Do you have questions of your own? Head on over to the contact page and feel free to ask them!
Q: Do you use A.I. in any part of your writing?
A: No. Not in coming up with story or character ideas, not in writing, not in editing. Nor do I use Generative A.I. for cover art. The algorithms and technology behind Generative A.I., or Machine Learning, are certainly useful and helpful for some fields, such as helping identify cancer. But when it comes to the creative arts, it is, pure and simple, theft. Using someone else’s work to cobble together a Frankenstein-like work and calling it “original and something I created” is plagiarism. Generative A.I. is plagiarism on a mass scale, and no matter what ‘everyone else is doing,’ no matter if this leaves me behind, coughing in the dust as the world uses Generative A.I. regardless, I will not participate in it, period.
If you’re interested in reading more on this subject, I wrote a blog piece when NaNoWriMo tried to defend using Generative A.I. in creative arts. Click here to read that blog.
Q: I really like your work and/or I want to support independent authors, how can I help?
A: This answer is four-fold. #1: Leave a rating and review for the books you’ve read! This is one of the biggest ways you can help! #2: Tell others about my books! Friends, family, anyone you can! Tell them which books you liked and why, and where they can find them! #3: Support! Buy or read as many of my books as you can, subscribe to my email list, engage on my blog, send me fan mail – any of those or all of those, they’ll help me out either with royalties or just by giving me a morale boost! #4: Don’t buy stories written by Generative A.I. (and don’t buy or spread Generative A.I. “Artwork” so that our cover artists don’t go out of business).
Q: When will you write the next Sword of Dragons novel?
A: The Sword of Dragons saga has become the most complex saga I’ve ever written, which in a way is awesome! I love how nuanced it is, and how much the characters have grown – believe me, they have a big place in my heart. The downside? Crafting full, complete novels takes more and more time, particularly now in the final stories, since there’s so many threads I need to wrap up. So, to answer this question, all I can say is that it will be as soon as possible! Don’t worry, though – I won’t take nearly as long as George R. R. Martin! I promise!
Update: The Sword of Dragons 5 is slated to be written in November! I’ll take as long as it takes to write it, with a hopeful release sometime in 2025.
Q: Will there be any more Chronicles of the Sentinels novels?
A: At this time, I do not plan to write more. But I do have stories in mind, so this could very easily change someday. Honestly, if more and more readers show interest in it, I’m much more likely to write more Sentinels stories! I had ideas for at least 5 more novels after the initial trilogy, so there’s definitely room for more!
Q: Why are your eBooks only available on Kindle?
A: The short version is that I don’t pull enough readership to make ‘going wide’ a good idea. The long version: by being exclusive to Amazon Kindle, I’m able to enter my eBooks into the Kindle KDP Select, which makes my eBooks available in Kindle Unlimited. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service that allows readers to read anything ‘for free,’ minus their monthly subscription plan, and thus creates a relatively low-risk method for new readers to discover my work. Roughly 1/3rd of my royalties currently come from Kindle Unlimited readers at this time (which, granted, is a lot lower than the one-half that it used to be four years ago). As long as KU page reads remain a significant portion of my royalties, I will keep my eBooks exclusive to Kindle. Should that ever change, and eBook or physical purchases far out-strip KU, then I will happily pull my titles from Kindle Select and ‘publish wide’ to any and every platform that I can 🙂
Do you have questions of your own? Head on over to the contact page and feel free to ask them!