News
2017
Sunday, July 16 - Hey everyone! I've created this website to keep everyone in the loop of what's going on! I'm currently writing book 2!
Monday, July 17 - Greetings one and all! Thanks to my wonderful wife, this website is up and running. I will posting news, updates, and other goodies for the Diamond League book series here. For starters I just want to give out a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has purchased the first Diamond League book. The feedback I've been getting has been helpful and very positive. I am currently working hard on book two: The Black Death. Also on the side I have been getting other things done for book one which I will post here in a few days so be sure to check back often! I hope you all have a wonderful day or night and I will see you soon!
Wednesday, July 19 - Been hard at work as usual. Finally finished chapter 8 and was hit with a stroke of genius on how to end it. It moved me to tears as I was writing it. I tend to get really in touch with my characters when I put them in tough situations. for example there's a later chapter in book one that even though I know what's going to happen my eyes start to water every time (I'm sure you guys and gals know which chapter it is!). Anyway Today I wanted to share that I have been paying a college friend of mine, Francis, to draw some character sketches for me. It is absolutely beautiful and I'm so happy that it turned out so well. I will hopefully have him do more characters in the future but it will take some time since it is very expensive. However, if you have some fan art that you would like to submit, I would be more than happy to add it here on the blog site and share it with everyone. I would love to see everyone's interpretations of the characters. I will continue to keep everyone posted on Diamond League news. Have a wonderful day!
Friday, July 21 - Good evening everyone! Finished chapter 9 on Wednesday and was very happy on how it came out. I went through some edits from my editors and I am so grateful for all their hard work. I also added another art piece to the artwork tab from Francis. The Tanzin character sheet will be coming up next after I pay for it and I'm excited for you guys to see it. I hope you have a fantastic weekend and stay tuned for more news!
Thursday, August 3 - Hello again everyone. Sorry for the late update but just to let you know, chapters 10 and 11 have been completed! I feel like the book is finally around the middle. I think I may add some chapters when I finish it but for now I am making great progress. I hope you all have a great weekend!
Tuesday, August 22 - These past few weeks have been ROUGH but I safely made it to 31! I finished two more chapters and got a new co-worker into my series so I'm very excited to keep working on The Black Death! I'm working as best I can to get these chapters done every week and I'm hoping I'll have at least the first draft done by December. Thank you everyone for your continued support and I'll try to update a lil more frequently lol!
Friday, September 15 - Holy crap has it really been that long since I last posted some news? I'm so sorry but man things have been pretty hectic lately. Work has gotten busier and there have been some problems with the house so I didn't have much time to write in the past few weeks. However the past few days have really lightened up and I got a whole lot finished. I'm all the way up to chapter 19 and got finished some big story points so I'm very VERY proud and excited. Been talking to a lot of old friends and new fans from the first book so it's driving me forward to get the first draft done by my deadline of Decemeber. I feel like I will most certainly make it and thank you all for your love and support. I promise you that the book will be worth the wait and I think I'm going to shoot for this one to be published by Summer 2018!
So here's my time line goals:
-Have the first draft finished by Decemeber
-Use Spring 2018 to add/remove/edit the whole book and look at edits from editors
-Early Summer 2018: Clean up and get the cover ready...and the money too
-Mid-to-Late Summer 2018: PUBLISH!
I will do my best to keep the deadline but with how busy life is, please understand it may be subject to change. However I want to really push myself to get this finished. I will update the news again hopefully sooner next time and I hope you all have a great night!
So here's my time line goals:
-Have the first draft finished by Decemeber
-Use Spring 2018 to add/remove/edit the whole book and look at edits from editors
-Early Summer 2018: Clean up and get the cover ready...and the money too
-Mid-to-Late Summer 2018: PUBLISH!
I will do my best to keep the deadline but with how busy life is, please understand it may be subject to change. However I want to really push myself to get this finished. I will update the news again hopefully sooner next time and I hope you all have a great night!
Friday, October 6 - So last week I finished the first draft! I'm so happy to be so ahead of schedule! So now I'm currently going through all the chapters for the second edit. Thankfully I have a great editor who has editted at least half of my chapters so everything is progressing smoothly. With that I should be ready to start the Pressbooks migration third draft by early next year I'm hoping.
But that's not all! My best friend who made the cover for the first Diamond League has gotten most of the cover for book two already finished and it looks amazing! I'm so happy and excited to keep working on this. So with all this great news, I'm going to shoot for late Spring 2018 for getting book two fully published if everything goes to plan. Stay tuned for more developments!
But that's not all! My best friend who made the cover for the first Diamond League has gotten most of the cover for book two already finished and it looks amazing! I'm so happy and excited to keep working on this. So with all this great news, I'm going to shoot for late Spring 2018 for getting book two fully published if everything goes to plan. Stay tuned for more developments!
