Life Update: On The Farm

Life Update I

In an effort to keep you all updated on my recent endeavors, I’ve decided to post quarterly about what all I’m up to. These quarterly “Life Updates” will include my writing progress, thoughts on current events, my personal current events, and more. I look forward to hearing what you all think of some of my news!

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On The Farm

This year we decided to pull the trigger on a new house. It wasn’t planned. We had been talking about what to do next and honestly had intentions of waiting 2-3 more years before we moved. But the upkeep on an almost 50-year-old house was starting to wear on us a bit, and we decided to look around.

And we bought a farm.

It’s not huge, but it is our little chunk of private space with a pond, two pastures, and a nice wrap-around patio. Did I mention it had plenty of space? Oh, and ducks. We have 10 ducks now that we are raising.

My favorite part is the pond, as it’s stocked with catfish. Nothing is better than coming home after a long day and throwing a line out and reeling them in.

We are still getting moved in, but I just emptied out our last storage unit, so the decorating and organizing can begin! Follow me on Instagram for some of the most beautiful sunset pics you will ever see!

Writing Update: The Valley

In between working, moving, and now maintaining the farm, I’ve been working diligently on my next writing project, which is kind of a passion project. For those who know me, you know that Michael Crichton is one of my literary heroes.  I got to see Jurassic World: Rebirth a few weekends ago and it was amazing. Of course, I am a dinosaur nut, so it was going to impress me regardless.

The Valley (tentative title) is my entry into the sci-fi side of the thriller genre, just like Crichton used to do before he passed. I’ve always been a fan of his, and recently a fan of Blake Crouch, who has dove into the sci-fi side of thrillers as well with Dark Matter, Recursion, and Upgrade, which are all great books.

So what is this project about? It’s part political thriller, mixed with experimental genetic research. Taking place on a a fictional island in the middle of the Bering Sea, this project is set in the future after the world has been at war and has turned on their political leaders who almost drove the entire globe into nuclear war and total devastation. I mean, literally almost caused the extinction of the human race.

The consequence for such actions? Citizens of the world rebel, overthrow the United Nations, and kick out the corrupt politicians and drain the swamps. The result is a kinder, gentler world that actually gets along, flourishes on global trade and partnerships, and has very little military conflicts if any at all.

So what does the world do with these politicians? Incarcerate them on an island in the middle of the Bering Sea.

Chevak Island is a remote island prison built to house the corrupt politicians from all over the globe. Their stay is permanent in a valley prison with electrified fences much like Jurassic Park, but with no prison cells. These politicians must fend for themselves until their last day.

And that’s all you are going to get out of me. I left out the sci-fi part on purpose.

My favorite part about this project is that I’ve solicited my daughter to do some concept art for me. My daughter, Maddie, is incredibly talented, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for her to work on a challenging art project while still being able to be creative. Stay tuned to my social media for the big reveals once she is done!

The Podcast

As many of you know, I’ve had a podcast for about 3 years now. I’m 135+ episodes deep, and counting. But editing and all the promotion that comes along with it has been exhausting, and hard to keep up with. My solution? I’ve been livestreaming as much as I can.

You can tune into the podcast LIVE on Twitch and YouTube every Monday night at 6:30 PM/Ctr starting in August. I’ve got some great new guests lined up, and I’ll be releasing two pre-recorded videos from #1NY Times Best Seller Kyle Mills, and another from Actress/Producer and Author, Ally Walker. You might know Ally from a little show called Sons of Anarchy….

There’s more to the livestream than just saving me some time with editing. Livestreaming brings In new viewers who can interact with me and the guest in real-time. Also, the views are much different. What I get in a livestream on one night is what I get in the first week or two of a pre-recorded episode. The clicks on links, the likes, and the subscribes are all very different. I believe this is better all around for the podcast, which is all about promoting others. 

In the near future, I will also be hosting a weekly gaming session where people can come chat and then join me as I play some kind of game on PlayStation. Yes, gaming is usually meant for younger kids; however, today, people of all ages are streaming content from interviews to games. To reach a wider, and younger audience, I’m going to go where that audience is.

And that is not just online, but in the gaming space.

Data shows that the younger generations aren’t reading as much anymore. Some authors like Jack Carr have started to change that, but it takes an entire community to incite a revolution. So, I’ll be doing my part to expose my audience to a new audience, and my guests and my brand to a younger generation of readers. 

It should be fun regardless!