Leaves of Change

A few years ago I saw a video and it sparked a departure from my typical writing methods. Tim Ferriss' interview with Neil Gaiman (linked below) encouraged me to purchase my first fountain pen, and it ended up leading to a bit of an obsession and more than a few distractions.

It's been years since I've published a novel and much of the reason is my newest method of writing. I wrote my upcoming novel in a notebook, with a fountain pen. Really, with a number of pens and almost a dozen inks. Again, a bit of an obsession. Still, I can proudly say that the novel is done and with my advance readers. If all goes well, I may be looking at an October 2021 release date, just in time for Halloween.

What The Night Brings is a supernatural fantasy novel with elements of horror. It's a stark departure from any of my previous works, which is yet another reason it has taken so long to publish. Writing in a new genre and in a new style has proven more difficult than I initially anticipated but has been well worth the reward. The novel includes numerous references to some of my favorite classic writers, such as Edgar Allan Poe, HP Lovecraft, and T.S. Eliot.

I think the act of hand writing a novel required me to take things slower which increased the depth of my writing. The language might have become more colorful, the sentences holding a different, more eloquent cadence than typing into a computer would have allowed.

Life gets busy. In 2015 I wrote three novels and several short stories but I was only working part time and attending a Master's program. I was single and had all the time in the world to write. Now I have a good job, a wife and son, and other responsibilities, all of which are quite important. Still, I've been making time to write, although at a slower pace, and to finally finish some projects. Sometimes all it takes is 30 minutes a day to work on something just for you to accomplish great things. I like to think the experiences I've had since my last novel was published in 2016 have made me a better writer and has given me so much interesting material to work with. 

Autumn is about change and I'm excited to share this new adventure.