Tag: Worcester Telegram

Weekly Update – September 12, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, News writing, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Well Behaved Women, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

This week’s big(ish) announcement: this Saturday is my guest author day at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire. Jump down to the events section for details.

WRITING PROJECTS

Well Behaved Women: I always seem to hit a creative lull right before I plunge into the climax of a book, and this project is no different. I’ve been pushing through some small transitional scenes all week, so progress has been a bit slow.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: In the editing phase. Cover art is in process.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – book four: I’ve started mentally plotting the next installation and jotted down a few key scenes. I expect I might jump back and forth between this and Well Behaved Women for a while.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Fourth draft finished, ready for editing.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Third draft finished! I’m glad I have extra time to work on this one. It’s mostly where I want it to be but there are a few scenes that aren’t quite up to snuff, so I will at some point over the next year do another draft and focus on strengthening the weak points.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins (audiobook): I’ve listened to several chapters so far and sent back a few notes to my narrator, Jen — most of them pointing out minor technical issues. The reading itself has been great, and it’s definitely a weird but cool experience hearing someone else read my material.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC

Something I forgot to mention last week: I’ve stepped down as a correspondent for the Worcester Telegram after a year in that role. My schedule for my new part-time job changed, making me unavailable to cover the evening meetings I’ve been attending, so I resigned as an active freelancer.

I’m honestly not that upset by it. The work was fine but I was remembering more and more why I left journalism in the first place, so I’m happy to be putting this phase of my career behind me (again).

Finally, if you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.

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Station Identification Time

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Novels, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Young AdultLeave a comment

Who Am I?

I’m a writer originally from Falmouth, MA who now lives in Worcester (pronounced like the name of Hugh Laurie’s dim-witted socialite) with my awesomely talented wife Veronica, who runs a business called Storied Threads.

After 15 years with the Falmouth Enterprise, where I worked as a general and political reporter, blogger, and editor, I left the news industry to focus on my creative writing.

In addition to my novels (more on that in a minute), I am a freelance writer, an occasional contributor to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and I’ve produced scripts for Pastimes Entertainment of Revere, MA and the Connecticut Renaissance Faire.

What Do I Write?

Action Figures is a YA superhero adventure series featuring a team of young superhumans who set out to make a name for themselves in the superhero world and quickly find themselves in over their heads. Fun, full of humor and action, populated with likable characters (including some of the villains), and suitable for teen readers and adults who still love superheroes. Oh, and no love triangles. Ever. The first book, Secret Origins, reached the #1 spot on two Amazon best-seller lists.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot is my response to all the overly serious fantasy novels out there that have forgotten how to have fun. The series follows two hard-luck adventurers for hire with a knack for biting off more than they can chew and their friends as they explore ancient ruins, fight deadly monsters, go on epic prophecy-driven quests for artifacts of great power hidden in highly inconvenient locations, and cross a lot of rickety rope bridges along the way. The first book, Scratching a Lich, received a gold medal for fantasy fiction from BellaOnline, a resource for women in writing, which also recognizes feminist writers and their work.

Cheap Thrills Digest is a short story collection featuring introductions to my two series, plus an original novelette-length horror story, Lost Souls, which is exclusive to CTD. If you’re curious about my writing, you can grab this for just $6 in print or 99 cents in e-book format.

What Will I See Here?

I post weekly updates that include progress reports on various projects, cover art reveals, new release announcements, a schedule of appearances and book-signings, the occasion essay on writing, and whatever random bits and pieces capture my attention.

Where Can You Find Me Online?

Official website

Amazon author page

Facebook

Twitter

BookBub

Instagram

Goodreads

Google +

LinkedIn

Station Identification Time

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Cheap Thrills Digest, Novels, Station Identification, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Young AdultLeave a comment

Who Am I?

I’m a writer originally from Falmouth, MA who now lives in Worcester (pronounced like the name of Stephen Fry’s dry-witted butler) with my awesomely talented wife Veronica, who runs a business called Storied Threads.

