My first novel, Blindsided, was released in November of 2020 — right in the middle of the COVID pandemic. Written a year earlier — also during the pandemic — I’d spent months tweaking it as a way to defer the decision of whether to actually publish it. While I knew the environment was competitive, I was also reasonably certain readers were ready for the world I had created and finally decided to put it out in time for Christmas. Those first few months were a bit of a nail biter, though; Ephram Cotte has a minuscule advertising budget, so getting the word out will always be a challenge. That people found me at all was amazing; that they bought anything was just brilliant.
A bit more than two years and nine books later, I can see the beginnings of a true audience forming. This past year was one of my most productive, with four books being released; while I like that release cadence, it’s a pace that I’m not sure I can maintain while simultaneously keeping up the quality of each story. Have no fear, though, for three books are already on the schedule for 2023.
I spent a lot of time with Sean and Vasily in 2022, both writing new content (Duality, Focus, Bewitched and Requiem were all completed this year) as well as putting the finishing touches on items that were released. In many cases, I wrote two books back-to-back for each character; while it made it easier for me to keep the voice consistent, I did discover that it wound up being harder to shift between them when the time came. I’m not certain how that affects what I do moving forward as I can’t conceive of trying to write two different novels at the same time.
(I don’t know if I should admit that the characters often fight in the back of my mind as to who gets my attention — and the next novel. I know they don’t exist outside of my little universe, but as I’ve said in the past, they feel like real people to me which often means I feel guilty for leaving one or the other on the sidelines.)
2022 also saw me expand my website and begin a more thoughtful approach to social media; blog posts became more regular, and where possible, I tried to interact with readers more directly. There was some level of trepidation the first time I received a note in Facebook Messenger, but the conversation was engaging and enlightening much as though we were two readers who’d bumped into each other at the library. I’m building on that going into 2023, getting more comfortable connecting over Facebook Live (or Twitch or YouTube) after the success of my Virtual Release Party for Duality.
One thing that 2022 proved to me was that I could find the right balance between writing and the rest of my life. As much as I enjoy getting down into the weeds of the Windeport Universe, it wouldn’t be healthy for me to focus on that to the exclusion everything else. It also proved to me that it was important to take a break from writing from time to time in order to recharge the creativity I rely on for crafting my stories. Not writing for a month felt a bit like torture, honestly, but in the end I find myself in a far better position to tackle the next story in Sean’s journey.
I am looking forward to 2023 and the stories it will bring. I don’t know all of them yet, but do have a solid sense of where my characters are going (and how I want them to get there). I’m glad you’ve been on this journey with me and hope you’ll continue to tag along.
As a Professional Nerd, it pains me to admit that I am still learning the ins and outs of the technology that runs my website. Part of that is a fundamental misunderstanding of how people were getting notified of new posts to my blog; silly me assumed it was far more obvious than it actually was to subscribe. On top of that, I appear to have neglected the sizable number of people who signed up for my newsletter list — and then never heard from me. My deepest apologies at what was benign neglect; I’ve rejiggered things to make it simple to sign up for both, and will begin a regular newsletter starting in January.
If you want to immediately add yourself to the blog notifications list, use this box below to do so. I try to update twice a week, so that hopefully won’t overwhelm your inbox too much.
Subscribing this way is the best option, for recent changes on several social media platforms have made it more difficult for my posts to be published there automatically.