Rough Draft for Angst 2 is Finally Done!

I’m a little beside myself right now.  They told me the second book was the hardest, and they weren’t kidding.  (Of course, this means the third book is easy, right!?)  Whew, I feel like I just gave birth to a monster!  I wasn’t completely sure what to do after writing a novel, after a lot of pacing and consideration, I decided to write.  I figured writing blog post sharing details and the expected release date was long overdue.

The Buried in Angst rough draft is now complete.  The sequel to my fantasy novel, Angst, weighs in at about 130,000 words.  This is about 5,000 more than the first book.  Buried in Angst is 64 Chapters long, 65 if you include the prelude.  This is not the last Angst book, I’m about 1/3rd done writing Drowning in Angst.

What does this mean?  My alpha team has been reading and reviewing all along and the good news is, their feedback has been all positive.  Over the next several weeks I’ll be pushing hard to revise this draft per their suggestions before I release it to the beta team.  I’m hoping to have their feedback within 30 days or so.

My wife edited Angst after I received feedback from the last beta team.  Unfortunately her new job is too demanding for her to thoroughly scrub it.  Because of my own insecurities, and the fact that it took so long to write, I don’t want to release the sequel without a fine polish.  Everyone who enjoyed the first book deserves the best I can provide, so I’m in the process of interviewing editors.  It’s a little expensive, and will drag out the release date, but I want it to be right.

I’ve been told, based on the length of Buried in Angst that it will take about 60 days to edit.  That pushes the release date to May.  I hate waiting that long, but I really feel it’s best to offer the most professional and clean novel I can make available.  I’m not one for patience, but hopefully you will find this to be good news.

My other good news is that, I’m not gonna wait to start working on the next book!  Drowning in Angst is mostly written in my head, and I see no reason to hold back the flood gates.  (Heh, sorry for the pun.)  Throughout the 90 days Angst 2 is being reviewed and edited, I’ll be writing Angst 3.  I’m hungry to complete this series.  Obviously not in a rush, but I’m having fun and have more ideas I want to tackle.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for their support and patience.  Working full time, being a full time parent, being social, trying to stay somewhat healthy and then writing full time is tough to balance.  A lot of life gets in the way, but I’ve got this great team of friends, family and amazing people who have told me they like Angst and want more.  Your gracious reviews and thoughtful messages via Twitter, Facebook, my blog and e-mail have kept me writing.  I’m forever grateful.

Introducing Cristi - new spokesmodel for Angst!

I am excited to announce that Cristi will be a spokesmodel for my fantasy novel Angst at Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions this year.  Cristi is a great friend, as well as one of the advisers on my alpha team of readers.  Not only does she offer a lot of great ideas for my book, she will bring a lot of fun to conventions!



After attending ConX in the fall, Cristi actually admitted to having fun with the rest of us geeks. ;)  With this in mind, I put my cosplay costuming skills to the test, this time with scale maille.  Cristi and her boyfriend Brandon came over last weekend for a photo shoot – and needless to say she totally rocked the costume!

The first show we are attending this winter is over Valentine’s Day weekend (Sorry Brandon…and Angie!) Cristi and I will be bringing a little extra adventure to Visioncon in Springfield, MO.  This show looks like an awesome time, and the guest of honor will be Aaron Douglas from Battlestar Galactica. (Frackin’ skin job!  Heh.)  So be sure to stop by and see us for some pictures, and some Angst!


Watch this page for more con announcements in the coming weeks: http://www.gotangst.com/p/appearances-and-cons.html






Thanks to Cristi for all of her efforts promoting Angst, and we look forward to seeing you at cons in 2013!

You Never Know Unless You Try

Many see New Years as a reset button.  The start of every year is an excuse to shed the past and start anew.  This belief is so prevalent that people make resolutions committing themselves to their goals.  Losing weight, writing books, finishing college, getting better jobs, and setting goals for better dreams.

My parents always taught me that, no matter what, you have to try.  Trying isn't easy, it’s not comfortable.  You have to want something enough to step outside your personal comfort bubble.  You have to come to terms that you will fail.  Your body may not be able to handle an Iron Man triathlon no matter how much you train.  You may ask the cute girl (or boy) to hang out only to be told no over and over again.  You may write something, sculpt something, compose something, or paint something so awful that burning it still won’t remove that mess from your memory.  But if you don’t try, will it ever happen?

