Changes

Well, last week I ran free promotions for "Shade on the Run" and the western novella, "The Last Raid" neither of which generated any sales afterwards. So that is a technique I think I will avoid from here on. If this seems like complaining it isn't. It is however a statement of the facts. This whole marketing thing baffles me. I will keep writing but not sure exactly where I will be taking it. The next Shade novel is started and well on its way. All outward signs tell me that I should be working on a western because those have been my best sellers, but the characters in Shade keep luring me back into the dystopian future. Not sure exactly why that is but, I am following where they lead.

I have some ideas for westerns that I would like to follow up on, but I haven't had the time to do the research needed. While most of my work is fiction, I do want to make sure that it is as close to fact as possible. Authors who fail to do their homework drive me nuts. A note to budding authors, do your own research. Nothing spoils a good read like running across something that just doesn't fit. Even with my science fiction, I ask people who should know, if something is possible. One of the many real characters who lived in the old west that fascinates me is the man they called Hi Jolly. He came to America with a load of camels. They were part of an experiment to see how viable it would be to use them in the Southwest. The Civil War put an end to the project, but not Hi Jolly. He made such a name for himself that when they buried him in the tiny town of Quartzsite Arizona, they built a monument over the grave along with a plaque telling the story of his life. To do the story right though I need a couple of days at least to spend in Quartzsite during the week, so that I can get to city hall and the public library. I am also working on a story about what might have happened to some of the horses the Nez Perce were forced to sell off after Chief Joseph surrendered. Only time will tell, in the mean time I will continue to move forward hoping to figure out the whole marketing issue along the way.