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Well, man, have I got the next three months cut out for me.

Yesterday I finally finished my standalone WIP, The Boy Who Called the Foxes. That little fact is a lot bigger than it sounds. Guys, since I was thirteen, I’ve written about twelve serious novels. The Boy Who Called the Foxes is my thirteenth, and it was the first manuscript I seriously wondered if I would actually finish. There were a lot of reasons for this, I suppose. One of them was just the strangeness of devoting time to a completely unrelated story smack in the middle of working on the Dronefall series. But there were a lot of interesting psychological reasons The Boy Who Called the Foxes felt like it was hanging by a thread. I’ll devote a whole post to that around the release date this coming fall.

So, that book is now drafted, and I am moving on to focus on other projects. First and foremost is…

DRONEFALL FOUR, NIGHTSTARE

Now, hopefully the long-awaited book four will actually come out this month. That’s going to be pushing it a little, but that’s the plan. I’ve just sent the manuscript to my formatter, who has a schedule of her own to contend with, and then, of course, there’s all the uploading and proofing business that tends to throw multiple monkey wrenches into my timeline, but that’s all that stands between Nightstare and you guys right now.

So, that will be my main focus this month. I’ll be pushing the Dronefall series again for a while, and hoping I can make some new readers happy along the way, as well as giving my faithful friends who already love the series what they’ve been waiting for. And let me tell you, Nightstare was very exciting to write. We’re kind of hitting the big midpoint plot-twist of the series now, so a lot happens in this book.

While I’m powering through the chaotic fray of self-promotion, I’ve also got like…three other major projects I’ll be working feverishly on. One is starting Dronefall Five, of course. The other is set for release in April. That would be…

MY SECOND POETRY BOOK

I released my first poetry book, Songs from the Small Hours in 2018. That was forever ago, guys. I’ve been wanting to give you another collection of art and poetry for a long time, and this April, it’s happening. You would think over the course of three years I would have built up a good pile of poems, and all I’d have to do now was collect them in a file and do my art, right? Well, as it turns out, I’ve hardly written any poetry at all since Songs from the Small Hours. So what am I doing? I’m writing poetry every day until I’ve got enough for a book. I’ve literally never written this much poetry in such a short period of time, ever. In my life.

It’s actually really hard, but I haven’t written a dud yet, and I’m excited to see how this stretches me as a poet. Writing poetry, most of the time, is way slower than writing prose. And I’m discovering I’m way harder on myself about rhythm, and rhyme, and musicality, and subtext than I used to be. So, this is pretty interesting. Not to mention a little exhausting. But I want it ready by April. (Poetry month.)

I have yet another big release coming in May, if all goes well. I can’t tell you too much about it yet, since it is…

A TOP SECRET PROJECT

I have an ace up my sleeve I haven’t pulled out yet. I’m not going to tell you any specifics about it, but I’m very enthusiastic. It’s going to be pretty labor-intensive, of course, and I’ll be working with media that’s pretty new to me, but all the foundations are there. The project itself is very experimental, but if anything goes even remotely well, it’s a forerunner of things to come.

Was that mysterious enough? Should I have said “for nothing can stop these things” a couple of times in there? (If you understood that reference, you are an above-average die-hard A. L. Buehrer fan. Or stalker. Congratulations.)

…..

Anyway. So, I hope you now know enough to sympathize if I do anything truly delirious in the upcoming months. I’m going to be working ridiculously hard. And having a great time, I’m sure. Overall, I think I can promise you an exciting comeback here, shortly. I don’t often do this, maybe I should more often, but I’m going to say, if you want to keep on top of all this, you really should subscribe to Stardrift Nights. It will improve your life.

Thanks for reading to the end of this rather vague post. I hope it gave you a few things to look forward to in this soggy, sorry world. (Uh-oh, that was kind of weird. I’m already too tired.)

 

As a Christian dystopian author, I’m not as shocked by current events as a lot of people might be. I’ll admit, it’s all proceeding rather fast, but everything does that, these days. I know where this is going. I like to think I recognize where we are. And I like to think I have a place in it all—me and my art and writing.

