Well, I was wrong

If you’ve read my latest book, “STAND”, you may have also skimmed over the afterword. In it, I talk a bit about the premise of the book and my hopes that it would strengthen the faith and resolve of the friends who read it. Of course, all of this still stands. However, one of the final points made in that short note was incorrect. Here’s the original passage:

I anticipate that some readers will take issue with the character of Luis Escobar, the Venezuelan smuggler who joins Alvin and Joyce on The Chariot and abandons his old life to join the Witnesses. Perhaps some will find it unfair that an unbeliever would be given such an opportunity to change at the last moment. Others may feel that once the great tribulation starts, there is no longer an opportunity for honest-hearted ones to join true worshippers. However, in researching our recent publications, I was unable to find such a claim.

However in light of the Watchtower study article from this weekend, I clearly was wrong. The article states:

Let us remember that once the great tribulation begins, it will be too late for people to turn to Jehovah. (w19 pp. 8-16, par 6)

Of course, this statement renders quite a bit of the newest trilogy incorrect. For example, Ronnie Feldman’s character or Luis Escobar would never have a chance to join the convoy. Similarly, the evacuation would not be open to outsiders, nor would there be a global preaching campaign to invite non-witnesses to join.

As stated in this foreword, I always make great efforts and thoroughly researching the elements portrayed in the books so as to make them as accurate and believable as possible, and while I had found nothing recent in our publications on this particular point at the time of my writing, that is no longer the case.

As always, I urge readers to take all of these books with a grain of salt and remember that at the end of the day it is all fiction, and that none of us should read too much into any of the events portrayed. If you find it upbuilding and strengthening, that is great, but it should not be viewed as spiritual food.

Thank you for reading!

Tiny update!

It’s been almost a month since my last post, and I know things have been pretty quiet here since, so I thought I’d write up a short update for you all.

The audiobook (including re-recorded chapters) is finally complete and is currently going through Amazon’s Audible review process. This has been a bit more tiresome of a process than I originally anticipated, and many chapters were rejected multiple times due to minor sound issues (some of the peaks were too high, some of the narration was too soft). Each review process can take from 7-10 days, and each time new files are uploaded the process has to restart, so it’s taking a much longer time than I’d expected.

As always, jumping into a completely new medium was a tremendous learning experience, and I’ll be releasing a podcast episode soon on a few of the practical lessons I came away with. A lot of them apply to public reading and speaking, and many of you might find them useful in your own talks/readings/ministry. Reading is such an essential part of what we do as Witnesses, but there’s so much more to it than just speaking words from a page. Stay tuned for the podcast and you’ll see what I mean.

Of course, in spite of all the experience gleaned from this audiobook, I’m still a novice narrator (performer?), and there’s plenty of room for improvement in future books. My goal at present is to begin work on the audiobooks for STAY and STAND once FLEE is released. Once the trilogy is done, I’ve got other ideas for projects that I’d love to dive into as time permits. More than likely, this’ll mean that there will be no new books coming in 2020, but if you’ve been following my work for any length of time you’ll know that plans can and will change, so we shall see!

And I’m done! Sort of…

So today I uploaded the final chapter of my first audiobook, FLEE, to my YouTube channel. Recording and editing all twenty-one chapters more involved than I was anticipating, but as always, I learned so many valuable things from the process. In the end, I was able to get into a good routine (establishing routines are always so important for creative projects). I’d wake up a little early each morning, when the apartment was quiet and the traffic noises outside weren’t too obnoxious, and would record a single chapter, which I’d then edit later in the evening when I had some spare time. (Since I’m not doing any of this full time, it’s sometimes a struggle to find the time here and there to work on things)

Of course, in spite of being done with all twenty-one chapters, I’m not really finished. Since I purchased a professional microphone midway through the project (which is why everything after chapter nine sounds so much better), the quality of the two halves of the book are vastly different. In addition to the technical aspect of recording, my reading and voice acting skills also improved quite a bit as I went along. I could feel myself slowing down and really savoring the reading and getting into the mind of each character (as opposed to just reading words on the screen to get through the material in the beginning).

