Okay, first up, the Rider’s Revenge series is now available in Kindle Unlimited. AND I’ve dropped the prices while it’s in there to 99 cents for Rider’s Revenge, $2.99 for Rider’s Rescue and for Rider’s Resolve, and $6.99 for the entire trilogy. So if you were holding off on starting or finishing the series because you didn’t want to pay the full price for the books, you can now get them at a nice discount.

My apologies in advance to anyone who isn’t an Amazon customer. It’s a tricky world to navigate for authors like myself because Amazon requires us to not list our books anywhere else if we put them in KU. It’s highly unfair but they dominate the market and no one is checking their power so they get to do that to little authors like me and to customers.

A KU term is three months and I expect, barring some crazy unforseen surge in borrows on these books, that I will bring them back out to all stores sometime in June. So if you’re a KU reader, you have three months to borrow the books. If you’re not a KU reader and not an Amazon reader, they’ll likely be back wide in June and I’ll keep those prices low or set them that low for at least the first month they’re back wide so you too can get that deal.

Now, for the state of me. What am I up to? Will I ever write another fantasy novel again? Seriously. Come on now. What is up with that?

So. December 2021 I was gearing up to write a new fantasy novel. It was a novel that I felt required a sort of stepping away from the world so I’d started snoozing 90% of the folks I know on Facebook and I’d left author groups that can suck up my time and I was wrapping up one non-fiction book before I dedicated 2022 to the new fantasy novel.

And then…The Marshall Fire happened. I live in Colorado and at the time of that fire I lived right in the center of it all. I was very lucky. My home was spared. My dog and I left at noon so that we didn’t even see flames which made it to within a couple hundred feet of our front door. But it was still a lot to deal with.

We were out of our place for weeks because it needed to be thoroughly cleaned before it could be lived in again. And then just walking around and seeing an entire neighborhood that was gone that we used to walk through on our morning walks…

There was no direction from my home that had been spared. It was everywhere. And while nature is incredibly resilient and grass was growing over the burnt ground within weeks, even though it was February, those homes were still gone.

So that deep dive into an optimistic novel (that coincidentally was meant to start with a burned out village) didn’t happen.

Instead I wrote a bunch of non-fiction and turned that into video courses. And then did a lot of audio for some of my other stuff that’s published under other pen names. (Scroll down on this page and you’ll find my speculative fiction short stories written under the name M.H. Lee that are now available in audio, including on YouTube.)

I also wrapped up a cozy mystery series I’d been writing over the last couple years that had one last title it needed.

It was a year of what I called “closing loops”, which basically meant wrapping up all of my outstanding projects. The last cozy, the final title in a non-fiction series, etc. Wiping the slate clean, so to speak.

Of course, at the end of last year I sort of opened a couple new ones, but honestly as I sit here typing this right now I could stop on everything that’s ongoing and no one would probably say a thing about it.

For example, I just published books about Word and Excel 365 and I had planned to write ones on PowerPoint and Access, but nobody is clamoring for those. So if I don’t write them now, no one will mind. I probably do need to finish recording the audio of the cozy series now that I’m four books in on it, but again, no one is beating down my door for it RIGHT NOW. And those each take about a week so are a good thing to put between writing new material.

Which means theoretically I could finally get around to writing a new fantasy novel. And I have so many ideas that have been percolating, just waiting to be written.

The problem is, I’ve been trying to write full-time for the last few years. Hence the amount of non-fiction I write because for me non-fiction sells better, at full-price, and consistently whereas fiction tends to sell when promoted at a discount or requires a much more steady and consistent production schedule than I’ve ever met.

And each time I look at those ideas I try to look at them from a “will this sell perspective” which is just not the right way to do it. Because the answer is no?

I have tons of ideas. But they’re not all in one world. And can’t be forced into one. And I know from my experience as a reader that I don’t always follow authors to new worlds. I loved Pern, but those books about Acorna? No.

Also, if you hadn’t noticed, in the last few paragraphs I mentioned video courses, audiobooks, mysteries, non-fiction, and fantasy. I clearly have a focus issue. I can write a large number of things, so I do. Which keeps me entertained but is not the best way to build a sustainable income from writing.

So I’m at a crossroads.

A friend has a job opening that could be a good way to take that financial pressure off the writing. Maybe enough so that I could write one of those fantasy ideas with no care in the world for whether it sells or not.

But I know me. And I know that a job for someone else is a job that would take full priority over everything else. Last time I took a project that was demanding I didn’t write for that entire six months. The centaur fantasy I wanted to write never happened. (And probably never will. That was pre-Rider’s Revenge and I’ve probably internalized too much of other people’s crap at this point to write it.)

The other option would be to not take that job (assuming it’s offered) and to instead hit a hard reset on the writing. Pick one fiction name and dive in 110%. Steady releases with pre-orders, etc. The whole nine. At least four books a year, ideally more. All in one world.

And that’s where I cringe. Because that’s just not me. I triple majored in college for a reason. And would’ve probably stuck around a few more years and added a few more majors if I’d been able to.

