Monday, January 1, 2024

Nullius in verba


Nullius in verba. In 1660 the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge was formed, and they made this their motto. Roughly translated, take no one’s word for anything. Reminds me of another favorite quip, this one by Carl Sanburg: Be aware of advice--even this.

Faith can be a beautiful thing, yet blind or worse still, intolerant faith, not so much. Questioning is good. Inquiring. I’m more apt, of course, to question that which I’m exhorted to take on faith, and which has not—perhaps cannot—be tested and validated and proven, than that which has been.

But I digress, as writers are wont to do. Newton was among the Society’s founders and thought by some to have popularized the notion of a clockwork universe, but many contend he in fact rejected the notion, and dated the concept as considerably older. At any rate, time plays heavily in the David Rose series, and this was indeed the impetus for my contemplations today. Readying to pen a clockwork universe scene. (While I suspect the metaphor of time and the universe as an inexorably advancing machine is more properly crafted over the balance of a treatment, I do have hints throughout the series, and want to try to conjure a vivid sequence nonetheless.)

I am working on the third and final book of the series (were originally to be four, but, you know, time happened, and seems I’m getting old), with hopes of getting it out there by the end of this new year. Hoping much earlier this year to release Gospel, a literary-suspense manuscript I poured about 18 mos. into.

Anyway.

Just wanted to share the update. I start a new job tomorrow and while I’m looking forward, time (that pesky notion again) will be in shorter supply, so getting the words in shan’t be easy. Alas, I usually do better when forced to be more disciplined. Time(ahem) will tell.

Wishing that the time ahead for each of you is healthy, happy, and requiting of your dreams, whatever they may be. I remain ever grateful for your support. I love you all, be it friends, families, readers, or even the wayward souls fallen away from my life but for whom this may yet be a loving, secret cipher, should you on one far day stop in: you are not forgotten, and are forever loved.

Happy New Year, and to quote my daughter’s beloved Dr. Who, Laugh hard. Run Fast. Be kind.



Sunday, January 1, 2023

Onward

Onward.

The final word of Gospel, my literary-suspense manuscript due out this year, about lost love, a Faustian pact, and coming to terms with those things which most truly author our lives. A hopeful note, against a chorus of considerable darkness and despair. At once a beginning, and an end.

Like so many things, for so many people, in so many ways. Every year. Any year. And once more now, another upon us.

I'm not here to lecture. Highs and lows this last year, like everyone. Dad passed in June, though, and that was a loss. Of the sort that no turn of the calendar can magically allay. And that's ok, really. We must go on, if not move on. Some things endure, and rightly so. 

In All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy writes, Between the wish and the thing, the world lies waiting. 'Tis the season for resolutions, but whatever your aspirations, I hope for each of you the wish becomes the thing and that 2023 is a blessed year.

Speaking of McCarthy, he finally published again, a long-awaited delight for me. The Passenger, and a coda to that work, Stella Maris. Well into the former, and it's brilliant, per usual. The greatest nod I may give an author is when they inspire me not only to keep reading, but to write, and write well, and no one does so for me quite like Cormac. So, resolutions? Fine. Write every day. Something. Read too. And I implore all scribes do likewise. The opposite road is paved with beguiling excuses. Let's take the road less traveled. Erik Larson once reminded me that what most distinguishes a professional from an amateur is completion. I'll raise a glass to that.

I reckon if I must conjure up another resolution it would be to be more "other" focused. Can be counter-intuitive for a writer, as we must be our own best promoters, but in the end, we are of course more than our vocations or hobbies or our trades. In the end we must decide what shall author our lives. While he was on one hand a larger-than-life personality, Dad made a life out of focusing on others. Giving, teaching, inspiring. In his memory, I'll give it my best.

The key, of course, is enduring change. Making things a habit, not just a resolution that fades into the rearview mirror with each passing day. In the last year--and throughout our lives--we've all had some good luck and surely some bad. Perhaps even catastrophic. And while I shall never minimize those hardships confronted by so many, I do endeavor to maintain perspective, and another McCarthy quote sometimes helps me along the way. You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from. No Country for Old Men.

And shoot, I'm traversing that old men country myself, truth be told. Get AARP stuff in the mail, at any rate. Beats the alternative, pray tell.

Alas, I've prattled on, as is my wont. Hopefully can channel some of it into some good literary production. Wishing a very happy, healthy, and productive new year to all, whatever that looks like for each of you. If you're anything like me, you'll fall short many times, maybe even fall off the horse entirely. No worries, get back in the saddle. Each day we can do so is a blessing and reprieve beyond measure. One day at a time. 

Onward.





Monday, September 26, 2022

RELEASE DAY!--David Rose and the Forbidden Tournament

 Thank you all for the nice response in pre-sales--really grateful, and hope folks are enjoying the read!


Today is release day, and I wanted to share the update from the great folks at Evolved Publishing. Thanks everyone!


