One Year Novel-versary

One year ago today, I hit the publish button on my novel, Ghost Thief, sending it onto Amazon for the world to read. It was a wild ride getting my first book published. From completing the first draft, the nervousness of giving it to my beta readers, seeing the manuscript printed out for the first time, seeing the first draft copy, to finally getting a box of the books that were to go on sale.
I’ll admit that the book didn’t sell that many copies. Part of that was my fault. One of the big advantages of self publishing is that I don’t have an editor insisting on big changes to my story. The downside is that I don’t have a publishing company advertising my novel. This meant that I had to figure out how to get the word out about my novel – a task that I stumbled at doing.
Of course, one of the reasons that I dropped the ball on advertising my first book was that I began writing my second book. I began with what I assumed would be two short stories to bridge the gap between books one and two. As I wrote the second story, however, I realized I was writing the opening chapters to Book 2.

So I began writing Book 2 in earnest. In the past 10 months, I’ve written over 78,000 words for Book 2, making it much longer than my first book. At that pace, it’s about one printed novel page written per day. I estimate that Book 2 will be about 90,000 words when it’s done. Then again, these stories have a history of laughing at my estimates. They finish when they want to finish, not when I think they’ll be done.

So when will Book 2 be published, you might ask. Well, if everything goes as planned, I could be looking at a May/June publication date. Of course, my previous statement about the story taking its time applies here as well. I could have a burst of writing and editing that cuts the time down, or I could wind up taking more time to get the story just right for publication.

No matter what happens with my second (and third and fourth books – yes, I have ideas for those already), Ghost Thief will always hold a special place in my heart as my first published novel.

Happy anniversary, Ghost Thief!

To celebrate, I recommend downloading the first three chapters for free and, if they intrigue you, buying the book in paperback or Kindle.

Anniversary Fifteen

WeddingAlmost seventeen years ago, I met this wonderful woman online. I knew right from the start that there was something special about her.  A month after our first online meeting, we meet in person for the first time. To say that our date went well would be an understatement. When it came time to leave, we found it difficult to part from each other. I never wanted to leave her side.  Fifteen years ago today, I married this wonderful woman.

Fifteen years have passed and many things have changed. We’ve had to shoulder many adult responsibilities, have had two amazing children, had stresses and joys, and – yes – have grown older. One thing hasn’t changed, though. I always want to be with this wonderful woman. I still love being at her side. I want to do all I can to make her as happy as she’s made me.

Happy anniversary to the most amazing woman in the world!

Happy Anniversary To My Wonderful Wife

WeddingDancingFourteen years ago today, I walked down the aisle and became the luckiest man in the world because B & I were married.  I thought our lives couldn’t get any better, but then along came NHL and then JSL.  Over the years, we’ve had high times and lows.  Excitement both of the good and bad kind.  Scares and joyful moments.  Through it all, B is the rock I’ve clung to.  Every time I think I can’t take one more thing that life has thrown my way, B is there to provide support.  I wouldn’t be the man I am today without her.  I couldn’t do half of the stuff I do without knowing that she’s there for me.  Whenever I think that I can’t love B any more, I find that I was wrong – I can and do love her more each and every day.

Happy anniversary, B!

Lucky Thirteen With TheAngelForever

Lucky 13 With TheAngelForever People don’t usually think of thirteen as a lucky number, but today it is.  Thirteen years ago today, I became the luckiest man in the world because B said "I do."  The actual day is a blur.  I know that I walked up an aisle.  B circled me a few times during the ceremony while our mothers lifted her train – practically causing her to moon everyone.  I believe food was served, but I know we didn’t get to eat any.  Many people congratulated us, but I don’t remember any actual conversations.  Many photos were taken and much dancing was done.  In the end, we were exhausted.  Happy, but exhausted.  The next day, we were off to Disney World for our honeymoon.

In the years that followed, we’ve enjoyed life together, welcomed NHL into the world, learned the ins and outs of being parents, said hi to JSL for the first time, watched our kids grow up before our eyes, have geeked out together as often as possible, and have spread our wings on social media together.  These past thirteen years have seen the most stressful days of my life.  (Thank you for nothing, febrile seizures!)  However, I wouldn’t trade them for anything because they’ve also been the happiest days of my life.

Happy anniversary, B.  Here’s to thirteen more and many more after that!

Why I Am So Lucky (aka Happy Anniversary To TheAngelForever)!

anniversaryTwelve years ago today, I became an extremely lucky man.  There are many ways one can become lucky.  You can win the lottery, land your dream job, or meet a favorite celebrity.  The way I became lucky was better than all of those combined (though we wouldn’t say no to a winning lottery ticket considering how fast the bills seem to be coming lately).  I became the world’s luckiest man because the world’s most amazing woman married me.

This woman is smart, beautiful, kind, and the love of my life.  She’s my best friend, someone I can have an intellectual conversation with, and someone whom I look forward to waking up next to every morning.  She’s modest too so she’ll insist this isn’t true, but she’s also incredibly sexy.  (Yes, you are B and this is my blog post so you can’t argue!)

At the time, I thought I could never love a woman the way I loved B, but I was wrong.  As time passed, I found myself falling in love with her more and more.  Just when I think this is the deepest anyone could ever love someone, she does something else that makes me love her more.

When she took up knitting and (more recently) crocheting, I fell in love with how quickly her prowess developed.  When she recently decided to watch Doctor Who to share something that I enjoyed, I fell in love with her inner geek as she not only watched the shows, but sought out tons of Doctor Who related content online.  (She now regularly texts me photos of funny Doctor Who images she finds on Facebook.)

But nothing made me fall in love with her more than parenthood.  Suddenly, there were aspects of her that I had never seen before that each made me love her more.  There was the tender loving mother who would care for our kids when they were sick or injured.  There was the school-teacher-mother who would come up with fun, educational crafts or excursions to go on.  And there was the fighter-mother who, when she saw our kids not getting help they needed, went to the mat and fought tooth and nail until they got it.

After twelve years, B can still surprise me in so many ways.  I love her so much and am so happy that I’ve had the chance to spend this time with her.  I can’t wait to see what the next twelve years will bring and what new aspects will make me fall in love with B even more.

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful Angel!

1 2 3 4