So…

I don’t know what to say. I finished the Rider’s series so my weird little brain has marked it as done and dusted so there’s no time pressure in my head to write the next fantasy novel. And I can’t find that solution to make me think the fantasy novels can turn into the way forward money-wise. If mass market paperback were in any way a viable option for self-pub maybe. But it’s not. So do I pivot to trade pub? But there are so many issues on that side of the business…

And now I’m just rambling. But this is the puzzle my mind has been turning over and over and over for months at this point.

How do I take who I am and what I’m capable of doing (or not capable of doing) and match that up with the world in which we all have to live and operate to find personal happiness and financial stability?

Haha. Sigh.

I’ll let you know when I know?

I assume if you’re reading this site that you already have Rider’s Revenge. (If not, you can get it free right now.)

But do you have all 145+ novels that are free as part of the Mega SFF promotion this weekend? It starts today and runs through the 16th. Plenty of different SFF to choose from with a page dedicated for each of the major retailers.

Also, while I’m here I wanted to do a special shout out to Lisa Blackwood (who you can find in the promo), Freebooksy, and eBookDaily who all featured Rider’s Revenge at some point this week in a newsletter or blog post. (Thank you!)

Good news if you somehow have not managed to read the whole Rider’s Revenge series yet, the ebook box set of the series is on sale for just 99 cents and will be until November 5th. This is a HUGE discount off of the regular price and the best price it’s ever been and is ever likely to be.

I was able to snag a Bookbub deal (which are not easy to get) and decided to take advantage of it.

So grab it while you can. And if you’ve already read the series and liked it, let others know who haven’t read it before. (I personally am weird and hate talking about the books I love with others because reading is such an individual experience for me, so I completely understand if you are that person, too, but if you aren’t and want to share with others, this is a great time to do it.)

Links: Apple, Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Google, Universal

(Also, still trying to decide what I think of the similar books listing on Google. Tolkien? Hm, no, not so much…)

First, the Rider’s Revenge Trilogy is part of Kobo’s September 40% Off Book Sale. So if you haven’t read the whole series, check that out. (Direct link to the series here and use code BOXSEPT at checkout.)

If you have already read it, there are plenty of other finished series or box sets that are on sale as well. They even have audiobooks in this one.

Second, if you need some great epic fantasy books to read that are character-driven and haven’t already discovered them, I highly recommend Michelle West. I started with The Hidden City and ended up reading all of the books in a few months, which given their size was an impressive feat. It’s a rare author who can keep readers engaged for that many books in a row.

If you do like it enough to keep going, though, do a search online to figure out the reading order because chronologically you’ll want to stop that series after book three and move to the other related series before going back to finish that one.

And finally while I’m here you may be wondering what’s up with me and writing another book. (If not, you can click away now.)

It’s a good question.

Part of the issue is that the Rider’s Revenge trilogy is complete so I don’t have this “must finish this series” self-pressure to keep going. And since no one is pestering me for more…

(It’s a weird horror I have of being one of those writers whose readers won’t leave them alone and demand the next book immediately like the author doesn’t have a life to live or their own interests in terms of what they want to write next, but being on the opposite side of that coin where people read your books but then are fine to move on and never say they want more is hard, too.)

Also, when I try to figure out the next thing to write I have about ten directions I could go but none that’s driving me. So I spend a lot of time thinking about what I would write next and developing at least three very different worlds in my head, but I haven’t started writing any of them. (Or maybe I have, actually. Or that’s another three novel ideas that were poking at me.)

The good news I guess is that I think I may finally be past the “what if someone hates me” block I had shortly after finishing the last book in the Rider’s series when I started paying too much attention to the public opinions of my SFF peers.

(Nothing directed at me personally. Just their vocal opinions of how if someone likes this book then they’re clearly a horrible person. Or if someone writes about that thing then they’re clearly a horrible person. Or seeing someone very prominent in the industry mock their self-published audiobook clients for bad writing. Things like that. It doesn’t have to be directed at me to get under my skin.)

(Honestly, I really need to stay away from watching SFF discussions on Twitter because if you do that long enough you’ll become convinced that you can’t write a single word without being some sort of -ist or horrible person. For example, I like to write about what people eat and include descriptions of their size, does that make me fatphobic? It’s hard to remember that the very small group of vocal individuals on social media are not the entirety of readers who mostly are like me and read what they like and live their lives and don’t talk much about it and don’t dive too deep on all the issues.)

Anyway.

I also know that I need to write more books under this name if I want this name to sell steady and gain fans. And that I need to do so on a regular basis. And that price promotions, etc. are key to driving sales.

But it’s all tricky when I have non-fiction that sells at full-price month in and month out and I know that one hour spent writing fantasy will earn me $X but one hour spent writing non-fiction will earn me 10 times $X.

Plus there are days where publishing can feel like swimming in a cesspool full of piranhas, so finding success at it is it’s own problem. One I’m not sure I want.

