Wayzgoose: Blog

I'm more than happy to be releasing Jackie the Beanstalk today. It begins serialization on SOL with "Chapter 1: Cap and Gown," and is now available on Bookapy.

Tall skinny Jackie is a fresh 18-year-old high school graduate, still in her cap and gown when she is given the keys to her grandfather's 1968 Ford Fairlane 500 Fastback. Jackie, her 25-year-old Aunt Misty, and her dog Roadkill jump in the car and take off following an old fashioned TripTik map into an alternate dimension. In this alternate dimension, Jackie is a Warrior Wizard encountering robbers, mountain monsters, ogres, rival clans, obstreperous customs officials, a stowaway princess, an adopted bobcat kitten, werewolves, ghosts, giants, and dragons-all on her way to rescuing the Sovereign's kidnapped son. As she travels, she discovers her magic powers, and the powers of all the weapons she carries-her cap and gown, honor cords, stole, basketball, and things she picks up along the way-including a pocketful of magic beans.

This "fractured fairy tale" takes place in a folk tale reality where you'll almost recognize the world we live in and fairy tales you read as a child-monsters, ogres, giants, werewolves, and ghosts! Oh, my!

Jackie is also available in paperback.

Disclaimer or whatever you want to call it.

I've had a couple of messages regarding confusion over my names. Me, too. Pixel the Cat got tired of addressing me by my aliases and just changed my email name to 'Whatever'. So, in full disclosure I have three identities on SOL.

aroslav: my original identity under which I have released some 45 stories here.
Wayzgoose: the identity that I had in other online forums where "serious authors" are recognized.
J-Hop: the identity I adopted so I could publish a story under the name of the leading character in aroslav's Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins series.

It is challenging to keep the voices in my head separated. But wait. There's more.

In the world of commercial publishing, people generally use names rather than avatars. The published name of aroslav is Devon Layne. The published name of Wayzgoose is Nathan Everett.

So, when you see my works on Bookapy, they won't be by aroslav or Wayzgoose. They will be by Devon Layne and Nathan Everett. I know it can be confusing, but the world is not a simple place.

Yes, that is the question that greeted me this morning upon completion of A Place at the Table. I'm glad the book was enjoyed enough to want more!

The answer, of course, is just slightly more optimistic than the answer to "When is your Senator going to wise up?"

Another comment: "Lovely ending. It is a fitting place to finish the story, though the greedy reader in me wants to know more, and whether Liam ends up marrying within his class, or perhaps forges a new path."

I love comments like this as they keep me encouraged and writing. I'm happy to say that I expect to finish writing the first draft of the second chapter yet today! I started writing A Place Among Peers on January 4. I have a mild degree of confidence that the writing will speed up now that my heart has slowed down. I was in A-fib the past two months and that slowed my thinker. Ablation and cardioversion on Thursday this week has reset my heart successfully and I'm feeling more energy already. Which may also be related to the fact that I just woke up from my first nap of the day.

Typically, writing a book like this and getting it to publication takes around a year. A Place at the Table took closer to fourteen months. I truly wish I could report a quicker turn-around time, but if I can succeed at this one, it will be out before Christmas this year.

A Place at the Table concluded today at the point where Liam and Meredith moved into their adjoining apartments and Liam began his first few weeks at the University. I'm not writing a daily diary kind of book, so A Place Among Peers picks up about a year or year-and-a-half into their University experience and is focused on Liam's concern for the treatment of other classes. If he is going to lead the world to better class relations, he is going to need to lead the Leaders in the same direction. Just because they have similar character, aptitudes, and abilities doesn't mean they all have the same social direction.

So, that's where the book stands now and is probably where you'll hear from me next, though I have a draft or two of other books I might get around to finishing before that. Thank you all for your kind support and for enjoying this little story!

My $10 per month patrons for both NathanEverett and aroslav receive raw unedited chapters as I write them. Let me know if you are interested.

Let me extend my felicitations to one and all for a happy and prosperous 2021! Okay, I'm a couple of days late, but it's the thought that counts. For me, I've been holed up with family for two weeks. We all had COVID tests before we got together and haven't been anywhere since. So, today I head back to my trailer overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Not sure if I'll be getting more or less done.