Well, after a long pandemic, and as so many readers have been anticipating, the "David Rose" series by Daryl Rothman is expanding. The 2nd book in the series is officially available today!
DAVID ROSE AND THE FORBIDDEN TOURNAMENT (#Paperback)
It’s one thing to discover a whole new world, but quite another to survive it. David Rose discovers that, on top of everything else, immortality can kill you.
~~~~~
It’s been less than a year since his fateful 15th birthday, but for David Rose, everything has changed. He’s learned of his immortality, discovered a sinister plot centuries in the making, and survived an attempt on his life at a medieval castle in England. Through it all, he’s more convinced than ever that his mother is alive.
David has been awakened to a wondrous new world, yet one fraught with peril. His awakening has served as a beacon to other immortals, some of whom view him as a threat to be dispatched. Just as he’s learning how to channel the greatest powers of his past lives, he’s abducted by a rogue syndicate bent on exploiting immortals and pitting them against each other in battles to the death.
w/ Lane Diamond (editor), Dale Robert Pease (cover artist)



Friday, September 9, 2022

David Rose and the Forbidden Tournament: Pre-Order here!

 Official release date is September 26–details to come!—but here is the link to pre-order your copy today! (Also can order Book I if desired.) 


THANKS so much for your support, and I look forward to sharing release day details!


https://evolvedpub.com/books/david-rose-and-the-forbidden-tournament/





Wednesday, September 29, 2021

GRATEFUL…AND NOT DEAD


But as the legendary group once famously observed, what a long, strange trip it’s been.

Been a long while since I've posted here, but I'm still around and kicking, and yeah, even writing. I am grateful to Evolved Publishing for their patience, and to have at long last submitted book II in the David Rose Series: David Rose & the Forbidden Tournament, to maybe see a late-year release, but more likely Spring 2022.

The tale picks up with David continuing his search for his mother, while trying to come to terms with his newfound abilities and past lives, and the growing danger of this immortal world. But at the brink of discovery, he is abducted by a sinister enterprise, and forced to participate in an ill-fated tournament of immortals, with little hope of escape, or survival. Meanwhile, Kane and his minions have located and seized an artifact that can alter the fate of the world, and somehow, it is all connected to the fate of David’s mother.

He must find a way to endure the tournament, plot an escape for not only himself but the others, before it is too late—for himself, the others, and for the mother he has forsworn to find.

I look forward to sharing publication news when I have it, and in the meantime, I am diving into the third and final installment, David Rose & the Days of Awe.

Thank you, as always, for your support.




Sunday, June 13, 2021

When You Wish Upon a Star….

…Or, five. Every scribe pines for those 5-Star reviews, right? But, should we?

Flashback to summer 2014: was already grateful to pen a piece for the terrific KM Weiland, but doubly so when top journalist and Fellow at the National Critics Institute, Porter Anderson, weighed in.

https://thoughtcatalog.com/porter-anderson/2014/07/5-reasons-to-pan-those-5-star-reviews/


Sunday, May 30, 2021

Send Me a Postcard, Drop Me a Line...

 For some reason, the lyrics to that Beatles classic get me thinking about how to write good Young Adult literature.

Not just the mention of postcards and lines, or points of view, but the central refrain itself: Will you still need me, will you still feed me, When I'm 64?

Philip Pullman said, After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world. 

Hear hear. I think equating stories--whether reading or writing them--resonates with many. It does with me. And so, will you still need me, will you still feed me, resonates too. The David Rose Series is Young Adult Fantasy, and I must here proffer a confession: YA has never been my natural writing voice. The series was inspired by my children and represents a promise I made to them long ago, but finding that balance required of good YA(in my opinion), can be quote elusive, and I profoundly admire those who have mastered it. I say it's a balance because good YA, I believe, should appeal to young and older readers alike. Middle, tweens, teens, young adult, adult. I mean, why limit your audience? There is no shortage of adults who love great YA literature. One must not deviate too drastically, I rather think, from tried and true YA tropes and techniques, but I have admittedly in the D Rose series pushed the literary envelope a bit and "written up," as it were. Not too much, I hope, and I am grateful to have received good feedback from young readers, in whom I retain great faith. You don't want them running endlessly to the(actual or online) dictionary, but is it so bad if they make a few trips, here and there? I still do, and am typically delighted to do so. My hope is--and our dear readers, as ever, shall be the ultimate arbiters--that the magic and adventure and darkness and light and story which imbue the series, will make it a fun read, and that the literary overlay will challenge and engage and offer something different from typical YA.

In any case, I hope young and older readers alike will enjoy the series. And that readers will need me, and I may still nourish them, as Pullman might say, when they're 64. 

Here's a look back at a piece I penned for the legendary Katie Weiland a few years ago, about what makes great YA. I hope you enjoy, and as always, thank you for your support.

Write On!