Hello, new blog followers! Here’s what you got yourself into.

Last week, I got an e-mail from one of the editors at WordPress saying that a recent post about publishing was selected to be “Freshly Pressed.” Nice to be recognized for producing any sort of quasi-useful writing, though I had to actually look up what Freshly Pressed was, since I don’t really explore my WordPress Reader as much as I could. But hey, it seemed like a nice thing.

Then boom. Hello, several hundred visitors. And a heap of new blog followers. So that‘s what Freshly Pressed is and does. All right then.

I’m very happy that this particular post was well received, and doubly so that the comments have been respectful and encouraging, no matter where you fall on the self-publish/traditional publishing argument. Civility on the Internet…who knew?

Anyway, I thought I’d take a moment to say hi to the new followers and introduce myself. I’m a part-time novelist, full-time corporate writer, and all-the-time husband and dad. You can click on “The Author” tab above for more. In fact, feel free to surf around on that menu up there.

I’m the author of The Daedalus Incident, which came out last summer and was very well received, I’m happy to say, and was featured on best-of-2013 lists by Library Journal and BuzzFeed. Daedalus had a long and winding road to publication, but I’m happy it’s out there, and it’s been a far-better-than-expected start to my alleged literary career.

Next up was The Gravity of the Affair, an e-novella in the same setting which I self-published through my literary agency in December. There’s probably a great blog post on that publishing experience vs. others, but then I’ve not really had the same experience twice. Hard to say what’s typical.

The second novel in the Daedalus series, The Enceladus Crisis, comes out May 6. Publishers Weekly says it’s “riveting” and a “uniquely imaginative science fantasy tale.” I’m inclined to believe them. I’m currently writing the third and (for now) final novel of the series, The Venusian Gambit, which should be out some time next winter. 

If you like historical fantasy and/or science fiction, give my stuff a shot. (Click on the book titles for super-easy purchasing at your vendor of choice! My daughter’s college fund will thank you for it.) Besides, when’s the last time you read a story in which someone crashed an 18th century sailing ship into a planet?

Seeing as you’re all coming in less than two months before the launch of Enceladus, you’ll get an earful about that book. I also opine now and then on topics like football, barbecue and beer…but mostly on writing and publishing. I strive to keep things respectful on here, and if I talk about any of the multitudinous controversies and flareups in publishing or SF/F, I tend to do so after much of the dust has settled, because frankly, I don’t need the drama. I also moderate comments for much the same reason.

You can follow me on Twitter at @mikemartinez72. And if you enjoy beer, you can follow me on Untappd at mikemartinez72 as well. If you’re a fan of Facebook…you’re out of luck. I’m a conscientious objector to Facebook.

Finally, I’m going to be running in a charity 5k on behalf of the Wildlife Conservation Society late next month. Now, I’m not exactly the running type, and I just did my first 5k on New Year’s Day. But it’s for good cause, and I’d love your support. In fact, I’d love it so much that if you donate $10 to my run, I’ll enter you for a chance to win a signed copy of both Daedalus and Enceladus. Click here to contribute!

And there you have it. Welcome to the blog. Hope you enjoy!