Good morning, dear readers. I hope you are well. I am writing a blog post to thank you again for being a reader and joining me on my literary excursions. It has been a fun time as of recent in spite of our current living situation. By that, of course, I refer to the world’s state of quarantine and viral outbreaks. Certainly, we have all found ourselves in a spot we may have never imagined. A mass quarantine was definitely not on my radar; I’d have thought marshal law would happen before something like this, another reason why fiction could never touch the oddities of life, and why art often imitates life.

Nevertheless, we have all been put into a spot of some sort. In my case, I have found myself without work, I haven’t had a secular job for five months now, and all of this started right at the onset of the Covid outbreak and got much harder once it was in full swing. In the middle of the crisis, my father passed away, his final days spent in isolation due to quarantine. It has been tough. We carry on, though.

I carry on.

For creativity.

For art.

For my readers.

The only tasking aspect: no WiFi, no data, slow connections ( I cannot see myself thumbing my phone to compose and post poetry let only fiction, and speech-to-text which I do use quite often is painfully slow) leave me waiting ten minutes for the web browser to open, which does not include the time it takes for word boxes, links, navigation buttons, etc. to populate on the page, and then there’s upload time once the post has been pasted into the text box. First world problems, I know. But, a problem nonetheless for someone trying to get their work out, eventually make a living from their art, and someone wanting to share with their readers. For your patience and understanding, thank you. I’m thrilled every time a reader likes a post, or shares a post. I’m sure the dopamine release may have a bit to do with it, but really, it’s knowing my work is being read, and appreciated. So again, thank you.

What’s coming? The launch of my new collection, The Vanishing Poet, was an utter success. Promotional work and events have been underway with more to come. Please, by all means, if you are interested in reading, a FREE download is still available to readers from Amazon Kindle. I’ll provide the link below (there are two free downloads right now, the other being a chapbook called Poetry From the Edge of Forever). As this quarantine begins to clear, I’d expect public book readings (as opposed to virtual) and a Texas book tour, as well as some readings in California (already in the works), and Oregon, if not a southwest United States reading tour. I’d like to take my work east, to New York and surrounding areas (if anyone has any leads on getting in or knows any good open mics, etc. I’d be grateful for the assist). Currently, I’ve been doing the virtual circuit, so stay tuned for reading announcements.

As I wind up to wind down with The Vanishing Poet, know another chapbook is coming June/July titled, Severance: Poems of a Dystopian America. The next Max Caulfield story is about to drop on Patreon, and my focus is back to fiction. I’m working on a new Nicholas Duke novel, and another installment in the Siouxville horror stories. Stay tuned!

With that, I part. I opened my browser at the start of this, so it should be ready to post as soon as. And before I forget (I am a TERRIBLE salesperon!), if you’d like to lend me some financial support, subscribe to my Patreon (only $1 p/post-with an average of less than 4 p/month), buy my books, or make a one time donation (I take paypal, cashapp, zelle, and square). But more than anything, like, follow, or share my work, and thanks again for taking this ride with me, it’s been some experience. Take care.

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Get my new collection of poetry, The Vanishing Poet,FREE at Amazon Kindle.