I believe in trying.  I've been called short, slow, chubby, old and balding (jerks), and lots of other things.  But in spite of labels, guess what has happened?  I ran two marathons.  I've climbed 3 mountains over 14,000 feet tall.  I've written a novel, almost two!  I've been married for 20 years!  I have two amazing kids who try, and succeed.  I have some of the most incredible and loyal friends in the world.  How?  Because I tried.

I've never been a fast runner, but I always keep going.  I’m far from the healthiest guy in the world, but I set a goal and climbed those mountains.  I can tell a good story, but my writing is atrocious and takes a team of people, and I call on them all the time.  My marriage can be a roller coaster  but I don’t give up.  I've known my oldest friend for 34 years, and we still talk every week.  My youngest friend is 23, and I look forward to that day when we've known each other 34 years and can say the same thing about her (I’ll be 75, yikes!)  Why?  Because I tried.  I put effort into everything important to me.

I get asked all the time, how did I write a novel?  Nobody wants to hear the simple truth that I sat down and just wrote it.  Sure, I had to outline, and rewrite, and take breaks, and re-commit myself to finishing what I set out to do over and over again.  I had to take time away from my life, my family, my friends, my other goals.  Everything you choose to do requires sacrifice.  But I did it, and in the end I wrote something that people have been kind enough to read – some of them even like it.

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions because I live my dreams.  Not the lottery dreams of fake fortune and temporary flash.  I’m talking about those goals that become a part of your life.  As my High School Marching Band director used to say, “Ask the cute girl to the dance.”  Make new friends by asking.  Set almost-realistic goals and live them.  Lose that weight and enjoy being healthy.  Climb that mountain.  Write that book.  Fail, a lot.  We learn by failing.  Find a way to buy your house.  Earn that million dollars if that’s what makes you feel successful.  It’s all possible, but only if you try!

I believe in trying, because if you don’t try, it will never happen.

Oops, I may have accidentally written two books…

So…I may have written two books by accident.  Funny story, really.  I was about 120,000 words into the sequel with the realization that to fit everything I want into Buried in Angst I would need to add at least another 60,000 words!  (In perspective, Angst is roughly 125,000 words.)  That's not unheard of.  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is 175,000ish, so it could work.  The problem is that the story felt squished, like I was trying to fit in too much.  I had promised myself more character development, and more details about events from Angst that readers had asked about - and those things were getting set aside for more story story story.

I was speaking with a friend who made the obvious suggestion that maybe these were actually two different books.  It took awhile for that to sink in because I was so locked into how the 2nd book ends that I just couldn't see past that to split the book in half.  After sitting on this idea for several weeks, it finally hit me that she was right.

I've been so determined to make Angst 2 better and bigger and more than the first, that I lost sight of some things that are important to me about my writing.  It's my goal to make my novels fun, compelling with a few twists and surprises, while keeping the story an easy read.  Trying to throw in too much was taking away from this.

This means (!!!!!!) that I'm almost done with the rough draft for book 2.  I'm in the process of reworking a few things, but after some brainstorming I'm happier than ever with how the book is going to wrap up.  (I gave my wife a hint of the ending, and it literally gave her goosebumps.  Mwa ha ha.)  I'm also excited to share that I'm also about 1/3rd done with book 3 already!  Pretty sure this is the best oops I've made since my son (just kidding).

Since this revelation I've been sharing chapters with my alpha team almost every week, and the feedback has been all positive!  Over the next two months I'll be announcing the completion of each milestone, alpha, beta, edits, and release date.  Unless I am slapped upside the head by another epiphany (please no) Buried in Angst will be 64 chapters (of awesome fun).  The alpha team has all chapters through 45, and of the 19 remaining only 5 need to be written.  If the universe doesn't hate me too much the rough draft will be done before the end of the year.

Once I flesh things out per their suggestions I'll then share with the beta team.  The beta team gets a full manuscript, and often has a different perspective than the alpha team.  I'll make further changes based on their recommendations before a final edit and release.  While that seems like a lot, Angst 2 is now closer than ever!