Happy Saturday!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve sent an update, and I hope most of you are out enjoying the beautiful spring weather. 

I wanted to let everyone know that a final cover has been decided on, and is being finalized before I can release it for you all to see! Developmental editing is complete, and I’m halfway through my copyedits right now. If you visit Welcome to Deadland’s Inkshares page you can see the production schedule off to the righthand side that keeps you up to date with where we are in the process.

Although WtD isn’t 100% complete yet, while it’s been with the editors I’ve been able to get to work on the sequel. I have a rough outline, and roughly 10,000 words down. The story takes off like a bullet and I’m really excited with how it’s opening and where it’s going, and once you all finish Welcome to Deadland you can rest assured that the momentum won’t be slowing down.

Have a great weekend, thank you all for your support, and the next time you hear from me it’ll be with the finalized cover!

-Zac

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Hey all:

As part of the campaign to get Women Like Us to its publish goal, some of you might be aware there was a contest that involved one our dogs, Derric of the Beagle Freedom Project. Derric spent the first five years of his life caged up in a lab, and during this time, before Beagle Freedom Project secured his release, he was known by the numbers and letters tattooed in his ear -- BCT-8. Some others who have fostered and adopted these dogs have gotten tattoos of their own that somehow incorporate the beagle’s tattoo as a way of honoring the dog, and I’ve always loved that idea. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: I consider Derric to be so very brave and courageous. Seriously, how many of us could survive being caged up pretty much our entire lives and still emerge to become the happy, sweet little man we have today. Anyway, Victoria Weaver, also a BFP adopter, won the contest, which allowed her to chime in on the tattoo design and placement on my person. So here it is, folks!  

All hail The Beagle Freedom Tat! Thank you Derrek (!) at Broken Art Tattoos in Silver Lake. This, by the way, takes car of the last of the Women Like Us contest loose ends! News about publication date should be coming soon, so stay tuned!

First and foremost, congratulations to Christopher Leone for getting the nod from Nerdist. We are all looking forward to "Champions of the Third Planet." Well done, sir. 

Our wonderful Inkshares community of writers and readers has gotten me all excited about writing again. Too bad I have a day job that takes up a lot of my writing time! LOL. I’m sure a lot of you have the same problem. Work gets in the way!

But I still manage to write, in my head. I like to take a walk in the morning before work, and I walk over the lunch hour. During the walks, it’s easy to relax and get into that creative zone, I come up with ideas and then email them to myself from my phone so I don’t forget. I do the same thing in the shower (except I wait until after the shower to use my phone!) And even at work, at unexpected moments, something will pop into my head. I take a moment to email it.

On my work days, I simply don’t have time for prolonged writing sessions. But I do have time for a little research here and there. I am also getting better at stream-of-consciousness writing. The last two chapters I wrote started that way. In less than an hour, I wrote a series of one word or one phrase paragraphs, key words and clues for me, and later came back to it to develop the ideas when I had the time.

Finding only brief writing moments can be frustrating, but I have to remember that this is part of the fun. I look forward to those moments. I try to make those moments happen. If I was a full-time writer, I wouldn’t feel that way. I would feel the pressure of writing as a job. So all in all, I guess I’m okay with it.

Right now, for my book Mission 51, I’m working on the chapter immediately following my protagonist Mat’s crash-landing on his destination planet. It is the most research-intensive chapter in the book. I’m chipping away at the details, so when I do have time to sit and write, it will hopefully just flow. Considering my work schedule, I figure I will be finished with the chapter in 2 weeks. My problem is, I don’t want to wait that long to upload stuff while the project is in funding. I really need pre-orders, and I think the uploads generate interest. So I think I better upload excerpts, and later update them to the full chapters.

I’m learning, too, from other authors, several great promotional ideas. I’m so grateful that this community of writers helps and supports each other.

So that’s it for now. Just checking in with what’s on my mind.

Peace to all!  :-)