Summer's here and there's lots of work to do!

Well, I've completed my second year of graduate studies on a high note. Now that the summer is here and things have settled down at my "day job" I'm able to focus more of my time and energy on various projects that I've been preparing for these last few months. By August I will have discontinued my contracts with iUniverse for Falling Down and Mystery, Malevolence & Murder - Volume One. I'm doing re-writes on both books and will re-release them through Another Shore Press, LLC. I've turned in all the legal paperwork to the state and have submitted notices of LLC formation (a requirement for New York State) to local newspapers. The IRS sent me information regarding taxes, which I've already completed. My fax and phone lines are done. I've got a working PO Box, business cards, etc. Things are moving along.

I have already completed Mystery, Malevolence & Murder - Volume Two. This will be the first original release of Another Shore Press, LLC sometime next year. I haven't determined the date yet, but will post it as soon as it's available. Based on the comments from people in my class, I will also be doing re-writes of Lux ex Tenebris as well. Thus far I'm quite satisfied with my progress on this novel and think it will do well.

I cannot say how blessed I feel right now for all the good things that have been happening lately. I've really worked hard at making all of this happen. I'm actually exhausted from work, school and writing non-stop since I went back to get my degree in 2006. I don't sleep as well as I did before this whirlwind started, but on the flip side I'm within a year and a half of having my MFA and am embarking on an interesting chapter of my life - writing and publishing my own work. Once all this is done, I'll make a little more time for sleep. :-)

Until next time....

"Lux" and LLC's!

Well, my fourth semester is drawing to a close, and though it's been a fairly hectic few months I've been quite happy with what I've accomplished. I've screened my latest novel, Lux ex Tenebris, to my novel workshop class and the response has been wonderful. In upcoming weeks I will be doing extensive re-writes of the book, with the hope that I will have everything completed (to my satisfaction) by the end of the year. I'm also in the middle of a new project titled The Merchant Chronicles, which is a four-part piece about a strange old man who owns a "curio shop from hell." Fun stuff! I will tell more at a later time.

I also have made a decision, one that I feel is leading me in the right direction. For a long time I've considered the possibility of running my own independent press. Given the economy and the change in how people read books (Kindle, eBooks), publishers are selecting fewer new writers, and for those they DO choose, funding for book tours and literary events is next to nothing. These days the writers have to, as Hercule Poirot would say, "exercise the little grey cells" in order to gain a following. Because of the sophistication of computers, the internet, social networking sites and a little will power, I think it's possible for writers to create a market of their own. I've spent the last year carefully putting together a business plan for an independent press - one that I think, if done correctly, will enable me to have the freedom of expression I've been searching for, as well as the ability to blaze a trail of my own. Therefore, after sharing ideas with a dear friend from Ohio, I've selected "Another Shore Press" as the name of my press for two reasons: first, it reminds me of The Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine - one of the most serene places I've ever visited. Second, it denotes an arrival at a new destination where there is opportunity in a place not originally seen before. This is the shore where I will search for the meaning of life through the written word. In this land is where my destiny resides.

A general site is now available. There will be further updates to the site as the official launch date nears.

www.anothershorepress.com