Steve Patton's Blog: Mepho Press

Whew! Wow! I finished my third round of edits on The Message. Round three is usually the most intense and time consuming - it is where I focus mainly on grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. From here it is all down hill and things will start moving faster on the book. Still more to do, but an end is in sight!

A release in August...no too close. September? Maybe. October or November though is what I still see happening. As I always state, I will never rush a book or release a book before its time.

In the meantime, check out some of my prior books: The Marsh Adventures Book One and Two, A Band of Dogs: Foundations, or the great African adventure, The Sun Also Sets.

Thank you to all my loyal fans, friends and followers!

www.ridgewriter.com

Been thinking...

I recently posted a book review on Acts of Courage, by Pamela Horner. I tried to keep the review focused on the book and not the author, but that is not possible in hindsight. In reality, we as authors are our books...if that makes sense.

I met Ms. Horner at a local seller's market. Normally, sometime after lunch, I take a break from my booth, make my rounds to see what everyone else has, and enter into engaging conversations with other booth owners. There were three authors on that day, and me being one of the three.

When I talked to Ms. Horner, I was gracious and kind and showed an interest in her books, which I did. I love to read almost as much as I love to write. I want to hear and see other authors have that passion for their books. As a courtesy, I always drop (whether an author or not) that I am also a vendor and I am "over there" selling. All the other vendors swing by my booth with a warm hello shortly thereafter. I am not trying to sell my books; I am trying to make acquaintances...we all see each other at the same shows, month after month.

Unfortunately, Ms. Horner did not stop by my booth and show the same reciprocity. Now, there is no written rule to do so, but it is considered vendor courtesy at the markets.

I say all that because my booth was within a foot of another children's author, Sharon Moore. During downtimes, we talked, and I found out that her wonderful illustrator was a displaced refugee from Ukraine, now living in the UK. Even though we were both selling children's books, Sharon would also plug my books into her customers! I was so impressed with her unselfishness that I gave her a copy of one of my books when the market closed, and I would like to give her a plug here:

sharonmoorefun.org

I don't know why authors think we are in competition—we are not. Your book and my book are different. You have your fans and following, and I have my fans and following. My fans may buy your books, and your fans may buy my books. But either way, neither of us is going to lose our fans or our following. It is not like the salesmanship pie—there are enough pieces to go around, and everyone can have two pieces.

For that reason, here is Ms. Horner's page as well.

pamelahorner.com

This is my second book in the Marsh Adventure series, and I plan currently to have eleven, with the goal of writing 1-2 each year over a period of time. I don't start a story until I have about 80% of it ready to go.

Generations Lost is the prequel to Of Times and Places. I won't tell you how far back it goes; you'll figure that out from the book. It does tell the story of Queen Rubyspot, and she is the protagonist in the book. Everything in the story centers around her kingdom, the Kingdom of the Dragonflies, and her reign over the marsh.

The first book will always be my favorite, having evolved from an idea into a one-page story, then to 100 pages, and eventually to around 150 pages. However, I love this book equally as well. I love the characters, the storyline and I love the ending. I hope you, as the reader, will also enjoy this book as much as I did in writing it. I will always be a writer first and a reader second.

So pick up a copy...eBook or paperback. I do have it in an overly expensive hardback version (the cost is out of my control for the hardback), but I always get one copy in hardback for my son to keep. Other than that, I probably wouldn't opt for hardback.

So please enjoy Generations Lost, book 2 in the Marsh Adventures - join the new cast on an old adventure, Queen Rubyspot, Bolo, Oracles, Cisto, Rudd, and many more - to see if the legend was true.

My Grandmother of 102 passed away this week. As I am the writer in the family, I was called upon to write her obituary. It was a humbling experience, and I don't even know if that is the correct word. I question if I got it right. I was close to my Grandma, but it's not about me, it's about her life, and everyone else that she knew. I remember in school, they made us write our own obituaries and we got graded on it. I never thought I would ever write one in real life. I didn't get graded on this one, but it needed to be the best paper I've ever written. That goes beyond the word humbling and a thesaurus will not help me here.

God bless you all you read my post.

I really don't see that I am competing with other authors with my books - I think every author has a story to tell, and I support those authors. That is, when they tell a good story and it is not about marketing to see a cover over a story. Gone alas are the days of the classics, the Dickens, the Twains, the Hugos. A day when the book was respected.

