Bursting onto the scene with a whimper, not a bang
Well, I am here. You are probably reading this, my first post, weeks, if not months after I posted it. It’s fine, I am not mad. Look, as a writer (I can say that now, right?) I am not going to get all full of myself. I am almost 45 and I have been writing since I was at least 12. I remember talking to my stepfather when I was 14 and telling him that I wanted to get a degree in psychology so I could be a better writer. He laughed at me, in that shrill cackle that I grew to resent, and called me a “fuck-stick”. I actually don’t know if he called me a fuck-stick this time in particular, but he employed the term enough that it’s barely a lie if he didn’t this one time. It would be dishonest to say this gave me humility, but truly I am going to be happy to have you around, dear reader.
Let’s make a deal, you and I. I am just getting started. The thought of social media, and managing my brand, and all of that sounds tedious. I get it. I am not supposed to say that. It’s not that I don’t want to interact with each and every person that I connect with through this work, it’s just that it sounds so impersonal. So, let’s start here. For now, at least, I want to keep it one way. I will post on my blog. You can read it. I have metrics turned off so I don’t even know how many people are here.
We’re just warming up though. I have big plans, and I probably have plans I have not even made yet. To start, I want to write a chapter of a novella I will promise to web-publish each week. I think I will make my first novella or two free and see if people like what I do. I think after that I am going to start selling these web-published stories for a few bucks. You see, I have MUCH bigger plans. I already have three novels outlined and two of them started. But I don’t want to start with these rough works and then have to retcon a bunch of things because I rushed it and didn’t do it right. But I also don’t want to get stuck in this planning paralysis until I die. I’ll get there. Just need to flex those muscles.
As I add to my library, I want to create a space for people who want to follow my work…. I am really going to struggle with “Fans”. Let’s just say, I want to make it easier for people who are enthusiastic about what I do. I was thinking a discord. Maybe a youtube channel where I talk about the world in some kind of vidoc format. Maybe some kind of Live Q&A. All possibilities.
My goals, ultimately, are to write the stories you like and for you to like them enough to pay me to do it. I’m willing to grow to get there too. I’ll be sharing work regularly as I build momentum — sometimes it’ll be a short piece, sometimes a chunk of a longer project. I am still considering some different ways I might leverage this, my online presence. I may do a limited run of ‘Episodes’ over some number of weeks. Twelve sounds about right. It’s like a season of TV, though I’ll let it evolve if it needs to. As I build up a cadence, I may begin interacting with folks who show an interest in interacting with me. I have not decided yet how I wish for this to happen, but I’ll give it some thought.
I am excited to be here, I hope as I develop this world, and these projects you will be as excited to read it as I am to write it for you. As I add to this blog, I expect I’ll want to talk more about what I am writing rather than how I am writing but really, this is all about what’s going on in my head as it relates to my work. It shall be an adventure for everyone!
Until next time!
