Novel Dog

Thanks for stopping by my blog. For the latest about me, look below:

November 19, 2022:
After a long hiatus, I’m back at the keyboard.

August 7, 2020:
We just wrapped up another NILA Writers Cider Toast, a tiny writing conference on Whidbey Island. Brilliant speakers brought incisive content. The draft of Way of the Giant continues, and after nine years, I redesigned the cover of my very first indie-published book:

June 12, 2020:
It’s been a rough few months for everyone. I’ve been in survival mode since February, but life will get better next week when my summer schedule kicks in. Good news: I’m drafting New World 4: Way of the Giant. Look for that in the fall.

January 2, 2020:
Happy New Year! First, I have a narrator for New World! Get ready to hear Scott Hart bring Bogg and Simon (and ORMIR) to life. And the fourth book of the Tales of the New World series is on the board, so we’ll catch another glimpse of the wilds of Mira this year. Scribblings under a pen name continue, and the NILA Writers are already talking about Cider Toast 2020.

August 10, 2019:
Last weekend’s Cider Toast was a perfect writers conference — full of big ideas, useful tips, new connections, and old friends. As a co-founder, I’ve got some mopping up to do (that means Kickstarter rewards to deliver). Otherwise, I’m still trying to find that unique audio producer who can speak in Bogg’s voice.

July 12, 2019:
I spent the morning listening to voice actors attempt to read Boggisms, and it’s a bizarre experience! So the New World audiobook project is proceeding. I also finished a novel for a pen name, and am getting my talk ready for the Cider Toast: “Indie Author 2019.”

May 7, 2019:
Our Kickstarter for the Cider Toast got funded! So there’s plenty of righteous work to do between now and August. In other news, I’m looking into turning New World into an audio book… and writing 1000 words per day, too (on a project TBA).

February 21, 2019:
This month I’m working on a Kickstarter to fund the next Cider Toast, a writer’s conference on Whidbey Island.

December 15, 2018:
Here Be Dragons, the third book in the Tales of the New World series, is set up for pre-order on Amazon! If you want to see Simon and Bogg go up against a VERY large enemy, check it out.

November 4, 2018:
My writer’s group, the Legion of Plume, has been chewing on Here Be Dragons. Meanwhile, I’m writing a novel using my evil-twin pen name, and it’s set in SPACE! (I love space.) I promise the internet that Here Be Dragons will be out before the end of the year. The Ninja Girl series, by the way, is now available everywhere.

I’ve been writing faster, and it feels really good.

April 20, 2018:
The draft of Here Be Dragons: Tales of the New World, Book 3 is finished! Stay tuned for more of Bogg, Simon and Lisandra (and Ormir) later in 2018.

November 20, 2017:
The second book of the Ninja Girl series is available for pre-order on Amazon! It’s called Ninja Girl 2: Women in Black.

Halloween, 2017:
I sold a short story under a pen name to Compelling Science Fiction! If you want to see some hard SF about a down-and-out asteroid miner who finds something surprising, take a look.

May 21, 2017:
A little working here, a little writing there, and it’s almost summer! I’ve got the land of Mira and quite a few ninjas dueling in my subconscious while I write some controversial short stories under a pen name. More on these later, I hope. Meanwhile, The 9 Wiles has a new cover!

February 22, 2017:
(Steve is writing in his cave. Shh! Don’t disturb him.)

November 30, 2016:
The manuscript of Ninja Girl 2: Women in Black is finished and I must admit, it reads pretty well! I took Nanowrimo off and enjoyed some casual editing and serious naps. Now, I’ll need to find a cover artist who likes drawing ninjas.  While you wait, you can take a look at book one on Amazon, Apple, and B&N (it’s free).

August 16, 2016:
Both New World and Hair of the Bear will be included in a StoryBundle available now until September 8. If you like the Tales of the New World, I bet you will like these other “weird western” authors: James Derry, Joe Bailey, Gemma Files, Lindsay Buroker, J. Patrick Allen, Kyra Halland, Kenneth Mark Hoover, and Judith Tarr.

February 7, 2016:
The anthology is out! It’s called Swords for Hire: A Frontier Fantasy and Medieval Western Story Anthology, and it’s available on Amazon. Other markets to follow. Congratulations to the other authors: Derek Alan Siddoway, James Downe, and Chris Adams!

October 27, 2015:
I just finished a short story set ten years before New World, to be published in an anthology of frontier and western fantasy early next year. In it, we catch a glimpse of a younger Bogg. A pair of Algolan adventurers seek the source of the vivets’ gold, and Bogg is… less than helpful.

April 17, 2015:
Sequels, sequels. I’m working on Ninja Girl 2, with a working title of Women in Black. Book Three in the New World Tales (the adventures of Simon and Bogg) will be called Here Be Dragons. Watch out for Ormir’s return in that one. Meanwhile, Ninja Girl is free on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

December 15, 2014:
Ninja Girl is out! Published under the leaner pen name of S. W. White, it’s a young-adult urban fantasy with magical powers, secret societies, and one tough heroine. A print edition and broader ebook distribution are coming soon; for now, you can find it on Amazon.

October 5, 2014:
I started Ninja Girl in 2012, set it aside to finish Read No Evil, then set it aside to write Hair of the Bear. It’s been baking for almost three years… and will finally be out this winter.

July 1, 2014:
Hair of the Bear is out! Here it is at Amazon and Smashwords. It’s the sequel to New World, so if you haven’t seen that, grab it for free (Amazon | Smashwords).

January 12, 2014:
I completed the draft of Hair of the Bear: New World Book II a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m editing like mad, hoping it can go live in a few weeks. Almost… there…

September 22, 2013:
I graduated with my MFA last month, and nowadays my life is about wordcount. Good times for a writer. I’m closing on Act III in the New World sequel (which has a working title of Hair of the Bear), and I’ve posted some of that young-adult fantasy, Ninja Girl, at Wattpad.

April 2, 2013:
A story related to Read No Evil is well underway, and in an unusual format: the main character is sharing her experiences in real time on Twitter. There’s already a link in the novel to that Twitter account, and when the story is finished, it will exist as a strange sort of companion tale.

Yesterday I started drafting the sequel to New World.

February 16, 2013:
The young-adult fantasy, book one of a trilogy, is off to some new beta readers who are fiction MFA candidates and very smart cookies. Up next: I’m starting work on the sequel to New World. Returning to Mira is going to be fun!

January 10, 2013:
I’m a day or two from finishing the first draft of a new young-adult fantasy novel. That’s an exciting time for a writer! I don’t want to let slip the title yet, but here’s a tagline: “She’s hip. She’s smart. She’s faster than a speeding bullet.”