Author Notes Vol 1
Introduction
With so much writing planned over the next few years I thought I'd try to journal a lot of what I'm up to, hence the beginnings of my Authors Notes page. The intention of this ongoing blog is simple, to let everyone know what I'm working on, what obstacles I've come across during the writing, and how I'm feeling about the work and the genre. A peak behind the curtain. A look behind the scenes. You know, the good stuff.
It’s meant to be a little more personal than the Essays and Articles, and also a chance to elaborate more on Self Publishing as a whole, rather than tackling the occasional individual subject. I’ve never written any Author Notes in any of my books and probably never will, so this will be the place to read those little tidbits instead.
What Am I Currently Working On?
My main focus at the moment is getting my debut Science Fiction Novella ready: Unclaimed Outpost. I’m currently aiming for a February release and feel on track for that. Unclaimed Outpost wasn’t originally going to be my debut novel, but the book I was working on is much bigger (therefore takes more time to write and is more expensive to edit) so I briefly put that aside for something more manageable that I can get out into the world sooner. But, the moment Unclaimed Outpost is written, edited, and fully ready for release, I’ll be straight back on 2922 Days.
Unclaimed Outpost is a Novella set on an Outpost near the Asteroid Belt, following the story of its lone worker, Max, and the effects being alone in deep space in having on him.. I’ll go into more details on my next Author’s Notes as the novella will be in the editing stage by that point, and hopefully I'll have a full articulated spellchecked synopsis by then too… rather than butchering it’s premise thoughtlessly now.
I’ve been writing Unclaimed Outpost since around September, although had outlined much of it before then while I was busy working on 2922 Days. It’s a simpler story than the bigger book I've been putting together, but is hopefully a good representation of what my work will be like within the genre, although, I have also been putting some time into two more outrageous Space Operas. You should get to see both sides of my love of the genre over the next year. Some work that’s based in some loose sense of reality, and the more pulp Space Opera crazy stuff that I absolutely adore.
Short Stories
I’ve also been working on several short stories over the last few months with the intention of releasing the first batch as a collection on my Buy Me A Coffee Page. The idea is to try and put out at least one short story per month, to go alongside my serialised Space Opera Taten Chronicles (which will have a new entry every 2-3 months). The shorts will be available to read for free on the website, or to buy slightly earlier as part of an Ezine Short Story Collection that I'm planning on issuing every few months.
The Shorts have been great fun to write. A couple of them are purely standalone (Terraroid and Time Travel Paradox) but a few of the others (Edison Rift and Analog Apocalypse) are also things that over time can be expanded into bigger ideas. Maybe collections, novelettes, or anthologies. Have too many ideas at the moment, so it’s just about trying to organise them, and then prioritise which order to write the stories.
I’ve just started writing another new short on the side of my main work called Popsicle, but I’m having to do a little too much research for that one at the moment. So, I might have to put it on hold until I've finished the novella. We’ll see.
The Website
As some of you may have notice the website has also undergone a drastic transformation. This is in preparation of getting a lot more writing done. Having a place to share my Short Stories, my serialised space opera Taten Chronicles, my Author Notes, Essay’s and Articles, and the Review’s I've been writing on Sci-Fi books and films over the past year.
I want the website to be the central hub for everything I do, while I've set up a Buy Me A Coffee Page as a place to sell my digital Short Story Collections, and upcoming wacky Novelettes (I also take donations there ;) )
My main books will be available on Amazon when they’re ready, but I haven’t decided whether to enrol them in the KDP. If I don’t, they’ll also be digitally available to buy on my page. I like the idea of enrolling them on KDP, but hate that I can’t put them elsewhere if I do, so that’s a decision I'll need to make at some point.
My Buy Me A Coffee Page will also feature a Free Short Story you can get right away once it comes back from the editor.
What Does The Next Month Look Like?
My priority is finishing Unclaimed Outpost, but also getting this website fully operational. Then, it’s to continue the next book, and don’t look back. I want to get back into the habit of writing every single day, and publishing 3-4 books a year. Whether that’s possible at the moment I'm not sure, but it’s what I’m going to aim for. I’ve got a lot of books in me, and it’s about managing my energy with my health the way it is so that I can write them all.
I’m excited for the future, but also anxious to get started. And hopefully, over time, people will start to read and enjoy some of my work.
