I’m not sure I can pinpoint the exact time when my writing adventure began. By adventure, I mean beginning with the “moment I got serious,” whenever that was.

I know for a fact is was May 1st, 2021, when I typed the first words of the first draft of my first novel. That immediately followed five months, give or take, of completing a detailed (28K word) outline-slash-DraftZero. I honestly can’t remember how long I did the prior research and character and universe design.

I did a lot of writing before all of that, mind you. I’ve been writing for over thirty years, and I even occasionally showed some of it to people. But it was late-ish 2020, exact date unknown, when I finally got “serious” about becoming a novelist. So I’m approaching the four year mark, say.

My original plan was simply to self-publish, for a number of reasons. The main reason was that I have several friends who’ve done that, and one of them even has a successful romance platform of mostly self-published or hybrid-published novels. It’s helpful to have real examples to draw from, especially when they are happy to talk to me and give advice.

But like any good scientist, I deep-dived into research before embarking on a substantive project, and in so doing I learned all about agents and querying and blah blah blah. I also learned that if I was going to self-publish a series that begins with a trilogy, it would be better to release the first three books no more than six months apart.

When it took me five months just to write a good first draft of Book 1, I realized I wouldn’t be self-publishing for a while. In order to pull off the six-month-or-less gaps, I realized I’d need to have the first two books in the can and a solid outline of the third before beginning the self-pub journey. In the mean time, I figured, I might as well try to land an agent.

There’s a tiny part of me that wishes I’d just self-published quickly, so that my father could have seen it in print, with his name on the dedication page. He’s still to whom I’ll dedicate Book 1, tentatively titled “Blood Game.” But he wouldn’t want me to do something important in a hurried or slapdash way. That’s not how he raised me. He’d have wanted me to do it right, and I’m glad I did.

What I did was query Blood Game (I called it “Burn Card” back then), and more recently its sequel (tentatively “Crying Call”), for about two years. The first time I queried, I got five full manuscript requests, and two offers of representation from agents, but they were both schmagents. I held my nose and picked one, and … long story … he held it for a year, made negligible effort, and nothing happened.

The second time, I turned away a schmagenty agent’s offer, refusing to make that mistake again, and my other two full manuscript requests didn’t lead to offers (though I did at least got encouraging feedback from one of them). I still have a handful of queries pending, but I’m reaching the point where I’m not expecting much.

It’s easier to write a good novel than to get a half-hour of an agent’s time. Not to knock agents, who are only just trying to their jobs, but I’m sick and tired of asking for other people’s approval. If being published through one of the “big five” publishers was really important to me, I’d persist with traditional querying. But it isn’t. Never has been. I queried agents because it was the sensible thing to do under the circumstances.

So back to “Plan A,” my original plan of self-publication. I have a sixth-draft of “Blood Game” that is miles better than the one I originally queried. I toned down the analysis. I’ve infused more action to maintain better pacing.

But most importantly, I’ve found a good “voice.” It took me three years and about a quarter of a million words to find it, but it was worth the effort. I feel much better about the book now, and anticipate just one more draft and then copy editing before it’s ready for the world. I no longer wish Dad could have seen that book in print. I now wish he could have read what it’s turned into in the year he’s been gone.

I queried the third draft of “Crying Call,” and everyone who’s read both agrees it’s better than the first. I’d found my voice by then, it seems. Probably several more drafts ahead, but it should be ready before the end of the year. And I’m currently researching and outlining Book 3, tentatively “Drawing Dead,” and I expect I’ll have a solid outline for it by the end of the year as well. The end of Summer, I hope, but that may be optimistic.

That means my self-publishing journey will begin toward the end of the year, so think February 2025 for “Blood Game,” August 2025 for “Crying Call,” and February 2026 for “Drawing Dead,” if all goes to plan. Unless I suddenly garner the interest of a good agent or a small independent press, in which case they’ll surely remake all the plans.

One of my research projects for the rest of the year will be self-pub platforms and marketing. I’ll have to learn how to make a better website. I’ll probably start developing a TikTok presence and maybe some other social media. There are some specific target demographics I’ll need to make in-roads with. Working with cover designers will probably be fun. Asking prominent and relevant people for book cover blurbs. Et cetera, et cetera.

Lots to learn yet, but that’s cool. I’m a quick study.