Hello face...meet Mr. Egg.

So, as some of you might know, I am dipping my toes into a book that has absolutely no zombies. It is a fairly common thing for writers to trumpet their newest successes for all to share (or envy if that is your thing). Showing the world how awesome you are is just one of those things people like to do. What we hate is admitting our defeats or less-than-par performances. It allows those who wish us ill to crow and squee with delight while also casting those who reveal such things in perhaps a less than favorable light.

Yeah, well, I am here to say that we don;t always hit the ball out of the park. In fact, it is in missing the mark that we often find our biggest potential for growth. If it all came easy, how would we be able to really celebrate the accomplishments. I am a believer that you can't really know happiness unless you have experienced sadness, you cannot triumph unless you have failed.

Speaking of fail...

Uncivil War: A Modern Day War in the United States is due to be released on July 30th. That being said, I decided it would be nice to give it a rolling start by putting it up for pre-release. Perhaps "rolling" was an exaggeration. (Notice that I did not say "running"?) After a week...I have sold a whopping two copies. I gotta admit...that stings. I would by lying if I said otherwise. While I was/am certainly not expecting "DEAD" numbers, I can say that I had hopes that were just a tad higher.

Now, that does not mean that the sky is falling. A book can gain some buzz after it has come out and landed in a few hands. And, I can honestly say that I am not much of a pre-order kind of guy (unless it is a video game with bonus features thrown in for those who pre-order).

And of course the only other thing I have to compare it to is the 11th DEAD book and the DEAD: Snapshot--Portland, Oregon title. Those popped 3 and 4 digit pre-release stats, but that is a known entity. This new title is its own monster (with zero monsters appearing).

While I can openly admit my disappointment, I can also, at the same time, re-gain an appreciation for where my book sales have gone in the past couple of years. I do recall the days when 30-40 sales a month from all my titles combines was reason to celebrate. I can still remember the giddiness when I had one title actually break into double digits for the month.

I realized the past few days just how blessed I am. Sure, I still hold high hopes for my upcoming book. It is a stand alone title using modern day events as a stepping stone. The possibility is there for this book to catch fire and actually eclipse my DEAD series in commercial sales. However, it is equally possible that this book sits beside Dakota as a title that I am proud to have written, but sells relatively few copies.

It would have been easy for me to just skip this book and never dust it off (the idea originated back in 1993 during the Rodney King Riots). However, this was one of those titles that I had to write because I love being able to empty my brain onto paper (or into the computer as the case may be these days). 

Funny, when I sat down to write this, I was kinda bummed. But along the way, something happened. I remember that I write because I LOVE it! This is the best job in the world. How lucky am I that I get do do what I dreamed of doing since I was a teenager?!