My Journeyman Project: OF THE DARK

If you drill down through the archives, you will find the occasional mention of my series OF THE DARK, from talking about its beginnings to its eventual publication.

The ideas for OF THE DARK (fondly known to me at OTD) started when I was in High School in the 80's. What would become "God of the Dark" was the third novel I'd ever written, when I was still figuring myself out as an author.  I used it to work out everything about the craft, from how to outline, how to develop characters, and how to develop plots (which is why OTD ended up being a trilogy). It took me years.

Towards the end of university, I discovered the [then] Del Rey Online Writing Workshop, and spent many years there refining my craft. While I did work on other novels and plenty of short stories, the majority of my work ended up being on the OF THE DARK series. I went from being an apprentice author to a journeyman in skill, capable of being published (albeit short stories, etc).  I networked and got to know lots of fellow authors, many of whom have gone on to make writing careers for themselves.

While working on OTD, I worked on other projects as well. It's not good to devote so much time (aka years) on a single work. I wrote and published "As Good As Gold", "For Richer, For Poorer", "Marry Me" and "The White Feather" through The Wild Rose Press and released "Her Endearing Young Charms" as an indie project. I've got lots of other projects on the burner in various completion stages. I anticipate having at least one, and possibly three novels released in 2019.

Thanks to all my hard work on OTD, I was able to successfully and efficiently write other novels in a fraction of the time it took to get all three OTD books completed. I've managed to gain some mastery over the craft.

I attempted to get OTD published through traditional routes, but while many an agent liked my manuscript, none of them loved it enough to take it on. But I loved it and I knew others would as well, so I went indie with it.

Have you read God of the Dark? Get thee to the retail bookseller of your choice and sample the first chapter for free.


God of the Dark -  Amazon | Smashwords | Books2Read | Google Play | KoboBooks | Paperback (via Amazon)
Bride of the Dark - Amazon | Smashwords | Books2Read | Google Play | KoboBooks | Paperback (via Amazon)
House of the Dark - Amazon | Smashwords | Books2Read | Google Play | KoboBooks | Paperback (via Amazon)


While I would love for you to buy my books, if you can't or don't want to, please, by all means, ask for them at your local library (aka make them buy my books). OTD is available to libraries in both Trade paperback through IngramSpark and ebook form through OverDrive and other library distribution platforms.

Going in to Battle with Query Kombat

Since I haven't participated in a query contest since... oh, last year, I thought I'd give Query Kombat a go.

There's three hosts this year:  Laura, Michelle and Michael.  I'm familiar with Michelle from QueryWars.

So I had a look through the list of agents participating and am not sure if I should be delighted or worried that I am familiar with most of their names.  I've queried many of them in the past, only to get form rejections. I wonder if my query sucks?

There's also a Proboards Forum with all sorts of nifty helpfulness.  Hoping I can get some feedback on my query before I go into battle.

I love the OWW and have been on it for years decades, but they don't have a category for getting feedback on your query letters.


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Her Grace is ignoring her Astronomy final exam for the nonce to get some Query Kombat stuff done.

Ellen Harris-Braun - Enjoy your well-deserved rest

I was sad to hear of the passing of Ellen K Harris-Braun, a beautiful lady whose actions were instrumental in the development of my writing career.

Ellen and her husband Eric ran the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.  I've belonged to this workshop since it first started as the Del Rey OWW, oh, nearly twenty years ago. Ellen and Eric took over from Del Rey and turned it into an extremely useful and well-respected writer's workshop.

Many a successful author passed through the OWW's digital doors and I've met many wonderful people because of it. More than half my apprenticeship and the first part of my journeymanhood was served there. I honestly can't think of any one class or group or anything else that made such a profound difference in my career.  Dr Anne Wingate got me started on my career, but Ellen & Eric's OWW kept me going.

While I've not had much time these past couple of years to spend on the workshop, My heart still belongs there. Ellen put a lot of hard work into the place and I, as well as countless other authors, are better for it.

Cancer happens. We all have someone close to us who's been affected by it. Sometimes you win the fight. Sometimes you don't. One thing cancer can  never do is erase the impact someone had on the world.

Ellen's impact was huge. I am a better person for it.  Thank you, Ellen, for your hard work.

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Her Grace

My Novel Written on a Bus: "Let Sleeping Gods Lie"

Around the turn of the millennium, I worked for a Dotcom. Oh, those heady days! Dotcom bubble, you burst too soon.

I had a fifty-minute commute to work every day.  So I took a laptop with me and wrote a novel.  Took me longer than I wanted, but I got it done.  No carsickness either.

The Goddess Lilami loves her valley and her people. When a priest from a rival god invades the sanctity of her valley, she calls upon her young priest Eahn to drive him away--but only in a way Lilami approves. (The ways of the gods are baffling.)

But the rival priest refuses to go.  He gathers a few converts to the mysterious Urunathe with vast promises of wealth and prosperity.

Lilami knows such promises will never last. But how can Eahn convince her people that Lilami's way is the only way for true happiness?

I based my worldbuilding on various South American cultures.  I love that this novel is entirely populated by People of Colour.  Not a single blond hair or blue eye in the house.

About the time I wrote this, I had been a member of the Online Writing Workshop for a while.  I'd learned so much! I can't recommend this workshop enough (or any of her contemporaries, such as Critters.org).  Critique of others' work taught me more about the Craft than any book I'd read.

It was about this time that my mastery of the Craft took a turn for the better. For the first time in... well, ever, I wrote a novel I honestly believe is publishable. Maybe I was maturing as a writer.

Just needs another editing pass or two.

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Her Grace is pleased with this novel. She will do another draft soon.