“New Year… New Me?”

        Am I fundamentally different person as 2015 begins?       

        This may come as a surprise to some of you but before I started working at the day job (at night) I was a morning person. I loved getting up with the sun, watching some TV, and getting my kids off to school. Even when I worked at Toys R Us I went in before the sun came up and I was able to enjoy a life that took place during the hours of daylight as opposed to when the vampires, hookers, and serial killers came out. As much as I loved working for the living dead at the retirement community, and in the spirit of complete honesty I really miss the people who live there, the hours were slowly but surely killing me. Or at the very least I was aging two years every one that passed. I've been a stay at home dad/full-time writer for just over a week now and I've gotten up little earlier every day... unexpected bonus.

        So as I’ve stated across the entire social media sphere over the last two weeks I quit my day job on the morning of Christmas Eve. Now to be fair I’d given three weeks’ notice a week earlier and my last day was supposed to be January 6th so it wasn’t like I caught them completely unaware… and if I did then good, I only wish I could have seen the looks on the faces of a couple of people who seemed to think I should be kissing their ass because I had a job there. Like my dad used to say when I was a teenager, I’ll cut off my nose to spite my face if I’m mad enough. Except this time I had all of my ducks in the proverbial row before I pulled the trigger on the decision.

        So I guess it sucks to be them.

        I took most of the reminder of last week off from writing so I could enjoy the holidays. I hit the ground running on Monday and haven’t stopped. Between writing, editing, formatting, and taking care of the business end of being a publisher I’ve been belly button deep in work and I’ve loved every fucking second of it. I am still trying to get things organized and running as efficiently as possible but every day things are better and more fulfilling.     Am I bragging?

        Maybe a little but it’s not intentional. What I’m doing now is substantially harder than punching a clock for $11.50 an hour slinging a mop and pushing a vacuum at the old job. That being said it never feels like work, except for writing book blurbs I’d give two toes or one finger (not a thumb) to have a monkey that can take care of that.

        So what’s next?

        To put it simply I have to increase my revenue stream. Just because I’ve reached a level of income to justify going fulltime it’s still a pay cut. Ask anyone in the Indie Writer Community, more than ever it’s a publish or perish world and we’re all competing for a limited pool of readers. Let’s be honest I’m a midcarder. I am NOT being self deprecating or falsely humble, I love what I produce and I have built a small but inspiringly loyal reader base but I’m one guy slugging it out with people I really like and respect for the same dollars. It’s hard but it’s rewarding.

        Next on the plate is finishing FRANLENSTEIN KING OF THE DEAD BOOK 2. The first draft will be done by Friday and off to my awesome editor Jennifer at Gypsy Heart Editing.

        After that I continue my DARK EARTH series on Free Story Fridays (www.freestoryfriday.com).

        Following Frank 2 I dive back into my GI JOE story for Kindle Worlds. I know some of my regular readers don’t care about that story but it’s a labor of love and it’s brought a whole new group to my work. Plus it’s a childhood dream, I writing mother fucking GI JOE!

        Then?

        THE PRESERVE SEASON 3.0 is already chambered and ready.

Now for the biggest change of the year, deep breath this has been a hard decision for me to make. I will no longer be writing serials, the exceptions are the tales on Free Story Friday. I give those free for seven days and consider them a gift to my readers. So when the next Preserve comes out it will be a complete work.

        After the Preserve I jump head first into SUMMER CAMP OF THE DEAD SEASON 3. My kids at the camp make me happy and I already miss writing Bob the Bear even though it’s only been a couple of months since I finished season 2. I’m also till working on the BOB THE BEAR book on the side with scenes from Summer Camp and new materials.

        After all of that work, which should be done by March, I make my return to THE SHORES OF THE DEAD universe and my survivors on Isle Royale. This cycle will be another trilogy and I am unsure if it’ll be the last books in the series or not. That being said I’ve been growing the new cycle of stories for two years and the scope will be kinda epic.

        Then I start back over and Jump into Frank 3.

        While I’m doing all of that, and let me honest and shame the devil none of that actually feels like work, I will be knee deep in other things. These essays will continue. Writing them is a pallet cleanser or maybe a better analogy is they are like warming up before going on a run. Whenever writing fiction gets hard I do this and things loosen up. There are also several audio books in pipe, a handful of novellas I want to write for my various lines, and I have two authors signed with the company and want two more by the end of the year.

        Let’s also remember the convention circuit. I loved Gen Con and hope to be able to return as exhibitor. I am also tentatively planning on attending at least two more conventions as a vendor but we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out for me.

        Alright Boils and Ghouls that’s all I have for today. I need to get back to Frankenstein and his mission to save the world from the Great Old Ones (yes you read that right) and rescue his beloved. This year feels like it’s going to be fantastic!

        - Josh