I had just enough time for one book signing in Gilbert before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. And if I could only have one signing, then I'm glad it was this one. The staff at Deseret Book were wonderful and set me up in this beautiful spot with a huge, gorgeous table. I felt like a celebrity.
     Even though me and my family are riding out this disaster inside the house most of the time, I'm still keeping busy. Like . . . incredibly busy. I'm working on several projects with Write House Publishing. The launch of our first product is expected to be later this week. More on that later. But this is just one of a series of great ideas that I've been working on with Deb and Dave Eaton. 
     The seminars I was teaching on writing memoirs and family histories are on hold until the pandemic situation clears up. Then I plan to offer the classes to audiences in the cities of Mesa, Tempe, and Gilbert. The material from the seminars is from my next book, The Easy-Peasy Method For Writing Memoirs and Family Stories. 
    I promised several people that I'd start work on the fourth book of The Gathering series. And with all the craziness going on, I'd be crazy not to write about it. The fourth book will be the last story in the series. 
     And I'm also working on writing a novel with my daughter. (She has an amazing author voice and is going to be a better writer than me.) We're working on a romantic-comedy set in the Old West. That's right. A romantic-comedy. I can hardly believe it myself. Lucy will be writing the chapters with the female main character and I will do my best to write the male chapters from a guy's point of view. 
     Busy, busy, busy. But I will try not to be too busy to check in here on a regular basis. Hunker down and stay safe.

I want to say thanks to Reuben for reminding me that I haven't been active on the website. However, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy writing. Or with other author stuff for that matter. 

Two years ago I started a blog on writing. I invited my good friends, Janette Rallison, Brock Booher, and Adrienne Quintana to join me. If you have an interest in writing then you should check it out. Here's the link. 

http://www.readysetwritepodcast.com/

Then about a year ago, the Ready-Set-Write team started a game show on the YouTube channel. It is still focused on writing, but involves buzzing entries when we think an agent or editor would stop reading their first page. It's entertaining even if you aren't interested in writing. You can see for yourself at this link.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIAbuihdn0jHaRTkb8OBGA

I'm still teaching classes at the local writing conventions, but have also taken a leadership position in the American Night Writers Association. This is a non-profit organization with the goal of helping writers reach their writing and publishing goals. I am currently the president of the organization and that keeps me fairly busy.

The point of mentioning all of this is to let everyone know I'm still here and still writing. But I often forget to make the time to post on this website. You can help me out by leaving a comment and let me know what features/posts interest you most and I will make sure to keep current with those.  

Thanks, everyone.

It has been a while since my last update. Sorry for the absence, but I was feverishly working on my memoir. I hear the groans out there. Randy, you're just not that interesting. Get over yourself. But the memoir isn't so much about me as it is about my experience, one that is becoming very common in recent years. 

Two years ago, I submitted my DNA for testing to help my family history research. When the results came back, I found that my dad was not my biological father. The memoir deals with the thoughts and emotions that accompany that kind of discovery. It also chronicles my journey to come to terms with a new family dynamic and meet a father I didn't know existed. I am currently in the process of submitting that for publication and hope that one of the editors sees the value of that kind of story in today's society. 

It's good news that I'm still writing. But it is better news that I am preparing to start on book four in The Gathering series. The Return: Millennial Dawn will be the final book in the series. It also promises to be a monster of a book. 

If you have questions about my books or suggestions for The Return, please don't hesitate to drop me a line or leave a comment here. And thanks for accompanying me on my writing journey. 

The Ready-Set-Write experience has expanded. We held our first mini-conference at the Tempe library in preparation for NaNoWriMo. And we will do it again next Saturday at the Mesa Red Mountain library. 

Jill Brenner, program director for the Tempe library, really knows how to make a bunch of authors feel welcome. Look at this beautiful sign she setup for the conference. Plenty of people came out to hear the Ready-Set-Write crew talk about writing. Then afterwards, we recorded three sessions of our podcast, taking questions from the audience and having fun answering them.

I could tell you who presented at the conference and what workshop they offered, but the sign says it all. This is a great opportunity for writers to prepare themselves for the month long writing marathon in November. Participants had the opportunity to develop a new story idea, make some decisions on what characters needed to be in their story, decide whether to take the "Plotter" or "Pantser" route in writing, think up some wicked conflict, and throw in a little romance. All in one day and all for free.