Some of you might remember I did a giveaway on Instagram last year. I gave away a little paper booklet called “Strange Times” that included art on the subject of the coronavirus. Little booklets like “Strange Times”, which can be reproduced with a basic photocopy machine, are called “zines”, technically. They represent one of the purest forms of self-publishing in existence.

There’s a whole culture around the publication on distribution of zines. They are notoriously counter-cultural. That can be a good thing or a bad thing as far as what they promote, but in a world where truth is rapidly becoming counter-cultural…it gets me thinking. It gets me thinking about my art, my little flashes of insight…and my photocopier.

Guys, voices like mine are disappearing. Voices you might want to hear are being silenced, and they’re going to continues to be silenced as things progress. I’m cautious on the internet, but anybody who’s gotten as far as book 2 in the Dronefall series knows I’m not as apathetic as I pretend to be. These subversive home-printed zines would give me a channel the internet never will to communicate plainly and boldly. There’s a reason these things are utilized by the fringe—they’re kinda hard to censor.

Don’t think I have any intention of creating zines just as a vehicle for raging against mainstream culture. That would go against my creative philosophy. I want to create something fascinating and nuanced and beautiful. I want to create art that points art-lovers to God. I just want to do it in a way that makes me feel free. It’s getting harder and harder to do that.

I want to create zines with poems in them, little collections of intricate sketches, photos, collages, multimedia…I want to explore comical subjects, nonsense, inspirational stuff in the vein of my Instagram posts. The possibilities are endless. That’s what I like about this whole idea.

Okay, so why am I telling you this? Because I want to share my zines with you. How? That’s kind of up to you. The nature of the medium would make it easy to send them by email. The design I use is one single-sided sheet. You could easily print and fold them yourself. But you know it would be way more fun to get them—printed and packaged and possibly with extras—by mail.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance I know who you are. Let’s face it, I’m not that famous. A lot of you are probably coming over from Goodreads or Instagram. You probably have some method for contacting me, whether it’s through a PM or by email. I want to get in touch with you. I want to share my work with you.

Are you interested? I’m not selling these things. I just love creating them and think it would be amazing to send them out to my friends via mail or email. Please shoot me a message. If you don’t have any other way, just leave a comment on this post telling me you’re interested and we’ll work something out. This is all in beta right now. I’m very flexible. We need to see how it works and go from there.

Because something’s up, and we’re going to need each other.

 

At the beginning of 2020, I made a list of twelve goals for the year. Not extremely ambitious goals. Nothing crazy. I thought it looked pretty doable and even a bit modest considering where I was in my life at the time. A week ago, I looked at the list again. Do you know how many points I checked off?

None.

Zero.

Not kidding.

You know, 2020 could have gone a lot worse for me. I didn’t get sick, lose my job, or get mauled by anybody for my political views. I didn’t suffer much from the increased isolation and the absolute heat-death of my social universe beyond cyberspace. And with all the extra time from shutdowns and cancellations, you would think I would have been pretty productive last year.

But I wasn’t. I couldn’t focus. The chaos outside, which really didn’t bother me much, emotionally, must have taken a deeper toll on my mental state than I thought. Focus and discipline in my creative life has always been a bit of a scarcity, but never so much as in 2020.

Still, it wasn’t all bad. I think I learned a lot and discovered a lot in 2020. I tried some things I’ve never tried before (and some I’ll never try again.) But I’m glad for a new beginning.

My list of goals for 2021 is a bit different than last year’s. I’ve broken my year down into three-month sections with only a handful of things per section I want to achieve. This gives me a timeline—rather loose, but just real enough to keep me focused on a few things at a time. I’m being realistic about my reading schedule this year. Guys, I’m not a mega-reader like a lot of you are. I can’t knock out 127 books a year like the pros do. I’m giving myself a minimum: one book a month. It beats last year.

