Another great review! I love that people are falling in love with this story. #writesky #booksky

Well, that was fun. I was walking out to the van to get the last bag of groceries when my bad knee gave out—for no reason—and caused me to misjudge the 2-inch step down. Ended up crashing onto the concrete patio. My poor wife heard me crash and looked around the corner to see a single foot...

Someone told me that my debut novel was the first book they’d enjoyed in years, and that they were going to start reading again because of it. Three books later, they’re one of my biggest cheerleaders, always eagerly awaiting news of a new book.

Library run by book dragon.

Survived my first Bookfest/convention as an author. I've been writing and publishing for 7 years, but had never tried anything like this before. Ended up selling 9 or 10 books total, I think, which is way more than I'd expected! My second one is only 6 days away. #booksky #writesky

#wipsnips "Dad, you're 6'6"!" my daughter retorted. "You don't know what it's like being this short!" I chuckled. "Honey, I feel little every time I stand next to BT." "He's a Sasquatch! He's over 10 feet tall! He makes EVERYONE look tiny! That doesn't count!"

#wipsnips My daughter visibly steeled herself, then walked as nonchalantly as she could into the kitchen. I opened my mouth to say something, but the shake of my girlfriend's head made me shut it. Okay. Fine. I won't say a thing...although I was very curious what was going on.

Actually, that's what happened with my latest novel. One of the side characters, who's part of the primary cast but not the lead, ended up with the biggest supporting part and kinda helped drive the story...

#wipsnips "Cute for a costume," my daughter said, folding her arms, "but not for a date." "Ada..." I sighed. "We're going bowling. I'm not dressing up for that." I held my phone up to face her. "And I came prepared." "Hey, girl!" Rowan said. "Let your dad off the hook, ok? I'm fine with it."

#wipsnips "Dad, you've got to talk to him!" my daughter said. "He's insisting on wearing lederhosen on his date with Rainbow!" "BT always wears lederhosen," I said. "You know that." "Yeah, but they're orange and green, and he's wearing a yellow shirt! And a cowboy hat!" "Sounds normal for him."

I'll be at the 2nd Annual Key West BookFest in a few weeks! Should be a lot of fun...and very terrifying for this introvert! LOL

#wipsnips "Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a teenager," Lady Aethlin said as she lifted the end of the couch with one hand. She raised it up to chest level effortlessly. "It's the same for us vampires as for you mortals, I'm afraid. We're as awkward as you are in those stages."

#wipsnips "My dad's new girlfriend is a detective who's a lethal shot with pretty much any kind of projectile weapon, does martial arts for fun, and is both fit and hot," Ada said. "I totally love her." "Geez. What does she do to loaf around? Wrestle sharks?" "Nope. Collects comic books."

#wipsnips "I know it probably sounds insane," I said, "but I don't care if we've only been dating a few months. I know I want to marry him." The dwarf grinned at me. "What's weird about that?" Barb asked. "Luke and I met on a blind date and got married a week later. Just hit 95 years last week!"

I'm a pantser. I've tried outlining, even just writing down basic plot points, but I end up staring at a blank page. My brain refuses to even consider coming up with anything. But once I start typing the story, everything flows. I may not know where it's going, I may not know how it's going to end.

#wipsnips Everybody knew who she was. She'd been the lead in the school's spring musical, and had won the drama award. She was smart and funny and sweet and pretty and.. "Why are you sweating?" Leo asked, breaking my train of thought. "I hope you're not sick; I don't like when my friends are sick."

#wipsnips "You're always welcome to come hang out with Leo," Lady Aethlin said. "She doesn't leave the house very often. Sunlight is bad for us vampires, you understand." "I've, uh, heard that. I just wasn't sure if it was true." She smiled kindly. "We are more than happy to answer questions."

Got an awesome review on my latest book! redheadedbooklover.com/the-elf-who-...

#wipsnips #writesky "Let's be honest," I said. "I'm the real prize for your future husband." Ada raised an eyebrow. "Dad...what?" she asked. "Any guy who marries you gets me as a father-in-law, right?" "That's how it works, yes." "There you go. He marries you and also gets me. I'm the prize!"

#wipsnips “Mom, Mr. Velossy is terrifying! They call him The Velociraptor for a reason!” Mom laughed. “He’s a very nice man, Pep.” “I doubt it,” I muttered. “Did you know there’s a sign on his classroom door that says ‘Welcome to the Dungeon’?”

#wipsnips "It's perfectly safe to have dinner with them," Dad said. "They're vampires." According to him, vampires were nothing like the fiction books we'd all read. Those stories were apparently a giant PR campaign by the vampires themselves to get humans to leave them alone. I get that.

#wipsnips "I've always hated dress hunting," Ada said, eyeing the racks next to her. "Especially for school dances. The restrictions make it nearly impossible to find a dress you like and look cute in. No skin, no metal spikes, no raven perched on your shoulder, ready to attack your enemies."

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 29 I'm 100% an introvert. Social interaction drives me crazy. (And I'm a teacher; go figure.) I will happily take a self-checkout line over having to talk to another human.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 28 Very early drafting stages. I wrote the first book in the series in only 13 days, then spent a month editing and polishing before I published it after six weeks. I started this one immediately after, but have only managed a few chapters after almost two months.

