The Nine Jewel Heist

Where I’ve Been – Writing Updates

The latest writing news from P. H. Solomon.

Hey everyone!

Just taking a bit of time to share some updates today. First, what’s happened – I’ve been dealing with my maladies for the last several months and making slow progress. There’s too much to discuss here other than saying I’ve gotten one diagnosis that got me into some therapy which is helping. I’ve also pursued some other treatments which may bear some fruit soon too.

Lately, I’ve re-organized my catalog into four main series: The Bow of Hart Saga, The Cursed Mage Case Files, Doors of Fantasy, and The Bow of Hart Saga Cycle Bundles. Additional series are waiting in the wings for publication as soon as I can further develop them. Here’s more about my recent work.

Doors of Fantasy

Regarding books, the end of February saw the latest edition of Doors of Fantasy published entitled What Lies Beyond. It’s a short fantasy and science fiction anthology. I’ve re-organized my short fiction so you can start the series for free with The Black Bag which has an updated cover.

Website Updates

What’s going on now? I’m in the process of a site upgrade that will continue in several phases. At the moment, I’m adding pages to match how I’ve re-organized my book catalog which is currently in four main book series: The Bow of Hart Saga, The Cursed Mage Case Files, Doors of Fantasy, and The Bow of Hart Saga Cycle Bundles. In the future, I plan to update the theme as well as do some behind-the-scenes clean-up of the site. You should see some improvements over the next couples weeks that are noticeable.

The Cursed Mage Case Files

What’s coming up? I’ve been held up with new publications for The Cursed Mage Case Files. The series has had a few changes while I’ve been slogging away between health issues and editing. Soon there will be a new release entitled, Assassin’s Dark Rose (also known as ADR, no cover yet) which will be a short, misadventure case which should prove rather dramatic. I also plan to include some bonus content to this book which readers will like.

The Unseen Hand will arrive as soon as possible after this short book is published (I’m hoping for the next few weeks with this one). I intended ADR to arrive by the today but I’ve been delayed with some all day appointments. Anyway, the hope is to complete work on TUH by the end of March thought it’s more likely it will be in April.

I hope another short case will arrive in April with a working title of The Lost Palace which presages The Nine Jewel Heist to finish out the first set of volumes for CMCF. NJH is on-tap for May.

When I get a chance, I’ll get all the upcoming covers together and show them off, but I think I may look into a full overhaul for series artwork. Overall, it’s important to complete publication of CMCF volumes since it’s been in a holding pattern with the post-Covid issues since late 2020. It’s time to push these books into publication.

What’s Waiting for Publication

Beyond those titles, it’s well known I have several drafts of series starters hanging around. While those books are in solid shape for release this year as long as I improve, I want to take time to work on each series so there are at least a prequel, a series starter, and a second book ready for release.

Series titles include:

The Black Glove Assassin – Book 1 is entitled: A Charm in the Hand
Treasure ~~Stolen~~ – Returned: Book 1 is entitled: All Things Forgotten
The Broken Shield Chronicles: Book 1 is entitled: The Hopeless Knight

I also intend to complete some additional short stories for several more volumes to add to Doors of Fantasy.

I’ve been making plans for the next series saga for The Bow of Hart Saga Cycle. There’s nothing written for this yet, but I want to start outlining in the coming months and begin some composition ASAP.

I’ll take time to write more about specifics of each upcoming book and series. There’s even more than these rattling around my head that need writing too.

Other Changes

A few months back (I don’t know exactly when) my job situation changed while I was on leave. Now that change is official so I’m now a full-time author whether I’m ready for it or not. What it means is dedicating as much time as possible to writing projects. It also means publishing as much as I can this year just to attempt to make a living from writing.

This change of employment also means I’m pushing some other elements of my writing career to the forefront as I’m able. Archer’s Aim Press will become a reality in the coming months. This will be my publishing imprint and serve as my writing flag ship in all things. The fun part will be the opportunity to distribute print bookstores and libraries.

I’m also looking at running a Kickstarter campaign or two this year. I just haven’t decided what I’m going to use for the campaign. I’m able to create special print editions as well as look into funding my work for the next year or so with all the books and series mentioned further up this post. Word about this likely event will be forthcoming as soon as more is decided. If you have input, feel free to leave a comment or contact me with your ideas.

