear of never being a father inspired what happens to a character in the book.
I write about things that scare me. Not necessarily monsters under the bed or noises in the dark, but the things you can't see. Things you have no control over. Before my wife and I were blessed with Maddie, I housed this strange, unspoken fear that I couldn't have children. I don't know where this fear originated from but it felt very real when it woke me in the middle of the night. Anyone who really knows me can list the three things I've wanted my whole life - to be an author, to have a wife, and to have a baby girl. I am so thankful to have all of them, but that fear of being unable to have children gave me an idea for a pivotal character in the book.

5. This is a weird book.
I'll come right out and say it - this is one strange book, easily the oddest thing I've ever written. Obviously I can't say more, but where Seeing was a straight-up coming-of-age YA novel, The Painted Lady is such a tonal shift. And that's exactly what I wanted for my second book.

The Painted Lady lands on shelves and e-stores in about two months! More to come.

It's Gettin A Little Drafty... (Part 3 of 4)

With the big news of the cover and plot reveal for The Painted Lady being last week, I skipped putting up this third entry in my short blog series about editing drafts because I didn't want it to get lost in the mix.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Two weeks ago I put up the second draft version of a paragraph that appears in Lady. While the paragraph packed more information, bringing out a greater sense of story than the meager original paragraph in draft one, it was also a bit wordy for my tastes. Which brings me to draft three.

In my third drafts I ruthlessly comb through the manuscript looking to cut cut cut - cut out anything that is hindering the voice of the work. I like to hear a rhythm when reading, even if that means taking out larger words that may make me appear smarter than your average bear and changing them out for ones that are simpler if it makes the read flow better.

Flow is underrated, I believe. Flow makes or breaks the story.

OK, let's look at the examples.

Here is draft two again:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the fact that he was the luckiest guy in Tony's Restaurant. If not the world. To further drive this point there were numerous sly glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - fielding in his direction. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own pair. Questionable attractiveness is subject to specific tastes. Real beauty is appreciated by all.

And now, draft three:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those self-depreciating instances where Miles was selling himself short by knowing he was far beyond his league; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the fact that he was the luckiest guy in Tony's Restaurant. To further drive this point came numerous sly gestures of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods and even a thumbs up from one older man who also saw fit to lick his rubbery lips suggestively at the same time - fielding in his direction. Of these he was appreciative; of the old man, a bit weirded out. It's always nice to know when other people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes.

Funny (and ironic and hypocritical) that I said draft three is where I cut cut cut, and yet what's here is longer than draft two. This is where flow and style and substance come into play. After reading draft two I wanted the book to have more humor and thus inserted the image of an old man making suggestive gestures. It was something simple and not too distracting even though it added to the length. It gives the book, and certainly this particular scene, more of a personality.

Draft three is my beta reader draft. If my small circle of readers don't like something that's there then it goes out the window in draft four, my "sale draft."

Next week we'll finish up this blog series by discussing the fourth (sale) draft and final draft. Hopefully, too, I'll have some really cool news to announce regarding the upcoming set of micro-stories leading into this summer's The Painted Lady.

Cover Reveal: THE PAINTED LADY

Winter Goose Publishing has revealed the cover for The Painted Lady, including this plot summary in their press release:

 

 

Even the strangest things happen for a reason.

 

Miles Greene once spent his days creating beautiful works of cinematic art, all the while treasuring the deepening love for his wife, Stephanie. Currently his days are filled with the mundane as Miles, a recent widower, hides away in his ground-floor apartment, leaving his once-successful art career - and his drive to carry on - to complete indifference. With the sudden appearance of a mysterious woman in his building, Miles quickly realizes he is no longer in control of his destiny as forces beyond his control begin to influence his future. The path that unfolds in front of Miles may offer redemption at its end, but it promises a confrontation with the past, as well as coming to terms with the demon hiding within Miles and the burden of guilt he has carried all these years.

 

The Painted Lady will be released in August in both print and e-book.

THE PAINTED LADY Cover Reveal This Wednesday.

More exciting news this week: Winter Goose Publishing (@WinterGoosePub) will reveal the cover for my next novel, THE PAINTED LADY, this Wednesday, June the 3rd.

You'll be able to catch the announcement  in a variety of places: here on my blog, the front page of my site, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, and on WGP's website.

Can't wait for you all to see what we've come up with.

