First an update, then some comments.

I can be more specific about a timeline for Skate the Seeker, now. Edits and revisions continue, and I believe we can expect a release early in 2023 (not, as I'd hoped, this year, but who's fault is that? That's right, MINE). Expect more details in the coming months; there's still a lot of work left before we can fix a specific date! If you are one of my readers, be sure to tell everyone to get book 1, so they can be ready for book 2 and join you in reading it. If you're not one of my readers... hey! Good to meet you.

Now for some random comments about media. I've finally started reading Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives series. I blew through Way of Kings and expect to be done with Words of Radiance by the end of next week. 10/10 so far, must-read fantasy. He made a weird  world, and I love every minute spent in it.

Netflix's adaptation of Sandman has been spectacular so far, and so has HBO's House of the Dragon, an adaptation of sections of G.R.R. Martin's Fire and Blood. All excellent reading choices, and I'm glad to see them (successfully!) adapted for the small screen. We're living in the golden age of fantasy nerd television and books, y'all.

Aside from waiting on Skate and watching awesome TV, I've been drafting a side-project to keep myself in the habit of writing. I'm enjoying it so far, and even if it never sees publication, I'll be happy to work on it to completion. The less said of that, the better, I think, until it's done.

That's all for me, for now.

Write your story!
​-J. E. Ayers

It has been an embarrassingly long time since I updated the website. Literal years have passed. Eight seasons. A pandemic -- still going! Two school years, 300 students come and gone. Far too much to update on every little thing. My apologies if you've been coming here expecting news and updates -- I plan to be more mindful of putting such things here in the future.

For now, I can update you on plans for the future. Book 2 of Rag and Bone is moving forward, in the publisher's hands as I type this. I think I can reveal the title here: Skate the Seeker. I am less comfortable giving a timeline, but I hope to have it out and available to you all by the end of the year.

(This is a hope, not a promise. Do not, as they say, @ me.)

As I get more information, I will pass it along. At the very least, I hereby promise to at least post some sort of update here once a month. For now, I work on a side-project -- I don't want to say much about it, as I have no idea if or when it will ever get finished, but it's what I've been working on while I wait for Seeker to get back to me.

Once book 2 gets finalized, I'll table this project to work on book 3.  So long as we don't have a world-crushing catastrophe hit again, I don't expect the time between books to be as long next time. Talk to you again soon (or at least next month).

Write your story!
​-J. E. Ayers

I am happy to announce the release of chapter 1 of Skate the Thief as a preview for the book! Click the button below to open up the pdf.

​I'll leave you with a reminder to go with this small taste: the book will be available for purchase in ebook and paperback formats on June 2, 2020.

Somehow, it is May.

I want to take the space today to talk about long-distance teaching. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, all schools in my home state of Arkansas (go hogs!) have been closed for the rest of the schoolyear. However, school isn’t cancelled. The building is closed and is offering no services to anyone, but school is still in session through online learning opportunities. There are some pros and cons to this scenario.

Pros: Students can still receive credit for classes. Teachers get to experiment with non-traditional instructional strategies. Schedules aren’t as rigid and punitive. Students still get to learn. It follows the guidelines for social distancing. Teachers don’t have to take a cut in pay for their contract days being disrupted.
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Cons: This approach necessitates a huge amount of screen time, which kids already receive in excess. Communication with students and their families can become sporadic panic-inducing ordeals. Many students and teachers are unable to commit to a “normal” amount of school engagement because being at home carries more responsibilities than being at school would. Engagement is pretty much voluntary, with no way to enforce it; as such, it is generally quite low.

I still think it’s worth it, but the situation in Arkansas is kind of a bummer. Hey, if you’re looking for something to read this summer, Skate the Thief comes out as an ebook and in paperback on June 2nd. That’s a month from now!

Write your story!
-J. E. Ayers

A lot went on this month. Not just for me, of course, but for all of us; COVID-19 has ravaged the planet, killing thousands in its wake and stranding most of us at home. The world’s a bit darker and more dangerous than it seemed just a few weeks ago. I hope everyone is staying safe and taking all prudent precautions. This post isn’t primarily about The Coronavirus, but it would be impossible to have discussion in the moment without at least acknowledging how weird - and how dangerous - the world’s become for everyone seemingly all at once.
 
