Ninjas,
I’ve completed 39 rotations around the sun, and I can’t say I feel any different than the thirty-eight that came before. There are more grey hairs, more unwanted bumps, and a belly I can’t seem to shrink. My wife wanted to drag me to all sorts of fun events. I declined and said my perfect day would be to take off from work and stay home to relax and recharge. THEN, on Saturday, take my family to a restaurant where they sing opera to you!
Yeah, I’m boring.
You know what’s not boring? The stories I’ve been working on.
Before I get into project updates, I want to make a quick announcement. My website is undergoing some coding changes in the backend. Backend means you’re not going to see a difference. The changes are to make it easier for me to update, manage, and make the website mobile friendly. More of you are viewing the website on your cellphone than desktop which is a huge change from 2018. So, I want to make sure the experience is nice whether you’re on your computer, phone, or tablet.
Because of these changes, I am not pushing any layout updates to the website. This is to avoid giving my web designer headaches when it’s time to migrate the changes to the live site. If you want to keep updated with the latest news make sure to subscribe to my newsletter.
https://www.thesilverninja.com/newsletter
The Darkness at Home rough draft is almost complete.
After many delays, I am back on schedule and am currently aiming to finish before the end of September. Although I would love for the story to be available by Halloween of 2023, this will only be possible if my editor has any availability. Truthfully, Halloween 23 is an unrealistic deadline and most likely not going to happen. This date is to give myself a hard deadline to get all the writing and editing finished.
As a bonus, here’s an excerpt from the story.
What are you doing? Where’s your car?
We can’t go this way,” she said with visible fear shaking her body.
She took Danny back towards the house and was somehow running faster than him. He worried about Kristina yelling at him for being too slow and yet he was the least of her worries. They returned to the porch of his house, two pounds heavier from the rain. He gasped for breath while Kristina—who had never exercised in her life—was fine. Kris. He panted. I’m so confused right now. I need—I need us to slow down. What is happening?
She didn’t answer. Instead, she opened the front door and screamed when she saw a tall, lanky, hooded figure rise from the doorway.
What the fuck is that Danny pointed at the slender humanoid. Kris, stay away from him! He reached for Kristina’s hand, and she slipped out of his grip.
The figure loomed over them, taller than humanly possible, motionless yet floating by some unknown force. The being’s presence filled the door while disturbing moans emanated from its empty face. It raised its hand. The black sleeve pulled away from its wrist where a series of connected weathered bones tapered off into the point of a finger. Kristina stared at the finger then looked up into the empty hood with her tears hidden by the rain drops. Already?
In other news: I will be joining The Merry Writer for another podcast!
I solicited my friend Ari Meghlen and her co-host Rachel Poli for another chat on The Merry Writer podcast. The last time I was on was May 5th, 2021 where I talked about dealing with 1 star reviews. Although I think the interview went fine, I was disappointed with my constant ah’s, umm’s, and disjointed thoughts.
This time my goal is to be smoother, clear, and more focused. I will try to slow down and take my time before answering questions in order to provide a more enjoyable experience. Episode date should be around the beginning of December. I will post a link when I have it.
https://themerrywriterpodcast.podbean.com/
The Silver Ninja news.
The break I took from writing The Silver Ninja has allowed me to take a step back and give my brain room to dream. To that end, I have a brand-new adventure planned out and an outline to revitalize an old villain.
But before I get back into punishing myself with more writing, I really want to focus on developing a way to streamline my process and make it less stressful. I am insanely jealous of writers who can pump out content every one to three months and still have ideas for more stories.
I don’t particularly enjoy the feeling of writer’s block. Nor do I enjoy staring at my screen without getting any progress done. My process is flawed and I am determined to figure out a way to optimize it.
There is also a plan to address complaints that there was not enough superhero action in Narco Hotel. One reviewer even complained that Narco Hotel was too “character focused.” I don’t disagree. In every story, Cindy needs to become superpowered and save lives or kick ass. I will do my best to balance between character development and the over top action my readers come to expect.
All right now for the VERY COOL news!
I have been hard at work trying to commission enough artwork to finally open a…
DISPLATE SHOP!
CLICK THE LINK!!!! https://displate.com/thesilverninja?art=5bad6ee30eae9
This is the early access of my Displate shop. As time allows, I plan to add more and more artwork from the artists I’ve commissioned. (Yes, all my freelancers sign a contract that allow resell and redistribution rights.)
The book cover collection should be up by now. But if you check back in a few weeks, I will have some exclusive new artwork that has NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE.
Would you like to support my ability to write more books? Here’s what you can do.
- Buy a book to gift to a friend.
- Buy a Displate for your room or office.
- Buy a book for yourself if you haven’t already.
Don’t have a disposable budget due to inflation? Don’t worry, I got you boo. You can support me in non-financial ways too.
- If someone is asking for a sci-fi fantasy book recommendation on facebook, reddit, twitter, or even real-life. Drop in The Silver Ninja. https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/
- If you have time to write a short review, post it on Amazon.
- If you don’t want your copy of the book anymore, feel free to donate to someone who is interested.
Thank you for your continued support ninjas!
