First off, that title is very misleading. Because my origin story for The Sword and Shield can be told in a few sentences. Basically, I was looking at my most recent scarring scratch from Echo (the asshole of my two cats) and I thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if there was an assassin with an auto-immune (or something) disorder? That would be pretty unusual! And hey, I should give him cats. Many many cats.” That is literally the entirety of my inspiration for The Sword and Shield. I feel like I maybe might have just killed some of the magic/mystery, but that’s okay.
Most of the ideas for my stories come from random ideas followed by the thought “well that would be interesting”. Because of that, in combination with my ADD, I have had many, many, many different story ideas over the years. Only a handful have made it to the actual character sketch and outlining process though. Right now I have two completed books, the outline for four others, and the beginning of one more. I anticipate that will keep me busy for several years and by then, hopefully, I will have ideas for even more books.
The book Social Media for Writers has taken up the allotted nightly reading time I would usually reserve for something a little more magical. I was reading the latest installment of Benedict Jacka’s “Alex Verus” series, but I reluctantly set it aside to focus on my studies. Anyone who likes humor and urban magic should check the series out!
The only chapters of Social Media for Writers that I skipped were on Podcasts and Youtube and I have no immediate intention of delving into those particular medias. I just finished reading about how I can use Pinterest to promote myself and, honestly, I never even considered it for the expansion of my platform until I read that chapter. So far, this book is proving to be a quality investment in my future.
Today I’m taking some of the custom bookmarks I printed with this website on them to the local library for approval. Library goers are the bulk of my audience so if there’s any way I can bring their attention to my blog and soon (an abstract concept full of false hopes) to be published book, then I will do it.
As of yesterday, I have submitted my entire manuscript to the literary agent interested in my book and will now begin pacing back and forth with unfounded anxiety until I hear back from her.
That’s all for today,
Bye for now!