June/July 2022 - Update

Streetside view in St. Charles

Waste no more time arguing what a good man [person] should be. Be one." — Marcus Aurelius

June and July… Where did they go?

Both months offered a great deal of progress for me. Book 2 is coming along quite well. I am writing a short story for an upcoming anthology, and my role as a Municipal Liaison for 2022’s National Novel Writing Month is being finalized.
I took some time away from writing for a short vacation to St. Charles, Missouri. Meg and I spent a nice weekend relaxing in a room near the Missouri River and Katy Trail State Park. The Katy, as many folks in Missouri call it, is one of the longest rails-to-trails in the nation, and it was being well-used during our vacation. The town itself has a long history. We walked the main thoroughfare numerous times, examining shops, visiting museums, and enjoying music. I encourage you to check out the town, if you are near St. Louis or traveling along I-70 in eastern Missouri. If you are able to take an entire weekend to visit, then you’ll see the intricacies of a town being well taken care of.

One of my favorite parts of visiting was witnessing how much support the creative arts receive. The Foundry Art Centre is unique - artists have a permanent structure near the old downtown of St. Charles. The artists each have a set office and studio to meet interested folks passing by, to work on their own art, and to help educate new artists.

This type of collaboration is what bolsters civilizations.

Meg and I met a retired art teacher whose room is filled with amazing ceramic sculptures and pottery. Mr. James Carlson spent several minutes with us offering cool stories about his love of art, his love of teaching children, how to create art, and showing off his collection.

Writing Highlights:

• Progress on the first draft of The Blighter’s Shadow continued.
  • The cover is being finalized and editing has begun.
  • There are a few chapters remaining to be written.

• I have been assisting the Writers of Warrensburg with some outreach to help authors and potential authors learn about the fantastic group. We’ve been at the Old Drum Festival in Warrensburg and the town’s Farmer’s Market.
  • WOW has received recent notoriety in the town’s local paper for the effort to help authors, new and experienced, learn where they can go for support. Check out the group’s Facebook page here or the group’s website here.

• WOW has begun work on an anthology of short stories. At least 15 of the group’s authors have signed up to write a story for inclusion in the collection. The anthology is scheduled to be out later this year and is an exciting prospect for all involved.

• As you may recall, I applied to be a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I was accepted for the position, and I am in the final steps of confirming my role.
  • NaNoWriMo is a cool way of making progress on your writing project. Fifty thousand words is the goal, but getting any number of words written is important. It’s a lot of fun because participants in NaNoWriMo are very supportive of one another.

Five-Year Plan:
Plans are tricky, as they are only good for the moment they are created. They offer a guide, but can be changed any day or hour, and thinking ahead five years can cause consternation for any prospect. But I’ll offer my long-range plan as a method to help guide my path and you have a better idea of what of what is coming:

2022:

• Finish the WOW anthology short story.
  • Anthology published by end of year.
• Publish Book 2 of the Rune Cycle.

2023:

• Write Book 3 of the Rune Cycle
• A short story or two
• Edit/publishing work on Book 3 (may spill over into 2024)

2024:

• Adalaj – Book 1
• A short story or two

2025:

• Adalaj – Book 2
• A short story or two

2026

• Adalaj – Book 3
• A short story or two

2027

• Forthcoming novel
• A short story or two

 
The inspiration section will be on hold until the next update. The topic will be WPA (Works Progress Administration.

Continued challenge for the next two months:
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Take a few moments to think about what inspires you.

Please be sure to check out my website for continuous updates on my progress. Some of the updates are below:

• I continue adding a few short book and/or movie reviews. You can find my thoughts here.
• Check out Literally Books for some cool discussions about various novels.

If you have questions for future newsletters/updates, please be sure to send them to dan@danbrigman.com. There are numerous media links for your convenience: on Twitter at @brigmanauthor, on Facebook at Dan Brigman, Author, or on my website, www.danbrigman.com. I'd really appreciate you passing on my newsletter to those who you think would be interested.

Thanks again for your support! Besides taking the time to read my updates, please visit the following links to create a review of The Alterator’s Light, The Point of Woes, or The Tower of Dread if you’ve read those stories.

Reviews are quick to create! They offer potential readers insight into what you thought about the book. They also help get the word out about the stories and the author. You can simply search for the title of each of my books on Goodreads and/or Amazon or follow the links below.

For Amazon, please click here.
For Goodreads, please click here.
You can also check my work out at BookBub by clicking here.
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May the next month bring you solace.