So all of this adds up to me really needing to redo the first nine chapters, three of which I’ve already recorded in the last couple of days. I’m working much more quickly than I was in the beginning so I’m not expecting the final six chapters to take all that long, but once they are done I’ll be uploading the entire thing to ACX, Amazon’s audiobook site. Once that’s done, I’ll probably put together a little video for those of who who haven’t used Audible (Amazon’s audiobook app) to show how to purchase and listen to the book if you’re so inclined.

As always, I want to express my appreciation to those of you who had the patience to wait for the release of each audiobook chapter, which weren’t really uploaded according to any sort of discernible schedule (I did them as I found time for them). Also appreciated were the tips and suggestions, usually in the form of comments on YouTube. This feedback is vital, and I feel it really helped me improve as I went through the process.

Although I’ve got plenty of room to grow as a narrator, this project was unexpectedly enjoyable, and I found myself doing more research than I’d originally intended to capture certain accents (Mexican, Colombian, Indian, Southern, New Orleaniean, Canadian). Some of the voice acting is still in need of improvement, but I hope the next two books will afford me exactly that opportunity for growth.

Thanks for listening!

Brand new website!

Well, it's long overdue, but I finally went out and purchased a domain and set up a proper, professional website at Ekjonathan.com In the future, all books will be released on this site (check the Now Reading tab), which will mean no more jumping around from this blog to that trying to hunt down information. Blogspot has served me well in the past, but it's really not a viable long-term solution, so I'm happy to be moving on.

On the My Books page you'll find my entire catalog of books, with brief descriptions or synopses of each of the novels and links to the respective Amazon pages. The Blog page will function in the same way as this site, and in fact will feed directly from here, so if you prefer to visit this site, you'll be able to. However, since the new site will have all the features of my current sites combined, I'd recommend bookmarking it and checking regularly for updates. Any news and announcements will be sure to appear there first.

Other cool features of the new site include a Podcast page, where you can stream episodes from my YouTube channel by category, as well as an Audiobook page, where you can listen to the latest chapters from FLEE, and where you will eventually be able to purchase full audiobooks once they are ready.

Speaking of which, my new microphone arrived in the mail this morning, and I was able to record and upload a new chapter to to FLEE this afternoon, which you can listen to here. I've also had to switch audio editing software to get the most professional-sounding quality I can manage, and I think you'll agree that the difference is huge (especially if you use headphones)!

Finally, in case you're wondering, you won't find any pictures of me on the new site (or anywhere else for that matter). I've always felt that my anonymity is important to maintain, and I've been fearful of cultivating a celebrity status around my real persona. I don't mind my books and other creations gaining attention, I just don't want to attract that kind of attention in person. I would be absolutely mortified if someone were to recognize me at an assembly and ask for an autograph! (FYI, EK Jonathan itself is a pen name based on my real name.)


Since this new website is still a work on progress, you might find some typos, broken links, and other small issues. If you do, feel free to drop me a line and let me know so I can continue to polish it up. Thanks, and enjoy!

I’ve decided to bite the bullet!

Hi all! Well, I’ve jumped straight into a new project since the completion of STAND, and in the last three weeks have produced about half of the audiobook recording for FLEE. It’s been a fun project, and has provided a unique challenge quite unlike anything I’ve attempted before.

I’ve come to realize that audiobook readings are less reading and more performing. It demands a lot more energy than writing the original story, and can take quite a few takes to get just right. Often, a single line of descriptive writing or dialogue can be read in a multitude of ways, and picking the right take can be challenging. In addition, performing this particular story, with its varied cast of characters, has meant performing various accents and ethnicities, requiring some amount of research (ie, watching videos of various speakers on YouTube) to capture. I’m not completely sold on my own performances, but I’m certainly learning from the experience, and it’s forcing me to improve in my reading skills. (This is particularly useful for me, since I’ve been in a foreign language field for the last twelve years and rarely read aloud in English.)

