Whoops!

August is almost over, and I had this post in my drafts since the beginning of the month and did not post it. Love how my brain operates.

Just a quick check in this time around. I have paused on my Fate Unseen edits to do the edits on the first book of my new novella series IFL Tales. I definitely just made that up since I don't have an official name for the series. I currently have a name for the book, but I might need to change it because there are a number of books titled with same thing, and that's a sure way for my lil ole novella to end up buried even though it's not going wide for awhile. Anyway, I created a cover few weekends ago, and got a two thumbs up from one of my favorite people who I can trust not to bullshit me, which is exciting.

I'm not sure if I've gone over what IFL Tales is about or what this first novella will be about, but I'll hold off on going into them because I want to be in my third round of edits before I do that. By that point, I know I'm pretty much one or two more edits away from releasing it. However, I will tell you all what the series is about. As we all know, well as you all are learning, I love a good series. I've got the Last Pureblood Series, The Detective Miller Series, and now this one. Avery Lawson has an end date, and Eliza and Dax will run for a minute, but I think that series will also have an end date. What I want do is pull of a series like J.D. Robb's In Death one. Like Nora Roberts has been writing those books since 1995, and is still going strong almost 30 years and 69 books later. Do I think I have that kind of staying power? No fricking clue. But what I do know is that the IFL Tales has the potential to be a number of books. Why do I think that? Because IFL Tales is going to be a set of books centered around the International Football League, which is a women's football league. The football in these books will be American football. Sorry to my non-US readers.

And while the primary bulk of the league is centered on women's football, there are offshoots of it for reasons I've planned out in other books, and you'll get a taste of in the first book. So with that in mind, I've got the makings of a decent series because the books can be centered on players of the game, coaching staff, administrative positions, and whatever else my brain develops a yen for. I've already started on the second book for this series, and I want to say I have four more stories partially outlined. Since these are novellas, they're not going to be daunting reads, but emotionally impactful. It's a bit of a challenge for myself considering my writing has taken a bit of weird turn here lately.

Anyway that's all I have to say about IFL Tales (definitely need a better name), but if you''re intrigued and want to be the first to have it, go to my Ko-Fi page and follow it, or you can sign-up for my newsletter.

Once I'm done with my novella edits, I'll get back to Avery Lawson and her wily ways. Before I started working on my novella, I got in a good place with it mentally, so I'm excited to get back to it and knock it out. Because while I know what's going on in the second book, I don't feel safe starting the third one until I get that under my belt. It's a nit-picky consistency thing with me. I don't want to include something in the third book from the second book, which I might have taken out in the 6th round of edits. It could change the whole vibe.

Anywho, I want to say that is it for now, but stay tuned because I actually have something coming out and hopefully this year. Depends on what my editor's schedule looks like. 

Remember to review the books you read, especially those from indie and self-published authors.

Until next time...

-DJ Small

I Live!

It's been 9 months since I've posted anything, and my goodness am I sorry. I've been in such a hole and have been trying so hard to dig myself out of it that I've completely let everything slip away from me. Which, in all honesty is a disservice to the people who are out there waiting for me to come out with something new or pick up on one of my series. While I know I have no obligation to put out stories and what not, it does make me feel shitty. At least from a reader's standpoint. As a writer, I know I can keep writing for myself because I've been doing that for decades now, but as a reader to get invested in an author and have them just vanish is a little upsetting. So, I want to apologize for the vanishing act and I will try to get better at it.

Let's talk about a huge thing though. I didn't realize how many people followed my author pages on Goodreads, Amazon, and Smashwords. It's not a big number or anything, but there are a number of people following me, which is good to know because I am no longer on Twitter. I can't condone whatever the hell is going on over there, so I left. I did join Mastodon, but not everyone is on there, so if you're looking for me, your best bet is on Facebook. Another tech cesspool, but everyone is there. Just click the link and you'll be taken to my page so like it! I also recommend that you sign up for my newsletter. Yes, it's still around. I'll probably send out a e-mail to current mailing list suscribers go check and see if people still want to receive it. If not, they can unsubscribe from it. I'm going to bring the newsletter back from the dead, and hopefully I'll have some friends with me to keep it going. Possibly. We'll see.

