Newsletter February 2024 - A Picture Tells 1000 Words

Welcome to the February 2024 newsletter!

In Case You Missed It

This month I posted:
A techno thriller short story.
A blog about why my short stories are darker than my normal writing.
A horror short story.

Writing progress

I've been hard at work on Under The Diamond Moon. This time, I want to do a more complex plot, so I'm following the Snowflake method. It's forcing me to really sort out each character's motivation and story arcs, so I can better intertwine them with the main plot. I'm also starting to figure out the themes I want to push with this story. The climate change crisis has been looming large in my thoughts for a while now, so this novel is one of the ways I'm processing it.

With a more complex plot, I'm concerned that I won't be able to pull it off if I'm also publishing serially. I'm considering my options on that front.

While I'm busy plotting Under the Diamond Moon, I also dug up the biotech thriller first draft that I wrote back in 2007. I'm thinking of dusting it off, revamping and updating it, and doing a new draft. One of my writing dreams is to publish something worth of comparison to Michael Crichton, and this story was my effort to write in his style. Edutainment for the win!

Phase 2 of My Writing Life - Children's Books

Last month, I talked about Phase 1, novels. I was a bit deflated by trying to write something more commercially viable, and I had a young child with another on the horizon. I also had a job that required lots of travel. My kids asked for me to make up stories every night, but after NaNoWriMo, that was easy. Eventually, I told a story about Nerni, a gnome who loved to invent things. Nerni Invents Clock was the first story my child ever asked me to repeat. After a few repeats they wanted new Nerni stories. Soon it was a new Nerni story every night. I typed up the most popular stories so my lovely wife could read them to the kids when I was out of town. Then for funsies, I made art for the first story, printed them, and made my first picture book. It was wildly popular, and friends asked for copies.

Hmmm, the gears started turning.

I eventually created a company, set up with the Amazon print-on-demand service, and sold or gave away copies of the book. I wrote & illustrated two more books: Nerni's Ingenious Inventions, and Nerni's Fantastic Friends. For about a year, I made enough money to cover my website costs (i.e. not much), but it was fun and validating. I even got interviewed a few times.

But the kids moved on to chapter books, and I wound down the Nerni era. I still have the t-shirt though!

I hope you have a wonderful month, see you next time,

Todd