Aside from those considerations, I’m currently developing premium content fans. I’m using Buy Me A Coffee at the moment and building in all the special content. If you’re interest in what that looks like, the link is just below by clicking on the logo image.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to be a little more timely with posts, but I’m putting a priority on books and other related projects. If you have a chance, please share about my books and such. Please leave a comment in the section below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

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The Latest Writing News, The Unseen Hand & More

Here are the latest updates from P. H. Solomon and news about upcoming releases.

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I posted consistently here. I’ve shifted priorities due to other demands on my time and health issues. Over the last several months, my “long-haul” issues have persisted, meaning I’ve dealt with a fair share of days with my head-spinning, headaches, and lack of consistent mental focus. Additionally, there have been a lot of doctor appointments (including cardiopulmonary rehab), a crazy amount of maintenance around the house to track via numerous services, and a car accident from last spring when a pick-up truck bed liner almost came through my windshield.

It’s been a weird year, and my writing has suffered the most. My mental energy comes and goes, so I always feel like I’m resetting a reset, trying to find where I was and what I should be doing. However, I’m persisting the best I can with my current book project, The Unseen Hand. But, I’ve had to push my publication schedule back for the several drafts I have, much as I hate to do it. I’ve had to adopt a slow, but steady approach to everything, making one dogged step at a time. This is probably good for me since I tend to get a little unrealistic with my time. What can I say, I fall into being overly ambitious. But then, I have a lot I want to do with writing and that’s a good thing. It all just needs to be managed at a slower pace.

Writing News:

The Unseen Hand

There’s no getting around it that I’m late and struggling with some of my health issues. At this point, the book cannot be ready any sooner than early December. The last two months have been a struggle with days of headaches. I keep trying to work around these, but nothing seems to work. This has been a crazy year of distractions with a lot of fixes required around the house and a car accident back in May where something almost came through my windshield on the interstate. I’m fortunate that I walked away from the accident with hardly a scratch, all of the maintenance has been taken care of, and my health needs are met. That being said, I’ve taken steps to start alleviating some of my various writing-related duties so I can focus more energy on my writing.

Nevertheless, these issues have been a long string of distractions when I’m struggling with “brain fog” among other physical issues. Revisions to the book slowed me down more than expected. However, the additions are very useful to the feel of the book. However, I’m committed to finishing this book this year. If you have volunteered to receive an ARC (Advanced Review Copy), expect those to go out in late November at best. If you’re interested in and ARC contact me in the comments.

In Other News:

Bonus Accomplishment: I did manage to make a submission to the JordanCon anthology for next year. It was an existing short story, so the work was easy. I’ll update the outcome when I know, but this was more of a whim, so it’s not something I’m hanging my hat on though acceptance would be nice.

My publication priorities remain in order:

- Books two and three of The Cursed Mage Case Files with a re-release of The Order of the Dark Rose all including print distribution using an extended pre-release and release schedule to be communicated. As noted, The Unseen Hand is being planned for a December release in e-book, print (Amazon only), and audio (I now have the means to produce this format and intend to do so for this series, more to come about this). Book three, entitled The Nine Jewel Heist, is most likely pushed back to first quarter of 2023 at the earliest.
- The Bow of Hart Saga in print with a pre-release event – The event was intended to be a Kickstarter, but will likely slide due to time and energy constraints until next year. The Bow of Hart Saga bundle will be available on holiday special with some additional content, and possibly in a special print edition. More news on this as it happens.
Find The Bow of Hart Saga on Amazon
- All Things Forgotten, book one of Treasure Stolen – Returned with print as part of a pre-release and release schedule to be communicated. On hold, I will schedule this during 2023 at this point due to limited time this year, however, I plan to do more to develop more of the series by the time it arrives so there will be 2-3 books ready in short succession).
- A Charm in the Hand, Book 1 of The Black Glove Assassin with print as part of a pre-release and a regular release schedule to be communicated later. On hold, I will schedule this during 2023 at this point due to limited time this year, however, I plan to do more to develop more of the series by the time it arrives so there will be 2-3 books ready in short succession).
- Doors into Fantasy anthology #2 – this is one of my own anthologies to be completed by an editor for publication when ready. Update: This is a short project, so I still intend to release it this year, it just needs a cover and the content polished. It seems pretty simple, but that thing with distractions and brain fog are hanging around.
- Also of note, there will be new covers for Trading Knives and What Is Needed in the near future. I’ll share when I have them, possibly next month. I’m still working on the cover for Trading Knives and What Is Needed is still in the works.
- I have about three short stories I’d like to draft, but where’s the time. It would be nice to write at least one of them and submit it to a few short story markets yet this year. This is not likely to happen this year unless I start doing more than I have which leaves this doubtful.
- One thought I have about releasing all of the series starters is to run a Kickstarter that covers 2023 releases so readers can have an opportunity to receive special edition copies and swag boxes. It’s a thought, but will take some energy and completing the books I have in the works. However, I’m thinking I’ll run a Kickstarter to launch my imprint with special print editions and one for a year-long schedule of new releases otherwise so I have time to complete what books I have and begin drafting more. Two to four releases in a year would be ambitious, but I’ve got that many books drafted already.

