Hi Reader, I follow famous authors on social media. Why? Because I'm a masochist, maybe. Every book release post is the same: a selfie of the smiling author with three hundred people holding his or her books in the background. If you follow me on social media and haven't seen me posting photos with two hundred readers holding Noble Reckoning, don't worry. You didn't miss anything. My family photographs my events. It takes a certain skill to set up a shot so it gives the impression that more...
about 22 hours ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, You ever get that feeling you're falling? I did. And guess what? I was. Apparently, I steered my little bookmobile right off a very steep cliff. Now, I'm scrambling to get the parachute to deploy. What? Just go with it. Pretend my bookmobile has the parachute option and I'm not just torturing metaphors willy-nilly. A while back, I publicly declared I was done being a vassal of Amazon. I thumped my chest and pulled my books from Kindle Unlimited. If you're not familiar, KU is...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Noble Legacy will be the fourth and (possibly) the final book in the Emma Noble series. I'm not nearly as far along as I'd hoped to be. I’ve started it four times. I think. I kinda lost count. Sorry about that. But don't worry. I've been thinking about it. And I heard someone once say that thinking about your story qualifies as writing. Except... it's really not. Writing is writing. I have excuses. Being caught in the emotional riptide of Kath's diagnosis made writing a lower-level...
15 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Looking for a strong reaction? Start talking about AI's role in the creative process. Prepare the pitchforks. I write my own books. I choose humans to design my covers and real people to voice my audiobooks. At a time when it's popular to shout down AI, my stance seems safe. Even admirable. Sorry. I'm not trying to score points. I just like working with real people. I believe there is art in imperfection. A little over a year ago, I wrote an article for Writer’s Digest about...
22 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Kath grabbed me by the shoulders on my way up to my writing room this morning and turned me toward her. "Smile," she said. "It tricks the brain." I nodded. "Do it." So I did. She's right. My brain falls for anything. This week, I've been telling it that I'm not enough. I should be doing more. Achieving more. Finishing more. Not helpful. Noble Reckoning releases next week. I should be writing about the launch. But that's not what's on my mind today. This morning, I walked into the...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I'm not a gambler. But I kinda love watching people bet—the more, the better. It's fascinating and kind of dark. A study in human behavior. By the way, that's a writer thing. Standing around—watching people. I once stood next to a guy and watched him lose an absurd amount at a blackjack table at a resort in the Bahamas. It was an absolute train wreck that, apparently, the idiot could afford. The dealers rotated and I asked him how he was doing. "Down a quarter mil." "When do you...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, The 'word of the day' is schema. Ever heard of it? Me neither. At least I hadn't until I confronted one of the central challenges of being an author in 2026. I've been riding this writing train for a while now. I've seen things. The biggest disappointment was being fired by a famous literary agent because, after two years, she couldn't get US publishers to bite on my debut thriller. "Out of bullets. We tried. Sorry." It was no small consolation that she'd managed to sell it abroad....
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, I was not optimistic about Kath's big interview. A few hours before it started, I watched a tear slide down her cheek. She'd never done anything like this before. She had nerves. Lots of them. That's when I decided I'd better put on a good shirt because there was a fair chance I'd be pinch hitting. Let me back up here. When Kath was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, I asked how she wanted to handle this. Privately? Publicly? Her answer: "Publicly. Through you, Andy. I'm not good...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I realize something about myself that I'm not entirely proud of. Give me a compliment and I can't say no to whatever comes next. This writing train runs on ego. So when BookLife, the indie arm of Publishers Weekly, told me they were launching a platform to help authors navigate the business side—and wanted to start with me? Yeah. Of course. Sign me up. I walked around with a balloon head for a few days. And then I realized what they were asking. It wasn't the video that made me...
2 months ago • 2 min read