I thought this would be a good time to get everyone updated on the upcoming Patreon supporter rewards:

The "Lost Echoes: Volume One" chapbook will be shipping to all supporters on Level Two and above later this month:

By the end of May, I should have signed copies of the new trade paperbacks of Lost and Lonely and Dreamlike States sent out to everyone on  Level Six and above.

In July, I will be sending the new signed Limited Edition hardcover anthology Midnight Under the Big Top (Stephen King, Joe Hill, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Robert McCammon, Tananarive Due, Lisa Morton, Heather Graham, Richard Chizmar, Billy Chizmar, Josh Malerman, and many others... ) to everyone on  Level Six and above.

I've picked out the new review copy that will ship to everyone on Level Three and above in August, and I think you're going to be very pleased with this one.

This fall, I'll be announcing the next Patreon Supporters Exclusive special edition, which goes to everyone on Level Four and above.

For All Levels!
I've been working on The Echo of Memory, and as I mentioned last time, while editing the last third of the manuscript I realized something just wasn't working. And to explain what that something is, I need to tell you a little bit about how the book came to be.

Back in 1999 or so, when publishing the book was still just beginning writer's daydream, most drafts were coming in around 60,000 words. As a well-published friend keep reminding me in not so gentle AOL Instant Messenger notes, this was not a considered novel by the New York publishing houses. He said to look at the themes in the book and "pull them out" a bit... which basically meant, "You need to pad that sucker if you want to sell it!"

He wasn't wrong.

I found places where I could add more details, expand on the themes, etc, and got the manuscript up to the required 90,000 words. And it did sell!

Don D'Auria at Leisure bought the book, and bought it fast. Reviewers and readers seemed to dig the story.

And then, like most mass market paperbacks, it was gone and forgotten a few months later.

But during my revisions these last few months, I realized those 30,000 words of padding really needed to go. They added nothing.

I've really come to loathe padded stories at this point in my life. So, I've been chopping out all of the extraneous details and unnecessary scenes. The resulting draft is going to be leaner and maybe a little meaner, but it is what the story always wanted to be.

So, that's where I am. Revising the revision of the revised version to make sure I didn't accidentally chop something the reader actually needed to know!

I have some fun plans for how to catch up on getting this new draft in front of you, but let's wait on those details until this pass is completed.

More news coming soon. Thank you again for your continuing support!

Best,
Brian