Tis the season, again. Or still. Whatever. The day job is in that place where it’s almost all-consuming, and it’s been that way for quite a while now. Hence why I don’t want to bother with blogging by the time I get home, or much of anything else for that matter. I guess near non-stop overtime for over a year will do that to a person after a while.

It is, as one would expect, effecting my writing as well. I’m still writing, of course, but it’s much slower going now. Combine that with a publisher that seems to be doing a bit of foot-dragging, and no free time for myself to get out and self-advertise, and you get a bit of frustration all around.

Really it all comes down to exposure, and I don’t have nearly enough. Those who have read my work seem to earnestly enjoy it, and that’s a good thing. That doesn’t necessarily translate into large sales. Quality evidently means little in the wonderful world of novels. Ah well, it won’t keep me from doing what little I can do and generally continuing to make the effort, even if the publisher doesn’t necessarily want to. Grant that, in fact, they might be doing a whole lot of advertising. I don’t know. Which is the point…communication is lacking a bit at the moment, so I don’t actually know what if anything they are doing, only what they are not doing.

So, while waiting for my proofs for the next three novels that are several months after I was supposed to receive them, I will continue putting the word out about Elder Worlds and Continuum. As always, any ideas for new places to advertise/promote are always welcome. I’ll take all the help I can get. J

Okay, this will be brief since I'm cooking dinner at the moment. Book #10 is finally! complete! (Dad, I'll be sending it to you shortly). Yeah, it took a lot longer than planned, but with all the OT at work, lack of sleep, etc. etc. it's been hard to motivate much in terms of writing. Nonetheless, The Fringe is now complete, and will be casually brushed aside as I start in on book #11, Hand of the Stranger. Yay me!

In addition, as I've been an uber slacker of late, I'm going to try to toss out more regular updates, hopefully revive the mailing list/discussion list idea, among other things. I'll also be going through the Rev-Co.net site soon and polishing things, updating stuff, and so on. Questions, comments, hit me at theroguewriter@aol.com - more updates soon.

Yes yes, I've been extremely lax in the blogosphere of late.  Well deal. Here's an update.

I just got back from an interview on Whoopie FM (website above) - a great radio station down in Pittsfield. I wanted to thank Sherman Baldwin, the morning show host, for having me on and promoting my books The Elder Worlds and Continuum! All reports so far have been positive from the interview, and it was in fact the first in a series of interviews on local talent - coming up they're going to have the female lead from the new Indiana Jones movie on (a MA resident) so I'm in good company I guess.

As for the rest of the writing - it's still going. Book #10 has stalled a bit due to excessive overtime and/or lack of sleep, but I'm still plugging away at it, all the while promoting Books 1 and 2 and preparing for the upcoming proofs and likely fall release of The Crimson Staff, The Twilight Plain and The Argent Winter. I've also got a few things in the works that I'm keeping under wraps for now... updates when I have something a little more firm.

Well, the good news of the day, Mitt Romney drops out!

Ahem... WOOHOO!!!

That said...Romney spent most of his time as Governor of MA preparing his presidential run...he didn't do anything useful for this state, and I am soooooo thrilled that he will not be president in any way, shape, or form.

McCain, at least, gets some respect. I don't agree with everything on him, but he has shown a willingness to compromise with democrats, something our current tyrant...er...president can't claim.

Hillary and Obama...meh. Hillary did a lot for NY as Senator (we hear all about it on the local Albany news), so that gets her a few notches above Obama in my book (okay, neither of them made it into my books...it's a figure of speech).Obama...what has he done exactly? Being a good public speaker isn't enough to make you president.

So in the primaries I gave Hillary my vote, but McCain will get serious consideration when the real vote comes around...his choice forVP could make or break him in my thoughts.

What do you think?

In the event that anyone actually reads this...I'll speak in vagueries.

What do you do when you see beneath the facade and see the real face of someone? Do you walk away, knowing that said person has a darker side - lying - cheating - stealing? whatever their darker side might bring them to do? Or do you accept them for all their flaws, knowing that what they do might ultimately lead them to pain?

What do you do when you know things about people you ought not know?

You let them do as they will - friend or not, folk rarely like advice when you advise on things you should know be aware of. A good way to lose a friend, perhaps, or a warning to be more wary when trusting?

Lots of questions today, eh?

You should be in my mind all the time...it's cluttered up there. It is these questions and more that have kept me from blogging of late, and being overworked has put a damper on writing for the time being. That is the way of things, I suppose.

Let's kick it back to the 90's... X-Files.... Trust No One

Okay, mini political-rant time. Talk about a 'meh' kinda presidential race. Let's break down the candidates, if you can even call them such.

Republicans:

-Giuliani...where have you gone?

-Huckbee ....Huck-a-who? Who are you?

-McCain...omg, stop running already. you're worse than Ross Perot, with an equal chance of winning, but smaller ears. Seriously, it's getting old now.

