Another Year Begins…
…and I don’t know that I’ve ever been so pressed for time.
Update Schedule Is Up…Sort Of
We have an initial draft of our content update schedule posted here. We’re still compiling it so please bear with us.
There are several things we’re dealing with this year that we haven’t had to deal with before. In June 2012, Trinity Gateways became an LLC which was great, wonderful, fantastic. Yet it means more work: taxes and annual reports to be filed with the state to name the top two. Some of this couldn’t be started until Janauary of this year, which means that we — especially me — have been really busy. So busy, in fact, that I’m behind on my writing goals and that’s reflected in my portion of the posted schedule.
So apologies to those of you who are awaiting more Descent Into Darkness. I’m working to get to it as soon as I can.
Newsletter Submissions
We are still accepting submissions for the next newsletter. We’re looking short or flash fiction, poetry, or articles relating to writing, reading, publishing, or story-telling in some way. Please see our Submissions Page for more information.
Only A Writer
I was recently promoted at the dayjob. Yay! It means more duties. Boo. Lol, that said, I took it because I was already doing most of the work and wanted the raise that came with the new title. The raise comes just in time to pay for car repairs; one of the drive belt tension wheels has deteriorated to the point that the belt has come off. Having this happen while driving to work downtown is not fun in the least. I’m going to give those moments of sickening panic to some poor character later down the road. Another character will get my disappointment and resignation of not being able to enjoy that new raise.
Only a writer would torment fictional people this way.
Happy Holidays!
So I’m a little late for Christmas and a bit early for New Year’s. Still, I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a festive New Year. Enjoy your friends, family, and parties if your having or going to them. Myself, I’m hosting a LAN party for New Year’s — and I’m looking forward to the playing Halo. 
Whatever you’re planning, I hope you have fun and stay safe.
Just a quick reminder: for those of you waiting for story updates, they will resume in February, 2013. The update schedule will be posted sometime mid-January. Check back for details in the next few weeks.
Until then!
Ages Have Passed…
And many, many apologies given for the lack of posts. I did not intend to take a leave of absence this long.
They Say That Life Can Throw You A Curve Ball…
It threw me about four. The first curve ball can be called Family, and it was made up of a wedding, out-of-state visits, increased demands on my time, a disruption of electric service (don’t ask), a couple of non-functional vehicles, and a few other things that escape me at the moment. Now don’t get me wrong; I love my family. i appreciate them in every way. Still, all of that had a greater, and more prolonged, impact on my schedule than anticipated.
The second curve ball was the horror anthology I worked on for Trinity Gateways LLC. It was an enjoyable, educational experience. It is, unfortunately, an experience that’s still ongoing. We’re working with a different print and distribution service and it’s the little things that proven to be the trickiest obstacle to work around. That will hopefully come to an end very soon, though.
The third curve ball was Descent Into Darkness: His Command. The novella took much longer to conclude because of curve balls 1 and 2 — and because the bloody thing kept changing the scene sequences on me. I have never had a story that’s bucked the outlines the way this one has. It was very like a rodeo bronco, trying to throw me off at every turn. Now that it’s finished, I’m trying to get His Revenge, the next in the line-up, off the ground. It’s making me build a launch pad first, though, so it’s been a slow starter.
The fourth curve ball was software education. I upgraded some of the software I use, and switched over to a new software suite that will help with e-book conversions. I’m constantly learning new things — techniques, features, ways around limitati0ns — and it’s slowed me down me some.
These are not excuses for neglecting to post. They are reasons, but even reasons can’t don’t make my absence “okay”. So, once again, many apologies to those of you who have come back looking for updates and found none.
The cover of Descent Into Darkness: His Command by Doris Ross, the fourth installment of the six part Descent Into Darkness novella series.
Goal Accomplished
Descent Into Darkness: His Command was published on 11/3/12. It is available for all e-book readers via Smashwords and Kindle, and is currently being distributed to other e-book channels, such as Barnes & Nobles and the iBookstore.
Descent Into Darkness: His Command Teaser
The Mancers are falling, hunted and slain by the blood mage they call the Monster of Menie: Ba’tvian Delthanurk. With the aid of his companions, the elven lady Nerisse se li Astorae and the barbarian Ibestor, he has begun a quiet war, leaving nothing but death in his wake. As he blazes a bloody trail across the breadth of Orthanor, he will make new allies, meet his enemies head-on, and carve his name deep into the history of Einlienn.
Yet the decision to fight comes with heavy consequences. The Mancers will not die easily under his blade, nor will they stand by to watch their brethren perish. With a single message, they have set in motion events that will force the Monster’s most devoted follower, a once-intended priestess, to make a terrible choice in order to survive – and when Ba’tvian gives his command, that choice will be no choice at all…
Check out the Descent Into Darkness: His Command page for sample chapters.