Work wise the world is imploding. Nothing has been edited. Nothing has been sent to my editor or any editor. I mean, I'm writing all the time, but editing is where everything comes to a grinding halt. I'm trying to overcome this mental block with it, but it's hard. I guess the big question is will there be anything coming out in 2023? What do Magic 8 Balls say? Unclear? Or unable to determine or something like that lol. I'm going to try, but we'll see what the fates have in hand for me.

In other news, I went to this year's GCLS conference in Denver, and had an amazing time. Like seeing the multitude of people who write Sapphic fiction sort of alleviated some of my apprehensions about being more involved in the community. It was such a fun and friendly environment to be in, and talking with other authors or hearing them talk about their journeys and experiences on panels was just insightful. I would go back and possibly do a panel or two, especially if it's a fun one like a fanficion one or something. One of the things that crossed my mind while I was there, was that as nice and welcoming the GCLS conference was, there needs to be space for trans and gender non-conforming individuals. Because Sapphic and Achillean fiction isn't strictly for those with binary gender identities, and sometimes those of us who write within those spaces in fiction don't have binary identities. Like the conference did well with giving trans and GNC authors aforum to speak about their works and process, but I think having a panel on what's like to be trans and writing such fiction would be an interesting subject, but that's me.

Either way, if you ever get the chance to head to the GCLS conference, I say go for it no matter if you're a writer, reader, or just a fan of Sapphic fiction.

I want to say that is all I have, and next time I will have some more exciting for you all.

Until next time...

DJ Small

P.S. - Don't forget to rate and review the books you read, especially the ones written by indie and self-published authors.

The Last Week of Pride!

Goodness it feels like June flew by, but not really. I think I owe it to those two weeks I had off from work. During one of those weeks, I went to Mass to visit some friends, and it was a bit of a culture shock. Back in 2016, Mass legalized marijuana and this is also the same year I happened to move out of the state. When my friend and I got into the Springfield area, there were cannabis dispensary billboards everywhere. It was SO wild, but like I loved it because I'm pro-marijuana.

Then on top of that Springfield got a casino, which I knew about, and when they announced it, I thought they were going to build some gigantic skyscraper thing and mess up all of Downtown Springfield, but nope. They actually didn't do a bad job. The building blends in with the other ones, which have been there since forever, and it's pretty nice. Honestly, if it weren't for the signage, you wouldn't know there was a casino there. I did do a bit of gambling. I had managed to break even, plus twenty, but then I got greedy and everything went down hill. Thankfully I'm not much of a gambler, so I was able to walk away with my tail between my legs.

I'll address the state of the U.S. before diving into WIPs and rambles. Uhhh...so the U.S. has turned into the land of the dumpster fire, and no one is safe from its disastrous flames. I could say vote and donate to candidates and politicians who can prevent us from going back to the days of McCarthyism, but let's face it, it'd be like putting lipstick on a pig at this point. Do what you need to to make your voice heard and get your point across because in the words of Twisted Sister, "We're not gonna take it!" One thing I do want to urge everyone to do is donate to abortion funds. That way those who are in states where they have outlawed such access can get the help and resources they need for a safe abortion. I recommend starting with https://abortionfunds.org/funds/ and finding a local fund to support.

Moving on before I get ragey, let's jump into my WIPs. I'm hoping to finish Grisly Politics, the second book in the The Detective Miller series finished by the end of summer. I was able to write out a good chunk of it during the last week of my vacation, but it's still not finished. Thanks to my poor plotting, I'm only getting into a groove where I've setup my murder-mystery elements. "Editing this story is going to be so much fun," he said with obvious sarcasm. I'm going to have re-write it, take out chunks, and add some things for it to make sense. Good thing that low on the editing docket. I'm still outlining my Scandal-esque story. I've got my cast of characters planned, both the main plot and sub-plot seem captivating enough, and the angst seems to be at the right level. I feel like this one will more than likely be a quick read, but that could definitely change once I start writing it.

