Author Archives: Satis

Here’s what it took to write my third book.

I announced this already over on Facebook, but it certainly bears repeating: I have, after a great deal of time and effort, finished the first draft of my third book, Ancients & Death. The feat was accomplished in the wee hours of last night, after a writing stint lasting nearly six hours straight. I really, really, really just wanted the damn thing done.

I’ll be posting the final chapters on here over the next couple of weeks, but I thought it marked a good time for reflection on the past few months, and just what it took to complete this monumental third book of the Redemption of Erâth series. (For those of you wondering, it isn’t nearly complete yet.)

  • Two years, three months and twelve days (since I saved the first chapter)
  • 183,568 words (122% to forecast)
  • 614 pages of formatted text
  • 225 instances of the word ‘darkness’ (nearly two times ‘darker’ than Consolation, though not quite as dark as Exile)
  • 1 six-month stint in California
  • 1 period of crippling, nearly suicidal depression
  • Far too many cups of coffee to count
  • Even more glasses of wine/whiskey/beer
  • 3 computers and an iPad
  • 2 houses and an apartment
  • 300 plays of the album The Days of Grays by Sonata Arctica (the soundtrack to this series)
  • 1 cat

It’s been a wild two years, and I am so glad to be finally done with the writing stage. However, as we all know, this isn’t by any means the end. I’ll need to edit, rewrite, cut, trim, edit some more, and send to a professional editor before it’s even close to ready for publication. So while it might be a while before you get to hold your copy in your hands, know that I absolutely plan to release the book this year, even as I start to think about its own sequel.

I’m also still looking for one or two more beta readers to give the manuscript a first look, so if you’re at all interested in reading the pre-release draft, please let me know and I’ll be happy to send you what I’ve got so far.

Let me know what you think of the third book so far in the comments!

Rum! I need rum!

I can’t think of rum without thinking of Billy Connolly in the Muppets’ Treasure Island, parading around the Admiral Benbow argh-ing and ah-ing and telling puppets not to run with scissors. Funnily enough, I’ve come to rather enjoy it.

img_0195I’m an occasional heavy drinker, which is to say I don’t always drink, but when I do, well …. Anyway, I’ve discovered a fondness for rum, and I think I understand what the pirates were always on about. In particular, I really enjoy Captain Morgan Private Stock Premium Barrel rum. It has a wonderfully smooth character, a sweetness that doesn’t overpower, and a hint of spice that reminds me of the Caribbean.

I also like single malt islay whiskies, but that’s for another time.

What’s your favorite winter comfort food?

It’s solidly winter now, with temperatures here in New Jersey dropping to single digits at night and rarely rising above freezing during the day. (Okay, I have friends in Michigan for whom this is perfectly balmy, but for me it’s frickin’ freezing in here!) There’s been snow on the ground since December, and it’s dark every night when I leave work.

It’s a time of year that, for me, often coincides with a very deep depression, but this year I’m working hard on avoiding that pitfall. I’m still taking my medication, still writing, and still getting up every morning.

But sometimes, you need something that’s just a touch more, a little friendly—something comforting. It can be a favorite stuffed animal you carry with you, or, if you’re like me, a favorite food.

Last year for Thanksgiving, my wife bought a butternut squash. Admittedly, I didn’t really know what to do with it; I even had to look up how to prepare one online. We ended up turning it into a soup, probably because I mashed it anyway trying to get the damn thing open, and it became a instant hit: my new, favorite comfort food for the depths of winter.

We’ve made it a few times since, and it really couldn’t be easier. So long as you have a large pot and a stove, you’re set. Here’s how to make it.

First, gather your ingredients. You’ll need:

  • One (1) really big butternut squash
  • Three to five (3-5) potatoes
  • Two to four (2-4) carrots
  • One (1) small onion (or half a big one, or just a bunch – your choice, really)
  • Forty fluid ounces (40 oz) of chicken/vegetable stock.

Then, fry the onion in some olive oil or butter, chop everything else up roughly, and boil the shit out of it for an hour. Once everything is really, really soft, you can do one of two things:

  1. Somehow get it all into a blender, or probably into several blenders, and blend it until it’s smooth;
  2. Use a potato masher to mash the crap out of it until it’s smooth.

You can guess which method I prefer.

You could season it however you like, and my wife recently suggested roasting the butternut squash first, which will be tasty, I’m sure. As you’re reading this I’m probably sitting down to a bowl of this soup right now, so I’ll leave you with this: what’s your favorite winter comfort food, and how do you make it?