A Reminder
November, December, and January comprise what is considered the “off season” for the authors of Trinity Gateways LLC, myself included. There may be sporadic updates/posts during this time but nothing scheduled. I’ll still be plugging away, though, so look forward to fresh material in February 2013.
Welcome, July
Jacksonville, FL, has been hot. First Tropical Storm Debbie tries to drown us, now it feels like summer is trying to bake us. We’ll reach a happy medium several months from now but will have to hang in there until then. Fall cannot get here fast enough.
What’s Been Happening
We’ve just wrapped the Trinity Gateways Newsletter, so I can now spend more time on other projects. Currently, I have a cover to design for Tricia Sparks as the artwork’s come in, and LJ Gastineau has sent me a few stories that I need to review for the anthology we’re putting together. Then, of course, is my own series work. I’ve had to scale back on my writing in order to get the newsletter out before the end of June but am pleased to say that I’m back on track as of this week. Descent Into Darkness: His Command has now broken 36,000 words and 110 pages in MS Word, making it the longest installment of the series thus far. It feels like it has about another 10,000 words left in it, maybe a little less than that. It’s due out in October but I hope to have to it finished by the beginning of August in order to get it edited by Tricia Sparks while I work with LJ Gastineau on finalizing the horror anthology, Shadows of the Mind.
It means that the busy trend of the last few months won’t be slowing down any time soon.
While all of this is going on we’re prepping for Ancient City Con, July 20-22, 2012. I’ve received my shipment of Descent Into Darkness, Volume 1: He Begins to sell at the Trinity Gateways table. Most of the promotional materials have come in at this point, and we’ve gotten almost all of the display components for the table setup. We’re excited about the con, seeing old friends, making new ones, and are looking forward to a good time.
Now For The Update
The rough Chapters 13 & 14 of Descent Into Darkness: His Command are now up for those of you who are interested. Happy reading and enjoy!
Just A Quick Post
There’s a lot on my plate today and I’ve gotten a very slow start. The caffiene’s finally kicked in, so I can now draft a post that actually makes sense.
My Current Projects
Most of you may know that I’m a member of Trinity Gateways, and that we’ve opened submissions for the horror anthology, Shadows of the Mind. As an editor for the project, I’ve been working with Acquisitions Editor, LJ Gastineau, in order to review submissions and give constructive feedback where applicable. As writers ourselves, we know the value of a good critique. Doing that takes extra time, but we believe in doing what we can to promote a writer’s growth. It’s our hope that the authors are able to use our feedback to strengthen their writing. Right now, our submission deadline is August 1, and we go to print on August 31. An announcement will be made when the book is available for sale.
In addition to the horror anthology, we’re also looking at our next anthology project. Once we have the details ironed out, we’ll post it on the Trinity Gateways Submissions Page.
Another Trinity Gateways project is the second newsletter for this year; I’m the layout editor there, as well as a contributor. It’s due for release on the site later this month and will be available as a free PDF download.
I’ve been writing the fourth installment of Descent Into Darkness. My publication deadline is in October; I’ll post an actual date for that in the next month or so.
The printed omnibus entitled Descent Into Darkness Volume 1: He Begins is currently out on Amazon; I just approved the final proof. The edition includes the first three installments of the series: His Own, Her Lord, and His Beast. I’m working on getting distribution for it elsewhere and will make an announcement once that’s done.
As for graphics work, I’ve got the map to update — again — and cover art to assemble for Descent Into Darkness: His Command. I’m trying to get a head start on it.
Oh, and while I’m think about it…
A Reminder
Trinity Gateways is still taking submissions for the Shadows of the Mind horror anthology. We’ve gotten some excellent entries so far. There are still slots open so anyone who is interested has until August 1, 2012, to get their stories in. Please visit the Trinity Gateways Submissions Page for requirements and guidelines.
Content Update
The rough draft Chapters 9 & 10 of Descent Into Darkness: His Command have been posted.
Until next time, folks!
Love Staying Busy
I can honestly say that I haven’t been this busy in a very long time. Let’s forget about the 40-hours-a-week day job and the overtime that’s been required of me over the last 4-6 weeks. Let’s just look at everything else — which is more than enough. Writing a set number of chapters every week for Descent Into Darkness: His Command, editing through/reworking the map for/creating the cover for Descent Into Darkness: His Beast, editing through/formatting/creating the cover for/researching printing options for the printed omnibus of Descent Into Darkness Volume 1: He Begins, reviewing submission entries with LJ Gastineau for the Trinity Gateways horror anthology Shadows of the Mind, working on/acquiring ads for the Trinity Gateways newsletter which comes out in late June 2012, dealing with the business setup for Trinity Gateways, and personal things such as helping out my future sister-in-law’s wedding preparations.