#wipsnips #writesky #fantasy She sniffed the paper. “Mmm. Standard twenty-pound paper. HP 12A laser toner. Very tasty. Much easier to digest than inkjet ink.” Rowan looked at me, her eyebrows up. “Book dragon,” I said, as if that explained everything.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 27 “I’ll let you get back to work,” Rowan said. She kissed me again. “See you tonight.” Sharian watched her go with that smirk still plastered on her face. “You got something to say, Sharian?” I asked. “Yes," the elf said. "I believe the human phrase is 'get a room'.”

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 26 I'm looking forward---and simultaneously dreading--attending my first book festival and comic convention as a vendor. I've been publishing for 7 years, but have never tried to put myself out there to sell my books. I'm an introvert who can't stand talking to strangers.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 25 Archie has a Ph.D. in mathematics and spent nearly two decades as a math professor before becoming a library associate. Safe to say math was his favorite subject. Rowan wasn't the best student until college, when she figured out what she liked, which was criminology.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 24 All the mythical fantasy races in the fantasy novels live amongst humans, and have for millennia. Some of them (like vampires) are alien refugees, while others are from Earth. Most humans didn't know about them until fairly recently.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 23 None, really. I'm pretty good with grammar. I try to write with everyday language, not the style you'd see in "classics", though, so I don't necessarily have to worry about grammar rules. The one rule I will always break is "1 space after a period". It is 2, not 1.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 22 Archie would definitely write some kind of "Math for dummies" book. Rowan, even though she's a detective, would be writing something dealing with comic books, as she's a huge comic nerd.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 21 My advice is to seek out your people. who will mesh with you and support you on your journey. I had a couple of amazing critique partners on my first 2 books, but covid happened and they kinda vanished, which is totally understandable. I managed to find some more, though.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 20 "Sure," you say to yourself when you happen up a sword stuck in a stone in the middle of a hiking trail. "I'll grab the sword and take a picture. What could go wrong?" As it turns out...a whole lot.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 19 Since it's free Friday, I'll just wish myself a Happy Birthday! One year away to the big 5-0! 🤯

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 18 I don't really have any power-hungry characters in this series. The "bad guys" aren't traditional bad guys. Their vendettas, for lack of a better word, are based in what you could call xenophobia or racism. (Not the best term for fantasy races, maybe.)

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 17 I need to read the two most recent Pendergast novels. (Excluding the newest, which is a prequel and therefore of zero interest to me.) I also plan to reread the Percy Jackson books, and give the Trials of Apollo series another shot. I found Apollo too annoying to read.

Hey, that's me! #writesky #booksky

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 16 Marketing advice? As In advice I have to give? I hope not, because I haven't really done much marketing in the 7 yrs I've been publishing. My wife is pushing me to start, though, so I'll be going to my first book festival in November and my first convention in January.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 15 Archie's not really the adventurous sort. He's much happier staying at home and not venturing much of anywhere. Rowan, however, would love to go to Comic-Con in San Diego. And I'm sure she would totally be cosplaying.

None at all. I've published 4 books and couldn't tell you the complete backstory of any character because it's not important. I just start writing and see how they shape themselves, then create whatever backstory I need as I write.

#wipsnips #writesky "If there was an award for the densest brain, you'd win it," Bode said. "I cannot understand how a man with a Pd.D. in Math--a guy who had higher grades in the program than I did--can't catch hints from a woman." I shrugged. "We both know math rules are easier to understand."

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 14 There are a LOT of favorites, but since I mostly read series, I'll list some of those instead. Narnia Dark is Rising Wheel of Time Tarzan Percy Jackson Pendergast Nora Kelly

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 13 “What the heck is WHIRL? Let’s start there.” “The Wildly Heavy Impact Racing League,” Barb said “Kinda like your human NASCAR, but with magitech-guided chariots. And weapons. And occasional dragon fire, for those of us crazy enough to equip our chariots with it.”

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 12 “When I mentioned how cool the breeze was, I was trying to flirt with you.” “Really? That was flirting? I shrugged. “Never would have gotten that.” She sighed and shook her head. “Let me make it easier for you, then.” She pressed against my chest. “Hold me!”

#wipsnips #writesky "These doorway sure are tall," he observed, looking up. "Yeah," Ada agreed. "That's so BT can walk through." He stared at Ada. "What?" he finally asked. She set the scroll down. "I mean, I'm, like, half his height. He's a Sasquatch, dude. Stands over 10 feet tall."

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 11 Sure. Right now, I'm working on the sequel to my just-released novel, "The Elf Who Knows A Guy". It'll be the second book in the Curiousium series, with an intended 3 more books to follow in the series.

I'll go with BT, one of the characters in my new series. BT is a Sasquatch, standing around 10 feet tall, and has what another character refers to as a "questionable" fashion sense. Namely...he loves to wear lederhosen because he thinks they're very chic. And they're always garishly colored, too.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 10 Archie's a laid-back kind of guy. With a doctorate in mathematics, and a switch to being a library associate, he would definitely rather have knowledge than power.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 9 Archie wouldn't have any. He's the only human working in a library full of Faekind, so he's surrounded by magic. While he appreciates what it can do, he really doesn't care about having it.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember 8 Well, Archie has a Ph.D. in Mathematics and spent nearly 20 years as a math professor before joining the Curiousium as a library associate six months before the series started...so yeah, he likes school.