Thursday, November 1 - Nothing much to report, still working on the edits. Second edit is almost done, just a few more chapters to go before I move on to edit number three and start moving the book to Pressbooks. I'm so excited and will continue to keep the book updated. Keep on waiting guys and gals, we're getting closer!
Tuesday, November 28 - Second edit is complete! I am currently moving the chapters to Pressbooks. And on an even more positive note, one of my editors has finished and edited the remainder of the book. She enjoyed it immensely which made me sooooo very happy. It has pushed me to keep working on it more and more and I can't wait to have it published and ready for you guys to read. I am near the halfway point of my Pressbooks final edit. I still need to get together with my best friend CJ and finish the cover and the blurb. Everything is still going according to schedule for a Spring 2018 release. Thank you all for your immense support and patience. I'm so pumped!
Monday, December 18 - Third edit is complete. Everything is on Pressbooks and things look great. I just want to go through it one more time to make sure it's perfect! I'm pushing for a January release and we'll see how things go. I also want to update this website more and try to promote book two a lot more. The cover and blurb are ready to roll, now just gotta get everything else finished. We're almost there gang ^_^
2018
Thursday, January 4 - Happy New Year! Finishing up on the last few edits and getting the cover together. Should have book two publish ready by the end of January. I'm so excited for you guys and gals to read the next installment! Just a few more days ^_^
Thursday, January 11 - Finishing up on the final edits. Finally set up a Twitter account and the email is set so be sure to follow me and I will do my best to keep things interesting ^_^. Just a week or so to go everyone!
Monday, January 22 - Preparations have been completed. I've sent all the files and just waiting to hear back from Amazon. We are just mere moments away from The Black Death being released!
Monday, January 29 - The Black Death launched successfully! Currently I'm working on building the fanbase and readers for the series. I have finished the Facebook group and working diligently on the Twitter. Stay tuned for more updates everyone!
Friday, February 9 - Still working hard on building the fanbase and sketching up some characters. I'm currently browsing Amazon for some how to draw books to see if I can improve my drawing skills and I hope so see some improvement in the coming months. I also have most of book 3 ready in my head so I'm excited to start writing it soon! Be sure to follow all the medias to stay on top of everything and I will do my best to keep you all informed of my plans!
Wednesday, February 21 - Business cards arrived as well as my how to draw book. Putting the finishing touches on my newsletter while working on book three. Things are progressing smoothly so far!
Sunday, March 4 - Went to the Author Fest at Waynesboro library yesterday. I thought I could just walk in and request a table and talk about my books, but I was wrong. Instead of going home I decided to stay and talk to the authors. I'm so glad I did! I was able to hand out some business cards, meet a lot of local authors, and became a fan to one of them, Tamara Shoemaker. I bought her book and she signed it for me. I've been reading it nonstop since I first got it and heavily have been enjoying it. I learned a lot from the Author Fest, maybe next time I'll have a table and try my hand at it!
Wednesday, March 14 - The live reading went great! Met a lot of the members of the SWAG writers and got to read most of chapter 2 of the first Diamond League in front of everyone. I also got to meet and listen to other writers and poets while after me. I'm excited for the future and to see what the next event is. Stay tuned!
Saturday, March 31 - So far things have been quiet for the remainder of March. I have gotten a couple of chapters finished so Book Three is progressing smoothly so far. I am planning to attend the Open Mic on April 11 at Black Swan again so that might be when my next big update comes in. Until then I will keep you all posted on any further developments. Happy Easter!
Thursday, April 12 - The Open Mic was a huge success. The turnout was great and everyone was so supportive! It came at a perfect time since the other day I was starting to feel a little discouraged with my writing and lack of sales. This was the pick-me-up I needed to keep pushing forward, and now I'm ready to continue writing for Book 3 even more!
Tuesday, April 17 - Went to a poetry reading on Saturday and it was fantastic. The poet was someone who frequents the Open Mics and she told me that she looked at my book and loved it. This was much needed because earlier this month I was feeling pretty down on myself so this was just the pick me up[ I needed. I've completed up to Chapter 10 so far and have been progressing smoothly through Book 3. I'm feeling really good and want to continue riding this wave of positivity!
Sunday, May 21 - Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been very busy lately. I've been making great progress on book three and just one chapter behind deadline. The Open Mic was great and super successful, it led to me finally being able to sell my books at my local bookstore, Black Swan. This has super boosted my confidence and I'm even more eager to continue writing. I'm trying to do better with the social media updates but it's very tough since I'm working so much and busy with other projects. Stay tuned for more!
Monday, June 18 - I always find myself apologizing for the lack of updates. It's just hard to keep up with everything and work at the same time. The Open Mic was a great success last week and I made a sale. Also been talking to a friend I used to work with who recently bought my book and he is enjoying it. Currently working on chapter 17 at the time of writing this. And next week I'll be teaching at a video game summer camp! Lots of excitement in store, so stay tuned here for more !