On one hand, I am very tired. It’s a lot of work, a ton of time involved, which means that I don’t typcially get very much sleep. I’m craving some quality shut eye time, closely followed by some quality Xbox time. I don’t know if many other writers, traditionally published or self published, go through the same thing. I do know that video game developers have a similar experience in the course of their work — crunch time, they call it. I’ve borrowed the term for my own pre-release process, which took up the majority of my time in the last month or so.
Yet, on the other hand, I am extremely happy. While I’m not crazy about working what amounts to 2.5 full-time jobs, I absolutely adore the 1.5 jobs I have to juggle in around the day job. Writing’s in my blood, the business of writing, of publishing is a constant fascination — even my crunch time periods. I love doing what I do. One day, I’d love to make that all I do, but I’m realistic enough to know that will take a great deal of time and work to accomplish. Still, that’s the dream and I’ll do whatever it takes to get there.
To succeed in anything, you have to love what you do and want it badly enough to make it happen.
This Week’s Update
Today I’ve posted the rough draft Chapters 7 & 8 of Descent Into Darkness: His Command. I hope you enjoy it. Now I’ve got to get back to work — I still have to make my chapter quota for the week.
Until next time!
A New Descent
The abridged rough draft of His Command, the fourth installment in the six part series, has been launched. You can read Chapters 1 & 2 HERE.
His Beast has been taken down completely, save for a few sample chapters. The unabridged version of Descent Into Darkness: His Beast will be released as an e-publication on 5/6/12. For anyone interested in reading the unabridged versions of His Own and Her Lord, the first two installments of the series, they are currently for sale at most online e-retailers, such as Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.
Juggling Isn’t Always Easy
As you might already know, I’ve been loaded down with mandatory OT at the day job, which has greatly impacted the time I’ve allocated to writing. Thankfully, it hasn’t impacted my posting schedule. While my writing productivity hasn’t been the greatest during the last few weeks, I’m happy to report that I still have content to post, and that the amount of OT has been decreased. The OT isn’t gone – I wish – but has lessened. Hopefully, I can get back on track with writing soon.
The thing about juggling is that you have to absorb any shift in the established routine you’ve set for yourself. Not only is it akin to being thrown an extra object to juggle, the bloody thing’s a different weight and shape. It messes up the routine, and you find yourself fumbling with the objects as you attempt to keep them in the air. Try as you might, you will occasionally let one fall to the ground.
It’s frustrating. When you’re suddenly handed 10-15 extra hours to work at the Evil Necessity, it almost always means losing a “free day” – time you’ve slotted for some serious keyboard pounding. That loss might mean a dropped ball, and you may not have the time to pick it up off the ground and work it back into the juggling routine.
There are ways to handle it. You can short yourself on sleep to write, grit your teeth, bear the extra load, and pray that you’ll be able to make your goals, or, if given the option, refuse the work. Weigh your options, analyze your priorities, and make your decision.
Writers don’t give up, don’t give in, and don’t set our writing aside. We find the space to compromise, the time to jot down as many words as we can, all the while dreaming of the “big break” in publishing or winning the lottery so that we can pursue our true calling. Sometimes we have to make the really tough and onerous decision to cutback on writing (not give it up, just do it less often) in favor of the day job. It’s not an easy one to make. For those who make it, it’s temporary, brought on financial/economic necessity. Yet once the need for it passes, they go back to writing like they used to.
It’s the never-ending tug-of-war, one that we can’t stop participating in – at least, not until we’re writing full-time. Once we stop the tug-of-war, we stop dreaming. We stop writing. Whole worlds die in that instant.
That’s something I refuse to let happen to mine. What about you?
Just A Short Note…
I’m keeping this post a bit short this time around as it’s a busy day for me. The Evil Necissity that is the day job is showing how evil it can truly be; I’ve been put on mandatory OT for the foreseeable future. Because of this, I won’t be moving to more frequent posts on the site starting in April as I had previously planned. Sorry, folks, but I got to pay the bills.
Descent Into Darkness News
The unabridged version of Descent Into Darkness: His Beast will be available for sale as an ebook at the beginning of May 2012 and here’s the cover. I hope you like it. The last rough chapters for this story have been posted for those of you who follow it.
The fourth installment, His Command, has been started and rough chapters will be posted during the next update. The update schedule will be revised later today so please be sure to check it out this afternoon.
Frozen Reflection
My good friend, LJ Gastineau, has just published her first fantasy YA ebook entitled Frozen Reflection. Congrats, LJ! It’s currently on sale at Amazon and via Lulu.com. It’s a fun variation of the Snow White tale with a few twists, and is a fast read.
Getting back to work, so I’ll leave it at for now.
Graphics Galore
I’ve been working on a lot of graphics lately. The world map for the Descent Into Darkness series is being updated with locations from the latest installments, then I have not one but two covers to work on upcoming releases in the same series. In addition to that, LJ’s been tagging me for help on the formatting/layout for her own cover. Thankfully, writing hasn’t taken a back seat to graphics work. The two are running neck-and-neck, though.
