Event Down, What’s Next?

Happy Sunday, friends! Phew was this past a week a ride. And not a bad one. It was just a lot shoved into a few days. I got to see a couple faces I hadn’t seen in too many years, had a birthday, and participated in an author night at a local bookshop/VR arcade (huge thanks to Skull and Books for having me). And had work in between all of that. All in all, pretty awesome.

What now? Well, an editing job in its beginning stages, a bit of a break from certain social media while I assess some things, and a little mental down time. Oh, and I’m extremely pleased to announce I will be vending at the Florida Authors Book Fest in New Smyrna on September 11 and 12. It will be my first multi-day event, which is an exciting new horizon.

Let’s unpack. Editing. This job is my first repeat … client? It feels weird to say I have those, but I guess that’s what it boils down to. And considering I only edited for three people last year, I hold it as a good sign that I have a second book from one of them. I’m not seasoned enough to put a timeframe on how long it will take me to complete. Also, life likes to throw curveballs when I try to drive the bus myself, so I’ll just say I don’t think it will take as long as the first book I did for this particular author. Hopefully, anyway, because I have a beta read lined up directly after.

Social media. I’m looking directly at TikTok here. Every once in a while, I drift back to being annoyed by the whole socials game and grind. A couple days ago, I realized I was a little too invested in the fact that a post absolutely tanked, so I decided it’s time to step back. Ever since the platform shifted to American hands, the whole thing has been a mess, and what used to be a pretty cool thing became a chore. I’ve met some really awesome folks on the app but I’m not willing to make my involvement my entire personality. And, while my use of any of my socials is far from targeted marketing, I’ve realized that my audience might actually be somewhere under the umbrella of readers who like male-authored books like The Dresden Files, and who also enjoy books that read closer to classic fantasy. Not that I think I “write like a man,” but I don’t think I exactly “write like a woman” either. I might catch hell for this mentality. I’m not being sexist, I’m just being real. So, I need to figure out how to shift my reach to that kind of reader.

Lastly, mental down time. I am, at heart, an introvert. Sure, half my job is talking to people. Yes, I can elevator pitch my books at events. Then I need to recharge. I’ve reached a recharge time, so I’ll be staying home on my days off and keeping a low-key schedule for a little while. I also have several books that aren’t my own and aren’t work that I want to read, so I’ll probably have my nose buried in at least one some time very soon.

That’s all for now, I think. This post ended up being longer than I expected. Funny how we don’t realize we had so much to say sometimes. Anyway, I wish a great week to you all! Until next time!

Author Night Tonight!

The day has finally arrived! I’ll be at https://skullandbooksvr.com from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. I’m stupidly excited for this new experience at a new location. If you’re not local, check them out online. I’ll be sharing the scene with a (hopefully) new author friend, too.

Ebook Sale!

So, in honor of the upcoming anniversary of The Nameless release, and also my impending Level Up day, I’ve decided to run a sale of The Nameless for Kindle. The sale starts tomorrow. For a limited time, The Nameless will be ninety-nine pennies.

This story is my low fantasy take on modern Fae and the music scene. Cursed twins, punk rock, and the lines of fate.

Listen to the first chapter, narrated by the amazing Ash Kelly (look him up on all the socials).

Here’s the buy link!

Upcoming Author Night

Hello, friends! I am officially inside of two weeks away from an author night at Skull and Books VR in Cocoa Beach. July 10th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, I will be at their shop, hopefully meeting lots of cool new people. Also, hopefully selling some books. I’m super excited to be a part of another local event. You can check them out at https://www.skullandbooksvr.com

What else? Not a lot to update, honestly. I got my first editing job for the year, and I also have a novella coming out of revision time out, so I’ll be changing hats, as I do, as I work on those. I’m pretty excited about the novella, because that means Sevina Gate #2 is another step closer to reality. We don’t have any art yet, but we haven’t been focused on it. With the completion of the revisions, I’ll be able to get a proof and we can start discussing what and where the art will be. I am extremely pleased with said revisions.

I think this will be a short update. I’ve been struggling to post even this much for the past few days, so I think this much is enough. I hope you all have a great week and that Mercury Retrograde doesn’t do you too dirty. I’m definitely feeling it. Cheers!

Who Is This Woman, Anyway?

Hi, friends, and happy Sunday. Today, I’d like to do a little introduction for any newcomers who might stop by. I’m AJ. I’m 41 (soon to level up) with a BA in Journalism, with a public relations focus. I’m an indie author, along with all that the title entails, and a nerd. I’ve been writing for fun since I was a kid, although I’m only about six years into my serious self-publishing journey. So far, I’ve released seven novels and one novella, a collaboration with Derrick Hairston. Allow me to tell you about those four series.