Since I’m enjoying the audiobook process so much (and there seems to be significant interest in full audiobook versions of my books), I’ve bitten the bullet and purchased a professional-grade condenser microphone. I’ve also purchased the materials to build a small acoustic box for my home office to dampen out any ambient noises. This has been a real pain for me in previous recordings, because our apartment building is right beside a busy highway, and the traffic noises inevitably seep into the audio. (Please excuse the occasional honks, beeps, and screeches!)

Once the new microphone arrives (an Audio Technica ATR2500, if anyone’s interested), I’ll use it to record the rest of the chapters, uploading them as usual to my YouTube channel. Then, once that’s done, I plan on going back and re-recording the initial chapters. With the experience and practice I’ve gained from the last few weeks, I know I’ll do a much better job the second time around, and the audio quality should be much higher.

When all twenty-one chapters of FLEE are completed, I will be uploading them to ACX, Amazon’s audiobook publisher site. Once that’s done, the full audiobook will be available for purchase on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. I have not determined what I will set the price at, but it will likely be a few dollars more than the paperback version of the book. After doing some research online, I feel this is a fair and affordable price, as audiobooks can range from $20-60. While I’ve never primarily been focused turning this into a career, I do need to make it worth my time investment, and those who would prefer a lower-quality version can always listen for free on YouTube.

After FLEE is released, I will see about doing other books, likely starting with STAY and STAND. Many readers have expressed interest in having the entire collection of this series in audiobook form, so we’ll see if I can set that as a goal for myself.

STAND now available!

Well, August 10th is here, and as promised, so is the new book, STAND. It's been a long, wonderful ride, and I'm glad I had you all along for the company. EDIT: (At present,  the Kindle version and paperback versions are separate, but should be linked within a few hours.)

For those of you who plan on reading the serialized edition, head over to fleenovel.blogspot.com, where I've posted the prologue. (Subsequent chapters will be released every Monday.)

If you enjoy this conclusion to the FLEE series, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Happy reading!

In other news, I've been consistently uploading chapters of the FLEE audiobook, with a new chapter being released, on average, every couple of days. I'll do my best to get through the whole book!

Mark your calendars, STAND is almost here!

Hi all! Well, I'm happy to finally announce the release date for STAND, the final book in the FLEE trilogy. It's been a long and somewhat arduous process, but the book is completed and the editors have written back with their final feedback. As always, it's proven invaluable in helping me to deliver the best possible reading experience.

I'm excited to let you all know that STAND will be available on August 10th! That's just 6 days from now, and in the remaining time I'll be finishing the cover design, setting up the products on Amazon, and submitting the final documents for paperback printing.

At the same time, I've finally gotten around to recording an audio book for FLEE. The test reading I did a few days ago was a success, (thanks for your feedback), and I've released the second chapter on my YouTube channel. Now that I have what feels like a good grasp on the recording and editing of a reading, I'm a little more confident to say that more chapters will be released soon. I'm still not sure if I'll do this with all my books as I'd prefer to use the free time I have to create new stories, but we will have to wait and see. Perhaps, if the audio book of FLEE proves to be popular, I'll continue it for the rest of the series.

For those who've asked for the audio version on another platform such as Audible, I'm not yet certain I will go that route. I'm currently leaning towards the idea of leaving the audio recordings on YouTube. It's completely free to listen to and does not require a whole lot of work on my end (going the Audible route would require a whole other registration and validation process). However, we'll see how it goes!

A test reading of FLEE

For the last three years I’ve thrown around the idea of doing audiobooks for my novels. A lot of readers have asked for this over the years (some have poor vision, making reading difficult, others are simply too busy to sit down with a book and would rather listen on the go). I’ve always said no, because it was simply too big of an investment in time and resources.

In spite of all that, with STAND finally in the bag and about to be released, I’ve decided to do a ‘test reading’ of one of my books. This means I’ve recorded one chapter (the first chapter of FLEE) and uploaded it to my channel. Depending on its reception, I will either continue to upload chapters or not.

