Publishing

by

So Mike, How Many Books Ya Working On?

Oh, Ok! That’s a good question.

Over the years, I’ve spoken about starting Project Two and Project Three, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track. What are the chances my answer is “more than one”?

A physical proof copy of TILDY SILVERLEAF AND THE STARFALL OMEN just shipped and it’s scheduled to arrive Monday! I can hardly begin to imagine what it will feel like to open that box and hold my book for the first time. This journey started more than ten years ago, and many times I thought the day would never come. To be honest, many other times I considered giving up and destroying the book due to soul-crushing self-doubt. I imagine it will take a few days to fine-tooth-comb the print to verify it’s ready for sale.

I honestly can’t believe I’m finally at this point.

So that’s technically one book. Number two is the ebook version of that. You might think that would be an easy task, considering I already have a finished manuscript, but they require different formatting. Some of that is a real pain in the rear because of the effort I put into the interior design. I also lose control of the font because readers can choose their own. That’s, sigh, not the end of the world, but I used different fonts a few times to create an experience for readers. Fortunately, my favorite example of this, “Thems Trolls” survived due to some creative thinking I’d done when I wrote that verse a few years ago. Once I wrangle the formatting, we’re ready to publish. So, that’s two books I’m working on.

Of course, I’m not stopping there. Oh no. This is a millennia-spanning epic fantasy tale with many stories to tell.

Last week, I started a novella that spawned from some tough choices in Starfall Omen. My original storytelling strategy had a prologue and epilogue for each book that told the tale of a third character: the Mellifluent, the indentured servant of the Dark God, who had its own schemes involving the royal children, who are now known as Tildy and Samor. But, “murder your darlings” they say, and the prologue was a regular source of criticism by Trusted Readers. So it had to go. It was slowing down the opening of the book significantly. As they say in Monty Python:

GIF from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which shows an impatient army shouting "Get on with it!"

If I cut most of the prologue, then the epilogue wouldn’t work, either. Both had important information to the overall story, but they were a distraction here. These darlings were ruthlessly murdered, culled from the book like dead weight!

Which means I put them in a separate file like a hoarder, hoping to use them again.

One of the people wisely encouraging the prologue overhaul was my wife, Kirsten, a smart and voracious wolf-reader (you’ll see some of her in Tildy). She’s my sounding board, Trusted Reader #1, a full-time encouragement-giver, and if she’s not careful, something of a manager for me. One day, she mentioned how some authors use a novella to bridge the time for readers between books. She thought it might be a good idea for my series, since my novels are pretty long. Suddenly, I had a home for the Mellifluent’s story. I even kept the original prologue’s name, THE DARK GOD’S PATH, for use in this third book. I’m about 20,000 words in now, with a goal of 40,000 – 50,000. These numbers make me giggle because I originally wanted the Starfall Omen to be around 80,000, and I more than doubled that.

But what about Projects Two and Three?

Project Two is Samor’s book. I, uh, still don’t have a last name for him, so I suppose the working title is SAMOR LASTNAME and the WARLOCK of NEVERMORE. I’ve been working on the first draft for a couple years, and have about 150,000 words in the story. The biggest challenge here is the ensemble cast, something I deliberately avoided in Tildy’s book. I didn’t think I’d be able to manage it.

It also contains the first appearance of the dragons, who have existed on paper for 30 years, back to the earliest stories I wrote in this universe. I’ve lost track of how many times they’ve been in and out of this book. As of today, August 1, 2026, I’m putting them back in as a way to streamline the first act and cement their place in the overall story of the Lost Royals. So, that’s a fourth book.

Project Three is the sequel to the Starfall Omen, entitled TILDY SILVERLEAF AND THE DUNGEON OF THE DREADWYRM. The working title is a tribute to one of my favorite childhood stories, THE DUNGEON OF DREAD by Rose Estes, which sits in a place of honor on my bookshelf. It was probably the second in the series I purchased, since I started with number 4, THE RETURN TO BROOKMERE, and my brain needs to get things into the correct sequences. I talk about that book’s influence here.

BTW, if my naming conventions are confusing – Project Two for Samor’s first book, Project Three for Tildy’s second, and now a Mellifluent book, a fourth project that will be the second published tile – yeah, you’re absolutely right! I simply code the titles for myself: T1, T2, etc; S1, S2, etc.; and M1. It is a lot to manage, and I only have so much brain. I’ll probably start doing the same here.