Ah, to be completely under the radar but making a very good living and getting to spend my days with my dog as my sole company…What job lets you have that?

Sorry. Probably TMI. Especially since I hate showing any weakness, negativity, etc. in public. But that’s what’s up. I am writing. I write about 325K words a year on average. Just not…this. And I honestly at this point don’t know whether I’ll suddenly write five novels next year that put onto paper all these stories I’ve been percolating in my head or whether I’ll end up writing another book about securities regulations.

First, just in case you somehow stumbled upon this blog by accident and hadn’t already at least read Rider’s Revenge or in case you have a friend who you’d really love to recommend the book to but don’t want them to spend their hard-earned money, Rider’s Revenge is free for the month of February.

Second, I’ve been playing around with creating a list of some of my favorite reads in fantasy as part of putting together an Aer.io store. If you want to check it out, it’s here.

If you read in print and are in the U.S. or Canada you can actually order the books on the site. Otherwise it’s just a good place to see a list of books I’ve enjoyed recently.

Not all are newly-published. For example, I read that entire Sharon Shinn series this year even though it’s been out for fifteen years.

I tried to only list books that were part of series where the entire series was enjoyable for me.

It’s interesting, there are a lot of books on my shelves that I liked enough to keep, but where maybe I enjoyed the first book in the series a lot and read the rest of the series but then the rest of the series didn’t work as well for me or the last book in the series didn’t nail the landing enough for me to recommend. (I’m thinking of one in particular where the multiple time lines didn’t quite come together in book five but I read the whole series.)

Also, weirdly enough there are certain authors who are almost a must-buy for me (or actually I’ve conned my mom into buying them now) who I didn’t list because even though I still read all of their books I wouldn’t actually recommend those books to others.

One of my long-time favorite authors seems to have found a love for writing characters who have difficult accents and so 90% of the dialogue in their recent books are in those accents and it’s just…a slog sometimes to get through. I still like their storytelling and characters but I would completely understand if someone picked up one of their current books and asked what I was thinking recommending it.

Also, I have a ton of favorites on my shelves from my teen years but I’m not sure they aged well so don’t want to recommend them without re-reading. I remember loving the Belgariad as a teen, but when I tried to re-read it last year it was a no for me. (There’s a scene where the knight character crushes a young lion to death when he could’ve just let it run away and it was struggling to get free and I just…No. Didn’t even register with me when I was 13 or whatever, but this time it really did.)

So, maybe there’s something there for you, maybe not. I’m always struggling to find new authors so figured I’d share in case anyone else is as well.

(And please don’t think that just because I mentioned a few things that I didn’t like as a reader that that in any way makes me think that my own writing or even what I write about is above reproach. Just like not all authors are ones that I as a reader will enjoy, I know that I am not for all readers either. Such is life.)

Also, in case anyone who reads this is an author themselves, here’s another list I put together on Aer.io of my favorite writing advice books.

I am not by nature a short story reader or writer. I prefer to get down in there and really live with a character. But every once in a while I have an idea that lends itself to a short story.

Like my recent short story, By Your Side When the Sun Sets, that was about an old dragonrider and his dragon who is starting to forget him and what to do about that which was inspired by my having an aging dog who makes me sad every time she struggles to stand up.

Usually what I do with these stories is I submit them to the Writers of the Future writing contest, maybe try a couple other short story markets, and then let them rot away on my hard drive. But I realized that I actually had enough of those short stories that I could publish them as a collection.

Now, because I view novels and short stories as two different beasts, so to speak, I put the short stories out under an old pen name of mine, M.H. Lee. But I thought I’d share the existence of the collection here just in case anyone is both a short story and a novel reader.

So if that’s you, then you can find When The Time Comes and Other Stories on major retailers. And one of the stories, The Taste of Memory, which is about creativity and trauma and memory, you can read for free.

(Because this is 2020 and nothing is simple this year, the story collection is stuck in publishing on Nook but will hopefully push through. Of course, I’ve been saying that since the 15th. And the short story is currently free everywhere but Amazon but I have asked nicely so that could change at any moment as well. I tell ya, the writing is actually the easy part of this gig.)

I just deleted my Twitter account. I’ve decided that Twitter and I just do not mix well. It’s not a social hangout for me and recently all I was posting about was COVID-19 awareness. (It’s serious folks. Stay home when you can, wear a mask when you can’t.) Before that I’d been on something like a two-year break from the place because I find the environment relatively toxic.

And with so much cancelling happening in SFF right now I really had no interest in going through the list of everyone I’ve followed over time and deciding whether their transgressions were legitimate enough for me to unfollow them or not. So I’m done.

It’s a great place to get the most current information on issues but it’s also very unfiltered in terms of “does this perpetuate stress or harm to others” and I just quite frankly find it exhausting. Keep enjoying it if it’s for you, but you won’t find me there anymore.

(And the only reason I post this is because I think they reuse user names after a period of time so I don’t want there to be any confusion out there about my having a Twitter account.)