When I was 21 or 22, I sent the fourth installment of a novel draft to my mom. This was the first novel where I had made it this far--normally I petered out after the third installment. The book in question featured a woman who had stumbled upon a planet on which the people were making blood sacrifices to prevent the planet from imploding. Recognize it? I hope not, because I never finished it. Five years later, a few tiny pieces of that original rough rough rough draft made it into The Wounded World.

Anyway, after she read it, my mom called me. But before she offered any critique or criticism, she asked me this: "What is it about this book that keeps you writing? What's different about this one?"

It took me a while, but eventually I came up with my answer. I told her, "I feel like there is something worthwhile hiding in this idea."

And thus was born the Sagittan Chronicles.

I think about that moment a lot. If I had to define any moment in my life that was a turning point in my writing career, it was that one. The one where I thought, I have ideas worth writing down. The moment where I thought, I'm gonna write a book.

Since then, of course, I've made a lot of mistakes. Let's review some of the relevant ones here:

I published my books out of order.
I published too fast, because I just wanted my first book out.
I didn't get a professional cover designer and copy editor for my first book (BAD, BAD ARIELE).
I spent too much time marketing and not enough time producing the best possible books I could create.

Since then, I've also done some things right:

I published a second edition of my first books, including professionally designed covers and professional copy editing.
I slowed down my publishing, and actually wrote a book to go between two books, so I wouldn't publish them out of order.
I spent hours and hours educating myself on publishing, marketing, writing, and other stuffs.
I kept trying.

And hurray! We are here, two weeks before the launch of my next book (the in-between book), The Polylocus Problem. As part of this whole launch celebration, I will also be releasing some Sagittan Chronicles' short stories (free!), and a Prequel novella to the series.

Yes, that's a lot of content. It's very exciting, and I'm behind on everything except the novella that's being launched. But it'll be done, I swear!

This also marks a kind of edge of the cliff for me. I currently have 3 books published, two novellas about to be published, and another four manuscripts drafted and ready for editing/publishing. As soon as I jump, I should be flying, putting out content on a regular basis. I hope you'll fly with me.

On September 1st, please join me for an online release party! It will be held in the Indie Readers Party Room on Facebook. I will be writing funny things, hosting discussions, and doing several giveaways throughout the day. I hope you can at least drop in for a few minutes and join the fun.

If you'd like to volunteer to help with the online celebration (in exchange for a free book!), let me know, either here or on Facebook. I just need you to be available for all or most of the day on September 1st, and willing to comment, share, and like a variety of Facebook posts, to help get the word out about the launch.

Finally, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has supported me as I move through the process of writing books, to Josh for his endless encouragement, for my mom for reading everything I've ever written, and to everyone who has ever bought a book. Thank you. <3

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