I started writing this book in 2020 when I thought I was done with the Starfall Omen. Silly writer. While I wanted to finish Nevermore first, I knew I’d have to make a choice if Starfall was popular enough to create demand for a sequel. A fella can hope. This one is about 36,000 words with a goal of 100,000 to 150,000.

So that’s a fifth book.

Whew.

Oh, and that doesn’t mean Chew isn’t still rattling around my brain, though that lovable beast is currently docile. I’m reserving that novella for when I need a break from this universe. It’s just shy of 20,000 words with a target of 40,000. I guess that’s a sixth book.

And I’m also working on an album with my music partner. Not a book, obs, but one more project to keep my writer’s hands out of mischief. More info here: Wait…you’re also a lyricist?

Reading back through that post, I’d say I have very ambitious writing plans, though I don’t think most people would use that adjective to describe me. That’s fine, I keep most of this to myself, and I reserve my passion for things that are important and personal to me. Make no mistake, my plans are deliberately ambitious. I have a lot of story to tell.

I share a post like this not to brag or to impress people; rather, I write this for other authors who wonder if their dreams are too big or beyond their reach. I’m here to help you stretch out your arms and embrace the possible.

Good luck with your writing!

Mike

(C) Michael Wallevand, August 2026

What do you enjoy about being an author?
by

What do you enjoy about being an author?

Well, that’s easy to answer.

Until someone actually asks the question.

For me, and I suspect many writers like me, it’s something we just know. Perhaps it’s similar to loving milk chocolate melted over marshmallows and graham crackers, Irish whisky splashing into an iced glass, or shaggy dogs who cuddle in your lap. You just know.

As writers, one of our primary jobs is to articulate those concepts that are difficult to put into words. To evoke meaning and emotion from words made of letters made of lines and curves that dance across a page. It’s hard, it’s easy, it’s simply impossible at times. Yet we trudge on because that’s the job.

And so, when I was recently given a survey as part of the publishing process, I paused and took some time to think about things that brought me joy and those that drained my energy. I already knew the answers. I just didn’t know which words I needed to express myself.

Mike fancies himself a Drake meme. This is something he doesn't like.

Please list up to 3 things you enjoy the least as an author related to writing, publishing and selling your books.

  • Book formatting. I wish I’d done more research about manuscript formatting. It’s caused a lot of rework.
  • Marketing myself. Ironically, my day job is marketing.
  • I love the learning process for all of this, though I wish it didn’t take so much time. It’s also very easy to distract yourself with rabbit holes when you’re struggling with the creative process.
Mike fancies himself a Drake meme. This is something he likes.

Please list up to 3 things you enjoy the most as an author related to writing, publishing and selling your books.

  • The pure act of creation energizes me like nothing else.
  • I am compelled to find ways to entertain and comfort people in all aspects of my life.
  • I believe my skills should be used to advocate for human beings who are under-represented, under-privileged, or otherwise face prejudices.

Being able to articulate things like this can be a helpful guide in your writing. If you know what will energize you, tap into that as you sit at the keyboard. If you know what drains you, meet that head on and consider ways to change that chore into something you adore.

Focus and time management are critical aspects of writing that I don’t think get enough attention. An exercise like this can help.

Good luck with your writing in 2026!

–Mike

(C) Michael Wallevand, December 2025

twisting vines footer
Chapter One available
by

Chapter One available

As I mentioned in a previous post that announced the Prologue, I’ve started working on publishing my book, Tildy Silverleaf and the Starfall Omen. As I release chapters, I plan to write an accompanying post that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the work. To skip right to reading the new chapter, click here: Chapter One – Spring in Dappledown.

I started my writing with Chapter One, not the Prologue, because getting a feel for my protagonist and her home were crucial to understanding whether I had a story worth pursuing. I needed to establish my unnamed hero, her home, and the witch she reluctantly called “mother”. The ideas flowed effortlessly from thought to word, and Tildy, as she would became known, nearly flew from the page into life.

I had something.

Continue reading →
What do you call a book without a cover?
by

What do you call a book without a cover?

I wish I had a better punchline for that set-up. It’s been a long day.

Let’s try another one: if an author writes a story and it doesn’t have a cover, is it still a book?

OK, OK, now I’m just procrastinating.

