I know, I know … I already messed up my New Year’s resolution of writing a blog post every month. But it’s not that I forgot. No, really, I have an excuse:
Pneumonia. The excuse is pneumonia. And I do not recommend it.
Doing much better now, thanks.
Anyway! While that whole thing did waylay me for about a month, I do have a few updates to share. First, happy to say my novels are now available in eBook format through Bookshop.org, which just recently started selling digital editions. I’ve had my paperbacks there for years now, and I absolutely recommend buying from Bookshop.org if you want your hard-earned cash to go to companies that support independent bookstores.
Meanwhile, things have been super busy on thePrivacy Daily front, as the news about data privacy continues to ramp up. The first quarter of the year is also when the state legislatures are most active, so that’s been taking up a lot of my attention so far in 2026. But hey, they say it’s good to be busy, right?
Don’t worry–I haven’t completely neglected my creative writing! As I hinted at in my last post, I’ve lately been working in Reedsy’s writing app on something new.
You know, after breaking my resolution and skipping the blog in April, I feel like should give you something, even though I’ve become terribly superstitious about revealing my writing plans too early in the process. So, here goes, with the disclaimer that I may totally abandon this! You have been warned!
For some reason — the state of the world or whatever — has gotten me thinking again about the dystopian nation I created in my first two books, the so-called We, The Watched duology.
A central theme of those two books was forgetting, with a hero whose amnesia gives him a blank-slate perspective on how dark things have become even as the rest of society seems to ignore it. Lately, I have been thinking about how even societies that overcome such darkness may over time forget how bad things used to be–and begin to slip backwards.
So, I don’t know … I mean, who really says duology? Maybe it should be a trilogy?
Sometimes it takes more than a good idea to get started writing. I’ve long found that having the right tool makes a difference not only for getting started on a novel but for sticking with it through the last punctuation mark.
The how of writing has changed for me over the years. When I was kid, I wrote with an actual pen or pencil. Eventually, perhaps recognizing the inadequacy of my handwriting, I started typing up drafts on a typewriter or–when we finally got a computer–a Windows 95 PC.
I began writing my first real novel when I was in college. As I had done for homework assignments, I wrote We, The Watched in Microsoft Word. This software worked fine, but as I got further along in the story and the plot grew more complex, Word’s weaknesses for novel writing became apparent. Once you get over 100 pages, it gets difficult to check back what kind of clothes a character was wearing in Chapter 2, and whether they were torn during that fight in Chapter 10.
So partway through writing my second novel, Divided We Fall, I realized I needed to make a change. This novel was more complex than WTW because it followed the perspectives of two characters. That meant I had to keep track of two timelines in one book (plus flashbacks!) and make sure everything lined up properly. This simply was too difficult for me to manage in a Word document.
Luckily, I found a great new writing app called Scrivener, which in 2015 I wrote was a piece of writing software I couldn’t live without. With scenes and chapters that could be dragged and dropped around like notecards on a board, plus plenty of tags and other meta information to input, Scrivener helped me ensure continuity and general cogency throughout DWF. This became even more critical in my next book, The Wanderer and the New West, which has an even more complex plot that jumps among the perspectives of several characters.
Here’s how The Wanderer and the New West looks in Scrivener!
While I still think Scrivener is a great tool, I recently decided to try yet another writing app for a very basic reason: I was starting to feel limited by being able to access my writing only on a PC.
Currently, I use a self-built Windows 11 gaming desktop at home and a sleek and streamlined Chromebook Plus on the go. Unfortunately, Scrivener is not web-based and while there’s a way to use it on Linux, which technically works on a Chromebook, this just felt a bit too intimidating to me to try to set up. While an iPad version is now available for mobile writing, I have never been an Apple guy and didn’t want to buy a whole new device just for this one thing.
Also, even when I was using a Windows laptop rather than a Chromebook, syncing between the apps via OneDrive or Dropbox could be a clunky and precarious thing. First of all, if I planned to work offline, I had to make sure the laptop was synced before I left the house. Second, if I forgot to this, I could risk a situation where there were conflicting versions on each device. While fortunately this never happened to me, a corrupted file is a fear a writer could do without!
Recently, I realized that what I really wanted was a way to quickly access the novel I was writing through a web-based app that I could flexibly access on any device, be it a desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. That’s when I remembered Reedsy!
It’s funny, because for many years, I had been a user of Reedsy’s core service for matching authors with editors, cover designers and other freelancers. It’s why my last two novels in particular look so good!
Long-time blog readers may also recall I interviewed Reedsy’s founders back in 2015. However, at the time, when Reedsy had only recently introduced its web-based writing software, I was already in the middle of a novel on Scrivener and didn’t think I could easily transition all the work I’d already done to a more streamlined platform.
Well, last year, after some fits and starts trying to get going on a new project, I realized that one of my biggest barriers was simply finding the time and space to work. Under my current writing system, I had to be in front of my desktop PC, which–by the way–I also use for my work-at-home job all day long. Suddenly, it occurred to me: I should try that web-based Reedsy writing app!
A look at Reedsy Studio. No, this isn’t my next novel; I got the image from Reedsy’s website!
While it’s still early days, so far I’m enjoying Reedsy Studio. With an emphasis on distraction-free writing, it’s definitely more streamlined than my previous writing software. However, I’m actually finding this simplicity to be refreshing after years of toying with options and settings in Scrivener.
Reedsy’s app has also evolved over time, and now has more tools for outlining a plot and fleshing out people and locations in the story. I especially like–even more than I thought I would–the built-in templates that ask key questions about my characters. Not only is it forcing me to add much more dimension to even minor characters than I might have otherwise, but it’s giving me things to work on even at times when I don’t feel like writing the actual story.
