August 16: Gold Collection Release
That’s a novella and a huge box set, all in the span of roughly two weeks. After almost a year without publishing, this feels great. The sales are back up, some reviews rolling in. Of course, most of that will disappear the instant I take my foot off the gas. Without a new release, everything will fade to black.
Yet, I don’t really have a choice in the matter. This last break –spanning from Until We Burn to Home– was almost a year long and brought about by the death of my grandpa, along with high school graduation. My current situation is similar. College looms just a few weeks away, and the tough truth is that I won’t have a ton of time for writing. Definitely not for publishing.
I’ll still be around. I’ll review some movies. In September, I’ll host a booth at Old Court Days and try to sell the dozens of books under my bed. Maybe the occasional short story or teaser. But besides that, I’ll also be silent.
Silence is a terrifying thing. Silence in an industry that requires constant content is even scarier. When you’re silent, there’s a chance you’ll disappear. There’s a chance you’ll be buried and forgotten. So while I try my best to focus on college, schoolwork, and that whole new, mysterious phase of my life, I can only hope I won’t be forgotten.
In the end, I don’t have much of a say in the matter.
A Quick Layout
Here is my plan for the next few months, boiled down. Most of this is going to change, so I’ll only give you the bare bones. But, basically, this is the idea.
While in college and over the next 6-8 months, I’ll be doing a lot of reading, research, and practice writing. My hope/dream is to come back in the spring with a fully-finished novel, something better than anything I’ve done before. The type of book everyone can read and really get into. That book is The Decay. If you’re interested, you can read the first chapter here for a limited time.
Besides The Decay, I’m also rewriting Enden. That’s still a long process, and there’s more work to be done on the novel, but I’m excited about the overall direction. Hoping for a release date sometime in the summer of 2020.
I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve, but I’ll save those for another time. This is, in essence, the next 12 months. Two books. That’s not very much. And it does, honestly, truly worry me. Last time I took a break, the sales fell off rather quickly. It was hard to deal with. It spurred a lot of insecurities that I didn’t realize I had.
I’m hoping this time around I’ll handle things better. I’m hoping this time around the extra distraction of school will be a blessing. But, most of all, I’m going to college. Still piecing together what that means. Guess I’ll find out over the next 6-8 months.
David Kummer 