Now available: "Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones"

The book publishing process can be a slow one, even when one is self-publishing.

"Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones," the latest release in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series, is actually not that new.

Timothy and I met for a "Cornell" breakast to map out the story a year ago this month.

Most of the book was written by the end of September.

But then both Sue Midlock (our official illustrator for the series) and Rebekah Baran (formatter) hae health issues on and off.

So the art wasn't ready until January. And the book wasn't formatted for a while after that.

Then we had to re-edit the proof copy.

Then we had to re-format the book.

But we can finally release it today for your enjoyment.

When supernatural super sleuth Cornell Dyer finds himself between sleuthing jobs, he fills the
time by teaching science while the real teacher is ill. But in a school that’s supposedly getting
remodeled, Cornell encounters one mystery after another: vanishing classroom skeletons, plants
that come and go, and a piano for every student. Cornell is certain his classroom holds the
answer – and that he is one of the clues.

"Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones" isn't available on the BryonySeries store yet.

Nor is it available on Kindle yet.

But you may purchase the paperback on Amazon.

Happy reading!

The Anatomy of an At-Home Writing Retreat

Since I've used zero vacation time all year and vacation time doessn't carry over inot the next calendar year, I've decided to schedule a couple at-home writing retreats.

The first begins shortly.

If this sounds like fun, please know it only "sounds like fun." I've done a few of these now (thank you, finances (2018) and COVID (2020 and 2021), and they are intense and grueling.

The goal is to turn my outlined, very rough draft of Call of the Siren into a solid working draft that I can shape, revise, and edit. I have my "homework" divided into sections for each day, to keep me on track.

Wish me lots of luck (I'm going to need it).

Here's what an at-home, writing retreat typically looks like for me:

Sunday night: OMG, I'm so I excited! A whole week of writing a world of make-believe. I've got coffee. I've got inspiration. Here we go!

Monday: Well, I didn't get quite as much done as I wanted. But I've got most of the week left. I can make up for it.

Tuesday: Mind roams, not as focused. Underestimated the amount of research I needed on "x" topic. Get pulled down a rabbit hole of one unrelated click after another. Forgot to post Bertrand on Instagram, so get distracted by that. Didn't meet goal. Don't care as much as I did yesterday.

Wednesday: I hate writing. I hate coffee. I hate fiction. This writing retreat is stupid. I need a vacation. I can't wait to go back to work.

Thursday: The time pressure is on. Sprint writing.

Friday: Marathon writing. Skimming over more details than I want. Will have plenty of extra work in the revision stages because of it.

Saturday: Becoming resigned that my goal was too lofty. Get a realistic amount of writing done and set some goals for Sunday and the following weekend.

Sunday: Distracted writing. Pushing the undone work to next weekend. Mind roaming to the features writing I'll be doing on Monday. Checking some work email.

Now this week will have some variations.

For instance, I have today off because I worked the weekend, so my actualy vacation time doesn't start until tomorrow. So I took next Wednesday off, too.

And I'm giving myself a break on Thursday because Rebekah is having surgery. So anything post-Thursday might look different, too.

One clarifcation: by "break," I meant break from Call of the Siren. I will have my laptop with me at the hospital finishing up Cornell Dyer and the Calcium-Deficient Bones.

Again, please wish me plenty of luck.