News, Updates, and Minor (Major) Ramblings

August is almost over, and I had this post in my drafts since the beginning of the month and did not post it. Love how my brain operates. Just a quick check in this time around. I have paused on my Fate Unseen edits to do the edits on the first book of my new novella series IFL Tales. I definitely just made that up since I don't have an official name for the series. I currently have a name for the book, but I might need to change it because there are a number of books titled with same thing, and that's a sure way for my lil ole novella to end up buried even though it's not going wide for awhile. Anyway, I created a cover few weekends ago, and got a two thumbs up from one of my favorite people who I can trust not to bullshit me, which is exciting. I'm not sure if I've gone over what IFL Tales is about or what this first novella will be about, but I'll hold off on going into them because I want to be in my third round of edits before I do that. By that point, I k...

Oooh a second blog post for the month. I really must be getting back into this author thing, huh? We'll see. This post is more of a housekeeping/update post. I realized there were a lot of inconsistencies with my branding, so I've decided to eliminate the DJ Small Books, and just be DJ Small - Author. For the most part, it doesn't really change anything. I'm going to be updating my logo and the titling on some of my pages, but there shouldn't be any disruptions. If you run into any issues, let me know and I'll get it fixed. Work wise, Adventures of Swift will not be happening this year. While I was doing some editing, I realized I put myself in a hole with that one, and as I learned with Avery Lawson: The Last Pureblood, I don't want to leave things in a state where it sort of just ends and leaves people hanging. I got the message on that one lol. So, with that being said, I'm going to work on my novella, which I'm hoping to have out by the end of ...

We've hit the 'ber months (September, October, November, and December), which means there will be a crap ton of holidays coming our way annnnd my birth month! Even though the days are getting shorter and the weather will be colder it's still a great time of the year. Anywho, it has been a minute! I honestly have no excuse or explanation for it. My mind was elsewhere and I didn't post anything in July or August. I was about to skip September, but then I saw how long it had been and decided against it. I'm certain some of you (maybe 5 people in total. I think mostly bots come to my blog wanting to spread their spam) are wondering what I've been up to. Well, I am proud to announce I've finished writing the second book in the Detective Miller series, Grisly Politics . The fact that it only took me nine months to write is actually a little surprising because, 1) it felt like it was taking forever to write, and 2) my drive has been complete shit the last few month...

Whew, child! It is mid-March and I feel like I have nothing to show for it, which is so far from the truth, but I'm sure some of y'all know how it is. It looks like we might get a quote, un-quote, "normal" spring and summer this year, but we shall see. I'm headed to my first con since September 2019. It's just for a day. I want to see how everything is being handled by the coordinator of these events. If me and my apprehension feel okay with it, I might be headed to Tampa for QFX in May. I hate how everything is contingent on what this virus is going to do, but I'm going to do everything to protect myself, and try to enjoy life as best as I can.

I started typing this up while I was logged into work since I was left to my own devices, and thought it was a good time to blog. Priorities am I right? I know it has been awhile, but with Spring being sprung, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I fcked up the blog. Fricking blogger changed their customizing page and everything looks horrible, especially with all that Arial font. Psh. Moving on.... Other than that, I would like to say in my absence I have actually been productive. I slowly getting a hang of my chord changes (anchor fingers are key), but more importantly, I have been chipping away at Fate Unseen bit by bit, and I've been outlining the second--and angsty as all get out--Detective Miller book. Can I pause for a moment to talk about this second Detective Miller book for a second? Of course I can. It's my blog. All right, so when I first started this series, I planned for it to be a rom-com that was sort of inspired by JD Robb's (Nora Roberts...

Hopefully by the time I have posted this the US will have figured out who their president is. I'm sure the number of people that voted for the Orange Stain™ will get swept under the rug and people will proclaim this country has risen like a phoenix from the ash, but minorities like myself will realize that it will be nothing but a crock of shit. I've become bitter about this country, and I would apologize, but why? All right onto why I'm here—announcements all around! I finished The Adventures of Swift this week. Like actually finished writing it, and not that kind of finish where you still have like two more pages to write, but you say you're done because it's just two pages. No one else does this? Just me? Of course. It came out to 48k words, and hopefully by the time editing is done, it'll be at the 50-55k mark. Each episode doesn't go more than 10k words, and you would think that would cheat the story, but not really. I actually have a little wiggle roo...