I’m also going to devote more time to art this year. And music. I want to overcome some mental blocks that went up around music during my rather rough college days. I hope to start playing the piano again—and I want to write some new songs. I’ve also challenged myself to completing one painting a month this year. People who know me in real life think I paint a lot more than I actually do. Sadly, I haven’t painted on my own time in years.

You notice I haven’t mentioned writing goals yet. That’s because I know how slow I am and don’t want to make promises to my readers. But let me just hint that this might be a record-setting year for my publishing career. I’m excited. I’ve got a ton of work to do, but it’s my favorite kind of work.

So, here’s to 2021. A new year: mysterious, likely to be momentous, difficult, painful at times—but still full of hope an opportunity. Here’s to another chance to refocus and be a light in the dark. It’s time to celebrate, because there’s at least one good thing about 2020—it shouldn’t be a hard act to follow.  

 

Well, look at that, my favorite season has arrived. Guys, 2020 can’t be a total flop as long as the air cools and fills with migrating birds and multicolored leaves around the end of September. We’re right on schedule. God doesn’t cancel. So, hey, it’s not all bad, is it?

  You know, I’ve done a lot of soul-searching and Buzzfeed quizzes. You’d think I’d know myself pretty well, but I guess there’s always more to learn. I had a breakthrough in August. Years of accumulated frustration over my career finally made me rethink my approach to my art, my promotion, and my online presence. I realized I’d been trying to do what people—strangers online and business-minded experts—insisted worked, rather than letting things grow naturally from who I am and how I have always succeeded.

  There’s a lot more to authenticity than not using beauty filters on your selfies, kids. Being true to yourself isn’t just striving to assure everyone that you’re imperfect and have a lot of issues by venting about your bad days on social media. In fact, that’s something I’ll probably always avoid doing. (But that’s for another post.) Authenticity, in its deepest sense, is about living your own life—not trying to build a life that looks the way ‘it’s supposed to.’ And for me, living and creating are the same thing. I have to focus my creative energy in the way I know works for me. Even if it doesn’t check all the boxes other people say are essential.

  Okay, so what does all that abstract rambling mean in the concrete world? It means a lot of things, for me. Here on Startdrift Nights, it means you’re going to see some exciting changes like you haven’t seen since I launched the blog. I’m done trying to be niche. “Stay focused,” they said. “Get into a community,” they said. And I tried that, all the while knowing I was a very distractible lone wolf who hated to be tied down in any way.

  I’m not just an author. I’m never happier than when I’m splicing and mashing media. I’m a visual artist and a musician as well. The term ‘creative’ as a noun has always seemed pretty vague to me, but it has its place. Why limit myself? Why not let Stardrift Nights reflect all facets of my creative life instead of fishing around for topics that haven’t been covered better by a thousand other niche writing blogs? Want to see my sketchbook? The insights I had writing songs this summer? Before and after pics of the little Japanese garden I’m working on? Or do you really want to hear another ramble on POV?

  So, I’m expanding. This blog is about to become a lot more fun. I’ll be honest, I haven’t been having much fun with it, lately. That’s why my posts have been so infrequent. I want to pour more into this blog and less into the social-media rat-race. I have a lot I could share with you. And I think you might find it more inspiring than most of what I’ve posted in the past.

  For me, Fall is always a time of fresh energy. I get kind of fired up. I think it helps me coast through the dark winter months—which take about half of the year, where I’m from—and keeps me from getting in too deep of a rut. All of this is to say, you’re about to see a comeback for Stardrift Nights. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to beat my record for number of posts published in a year. I’m going to smash that goal here in the final months.

  I hope you enjoy the renovations and renewed vision for Stardrift Nights. I know I will.

  Happy Autumn!

Now is the time for dystopian fiction. When the would starts to go dark and strange around us, we often, as readers, fly to books for a safe place to find relief from the stress of reality. And yet, sometimes what we need the most is a story that shows us just a bit of our own situation. We need to see something that sheds light on our shadowy existence and proves that we can face it—and much more. We need hopeful dystopian stories. Stories of flawed, troubled people stumbling through the chaos and learning to stand up to it all.

