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Content:
I'm a multi-layer author. That means I make every effort to give you stories you can read more than once and enjoy as much if not more on the subsequent read through. I'm also a deep plotter. I like subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) plots intricately interwoven on multiple threads. I also like to create characters that are as alive as possible. Even lesser characters should seem real. I'm going to twist old folklore and create new creatures wholesale. I'm going to take you on wondrous adventures in fantastic landscapes and expose you to different ways of living or thinking.
That's the plan, and I love it when a plan comes together! 🙂
Story:
Story is what's most important to me. I want to give you a great story. I already told you I want to give you characters as true to real life as I can. Unfortunately and often to my great discomfort, that means writing actions and situations that are just downright horrible. I don't have torture fantasies at all let alone a desire to live them vicariously on paper. Some situations are horrible. Some people are stupid. Some villains are cruel. Bad guys convinced they can do whatever they want without consequences aren't going to give their prisoners a spa day. Some societies are aggressively misogynistic. If I'm telling a story about a strong young woman setting things right and liberating her fellow women, she has to be living in a society that is trying to control/suppress her gender. That means misogynistic attitudes and could include treating women like property.
Let me make this EXTERMELY clear. Just because I write a situation/belief doesn't mean I'm championing that idea/belief/activity. It only means the character involved (and societies can be characters too) believes their actions to be right.
A lot of the time, I hate the situations that arise in the world/character building of such stories, but stories of overcoming such things allow me to shed a little light into minds that might not otherwise take the time to think through their particular brand of stupid. Also, let's be honest, I'd rather have you angry for trying to tell it like it is then for cheating you out of realistic stories.
I hate to say it, but if you don't like how I handle stories, then go find another author that tells them the way you like. There are plenty of fantastic storytellers out there, and I'm happy to recommend some. (See Scribbler's Favorites)
Technical Aspects:
When it comes right down to it, I put a lot of emphasis on accuracy. That doesn't mean I don't miss the mark on occasion, but I try to get my physics right, build my magic systems with internal/external logic and otherwise do the research needed to keep things as real as possible.
Errors:
Yeah, they happen. I run books through a lot of layers and a lot of eyes in an effort to get everything as letter perfect as possible. Even so, typos creep through. Words go missing or I use the wrong one and no one in the editing process notices. To my knowledge, I haven't let any continuity holes slip through yet. I apologize if I miss something. I'm constantly working to improve my best, but my best is all you're allowed to expect. If a mistake happens, it happens. If you're in my readers group or following me on social media, you've got an easy mechanism to send me a note. I'll correct the mistake if I can, If you're the first to point it out and I'm able, I'll even add you to the acknowledgements.
Release Schedule:
When I started publishing, my day job was at night which made things a whole lot easier and enormously less stressful. At that time, I released three new novels for those first two years (2016 & 2017). Since then I've been trying to increase that to four books a year. I'm not going to lie to you. With the way my day job is, getting four books out a year has been a major effort. I've been working my personal writing system, experimenting and otherwise trying to find a way to write faster, better and more cleanly to streamline the process. I'm not to the golden zone yet, but I think I've gotten things to the point where the four novels a year (roughly one every three months) is possible.
That's what I want you to expect. Once a quarter, I'm going to release something sizable. Now, there may be better years where I'll release more or faster - like the rapid release of the Blood Phoenix Chronicles, but you should consider those bonuses not the norm.