The other day, I had a crazy thought, which was I miss writing smut. Before I continue, I would like to add that I think it is a pain in the ass to write a good, sensual, and erotic piece, but I also have fun writing it. Call me a masochist. Anyway, I've started writing a couple of smutty stories, and none of them have gone any further, but I've got a few ideas floating around that I want to flesh out. Once I've got a decent piece written out, I'll post it on my website as a subscriber only post. This is just me spitballing some things, but yeah, I'm going to bring the smut back at some point.

Smashwords's Summer/Winter sale will start on July 1st, and this year I'm going to do flash sales. Each week, one of my books will go on sale for 48 hours then go back to it's regular price. Just a little experiment I want to try out. This bookselling game is nothing but trial and error, even more so when you're doing all the things. 

Other than that, I hope everyone was able to enjoy Pride in their own way. Whether you went to a parade or event or not, just know Pride is what you make of it. I like to indulge on the history of our queer-cestors and just let the gratefulness wash over me. Like I know there are things that still need to be done, and with the recent Supreme Court ruling, we know they're coming after the LGBTQ+ community next; but that doesn't mean you can't pause and appreciate where we are now. Just take a moment, thank those who came before, then pick up the torch and continue on the fight. It's not over until everyone can live their truth without having some sort of ax hovering over their head.

All right, I'm done with my ramblings and my soapboxes. As always, make sure you rate and review the books you read, especially those from indie and self-pubbed authors. 

-DJ Small

First Post Of 2022

 I rang in the new year on my death bed. I contracted a sickness, maybe the flu, from my youngest nephew which had me incapacitated the first week of the month and at my sister's house a week longer than I wanted to be. He tested negative for Covid and my at home test came back negative, so I don't think it was Covid. Anyone else having a hell of time getting tested for the virus that's running amok in world? Seesh.

I Know. It's February.

January came and went. It was pretty wild. The Capitol was bumrushed by terrorist. We got a new president that doesn't look like a bottle of Sunkist gone wrong, and some other things happened, but I cannot recall them. We had some losses too. Larry King, who I didn't know voiced the bar wench in Shrek (thanks for that Tumblr). Cloris Leachman who was always a delight onscreen, and lastly, but certainly not least, the iconic Cicely Tyson. Her most memorable role for me, at least recently, is when she was on How To Get Away With Murder, but that woman was an icon who had bigger and more memorable roles than that.

I know I've been MIA for the last couple of months. I just didn't have it in me to do anything author related. Blogging, the newsletter, writing, editing....none of it appealed to me. Blame it on the holidays, or what, but I just wasn't feeling it, so my holiday break turned into something much longer. However, I did move into my own place at the end of December/beginning of January, so that took up a lot of my time and energy. Seriously the only things I had the drive for was Grey's Anatomy and Sims 4.

With me getting back on the high horse, I've done some author-like things. Website is down because I changed hosting services, but I should have it back up soon-ish. Depends on how much tweaking I need to do to the code. Newsletter is still once a month, but it's going to be used more for announcements and giveaways. My blog and website are going to be the main places to get information this year. It saves me from having to split my focus on a newsletter that usually doesn't have anything in it.

This now brings me to book distribution. Oh, how I would love to not be on Amazon, but it's the larger retailer so it's a necessary evil. I'm going to be doing more sales, giveaways, and name your own price events on my Smashwords and Gumroad pages. Sometimes they'll run concurrently, sometimes one will have something and the other won't. Either way, I would like them to be my primary distribution pages. Might have to come up with something bigger to gain some interest. These events probably won't start until March. I've still got to upload the electronic versions of my books on Gumroad.

I'm guessing it is time to address the elephant in them room...new releases. This year, is going to be the year of Fate Unseen, the second book in the Last Pureblood series. I've started editing again, right from the beginning, and I've decided it's going to be long book. There is no way I can cut out some of the details. If I can tweak something or remove it and put in a later book, then I will, but as for right now, we're looking at a long book. I hope you all enjoy that.

Once that is off my plate, I'm going to be focusing on The Adventures of Swift, which I started editing in December before I fell into a listless state. I know in prior posts I was saying it would be out the first quarter of this year, but since I've flipped my schedule around and decided to bring Fate Unseen to the first half of this year, Swift will be moving to the second half of the year for projected release.

Outside of that, let's just hope I continue on with this train of motivation and get something published this year.

I hope everyone had a safe and healthy start to the new year, and let's cross our fingers and hope we all get some semblance of a social life back this summer.

