So, folks who’ve been wandering here into this particular storyteller’s corner for a while may recall that a little while back, I was hoping to upload some previously recorded audio files in order to share one of my more recently published novels, “The Big Tour”. I have a Section set aside for this story on my Substack’s front end, but there’s no material there just at the moment, which makes very little sense to me. Additionally, it’s the Christmas season, which means that I’ve been quite busy with holiday tasks and family and working overtime (to ensure we didn’t have to go into deeper debt to afford presents), which has left me with precious little time to focus on doing what I ostensibly started this Substack in order to do- create genre fiction tales for sharing with you good folks.
I’ve recently become the recipient of quite a few more subscribers than I once had, thanks in no small part to a non-fiction piece I whipped together in a bit of a fury, thanks to the endeavors of a handful of folks here on Substack who believe it is some sort of sacred digital duty of theirs to determine what free-willed members of this platform can and cannot read. I’ll say no more on that matter for the moment, else I’ll get myself worked up, and that isn’t the purpose of this day’s post. But since there are new folks joining us here in the Corner, I think it only appropriate that I take the chance to say “Hello! And welcome, friends and neighbors, to The Storyteller’s Corner!”
To readers previous and newer, that Section is soon going to finally have some material assigned to it. It is my intention, starting after Christmas, to begin uploading the individual chapters of “The Big Tour”, a dark fantasy novel by yours truly, to that Section. The novel was first commercially published a couple of years ago, and is available for sale in full over on Barnes and Noble’s website (as well as the Beast of Bezos, but I prefer you not purchase any of my books from Amazon, use other sources where available). The chapters will be going up here on my Substack, one chapter at a time, until the entire novel is presented for your reading pleasure!
Now, I will eventually end up putting the story’s individual chapters behind the ‘Paid Subscribers Only’ paywall, though not before the book is presented in full and left available for readers to stumble across/have recommended to them for a little bit of time first. My primary concern has always been to offer stories to entertain, inform, and inspire above wondering about making a profit. Would a profit be nice? Obviously, yes. Is that the primary driver for putting to use the gift that a loving God granted me in the form of an overactive imagination and a propensity for wordplay? No, nor should it be; it is my genuine belief that when God blesses us with creative gifts, we are supposed to put them to use for the betterment of our fellow man, even if that betterment merely means granting them a temporary reprieve from the concerns of the everyday in the form of distraction and imagination.
So, for the near future, that’s going to be the game plan. I am working on a new mid-length tale, a sci-fi story that ties in loosely with “Righteous Tyrant” and “Working the Program” (both tales presented previously here in the Corner, just check the archives), which I’m having a bit of fun with, and that will probably find its way into the publication schedule as a kind of interlude/interruption as things move along with “The Big Tour”. I also want to try to be a little bit more regimented and regular in the coming year with these larger project presentations, so for the time being, it’s my plan to publish one chapter every 3-4 days for “The Big Tour”, rather than the chapter-a-day pace that I have used in the past. That didn’t seem to afford folks the opportunity to actually dive into the material, since, understandably, folks have more than just my humble ‘Stack to read when they have the chance.
So, in summation, folks, there’s tales to be told, and I do hope you’ll join me in the days ahead to enjoy them. Until then, ladies and gentlemen, I ask that you take care of yourselves, take care of one another, and as always-
Keep reading.