Twenty Bellows

I’m Teaching at the Creative Colorado Writer’s Retreat (And Other Updates)

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It’s been a minute, so I have a few pieces of news and they kind of involve most areas of my creative work, as well as a book chapter I wrote in an Anthropology book.

First up is that for the second year in a row, I will be teaching a session at the Creative Colorado Writer’s Retreat run by the incredible small press, Twenty Bellows. I have to say, I think this year has some of the most talented teachers of both poetry and prose in their line up. You can find out more about it here.

For my part, I’ll be teaching a session titled: Worldbuilding Without Info Dumping: How to Master Reader Immersion in Your Writing. My session will be on Saturday September 20th starting at 2:40 Pm.

The goal of the workshop will be to explore worldbuilding without exposition and instead looking how to build through dialogue and action so that your reader connects more deeply to your characters in the middle of the flow of the story.

But wait! There’s more!

At 11am on the second day of the writer retreat, we’re having a book fair. The book fair runs 11 am to 1 pm. I’ll have a table there if you want me to sign your books or pick up a copy of one of my 7 books. Again, there are many very talented authors at the book fair and It’s gonna be a ton of fun!

In other news, Resistances Reads Episode 8 goes live Monday September 15th at 7pm over on YouTube. And if you haven’t seen yet, we’re now on all the major podcast services. Episode 8 will cover the book, Black Empire by George S. Schuyler originally serialized in the 1930s, and is an early example of Afrofuturism. Literatura Obscura will air it’s 3rd episode this week as we discuss the book Ishamel by Daniel Quinn. It’s a novel about a telepathic gorilla who teaches a man the secrets to saving the world.

In terms of book updates, I have something to admit… I’ve been working on a secret project and it’s been distracting me from other things. But, I’m not quite ready to discuss that 8th and decidedly stand alone novel just yet. I am also working at building some of the lore right now for Shades & Shapes in the Dark universe. For those of you who read the first book that came out last may, you might suspect that it’s not really just a horror novel, but also edging into something more. In Through and Endless Darkness Dreaming (Book 2) Clarissa will discover that there’s more creatures out there, than just her own tormenter, Demon and that the world of magic is so much bigger than she realizes.

I am, also, slowly spending time in the world of The Chronicles of the Great Migration. I promise, I am still working on The Children of AEIS, and the final two other books of the series. They will get done.

One final announcement. This one is in the world of Anthropology. I recently published a chapter in the book, Exploring Digital Ethnography: From Principles to Practice. My chapter is titled: Worldbuilding as Pedagogy: Teaching Anthropology and Diversity in Contentious Classrooms. Now this is an academic volume, so while it’s not cheap, you absolutely can purchase it here. There are some great chapters in this book covering a variety of digital and interactive approaches to anthropology.

But if you just want to read my chapter… well… if you contact me, we might be able to find a way…

Until Next Time.

News, Podcasts, A Writing Workshop, and Publishing Updates September 2024

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Hey all, I know it’s been a while since I have had updates so I have several things to post about today. Sorry for the long message, but I’ve broken things down so you can easily skim to the information you want.

The first is the reason that things are so delayed. This summer I joined Teach for America and last month I officially became a High School English and Language Arts teacher for 11th and 12th grade. Let me tell you, that’s an extremely busy job.

Despite the very long hours I am working right now, I’ve managed to make a lot of steady progress on my forthcoming novels. I am currently on a streak of 574 days or writing without skipping. 500 or so of those days had a minimum of 1000 words a day. So I make progress on something every single day (though I must admit at least 50 of those days I deleted the words right after I finished them but hey, you gotta get those bad words out of the way for the good ones to shine).

Here is the current status of my books that I am actively working on:

Shades and Shapes in the Dark is currently in it’s final pass before it heads off to the editor. ETA for book 1 is either October 17th or November 17th depending on the amount of edits required (How much red pen my editor uses).

The series is now 4 books with the following titles and progress level:

Book 1 “Shades and Shapes in the Dark” is in final edits with an ETA in October or November.

Book 2 “Though An Endless Darkness Gleaming” is 75% of Draft 1

Book 3: “An Illumination of Extraordinary Madness” is 50% of Draft 1

Book 4: “The Nature of Twilight At Dawn” is 30% of Draft 1

I currently expect to finish draft 1 of Book 2 by November 1st and to use NaNoWriMo to finish (or get close to finishing) the first draft of book 3

The Children of AEIS and The Chronicles of the Great Migration final two books, A War For the Heavens and A Hand to the Stars are still on their way. The Children of AEIS is sitting at around 75% first draft completion. The largest reason for the delay was a major concussion only two months after the release of Serah of the Runners. This derailed me pretty solidly and right now, when I have free time on top of writing, I am working through creating notes of the 4 books because my memory of them appears to be a little lacking from first the injury and then the passage of time. But, they are in progress and they absolutely will get finished sometime in the near future.

Welcoming the Muse


My poetic essay, Writing is Living was selected for publication by Twenty Bellows Press this summer. The piece is about life as an author in the 21st century. There will be a release party sometime this fall and I will provide more information as the date approaches. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to have another short of mine published this year. That makes 2 short pieces of writing picked up by publishers.

How to Write for the Future Podcast

I also recently appeared on a second episode of Write for the Future. This podcasts covers some basics of worldbuilding. The host also spent time across several episodes highlighting some of the key features of Kyra Wellstrom and I’s book, Build Better Worlds. I have linked the second episode where I guest starred as well as the episodes that surround our book below.

Part 1

Interview with Michael Kilman, co-author of Build Better Worlds, part 1 of 2

Part 2

Interview with Michael Kilman, Co-Author of Build Better Worlds, part 2 of 2

Additional Episodes that Cover Our Book

What is Cultural Context? (Build Better Worlds, 1 of 4)

What is Cultural Context? (Build Better Worlds, 1 of 4)

Myth, Imagined Past, and Cultural Purity in Fiction (Build Better Worlds, 2 of 4)

Myth, Imagined Past, and Cultural Purity in Fiction (Build Better Worlds, 2 of 4)

The Sacred: Religion and Mysticism (Build Better Worlds, 3 of 4)

The Sacred: Religion and Mysticism (Build Better Worlds, 3 of 4)

Economics: More Than Money and Markets (Build Better Worlds, 4 of 4)

Economics: More Than Money and Markets (Build Better Worlds, 4 of 4)

Twenty Bellows Writing Retreat in Denver, CO

My last piece of news is that back in July I was asked to teach a session at the Creative Colorado Writers Retreat hosted by Twenty Bellows Publishing Company. I feel so honored to be a part of this retreat as it includes some of the most talented and knowledgeable writers in Denver.

You can find out more about this retreat here


That’s it for updates (I know there were a lot). I’m confident my next update will be release news! I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend (if you’re American and reading this).