July was a busy month! Halfway done with the third draft of Megga Maps Handicap, and if I can keep the momentum, it will be ready for beta reviews in September. When it is, I will post the first chapter in my “Freebies” part of the website here.
Right now, that site has the notes from the lecture I gave at the Virginia Writers Club Annual Symposium held at Randolph-Macon College. I gave a talk on “Cost-effective marketing for the self-published author,” and it was well-received. You are welcome to download!
The conference really recharged my writing batteries—as I have noted before, writing can be lonely, and it is fun and helpful to meet other writers, exchange notes, learn from each other, and commiserate sometimes! Someone I learned a great deal from was Kat Caldwell, an accomplished book coach and author who gave a lecture on making a reader care about your character, and using a character’s flaws and motivations to drive the narrative. Her thoughts on it mirrored my own ruminations on the subject, but she said it much better than I would. Two of my fellow Northern Virginia Writers Club members, Melody Kramer and David Wessel, also gave lectures.
This month I will be speaking at the Rust Library in Leesburg, Virginia, on Thursday, August 20 at 7 pm. It is the second of three lectures, part of a “Deep Dive on Submarines” series. This month’s subject is Communications, Weapons, and Tactics. In July, I spoke at Cascades Library about Nuclear Power, and in September I will be back at Cascades talking about submarine operations and how subs would be employed in (God forbid) a war with China.
In July, I interviewed on the Ask a Vet Podcast, this is a long-form oral history project that interviews vets of all services and eras. I am listening to the backlog of podcasts and find them both moving and fascinating. There is a lot more history out there than is in the books; most of it is in someone’s head. Even if you already read my book, I think you would enjoy the podcast. The interviewer, Greg, has a great way of bringing a story out from his subject.
Until next month, Peace.