In a recent post about publishing my book, I mentioned looking for a cover designer. An online gaming buddy connected me with a graphic artist in Australia named Hoomie. Her portfolio was excellent and I found her to be a consummate professional. And as the conversation progressed…I knew she would be out of my price range. That’s on me: I have champagne tastes and a lite beer budget. It’s unfortunate because I liked her and was excited to see what we could accomplish together.

What I was able to witness, however, was an expert who knew the right questions to ask. It required me to articulate things I knew – things churning about in the cauldron between my ears – but hadn’t put into words. I find this extremely valuable because it’s challenging to distill thousands of hours of writing time into an engaging and succinct description. I’ve written about the importance of it here: Learn about your writing by talking with people.

The following questions are among the things I will continue to contemplate in this and future writing projects.

Continue reading →
by

Chapter available: Prologue

A few weeks ago, I started publishing my book on this site. My intent was to finally, actively, truly work toward publishing it in full digital and physical formats, instead of cowing to those fears that always tell you: It’s not good enough. It’ll never be good enough. There’s a point where the author has to listen to voices that aren’t internal. When Trusted Readers regularly provide positive feedback and encouragement, that should carry more weight.

It does carry more weight.

This post isn’t simply an announcement, though you can start reading this chapter here: Prologue: The Children’s Gifts. Consider it a behind-the-scenes look at how a chapter and book come to life. I might not have this context for every chapter I release, but we’ll see. It’s very easy for a writer to procrastinate when fun new post ideas come to mind.

Prologues have been integral to fantasy books for decades. Thoughts on this are cyclical: from “must-have” to “cliche” to “must-have” and around again. IMO, if your writing is chasing what’s fashionable, you’re doing your story a disservice. You’re also not being honest with your Readers, which to me, is the more egregious matter.

Early on, I knew I wanted a prologue for each of my books, and they would all have a corresponding epilogue, as well. This was part of a larger decision: each book is told from the hero’s point of view. You know what they’re thinking, you see the world through their biases, you see how they grow based on their reactions to stress and other factors. Which meant I had a problem for the antagonists of the series. How do I help the Reader understand the machinations of their schemes?

I didn’t want to keep any of that hidden from Readers. In Lord of the Rings, you get a limited sense of Sauron’s plans. The Harry Potter series offers a little more visibility to Voldemort through a prologue or monologue. I wanted more for my Readers.

And so, the bookends of the story are devoted to the primary antagonists of the series: the dark god Delosh and Its thrall, the Mellifluent, the last survivor of a genocide committed by its master. This is where I communicate their motivations and plans, but also how the actions of our heroes affect those plans.

When I wrote the prologue, I took inspiration from the cinematic opening to the Fellowship of the Ring and the writing of Tolkien himself. It was formal and grand; it had depth and history; and it had necessary exposition to set up the entire series, not just the first book. It was heavy.

It was too much. And Trusted Readers were right to call me on it.

Continue reading →
by

Let’s get this thing published!

A few weeks ago, I posted this on Facebook:

OK. Time to get serious again. Starting my novel on the path to publishing. Current step is putting it on my website while I look for a cover artist. First four chapters are here, with more posted every 1-2 days. Our hero Tildy is a neurodiverse teenage girl who can’t control her shapeshifting abilities, and she’s about to learn what happens when you refuse the call to adventure. I think this will scratch your itch for fantasy!

I’ve shared updates on social media, but weirdly enough, didn’t announce it here to my subscribers (whom I value very much!) So here’s the latest, especially for you!

The prologue and 11 chapters are available here: The Starfall Omen. We’ve had about 100 readers visit the site, with more arriving every day – even when I haven’t shared anything, which is gratifying. I’ll need to figure out how to manage that landing page when the chapter count hits 30 so it doesn’t look daunting to visitors. But I suppose that’s a good problem to have.

I’ve put out feelers for cover artists, with an email to one already. I’m also talking with a mapmaker to see if she can turn sketches into something that brings my world to further life!

In a future post, I’ll describe why I’m getting serious again, and perhaps I’ll explain what’s taken so long to get back to this point. It’s a thing I’ve held very, very close to my vest, but it’s probably time to put it in the open, much like this book.

To end this post, let me offer some encouragement to other writers. The work is hard but it won’t only be hard. Don’t give up on your story or yourselves.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

Enjoy what you just read? Please drop us a comment, click the Like button, or share this post, and we’ll ensure that you see more like this!

© Michael Wallevand, September 2024