Hello internet. 

So I suppose I can check off yet another one of those things that people tell me I’m supposed to do to market myself.  Blogging.  Yay.  Now I get to actually do even more stuff that isn’t really writing that people aren’t going to read.

So I suppose I should probably go into some details about what this blog is actually going to be about.  Well, it should come as no surprise to anyone who is even remotely aware of who I am that, yes, it’s self promotion.  That’s what 90% of blogging is really, and I don’t see any point in denying that.  But I don’t think that necessarily means that I can’t have a bit of fun with it too while desperately trying to convince you to buy Shadows of Time books.

Which leads me into the next bit I’m going to talk about.  As everyone who as sent me e-mails in the past year since I released Probable Outcome on Kindle will no doubt be pleased to hear, I have finally relented and releasing a copy of the book in print format.  And even better, the book should be released within a week or so.  Because I procrastinate a lot when it comes to doing this kind of stuff, and because I hate finding out that the next book I’m looking forward to is actually a full year away (I’m looking at you David Weber, George R. R. Martin, Robert Jordan… oh, wait, Wheel of Time is finished now.  Never mind.) at least as much as you do.

Unfortunately, as often happens, I currently find myself having hit a bit of a snag.  See, when I woke up this morning, I was determined that I was going to get this thing done.  I’d proofed all 800 some pages of the book, had some greatly improved cover art, redone the blurb on the back, and had a marketing strategy in place.  It was time to bring it all together.  Which is exactly what I did, which is why right now someone is reviewing all of it to make sure it’s printable.

Unfortunately they have no idea whatsoever that I just five minutes ago found a typo on the back cover.  There’s a word I’d like to use to describe my reaction to that, but I’d like to avoid getting cross listed with search results for adult content on the first blog post.

So yeah, not really my finest moment.  But rather appropriate.  The original Kindle release of the book was plagued with errors (as many of you who picked it up know) due to my constantly switching between computers running different versions of Word.  Half of what was supposed to be italicized wasn’t (which is really important when the use of italics are meant to indicate when someone is talking through a cranial mounted transceiver as opposed to out loud where everyone can hear what they’re saying) and words tended to relocate themselves almost at random.  Some even appeared several places at once.

The result of this is that I have now had to completely re-read my monster of a novel at least a dozen times by now just to confirm that nothing got missed.  Generally this takes about a month, during which my output of new content for the upcoming SOT3 slows to a trickle.  All of a sudden George R. R. Martin looks to be moving absurdly fast from where I’m standing.

So to summarize: I’ve got a blog, Probable Outcome will be coming out very soon, and tomorrow I am likely to make a proof-reader feel extremely frustrated when he signs off on what should be the final proof only to have me immediately veto it in favor of a version where the only change is that there is one more P on the back cover. 

Spell check, kids.  It saves lives.