Well, I did it. I’m a live author on Amazon.

I’ve been busy the past few weeks trying to get two major tasks accomplished. The first is get through the first draft of book 2 in the series, Exiles of Heaven. I was so close at the beginning of the fall and I wanted to knocked it out. So I consciously decided to forego some web posting and author business activities to get that done. I’m at a solid 52,000 words, and my first beta reader gave me a thumbs up on content and approach, so I’m feeling good there.

My second task was getting the pieces/parts aligned to launch Ascent of the Fallen by Christmas. I’ve had my editor and cover artist working their respective parts, but I just hadn’t taken the time to get al of my ducks in a row. All the little things, like getting my tax numbers into Amazon, my author page up and going, and I decided to run Ascent as a pre-order. I don’t expect a lot of traffic ahead of the launch (let’s be frank, I don’t expect a ton of traffic at the launch!) but I know drawing a line in the sand means something, so December 24th it is.

In running the pre-order I also had to make a snap decision on covers. I had this idea laying around and figured I’d rather have something aligned with the Outremer theme rather than a simple colored block with text. So for the cover haters out there, well, it was a compromise of time versus content.

Ascent of the Fallen is the first novella in the Chronicles of Outremer series. This story’s idea came about in 2014 when I was deployed in Africa (actually, it may have even been earlier than that). After reading Write, Publish, Repeat and getting a copy of Scrivener, I buckled down on the plot and narrative. One significant revelation was realizing, “This can’t all be in one book if you hope to publish anything soon.” The story was just too big. And I appreciate the idea of binge-watching a series of TV shows and writing “episodes” as opposed to full-length novels. I struggle when checking out long form fiction from the library. I can’t read 800 pages in two weeks!

And so Ascent is really the pilot to the show. We get introduced to the characters, see a bit about who they are, and get started down the long road called their story.

Exiles of Heaven is a bit longer and takes the story further. Someday I may consider how to combine them or do a package offer, but for now, I need to ship.

Ascent of the Fallen  and the Chronicles of Outremer series also represent my vision for writing. I’m not trying to be Stephen King. I’m not trying to quit my dayjob as soon as possible for a 21st century digital lifestyle. I’m trying to share stories with people like me. People who want to unplug for 30 minutes on their train ride home. People who are navigating the complexities of life and need some encouragement. To know that someone is one their side and saying “You’ve got what it takes.” My hope is that, 20 years from now, I have a body of work I can be proud of writing and sharing with others. And if that gets me a cup of coffee once in a while, all the better!

So please feel free to visit me at Amazon. I chose, for now, to go the route of KDP Select, a program that ties me to publishing and distributing via Amazon exclusively for a period of time. I will eventually try and get a sales page up here (I want to run a simple promotion for military and first-responders) but need to get myself established first. So stay tuned, and grab your favorite beverage while we wait for Lord Fallondon Breck to join the party.

Check out my author page at Amazon

and check out the pre-order page here!