Happy Trails

It has been an amazing month!

With the release of THE FAR EMPTY, I’ve finally taken my first step forward as a “professional author,” and realized a life-long dream.

It’s been everything I could have imagined and more.

Now, however, the real work begins. The reception so far to the book has been generous: I’ve had great reviews, steady sales, and plenty of interest in the world I’m creating in the Big Bend. But I came back from the book tour to find the first pass pages for HIGH WHITE SUN, the sequel, all ready for me to review, and I’ve been buried under the last few days getting that done. Similarly, I’ve been working steadily away on the third book. The secret to real success is not publishing a book, but publishing the next one, and the one after that.

That’s why I said I’ve only taken the first step, and there are many, many more to go.

For the next few months, I’m going to focus on getting Books 2 and 3 out the door, and I hope to be mercifully quiet (although based on a blog post I wrote for a national book club, there’s some serious interest in my “whale music”). If you’ve signed up for my newsletter, I will be getting out something there, and any huge updates in the coming months I’ll post up here; otherwise, it’s simply back to the grindstone. If you’ve read and enjoyed THE FAR EMPTY, please let me know – I love to hear it – and please throw up a review on Amazon or Goodreads. If you didn’t like it, well that’s fine, too…

I appreciate everyone who has helped, supported, and cheered me on along the way. I’ve tried to thank each of you personally, but if I’ve left someone out, the fault is all mine. As eager as I was to get THE FAR EMPTY out into the world, I’m equally eager to share HIGH WHITE SUN with you. In some ways, I think it’s a better book (it’s definitely a different one), and that’s really what being a serious author is all about: making each book better than your last.

That’s what I’m trying to do.

All the best, and I’ll see you on the trail – JTS