“Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.” - Robert Orben

Aloha All,

It’s hard to believe it was almost three months ago that I submitted my novel Lost in the Fog to Inkshares!

Summer had just started, Elon Musk had yet to smoke marijuana on a live show, and nobody cared what the word “boof” meant.  I guess a lot can happen in 90 days. 

In early July I had just finished the developmental edit of Lost in the Fog, where I had worked tirelessly  whenever I could find free time with a very talented editor to significantly improve my manuscript.  I was ecstatic back then, as submitting the new version of the book to the publisher was a huge milestone!  But as I wrote in my last update, Inkshares is small publishing house and they only have the ability to work on 1-2 books per month.  I knew I had to wait my turn.   

I finally have great news to share …  Lost in the Fog is next in the queue to start the publication process!

While I still don’t have an exact timeline and I cannot yet give you a publication date, we’re another step closer.  I would say early 2019 is looking very good.  Once Inkshares begins to work on Lost in the Fog and I have more detailed information, you’ll be the first to know!

I’m also very happy to share with you that I have been writing the sequel to Lost in the Fog.  Here’s the pitch:

An investigative reporting team from San Francisco must discover why a religious cult in Honolulu wants to assassinate them.

I’ve lived in Hawaii for the last six years, and I am super excited to set the new Camden and Veronica Mystery in the place I’m honored to call home.  While we wait for Lost in the Fog to go through the publication process with Inkshares and get into your hands, finishing the sequel is now my top priority.  My ultimate goal is to create at least a trilogy with these characters, but hopefully a longer series featuring Camden and Veronica where each novel will take place in a different location.  I’m already thinking Paris for the third book …

 Mahalo again for your support!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

-Michael

https://www.inkshares.com/books/lost-in-the-fog

It’s October! I waited a couple days to send this update because THE REVISED DRAFT OF ROCK OF AGES IS IN!

I’ve been working incredibly hard for the last three months. Not only have I rewritten over 91,000 words almost from scratch but I’ve read several relevant books to work on my own style, taken the Margaret Atwood Masterclass on Writing, taken a course on the business of being an author, and taken lots of steps to build my platform leading up to the release of the book. I’ve begun blogging on a weekly basis and contributing regularly to the Writing Bloc website and have had several guest posts published as well. I’m committed to making Rock of Ages as successful as it can be!

There will be more rounds of changes to be made. The good news is that each round should get a little easier! This was the big one.

Thank you, as always, for following along on this journey and for all your support and encouragement!

If you’d prefer weekly updates that include links to blog posts and events, be sure to subscribe to my email list at http://eepurl.com/dBsQdP

And then, on a Tuesday like any other, this happened: "Your novel Release Date is November 13, 2018....!"

It’s finally happening thank you, so much, for your continued love and patience. I will be in touch with more details in coming weeks :) 

Hello readers!

"Today, I did a crazy thing,” I said to Joan. She’s a Dev Editor, and one of my cohorts in the Black Hats Writers Group. She got me mixed up in this Inkshares meshugas in the first place. God bless her for that.

Last year when the Inkshares Horror Contest was heating up, Michael Welch and I had a friendly rivalry going. Some even called it a bromance. (That might have been me.) Mostly, he was kicking my ass. He floated the idea of collaborating on a project. We even discussed plot ideas, characterization, and what-not in some detail.

“Hell no,” I said back then. "Maybe later when this contest is over."

When it was over, I needed to write, and so did he, and now I’m re-writing and yes, I have high hopes that book might drop in 2019. I’m talking about MINE, of course, which started out as Murder Happens. I’m still not settled on the title, but MINE works for me right now.

Today, Mike floats the idea of putting the collaboration together again because Inkshares has a new contest going. The first of this year. Might be the only one of this year. And, it’s a Mystery Contest.

“I can’t ask my supporters to fork over for another book when the one I promised isn’t done yet,” I said. 

There might have been more swearing involved. Or maybe that’s a conversation that occurred in my head. Still, the excitement of the contest worked its way into my evil little brain. Next thing I know, Mike’s putting us up as a team. He even gave me first billing in the author profile. It should be him. The concept is his. But, I’m going to grab a hunk for myself. That’s how I roll. The creative tension between us will be epic. Definitely worth the price of admission, right? 

Oh, wait. I need to give you a link so you can go follow the book. I’m not going to ask, beg, extort or otherwise pressure anyone to pre-order. (But, shit happens.) I’ll throw this link out there, and let you decide what to do. The URL has 666 in it. That’s righteous. 

https://www.inkshares.com/books/ruining-boise-060666

There’s some serious talent running away with this contest already, and I’m sure I’ll support those projects, but hey, just call me crazy.

Dear friends and followers,

It is with great pleasure that I announce to you that THE "CAT’S PAW" CAMPAIGN IS LIVE!

So do please go and tell ’em that yes, you really would pay to read this. Most of you have been through the funding campaign for "A Gentleman’s Murder", and all of you know how it works. Every pre-order represents a vote to see the book published.

More importantly, this will show that "A Gentleman’s Murder" was not just a flash in the pan: that this really could be my life ... tell me you love me.

But you must be wondering, what is "Cat’s Paw" about?

It’s the story of one Roger Linwood as he returns home for his adoptive father’s funeral, only to find that the old man’s death was murder, and that a clause in his will leaves the entirety of the Linwood estate, in the case of an unnatural death, to whichever one of the three Linwood children -- Roger, Alan, or Caroline -- first identifies his killer. But the case seems fairly clear: the only person with access to the scene was Lady Linwood, their adoptive mother, a woman so frail and emotionally devastated that her guilt seems quite unthinkable. Of course, nothing is quite what it seems ... not even the world of Roger Linwood’s idyllic childhood.

While the story is set in the same period as "A Gentleman’s Murder", and while it does involve a murder investigation, this isn’t a Peterkin sequel. It’s quite a bit darker, with an edge of Gothic horror. My plan had been, in fact, to work on the next Peterkin mystery, but this story cut in line and insisted on being told.

The muse will not be denied.