I classified one of my books as "Adventure" and was checking on its status the other day, and I saw "Top 100 in Adventure" and thought I would check it out. I can't compete with that trash. The first top 20 books was a man who was muscle bound with his shirt off and the title was pornagraphic. I did not look past the top 20, that was enough.

Now, maybe I am too old school for this world, or maybe too old school for writing...I do not have any misgivings about one of my books reaching the top 20. But if we as authors have come down to selling our covers over good writing...well, yes, then time has passed me by.

I will still tell a good story, I will have a respectful cover, and I will never sell my cover over my story - I may never make that coveted list, but I can say I did it my way, the right way, and as it seems, a forgotten way. I am not an author for profit...I have stories I wish to share and for others to enjoy. I do have costs in making the book I need to cover, but if I break even and someone says they enjoyed my book...that's gold to me.

Yes, it is there! I looked on my Goodreads page and The Marsh Adventures: Generations Lost was seen!

Normally I plan the release around a specific date or reason, but I have a book signing on April 5 that I wanted to be able to have copies for, so without much fanfare, the second in the series will be available on March 21.

I love the book, its characters, the plot and the storyline. Initially I was saying the book was going to be slightly darker when compared to the first book, Of Times and Places, but I recant that...the second book is a little more serious. There is a difference between the two. But I will let you the readers let me know your thoughts.

So enjoy! The book is a stand-alone book, but if you are going to follow the series, Of Times and Places should be read first, then Generations Lost, even thought it is a prequal.

I actually never expected this. I have finished writing the second book in the Marsh Adventure series - Generations Lost. It took only 20 days to write. I do not say that to brag - I enjoy writing. I knew where I wanted to go with this book when I started, and how it was to end. All the notes I hard started on it a year ago since finishing the original Marsh Adventure book had built up until about every chapter was defined.

Now of course comes cleanup and editing, which will take a while. Writing the draft manuscript is always the easy part.

I am happy with the characters, and some were created and added that I had not originally planned. I am happy with the storyline and how it ends.

I had created a book trailer for it and posted it here and on YoutTube. I have not been promoting the trailer, as I did not want it to overshadow or get ahead of A Band of Dogs.

And now, I must get to work on the editing, I am excited for this book and hope I don't disappoint all those who have been patiently waiting on the...in this case...the prequal.

I've been sick. I can't determine my next book to read. However, that's now why I am sick. But being sick has kept from starting my work on Generations Lost, my second book in the Marsh Adventures series. Even though I am sick, I still decided to make my first official video. When I am sick...I just ramble on.

I released the video on my youtube channel today, Mepho Press, and will also load the video here.

The time of the dragonfly...is coming to an end.

I am, as can be expected, excited because today my third book released: A Band of Dogs: Foundations. It is a three part series but each book will be stand-alone (meaning no cliff hangers to force you to buy the next book!)

Where do I go from here?

Well, I have a lot of things in the works. Originally I was going to take a writing break and tie up some loose ends over the past year, but not me, I am on to the next book in the Marsh Adventure Series - Generations Lost and am working on the promotional material. I plan to start writing on it later today.

I still hope to get The Message out by end of year, that seems reasonable doable. But what else...

I am separating the writing arm from the publishing arm. My website is now just ridgewriter.com (singular) and I have created mephopress.com, which is the publishing arm. As an old "in the day" website developer, I enjoy designing web sites about as much as I enjoy writing.

Cleanup will have to wait, the writing but has bitten...or rather, it never left...

The drafts are done and submitted. Now it is just a waiting game of anticipation. A Band of Dogs: Foundations releases on February 2.

But what's next for me?

That is a big question. There are so many directions I could go, and so many manuscripts I have ideas for. So for now...

I am going to step back and take a breather. I need to shore up some Library of Congress stuff on my books and other things, and follow through on some things I've neglected along the way. In doing that, I'm taking a low-profile stance...

I will be working on the two companion books to The Marsh Adventures and The Sun Also Sets, as well the accompanying coloring book for The Marsh Adventures. While doing all this, I will be working on The Message.

The Message was the third story I had written for my son and my longest (non-published) story for him. It is a story of espionage, friendships, plots and twists, and I promise anyone who reads this will not see the end coming. I will hope to have it ready by Christmas 2025 or before.

I would like to get the next book in the Marsh Adventures out this year, the prequal, if doable.

Doesn't sound like much does it?