Cadillac Payback was my debut novel. I originally published that back in 2015 and then failed to follow up with the enormous amount of promotion and dedication it takes to be an indie. I released a second edition of that book in 2021, along with its sequel, Rising Tide. That duology is considered finished and I have no intentions of writing in that universe again. I’ve been told the style is gritty with a neo-noir vibe, and it does have open-door spice. It’s written in first-person, present tense and follows four different POVs as the Caddy crew navigates through losing their leader, dealing with an extreme grudge from the leader’s little sister, and having their hearts all tangled up in what should be business. The story is set in New Orleans, with honorable mention to Florida in the second book, and a stateside cartel operation.

Next we have the Order of Crows series. The first book in this series, The Murder Meets at Dusk, was actually the first book I ever completed, back in I think 2010. It had a bit of a rough time getting off its feet and I finally published it on my own in 2022. Since then, I’ve released two sequels, The Song of the Sparrow and A Place With No Dawn. This series is contemporary dark fantasy, a save-the-world tale at its heart. It could also be called low fantasy, supernatural, and kind of hidden magic. The main character, Aleister Corigan, is one of nine members of the Order of Crows. The Order’s whole purpose is to protect the city in which they live, which is the heart of the material plane. Each member draws his or her magic from different pantheons and paths–Voodoo, Hopi, and Norse to name a few. In this setting, you name it and it probably exists. Gods, vampires, the fey . . . all of it. Aleister is a planar walker and uses black magic, so maybe not your typical MC. The story is intricate and complex, so also maybe not your light beach reading kind of story. I’m roughly 20k into the fourth book with no release date in sight.

On to the Fae-Cursed series. I’ve released two books in this series so far, The Nameless and The Stolen. This is a low fantasy, modern fae tale wrapped up in the music scene. It’s dual POV, present tense, and the story follows twin brothers who have been cursed by a fae and have lived for more than a century. As one would expect, they’ve had a long line of occupations and fake names over the years, and are currently making it in an indie punk band. This story toys with what happens to fate when death is cheated, and the ways certain paths are intertwined. I’m currently only two chapters into the third book, but there will be a third book eventually.

Last, we have the Sevina Gate novella series. Derrick and I have only released the first novella so far, Dirty Synth. This one is hard to pin down. It’s dystopian fantasy at its base, but this one is set in a society that fell from being fairly modern, into chaos when a cataclysmic event occurred roughly a century in the story’s past. So, while you have our take on fantasy races like elves and dwarves, there’s also recognizable technology like sound equipment and their version of phones, and vehicles. And there’s magic. Also, open-door spice. The fun part? Each novella follows a different character in the setting (with certain characters getting second installments farther in), so the story unfolds from different eyes, different factions in the world, and certainly different opinions on who are the “good guys.” A little hint, there really aren’t any good guys. I’m currently working on the first round of revisions for the second novella, and Derrick is working on the illustrations for it and, oh yeah, they’re illustrated. Another really cool aspect of the series. I’ve written as far as seven novellas into the story, the first arc, if you will, so there’s a strong promise of more of this story.

Well, those are all my books that are currently available. There will be more, eventually. All of the books are available on Amazon, most of them are on KindleUnlimited. They’re waiting for their tribes to find them. If you don’t buy any of them, I still appreciate you if you’ve stuck around to this point in this post. Thank you, for any level of support you’ve given me. See you around, my friends.

It’s June?

So it is. Vending at the Mayhem Market yesterday was super cool. The Final Stitch Boutique is a great store, and it was awesome to see the alt community out in strong numbers. That being said, today is a mental health day.

As I mentioned in the last post, May kind of felt like a heavy weight. I’m at the top of a week off from the real job, the local library had almost the entire run of Witch Hat Atelier, and I need the break. My existing TBR is judging me pretty harshly for skipping it and reading manga instead, but…what’s the point of having a TBR if you don’t ignore it sometimes? And Witch Hat is so good.

I don’t really have any writerly news. My well of inspiration has been fairly dry. I’m not pushing to publish, or even finish anything at the moment. I don’t have another event until July. I have a book I edited last year to finish proofing this week and, other than that, I’m trying to skimp on actual plans. There were times when I might’ve tried to push through it with some force, but that time is not now.

As always, all my titles are available on Amazon. Most of them are on KindleUnlimited, too. And that’s about the extent of the promotion I have in me right now. Until next time, I’ll be chilling. Peace, my friends!