Now that the beta readers are done and comments made, it’s time to wrap up Shadows of Atlantic City to have it published in the next week or two. It’s about a month later than I wanted, but at least it’s virtually done. Just a few minor tweaks and a test print of the cover to go.
I would have worked on the book more this week, but I had a long list of things that needed to be done. It wasn’t like I was sitting on my ass twiddling my thumbs. On the contrary, I’ve been immensely busy this week.
Nonetheless, it looks as though I can get some quality time with the book starting this weekend.
More Than Two Years in the Making
I’ve been working on Shadows of Atlantic City since I started the Reedsy masterclass on November 1st, 2023. So far, I’m averaging a new book every two years, which is quite slow, considering all of the stories I want to tell.
Life has a way of interfering with even the best laid plans. But, as I’ve said multiple times at WriterSanctuary, success is also determined by how well you persevere when things go south.
No matter what kind of professional you want to become, there will always be times when things seem to fall apart. How you handle those situations builds character and knowledge. They can be used to help strengthen your resolve to accomplish something great.
Not all situations are going to be one-and-done, though. Sometimes, it can take months or even years to settle something important. By staying the course and weathering the storms and waves that come your way, you can keep the ship afloat regardless of what the ocean tosses at you.
Sure, I could have used AI to help write the book. But then it wouldn’t be my story. There are a lot of reasons why I’ll never use generative AI to write a single line of text, but the two most prominent are: a) AI takes away from the best part of being an author, the writing, and b) I want to tell my stories, not what an algorithm thinks I want.
So, yes, I’ll take two years to publish a book rather than rush one out. I am currently working on the means that will give me more time to focus on novels. But until then, I’ll have to make do with what time I have available.
However, I have a feeling 2026 is going to be much different for writing books. Not only am I working through my bachelor’s program, but I might have a few things developing that might give me some of that extra time back.
In any case, Shadows of Atlantic City should be published very soon, and I’m excited. It’s easily one of my best works to date, and I plan on tossing a few bucks at it for advertising. I might even consider hiring a professional marketer.
Blogs and Videos
The blogs and videos have been somewhat lacking over the past few weeks. I’ve had to shift priorities a few times, and because they make the least amount of money for me, they were further down the list.
Family, clients, and school work come first.
On the upside, my oldest son wants to help with the video content. He’s calling it an “internship” while learning the different things he can do with video editing. As soon as I record the next video, I’ll give him a copy so he can experiment and learn what I want for video content.
Editing videos probably takes the most time compared to everything else I try to manage throughout the week. It can take up to two and a half hours to edit down an eight-minute video. A lot of that is because I stumble and stammer through my words.
I’m a much better writer than I am a speaker, at least when it comes to recording a video.
Anyway, if he can get the software down and take some of that off my shoulders, that would free up a lot of time to work on other projects. Then, we can probably start looking at recording videos to get Crossing Colorado and ColoradoPlays monetized on YouTube.
As for the blogs, I’ll have to see about getting a few slices of time here and there for some content. I would say some of the dust is starting to settle, but October is going to be a crazy month for me. Off the top of my head, I am publishing Shadows, I have a book signing on October 4th, I am going on vacation to Bangor, Maine, on the 17th, and I have midterms.
Not to mention the fact that it’s Halloween! I still need to do a bit more shopping at Spirit and get my sidewalk lights set up.
What’s Next?
After Shadows is published, and I spend some time marketing the book, the plan is to finish the first draft of Fury. It’s nearly done as it is, so it shouldn’t take me a couple of weeks to wrap it up. Then, while the beta readers are going over that book, I will finish VII on Wattpad and Skeletal on Inkitt.
At some point this year, I’d love to enter a few writing contests. But I want to make sure all of my side quests are done before taking on another. I’m tired of having partially-written manuscripts scattered across the Internet.
I would also love to write a few pieces of fan fiction, and was debating on creating a serial story on a paid Substack.
I know, that sounds like an awful lot. And when you’re trying to balance freelancing, college, and family amongst the projects, it can get quite chaotic. So, I’m not giving myself a deadline for certain tasks. At this point in time, a deadline is just meaningless until I can free up some of my time.
Having my son edit the videos would go a long way to doing that, though.