Dane Mallahan

Hello all,

Posting not all too late this week as I think changing my posting pattern for weekly updates is going to shift to Saturday or Sunday.  I am not finding the time or remembering to post anything on Fridays; the weeks have been long and I don’t see that changing in the near future.  So, changing update posts to the weekend so I can have a bit more time and breathing room.

What’s been going on this week?

First and foremost I finally got up the courage and commitment to make an introduction video on Youtube!  I figure I can use that space to talk a bit more about what my projects are and work through my process while speaking to a larger community, and trying to build a larger community.  I also plan on uploading that video and future videos on the weekend, probably Sundays.  

I also started an Instagram account where I will post random stuff throughout the week, some writing focused, some observational thoughts, etc.

Now, on to the writing!

This week I continued to write the third book in my Path of The Chosen series, which I am calling “The Valley Divided”.  I wrote about 7,000 words this week, which is sort of on target for what I want to be producing each week.  I wanted to shoot for 8,000 per week – while I am not fully employed – but, as I learned in college, it’s better to set a “windowed approach” for your goals.  So, I decided anything between 6,000 – 8,000 would make me happy.  And I was able to make time to start doing social media promotion.  All is good, then, in the world.

Aside from actual writing I took a step back from the fantasy story/series I have been working on concurrently with PoTC, so that I could develop the world a little bit more thoroughly.  Originally I started this story with a bit of dialogue I wrote on my phone at 3 or 4 am after having a very vivid dream, and from there it just started to build, so I haven’t really taken the time to fully develop the story.  Moving forward will need more development, which is what I will be working on in the coming weeks.

Now a few thoughts on publishing:

I am sort of at a standstill with revising and editing of the first PoTC book.  I am to the point – I think I have mentioned several times – where I am needing new and fresh eyes on the book, as I am sort of too close to it now.  I have made some changes and have some thoughts for that first book, but ultimately I want to give it a break for now while I work on the third book.  I think I will see things a little more clearly once that book is mostly written.  If I end up getting a full-time job here in the next few weeks/months I will likely spend a little bit of cash on an editor.  But that’s all still to be seen!

Feels like a broken record sometimes with this particular aspect of my writing career, but it’s sort of the last and most important hurdle, I think, that I am working through right now.  That’s it for this week.  I will set up some links to my other social media accounts sometime next week.  Look out for those and some of my other projects soon.

Thanks for reading, and in the immortal words of AC/DC, have a drink on me!

Cheers,

Dane