New Year/New Game

If we were having coffee today, I’d be beaming.  “It’s on me,” I’d say.  “Go ahead and have a pastry too.”

Several developments have cropped up on the author front.  For one, December was one of my most promising and successful months ever. We’re not talking about a big moneymaker yet, but a very good free book promotion on my first novel, The Fever, resulted in a definite uptick in sales for the other two books in the trilogy.  I also saw a distinct spike in the number of pages read on KindleUnlimited.  In this case, readers pay a monthly charge and they can read any of the books contained in the KindleUnlimited program. The royalty is a bit reduced but then again, these folks are a different market too, prolific readers who aren’t going to buy individual books.  I tend to focus on the “prolific readers” part of that equation.

A while back I dusted off an old manuscript I wrote five years ago; it was still a rough draft.  I pitched it to an agent at an author conference I attended and was invited to submit it.  It was a lark.  I mean, I already have a publisher who likes my writing.  I wondered if maybe I could step it up a notch.  I quickly worked it up and submitted it.  No word in seven months.  I even requested an update a couple of times, within the timeframes on the agency’s website.

Nothing.

Disheartened, I considered self-publishing.  It is indeed a viable option. I requested quotes for the various stages of pre-publishing work.  The costs are high.  I was willing to invest the money, but I also decided to do a little pragmatic introspection.  I already had a relationship with a small publisher, Wings ePress. It’s a small step up from self-publishing, but in many aspects, it is very similar. In the end, I decided to submit the manuscript to them.  I am happy to report that I have now contracted to publish this new novel, The Hag Rider.  It is not part of my published series, it is a stand-alone historical fiction book with a strong paranormal component.  I’ll give you more information about it in the coming months.

Right on top of that, I’ve been actively working on a new installment of my Traces of Treasure series.  I just finished the first revision pass.  It is working up very nicely and in a very short time.  I can see that my story development and writing is getting better with every project.  I did something this week I’ve never done. I enlisted one of my trusted beta readers to give the manuscript a quick read … after the first revision.  I have always waited to complete the second revision to do this.  I got a glowing report.  Very encouraging.  I still want to complete a second revision, but if I still feel the same way, I’ll be submitting it very soon.  (Oh, geez, I’m committing myself now).

Anyway, I’m hoping my progress continues into the rest of 2020, but I do know that editing and manuscript reviews of two different novels in quick succession is going to be a challenge, and it will take time away from new writing.  And working on two books in quick succession is confusing … “Wait, is this Sam or is this Jack?”

Anyway, I’m stoked.  Go ahead and order something else.  What do you have on tap in 2020?

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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC. Get more information about him and his current books here:  http://thefensk.com

WeekendCoffeeShare

If we were having coffee today, I’d catch you up. The holidays, am I right? I was also busy working on the fourth book in my Traces of Treasure Series.

Truth is, I’m about posted out.  I had a great post yesterday, and I confess I was originally going to re-edit the beginning and update it as today’s weekend coffee share, but today I hesitated.  It’s a good post just as it is.

It’s about a seal encounter at the Outer Banks in NC last week.  Christmas was good with our family, but this encounter put a cherry on the top of the holiday.

It was a rare and amazing encounter.  Read about it here:

SEAL OF APPROVAL

 

Beyond that, book sales have picked up after a very successful promotion in December.  “Picked up” is a relative term.  But it is definitely a blip in the right direction.  I’ve declared 2020 to be the Year of THE FEVER!  Catch it!  The trilogy awaits.

Happy New Year to all of you.

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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC. More info on his books is here: http://thefensk.com

Seal of Approval

 

We decided to spend Christmas at the beach this year.  It was glorious.  We rented a nice oceanside beach house on the Outer Banks, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, taking advantage of off-season prices.  I took a number of sunrise photos. It was only natural because I got up early every day.  I took the photo above the last morning.  Nice, huh?  Look on the left side, near the waterline.  I didn’t see this when I first took the photo.

As I admired the view, I finally noticed it.  At first, I thought it was a large piece of driftwood.  Then I figured it was a large dead fish.  Then I noticed what looked like whiskers.

The is a zoom-in from the previous photo. 

“Oh, great,” I thought to myself, “A dead seal on our last day!”

I kept trying to comprehend what I was seeing; then it happened.  The tail flippers moved ever so slightly.

“Even better, a dying seal on our last day.”

The tide was coming in. I checked it on-line.  High Tide was in about an hour.  I could see the waves extending a little more up the sand every few minutes.  The seal raised its head once.

Then a flock of seagulls came up and started a wide circle around the deck and the shore, including the seal.  In my mind, they were focused on the body.

“I’m not going to stand here and watch breakfast being served.”

So I tromped out into the sand, in my shorts and croc-style clogs; not my sand footgear of choice. I was intent on at least inspecting it with a bit more detail before I called somebody.  It was a bit chilly and the sand at the end of the deck was deep and loose, so I made my way toward the body with some difficulty.  Somewhere between fifty and a hundred feet from it the status changed.  Forgive me for being less-than-accurate because what happened next greatly diverted my attention.

My approach caused the seal to suddenly perk up. It looked up, then turned toward the water. It looked back and then started its funny seal-walk toward the waiting waves. It wasn’t dead or sick … it must have been sleeping!

I fumbled with the phone in my pocket and quickly fired up my camera, and caught these shots of the rush for safety.

The entire sequence of events took maybe thirty seconds.  It was a rare and remarkable nature sighting and for me, it seemed to last much longer.

Finally, all that was left was this:

I saw it one more time, about twenty feet out, its little head poking out of the water, probably wondering what the heck happened and who the heck had barged into the room.

Since then, I’ve learned a bit more about seal sightings along the North Carolina coast. In the winter, seals move south, down the coast. A few go as far as NC, some even make it down to South Carolina.  It’s a rare thing to see, but not unusual. A lone seal like this is not unusual either. The young ones, probably teen-agers in seal years, often take off on their own.  Being on the beach like this is not unusual either.  It’s termed “hauling out” … and it is considered quite normal for seal behavior.

I did the wrong thing by approaching him. I had no idea. It turns out there is a number to call to report sightings … they would have told me what to do: just keep back and watch.  This one was probably waiting for the tide to be the alarm clock.  I did report the sighting after the fact, which is another thing they say to do.

Anyway, it was a great last day, and it was an awesome bookend for the year 2019.

Happy New Year.

BTW: Here’s a link with resources;
… I wish I had this available at the time:  NOAA Link

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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in North Carolina.  Make 2020 the year you catch THE FEVER … read it and the other two books in the trilogy.  You won’t be sorry.
http://thefensk.com