The heading of this post doesn't pertain to all of it, but I just realized something. I have my blog set up on the RSS feeds of my Amazon author and Goodreads pages. Why am I an idiot? Because I don't fcking post. All these people could be coming to the blog and all this jazz, but why come if I haven't posted since Obama was in office ( I miss him.). Any ways, I'm going to set up a schedule and blog more frequently.  If you haven't read my prior post , Fate Unseen, the second book in The Last Pureblood series has been put on hold. I need to reevaluate my approach with it, or I need to do something differently. I won't go into it, but in my last post, everything has been explained. I'm hoping when I go back to it with fresh eyes the problem will jump out at me and I can fix it. We shall see. In the meantime, I have been working on The Adventures of Swift, which is exclusively available on my Patreon page and Gumroad . I'm up to episode 11, and I'...

It has been a full month since I've posted a blog post. There also hasn’t been a newsletter in a hot minute, but despite my absence, I am alive and well. I hope everyone reading this can say the same, if not, I'm sending some positive vibes your way. It has been a long weekend, but I saw some family I haven’t seen in eons which is a wonderful thing despite the reason why my family got together this weekend. We were missing a few members of the family, but all 10 of my grandpa's kids were there to give him a proper send off. I'm sure my grandma has some words for him since he had 2 girlfriends after her, but I'm sure he'll get back into her good graces. I’ll get to the point of this post here in a minute, but being around my family, immediate and extended, is wild. A lot of my family hasn’t seen me since I transitioned so there is a lot of “who are you?” and “who do you belong to?" and you know, I’ve got to give props to my mom for how she handles it. She te...

I was supposed to put up a true update on what I'm doing at the end of June, but then I quit being a human. Shout out to my depression and feeling 100% like crap for that one. I'm trying to work through it with my therapist so I can get back to something that look like a functional person, but it currently remains to be elusive. Onto what you actually came here for....author ramblings! Fate Unseen....Fate Unseesn...FATE UNSEEN! It's like Bloody Mary. Say it three times and it'll pop out of nowhere, or so I wished. Still editing it. My editing has been reduced to fits of trying to get it done because I have lost all motivation for it, so I'm doing what I can. What does that mean for the book coming out this year? A miracle. That's it. If I manage to publish it before the end of this year it will definitely be a miracle and I'm gonna have me some peach Jim Beam and tea to celebrate. My struggle with editing has nothing to do with the story itself because once ...

Oh, man, trying to write a blog post has been a challenging thing for me this month. Hopefully this round will stick. I hope we're all doing okay and keeping safe out there. I know some states are opening up, and I hope those of you that are affected by that are doing the best you can to keep yourselves and your inner circle healthy and minimize your exposure. I'm not going to say anything further because if I do, it's not going to be nice and next thing I know the NSA is coming to me saying, "We just wanna talk to you." In the last iteration of this post, I had no updates. That all changed on Monday. Fate Unseen was returned to me after being in my editor's very capable hands. Let's give a shout out to my editor who has worked tirelessly to get this back to me in a timely fashion despite everything going on personally and pandemically. She is a wonderful lady. Now the ball is back in my court. Normally when my editor sends a manuscript back to me, I...

I would say happy New Year, but at this point, it would be supremely awkward. I honestly have no idea where this month has gone, but here we are. Just a quick blog post to let everyone know I'm alive. Fate Unseen is getting put out of its misery this weekend, if not the beginning of next week. I have taken some time off from work to dedicate my life to it, so that is exciting. Once I get it to my editor, I'll be doing a cover reveal. Newsletter subscribers will see it first, and a few days later, I'll make a blog post about it. I hope I don't forget to do that, but I'm sure someone will keep me on track. Teaser chapters will be posted on my Patreon once I review my editor's edits. If I'm happy with the chapter, it'll go up as soon as I'm done with my review. Remember, I only put out 3 teaser chapters. For book release time frame, I am looking at April or May. Way later than I wanted it to be, but that's fine considering how much I was str...

I know. December is almost over, and I have been incognitus. For you Last Pureblood fans, you can blame your second book. That's right, it's your second book because I am completely through with it. Through. No major updates today, just thought I'd make a blog post for the month. I'm still elbow deep in typing up my edits for Fate Unseen . Next week will be beyond wonderful because I will have so much time to finish doing that. I might even make some hot cocoa to celebrate. As soon as the edits are typed up, it'll go to my editor. Also at that same time, I'll be doing a cover reveal, and I might have a ball park time frame for a release date. Keyword there is ball park. I know I said by the end of first quarter it would be out, but I'm sort of leaning for an April release just because that's when the first Avery Lawson book came out. So, it would be like, "Oh, here's the second book. Two. Years. Later." Y'know? I've been going...