Remember to review the books you read. Until next time...

-DJ Small

Let's Get Ready To Rumble.....

Hopefully by the time I have posted this the US will have figured out who their president is. I'm sure the number of people that voted for the Orange Stain™ will get swept under the rug and people will proclaim this country has risen like a phoenix from the ash, but minorities like myself will realize that it will be nothing but a crock of shit. I've become bitter about this country, and I would apologize, but why?

All right onto why I'm here—announcements all around! I finished The Adventures of Swift this week. Like actually finished writing it, and not that kind of finish where you still have like two more pages to write, but you say you're done because it's just two pages. No one else does this? Just me? Of course. It came out to 48k words, and hopefully by the time editing is done, it'll be at the 50-55k mark. Each episode doesn't go more than 10k words, and you would think that would cheat the story, but not really. I actually have a little wiggle room in some episodes to give the story some more depth.

I'm going to start editing The Adventures of Swift this weekend, and I think we're still on track for having episodes one and two released during the first quarter of 2021. I've made the decision to make this a Gumroad exclusive. It makes no sense to have people sign up for a subscription for something that honestly doesn't have a schedule. Well it does but it's a real loose one. Like a floozy. I ❤ floozies. In fact, I think all my serials are going to be Gumroad exclusives and I'm going to shut down my Patreon. Again, it just makes no sense for me to have one. I'm going to sit down and explore Gumroad a bit more before coming to a final decision which I should have by the end of next month. I've got other things to focus on.

I inadvertently started writing the second Detective Miller book. I finished reviewing the first one for paperback and it sort of just happened. Murderous Profession got some good traction while it was in the Kindle Unlimited program, and free book day was a hit. For those who are anxious to know, book two starts off three months after book one ends, so Dax and Eliza have been seeing each other for like four and a half months. Dax is preparing to open his own sex firm and Eliza is still trying to make waves in the NYPD. Of course a murder happens, and it's going to test Dax and Eliza's relationship, but so are some other things. We're going to meet some more people from Dax's life, and we're going to dig a little deeper into Eliza's life. I only scratched the surface with her in the first book because that wasn't the focus, but I think it's time we get to know a little more about Detective Legs, right?

Murderous Profession will be a part of the small run of signed books that I will be sending out in January. I'm actually updating the file right now. The polls I conducted in my newsletter and on Twitter we're all favorable, so I'm going to put up an order form on Gumroad, and people can order their signed copies. This will only be for my continental US readers. International peeps I might be able to set something up, but it would have to be like a custom order deal so we can split the shipping costs. Each book will be limited to 10 orders. Anything over will be wait listed, and I'll do a second batch based off of how many people request a book after the initial run. Newsletter subscribers will be notified first of when the order form will be live, and a tweet will go out a couple hours later. This is where I will shamelessly plug my newsletter because if you sign up, you get notified sooner. Click here to sign-up.

For my Last Pureblood readers, Fate Unseen has been moved to a 2021 project. It was too much for me this year. I'm hoping when January rolls around I'll be ready to dive into it and make some serious headway with it.

I'm not sure what else is going on with 2021. I've outlined a couple of stories for a new series that I'm coming up with. This will more than likely be another Gumroad exclusive because I don't think they're going to be long stories. I know I have a stand alone book that's partly outlined that I can work on. I also have my dark and twisted story, but due to that nature of it, it might end up being another Gumroad exclusive. It's kind of messed up lol. It's a bit of a crap shoot. 

I think 2021 will be the year of Swift, Detective Miller book 2, and Fate Unseen. I'm just looking forward to a year of just writing and focusing on my serials. We shall see.

All right folks, that's all I have enjoy your weekend 🙂

Differrent Kind Of Blog Post

Here is June's second blog post of the month. Yes! I did it!

This blog post, however, is going to be a little different because I updated you all a week ago on my writer and book things, and nothing has change there. I'll plug the usual bits at the end, but the meat of this post is something else.

Today, I'm going to talk about the critiquing of fictional work that portrays marginalized communities that is written by a person from a marginalized community. This falls in the #ownvoices category of things if you follow the literary world of Twitter. The idea to write about this was sparked by a tweet I failed to capture, but it provoked an excellent question and I wanted to pose it to my readers as well as anyone else that happens to stumble upon my blog.