Speaking of writing…
The Status Quo
TrinityGateways.net Submissions Still Open
If you write horror and are interested in submitting a story for this horror anthology please visit the TrinityGateways.net Submissions page for requirements and guidelines. You will be paid for submission if it is accepted. If you have questions, e-mail aquisition editor LJ Gastineau at submission@trinitygateways.net.
Descent Into Darkness: His Beast
The rough draft is finish and is in the editing/revision phase. Since I entered this phase before the last chapters were posted, you will continue to see rough draft chapters updated through the end of March. Within the first week or two of April, all rough chapters will be taken down and replaced with the chapters.
The cover art for His Beast is not yet complete. I’ve been juggling several graphic projects, as indicated above, and haven’t been able to concentrate on it as much as I would like. I hope to change that this week. Once the cover is completed, I’ll announce a definite release date (as opposed to release month) for the e-book and will post the cover for everything to see.
Descent Into Darkness: His Command
The fourth installement for the series now has a real title! I’ve already started work on the story, which has, in turn, prompted additions to the world map. Once I begin posting rough draft chapters, I’ll add the teaser description to the Descent Into Darkness series page.
Descent Into Darkness: He Begins
The omnibus, which includes first three installments of the series, is still on schedule for a May release date. I’m aiming to have it published (e-book and in print) in mid-May, a week or two after the e-release of His Beast. Work on the cover art will begin after the cover art for His Beast is finished.
I’m compiling the Appendices at the moment and am wondering if anything else should be included, or expanded. If there’s something more you’d like to see the Appendix for He Begins, post it in the comments.
Reminder
Printed editions of He Begins will be available for sale at Ancient City Con in July at the TrinityGateways.net dealer table. If you’re in the area, drop by!
Update Changes
Starting in April 2012, there will be changes to the update schedule. I’ll be posting new content more frquently, and there may be other changes as well. most of you know that I’m also a founder of TrinityGateways.net, and our sites are linked. We’re looking to implement some new features that will impact my personal site. As things get locked in, I’ll post more info on that. Right now, it’s still in the “let’s see what we can do” stage.
That’s rpetty much it for now. It’s back to work for me!
It’s Been A Fantastic Week
It’s been great in my world recently. I’m overworked but that seems to be an acceptable price to pay for everything else. Let me give you the bullet version of what’s been going on:
- TrinityGateways.net has been going through submission for their anthology, Shadows of the Mind. Submissions are still open so if you’re interested, please check out the submission and payment details HERE.
- I’ll be at Ancient City Con with my partners at TrinityGateways.net! We have three panels lined up and will be selling books. For more details about the con, click HERE. For more details about I and the Trinity gals will be doing, click HERE.
- I’ll be printing an omnibus volume of Descent Into Darkness to sell at the con. Titled He Begins, it will include His Own, Her Lord, and His Beast, representing half of the series. These printed books will also be available for sale online before then — I’ll provide more details once I have them.
- I’ve finished the rough draft for Descent Into Darkness: His Beast. Chapters will continue to be posted on the site, but you may have noticed that I’ve taken down the “full” abridged version of the draft. I’ll be starting the edit/revision phase shortly. The e-book version of His Beast will be available for purchase in May.
- My partners and I have been discussing expanding the TrinityGateways website. This means a ton of more work for me, as I’m the webmaster of both my site and TrinityGateways.net. But if it works the way we want it to, there will be new features for users that we think everyone will appreciate. I’m to begin the testing phase for the new upgrades in the very near future.
- I’ve started work on the cover art for Descent Into Darkness: His Beast. I’m about a third of the way through it. It’s going to be a little different from the previous two covers, which I hope goes over well. Once that’s complete, I start work on the cover art for the omnibus, He Begins.
- The Evil Necessity that is the day job has recently implemented overtime for my department. While its not mandatory for me to participate, there’s a ton of stuff I won’t be able to get done without it. I don’t want to have to explain why things aren’t getting done to my CFO, so I’ll have to work some OT. This will, of course, impact all my other work — my real jobs, as I prefer to think of them — but I will endeavor to keep that impact as minimal as possible.
As you can see, I’m super busy right now. Most of it has to do with the work that I love, though, and that helps a great deal.
Update Content
Chapters 19-21 for Descent Into Darkness: His Beast have been posted. Feel free to read and leave a comment or three. As this story will be beginning the edit/revision process soon, each posting will only be up for two weeks before being taken down again. Read it while you can.
That’s pretty much it for now. I’ve got to get back to the background and story notes required for Descent Into Darkness #4. It hasn’t been titled yet, but I’ve got a few possibilities roaming around in my head for it. We’ll see which one wins out.
