Young Nostradamus… finally!

Why finally? Because, true believers, Young Nostradamus has been in development for nearly 12 years!

It was supposed to be my follow-up novel to Epoch, my 2007 apocalypse comedy. I wrote YN very much in the same style, and my intention was that readers would instantly recognize the book as one of mine. The publishers weren’t interested in Michael Nostry’s adventure, though; they felt it was too similar to Epoch. Which, as I just said, was entirely the point. “We like our authors to grow and evolve with each project,” they told me, suggesting that each novel should be a departure from the last. I thought the way to grow a readership was to create a brand for myself, and let growth and evolution happen naturally as my career went along. But that’s publishing for you.

As a result, Young Nostradamus sat on my hard drive for a very long time, and I concentrated on other stories.

After that publisher dropped me, and I entered the self-publishing world, I remembered YN and decided it would be in good company with The Five Demons You Meet in Hell and Apoca-Lynn. I even included the prologue for YN at the end of Apoca-Lynn (a post-credits scene?), thus announcing that Young Nostradamus was next in line.

That was a while ago. Basically, life got in the way, some painful stuff happened, and I came out the other end shaken and stirred. I did not forget about Michael Nostry, though – a bunch of friends agreed to beta-read it for me, and three of them actually did! I was extremely grateful for the notes/suggestions/edits they provided, but it would still be a couple of years before I was able to implement them.

This year, I decided I was going to release the book. I got cracking, revised and rewrote, and published a draft I was happy with. It took a while, to say the least, but I did it. Yay me!

Now I just need to promote it. This blog post is the start of that process. There will be more.

Young Nostradamus is LIVE!

My new YA novel, Young Nostradamus, is now live and for sale on Amazon, both in Kindle and paperback formats. Here are a couple of links:

YN on Amazon.ca

YN on Amazon.com

I opted to go with the Kindle Select program, which means YN is exclusively through Amazon. I’m looking to see if that makes a huge difference as far as promotion and sales go. I believe after 6 months I can upload the novel to other formats, so you can expect to see a Kobo version then.

I’m very happy and excited to have a new story out in the world. Please help me make it a success!

Young Nostradamus… coming this summer

After ages and ages of editing and general procrastination, I am finally ready to let my next novel – Young Nostradamus – loose upon the world. I haven’t picked a launch date yet, though I am hoping to have it ready for Fan Expo (there’s a good chance I might be sharing a table at that con this year). Let us say late August 2019 for now, and see how it goes.

For the cover art, I turned once again to Sarah Water Raven. She assisted with the Apoca-Lynn cover, and did the original cover for The Five Demons You Meet In Hell. I am very pleased with how the cover turned out, and hope to collaborate with her many more times in the future.

Like my other books, YN will be available on Amazon and Kobo. I’m also planning to have some physical copies made. I’m very excited, and can’t wait to announce the release date. That will be coming soon.

And speaking of coming soon, I have two projects that are next in line. One will be the long-delayed sequel to Apoca-Lynn. The other is the even longer-gestating Kids Who Know, which I still think will be my best book. I will preview one or the other at the end of YN.

More news as it develops…

I’m Doing the Muskoka Novel Marathon This Year

The 2019 Muskoka Novel Marathon is coming July 12 and running to the 15th, and I will be there. Click here for a list of all the authors taking part in this event.

This will be my first ever time doing such an event, having never participated in NaNoWriMo or the 3-day novel marathon. Writing nonstop for hours/days at a time has never been one of my methods; I prefer the much more relaxed (and far less disciplined) do-a-bit-here, get-a-bit-more-done-there approach. A . In other words, this is likely to be something of a challenge for me.

Will I be up for it? Maybe, maybe not. But do you know what would help?

Sponsors!

Yes, I am asking for your hard-earned money.  This is a charity event, with proceeds going to the YMCA Literary Services. If you would like to be one of my sponsors, please follow this link to my sponsorship page. And this link takes you to my profile.

Wish me luck. Please send money. Thanks, everyone!

Timothy Carter is Back in Business

I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately as other people. Click here for my post about that. I have three pseudonyms now, each one serving a different function. For example, Rodimus Doctor is the name I write my fanfic with.

Now, though, I’m happy to announce that Timothy Carter, myself, is back in the game. I’ve started writing a new middle-grade story, tentatively called Destiny’s Fate (but that title will change).

I’m also deep into editing my next YA novel, Young Nostradamus. I’m hoping to have that one ready for publication for Christmas at the earliest. Part of that depends on my cover artist, which depends even more on my getting the book to her! I’d better get on with that.

And of course, Apoca-Lynn is back on digital shelves. Here’s the link for Kobo, and this is the link for Amazon. Go check it out! Give her some love. And keep reading for more updates!

Ad Astra – Not This Year

I’m not at Ad Astra this year. I think it’s the first time I’ve missed one in nearly 10 years. It’s a shame; I genuinely enjoy the con and all the people there. And yet, when the invitation came to register as a panelist, I didn’t.

