Category: Writing Page 5 of 16

Teenage boys most of all.

Or at least, that’s what our American culture has been saying for a while now. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more true. One question then arises: are boys not reading because they don’t like it, or because all the books are written for girls?

Consider the major young adult novel success stories of the past two decades. Aside from the outlier of Harry Potter, virtually every one of them feature a female protagonist (and are mostly written by female authors). Think about The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, and so on.

Does this mean boys will never read a story about a girl? No, of course not. BUT… they are much less likely to do so. This has been clearly established in numerous polls. Girls are much more willing to read a story with a boy as the main character than boys are willing to read a story with a girl as the main character. These are just facts, whether good or bad.

There are plenty of older books written for boys, but they don’t see those unless their parents seek them out, for the most part.

We can’t fully blame publishers for this phenomenon. After all, they’re trying to make money, and right now, the money is in female readers.

By doing so, they create a vicious circle: boys don’t read, so we won’t publish books for boys, but then boys can’t find books they like, so they don’t read.

But there’s another reason. A big one.

I’ve worked with teenage boys for over twenty years now. Every year, I ask new ones about whether they like to read. Most say no. And when I probe a little further, one big reason pops up.

School. “I hate reading, because school makes me read stupid stuff.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a variation of that statement.

Again, we can’t fully blame schools. If boys are taught to read things they like before the schools step in, maybe the problem wouldn’t be so bad. But they’re not.

What can be done? As far as I can tell, it’s going to have to start with parents, and it needs to start when they’re young. Get them exciting books. Books with action and adventure. Books that take them into new worlds and new places.

For those who haven’t been taught, it’s also not too late. It’s almost never too late to awaken a love of reading. I’ve heard stories of boys who hated reading until a teacher or someone handed them a copy of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, or something like that. The right books can still work wonders.

This is why I’m writing the Dragontek Lore series. It’s aimed straight at young teenage boys. It’s fast-paced, full of crazy action and adventure (and dragons). Will this help some guys start to read? I can only hope.

For 2021, I placed one huge writing goal on myself: 500,000 words. For a regular year, that would average 1370 words per day. Except I didn’t make the goal until I was a couple of days into the year, and January turned out to have a lot of difficulties for some reason I’ve long-since forgotten. So by the end of the first month, I was only at an average of 980 words per day. It took until mid-October before I was able to pull that daily average up to where it needed to be. August-November were the best months, in which I was extremely consistent and usually well above what I needed. This let me taper off during December and relax a little. Also, partway into the last month, I discovered an error in my spreadsheet and found out I was much further along than I’d thought all year!

The end result is that I crossed the 500,000 word mark on December 29th. The goal was reached. I wrote half a million words in one year.

Here’s a summary, as best as I can remember it:

During January and the first part of February, I finished up Until All The Gods Return, the third book in the Heart of Fire series. This one was published in May.

February-March, I wrote Incarnadine, the second book of the Dragontek Lore series. I also wrote a short story in that world, for the newsletter subscribers. This was published in July.

April-July, I wrote Until All The Stars Fall, the fourth and final book of the Heart of Fire series. In case you missed it, this one came out this month!

July-August, I wrote Auric, the third book in the Dragontek Lore series. I’m planning on releasing it in February.

September-October, I wrote the fourth book in the Dragontek Lore series.

October-December, I wrote the fifth book in the Dragontek Lore series, and then started on the sixth.

For 2022, I’m planning a smaller writing goal – probably 350,000 words. Why? Because as you can see from the list above, I’m way behind in revising and editing! I have three books written that aren’t ready for publication yet. 

I also need more time to plan ahead for the next big epic fantasy. I’ve written a few scenes, and just gotten started on the world building. I need to do a lot more preparation on this one before I can really dive into it.

So where does 350,000 words get me? Well, first of all, I have about 60K words left to write in Dragontek Lore book six. I should go ahead and write book seven (the last one) as well, so that’s another 75-80K (all numbers are wild estimates). 

By then, I should be able to start the next big fantasy, and assuming it’s around 120,000 words, that leaves… another 90,000 words toward the end of the year. What will I write then? If things go well, I may launch into the second book of the epic fantasy. But that may take more work. I might have to write something different for a while. It’s not clear yet.

