Episode Zero! Is that even possible?

Stardate: 20251107

Intro:

Well, hello there. I’m Devlin, call me Dev (please, for the love of god call me Dev, I hate my name). I’ve been writing and drawing for what feels like at least half a century, but despite having gone pro with my art a few years ago, I’ve never published anything.

I can just sense the head nods. A lot of you out there in the same boat? You want to take the plunge, but you’re worried those dark shapes below might be sharks? Well I intend to document my self-publishing journey. Not just the (hopefully many) successes, but the spectacular failures too. Hopefully, I can help someone avoid a few of the pitfalls I’ll plunge into.

This is the first issue of what I hope will become a weekly newsletter. For now, I’ve no intention of putting it behind a paywall or anything,. I just want to bring a little thoughtful joy to the inboxes of the world.

News:

I’m holding off on publishing anything until my first trilogy is ready to drop all at once. The series is called “Flame and Claw” and like I said, trilogy.

The first book is ready to go, the second need a cover, and I just got book three back from my amazing editor, Charlie Knight. The good news, is I should be getting it back sometime next month!

In The Library:

This is where I’ll talk about the stories I want to tell, about the books I’ve read recently, anything story/publishing/pop culture that I find interesting.

To that end, I’m kind of at a loss for what to work on next. I’ve got a work-in-progress pile that can better be described as a small mountain, and a lot of it i super exciting to me right now. Everything from Don Bluth inspired epic fantasy, to cozy stories to Anime-infused giant robots in space…. So what do I do next?

The Good

This will be something awesome about the post’s topic that was hopefully introduced in the Intro. That’s what the fancy types call a call-back.

The Bad

Something not awesome about the same thing. Not bad news, but how things can go sour.

The Fugly

Something funny about the topic. I always want to end on a smile, if I can. There’s enough negativity in the world already. It’s not going to improve by adding more.

So, thanks for coming along, and welcome aboard!
-Dev

First Post.

(interior, dark room. A door creaks open, spilling in light as someone leans in.)

Is that it? Have I finished pounding this thing into a reasonable approximation of what I wanted my site to be? Did I finally finish checking it on mobile, desktop and tablets? How about those artistic types with the roughly three square-miles of monitor space?

Yeah? It looks good? Did we get all the T’s dotted and the I’s crossed?

Well heck then, let’s get this PUSH THE BUTTON!

(a click, and the theme to ‘The Muppet Show’ begins playing)

Um. Was that the right button? How do I stop this thing….