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 had a fun time selling and signing books at the Blend Book Fair on August 9, 2025, which was held in the patio and grass areas adjacent to the Blend Coffee Bar in Ashburn, VA. It was also a great opportunity to “talk shop” with a bunch of my fellow writers.
While I’m not a coffee drinker, I discovered two things of note about the event’s sponsor, the Blend Coffee Bar. First, they have some very nice iced tea concoctions on the menu (I particularly liked their Happy Gilmore). Second, it was very nice inside, separated into distinct but welcoming “zones,” each with differing styles of furniture and decoration. I could totally see myself settling in with tea and a snack, and then writing for good while on my laptop.
I also got to try out my new vendor gear for the first time, including a 6-foot folding table and a EurMax 10×10 Commercial Canopy from Amazon.com. The picture shows me sharing my canopy and table with Megan Maxwell, a music teacher who was selling an edicational music book as well online lessons.
Work-In-Progress (WIP)
Well, I managed to finish Banner Yet Waves, my futuristic submarine Solar Punk – check out the link for a preview. For my new (old) WIP, I’m back to an update for Pivot Point, due to an unusual writing problem.
In Pivot Point, the story is about a war between the Fey, led by the elves, and humanity. It takes place in an alternate 19thcentury where the Empire of France unified Europe, magic works, and magically lofted airships ply the skies.
I’m one of those writers who likes to do unique structural things with some of my stories. Originally Pivot Point started after the climactic battle with the Fey has been lost. In alternating chapters, the story then proceeds both backward and forward until what actually happened in the battle has been revealed. However, my top complaint from my Beta readers was that they wanted to see the battle…
When I added the battle as the first chapter, it unbalanced the back-and-forth flow of the chapters. So, now I need to another chapter elsewhere to re-balance things. I am SO ready for this story to be done. I started it in 2018, and I’ve worked on it intermittently in the intervening years.
A New Deluxe Hardcover
My novelette, The Rooftop Game, is now available in a Deluxe Hardcover edition. This is what they call a Case-Laminate Hardcover, where the cover image is printed directly on the hardcover. This is a signed edition and is exclusively available on my Online Store, just as I did with my previous Deluxe Hardcover for Bitter Days, which is in the same series.
Superheroes!!!
All right, I’ve now seen both Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman. I enjoyed Fantastic Four, but felt like a whole bunch of character moments had probably been left on the cutting room floor to ensure a shorter running time. It was well done, it was very stylish, the effects were great, but…it just felt bland. By the numbers. That wasn’t just my opinion, but also that of my movie-going companions and some of the other moviegoers we ended up talking to after the two post-credit scenes.
Cue the next week, and we all went to see Superman. I think James Gunn made some bold choices that really worked for the movie. I liked the way Superman was de-powered a bit, so that he’s not totally invincible. That upped the danger for our hero; he’s super-tough, but he can still be beaten…under the right circumstances. I also really appreciated that this wasn’t yet another origin story. In the film, Superman is already known to the public. He’s also already got relationships with other superheroes.
I loved Krypto, the dog. I thought I wasn’t going to, but he totally worked in the film. He’s not just comic relief; he plays a major role in the film. I also thought Luthor worked really well. It’s nice to see a really great villain in a superhero film.
So, excellent characters, bouncing off each other quite nicely. Good plot twists, a dastardly, but smart, villain, and a movie that “feels like everybody had fun making it.” It’s a good foundation for a new DC universe, and way better than any of Marvel’s movies this year.
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