-Mitt Romney...Mitt, Mitt, Mitt...I hope you aren't banking on Massachusetts' vote, cause you won't get it. You didn't do jack spit here, buddy, so why are you going to do anything more in the White House? I hope NH puts you in your place and you drop out of the race. I'd vote for Huck-a-who before you!

Democrats honestly, only a minor improvement here)

-Hillary...Yes, you did a lot of good as Senator for NY. We're close enough to NY to hear all about it on NPR. But you bought a house in NY ONLY so you could be a Senator there, and you became a Senator there ONLY so you could run for president. You know it, everyone else knows it, and frankly I think its a bit cheesey. Like that millionaire guy who moved to VT so he could run against Bernie...and lost. Bernie for President! Sure he's a socialist, but he'll tell it like it is....meh...not impressed with Hillary so far.

-Edwards...I like what he says, but I don't know if he can win. He's not popular like the othertwo dems, and I'd hate to nominate someonewho couldn't beat out the even more meh-republicans

-Obama...I'm all for ideology, and I'm all for change, and such, but dude...say something. Don't just talk. Tell us how you plan on making all these wonderful changes. I hate to make the comparison, but you're sounding to me a lot like Bush and his 'we have a plan for that' broken record phrase. Obama's a great public speaker, but I'd love to hear some specifics from him. Another minus is that Oprah likes him and acts like she'll be his VP. I'm sorry, but the United States of Oprah doesn't ring nice to me, and is a peg against Obama.

Bottom line...I still don't know who I'll vote for ultimately. But I'm not impressed.

How about Gore? Dude got an Oscar, a Nobel prize, and has shown that he has an agenda beyond politics. Can we get a write in campaign going???

Happy New Year!

Well, it’s that time again. The time for making promises we may or may not keep. Time to look forward to a new year of fun and all that. So what are my goals in the new year? Well since you asked, here they are in no particular order:

- Finish books 10, 11 and 12 (at least).

- Publish books 3, 4, and 5 (hopefully in the Spring…stay tuned for more details).

- Find an agent (anyone interested? Email me!)

- Increase revenue and market share of Rev-Co.

- Network, network, network

- Continue to spread the word about Elder Worlds and Continuum to anyone who will listen.

- Plan future events for said novels.

- Write a memoir….hey, everyone else is doing it. J

Yes…those are all writing-related goals. Here are, again in no particular order, and no less important than the above, some non-writing goals:

- Conserve more energy (smaller carbon footprint, etc.)

- Eat batter in general (yay for health! I’ve already completely ditched caffeine…next challenge is to lower my sugar intake…joy!)

I’m sure there’s plenty more I could improve on. I’ll leave the family/personal improvements to me, myself and I, but I’m sure this is all a good start. At least some of these I know I’ll succeed at (book 10, for example, is already almost half done). Others might be more difficult. Nonetheless, isn’t the point of resolutions to reflect on yourself and strive for improvement, even if the goals aren’t met? So go ahead, make one or break one. Either way, there’s a lot to look forward to in the new year, both from me and from Rev-Co as a whole. =P

Yes, it's still busy. Yes, the updates are coming along slow and pokey-like.

Saturday I had a book signing event at The Book Oasis. The event went very well and drew some good interest. Most importantly, I learned an awful lot on the day in terms of salesmanship, drawing in customers, and of course using my nine year old chatterbox to my benefit (oh, and he had a blast, and chatted up a storm).

Moving on, more events will be coming soon. Keep watching for further info there.

Funny, I was working on book 10, The Fringe (tenative title) and was rereading some of my massive pdf of all my work - for ease of reference for my own short term memory - and came across an interesting bit that I don't remember writing. I don't know what that says when one can read their own work and come across a surprise, but there you have it. I was amused at least.

Oh and thank god for pdfs. I love being able to search through the compilation of my writing for a certain character or phrase. It's a real life saver for me.

That's it for now!

Well, as should be obvious, it's that time of year where updates come a bit less frequency due to the general craziness of the holiday season (regardless of what/if any holidays you may celebrate).

Most notably, I'm gearing up for my first signing of Continuum at The Book Oasis in Stoneham, MA on December 8, from 1-3 p.m. Obviously all are welcome to come out if you're in the neighborhood. I'll be signing copies of The Elder Worlds, Continuum, and even The Crescent Isle - Ebook Edition, so don't miss it! The Book Oasis has been voted the "best bookstore in the greater Boston area" two years running now, so this is definitely a huge coup for me, and right in the heart of the holiday shopping season no less!

Really folks, what makes a better gift than signed copies of The Elder Worlds and Continuum? Both have received fantastic responses, and both have scored publicity in various newspapers as well of late. I'm up and coming, people, so get them while they're hot!

When will it end? Again, it will end when I run out of stories to tell, so never fear - I have plenty more in that vast empty space in my skull. I'm currently working on book #10, tentatively titled The Fringe - picking up the tale of Ryan Rose and his friends and beginning to blend his tale with that of several other key characters. As always, my goal is to write stand alone works that, when read as a whole, become one epicnormous story (that would be epic and enormous...as an English major I have a legal right to make up words).

Keep Reading! More Updates as I am able.

-SK