Tales of The Painted Lady - in July

This'll be a quick post, folks. It's Friday night, baby's fast asleep in her crib, and Mommy and Daddy are ready to kickback and relax. Hope you're all enjoying your starts to the weekend.

I just wanted to take this moment to share with you all that starting in July, as a means of counting down to the publication of The Painted Lady in August, I will be releasing five original (and FREE!) "micro-stories" weekly, one every Friday of the month (so July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31). The stories will be posted online through my site and on my Facebook.
 

Each of the five stories - presented under the banner Tales of The Painted Lady - will be told through the perspective of a different character that appears in the book, giving you access to motivations behind some of their actions and feelings you won't be privy to in the book, and will serve as a lead-in to the events in the novel.

I'll have more info about Tales to share soon, but for now just wanted to get this little nugget of info out there.

Enjoy your Friday!

It's Gettin A Little Drafty... (Part 2 of 4)

Last week I began a short blog series opening up about the amount of drafts I do (or try to do) for each writing project. I posted a short excerpt from the first draft of my upcoming novel, The Painted Lady (out in August). This week I'll post the second draft version of that same paragraph and explain what changed between the two.

First, here again is the first draft excerpt:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the point that he didn't realize this. Around the restaurant he'd spotted numerous side-glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - sent his way. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own.

My first drafts are done based on a short outline that, more or less, keeps me in check. I don't plot the entire story but I need to know where I'm going so that, in the midst of discovery, I don't drift so far off course that I write myself into a corner and can't get back on track. At the same time I don't restrict myself, keeping outlines free to creatively explore whatever may pop up in the course of learning about my protagonist's situation. When I am doing the first draft I don't edit and I don't ever go back. I try to avoid anything that may stall progression. Occasionally in the second draft I run into inconsistencies in the shape of molehills or even huge mountains that I have to fix, but the first draft is essential. Or I should say finishing the first draft is essential. Mistakes can always be fixed in subsequent drafts.

Which is what I try to do with draft number two.

When it comes to the second draft I don't edit in screen; I retype the entire manuscript from page one using the printed out (and marked up) first draft as a guide, keeping only the bits of story that I feel are essential.

Now, here is the second draft version of the paragraph excerpt from above:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the fact that he was the luckiest guy in Tony's Restaurant. If not the world. To further drive this point there were numerous sly glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - fielding in his direction. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own pair. Questionable attractiveness is subject to specific tastes. Real beauty is appreciated by all.

Okay, so where some areas of the paragraph have gotten a shot of more detail since the first draft, there's a bit too much embellishing going on here. And that happens. Second drafts, for me, are where the story really starts to come alive by adding/tweaking the right details that evoke a sense of realism (for example here: giving the restaurant a name). The fine line not to cross is where too many details take precedence and pull readers out of the story. But in the midst of draft two I go easy on myself because I know I have two more passes on the manuscript yet to do, and where draft two is about selecting what is essential to the story and focusing on it, draft three is really about honing that focus.

More about draft three coming up next.

It's Gettin A Little Drafty... (Part 1 of 4)

This past Monday I put the finishing touches on my final draft for my sophomore novel, The Painted Lady, which will be coming your way this August from Winter Goose Publishing (be on the lookout soon for both the cover reveal and the official plot summary). Being done has not only lifted a huge weight off my chest but it also frees me up for a lot of things I have meaning to do more of lately, one of which being blogging (!). Yes, I do realize I haven't blogged in a while but the book (and family) takes priority, and now that it's done I'm going to try and make up for my lack of posts. Finishing up the latest draft (which actually isn't the final in terms of being the finished book, but I'll get to that in a sec) actually got an idea brewing: I thought I would do a series of posts about the amount of drafts I do for each manuscript and then detail what I do with each pass by providing an example.

When I write, I try to keep to doing five drafts. Some require more (Seeing was actually six drafts - one and two were a completely different - and much lighter - novel; draft three rebuilt the story in a huge way) but it's never less than five.

The first draft is my "Anything Goes" draft where I include every idea and don't focus on having perfect writing so that I don't get caught up on the details and become discouraged (first drafts are supposed to be terrible). Draft two is where I decide what sticks and what has to go (sometimes it's scenes, sometimes entire subplots, sometimes whole characters). Draft two is also completely rewritten in a new blank document. Draft three is shaping up the rough edges and making last decisions on what is essential to the book. Draft four is my "Sale Draft" where I work hard to nail everything down to where all the manuscript should require is a professional editor's pass. The fifth draft is a combination of the editor's thoughts and my own final nitpicks. Then, book.

