April Already?

Well, hello there, Fire Enthusiasts. How are you?

What's with this rumor that it's already April? How did this happen? Where has the time gone. I'm a Christmas guy, and I'm fairly certain I just put the decorations away weeks ago. *sigh*

Perhaps not, but it has flown past.

Well, what can I tell you? I'm still treading water over here. Regular visitors will understand what I mean. Don't get me started talking about the day job. Nothing has changed, and it's a tired story. Let's talk about other things, shall we?

If you were here last month you know I just had a birthday. I'm 45 now. My thanks to the 200 friends and family that blew up my Facebook page and/or other social networks with birthday wishes. It's my favorite thing. Had I not received a single gift, I still would have felt special. For that, I am very grateful.

By this time next month I should have Dance on Fire and its sequel Flash Point available in paperback. As you can see from the photo I am at the proof stage. I had a ton of work to do with formatting for "Dance", but I think I finally have it where I want it. With Seeing Ghosts I spent the money to have CreateSpace/Amazon do the heavy lifting. With these two I'm doing it all myself. It isn't that I don't have the money. I'm just hoping to start reversing this trend of me spending wads of cash for very little ROI.

So, what am I planning next? Once I get these paperbacks completed, I will have all three of my published novels available in both formats: E-books and paperbacks. I will have them stocked in the store that carries my work. We have two large store events on the calendar this spring, and I have already reached out to some people to hold my own events. With all three of my novels having their setting in the California Central Valley, and more specifically my hometown area, I really want to attack this area with everything I've got. That's my focus this year.

I will also be working on my next novel. Overall it is book four, but book three in my crossover vampire series. It was nice to get away from those characters while I wrote Seeing Ghosts. I had lived with those characters for two decades. However, once I had been away, I basically ran back because I was so excited to get to their next chapter. I was so excited, in fact, that I wrote 143 thousand words in four months. I will begin working on the second draft very soon. I don't plan to rush this project. If it doesn't see the light of day until 2015, that's okay. I want this to be big. I'm not interested in simply giving the characters another "mission." Book three needs to be bigger and better.

Alright, my friends. I hope all is well with you and yours. I am trying to get out every once in a while to have some fun. This weekend my wife and I will be attending a performance of Wicked just up the road in Fresno. I've heard nothing but good things so I'm looking forward to the show. There's a Disneyland trip coming soon. It's a brief one. My youngest will be there due to a school trip, so we're planning to follow along. In June we'll be in San Francisco to attend the Jamie Cullum concert at the legendary Fillmore. Can't wait for that!

What are you guys up to? Is it all work and Indie stuff? Are you at least taking time for yourselves? I hope so.

Take care, you guys. We'll talk soon.