I've received some good and interesting comments and email on the rewrite of American Royalty that I'm posting as A Place at the Table. I'll remind you the book is available on Bookapy as well. Most of the comments are favorable, even among those who recognize little difference between the versions. For me, the difference was significant and I feel proud to have the book in the public marketplace.

I'm currently working on resolving the 'big issues' that need to be dealt with so I can begin writing the sequel, A Place Among Peers. I believe that writing will commence before the end of the month and my "Sausage Grinder" and "Fifth Wheel" Patrons will be able to read it as I progress. When working on a story that delves deeply into a society's structure and interactions, it is difficult not to be influenced by contemporary politics and societal issues. Much of my work is scrubbing that influence from my drafts.

The other persona--aroslav--is also hard at work and eager to get back to the trailer. His new project is a sequel to Drawing on the Dark Side of the Brain. Words will appear on the screen by the end of the month and "Sausage Grinder" and "Fifth Wheel" patrons will be able to follow along.

In the meantime, as Pussy Pirates and The Art and Science of Love refresh wind down over the next three weeks, he is deep in the rewrite of The Assassin and I hope to have it off to editors and Swarm Authors by the end of the month. That will be the next story to hit the slopes here at SOL. I hope it will be ready by the time A Place at the Table concludes in late February.

In the meantime, I'm working on a final proofreading of Zen Master's newest Swarm Tale and Brainstorming with Omachuck on his new ones. For entertainment, I'm re-reading Dual Writer's "Florida Friends" series. That should keep me out of trouble for a few months!

So, it's a new year, but the same old writing schedule, trying to produce more books for more people. I'll be announcing the release of several eBooks over the coming weeks, some of my earlier stories that have never made it to Bookapy. They are coming soon, starting with the Hero Lincoln Trilogy on January 15.

Enjoy!
Wayzgoose

Curtain! Lights! This is it, the night of nights!

"Eh, what's up, Doc?"

The release of A Place at the Table is what's up! I'm uncommonly excited about today's posting of the first chapter of my new novel. This coincides with the public release, including Bookapy, and my release party tonight. It will be available in MOBI and ePUB electronic formats, here on SOL as a serialized novel (22 chapters posted every three days) and in paperback.

If you follow me on Facebook, you probably already know about the big release party. If not, follow the Facebook link on my profile and you can join the party between 4:00 and 7:00 pm Pacific time this afternoon. I'll be joined by four other authors to talk about books, play games, have contests, and have give-aways.

Over the past couple of years, I've released new books at the Summer Solstice with a party at Chandler Reach Vineyards Tasting Room. Releasing City Limits and Wild Woods was great fun with plenty of people and lots of wine. I thought I'd do the same thing with A Place at the Table this year, but then there was the plague.

Also, editors who pretty much insisted I needed another rewrite before it was ready.

We missed summer solstice, but I scheduled this party for the day after winter solstice. It's all online, but I'll still be talking and drinking wine.

I hope you'll join me, at least in taking a gander at the first chapter posted this morning. If you have a taste for no-sex literary fiction, this might be the story for you!

For Mayhem or Madness has run to its conclusion. Thank you for the many kind notes. Yes, I think there will be another Dag Hamar book eventually. Also, based on requests, I'm going to gather all the Dag Hamar and Deb Riley stories under a series heading. Still working on what to call it. That will make it easier to know the sequence of stories since I didn't write them in order.

What's next? I'm happy to say that nearly all the rewrite of American Royalty 1: Coming of Age has been edited and is now in the hands of my final proofreader. It's a very different story than the original version and I'll be posting it as a new story. I've tentatively titled it Rise and Awaken, but it's not an inspirational book or romance particularly. Looking for a new title. The ones I've come up with so far sound like self-help books.

Pending the final proofreading, I plan to release the book in time for Christmas. Probably soon after Thanksgiving. Of course I will post it here and it will be for sale on Bookapy.

There's a backlog of Devon Layne/aroslav books to be posted. The next will start on Election Day with his new Swarm Cycle story Pussy Pirates.

Tomorrow I have two days off as I move my trailer to the West Coast and get some repairs done on it before I move to my winter camping ground at Port Townsend, WA. I'll be there November 1 and expect to have a very good NaNoWriMo writing month. Cheers until then!

Wayzgoose