Sunday, March 6, 2016

The state of the State of the Writer

March 6, 2016

So far this year is not off to a stellar beginning. On January 2, 2016, Amber Quill Press announced it was ceasing operations. On January 20, my mother had back surgery and subsequently landed in a rehab unit and is still there. And let us not forget thirty inches of snow fell from the sky on top of my little corner of the world. 

Soooooo.......

With Amber Quill Press closing, I've been busy behind the scenes to get my back list ready to re-release. I dabbled with an indie release, Hey, Joe, but I had no plans to pull my books from the publisher and go all the way indie. The plan was to continue with AQP and publish a few indie books along the way. It takes a lot of time to get a book ready to release and that's time away from writing new stories. The world turned so I've reconsidered that position.

I knew I was "top heavy" at Amber Quill. It's my own fault I now have over forty books to prepare. The good news is, it's going very well. The bad news is I've noticed how much changed from 2008 to 2015. Perhaps those authors who went indie five years ago saw the fractures sooner. 


Photoshop is not the easiest software to learn. Thank heavens for the tutorials on YouTube. Having someone point and click to SHOW me where the command button is located really helps. Once the pieces of knowledge began to make sense, making covers became an enjoyable creative endeavor. 



The 2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge begins on April 1. I've decided to participate again this year but it may be the last time. Some things simply run their course with people. 

But there are a few bright spots on my horizon. Fly By Night, the fifth installment in the Sundown saga, is set to release April 1, 2016. It's already up for pre-order at a few places and I'll have that process completed by the twenty-fifth of this month. Another new story, SABRE, is about finished. I need to get my fingers in gear and write the ending. I anticipate getting the actual writing of new material back on track as soon as the back list is ready to go. 

Deuce will be coming home on March 10! I've got puppy *stuff* all over the house in preparation for his arrival. The only question mark is the puppy day bed in my office. The cat likes it and that's all there is to that tune. What the cat wants, the cat gets. I'm moving that item to the sunroom and getting Deuce something the cat might find less appealing. 

Time was, everyone in my family was a bowler. I'm now the last holdout. I can still roll the ball pretty good, some nights. Had a great series - 226-199-234 = 659. I was pleased with that. 

And that's the state of the State of the Writer. 


Life through the eyes of Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com

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