Going into this project, I knew that one of the most daunting aspects would be that of voice acting. While film, directing, and acting are all interests of mine, I don’t believe I have the chops to portray characters on camera, and I’m not sure I’d do much better on a solely audio format.

So, this is a test. If you enjoy this snippet, help me out by leaving a ‘thumbs up’ on the video. If you feel it’s lacking, don’t be afraid to give it a ‘thumbs down’. In a few days I’ll look at the votes and decide how to proceed. Thanks, and I hope at least some of you will enjoy! (I’ll admit, it was fun to do!)

New podcast episode is here

And it's another Paradise Home Review, enjoy!

STAND now in the proofing process

That's right! The final draft of STAND was completed yesterday afternoon and sent off to the editors, who've already begun writing back with their input. As always, their suggestions are proving invaluable (no matter how many times I comb through a manuscript I can never manage to catch all the errors).

In addition, the FLEE blogsite has been updated to prepare for the serial release for the new book, the first chapter of which will coincide with the release of the full book on Amazon.

Here's the synopsis:  

With Angelica missing and tensions rising aboard their rig, Peter Burton and the other overseers face new trials as they strive to keep the friends calm. In the Pacific, a separate Witness convoy embarks on its own journey, with many challenges just on the horizon. Meanwhile, in Namibia, the brothers and sisters are hard at work preparing the colonies while pressures from governmental authorities continue to mount…

STAND is nearly 120,000 words long, roughly fifty percent longer than the previous two books. (This is one of the reasons it took so much longer to write than the others.) Can't wait to share it!

Editing STAND is a blast

I'm about halfway through the final draft and I'm having so much fun! As I said in the last blog post, editing affords me an opportunity to read the book with a fresh set of eyes and see if all the parts are working correctly, and so far it seems to have really come together!

Of course, there are always changes needed, and I've found myself combining certain characters (if two characters can be combined into one, it's always better than littering the pages with throw-away characters that exist only for exposition's sake or to bring about some plot device). I've also come to realize that certain events or character arcs weren't properly set up in the first draft, so that's been another thing requiring some adjustment.

I've also surprised myself with certain parts of the story which have come across more humorous than I intended. In most cases, I've found, that's ok, as it provides needed levity to an intense (and occasionally dark) story. It also humanizes and grounds the characters, something which has always been one of my primary goals for the series.

So overall, I'm happy with this manuscript. I feel like it's tied up all the loose ends of the other books and brought about a satisfying conclusion to the series. I can only hope you all will have the same reaction to it!

In other news, I was shocked to find the other day that the EKJ Podcast channel on YouTube just reached 100 subscribers! The subscriber count has never been too important to me and I've never asked for subs, but I was happy to reach this milestone because it means that YouTube's custom URL feature is now enabled. This feature allows me to use a more memorable and succinct web address for the channel, and I've chosen youtube.com/c/EKJonathan as mine. (Glad there aren't any other "EK Jonathans" already on the platform!)

For the last month or so I've been tinkering with a new podcast episode, but with the completion of STAND looming on the horizon I haven't had time to put on the final touches. If all goes well, it should drop sometime within the week, so stay tuned!

Can't wait to share this new book with you all!

It's DONE

After nearly a whole year of writing, I'm overjoyed to announce that the first draft of STAND is finished. As you can see from the word count chart above (I do this for all of my books), there were ups and downs in the writing process, and at times weeks or even months would go by with little progress. But since February of this year, I was able to finally lock into a sustainable pace, and continued that pace up till now.

There is nothing like the feeling of completing a first draft. It's an exhilarating mix of accomplishment, excitement, and relief: accomplishment at having finished such a formidable project, excitement at the prospect of being able to share it soon with the world, and relief for not  giving up mid-way!

