I’m dipping my toe into the Substack pool for the first time after blogging on my website The Sorcerers’ Realm for the past year. Every day for 365 days, I wrote about the craft of writing, my inspirations, works in progress, and an occasional piece of original poetry. I learned a lot about myself, and how I write. You are more than welcome to check it out!
A brief bit about me:
I grew up in Raleigh, N.C. then moved half way across the country to Ottumwa, Iowa. At 17 years old, I’d already enlisted in the US Navy. My parents had to sign an early enlistment waiver for me. After high school I went to boot camp, my first schools north of Chicago, Illinois in 1990. I Traveled across the Atlantic, toured the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and the Caribbean Sea before leaving the Navy in 2000. While in the service I visited Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and some Islands south of Florida.
I returned to Ottumwa, Iowa and started my life over while dealing with health issues that developed during my enlistment. I worked at a variety of jobs in my life besides the Navy from licensed security guard, to tax preparer, to insurance agent, to the general manager of a local night club.
All the while, I was writing. Even overseas, I had a notebook, full of ideas, scraps of stories, or poems. Once I was a civilian again and had more time, those notebooks became files on my computer. Those files eventually grew into short stories, novellas, and full length novels. The path I followed was unique and I’ve shared details of that journey on my blog.
I’ve been an avid fan of both Science Fiction and Fantasy since I read A Spell for Cameleon by Piers Anthony in the early 80’s. So, it should be no surprise that those are the genres in which I choose to write. After dabbling in Sci-Fi short stories, I’ve been consistently writing Contemporary/Urban Fantasy for the past three years. My debut novel, Fantastic America is looking for a publishing home right now.
Read an introduction to the villain of my novel here.
What you can expect in my Stack.
I’m always on the lookout for ways to grow my audience, and maybe Substack has been the answer all along. Time will tell. At least I’m willing to give new things a try. That’s what I keep telling myself in those rare moments of internal conflict. In my experience, writers tend to have a lot more of those than most people.
In my posts you can expect to read about writing. From how I approach subjects to the craft centered ways I write about them. I also share what I’m working on, highlight individual characters, settings, and events within those stories. Sometimes I write about what inspires me, from authors I enjoy reading, to movies, songs, or any other observation that fuels my imagination. Creativity in general finds an outlet in my posts. Once in a great while, I also share original poetry.
If any of that sounds good to you, I encourage you to subscribe to my Stack and enjoy the show. I have a lot to say and there may be a nugget or two of inspiration for you, whether you are a reader, also a writer, (or creative of any description) or not. I suspect I’ll be cross-posting from my original blog till I figure this Substack thing out. Until then, I hope you enjoy my sustained confusion.