My novel FIRES RISING has just been released in audiobook. This will mark my fourth audiobook, the others being DEAD SOULS, DARK RIDE, and SLEEPWALKER. Please give it a listen!
So…I know. I’ve been quiet. I have been busy, however, with a career that has treated me well, and a fun-as-all-hell party rock band that has sucked a lot of the creative energy I used to put toward writing. Am I still writing? Well, yes, but not as much as I used to. It all boils down to dollars and cents. I can write a short story in a week, and get about $100 for it. And I’ve got a handful of new ones that wait patiently for an editor to ask for them. I simply don’t look to be published any longer.
Well…that’s not entirely true either. I look to make a living. Whether it be my regular paycheck, or a gig with the band where I make that same $100 (and many times, a lot more) for a few hours of adrenalized fun-as-all-hell guitar playing. And then there’s my writing, or to be more specific, what I have written.
I’ve got 10 books out there. Seven novels and three short story collections. They are all in e-book, some in audiobook, and many of them are seeing print now for the first time in other countries, such as Germany, Poland, and Italy. DEAD SOULS came out as a feature film in 2012 and DEEP IN THE DARKNESS pick against spread is on the way. And guess what? I am making more money now writing every now and then than I did a few years back when I was sweating blood onto paper.
I have a half-novel called MISSED CONNECTION that is funny as hell and just itching to be finished. Maybe I’ll get to it. Maybe someone will pay me to finish it. That’s what it all boils down to. I’d never thought I be saying this, but my love for the almighty paycheck has overtaken my love for the craft.
I have no lack of ideas. I’ve written them down in a notebook and have six novels in my head that want out of jail. Unfortunately no one wants to bail them out. So until then, I’ll continue to earn local rock-star status and wait for cha-ching my ears are tuned to hear…