I live! I live! I know it has been a long time since I put up a blog post. I'm so delayed with this that I'm only doing one post this month. I know I put out the newsletter, but I feel like blogging is more intimate. I can ramble a bit, and don't feel like I'm being annoying. With the newsletter I feel like I am even though it comes out once a month. But enough about me and my thoughts. I have the greatest news ever! I finished the first round of edits for Fate Unseen, which is book 2 of the Last Pureblood series. Next up for me is....more editing! Which is actually me typing up the edits from the first round since I do those by hand, but I also keep looking for ways to tweak the story, and make sure it's consistent and makes sense. But this second round of edits shouldn't be as strenuous as the first ones since I'm not taking a blob of story and turning it into something that you all would want to read. Because I feel confident that the second round of...

Just some quick announcements while I'm jotting them down on my notepad while listening to "We Don't Need Another Hero" by Tina Turner. First up, and I'm being so serious about this one right now that I've put on my serious face. Okay, here we go, you will want to sign-up for my newsletter . I have a surprise for my newsletter subscribers in November, and it comes in the form of a snippet from Fate Unseen, the next Last Pureblood book. I know some of you have been waiting anxiously for this book, so I'm throwing out a morsel while I continue to gut this story and transform it into something that isn't total shit. Oh, this also reminds me that the first Last Pureblood book, Avery Lawson: The Last Pureblood , is on sale where ever it's available . This sale will only last until the end of the month, so go get it while it's still cheap. Next up, is this month's giveaway. It's close to being the end of the month, and if you haven...

I failed in getting that last September blog post up. I had it drafted and everything, but I never got to posting it. Full stop, I've been in a meh mood lately. I'm not sure if it's because of the weather change or if I'm doing too much, but I think I am getting out of it, and I am making progress. Before I get into everything, a couple of announcements. First, because it's spooky month, Avery Lawson: The Last Pureblood on the sale the entire month. I know it's not really a scary book, but the themes of it go quite well with the month. Witches, vamps, werewolves....they own October. Go grab a copy if you haven't yet. Next order of business, I have enlisted Reappearance of Summer in a lesfic/wlw fiction giveaway . I think it is among some great company, and you should check out the other authors' books. Go get yourself a free book. This won't be the last time I mention it. Okay, I have been editing book 2 of the Last Pureblood series, also kno...

Is it just me, or does the last four months of the year seem to fly by? We are halfway through September, and this is my first blog post for the month. August ended so fast, I didn't get to post a second one, but I am on it this month. Maybe. I think. Anyways, despite my inability to grasp the concept of time, I have been busy editing Fate Unseen, the second book in the Last Pureblood series. I want to lock myself in a room until I have it done, but life and work have other plans for me. However, I'm going to focus a lot of my time on getting it done. It is shaping up to be an interesting read. When the second book starts, there really is no breather from the last one, so if you don't remember what happened in the last one then you'll need to re-read it because I don't do any recapping in the second book. I'm too busy trying to move the story forward lol. Expect teaser chapters for Fate Unseen in November, and hopefully by the time I start posting those, ...

The month has completely passed me by and I feel like September will do the same. Oh, boy. Thought I'd make a quick blog post before the month finishes out. Tomorrow, August 26th, Murderous Profession will be out on Kindle and Smashwords! I'm still working on the paperback formatting, but that should be out in a week or two. Between life and work, time just got away from me. Lame excuse, but it's surprising how busy I was in August. But anywhoo, grab yourself a copy of the book and tell me what you think about it. I found it to be a quick read and entertaining, as did my editor. Of all the characters, I have a fondness for Dax and Billy. I had a fun time writing them. I know some of you are waiting with bated breath for the next Avery Lawson book, and I am actively editing it as we speak, however, I'm taking the tortoise route with it--slowly but surely. I don't want to miss something that should have been mentioned in this one, or I mention something that shoul...

August is, literally, days away. Isn't that crazy? Hopefully everyone had a good July — ate some good food, went on vacation, and enjoyed the AC. With July ending it means the official countdown for the release of Murderous Profession begins. Pre-orders went on sale on the 7/24 at Amazon . The book is set to be released on the 8/26, so go pre-order your copy and you can have the book delivered to your device at the stroke of midnight. I'm going to redo my pinned tweet because I think it fell a little short. It's a learning process this self-promotion thing. Barring any major complications, like network failure and my computer shitting the bed, the book is set to be released on time. Which is a major thing for me since I have an issue with keeping realistic deadlines. Paperback copies of the book will probably come a week or two later. It depends on some formatting and printing issues. I always strive to get the best version of the book out to everyone, so I'm not g...