New Year, New Look – Part II

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been updating the covers of my existing books. This month, I’m proud to reveal the new cover for my second book, The Reluctant Agent:

I’ve just spent the afternoon updating the covers…everywhere. Everything should be processed in a few days.

What Else Is Going On?

I’ve received most of the feedback from my beta readers and I’m making the final tweaks. Once I do that, I’ll take one more editing/proofreading pass and then it will be ready to start the publishing process. Given the lead time for getting a new cover (which I can’t do until I know exactly how big the book will be), I think that the actual release day will be in April – date to be determined. Watch this space for news of when the pre-order will be available.

Join the Crew

Once again, I invite you to join my email newsletter – You can do that over on the right under the “Join the Crew of the Daedalus” box. Members of the newsletter get early notifications about what’s going on and extras. Recently, I’ve shared some images I generated using Mid-Journey (AI Generative Art) to highlight some scenes from both The Reluctant Captain and The Reluctant Agent.

Until next time,
Happy Journeys!
Mike

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Drum Roll, Please…

It’s time for the official unveiling of the new cover of The Reluctant Agent!

When Can I Get the Book?

The Reluctant Agent will be released on June 8th!

I’m also happy to announce that The Reluctant Agent is available for pre-order on Amazon (ebook), Apple Books, Nook, and Kobo. The paperback version will soon be available for preorder on Amazon as soon as I deal with a cover issue.

I have a handy dandy link right here that will take you to the e-book format of your choic: books2read.com/u/brpLB7

I will also be at the Sherburne Arts Festival on Saturday, June 8 where you can buy copies of The Reluctant Agent and The Reluctant Captain in hardcover or paperback editions and I will be happy to sign them!

Membership Has Its Privileges

Members of my newsletter got to see the cover first – see, membership does have its privileges! And speaking of my newsletter, I’m running a contest open only to members of my newsletter. If you want to enter, you have to be a member, but that’s easy…all you have to do is sign up over there on the right.

I’m giving away a signed copy of the hardcover edition of “The Reluctant Agent” Here are the rules:

††1. In “The Reluctant Captain”, I hid a number of Easter eggs (references to pop culture or science fiction) in the book. The winner of the contest is the person who finds the most Easter eggs. For example, a character’s name may be a reference to another character in a book, show, or movie. In the event of a tie, I will draw the winner from the entries with the most Easter eggs.

2. Mail your entry to mike@reluctantauthor.com

3. Only one entry per email address will be allowed. If you send two or more emails from the same email address, I will only accept the first email. If you want to subscribe on more than one email address, more power to you!

4. If you send two or more emails from the same email address, I will only accept the first email. If you want to subscribe on more than one email address, more power to you!

5. All emails must be received by 11:59 PM on May 31, 2019.

6. I will be the sole arbiter of what constitutes a correct Easter egg reference.

7. Once the results are tabulated, I will email the winner for shipping information.

8. If there are no entries, I won’t give anything away. So, it’s better to enter something than not.

As of this writing, I’ve received zero entries. There’s still time to sign up and enter!

That’s the exciting news for now.

Until next time, Happy Journeys!

Mike

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Spring Awakening

I hope this finds you well! Spring still hasn’t overcome Old Man Winter’s grip over Central New York, as evidenced by the snow falling on my way home from work last night. It’s not completely out of character for our area, but I have honestly had enough.

Spring is a time for growth and rebirth. I have many exciting events popping up like the Russian forget-me-nots that seek to overwhelm my lawn every spring. They are:

Cover for The Reluctant Agent – I’ve got the art back for the cover of The Reluctant Agent and I love it! I need to get it scanned so I can finish the overall cover design, but I promise I will be unveiling it soon!

The inaugural edition of my email newsletter went out – At long last, I kicked off my email newsletter! While I didn’t think it was that bad, I did manage to have three people unsubscribe. I’ll be posting another one very soon; so if you want to join the fun, the link to join my email newsletter is on the right over there. It’s painless and I promise not to fill your inbox!

Editing is nearly complete for The Reluctant Agent– My editor is in the home stretch of editing my book. I’ll give it a once over when all of the edits are complete and it should be ready to publish.

I’ve started plotting out the next yet untitled Reluctant book – I’m trying something different and I’m actively plotting out the whole book before I start, instead of having just a rough outline and winging it (my usual approach). I was influenced by two books I’ve read in the last several months: 2000 to 10,000: How to write faster, write better, and write more of what you love by Rachel Aaron and The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne. The gist of Rachel Aaron’s book is the best way to be able to write quickly is to plan what you are going to write before you start so you have everything you need (including research) when you start. The Story Grid is a methodology for objectively analyzing a story. Although it’s primary use is for editing, the information about story structure that it provides is really helpful in laying out the book. My hope is that by spending more time up front laying out the story and completing the research, I’ll be able to complete the next book much faster. We’ll see how this experiment nets out.

What’s next?

There’s more stuff to come. The unveiling of the new cover, the kick off of a contest to win a signed copy of the hardcover edition of The Reluctant Agent, and its eventual release!

If you are interested in entering the contest, you can avoid the rush and sign up for my email newsletter just over there to your right. It’s (mostly) painless and it will give you a chance to enter the contest and be the first to know when the new book will be available.

Until next time, happy journeys!

Mike

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