And now comes the fun part–editing! It may sound strange to say that this is my favorite part, but it truly is. When I'm writing the first draft, I resist the urge to go back and read previous sections of the story. In fact, except for going back to double-check facts, I try not to look at what I've written at all. This can be a hard urge to resist, but I feel it's important to keep the writing momentum going. Editing the first draft is for me an opportunity to read the completed story for the first time–I can actually enjoy the book as a new reader would. And because, at this point, so much of the writing was done months prior, I've forgotten much of it myself. This helps me judge the beats of the story objectively; if certain character arcs aren't working or if the dialogue is clunky, this is where I'll often catch it.

Once my editing work is done, the book is formatted and sent out to my small team of editors and proofreaders. They are invaluable in catching errors, inconsistencies, and typos that I missed. Many readers have written in asking why All Things New and The Unrighteous don't feel as polished as the later books, and a lack of editors is the reason. With those first two books it was just me doing everything, but with later books I've always relied on outside sets of eyes to help proofread, and it really shows.

As I've said previously, the book will be released sometime next month, in August. So please stay tuned and enjoy your regional conventions!

Surprise podcast

So I realize that less than a week ago I said I had no plans for a new podcast episode and that was true, but today I had a bit of time and I wanted to tell a story. I think that wrapping up the latest book in the FLEE series has me feeling sentimental. (I'm not too proud to say that while writing a recent section this week, I had to take a bit of a break for some fresh air because I was getting too emotional to continue–it's hard to write a novel when you can't see the screen clearly!)

In any case, I hope you like this podcast. It's a bit shorter and there aren't many drawings, but I hope that helps to slow the pace down a bit and let things sink in for you, just as they're sinking in for me. Please enjoy.

Checking in...

Hi all, hope you're doing well! Just a little post to say that I'm still alive and kicking and things are going well. I don't currently have any podcasts episodes in production as I've been trying to put as much of my free time into finishing STAND. That said, it's proceeding as planned and is still on track for a late August release.

As that deadline nears, I'm gradually beginning to dread finally putting an end to this saga. As I mentioned in a recent podcast about developing characters, penning the final chapter in any book is always a bittersweet moment. On the one hand, finishing a novel is an exhilarating accomplishment and feels simply wonderful. On the other hand, it means saying goodbye to characters I've become close with, and it's safe to say this trilogy more than any previous book has resulted in a a cast of characters I'll truly miss being around. In spite of that, I am excited to bring this series to a conclusion and can't wait to share the finale with all of you. (And I sincerely hope it lives up to your expectations!) When I first set about writing a trilogy back in 2016 I knew I was leaping into an ambitious project, but I'm relieved to know that I stuck with it through the ups and downs and am so close to the finish line.

So, what's next? I know many of you have requested another foray into paradise territory, while others have hoped for more modern-day adventures à la The Bloom of Youth. While I'm not opposed to either idea, nothing solid in either vein is currently in the works.

What is in the works, however, is a new project I plan to announce more as soon as STAND is finished and on the shelves. What I can say is that it's something I've had on the back burner for a while now, and the pieces have finally fallen in place to proceed. It's still in its early stages of development, but what's beginning to take form is incredibly exciting to me, and I can't wait to share.

So stay tuned!

New podcast: Reviewing homes for use in paradise

The new episode is out! Hope you enjoy it, and thanks to those of you who tuned in to watch it live!

Livestream Podcast next Saturday

Hi all! So I thought I’d try something a little different with the next podcast. YouTube recently launched a “premiere” feature that allows video channels to release a new video live, which allows viewers to interact in real time with each other and the creators themselves. Seeing as my next podcast will be an interactive experience (we’ll be reviewing futuristic homes for paradise living), I thought this would be a great opportunity to test out the premiere feature. If you’re available, drop by and say hi. Of course, if you miss the premiere you can always watch the video on my channel later.

Here are the details:
Premiere time: Saturday, May 18
Sat 3:30 PM Pacific (Honolulu)
Sat 6:30 PM US West Coast (Washington, California, etc)
Sat 9:30 PM US East Coast (New York, Florida, etc)
Sun 3:30 AM UK (London)
Sun 4:30 AM West Europe (Paris, Berlin)
Sun 5:30 AM East Europe (Moscow)
Sun 9:30 AM Asia (Taipei, Beijing)
Sun 10:30 AM East Asia (Seoul, Tokyo)

You can also set a reminder by clicking the video below:

I realize not everyone who’d like to join will be available at this time (apologies if you live in Europe especially), but I think this slot is convenient for most. Hope to see you there!