For the purposes of this blog series on drafts, I thought I would provide an example from The Painted Lady. Looking over the four passes I've done for the book (it's just been submitted to the editor), I found a paragraph that changed in both small and big ways throughout each draft (which spanned from July 2013 to May 2015).

Below is a short excerpt from draft number one:

He stared across the table at the woman - this woman far too beautiful for him. This wasn't one of those instances where Miles was selling himself short; it's just that he wasn't naïve to the point that he didn't realize this. Around the restaurant he'd spotted numerous side-glances of the congratulatory kind - winks and nods - sent his way. Of these he was appreciative. It's always nice to know when people think the one you're with is more than decent enough on the eyes. And not just your own.

This is definitely first draft writing. A bit loose and on the rambling side for sure. There's no real rhythm or cadence but that's to be expected here. Definitely needs to be trimmed and tightened up.

Next time I'll post the version of this paragraph that appears in Draft Two and compare them.

Stay tuned.

Welcome to the New Site!

It's not uncommon for me to tinker with my website - it's always in a state of upgrade. I get bored with the look and jot down ideas for organizing the site better, or changing it up visually to be more appealing, and I implement them when time allows me the opportunity.

The current version of the site is all new and I invite you to check it out - it's very slimmed down compared to the previous version (just felt there were too many links and too much information squeezed into small spaces before) and currently features only what is absolutely vital. A nice addition now is that my blog is actually featured, rather than mirrored, on the site.

Quite a stream of news will be coming along shortly. In addition to the cover reveal, official summary, and the release date for THE PAINTED LADY, there are a few things I'm sitting on, waiting to put out here on the site. One, which is in such an early stage that it may or may not come to fruition, is something so huge that if it comes to pass, I will announce it as soon as I can.

I also post a bit on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, so you can always follow me there. :)

Also, in case you haven't seen it yet, here's the first book trailer for THE PAINTED LADY.

The Brand New Winter Goose Publishing

This past weekend my publisher, Winter Goose Publishing (www.wintergoosepublishing.com), rolled out a brand new logo and design. This comes out ahead of their call for submissions - the open submissions period will be for the month of April only. 

I love the new, stark imagery incorporated on their site and the new sleek logo. My favorite change of theirs is to the new slogan: Where words take flight

Head on over to their site, have a look around. Sign up for their newsletter to be kept up to date on new releases and authors. 

You can also find Winter Goose on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wintergoosepublishing) and Twitter (@WinterGoosePub).

For any writers: if you've been sitting on a manuscript, why not send it to WGP!?! You've got all of April to do so. There's nothing to lose by possibly being published by a wonderful press that cares and takes pride equally in regards to their products and their authors.

Seriously, what have you got to lose? Get on that submission!

Seven Things You Didn't Know About My Writing (Expanded Edition)

Last night I was tagged in a Facebook post by friend Kevin Lucia (www.kevinlucia.com), author of THINGS SLIP THROUGH, DEVOURER OF SOULS, and the upcoming THROUGH A MIRROR, DARKLY (which I'll be reading and reviewing shortly), and in this post I was to list seven things about my writing that you probably didn't know. I had fun with the list and decided it made for a cool blog entry. So here we are.

And because this is also appearing here, I've gone ahead and elaborated on some of my responses.

Seven Things You Didn't Know About My Writing:

1. I wrote my first novel in a span of about three months back in the spring/summer of 2007. It was a 109,000 word mashup called SIGNAL that consisted of all things Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Stephen King, and George Romero's zombie films. To be blunt, the book sucks. I self-pubbed it because I didn't know better at the time. Don't bother looking for it or buying it. Not worth it. (I also sent a copy to Kevin Lucia to review for the Press & Sun all those years ago. Thank God he never did.) If you look it up there's a copy somewhere going for well over $100. I find that laughable.

2. Before SEEING I wrote two full manuscripts (HAUNTED, UNWRITTEN) and plotted a third (SIGHTINGS) with teenage protagonists. I knew I wanted to have a young main character because I had been working with children and loved seeing the world from their perspective - innocence and an open-minded willingness to believe.

3. It was my Creative Writing professor in college who pushed me to be a writer. She praised my work in class and said I should try to get published. She loved a story I wrote called "The Lottery Begins" that served as a prequel to my favorite short story by Shirley Jackson ("The Lottery"). It was also this same teacher who read a book of mine after I graduated and tore it to pieces. This was back in 2008 and, needless to say, because of her scathing review, I wouldn't write again for two years.