After 15 years with the Falmouth Enterprise, where I worked as a general and political reporter, blogger, and editor, I left the news industry to focus on my creative writing.

In addition to my novels (more on that in a minute), I am a freelance writer, an occasional contributor to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and I’ve produced scripts for Pastimes Entertainment of Revere, MA and the Connecticut Renaissance Faire.

What Do I Write?

Action Figures is a YA superhero adventure series featuring a team of young superhumans who set out to make a name for themselves in the superhero world and quickly find themselves in over their heads. Fun, full of humor and action, populated with likable characters (including some of the villains), and suitable for teen readers and adults who still love superheroes. Oh, and no love triangles. Ever. The first book, Secret Origins, reached the #1 spot on two Amazon best-seller lists.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot is my response to all the overly serious fantasy novels out there that have forgotten how to have fun. The series follows two hard-luck adventurers for hire with a knack for biting off more than they can chew and their friends as they explore ancient ruins, fight deadly monsters, go on epic prophecy-driven quests for artifacts of great power hidden in highly inconvenient locations, and cross a lot of rickety rope bridges along the way. The first book, Scratching a Lich, received a gold medal for fantasy fiction from BellaOnline, a resource for women in writing, which also recognizes feminist writers and their work.

Cheap Thrills Digest is a short story collection featuring introductions to my two series, plus an original novelette-length horror story, Lost Souls, which is exclusive to CTD. If you’re curious about my writing, you can grab this for just $6 in print or 99 cents in e-book format.

What Will I See Here?

I post weekly updates that include progress reports on various projects, cover art reveals, new release announcements, a schedule of appearances and book-signings, the occasion essay on writing, and whatever random bits and pieces capture my attention.

Where Can You Find Me Online?

Official website

Amazon author page

Facebook

Twitter

BookBub

Instagram

Goodreads

Google +

LinkedIn

Weekly Update – August 9, 2016

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Cheap Thrills Digest, Event, Freelance work, News writing, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young Adult2 Comments

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000038_00056]Earlier this year I released Cheap Thrills Digest to sell exclusively at live events and through this website, and I’ve been debating whether to make it available through Amazon as well.

I’ve decided to go ahead and do it in the interest of enhancing my Amazon catalog and perhaps goosing my income a little.

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Assassins Brawl: With my editor, still on-track for a September release.

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: Pre-editing revisions are done, in the queue for editing.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: Pre-editing revisions are done, in the queue for editing.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War and Action Figures – Issue Eight: I got some work done on both books, which is good, because last weekend was my last writing weekend for the rest of the month. I’m busy helping my wife out with shows until September, when I’ll be diving back into Assassins Brawl to get that prepped for its release.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in process.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

This week I officially dove back into the world of journalism after nearly three years away. I’ve started doing a little light freelancing for the Worcester Telegram, covering Auburn Board of Selectmen — nothing too glamorous, but it keeps me busy and brings a little extra money in.

 

Weekly Update – July 5, 2016

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, News writing, Novels, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Ad SquareI’m going to open with a quick reminder that, in celebration of the book reaching #1 best-seller status on Amazon, the Kindle edition of Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins will be going on sale for 99 cents in two weeks. Grab a copy for yourself, gift a copy to a friend, or just spread the word to fellow readers.

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Assassins Brawl: AF book 2 is off to my editor Julie! She expects to be done by the end of August, so barring the unforeseen — which is always a possibility in the indie author world — the second book should be out in late September.

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: Pre-editing revisions are done, in the queue for editing.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: Pre-editing revisions are done, in the queue for editing.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Almost time to get back to work on this in earnest!

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Jennifer MacPherson is doing a read-through on the audiobook manuscript and should start formal recording sessions any day.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

There’s some behind-the-scenes stuff going on at home that have cleared the way for me to pick up some freelance work with the Worcester Telegram. It’ll just be a pick-up job here and there for the immediate future, but it’ll keep me active and bring some extra money in.

Finally, I have finally joined Instagram, so if you aren’t already sick of me on other social media outlets, check me out there at michaelbaileywriter.