Variety

I'm not sure how many writers do it, whether they work one piece beginning to end, or if they have a variety of pots simmering in the fire.

I was the one piece sort of guy.  Now I appear to be the opposite.

I have the Dark Seas series, two books of which are complete and one book is about 1/3 done.

I have a political thriller that makes a statement about how the US is becoming much less free and stifles innovation with each step away from that freedom.

I have a short story in the works that is 3.5K words now but probably about 10K words finished. A fantasy piece.

I have an idea for a post-apocalyptic sci-fi that I'm considering writing on a bit today.

Earlier I had an idea about time travel that it probably wouldn't be too hard to work into a story.  Time travel/parallel universes/state of consciousness sort of thing is what first came to mind.

The thriller and post-apoc would be one off novels.  The short story could conceivably turn into a series of short stories about the same heroes.I have no idea what the time travel thing is yet. What's true is that there is no shortage of ideas demanding my attention, but there is both a shortage of time and endurance to get to them. 

Plus soon I want to write a piece about my GTI.  And I'm considering a non-fiction piece on agnosticism for the average dude.

So much variety.  Too bad words don't flow to paper as easily as they flow through neurons.

Not everything is a book.

Hard to believe that an author doesn't put all their time into the books, right?

'Tis sad, but true.

My wife is creating a company to make card games, and I've designed a card game for her to release. It's called All or Nothing and will be going up on Kickstarter "soon™", I believe.

Publishing a card game isn't all that different than getting a book published.

You have to write the game. Design the cards (like cover design in a way) and then find someone to print it.  Unlike a book, there aren't businesses lined up to print your cards, distribute it, and sell it on Amazon for you at a reasonable price. I'm pretty sure the companies that do print cards make a lot higher profit margin than those that print books. I do realize that there is difference in paper quality, which is probably a big deal, but a deck of cards is more to print than a 400 page book. 

But if you look on retail stands, a custom card game is pretty close to the same price as a trade paperback book.  Which means, per copy sold, my books will be more profitable than a card game.

But not everything is about money. 

Sometimes it's about checking that box.  I wrote a book.  I created a game.  I did X, Y, or Z in my life.  That's partially what this is about.  Diversity of experience, and yet another thing my kids can look back on when they're reflecting on my life someday.  I want them to say, "Dad lived.", not "Dad just sat around."

Not to mention they get the legacy.  If any of this stuff goes big, they get to inherit that.

In the end, it's our deeds, our creations, and our impact on the lives of others that survive us. 

I can think of worse fates than being remembered for games and books.

Next book

I've been working hard and fast on my next book in the Dark Seas Series, On the Shores of a Dark Sea.

Tonight I was editing and got to the point I don't think I was catching much.  Time to shift gears when that happens, so I got to work on the cover for that book.

Here it is, in preliminary form.  Changes happen, but I sort of like this one.  It grows on me as I look at it.

All of the art is original, of course, except the galaxy image that I lifted from my friend the Hubble Telescope.  The ocean was originally a photograph as well, but I edited it so heavily it doesn't look very much like the original photo. 

This book has a gas giant, although it would probably be a lot darker than the one pictured. It would be the color of coal most of the time. There is a scene by the ocean, in fact it's a fairly pivotal part of the book. The sky is green, the star in this star system is a K4 orange dwarf and the atmosphere of Refuge is different than Earths. Since the star is one step down on the spectrum from our G2 class yellow dwarf, I stepped the sky down on spot as well.  From blue sky to green sky.  Just a whim thing, I don't have any idea if that would actually happen.

Tomorrow I'm back to editing text.  If nobody has any objections to this cover on here or Facebook, I'll probably be published in the next few weeks.

Proofs

Got proofs for the print copy in today.  Now to get them looked over and upload corrected text.  I found a couple of typos, and will give the books to friends to find others.

Ebook sales are running along better than I expected, to be honest, which is a great surprise.  The print version will be available on Amazon only, which is both to keep the price down ($9.99) and also because I'm well aware that Amazon is the 800 pound gorilla in this market.

So I'll get reading and get the book in place for those who don't want a Kindle copy.  Which is $2.99 or Free to Kindle Unlimited users, btw.

Here's what the print version looks like.  I did my own cover, but am immensely pleased with it.

Yep.  I'm pretty hyped.

Release

The Anvil of Dust and Stars released today, at 12:01am EST, a mere three hours ago. 

This is a very exciting time for me personally, and a milestone in my life. 

If you like military sci-fi and/or space opera, give it a shot and let me know what you think.

http://www.amazon.com/Anvil-Dust-Fire-Dark-Seas-ebook/dp/B00RY202VO/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1

If you like it, please leave a good review. It's the measure of success that will motivate more output and a continuation of Sarah Dayson's story.