4. My wife was the one who convinced me to start writing again. When we were dating, I told her my dream had always been to be an author, so, for our anniversary that month, she bought me a green-covered notebook and some pens. This was in the fall of 2010. The first draft of the novel I hand-wrote in that notebook was titled RUN TO ME. Later, I renamed the book SEEING. I still have the notebook and the pen I wrote it with.

5. My writing is largely inspired by The Twilight Zone, mostly in the show's concept of ordinary people facing "What if..." situations.

6. I don't write long novels, yet, because my style - for the first three books anyway - is to follow one character through life-changing events and only focus on what's important in the story. In SEEING, this year's THE PAINTED LADY, and next year's AN UNEXPECTED VISIT, the action follows one character's experiences over a short period of time, never splitting off to follow another character and subplots are kept to a minimum. I have larger ideas for longer stories but want to build up to them. I don't think I've earned writing a long novel just yet. Right now I am very comfortable doing quieter, shorter stories that get in your head and live there. I also believe that many long books tend to contain a lot of filler that is unnecessary and more people tend to get bored with a story if they sense the author dragging their heels. I don't want readers to set my books down so I keep the story moving best I can with only what is most important.

7. Many times before I begin a writing/editing session I will read a few pages from my favorite book, A MONSTER CALLS. The author, Patrick Ness, crafted such a lovely, tragic novel that I can't help but be inspired by his creation. Reading his work always makes me strive to make my own work better.

And there you have it.

Author Night in Apalachin on April 7

The time of the event is still being determined (I'll update as soon as I know), but I have been asked to appear at an Author Night at the Apalachin Public Library in Apalachin, New York on Tuesday, April 7. Further details about the event are forthcoming.

Maybe I'll read a snippet from THE PAINTED LADY...

The Painted Lady arriving this August

It's both exciting and terrifying to think that in just five months my next book will be out. Currently slated for an August release, THE PAINTED LADY, published by the wonderful Winter Goose Publishing, is an adult novel that delves into many different genres. Equal parts love story, mystery, tragedy, thriller, and urban fantasy, the story is also inspirational one, full of discovering new hope for a damaged soul.

Recently I put a few hints regarding THE PAINTED LADY out via Twitter, mostly that it'll be out in August and that the story is more adult-themed. My wife thought I should've dropped some bigger clues (what can I say, 140 characters is very limiting), and so I've decided to include a full plot summary along with this blog:

Even the strangest things happen for a reason.

Miles Greene once spent his days creating beautiful works of cinematic art, all the while treasuring the deepening love for his wife, Stephanie. But now his days are filled drudging through the mundane of listening to the uneasy peace of a quiet neighborhood and flipping between mindless daytime talk shows. A recent widow, Miles's once prominent existence has been reduced to meekly hiding away in his ground floor apartment, leaving his once successful art career, and any determination to carry him beyond existing on a day to day basis, to neglect.

Then, with the sudden appearance of an unusual woman living in the upstairs apartment, Miles learns that he is no longer in control of his destiny as forces beyond his control become the catalyst, an influence acting without any choice or consent to turn his life around. Everything is about to change.

A new path unfolds in front of Miles, a path that may offer redemption at its end, but a path that also promises a confrontation with the past, including coming face to face with a previously unseen evil, as well as coming to terms with a demon hiding within Miles himself - a burden of guilt burrowed so deep it goes back years before his wife's death.

Because I love to have a hand in everything regarding my work (it's not a control thing as it is gaining knowledge and discovering what works best for representing the story), I started creating some concept book covers for LADY. While this isn't a new thing (I did this with SEEING too, and funny enough the design my publisher offered for the book was both way better than what I thought I wanted and better than anything I could design) I usually don't put these concept designs online. However, for THE PAINTED LADY, I wanted to generate some buzz and get some feedback. Up on my Instagram are three designs for the book's cover art - I've also posted them below, side by side for comparison. If you have a favorite, leave a comment or give a Like. I can't make any promises that any part of the designs featured will find their way onto the actual book's cover, that decision lies with my publisher and those on their team responsible for design, but I will say that they were impressed enough with my concepts that, well, anything is indeed possible.

Concept cover arts

More news and announcements on THE PAINTED LADY are coming! Stay tuned.