If you’ve followed my Twitter feed over the past few days, you’ve seen that I’ve been out and about in the world. One of the many, many benefits of being married to my wife, Kate, is that she is a travel writer and blogger, and we tend to get out of the house more often than most folks. This year, we’re spending the holidays in the Southwest, where we really haven’t been before. Already, I’m happy we’re rectifying that.
Christmas will be spent in Taos, New Mexico, and we’ll be with friends in Phoenix, Arizona, over New Year’s. And on New Year’s Day, I’ll be participating in a 5k run/walk. I’m curious to see how the breakdown between walking and running pans out, as this will be my first. That said, if I can be a debut author at 40, I see no reason I can’t be a debut 5k-er at 41.
Speaking of authoring, it turns out that I do my best work on airplanes. I’ve been outlining the third book of the Daedalus series, now tentatively titled The Venusian Gambit, and I went on a very nifty writing jaunt while in the air between New York and here. If I could afford to spend eight hours a day, five days a week on a plane, I’d write as many books as Chuck Wendig and still keep down my full-time job. Long story short, The Venusian Gambit is taking shape faster and better than I had hoped.
I’m able to focus on the third book now because The Enceladus Crisis, the second book in the series, has been sent to the typesetters, which means that, for all intents and purposes, it’s Officially Done. Yes, there will be copyediting, but the major editorial work is finished. My editor, Cory Allyn of Night Shade/Skyhorse, did a great job making a good book great, and my beta readers Drew Montgomery and Dan Hanks were generous with both time and excellent input. We’re on schedule for an April release, which makes me quite happy, given all the fun and games we had with The Daedalus Incident and its multiple release dates!
Finally, I want to give a huge shout-out to the bidders on my Worldbuilders auction items. The naming rights to a substantial supporting character in The Venusian Gambit went for $200, and my critique of up to 25,000 words of writing went for $395. That is some serious, serious money, and there are poor families that will directly benefit from that. The generosity of the bidders is nothing short of mind-blowing. Thank you.
I’m off to explore New Mexico: Land of Enchantment. I’m told, however, that wizards are scarce, so I’m not sure how exactly the state earned this sobriquet. I’ll keep you posted.
#SFWApro
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Michael J. Martinez 