Long time, all.

I’m writing today to tell you that I’m writing today.

The reason the above sentence is important is that I was not writing for a time. For what felt like a really long time. Maybe one day, I’ll fill you all in on why my keyboard and I went out separate ways, but that day isn’t today. (Or maybe…?)

Today, I’m just going to share on important fact with you (other than the above, of course, which, in and of itself is huge). What seems like ages ago, I reached out to a brilliant artist named David Dace to collaborate on a comic book project with me. It took a while, but we eventually got the first issue of that series done. I utterly adore what David brought to the page. It was brilliant, it was creative, and expressive, and it was everything I wanted from the book. I then submitted it to Image Comics . They rejected it, and I considered submitting it to other comics publishers, but by then, life had taken the wind out of my sales.

It was not just the rejection of Image. I was dealing with rejection – daily rejection – in my personal life that was wearing on me more than I could begin to articulate. But at that time, I made a choice as to which rejections I could endure: personal or professional. I opted for personal. I called David, let him know that I couldn’t continue with the comic, and I closed my computer.

Sadly, The Aristocrats will not be able to be enjoyed as a comic. But maybe, now that I’ve opened up my computer again, it will find a way to persevere. Time will tell.

At the moment, my singular goal is to go traditional with my novel, Escape from the Spotlight (currently available at Amazon.com). I’m going traditional because working with David and a handful of other amazing talents taught me that I need a team. I need editors whose goal is to help me produce the best work possible. I need an agent who will take my best work into the world out there (as I’m very much a homebody with few interests outside of my home) and show it off to people that I would never be able to reach. I need a publishing house that will take that best work to a wider audience. I love the book that I created for you all, but it always felt that publishing via Amazon was a compromise of sorts (but certainly not in the way you’re thinking: I have nothing negative to say about Amazon or publishing through them. It truly is an amazing way to go!). I want to give the novel the time it deserves. It is currently with an editor, being given that time. Then, once those edits are done, I’ll be going through it once more. Then I’ll find it an agent. After that, I will find it a home, in a way that will actually be able to reach your homes so that you can give it the time it calls for. The only compromising I’ll be doing with it now are with other people – not with myself.

So what am I doing while I’m waiting for Escape to be edited?

Well… It is November.

To hundreds of thousands around the world, that means that it’s the month in which to write a new novel. So I’m enjoying – tremendously, I might add – something I’ve never done before… something I never thought I would ever get around to again… something so amazing, that I’ve actually been dreaming about it… I’m writing a sequel. I think it will be a longer novel than NaNoWriMo’s expected 50,000 words, and that’s ok. I’ll get at least that 50k done. Doran Titus’ adventures are not over yet, and so far, this second book is even better than the first.

I’m happy to say, for the first time in forever…

The Queen has spoken.