Hello, everyone. If you remember from last month, I attended Balticon. Well, I had a good time, met some good people, was on some interesting panels, and I was able to sell three copies of Mystical Greenwood!
Also, in recent months, I’ve been featured in a couple new poetry anthologies. Check them out!
Many thanks to Gabriela Marie Milton for the opportunity to contribute for haiku poems to this anthology! Available in paperback, Kindle, and Goodreads.
I’ve also had this Christian poem published in the online magazine, Words of the Lamb, which has featured me before!
I mentioned this anthology a few months ago, but thanks again to Robbie Cheadle and Kaye Lynne Booth for allowing me to contribute not only six poems but also six of my pencil drawings! So yes, you can see me in action as an artist and writer! Available in paperback, Kindle, and Goodreads.
If you’re a poetry lover, be sure to check out my poetry page for other poems as well. And for you fantasy and fiction lovers, don’t forget that Beneath the Deep Wave will be coming out in a few months! You can preorder the eBook edition and mark it to read on Goodreads!
A lot has been happening over the last few months. First off, this week I gave a presentation on word and page count for the Maryland Writers’ Association Frederick County chapter. I meant to record it for my YouTube channel. Sadly, I did not. Oh well. Maybe I’ll do that next time I give it.
For those of you who’ve followed me for a while, you may remember me discussing this topic before. For those of you who haven’t, here’s that post:
A new poetry anthology is available featuring six of my poems, courtesy of poets Robbie Cheadle and Kaye Lynne Booth, who not only featured me but also allowed me to discuss my experiences with poetry as part of their Treasuring Poetry blog series a year ago. Many thanks to them, and also to Merril D. Smith for featuring a video of me reading one of my poems, which I’d written in college, as part of the anthology’s blog tour.
That’s right! It’s coming out in August. Here is the cover:
Beneath the Deep Wave is available for preorder from some vendors as an eBook, but not yet in Kindle, Nook, or print. More sales links will be posted when available. In the meantime, here’s a synopsis, and be sure to read and review Mystical Greenwood before Beneath the Deep Wave comes out. That way you’ll be caught up and won’t have to deal with spoilers!
And would you believe it, this is my 100th blog post! That’s a milestone. Many thanks to Sally Cronin, also, for sharing one of my previous posts in her Posts from Your Archives series. It’s been a good start, I think, to the year. I’ve taken further steps to balance the scales beyond social media. For this year’s Lent, I’ve given up watching videos on the computer, so my only YouTube usage has been on the TV. I’ve also been trying to limit my email logins to three per day.
I hope to see you next month at my presentation on word and page counts. See my events page for more details! I’m also hoping to be on panels at this year’s Balticon. I’ll post more details when I have them.
Here are the latest additions to my collection of inscribed books.
I purchased Marissa D’Angelo‘s novel The Cursed Spirit and Captain Michael J. Dodd’s Chesapeake Bay Odyssey at the 2022 Maryland Writer’s Conference.
I got a copy of Who Can Best Work and Best Agree when Charles Matulewicz visited Odenton Lodge #209 (yes, I am a Freemason).
I purchased Lewis F. McIntyre‘s A Gathering of Eagles, F. J. Talley‘s Twin Worlds, and Millie Mack‘s Take a Dive for Murder at the 2023 Maryland Writers’ Conference.
If you’re a poetry lover and are looking to read some holiday-themed poetry either now or later in the year, check out this anthology from Southern Arizona Press featuring mine!
With the new year coming, we always think about what we’re going to do differently. I’ve discussed resolutions before, but now I’ll speculate on where things may be going next for me as a writer.
Presently, the sequel to Mystical Greenwood is is in the hand of beta readers, and Fae Corps is aiming to release it in late August, just as the second edition of Mystical Greenwood was. Editing it had been my focus at the end of last year, and since I have always intended for the One with Nature series to be a trilogy, that means there will be one more book about Dermot and his fellow sorcerers.
