There’s a flash piece in Demo Tapes, Year 2 that’s simply titled “Hot.” I wrote it as an exercise to show heat, not simply to say, “He was hot.” You can pick up Demo Tapes 2 at your favorite retailer, or from my direct store, where it’s only 79c.

It’s also $1.99 if you opt for the Complete Demo Tapes, which contains all four Demo Tapes anthologies, plus some short work that never made it into the first four. Better than a box set, I call it!

So… yeah, it’s hot again around here. I was still able to spend a couple hours on the deck, working, and I’m over two days ahead of schedule now. I’m not complaining! My goal remains at least a thousand words a day on this manuscript before I flip and work on something else, but last night, I was on a roll and just kept writing, coming in somewhere around 1500 words.

editing

Right on schedule, I finished the first read-through of the current edit, and then worked on my notes for the rest of the afternoon, trying to make better sense of them. After eight books and a number of short stories, things needed to be reorganized–I like to have the information about the most important players at the top, so I can get to it faster. So that’s what I did.

Today, I’ll dive back in for the second read-through. It should go very fast; the manuscript is super clean.

writing

Well, I spoiled the big news of the day. So let’s get to the sales! They’re running out of time, so get them while they’re hot!

Maybe the Bird Will Rise remains on sale at Kobo for 99c (US and Canada only; I keep forgetting to mention that!).
(Reminder that if you’ve bought or downloaded it already, please give it a read and I’d love pictures, reviews, chatter… however you’d like to help spread word.)

And the Smashwords Summer Sale continues!
Click here for the Tales from the Sheep Farm and the two short story collections (Broken but Undaunted and Permission to Enter). They’re on sale for 50% off!
And click here for the Trevolution, which is FREE. So YES, you can have DT2, as I call it, for FREE instead of as low as 79c (or even lower in an ebook bundle!)

And for those of you who ask, yes, I do still have a few copies of DT2 left in print. They are the old covers, though. But drop me a note and I’ll take care of you. I also have three copies of Trevor’s Song, if you’re interested…

Enough about the Trevolution. Sheesh. I do like to talk about it, don’t I? It was a really important time in my life, and the stories (most of them) hold up. Especially “Hot.”

Book of the Day

American Street, by Ibi Zoboi
Yep, that’s an affiliate link, I especially urge you to click through to see how many awards this book has garnered! WOW! Sounds like this one is a must-read.

And of course, since I don’t paywall any of this, I encourage you to support me via a couple different options:
Book my editing services
Buy my books — and once you have, talk about them! Share them, via a review, pictures on social media (go and tag me), talk about them to your friends, or pick up another copy for a specific friend.
Stuff my Ko-fi, either with a straight donation, or pick up either of my guides: The Beta Reader’s Guide and/or The Writer’s Guide to Library Events. You can also grab the guides and use them without a donation; I truly want to see them be used, even if I don’t make another penny from them! (That said, if you throw 50c into the pot, know it’s all going to PayPal and none to me. Fun, huh?)

That’s it! Keep reading; it’s the easiest form of resistance there is!

My Broken but Undaunted is part of a promotion via BookFunnel that’s featuring short works.

I think it’s the only collection in the group, but don’t quote me on that!

My mom was a big fan of short stories. She repeatedly took a class via our local Osher program (well, one of them, as both Pitt and Carnegie Mellon have their own) that was all about short stories. And she wasn’t wrong; short stories are an art form of their own. When you take creative writing classes at the university (or graduate) level, that’s one of the first things that becomes blatantly apparent.

Now, this promo features a lot of novellas which are, again, their own art form. More complex than short stories, less complex than a novel. They can have subplots or not; it’s all a matter of what the piece demands and the skill of the reader.

So I’m glad to be part of this promotion. I love that it’s about short work.

But there’s one other thing that has me excited to be part of this: It’s multi-genre. And that means exploration is imminent.

I went and explored what was on offer. I downloaded a bunch of books, and I hope they’re all good. Some are tie-ins to existing series. Some aren’t. It’s a wide, exciting grouping of short works — perfect for this time of year when we’re all so time crunched.

Go and find something for yourself.

And as always, if your book budget doesn’t allow for everything you want, you can take my book out of your local library via the Overdrive/Libby app. (It’s not on Hoopla yet and I don’t know why, especially because Maybe the Bird Will Rise is) OR you can hit me up for a review copy — just remember to follow my rules of review copies (You must post a review online — and let me know! — within one year. One-star reviews are fine; people are treasures too and that means your opinions are valid and respected, at least by me and my team. But you only get one book at a time, and if you don’t get a review up, don’t ask for another review copy.)

If you choose the library route, I’m more than a fan of that — I still get paid! It’s not a lot, but who cares? It all adds up.

Also, remember to check out my books for others you may like. With the Sheep Farm coming out relatively quickly (Populated releases on Tuesday! Are you ready?), I’m going to be asking you to do a lot of reading. Go ahead. Use those library apps.

But mostly, check out the books in this promo with Broken but Undaunted. Expand your horizons with a good short story or novella — or collection of short stories, like Broken but Undaunted!