PT Hylton

Author of the Storms of Magic, The Savage Earth, and The Deadlock Trilogy

Writing Updates

New Releases and a Cool Interview

· ·

Book 4 - High Resolution

You ever have one of those weeks where everything seems to happen at once? That was last week for me. Three exciting things that have been in the works for a while all came to fruition.

  • The third Zane Halloway novella came out. It’s called LIGHTNING AND THRONES, and it’s a doozy. That’s right, I just typed the word doozy in the year 2015. That’s how strongly I feel. The reaction has been great so far. Unbiased readers and totally biased readers (like my wife and my editor) all agree that this is the strongest installment thus far.
    Check it out on Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo
  • The audiobook for A PLACE WITHOUT SHADOWS also dropped last week. The narrator is Robin Rowan, and she’s great. She really brought Sophie, Frank, and the rest of the characters to life.
    Check it out on Audible | Amazon | iTunes
  • Finally, I was interviewed on the Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast. We talked about Booktube, conventions, dealing with bad reviews, and more. If you haven’t listened to the show before, please do so. Simon is one of the best interviewers working today, and I think he’s doing important work for the Indie publishing community..

unnamedSo, what’s next? The fourth Zane Halloway novella is up for pre-order now, and it comes out September 28th. I’m currently writing the fifth and sixth installments. I’m also in the early stages of working with an artist on the cover for the Zane Halloway omnibus, which will collect all the novellas in one massive paperback.  I’m also doing a readalong of the complete Sandman comic book series over on my YouTube channel.

Finally, I’m preparing for my workshop and two panels of the SFSE conference at the end of the month.

It’s good times! Busy, but good!

But enough about me. Let’s talk about you for a minute. How are you?

What I’ve Learned in Twelve Months

· ·

 

Today is the one year anniversary of the the day I published my first novel, Regulation 19. Here are twelve things I’ve learned in my first twelve months as an author/publisher.

  1. The details matter. Things like cover, editing, marketing, etc. Today’s audience is savvy, and you can’t find them if you don’t have a professional product presented in a professional manner. But…
  2. Story is king. It doesn’t matter how slick your cover is if you don’t deliver the goods.
  3. There is no one path. Some things about indy publishing are awesome. Some things about traditional publishing are awesome. People like fighting about these things. I find it’s better to keep my head down and keep writing.
  4. Consistency is key. Every day I take off from writing has a cost. It feels like starting over every time.
  5. There are a ton of awesome people in indy publishing. One of the coolest things about this year has been the friends I’ve made.
  6. Sometimes great stories find their audience. Some of my friends have found great success this year. This is well deserved in every case of which I am aware. Every one of these people is extremely talented and hard working.
  7. Sometimes great stories take a while to find their audience. Other equally talented friends haven’t found an audience as large as they’d like. Yet. I firmly believe they will. The combination of talent and hard work win out in the end. Sometimes it takes a while.
  8. Not every one will read your stuff. This is okay.
  9. Not every one will like your stuff. This, too, is okay. Bad reviews are inevitable. Read them, digest them, and forget them. Better yet, don’t read them. But that’s asking a lot, so if you can’t follow the latter advice, follow the former.
  10. Sometimes bad reviews contain incorrect information. Still okay. Annoying, but okay. You can’t control reviews. Even the ones with poor grammar and misleading information. See above.
  11. There are things you can control. How hard you work. How much you put your heart into your work. How you react to your readers.
  12. Readers are awesome. It humbles me each and every time I consider all the strangers who have taken a chance on an off-beat, creepy story about a small town in Tennessee by an author they’ve never heard of. Thank you, one and all. My life is better because of you.

Writing Update – February 2015

· ·

This is a new monthly series where I interview myself in order stay accountable and to keep you all informed about what’s up with P.T.

P.T. – I see you’re 10% to your annual writing goal of 500,000 words. Congrats!
Thank you!

Wait…the year is more than 10% done…doesn’t that mean you’re behind schedule?
You are an astute observer of the human condition and an interviewer unafraid of the tough questions. I like you.
Yes, I should be at about 15%. However, I was starting a new book at the beginning of the year. I tend to write very slowly at the beginning of the book while I’m finding my feet. As the book nears completion, I tend to write very quickly.
So, while I’m technically behind, I’m about where I expected to be at this point. By next month’s update, I’ll very likely be ahead of schedule.

Uh huh. Sure. So what’s this book you’re working on?
I’m working on the third and final book of the Deadlock trilogy.

What’s it called?
The Broken Lock.

What’s the title signify?
Read and find out.

When’s it coming out?
I’m aiming for the end of May.

Anything you want to tell us about the plot?
Oh, let’s see…It has a swarm of mayflies. And the Mississippi river. And more weird trees.

You’re a terrible salesman.
It has Frank and Zed’s final showdown. Better?

Now we’re talking! What’s on deck after that?
Swords and Shadows, the second Zane Halloway novella. Things get a bit more epic for Zane and Lily. There will be swords. There will be shadows. Possibly simultaneously.  That should drop at the end of April.

Wait, you said you’re writing that after The Broken Lock.
Yeah, it takes a lot longer to revise/edit/prep a novel than a novella.

Whatever. How about the rest of the year?
Next up is a standalone horror novel (tentatively) called  Sharp Notes. It’s about an evil song. Then I’ll start work on a sci-fi/action trilogy called The Short Timer. The first one in that series should come out late this year. And more novellas.  I’ve also got a couple secret projects in the works.

Mysterious. You still doing YouTube videos?
Yep. Two videos a week. Check them out here.

Final question: sources tell us your birthday is coming up in March. How old will you be?
This interview’s over.