But as I’ve said so many times, I don’t want to be confined to just one or two genres, so I do hope to venture out into all the others. I’ve had, over the years, different ideas for each, but I have discovered that I can only work on really one or sometimes two at a time. Many of them have really never come to fruition and remained solely based on themes or interests of mine that I’d like to pursue. Now, they could be late bloomers, but an episode of the Merry Writer Podcast from last year encouraged me to consider that I ought to be willing to let go of ideas that don’t grow. That could be.
True, I may not totally give up on all bits of them, but perhaps letting go can lead me to discovering new, better ones instead. Outside of One with Nature, that one mystery story involving abused pets has had the most attention, mainly because of how it had once been a college assignment. Still, I hope to finish it. Some of those themes previously mentioned are in mystery and horror, and I would like to do something in science fiction. I also hope to find some ways to dust off stories from history that, to me, aren’t as well known, but I admit that some of my favorite historical periods have been popular in fiction and film. I would also like to explore science fiction, but nothing concrete has formed in my head.
I won’t go into too many details, but just know that other ideas are there. Plus, they may not all be unique, something discussed in another good Merry Writer Podcast episode, but as long as I have some that I feel are unique, I’ll be content. Case in point, some reviewers of Mystical Greenwood described it as a typical fantasy hero’s journey, which it is, but that the focus on Nature made it stand out. Well, we’ll see where this year goes. Last year I resolved to be more positive and less worried about being perfect. I don’t believe I kept that. All I can do is try again and keep trying.
Many thanks to Sally Cronin for featuring Mystical Greenwood in her Christmas Book Fair. Enjoy this reading from earlier this week of a sneak peek from my next book. Happy Holidays to all!
With the holidays approaching, I hope you’ll consider buying either Mystical Greenwood (remember, the second One with Nature novel is being edited!) or one of the anthologies that features my work, such as the Christmas anthology I mentioned that features one of my short stories, “The Red House.”
It’s on Goodreads too! This was a short story written during my high school years that I’d thought lost, along with “Crossing the Estuary” in Fae Dreams. But I rediscovered both, thankfully, and here they are.
I’m continuing to edit the sequel to Mystical Greenwood. Remember, the holidays will be coming, and books make great gifts! Be sure to browse my publications. Happy reading!
Many thanks to Craig and Roland of The Hidden Gems Author Podcast for featuring me in their 89th episode! I discuss with them the challenges I’ve had to face as an author due to my Asperger syndrome.
You can also listen to the episode on Podbean! If you’re an author with a writing-related subject you want to discuss, be sure to check them out!
And many thanks also to Sally Cronin for featuring an excerpt from Mystical Greenwood on her blog! Maybe that’ll entice you buy it! If you’re an author looking for more promotional opportunities, be sure to check out Sally’s site!
Plus, I have more great news! A few weeks ago, after so much time, I finally completed a draft for the next book in the One with Nature series! Not only that, but Fae Corps is also aiming to publish it next August!
If you’re planning to attend the Maryland Writers’ Conference, I hope to see you there. I am also giving a presentation on manuscript and book formatting later this month. You can attend in person or via Zoom. You can promote it on Facebook too!
Greetings, everyone. This month I’ve got some recent appearances as well as some upcoming ones to share.
First, here’s a sermon I gave at Nichols-Bethel United Methodist Church in which I discuss my journey, personally and in writing, with social media, as I have mentioned gradually in past posts, as well as with physical clutter, with references to The Social Dilemma and The Minimalists. Even if you aren’t Christian or religious, I hope you’ll be inspired to consider placing more value on the people in your lives than in your physical possessions and digital presence. If you have trouble with the volume, there is closed captioning.
Be sure to check out Minimalism, and, if you have Netflix, The Social Dilemma and Less Is Now.
I am scheduled to appear on a new episode of the Hidden Gems Author Podcast. Stay tuned. I will be sure to share a link.
Also, I will also be giving a presentation at the Annapolis chapter of the Maryland Writers’ Association next month on manuscript formatting. You can promote it on Facebook too. You can attend either in person or via Zoom. Hope to see you there!
Andrew McDowell 