A Day in... Pt. 1

A (Very Exciting) Day in the Life of a Full-time Indie Author

Once upon a time, long, long ago in the ye olde days of the internet, I used to follow this fun group of strangers who would post 'a day in their life' via photographs. It was a really neat way to experience other places, cultures, and professions, and last week, it resurfaced in my mind and I thought: this could be a neat thing to do again!

I mean, let me preface, this life is not glamorous. I did nothing interesting. I didn't even hang out with my girlfriend. It was a very typical day. But hey, maybe someone will find it interesting, and maybe I'll do it again when there's something cooler on my calendar.

wake up

feed the kitties, skincare routine, make coffee...

activate the machine!

cereal while checking business accounts

and then work begins on Memento Mori 2

some light [research] reading...

a second cup of coffee and a second breakfast, because I'm a hobbit

walk around the apartment trying to work out plot kinks

post in my reader group on Facebook

about 5 1/2 hours of writing and research wrapped

a lunch of plant based hotdogs and fruit

watch a true crime doc on my break

kitties wake up for lunch

I can't jog in this heatwave, so an indoor workout will have to suffice

don't forget to hydrate!

also, vitamins

time for a shower

and we're dressed and ready for errands

check the P.O. Box

needed to get my glasses adjusted

walked by this cool doorway

picked up Sichuan for dinner!

arguably the most important decision of the day

spicy, cold sesame noodles is perfect when it's 900 degrees outside

check-in with the boys

a glass of whiskey...

...and bad TV while I catch up on some administration

yikes, two hours later!

give Milo a brush and top off my glass

doing a re-read on a favorite series before the release of Book 3

evening skincare routine and it's off to bed!

2022: Quarter 3

Welcome to the late start of Quarter 3 of 2022!

Suffice it to say, this year has not been going according to plan for me! Between Covid at the start of the year and burnout in the middle of the year, I've had to admit that my grandiose 2022 plans are simply not going to be fulfilled, and I need to take it easy on myself so that what I do produce is the high quality content I'm known for. That being said, here's a rough idea of what I foresee happening over the next few months.

July

Writing:
Subway Slayings (Memento Mori: Book Two)

Audio Release:
The Doctor (Magic & Steam: Book Three) - Audible does not supply a date. This is an estimate.

August

Writing:
Subway Slayings (Memento Mori: Book Two)

Writing:
Curio

Edit:
Subway Slayings (Memento Mori: Book Two)

September

Edit:
Subway Slayings (Memento Mori: Book Two)

Edit:
Curio

Release:
Subway Slayings (Memento Mori: Book Two) - 09/29/22

Reads: June, 2022

July has been a rough month, and I'm really behind schedule on pretty much everything, so I'm just now getting to sharing my reads!

Beyond the Mourning Veil: Postmortem & Mourning Photography by Thanatos Archive

Subway Lives: 24 Hours in the Life of the New York City Subway by Jim Dwyer

Off Duty: Volume 3 (Hazard & Somerset: Arrows in the Hand) by Gregory Ashe.

As always, I post my reviews at Goodreads and mirror them to BookBub (when they're listed) and welcome new followers!

Sale: Madison Square Murders

Madison Square Murders has been chosen as a July Kindle Monthly Deal, exclusively at Amazon UK! Until July 31st, pick up Book 1 in the Memento Mori series for only 99p and solve a twenty-year-old murder with neurodivergent Cold Case detective, Everett Larkin, and his forensic artist partner, Ira Doyle.

Madison recently won 1st place in mystery with both the Next Generation Indie and e-Lit Book Awards, and there's more twists, turns, sarcasm, banter, slow burn romance, and Larkin-knowledge-dumps (you have to be there to understand!) than you can shake a stick at.

Blurb: Everett Larkin works for the Cold Case Squad: an elite—if understaffed and overworked—group of detectives who solve the forgotten deaths of New York City. Larkin is different from others, but his deduction skills are unmatched and his memory for minute details is unparalleled.

So when a spring thunderstorm uproots a tree in Madison Square Park, unearthing a crate with human remains inside, the best Cold Case detective is assigned the job. And when a death mask, like those prominent during the Victorian era, is found with the body, Larkin requests assistance from the Forensic Artists Unit and receives it in the form of Detective Ira Doyle, his polar opposite in every way.

Factual reasoning and facial reconstruction puts Larkin and Doyle on a trail of old homicide cases and a murderer obsessed with casting his victims’ likeness in death. Include some unapologetic flirting from Doyle, and this case just may end up killing Everett Larkin.

Sale: Magic & Steam series

In celebration of International Steampunk Day this Tuesday, I've put the Magic & Steam series on sale all week! If you've been hesitant about steampunk as a genre, now is a great opportunity to give it a try and race the streets of Gilded Age New York City with magic-wielding federal agent, Gillian Hamilton and his gentleman thief and infamous outlaw lover, Gunner the Deadly. Take a ride on airships, battle crazed engineers and power-hungry gangsters, sneak into the gay clubs along the Bowery, and try to survive as a mysterious villain threatens the magic encompassing Gillian's world!

Book 1, The Engineer, is only 99c, and Book 2, The Gangster, is on sale for $1.99. Be sure to grab the newest release too: Book 3, The Doctor.

Reads: May, 2022

I'm a bit behind on posting my May reads (story of my life!) and I haven't written reviews for everything, so I'll just share the two I did. I continued my pleasure reading of Adrien English, and got my greedy hands on the finale of Hazard & Somerset, too!

Death of a Pirate King (An Adrien English Mystery 4) by Josh Lanyon

Final Orders (Hazard and Somerset: Arrows in the Hand 5) by Gregory Ashe

As always, my reviews are posted on Goodreads and mirrored on BookBub. I appreciate new followers!

Publishing Anniversary

Every June I have plenty of reasons to drink whiskey and eat cupcakes guilt-free, and that includes: it's my birthday (35 this year!), the celebration of marriage equality, Pride, and my publishing anniversary! 2022 marks 7 long, weird, wild, and glorious years of pursuing my lifelong dream of being a professionally published author—and it marks 2 years of doing this as a full-time job! It all began with a (currently unavailable, but will eventually be re-published, I promise) short story called, Love Has No Expiration.

2015 - 2022 with Emporium Press

5 short stories (+1 in production: Curio)
5 novellas
10 novels (+1 in production: Subway Slayings)
2 co-written novels
1 anthology
15 audiobooks (+1 in production: The Doctor)
9 French translations (+4 more in production)
2 German translations (+3 more in production)

Not too shabby for someone who takes an average of three to four months to write a book while juggling all the other moving parts of being a small business owner!

I've been able to include Garrett Kiesel, Declan Winters, and Kale Williams in my narrator stable, alongside the talents of Greg Tremblay and Wyatt Baker. My beloved steampunk series has found a dedicated readership—these were books I was told had no audience by agents and house alike. I even won two awards this year for Madison Square Murders (Indie and e-Lit) and The Gangster (e-Lit)!

I'll be co-hosting a reader meet-up in New York City this July and attending GRL in October as a Spotlight Author. I've also got a few trips planned for 2023, which I hope to be given the go ahead to talk about soon! All in all, my seventh year is looking great, and I couldn't have done it without the support of my fellow artists, production team, and readers like you. Thank you for supporting indie authors and quality LGBTQ fiction.

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