I think I'll start this off with my own personal example, and go from there. In 2016, I entered a screenplay I had written into a diversity competition for screenwriters. I knew it was probably crap, but I wanted to do it to get a feel for the process and see if my script could pass muster in regards to formatting, "white space", and being engaging enough. The story itself wasn't anything too deep. It's about a guy who has been in love with his best friend since college, and when this other guy comes into the picture, he becomes an unwilling matchmaker, but it's his own damn fault. It's supposed to be more rom-com than drama. See? Nothing deep.

Now the caveat. My main character is a transguy. The inspiration came from something I didn't go through personally, but a scenario imagined in my head, so the story--to me--could only be about a transguy and his cis-female friend who he is in love with.

When I entered this pile of mush into this competition, I had low expectations and believed it would be cut in the first round. However, it didn't, and the script made it to round two. Kudos to me. The feedback I received from the judge that had read it were some great one. They pointed out areas that needed work, and I actually still look back on those so I don't repeat the same mistakes twice. But in their analysis of the my main character, Jack, they pointed out that him being trans doesn't add more to the story line, and he would be another cis guy in this same situation, which is exactly the point.

Here is the full analysis of Jack for any interested parties



My point in writing this story was to take something that we've seen a thousand times, but gear it to a different audience. This story was never about Jack being trans, he just so happens to be trans and in this situation. Yet, the judge wanted more angst and drama that was rooted in Jack's transness. It could be my fault for not providing enough drama in the story as a writer, but for this post, this situation highlights what I'm getting at

End anecdote.

This brings me back to the topic at hand. When an individual writes a story where the main characters are marginalized in someway, and it isn't used as a source of angst or drama, it doesn't mean the writer has failed in telling a story. It has given depth and breadth to a group of people who are probably starving for something more than the angst driven stories that only end in tragedy or they are some poor imitation of a stereotypes before the character vanishes into obscurity.

And when these types of stories get written by those that come from marginalized communities then it is even better because it's validation, and not as just a writer, but as a person too. I mean, when a black woman writes a SciFi story where the main character is also black woman that becomes the ruler of Earth and saves it from total destruction it's satisfying. But when that story is read by others and accepted as is, then I'm sure pure elation happens. This is a good thing.

Yet, when someone comes out of the woodwork and says they want to see more of the "black woman's struggle" in the story, first, it makes you take pause. What exactly is the "black woman's struggle?" Secondly, why can't this story be about a carefree black woman who has an inner badass? Why does she need to go through some hardship to make the story believable?

In my case why, does Jack's transness need to be a point of drama? Jack is an average guy living his life, but has been secretly pining for his best friend for who knows how long. Why do I need to include a scene of his love interest rejecting him, and then changing her mind because she accepts him as is? I'm spitballing here, but you know what I mean.

Life is hard enough and we use TV, books, and movies as an escape. It's nice when these forms of media not only represent the varying nuances of  life and the world at large, but it's even more enjoyable when the angst and drama isn't borne from marginalized aspect of a character.

In short,what I want to do is challenge people's thinking. If you're reading a manuscript or critiquing a script and find yourself needing drama or angst that is rooted in a character's difference, ask yourself why you want this character to suffer for being different.

That's today's blog post. I'll throw in a couple plugs here

If you haven't already, sign up for the newsletter which re-starts on July 14th. Also, if you sign-up for before the 14th's issue is released, you'll  get a coupon code that will give you 50% off Murderous Profession when it comes out. I actually just got that back from my editor, so I'll be able to give a release date sometime in July.

Oh, here's another tidbit. When you sign-up for the newsletter you get a free book of your choosing, so why not do it for the free book and unsubscribe? Yeah, I just said that.

Almost forgot, July 1st-7th all my books are free on Smashwords as a part of their Summer sale.

All right, I look forward to your thoughts and comments on the post. This isn't a new thing, but sometimes, I have thoughts and need to get them out. Whether anyone reads them or not is subjective.

As always, if you've read a book by an indie or self-published author, take a second to review their work. Help get them some exposure.

Until next time...

-DJ Small