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So what the heck is O.W.L. and why is the the book dedicated to Lisa?

Much to my shock I’ve received a fair amount of fan mail over the past couple months. This amazes me, because they come from people who enjoy my work. That’s still a foreign concept, and every time I see a new email I can’t help but grin.

Many of those emails have asked the same question about the dedication. Who is Lisa and what the heck is O.W.L.? A few people have theorized that it must be from Harry Potter, but no I’m not going for my ordinary wizarding levels.

1465363_10151772373427623_1443664578_nSee that lovely girl to the right? That’s Lisa. We’ve been dating for nearly two years, and if it weren’t for her I’d never have published the first book.

I’d written the first third of No Such Thing As Werewolves when we met, but it had been months since I’d worked on it. Then she devoured my back catalogue of short stories and novellas, and asked me if I had anything else. So I had no choice but to keep writing. When I finished the first draft Lisa was one of the first to read it and offer feedback, and she’s done the same for The First Ark and No Mere Zombie.

She’s not only gorgeous, but also brilliant. Many of my best ideas come from her, including the iconic Warning: May Contain Werewolves. So where does O.W.L. come in? Lisa and I started dating because we are both geeky programmers who love fantasy and video games.

Very early in the relationship I told her I’d launched an operation to woo her. This was shortened to Operation Woo Lisa, which became O.W.L. It’s my master plan to landing the girl of my dreams. So far, so good!

First Ever Fan Art

Most days I still pinch myself to see if this whole author thing is still true. It’s been a goal for decades, and the idea that I’ve published a novel still floors me. What is even more surreal is that people seem to like it.

So much so that one of my beta readers for No Mere Zombie took it upon herself to create artwork for some of the characters. I find this incredibly humbling, because Kristi Benton (KB to her friends) gave up her own time to bring Trevor, Irakesh, Centia and Sobek to life. How awesome is that?

 

Trevor & Cyntia around the campfire

Trevor_Cyntia

 

Sobek being creepy

Sobek

 

Irakesh creating an Anakim

Anakim

The First Ark is live on Audible and iTunes

Woohoo! After a three week wait the audiobook for The First Ark is finally live. It’s only 90 minutes long, so I listened to the first half on the way to work. I’m blown away by Ryan’s performance, and love what he did with Osiris.

Also, for those waiting for the beta copy of No Mere Zombie invites will finally go out tomorrow. I have about 15 chapters left to go and will try to finish that this evening!

One Step Closer

I’ve finished the last major content edit for No Mere Zombie. I’m going to give the manuscript a quick proofread, then send it off to beta readers on Sunday. If you’d like to be one of them you can let me know here or join the mailing list.

Readers will have four weeks to deliver feedback, and I’ll include information about exactly the kind of help I need. This is your chance to help shape the plot for the next book!