I am extremely happy to have finished the Heart of Fire series. It was a huge project, but it all came together in the end, and so far, readers seem to be happy with the finale.

It’s very hard to say goodbye to Marshal, Seri, and their friends. And maybe we’ll see them again. One possible later project is a return to the world of Antises. There is plenty of room for more stories set in that environment, and with some of those characters. At the same time, I’m reluctant to rush back into it just yet. I need time to ponder it. If I do write more, it has to be for a good reason, a good story. Maybe it’s waiting to pop out sometime soon. We’ll see.

In the meantime, thank you so much for reading my stories. None of this happens without you. If the books don’t sell, I don’t have money to make more. So tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Post a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or B&N, or a blog post. Spread the word.

Let’s explore more amazing worlds and characters… and dive deeper into life!

Until All The Stars Fall, the fourth and final book of the Heart of Fire series, is now available! Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you love to purchase books!

Sometime soon, I’ll write a longer post about what this all means to me personally, but for now: read the books! Enjoy! Celebrate!

In only five days, Until All The Stars Fall will be available, bringing to a close the Heart of Fire series.

While you’re waiting, you can read chapter three right now.

Chapter Two is now posted here for your preview! What is Marshal planning? And what does he have in mind for Talinir?

Read and find out! And remember: release date December 13!

The beginning of the end! The first chapter of Until All The Stars Fall is now available for your reading pleasure. Check it out now!

At last! The Heart of Fire series reaches its epic conclusion with Until All The Stars Fall.

Pre-orders are now available!

The cover for Until All The Stars Fall will be revealed next week! Newsletter subscribers will see it first! Might be a good time to subscribe.

I’ve enjoyed participating in National Novel Writing Month for the past three years. Writing 50,000 words in a single month is a big deal, and a great motivation! But I’m not doing it this year.

Instead, I started out 2021 operating on a similar pattern to NaNoWriMo for the entire year!

My goal for this year is 500,000 words written. As of the start of November, I’m over 409,000. I have a little less than 92,000 words to go.

So I might actually write 50,000 words in November, or I might not. I don’t have to, and it would add another layer of goals/stress on top of what I’m already doing.

Does that make 2021 NaNoWriYe? No, because I’ve written more than one novel, I guess.

Anyway, I’m writing every day, and you get to read it when it’s all done. That’s what matters, right?

Some of you may have noticed that I have multiple books going all at once (see the sidebar). This is a deliberate choice on my part to accelerate my release schedule. Here’s what I’m talking about:

My first book, Until All Curses Are Lifted, launched on August 13, 2019. The second book, Until All Bonds Are Broken, launched on April 30, 2020, eight months later. I followed this with Viridia in October, less than six months later. Then Until All The Gods Return debuted on May 25, 2021, seven months later, but over a year after the previous book in the same series. Now I’m launching Incarnadine in a few days, only four months after my last book (but still eleven months after the previous book in the same series).

As a reader, I know how frustrating it can be when you read something you like, and then the sequel doesn’t arrive for another year. (Or ten, or twenty. You know, if you’re George R.R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss.) I want to avoid that, if at all possible.

It’s also good business practice for an independent author. Readers are fickle (you know it; admit it), and if you don’t keep putting out new products, they’ll wander off and forget to come back. 

So if you’ve been following along this year, you may have heard of my big goal: write 500,000 words in 2021. It looks like I’m going to achieve that goal, if I keep at it for these last few months. I’m almost to 350,000 right now.

What does this mean to you? It means, for example, that both Until All The Stars Fall, the final book in the Heart of Fire series, AND Auric, the next book in the Dragontek Lore series, are both already written. They need editing and revisions still, which I’m working on, but they’re essentially done. And I’m almost a third of the way through the first draft of the fourth Dragontek Lore book (and the title is a spoiler, so I’m not revealing it yet). 

If all goes according to plan, Until All The Stars Fall will be out by Christmas, only three months after Incarnadine, and seven months after Until All The Gods Return. And then, Auric will be out in January-February, only a month or two after that. 

If I keep up the pace, I’ll probably publish anywhere from 4-6 books in 2022. Of course, that’s also dependent on the books selling, so I have the money to keep doing this.

So let’s make a deal: I’ll keep writing, and you’ll keep buying. Sound good?

(Don’t forget to enter the big giveaway!!)