Monday, July 2 - Just finished doing summer camp and it was an incredible experience. Returning to work in about an hour and already starting to feel a twinge of post-camp depression. I need to focus my energies back on life, my book, the diabeetus, etc. It'll be a lil shaky for a bit for me to get back on track but I'll do my best. Hope you all are having a good summer so far!
Tuesday, July 24 - Nothing much to report. Finished a lot of chapters despite life being a lil rough this month. Put a big update on my Facebook if you want more info on what's been happening. I'll keep you updated as things progress. Hope you've had a great July!
Thursday, August 2 - Working on a big chapter for Book 3, my birthday is next week AHHH! I also made a Discord channel for people to join if they want to chat or play video games with me. I have been quite the busy bee these past few days. I'll update you again soon!
Friday, September 7 - Been hard at work writing Book 3. Got through a tremendously large chapter and loved how it came out. I'm officially halfway through the book and couldn't be happier. Another reader finished my book and she told me how much she loved Silvera and I couldn't be prouder. I'm gonna keep riding this wave of happiness and will keep you all updated. Thank you for your continued support!
2019
Thursday, January 24- Some big things on my plate. I entered in a contest back in December and waiting to hear back on the results coming in Feb. I'm in another contest due on March 1st where I have to write an adventure story. AND to add to that I'm near the end of the first draft of Book 3!
To add on top of this great news, I've been asked to attend an Author Fest two towns over! I'll get my own table and get to speak at the event. This could be a huge break for me and I can't wait for it to happen. I'll hopefully be able to keep up with everything and work my job at the same time (lol). So stay tuned!
To add on top of this great news, I've been asked to attend an Author Fest two towns over! I'll get my own table and get to speak at the event. This could be a huge break for me and I can't wait for it to happen. I'll hopefully be able to keep up with everything and work my job at the same time (lol). So stay tuned!
Sunday, February 3 - Some big life changes are going on with me so work on Book 3 and my contest might be delayed, but I will work on them when I can. In about a week or so I will be uploading one of my contest stories I entered in on my Facebook author page for you to read. It was a fun contest where I had to make a 50 paragraph story and the contest supplied me with the 1st and 25th paragraph. Can't wait for you to read it!
Tuesday, February 26 - Updated the "More Works" section of the page. It now will have my contest entries. The first one is there and ready for to read!
Sunday, April 7 - Attended the Rocktown Author Festival and it was a blast! Met some great authors, got to read in front of everyone and made some sales. I was so happy and overwhelmed by how great the day went and hope to attend more festivals and events int he future!
I also added another contest entry that I wrote in the More Works section!
I also added another contest entry that I wrote in the More Works section!
Friday, April 19 - At long last, the first draft of "The End of the League" is complete. Now for the long arduous task of editing it!
Tuesday, August 6 = Finished my first run through of book 3! I have a friend of mine looking through it for edits now. I'm gonna be talking to the owner of a new bookstore downtown as well. She will be selling the first 2 books at her shop. I'm super excited to have more info as time rolls on!
Monday, October 14 - Sorry for the radio silence, a lot of personal stuff has been happening. Currently adding chapters to Pressbooks for Book 3. My hope is to have the book published by earliest Winter 2019 and latest Spring 2020. At the rate I'm going, it;s looking more like Spring, but I'm doing my best.
I have made good friends with the bookstore lady and she is selling my first two books in her store. She also said that if I want to throw a launch party when I finish Book 3, she'd be more than happy to do that! Make sure you show her some love if you're ever in town. She's really sweet and she has a great collection of books to sell. Visit her and her shop here: https://www.thebookdragonshop.com/
Finally, got a friend to start doing edits for me. My previous editor fell through I think and my current one is very busy with school, but she's determined to get some chapters done for me. Hopefully, we can work together at a good pace and get this book rolling.
Still been doing Open Mics, but no huge events yet, if anything pops up, I'll be sure to update the site.
That's all for now, fingers crossed I can make my deadlines!
I have made good friends with the bookstore lady and she is selling my first two books in her store. She also said that if I want to throw a launch party when I finish Book 3, she'd be more than happy to do that! Make sure you show her some love if you're ever in town. She's really sweet and she has a great collection of books to sell. Visit her and her shop here: https://www.thebookdragonshop.com/
Finally, got a friend to start doing edits for me. My previous editor fell through I think and my current one is very busy with school, but she's determined to get some chapters done for me. Hopefully, we can work together at a good pace and get this book rolling.
Still been doing Open Mics, but no huge events yet, if anything pops up, I'll be sure to update the site.
That's all for now, fingers crossed I can make my deadlines!