It is still early days for this website, but I want to lay out what will be happening over the next few months. In part, this is to let you know what I’m up to, but it also helps with accountability. I’ve been writing seriously for about eighteen months now, and I know that this is only the start. I’m learning so much. There’s always more than I can do to improve my writing, and feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of the whole publishing and marketing stuff. I want to get better, and there’s the urge to wait until I’ve improved just that bit more, or until the time feels right to upload an e-book file. But I’m procrastination, and if I keep waiting, these stories will languish on my hard drive and never have the chance to be found by anyone.

I don’t want that. As scary as it is, I want others to read what I’ve written. So I need to stop waiting. I need an incentive to get these stories out there, and making a public declaration of this intention will give me the kick up the backside I need.

So, here goes. This is the plan:

• By the end of August, I will release the first two novels in the Dominions series — Dark Glass and Dead Flesh. I’ll get these up on Amazon, Kobo, and wherever else I can. I will bring out the third novel, Deep Water, some time in October or November. I already have covers, and you can see the first one here.
• To coincide with the release of the first two books, I will have a free short story available on this website (Gatekeeper — A Dominions Prologue), either to read on-line or to download.
• I will also start a mailing list. I realise I’m an unknown, and so I will offer a free, exclusive novella (Control), again set in the Dominions universe, for anyone signing up.
• I need to keep this website live, so I’ll aim to post something every week, although I might fall back to every couple of weeks (I’d like to do more, but I’m working on another book, and there’s the day job, and the family, and all the other life stuff that gets in the way). Sometimes this will be thoughts on what I’ve been reading, or how the writing’s going, or something else connected with books and stories. But I will also write more short stories, between 500 and 1000 words, specifically for this website.

And that’s it. Four steps to start my publishing adventure.

When I put it down like that, it doesn’t look too bad. I can do this. I just need to get the novels formatted, sort out the back and front matter, write some of the web content and make sure it’s edited, sort out the mailing list, upload the novels, make sure all the links work, carry on with the next novel, figure out where I’m going to get money for more editing and covers, try to sleep, tear my hair out (oops, too late for that), make time for the family, and keep smiling.