New Podcast Episode is Here

And this time we’re talking about creating compelling characters. What makes certain characters feel like living, breathing people while others feel flat and uninteresting? In this episode, I attempt to answer that question. Enjoy!

I took a trip to Namibia, and here’s what I saw

Ok, so not a real, physical trip. While I’d absolutely love the chance to fly to the Southern end of Africa and explore Namibia’s canyons, its sprawling desert coast, and its majestic rivers and waterfalls, due to financial limitations such a trip is currently out of the question. (Maybe one day?)

For now, I’ve settled with traveling there through the wonders of technology, particularly via Google Earth. I’ve soared over the dunes of the Kalahari desert and strolled through the streets of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. I’ve trawled through Wikipedia’s copious articles on the indigenous tribes found in this part of Africa, like the mysterious desert-dwellers known as the San, renowned for their ability to draw water from the ground using only blades of grass and empty ostrich eggs.

I of course realize that many have found the premise of the FLEE series farfetched, and rightly so. The notion that we’d somehow be corralled into a single location for salvation during Armageddon is highly unlikely (some might even say impossible, though I'm wary of calling anything impossible). But if a mass evacuation were to happen, my bet is that we’d be headed here, to Africa, where the land is almost endlessly vast and largely uninhabited.

There is something uniquely alluring about this part of the world. Perhaps it is the fact that our first ancestors were likely given life in a land not so far away, so that much of our early history unfolded in a region similar to this, where many of the same plants and animals existed. Perhaps it is the presence of so many indigenous tribes down to this day that makes the land feel, in some ways, pure and untouched, so unlike our developed, technology-dependent cities.

Maybe it’s the raw beauty of the land: golden desert sands stretching for hundreds of miles before abruptly ending in the crystal blue waters of the Atlantic; natural rivers winding like arteries through otherwise barren scenery; stunning night panoramas that bring to mind Jehovah’s promise to Abraham about his seed becoming as numerous as the stars. In developed countries, that metaphor doesn’t evoke much, but here, where cities, billboards, and highways don’t exist to reflect so much light into the atmosphere, you can see with the naked eye more stars than you could count in a hundred lifetimes.

Of course, there’s another possibility for why I find myself so drawn to this part of the world. Perhaps there is something elegantly poetic about restarting civilization here, right where it all began so many millennia ago.
There is something irresistibly beautiful about such symmetry.

It’s tax season, and boy do I have things to say about it

Today I’m not blogging about the books or about writing, but about the dreaded annual American pastime of tax preparation. (If you’re not American, chances are that tax preparation for you is a much simpler, and possibly even automatic, process.)

If you’re like most Americans though, you probably get anxious just thinking about tax season and the necessary paperwork involved. Chances are you’ve probably also used paid software like H&R Block or Intuit’s TurboTax. After all, these services provide convenient tools to expedite the tax process… right?

Living abroad, tax filing for me is an especially arduous process. I’m required by the US government to report foreign earnings as well as any money made in the US. Of course, this includes Amazon book sales and PayPal donations. For years, TurboTax seemed like the best option to handle all of these details. After all, it was only about $40 per year to purchase the software.

Well, this year I ran into major problems. For whatever reason, the 2018 software was incredibly buggy and slow, and update downloads sometimes took hours to complete. I actually had to shut the software down multiple times since it completely froze my computer. It was so frustrating that I decided that next year I’d try some other option and abandon TurboTax altogether. So, while waiting for the program to perform one of its many hours-long updates, I did some digging online.

And this is when I found out the ugly truth behind TurboTax: It’s parent company, Intuit, actively lobbies in congress to make the tax filing process as complicated as possible. In 2016, for example, they spent $2 million on lobbying. This money was primarily spent to fight a bill that would pave the way for a free, automatic tax-filing service. The reason for all the lobbying? Simple. Easier tax filing would rob these companies of their customers. (According to their own fiscal reports, Intuit made $5.2 billion in 2017 alone.)