That’s why I’m so excited to be hosting the cover revel for Brooke Riley’s How We Rise. The novel will be coming out on July 15^th—sooner than you think. I know time is a little odd right now, but here getting there.

Anyway, enough with the talk. You’re here to see the cover. Here it is.

Epic, right? I love it. It’s got so much atmosphere. And, in case you don’t know what How We Rise is about, here is the blurb.

I can’t wait for this book to rocket out into the wide world. Brooke Riley is one of those authors that isn’t just a good writer, but also an awesome person. She has a real passion for using her fiction to reach people and lift them up. We need more authors like her. I highly recommend you get behind her. Be ready to nab this book when it comes out. I’m sure you won’t regret it.

Check out her links here:

Thanks, Brooke, for including me in your cover reveal celebration. Best of luck with your release!

I kind of like the world shutting down. We should do it more often. 


Since I’ve been off work (and gloriously free from all social obligations) I’ve been feeling oddly motivated. I kind of enjoy breaks in routine, and learning to adjust to strange conditions, so this hasn’t been as trying for me as it might be for some. 

Of course, it won’t be the same for everybody, but for me, this downtime has triggered my enthusiasm for Getting Things Done™ and I’ve been able to clear my head a bit in the middle of all this. I’ve seen a lot of encouragement going around the internet for people to get into this mindset, but also for people to not force themselves to be highly productive and beat themselves up for feeling unmotivated.

I’m not saying everybody needs to be highly productive every day. Our worldly expectations have been removed. Our time is our own, to use as we actually want to and need to use it. For me, that means doing what refreshes me most—creating.


In this time of social distancing and boredom, for a lot of people, go ahead and make a list of the things you want to prioritize. Your list will look different than mine. But I thought if I posted some of my items here, it might inspire you and help you brainstorm what you might like to do with this time.

So, I hope you have some ideas of how you’d like to spend your extra time now. Most importantly, relax. Reconnect with your family. Take time to deepen your faith. Watch some good movies. Listen to some good music. Read some good books. (The Dronefall Series is all 99c in ebook, and free on Kindle Unlimited 😉) 


Stay home, stay healthy, and take this crisis for what it could be—a blessing in disguise.

This is going to be my first-ever blog tour for anything I’ve written. I have to say, organization, particularly when it involves other people, is definitely not my strong point. (Note that this opening post is a couple of days late.) Neither is self-promotion. I think a lot of authors can relate.


I decided that 2020 was going to be different, and I was going to go ahead and attempt some promotional activity, weather it actually went that well or not. So, here’s my first try. I’m putting on a blog tour celebrating the release of book three of six in the Dronefall series.


Many thanks to the amazing bloggers that volunteered and put up with my panic-inducingly last-minute scrambling to get this thing scheduled. Your time and energy are greatly appreciated. A round of applause, please.


Dronefall has been a major endeavor so far. I think about it every day, and there have been loads of unforeseen roadblocks and hurdles. But check it out, I’m three books in—halfway through. And I’ve overall had a lot more fun than frustration, I think. 


So, my awesome readers, or would-be readers, may I introduce The Dronefall Halftime Tour. Seven days of spotlights, interviews and reviews from bloggers you may or may not know, but soon will. Here’s the all-star lineup: 


Feb 3rd: Nicki Chapelway at Myths, Magic, and Madness (spotlight)
Feb 4th: SHINE at hauntingghosttown (interview)
Feb 5th: Bree Dawn at The Long Voyage (interview)
Feb 7th: Oceane McAllister at Oceane’s Writing Rambles (interview)
Feb 8th: Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s Corner (interview)
Feb 9th: Nicole Dust at Legend of a Writer (interview)

Be sure to stop by all these blogs and give them a read. They do good work.

And, should the urge strike you, skip over to Amazon and pick up any of the three Dronefall books. They’re currently just 99c each. You’re welcome. 

