Last June, I was asked by the organizers of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference to set up a Q&A opportunity for folks with questions about the Indy Publishing world. I met with a couple of dozen folks. Questions ranged from the very intro, what is Indy Publishing, to how does it differ from traditional, to some very nuts and bolts questions on software and platform building. It was a blast. They got enough positive feedback, and continued interest, that I’ve been asked to come back again this year to do the same. So I’ll have a table in the main…
Rick Shaw Posts
My first full year of semi-retirement, and so many people to thank for the successes of this first year. It all started with attending the 20BooksVegas conference in November. That’s not really accurate; we can call 20BooksVegas the catalyst. The energy of 20BooksVegas and the generosity of this new network of amazing writers/people were enough to push me over the edge. I hit publish, not once, but twice in 2023, publishing novels in June and September through my imprint 2FBooks. So, to Craig Martelle and the 20Books community, thank you for the nudge over the top. Two books this…
Not really an oops. I was planning to announce this after the start of October, but Amazon was more efficient than expected and Genesis Renewed: Book 1 in the Genesis Renewed Saga went live this morning. Genesis Renewed is the first of what I anticipate being a five or six-book series, focused on a community of survivors after the global dispersal of a celestial pathogen. Mankind is near extinction, and Dave Sharp is thrust into the role of protector. Initially protecting what remains of his family, then finding others and protecting them from the evil that has survived. Genesis Renewed…
Update 6 January 2024 – I’ve decided to terminate my account with Substack due to their support of hate speech. It’s their business, they can keep whatever content / customers they wish, and I will exercise my right to not pass my traffic/readers through their site. Folks who were signed up to my newsletter have been ported to my new setup – I’ll be hosting it myself. My target is one newsletter a month with updates on my writing, things I find cool, and new picts of the Shaw Shack Hooligans. Thank you all for your support. Hey folks, I’ve…
A couple of weeks back, I was asked to participate in a panel on the future of art and artificial intelligence. J Daniel Sawyer, Joe Vasicek, and little old me, along with the host JR Handley. To borrow from JR’s intro… “We wandered all around the topic before we reached the final destination. We ended at a solid MEH as our group opinion while clutching our pearls and telling everyone that the sky was falling!” Please check it out, I think you’ll find it as interesting as we did. Blasters and Blades Episode 279
Blades and Blasters is three Vets sitting around hashing through reading, writing, and pop culture – in this case, two vets. A week or so ago, I had the pleasure of sitting in with JR Handley (one of the three), for a chat about my book (The Tunguska Deception) and writing in general. As it turns out, a whole lot of other things. JR and I share a similar academic background, personal interest in history, and being veterans and avid science fiction readers. We seemed like we kept sweeping back around to alternate history and the definition of spec fiction.…
I’ve been a long time listener of the Dead Robots Society – through several of its incarnations. I was thrilled to be invited to sit in to discuss writing in general and my recently published debut novel, The Tunguska Deception. Please take a listen. Hope you enjoy the conversation as much as i did. And, no, i have no idea why Paul chose to pick time mark with my eyes closed.
It has taken a little getting used to… the request by readers to sign a copy of my book. And even more than that, folks requesting to buy signed copies on line. I’ve had to come to grips with something I knew, intellectually. This is a business, and I need to look at these requests not only as support from my wider community, but also customers/readers/fans who genuinely want to support me in my storytelling world. To that end, I’ve stood up a SquareSpace store for direct selling and fulfillment. If you click on the shopping cart, up in the…
I had the pleasure to spend a little time with Marla Miller discussing my experience with personal imprint publishing. Conversation ranged through my academic background, the origins of my first novel The Tunguska Deception, and my experience with the indie publishing world. Thank you Marla. Great Conversation Folks, Give it a listen.
To borrow a phrase – Oh My! I am in Santa Barbara this week. Renewing old friendships at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. It is the 50th Anniversary of the conference, and a renewal after four years post pandemic. There’s a comfort in being among your tribe. So many faces I’ve only seen in Brady Bunch squares, or on Facebook, for far too long. If you saw my previous post, you know my first novel, The Tunguska Deception was published by 2FBooks earlier this month, and I’m now discovering the law of unanticipated consequences. Friends I haven’t seen for four…