Thanks Jill and thanks to all the people who came out and made it a success.

Battlementals: Pounce and the Riddle of Fire comes out next month. In celebration of the release of the second book in the Battlemental universe, I am giving away a FREE copy of Battlementals: Quest for the Harmonicon.

Here's the link.  https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/9ad7ee0cb7275dc2

Good luck.

     It has been a busy year and Phoenix Comicon 2017 was no exception. Four days of meeting a host of interesting characters. My latest novel, Battlementals: Quest for the Harmonicon grabbed the attention of adults and youth. In the words of Alan Skousen (pictured below), a book for children of all ages. The boys were interested in reading about Thunk Hogs that attack using exploding snot and the parents were happy that their boys wanted to read. Although, I don't think they were quite as psyched about the exploding snot.
     My lovely daughter, Lucy (also pictured below), turned out to be consummate sales person. She connected especially well with the other young women and sold more books than the rest of the crew combined. Way to go, Lucy.
     Thanks to Daelyn Skousen (pictured below) for letting her husband come out and play all weekend. I don't know what I would have done without all three of these amazing individuals.

     This year I hosted four panels at Comicon. Three on writing and one on public speaking. All of the writing panels were near or above capacity for the room and I had a host of individuals stop by the booth afterwards to tell me how much they enjoyed the presentations. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth.
     I didn't do the panels alone. Adrienne Quintana, T. M. Williams, and Matthew Cerra were also part of the fun and education. The four of us had excellent chemistry together and several requests were made by the audience to have us return next year. Thanks guys for all your insightful writing advice and willingness to participate.

     With Adrienne Quintana standing next to me for most of the event, the conference turned out to be an extended planning session. We discussed the release of three more novels by the end of this year. That's right. Three more novels this year.
     Battlementals: Pounce and the Riddle of Fire is a novel that takes place in the Battlemental universe, but follows the adventures of a young Saber cub named Pounce. It will be a perma-free book and you can sign up for it on my other website. (WWW.RanTheStoryMan.com) It will have some wonderful artwork inside and is the first in a series of six stories with Battlementals as the main characters.
     The Devastation: America Crumbles is the third novel in The Gathering series and is the best one so far. I expect to release that towards the end of summer. It has been two years since the last book in the series was released and I know there are a lot of fans waiting to find out what happens to Robert and the rest of the Williams family.
     Closer to the end of the year I will be releasing my first novel under a pen name. While I don't write anything with foul language or sexual content, the stories I write under my alias will be grittier and have more violence than the stories I have already published. More on the alias and title in later posts, but it is the first novel I wrote and people have been asking me for years to publish it.

           We are two months into 2017. Headed into the year, I expected this to one interesting ride with many new experiences and opportunities. A lot of that is fueled by the fact that I released Battlementals: Quest for the Harmonicon in January. Battlementals is my first foray into the exciting world of middle-grade fiction and I expect it to be quite an adventure. And so far it has.
            Entering a new market meant that I needed to develop a new marketing campaign, create a new website (www.RanTheStoryMan.com), research new merchandising options, master the skills of indie-publishing, and adopt a new mindset for my brand. Although that meant a lot of work it has been interesting and fun most of the time and challenging on occasion. As of last Saturday, I can add one more item to the list—extremely rewarding.
            Saturday, was the Local Author Fair at the Red Mountain library in Mesa. All of the author events I attend are fun, but this one was special because I had the chance to see my good friendly Emily.
Emily and her mother participated in one of my very first workshops and it has been a delight to see her and the rest of the family whenever I can. In the picture below you can see Emily, Quincy, me, and Meagan. Because of the developmental challenges they all face I’m super excited to see them interested in reading. I hope that my new direction as an author will continue to provide me with many more experiences like this one.
 

  
          February also saw me visiting the Young Author club in Avondale. Adrienne Quintana invited me to speak with the students and I had a blast. We talked about elevator pitches and the children all had the chance to pitch a story to me based on a writing prompt. If this group represents the future of the writing industry then I think we are in good hands.

            Fans of The Gathering series will be happy to know that I submitted book three to the publisher at the beginning of the month. In my opinion, this is the best book in the series so far. I can hardly wait to share it all of you. The working title for the book is The Devastation: America Crumbles. Any further information about the book will have to wait until after I hear back from the publisher.