Hey, what in the world? It’s 2020! This is the dawn of a new decade, you realize that? New year, new decade, leap year, election year, start of solar cycle 25. (Actually, solar cycle 25 began on Christmas Eve, 2019, when two reversed-polarity sunspots broke the deep solar minimum we’ve had for the second cycle in a row, but anyway.)


It all sounds kind of momentous to me. I’m excited about it. I’ve got some plans of my own laid out for this year. Hopefully you’ll get at least two more Dronefall books before we come back around. It’s bound to be an interesting year for US and world affairs, which might get some of you in the mood to read some futuristic dystopian stuff, and is sure to get me in the mood to write it. We’ll be advancing toward the climax of the series which I promise will be a good solid payoff. Actually, there are plenty of twists and turns even in book four, Nightstare, which is already getting along quite well.


In a different vein, I have plans for a standalone novel that I want to release in the fall. I don’t know about you, but I know fall is my favorite season. I’ve always wanted to write a book that really captured the essence and atmosphere of Autumn. I’ll tell you more about it later.


I’m also going to get to work on writing poetry and some short-stories again. We’ll see what of that I end up releasing. I want to let you guys read some of my short works, whether they be published individually on Kindle, or in a collection. I’ll keep you updated on that.


And boy, have I got other plans too, but guess what? They’re secrets! For now. I’ve given myself a bit of a break on my reading challenge this year—pared it down to 25 books I’m going to expect of myself—because I want to give myself plenty of creative space. 


Happy 2020 everybody. A new era of opportunity is opening up for us all. It’s time to revel in possibilities, dream all the dreams and most of all, recognize the future as an adventure with infinite hope for everyone who’s put themselves on the right side of the author of eternity and the giver of all hope. May as well face it fearlessly, because here we go.

Christmas is practically here! I hope your season has been at least as merry and bright as mine, so far. I’m still rejoicing over the release of Dronefall Three, which is now available in paperback as well. Doesn’t look like I’ll be having a white Christmas this year, but I suppose you can win them all, now, can you?


I’ve had a great year here on Stardrift Nights. I’ve broken my record for amount of posts in a year since I started. And I did my first ever series Writing for Christ. I hope to become even more active here come 2020. Watch me break the record again! 


I published three books this year. First my poetry collection Songs from the Small Hours, then Dronefall Two, Lightwaste, and finally Dronefall Three, Rainchill. I can see from my now slightly depressing post at the beginning of the year that I actually intended to finish the Dronefall series in 2019. Oops. But I’m actually glad I’m still working on it. And in January, I thought it was going to be a quintet. Ha! Now there are three more books on the horizon instead of two. And I’m happy about that.


 I didn’t quite make my ambitious reading goals, either, but I did get some good reading done this year. I checked off some of those classics I’ve been wanting to get to for a long time: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Diary of Ann Frank, The Great Gatsby…. I also tried some popular YA in the form of the very hyped Hunger Games Trilogy. (Yeah, I actually hadn’t read it until this year.) That wasn’t too bad. I should do a post reviewing that trilogy in the future. 


My favorite fiction of the year was definitely The Hound of the Baskervilles, by A. Conan Doyle. My favorite non-fiction…Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland was great. I also really enjoyed Rocket Men by Craig Nelson which I read in honor of Apollo 11’s 50^th anniversary this summer. 


The thing to remember when looking back on your New Years goals and resolutions is that priorities change over time…sometimes over a very short time, but certainly over the course of a year. I’m actually pretty pleased with how 2019 turned out. And I’m very excited to see what 2020 has in store.


So, have a ridiculously merry Christmas. Stare at your tree while drinking some peppermint hot chocolate with whipped cream as well as marshmallows. Go ahead and get that present you know they’ll be crazy about, even if it’s a little over the top. This is Christmas we’re talking here. Put up all the lights you can get your hands on—if half of them still work, you can still use it. Blast Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or whatever your preference may be and have some fun, because God sent his Son to restore joy to the world. Pass it on.