However, I do find myself in a position where I can be if some service to people besides just staying home. As an author with his first published book coming out, I’ll be able to offer everyone something novel (I sincerely apologize for the pun) to occupy themselves in June.
 
I’m happy to announce that Skate the Thief, book one of the Rag and Bone Chronicles, is set to come out June 2. In two short (read: eternal, confined) months, the book will be available for purchase in paperback and ebook formats. Here’s a look at the cover art, courtesy of the always talented Nada Orlic. You should check out her other work as well; my publisher made a good choice!

Some publication news, and big personal news: I’ve gone through the first round of edits, and now I’m waiting for the second run-through; and I’m happy to announce the birth of our second child, Hattan! He came a week ahead of schedule, but mother and baby are both happy and healthy.

Nobody is getting any sleep (with the possible exception of our first-born; the happy older brother Aiden is protected from the worst of the nightly noise), so my writing has gotten a little sporadic. Still, plenty of stuff online to be done, and that going well.

This is a short one. More to come next month. So tired.
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Write your story!
-J. E. Ayers

No news yet on the publication front; I’m told it will likely take until March until I get the first round of edits back. I’ve got plenty to fill my time before then. There’s online presence stuff I’ve got to take care of (how does the Instagram work?), “Rainbow” is always sitting there waiting, and of course there’s school.

I almost – almost – started the Wheel of Time series. I had the book in my hand and was getting ready to turn to page one, and I just … couldn’t take the step. I’ve got The Eye of the World.  I own the book. I will read it someday. But not yet. Not yet.

I’m thinking the next series I am going to pick up is Herbert’s Dune. It’s older, less of a commitment, and is about space. It’ll be a nice change of pace from the fantasy I’ve been immersed in for months. I’m pretty sure my local library has a copy, so I’ll check there first. (Support your local library, folks. They are more than depositories for books. Use these spaces!)

One last word here about Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire: there’s a lot of theories out there about a lot of topics in the books, but there’s one theory I feel the need to take a public stance on. The maesters are NOT involved in a comprehensive conspiracy against the Targaryens, but I’m pretty sure some of the leadership could be. A conspiracy of a select few, not an organization-spanning ordeal.

There. I feel like I’ve taken an important stand.
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Write your story!
-J. E. Ayers

Happy new year! I’m happy to announce that Thinklings Books has offered me a contract for my first published novel, Skate the Thief, the first book of the Rag and Bone Chronicles. We’re on a tentative schedule to get the book published by early June of this year. So exciting!

I’ll post more publication news here as I get it. My first step now is … waiting. The editor at the company is scouring my manuscript for imperfections, of which I’m sure there are more than a few. I can hardly believe this is happening, to be honest. I mean, I think my book is pretty good, but I didn’t know if anyone else would be interested in trying to sell it. So, after years of false starts and disappointments, I’m going to be published!

I’ve noticed that the nervous energy isn’t getting in the way anymore. It’s still there, but since I signed the contract, it hasn’t stopped me from writing on “Rainbow” anymore. I would start working on book 2 of the Rag and Bone Chronicles, but I’m not sure what we’ll need to change in book 1 first. With that in mind, I’ll turn toward “Rainbow” in the meantime. Then, it will be several rounds of editing and proofreading for Skate, and then promotions will start. Stay tuned for more updates!

Write your story!
-J. E. Ayers

Hopeful news: a publisher is interested in my book! They responded during the #PitMad event on Twitter to my pitch, and they were happy enough with the sample I sent in that they wanted the entire manuscript. I’ve only gotten this far with a publisher once before with a different manuscript, so this is very promising. I’ll provide updates next month, assuming I’ve got something more to report.

Whenever I’m waiting to hear back from a publisher or an agent, I usually get filled with too much nervous energy to get anything creative done, and I find that to be the case now. Try as I might, I can’t get any more work done on “Rainbow in the Dark.” I keep snapping back to the other manuscript, and I get flummoxed. I find it easier to exercise, though, so at least the energy is useful for something.

I don’t usually get writers’ block; I tend to have enough time between writing sessions to be able to come up with the next steps in the plot and a reason for them to happen. That is one of the nice things about revising and editing; I get to go back and smooth that stuff over and make it look all planned out. Neil Gaiman says later drafts are there to make it look like you knew what you were doing the first time, which is just great all around.

That’s all for me this time. Write your story!
-J. E. Ayers