Conclusion

That’s it for updates. My apologies for not keeping up more, but things are what they are and I’ll keep working around the issues the best I can. Fingers crossed for The Unseen Hand, the special edition bundle for the holidays, and the anthology. Until next time, you all have my best wishes.

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Archer’s Aim Weekly Progress Report – Thru 5/23/2022

Read about this week’s progress by P. H. Solomon with The Unseen Hand and other projects.

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone! PH here with a weekly progress report. This weekly post is meant to keep me honest about how much I’m doing as well as keep readers informed. As such, the post format may change as some projects progress or roll off the active list due to completion. Regardless, my intention is to keep everyone informed of progress on various items, especially new books up to release. Let’s get started!

Last week was better in terms of amount of work done on projects. One aspect of my revision and editing was going back to a tried and true process I use with spreadsheets in order to better track what I want to change and how in manuscripts. It seem like a lot of extra work, but it allows me to go through a survey and then put the plans into action quickly. One of my main problems remains my odd symptoms, especially fatigue and brain fog. Sometimes, I have insomnia so I just work which helps me get tired and push toward my goals. I’m working with my issues as best I can.

The Unseen Hand

The Unseen Hand continues to more forward. I made substantial progress editing newer content for the epilogue adventure/case. There were some newer ideas about presentation that came to me and I worked a long time to implement them. This portion of the book is taking solid shape and I expect to complete it later this week.

The remaining content from the manuscript has been edited previously and only needs to be fully revised for consistency with the new epilogue and other series arch developments. I expect to start working thoroughly through these portions of the book next week and make solid advances toward the self-imposed mid-June deadline.

A Charm in the Hand

I’ve made significant progress through the end of the manuscript this week. I’m not quite to the end, but expect to finish this phase of the draft tonight or tomorrow. Using my editing technique as well as working in Word helped me review the draft much better than I had been. Separating the remaining content gave me more focus. I look forward to sending this one off to my editor soon and letting the book begin to take shape.

Update: I’m rather exhausted so I won’t complete this tonight. Tomorrow is better, then moving on to work on All Things Forgotten.

Added Project: All Things Forgotten

Some progress was made on this project during last week. However, I made a decision to make a major push with on during this week. I’ll rely heavily on my editing process to make as fast a survey of the draft as possible and then make changes. If I don’t see that I can complete it, I’ll try to make as many changes as I can and look to having the best consistency possible throughout the book while touching up main issues.

The primary goal for this book is getting it in the best possible shape for the promo submission, then completing the work over the summer for an October release. If the book is not accepted in the promo, then it will be just that much further along and I’ll probably slide the release day to a later time so I can work on the other books and The Cursed Mage Case Files.

Miscellaneous Projects

The same projects remain on my radar:

Upgrading Archer’s Aim (this site) to a newer theme. My intention is upgrading this site using a service depending on funding. I’m still in flux about scheduling the work, but this is in the works as I progress with the various details of the business and the imprint development.
The imprint is well underway at this time:

- ISBNs should be purchased this week.
- The website may be built by a third party, it just depends on my funding (see below).

I’ve taken steps over the last week to taking myself more serious from the business side of things. Doing this will allow me more flexibility with marketing, business funding, and actually being an imprint. I feel this is important so I’m working on the imprint from a different angle and will making more specific announcements when the time comes. However, the intention is to soon have print editions available for marketing to bookstores during the summer.

Still no word from Podium and I’m not surprised. However, I will probably contact someone directly to gauge interest as some point during June when I have more concrete details about the release of the next two books.

Here’s the past post about the subject for those who are interested:

The Unseen Hand submitted to my audio publisher, Podium Audio

That’s all for the week that was. I hope readers get an idea of what it’s like for a self-publishing author, let alone any author. It’s always busy since this post doesn’t cover the rest of what needs my attention, as well as my health concerns.

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