Most importantly, I can now jump into my novel whenever inspiration strikes, no matter where I happen to be or what device I happen to have with me. At this time in my life, when it comes to writing, this may be the most valuable feature of all.
Happy New Year! So, my first resolution for 2026 is to get back to updating this blog! (Hey look, I did it.)
It’s been a while, reader. I really do apologize for the dearth of posts over the last year. I can tell you I was not sitting on my hands. In fact, from a professional standpoint, it was not a bad year at all!
As you may know, I am an author by night and weekend. By day, I am a journalist covering the intersection of tech and legal policy. Well, at the end of 2024, I was given the privilege of becoming the deputy managing editor of a new publication covering data privacy law, enforcement and compliance. We call it Privacy Daily, and we’ve had a whirlwind–and very rewarding–first year!
So here’s what happened: I focused all my 2025 energy getting the publication off the ground and doing everything I could to make it a success. It’s gone well! However, you might say all this effort came at the cost of my creative writing, which was already taking a hit due to the challenges (and rewards) of raising a small child. No regrets on any of this! It’s just the reality of being a 40-year-old.
However, this brings me to second resolution: Get back into creative writing in 2026!
While I can’t say things have slowed down on the journalistic front, I do feel a lot more calm and confident about Privacy Daily going into year two. I think we’ve really found our groove in terms of workflow, and there’s no shortage of privacy news to write about.
So, yeah! More creative writing in 2026!To tell you the truth, it’s not like I did nothing of this kind in 2025. Since publishing my last book Utopia PR, I have been brainstorming new ideas and writing possible beginnings to new novels. It’s probably too early to announce anything, but I can tell you that I started a project recently that feels relevant and, most importantly, exciting for me to write about.
So stay tuned and hopefully I will have more to say about that soon. I’d love to get back into at least monthly updates to this blog, so if you haven’t already, please subscribe using the form below or to the left.
Talk about an October surprise: Indie Author Project (IAP) selected my dystopian satire novel Utopia PR as a runner-up in the sci-fi/fantasy category of its annual contest!
Click here to read IAP’s blog post about the contest. IAP connects indie authors with public libraries and their patrons across the U.S. I’ve personally used their service, formerly known as SELF-e, to submit eBooks and audiobooks of my novels to join a growing collection of high-quality, self-published books at libraries. IAP ensures the quality of the books by vetting submissions through industry editors and librarian editorial boards.
IAP announced the awards via WebEx on Friday, Nov. 1. I quickly snapped a screenshot of this slide revealing Utopia PR as a runner-up.
This was my first year entering IAP’s annual contest. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I submitted Utopia PR back in April. It was long enough ago that I had almost forgot I even entered, so it was wonderful to hear the news on Nov. 1 that my book made it to the top 3 of all sci-fi/fantasy novels. (It just occurred to me that this technically means it’s a November surprise, but I don’t care! I’m not changing the lede!)
In addition, while I have won awards for my novels in the past (including a humor award for Utopia PR), this was the first one that came with a a cash prize! Not in this for the money, obviously… Did I mention I’m an indie author? Still, it sure is nice. I’m also hoping that I will get a promotional boost from this honor that will lead more readers to find my book.
In case you’re one of those fine people who haven’t picked up a copy, Utopia PR is a sci-fi satire about seeking work-life balance while doing public relations for a dystopian president. It’s available now in eBook, print and audiobook formats from all your favorite retailers and streaming services. Here’s the synopsis:
PR extraordinaire Blake Hamner (the n is silent) put off his honeymoon for his big break: joining a major political campaign for president. Now, the “Hammer” struggles to make time for his marriage as Crisis Communications Manager for Our Leader, who since taking power has become increasingly mad and totalitarian.
The Hammer starts to reconsider his career choices when one of Our Leader’s savage steel hounds attacks the Comms team at a press conference. He’d love to talk about his erratic job with his wife, Triple-N news anchor Maria Worthington, but they have a rule: the broadcast journalist doesn’t ask Blake for inside information about his work, and the spin doctor doesn’t use their relationship as leverage on what Maria reports. They say you shouldn’t keep things from each other in a marriage, but it’s OK—the only secrets between Blake and Maria are professional.
When a revolutionary levels grave allegations against Our Leader—and accuses Blake of distributing disinformation and propaganda to cover it up—the PR rep who thought he could talk his way out of any crisis finds himself utterly trapped in a dystopian job.
Libraries are an important place for book discovery. As an indie author, it’s even more important that I find ways to reach a critical audience of curators: the librarians!
This year I was excited to have an entire shelf to myself featuring my four dystopian novels at the American Library Association’s 2023 conference in Chicago. The event ran from June 22-27. My books appeared in a booth managed by the Independent Book Publishers Association. I’m a proud IBPA member.
Utopia PR bookmark
I made some really fun Utopia PR bookmarks specifically for the event! I’ve got extras and will try to find a way to make these available in the future. Let me know if you’re interested by tagging me on social media.
I had previously displayed and signed copies of The Wanderer and the New West at a pre-pandemic ALA conference in Washington, DC. I was unable to attend this year’s show in person, but I hope to get out to this excellent conference again in the future.
I love finding out that my books are available in libraries, whatever the format. All four eBook editions of my novels, plus the audiobook editions of my last two books, were accepted into the Indie Author Project and available to participating libraries. Books in physical and digital formats can also be acquired separately through distributors including Ingram and Smashwords. Please contact me if you need help finding my books.
Here are few more photos from ALA 2023. Here’s a fun idea: Try to find my novels in each picture like it’s a Where’s Waldo book!
Thanks to IBPA for taking all of the photos in this post!