A couple of reasons.

Firstly, last year’s con was something of a disappointment for me. I’d expressed interest in a lot of panels, but was only offered one. And, it was scheduled at the one time during that weekend when I’d indicated I would not be available. I go to cons like Ad Astra primarily to promote myself and my work. If I have no panels, or readings, or any other opportunity to put my novels in front of people, then I’m losing my main reason to be there.

The second reason I’m not going also has to do with promotion – I have nothing new to promote. I’d hoped to have Young Nostradamus ready to go by now, but for one reason or another I haven’t been able to make it happen. My old stuff is just that – old. I’ll come back when I have more to show.

Those aren’t very good reasons. Honestly, I just wasn’t up for it this year, and I’m sad about that. Hopefully next year I’ll put in the effort.

Hopefully next year, I’ll want to.

Apoca-Lynn coming back (even though it was never actually gone…)

My 8th novel, Apoca-Lynn, is soon going to be available for the Kobo! Except, it sort of already was. The first edition of the novel was uploaded to Smashwords, but I’ve had to take that down in order to republish on Kobo proper. Don’t ask. I’m still figuring this online publishing world out.

Basically, the Smashwords edition was dead, and had been for a very long time. The last sale was in the summer of 2017, which brought its grand total to 9. I’m hoping I can do better than that by going directly to Kobo, and later on Amazon.

This is step one in my mission to get back into the game of publishing. Closets, one of my earliest novels, will soon follow. And The Five Demons You Meet In Hell will come next. That’s the plan for this summer. For the fall and beyond, I mean to release some original content one more. I have a novel called Young Nostradamus that I’ve been meaning to put out for a while now. I think it’s just about time.

Stay turned, Tim Believers!

Trump Anthology Now Available!

Trump: Utopia or Dystopia, the new anthology from Dark Helix Press, is available for purchase on Amazon. Naturally, I want to promote the hell out of it! Please click the link to check it out.

 

What link? Why, this one! Go on, you won’t be sorry.

 

Currently this anthology is only available for the Amazon Kindle. Plans are in place for a print edition, however. More on that as it develops…

SFContario 2017

This weekend I’m heading back to SFContario! It went on hiatus for a while, and I’m delighted it’s up and running again.

What follows is my schedule for the con, with panel times and descriptions:

 

Friday 6:30 PM; Parkview, Reading

I’ll most likely be reading from The Five Demons You Meet In Hell, but you never know… I might decide to read from my Trump story. Or something completely different.

Saturday 11 AM; Parkview

Editors Are Not the Enemy: Editors and Author-editors discuss the role of editors and authors as partners in the creative process, how to identify a good editor, why you need an editor, and more. Erik Buchanan, Timothy Carter, Cathy Hird(M), Rati Mehotra.

Saturday 1 PM; Parkview

Plot Complications: Characters in a story are attempting to solve a problem. In the best stories, their attempts go horribly awry. Who can forget the moment when the Crew of the Enterprise, attempting to defeat the Borg, is faced with the announcement from their beloved Captain–“I am Locutus of Borg.”  And the course of the story is changed. Or, when Boromir falls to the lure of the Ring and tries to take it, splitting up the Fellowship and changing everyone’s paths. Panelists and audience are invited to present their own favorite heart-stopping moment from books and film.  Timothy Carter; David Clink, Alyx Dellamonica (M), Cathy Hird.
Saturday at 3 PM; room TBA

QUILTBAG in the media: Our media may be starting to feature more characters and situations from the queer/questioning, undecided, intersex, lesbian, transgender/transsexual, bisexual, allied/asexual, gay/genderqueer (QUILTBAG) perspective, but there’s still a long way to go. How do we move from tokenism to full inclusion?
Saturday 6 PM, Solarium

Hitting The Wall: How Not to Crash and Burn Before Publishing Your Story; From great idea to market-ready story. How to save headaches, heartaches, and $$$ while avoiding the Author Imposter Syndrome.  Timothy Carter (m), Herb Kauderer, Joe Mahoney.

Sunday 3 PM; Gardenview

“Aaaaaaaaassssssssssss You …………. Wishhhhhhhhh” An audience participation panel where the moderator will give a line from a SF& F movie, and the audience is invited to guess the movie and other details. And, since turnabout is fair play, the audience is invited to stump the panelists. An old favorite returns to SFContario. Timothy Carter, David Clink(M), Sephora Hosein.

 

Hope to see lots of you there!

I’m In A Trump Anthology!

Remember that dick joke I was working on for a story a couple of posts ago? The story in question is about Donald Trump, and will be published in the anthology Trump: Dystopia or Utopia from Dark Helix Press!

This will be my second anthology appearance in as many years (the first being Robotica). I’m so very grateful to the editors for giving me an opportunity as cool and amusing as this one.

Click here to read a short synopsis and see all the author bios, including my own. Check back here for the publication date and launch details.