February! 

I’m still working on my second developmental rewrite. I’m on chapter 13 of 42 and this draft is much harder. As I’m learning more and more about what it takes to make a book exceptional, I’m working more slowly to try to incorporate what I learn. 

I woke up around 5am for about a week to try to get writing in before the kids woke up, but then my daughter started waking up at 5am. Lately I’ve just been squeezing in writing time wherever I can. 

Inkshares had me read a manuscript of another in-production book an an exercise. I wrote a letter about the idea, characters, theme, conflict, plot, prose, and setting, and soon they will send me the official editor’s letter about those same things. It should be really interesting to see what  I caught and what I missed and then apply that to my own book. It’s not a book I would usually pick at all, but I loved it. Writers, read outside your genre!

I usually ask y’all to send encouragement, but this month...send babysitting!

Thank you, as always, for following along and for all of your support!

Finished draft 3 of MINE about a month ago and submitted back to the Inkshare’s editing team. Haven’t heard back, but I reckon them folks is busy as (fill in the blank here). Haven’t been engaged in marketing, because it’s not an easy thing to do as noted by Leo, author of Bane of All Things. But, I did put up the revised chapter one of MINE titled Oh My Darling. It’s a quickie, 3 minutes on average, so take a gander and let me know your thoughts. Most appreciated. Might put up more. Might not. You never know. Life’s a mystery. Also, took some proactive steps to get the Dean Fearce author page spruced up on Goodreads. And heck, now that I’ve mentioned that site, might as well throw in Twitter and Facebook, too.

Oh, and I started writing another story, so there’s that. I told my editor it’s a horror story. She said the last time I set out to write a horror story, I delivered a love story. Same difference, right? (Insert cynical chuckling.) Peace out, MINErs!

Oh, one other thing. Michael Welch needs sex talk advice. I know, right? I’m as shocked you all, too!

Hey everyone! 

Just wanted to update everyone on our progress because, as of last night, we officially hit a milestone: 100 pre-orders! Thank you to everyone who has helped "Showtime" get to this point! As promised, Chapter 2 is now posted! Find out what happens next at: www.inkshares.com/books/showtime. 

Also, don’t forget to check out an exclusive article about what inspired "Showtime" in today’s issue of The Dundalk Eagle here (https://www.dundalkeagle.com/dundalk-novelist-launches-campaign-for-publication/article_718d9fa8-6b6a-5847-be66-6507769db4bb.html)! 

 Here’s to another 100! 

 Ricky

It has been a while, and so many great things have happened. Let me break them down. 

Since getting bumped from Quill an Inkshares property, and getting all the wonderful benefits that come with that, The Living God went through several rounds of developmental edits. It has been copyedited, "poured" into book format, proofread, and had a brand new cover designed by Tim Barber of @dissectdesigns! 

I don’t know about you, but I think it looks fantastic. I’ve gotten several compliments on it ranging from, "Its beautiful!" to "It looks like a NYT bestseller!" And while it may not be a NYT bestseller (yet, gotta keep the faith), it sure does make me feel like one!

The whole process has been a rollercoaster of emotions, mostly joyful. However, there is a change that I am sorry to inform you. The publisher has moved the release date to May. This is to better strategically place and market the book. While I’m bummed you won’t get it for a few more months, I understand their decision to do so. 

These things take a lot longer than I ever anticipated when I started this process and when you pre-ordered in 2016. I want to thank you all again for believing in me and in this project, but especially for your patience. May will be here before you know it, I promise.