Welcome to the “Indie Writing Life,” my semi-regular blog series about my ongoing activities as a writer, i.e. – somebody running a business writing and selling books. My inaugural episode can be found here, if you’d like to start at the beginning. The last episode is here.
Conventions & Events
I got accepted into the Blend Book Fair. It’s being held near my house at the Blend Coffee Shop (there’s a big patio area in the shopping center next to the business) in Ashburn, VA on August 9, 2025, from 3:00 – 7:00 PM. I’d heard of it before, but hadn’t found out about it in time or had the necessary contacts to apply. This will be the third you that they’ve held the event.
Interestingly, it’s the first time I’ll be doing a selling event without my usual sales partner, Martin Wilsey. So, I’ve decided to use this as an opportunity to upgrade my own gear. I’ve got a canopy on order, and I’ll be buying a portable table, as well. I already own folding chairs and book racks.
Oh, and under the heading of networking, I found out about the event and the application process from J. Denison Reed, one of the organizers. I met him at ComicLogic’s Spring Lot Con in May. So, my advice: Have fun at events; talk to everyone you can, you never know when or how it might pay off.
Work-In-Progress (WIP)
My current WIP is a short story called “Storm Chaser” that wants to be a novelette but needs to stay short because I’m targeting it for submission to ZNB’s upcoming Skull x Bones anthology (which pays full professional rates). No guarantee that I’ll be accepted, of course, but at the very worst I finish up with a completed, publishable story. So, there’s really no downside to submitting (and I have been accepted twice before for ZNB anthologies).
It’s a pirate story because that was the theme of Skull x Bones. More specifically, it’s an alternate world, fantasy, steampunk pirate story because, well, because I like to do mashups.
In a world where the Fey have rubbed shoulders with humanity for hundreds of years, the Elven Dominion has decided to end the human problem once and for all, sweeping across Europe with their magically engineered soldiers and their undefeatable airship fleets. But five years after conquering Napoleon’s once unified Europe, the skies still aren’t safe for the Fey. Pirates are plaguing their aerial shipping, and the worst of them all is the notorious Portuguese pirate, Isobel Moreno. Let the chase begin!
“Storm Chaser” is set in the same world as my novella, Pivot Point, which tells the story of the Aerial Battle to End All Battles, and how the Allied Fleets of Europe went down in a crushing defeat. Or did they? (Note that Pivot Point is expected to be published in mid-August).
Editor: (7/17/25) “Storm Chaser” ended up as a novelette, then I created a short story version by brutally trimming the story to the necessary length for the anthology submission.
Deadlines, Argh!
If you’re going to be a professional author, pretty soon you’ll find your life regulated by…deadlines. I have deadlines now stacked up through much of the rest of the year. It looks like this:
- Storm Chaser: (Short-Story/Novelette) Alternate world, fantasy steampunk pirate story set in the same world as Pivot Point.
Due: June 30, 2025, for a ZNB anthology. - Banner Yet Waves: (Novelette) Near Future (2080) SF story about undersea exploration.
Due: July 31, 2025, for an anthology. - Pivot Point: (Novella) Alternate world, fantasy steampunk story about a deadly war between the Elven Dominion and humanity.
Due: July 31, 2025. - Winter’s Spirits: (Novelette) Post-apocalyptic fantasy story about a girl who wants to be a shaman despite being denied the role she’s trained for. First in the War Shaman series.
Due: August 30, 2025. - Run Hard, Run Fast: (Novelette) Post-apocalyptic fantasy story about a young shaman on a ritual spiritwalk who find more trouble than she bargained on. Second in the War Shaman series.
Due: September 30, 2025. - Hunting Expedition: (Novella) Fantasy story about an inn that wanders the multiverse, featured guests stranded in a Cretaceous-like environment.
Due: October 30, 2025, for an anthology. - Death Comes to Town: (Novella) Expanded version of a fantasy horror story originally published in an anthology. Fourth in the Thousand Kingdoms series.
Due: November 20, 2025.
There you have it. Three anthology deadlines, plus four publication deadlines. And you all thought authors had LOTS of free time! Ha!
Downtime
Last year’s D&D campaign, a series of 4-hour game sessions every two or three weeks, has continued into 2025 and seems to be going strong. My character, Durgash, is a half-orc barbarian who’s now reached 9th level. Frankly, I think the D&D game mechanics are wonky, but we’re all having fun. We have eight players, with the son of one of our players as the Dungeon Master.The four-hour sessions have worked really well. They fit easily into everybody’s schedules, and also add a bit of a serial feel to the game, e.g. – “Tune in next week to see if our intrepid heroes survive their deadly encounter with…the Mind Flayer!”
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