Mind the gap
Hey there everyone! Sorry about the delay in posting and updating . Between the personal and professional life, it's been nuts. So, here's the good, great, bad, and sad.
Tim E. Less has been released and is available for eBook and Paperback! In a few weeks, I should be finishing up the audiobook and will be posting when that is available. Whoot!
This was also my first year going to a convention! And it was a good one. I went Scares That Care, a charity convention for children surviving third degree burns, children with cancer, and women with breast cancer. Every year they pick one person from each category and write them a check for fifteen thousand dollars. This is not the Red Cross or the Pink Ribbon. You know exactly where your money is going, and who the recipients are. This event was almost cathartic for me, and I'll have to do a post specifically on this. It was an amazing adventure, and I met a lot of new friends who I suspect will stick around with me for years to come.
Now for the bad…so as creative's, it's our job to get and receive criticism over our work. However, when that criticism comes from peers, it's hard to ignore the same notes and feedback. It would be foolish of me to not heed these words. With that being said, I'm not happy with the current rendition of Tim E. Less. That's it, I said it publicly. This first edition (words chosen carefully) is a creative vomit on to this planet everything I wanted the book to be, raw and flawed. There are some editing issues I have to work out, mostly in my style. It's a first novel, written, deleted, rewritten twice over, and edited several times and still it released too soon.
Part of my struggle as a writer is that I'm partly dyslexic. A lot of what I type is backwards, and when autocorrect gets involved, it often chooses words that are close, but not the right word, like scent and sent. I often type "csent" and autocorrect changes it to "sent." I paid for editing, and unfortunately, in my naivety, did not seek out line editing. Always know there is a difference in the type of editor you will use. It's an expensive lesson I've learned. The other issues with it include the wordiness. The book is over 90k words, it could probably do for some liposuction and a tummy tuck.
So, that being said, I'm going to let the book ride out. I want peoples feedback and opinions. I want to hear what people like and don't like, what crosses the line, and what refuses to step up. That being said, we'll meet back in one year, and I'll have a new edition of Tim E. Less ready hopefully by next August. You'll be getting a new cover, sharper plot line, and an updated audiobook narration. Look for that August 2019.
Now for the sad. It's been a rough couple of months. My partner and I had to down our dog, Brody on July 21st, 2018 due pain related to his bone cancer. It was devastating, as we'd found out about his diagnosis around the time last year when my partners aunt passed away from breast cancer. Monday, August 20th, we found out our cat, whom she'd gotten around the same time as Brody, has congestive heart failure, and an eye infection. Our plan now is to keep him on some meds to hopefully clear out his blood clot, and keep him comfortable with the time he has left. There are other things going on that would not be appropriate to share at this time, as they hit very personally with my partner and I. We are both healthy and fine otherwise, just going through some really tough times with all these things happening all at once.
With that said, I've sort of been slacking on my word count. My life has been taking its toll on my creativity right now, and with working more than 50 hours a week at the day job, I need to focus on that to pay down some of my finances for a few more weeks. My goal is to get back into my word counts by mid to late September, if the day job permits and we hire more staff.
I appreciate everyone reading this. All three of you I suppose. I know my consistency with these things has been shaky at best. It's been kind of crazy between my partners aunts passing with breast cancer, dealing with our pets declining health, and our own personal struggles.
Currently I'd begun the third book in the Becoming Series. I'm about a third of the way through, and should be picking up on that sometime in September. I'm also working on a novel of the Character Sandy/Isnner from Tim E. Less, an extreme horror story called CockSucker, a non-horror piece Called My Angel Fredric, and a number of short stories. Believe me, writers block is not an option. My emotional state right now is a bit stressed and anxious to say the least, and I know I'm blessed to have such an amazing creative outlet to share my life experiences, metaphorically and often times too autobiographical.
Once again, thank you all for taking the time to read this unedited emotional slosh of words thrown at the screen. I usually spend some time reading these back before I post them, but with having to go to work in the next, oh, twenty minutes, I don't have the time. So it'll be posted in this raw form, spelloing and grammar flaws for all!
Sincerly,
Lucas Milliron, LDO (aka. The Bearded Optician)
