2025 Update

I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope your holiday season has been filled with peace, joy, and delicious food.

I don’t post much on social media anymore because I hate the cesspool that social media has become.

That said, it’s time for an end-of-year update.

The second book in the Daxton Pride series, Persistence, is finally complete. I have been delaying the release due to cover art decisions. Since the first three novels of the series form a trilogy, I had always planned to change the cover art to something consistently similar across the three titles once they were complete.

Now I’m seeing that in the interest of building my backlog, the cover art will have to be finalized in iterations. This means that the covers for Injustice and Persistence will likely change when Persistence is released and then will likely change again for a final time when the third title is released.

Which brings me to the present: I’ve been quiet this year because I’ve been busy.

First, I’m happy to report that the health issues which plagued me throughout the writing of Persistence, stretching its completion time to four years, are almost completely behind me. Finally, after all the doctor visits, research, and taking matters into my own hands, this opens a clear path for the third book in the Daxton Pride series, which I’m currently plotting.

I also have a couple other projects I’ve been working on this year.

I’m currently half- to three-quarters of the way through the first draft of a new novel. This novel is a departure from the Daxton Pride series and began as a fun project for me to try something new. I ended up enjoying it enough that I’ve decided to publish it once it’s complete. The story will be completed in 2026 and will be published either late 2026 or in 2027.

I also have a second “trial/fun project” that I started developing this year. So far, I have over fifty pages of notes and ideas. Like the previous novel, this one is also a departure from Daxton Pride. This one explores an area that has been a deep interest of mine for many years now. I don’t know for certain when I’ll begin a draft of this one, but it’s looking like 2027 or 2028 at the absolute earliest considering the third Daxton Pride novel will need to be written and published first.

That’s where everything stands for me at the end of 2025.

Look for Persistence in early 2026! For real this time!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year and a fresh beginning in 2026!

Daxton Pride Book Two in Final Revisions

Daxton Pride book two is in final revisions!

Book two will be released later this year, hopefully in the fall. I don’t yet have a final working title, but I have a few options I’ve been considering.

Book two is the centerpiece of the Tobin Williams trilogy. After the initial trilogy, I don’t intend for any of the books to “go together.” Though it is a series, the intent is that the books can be read in any order. However, the first three books have more overlap and connective backstory than future entries in the series.

I’ll be working away at revisions for the next couple months at least as we inch closer to a release date. A loose outline for book three is complete as well, but that will receive more priority once book two is released.

First Round of Revisions for Daxton Pride Book Two Complete!

I’m thrilled to announce that the first round of revisions for Daxton Pride book two is complete!

Obviously, I didn’t make the fall 2023 release as I’d hoped. 2023 held many challenges for me, both personally and professionally, so I’m just happy to have made this much progress.

This one has been one of the most challenging novels I’ve written, and not so much for literary reasons as for all the curveballs life threw me this year as I was revising. The next step will be revising for early reader feedback, which will likely include some rewrites.

That said, I’m shooting for a fall 2024 release. Hopefully the coming new year is a little more streamlined. :)

First Draft of Daxton Pride Book Two Complete!

I’m happy to announce that the first draft of book two in the Daxton Pride series is complete. Now the real work can begin.

I liken writing a novel to making something with pottery. You shape it, sculpt it, and refine it continuously until, at some point, you stop. As with most forms of art, writing is never really finished, per se, you just eventually have to stop working on it.

But when a draft is finished, that is when the author can really get to work. Because that’s when their slab of clay is finally piled and ready to be shaped and sculpted into what the author originally envisioned. Or not.

I’m shooting for a fall 2023 release.

Did I say something was finished? Because I think perhaps more accurately, I’m ready to begin.

Oh, and Merry Christmas! I’ll be taking some time off until after the first of the year, and then it’s back to work.

See you in 2023!

Daxton Pride Book 2 Update and 2022 Year In Review

The first draft of book two in the Daxton Pride series will be completed by Christmas. Then revisions and editing will begin.

It’s been a long road for book two. I finished developing the entire plot in March, then lost 3/4 of it in a drive failure. In typical former-IT-guy fashion, I apparently didn’t have it backed up. So I plotted again while simultaneously writing the draft. That took most of the summer, and by fall I was solely focused on writing the draft.

Ultimately, this set me behind schedule by a year. But every book has its own unique challenges, and this was the challenge for book two.

Because of the work caused by the data loss, I neglected social media for most of the year. During that time, I also stopped the mailing list. I have discovered that a social media presence is a sufficient measure for where things are at right now. For me, talking about projects I’m developing seems to take some steam out of the drive, so it was a measure that had to be taken with no room for debate.

Hopefully the change will serve to keep me focused on what matters most: Stories.

I hope this answers the questions that may have arisen over the course of the year. Count on seeing book two in 2023!

Daxton Pride: Injustice - Release Date Announcement!

The first novel in the Daxton Pride series, Injustice, will be released on Tuesday, September 22, 2020. Ebook and paperback editions will be available for purchase via Amazon.

Injustice begins where the free novella, Dishonor, left off.

Daxton Pride, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, is imprisoned serving a ten year sentence. Now—mysteriously—he’s been released.

When Dax sets out to determine how and why he was released, he finds himself caught in the web of a wealthy, powerful tyrant who wants to utilize Dax’s warrior skills to further his criminal empire.

Now, trapped in a do-or-die situation crafted by the oppressor who freed him, Dax must find a way to reunite his family and avoid using his hard-earned military training to become a ruthless killer.