Happy Saturday, guys and ladies! I’m here to bring you all an update on two topics: (1) The Honest Bachelor’s Life, and (2) My preparations for this years National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short.

First, a bit about my vlog series. So far I’ve made six videos in “The Honest Bachelor’s Life,” and I’m extremely happy with the quality of each of them (which you can check out on my YouTube channel here). However, I feel that I need to take a step back and evaluate my vlogging networking strategies. Reaching a large audience and inspiring empathy across 20-something year olds takes work and dedication. For that reason, I want to make sure I’m pouring my energy and effort into the right endeavors. As of tonight, I’m putting “The Honest Bachelor’s Life” on a break for the months of October and November. This will allow me to make sure I’m ready to properly maintain a vlog, and also give me time to adjust to my new job and prepare for NaNoWriMo. Holy cow, it’s almost a month until showtime!

Second, some thoughts on this year’s NaNoWriMo. After talking with my partner and seeing how I’ve been progressing on my first round of edits for Stalder Press to Handstand, I made my decision. For NaNoWriMo 2017, I will be writing my very first draft of my sequel to Stalder, which is tentatively titled The Flyer and the Base. I’m extremely excited to breathe life into this manuscript. Penning Rayland’s and Jake’s first journey through the hell of an apocalypse was a life-changing experience, especially since I imbued the story with themes that mirrored my own life: grief, unrequited love, and the struggle to maintain one’s moral compass in the face of intolerance and hatred. Their story of survival, friendship, and hope for a world without the Unseen isn’t over yet, and I’m going to have a blast writing this sequel.

My current plan is to begin my outline for The Flyer and the Base this coming Monday, October 2nd. I will create rough character bios, as well as summarize the themes and plot points that I want to touch on. My hope is to ramp up the tension and stakes from the first book, while also delving more into Rayland’s bereavement and struggles with his own family members. You can also count on learning more about the Unseen, including a new form that they will take on in their relentless hunt for the last few survivors…It’s going to be a perilous ride, that’s for sure.

That’s all the news I have for tonight! In the meantime, I’d like to leave you all with a special surprise. This is my first shot at crafting a book cover for Stalder Press to Handstand, and I had fun creating it. If you have any thoughts or comments, I’d love to hear them. I’m also interested in hearing your experience in designing book covers, or if you’ve ever wanted to do so. I made this cover on canva.com, and I highly recommend their services, which are intuitive and fun to use.

Have a great rest of your weekend!