Of course, this isn’t the only example of big companies throwing money at government entities to protect their interests. Cigarette companies, big pharma, and weapons manufacturers all play the same games.

This blog post isn’t meant to be political in any way, or to suggest any kind of reform or boycott. After all, we all know the only solution to these problems is a completely clean slate, where corrupt governments, lobbyists, and greedy corporations don’t exist. Still, I find it especially frustrating to know that even a simple thing like a piece of software is really just another cog in the greed machine.

Can’t wait for the end!

(If you’d like to read up more on the subject, check out these articles: Vox & NBC)

New podcast epsiode

If you've ever tried working on a creative project but weren't feeling at all inspired, you'll know the struggle I describe in this episode. Fortunately, over the years I've found some helpful tips for navigating those times, and describe them here. Enjoy!

On a roll!

So I'm going to be cautiously optimistic and make it official: I'm on a roll with the writing of the final installment of the FLEE series, STAND. It can be a tricky thing to determine if momentum on such a large project is temporary or stable, but I'm feeling pretty good about this book after taking a few months off after The Bloom of Youth. I'm back on track and hitting daily writing goals and it feels great. There's still plenty of work left on it but we're still looking good for a late Summer release, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out the newest podcast episode. I've been asked in the past about the tools I use to write novels, and while I've talked here before about MacJournal, I thought a video of me actually navigating the program would be helpful. Enjoy!

On a roll...?

It's been a productive last couple of weeks. I've set clear writing targets for the last book in the FLEE series, STAND, and have really been motivated to progress with the story. As I mentioned in the last podcast, it's proving a real challenge to connect and conclude the story lines and character arcs introduced in previous books while moving the general plot of the series forward. But we're getting there, and it feels really good!

I've also been chipping away the the newest podcast episode when I have some spare time ("chipping away" meaning working on the illustrations for the video). My drawing skills aren't great and my digital drawing skills are even worse, but perhaps with time and practice the quality will improve some. In the meantime, I hope you can enjoy the illustrations, messy though they are.

This latest podcast episode, number 14, answers some of the questions I've gotten regarding the latest book, The Bloom of Youth, and in particular, whether or not Will's experiences parallel my own as a teen. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode #13 is here along with a sneak peak...

Yep, a new podcast. This one answers some of my most commonly asked questions regarding the FLEE series and also offers a sneak peak of the last book’s cover and title. Enjoy!

New podcast

Hi all! As promised, the new podcast episode is here!

In this episode I offer some suggestions for improving creative writing, and specifically descriptive writing for fiction. So if writing's your thing, definitely give it a look!

I tried something a little different with this episode and did some drawings for the different sections. I realize that this makes it a bit less of a ‘podcast’ and more of a standard YouTube video, but I think it makes the visual aspect of it a lot more interesting. If you like/don’t like the change, feel free to let me know!

Still here...

Hi all, and whew has it been a long time since my last post! I try to update this blog at least once a month, but lately... well, that hasn't happened.

Actually, there isn't much to report, but I wanted to pop in and let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking, and that the third book of the FLEE series is still underway. Additionally, I've got a new podcast episode in the works, so you can keep an eye out for that. (I actually wrote and recorded episode #12 and was about halfway through editing it when I accidentally lost all of my video files, so I'll have to start that one over, but it should be coming soon!)

Aside from all this, there's been plenty of interesting correspondence coming in. In the early days of writing these books, I'd get maybe one or two emails every couple of months, but as the catalog of novels has grown [and readership along with it], it's not uncommon to have new messages waiting each morning. I try to reply promptly to each and every message, but some require a bit more time and thought to form a proper response. So if you've written recently and haven't yet heard back, I'm not ignoring you... :)

As always, thanks so much for your patience, messages, and reviews on Amazon. All of it is greatly appreciated!