Tag: writing business

The Discipline of Chaos: Writing Rogues and Anti-heroes Because My Brain Requires It

People assume chaos is loud — all noise and motion. For me, it’s quieter. It slips in when I’m not paying attention. Thoughts wander even when my body sits still. ADHD, the inattentive kind, isn’t about bouncing off walls. It’s more like autumn leaves drifting — beautiful, scattered, and hard to catch.

That’s why I need discipline. My lifeline. I need a to-do list for everything I have to accomplish. But when it comes to fiction, I can only handle the barest outlines. Anything more and the story stops moving.

Structure doesn’t control creativity — it allows it to exist. Routines, notes, reminders, lists… they hold ideas long enough for me to catch them. Without them, stories would stay half-formed sparks. And trust me, I have folders full of those sparks — abandoned beginnings, floating ideas, paragraphs that may never see the light of day. The stories that do get out into the world? They’re the ones where I’ve found a discipline that works for me.

And my characters? They live in the same tension. Some are loud and reckless. Some are quiet and careful. All of them balance acting in the moment with preparing for what comes next.

I’m drawn to rogues, mercenaries, and antiheroes not because they’re reckless, but because they push against systems that don’t fit them. They break rules, but with purpose. They stumble, adapt, improvise — not out of chaos, but because they notice angles most people miss.

Quiet sparks that start rebellions have always been more compelling to me than loud, immediate defiance.

My protagonists don’t roar; they smolder. They slip past obstacles, question authority, and do the right thing even when it means stepping outside the lines. Maybe that resonates because my mind works the same way — wandering, curious, always searching for the meaningful threads beneath the surface distractions.

And then there’s Bad Karma. She dares and wins because she trains, reviews, and prepares to act in the moment — whatever the moment requires.

Discipline helps me catch those threads.
Chaos helps me tug on them.

Writing, for me, is a balance: routines that ground me, paired with characters who remind me that coloring outside the lines is where truth hides. Structure and rebellion. That’s exactly where stories come alive.

If you’re drawn to characters who don’t fit neatly into boxes, who quietly bend the rules for the right reasons, who fight their battles in ways that aren’t always obvious… then you’re right at home here.

Everything I Wish I’d Known When I Published My First Book

This is so accurate.

I’ll be hosting a panel on June 1st at Des Moines Con with this title. But I thought I’d sit down and share with you all some of the lessons I’ve learned and things I’m still working through as I develop as a writer, author, editor and understand the fiction business better.

First things first, I published my first story, Easy Jobs, on 13 December 2016. Since then, I’ve published three additional stories, contributed to four anthologies, and edited a military science fiction anthology (Tales of the E4 Mafia) with Henchman Press.

To say the least, I’ve learned a lot.

First, I have to sit my butt in a chair and put works in a document every day. Let me say that again: Work on new stories every day. I have a day job, a house, my wife, my daughter and her kids, and my fitness that all need my attention, but if I want to succeed as an author and writer, I have to create new stories every day.

Second, editors are your friend, even when they say things you don’t like. I’m an adult, and I know my writing isn’t perfect. But sometimes when Krystal, my editor, says somethings wrong, or a character doesn’t have a consistent voice, or I’ve got two characters who sound like the same person, it hurts a bit. What I remind myself of is that Krystal is helping me make the story the best it can be. That’s what we want, as writers. To provide our readers with the best story we can at the point we publish it.

Third, productivity is good, and publishing more is good. I’ve got a series of short stories and novellas on my storage that hasn’t been published anywhere. Some of it helps develop Burn and Bad Karma. Other parts develop the world Burn and Bad Karma live and operate in. One story was a response to a challenge from a romance writer to write a romance story.

Yes, I wrote a romance story. Two people, other than me, have seen Date Night.

What I’m going to do is combine those short stories into anthologies so I can get them in front of people who already like my stories. Because they deserve more stories they like, and I want to write more.

Fourth, marketing my stories is a critical piece of all this. If I can get my stories in front of people who want to read stories like mine, we all win. If the stories are good enough, those readers do two things. First, they become fans, and second, they share my stories with their friends. More people get to read more stories they like, I get to write more stories. Last, those fans might become friends of mine. And who doesn’t need more friends?

Alright, I hope that helps clarify where I’m at, what I’ve learned, and what I’m trying to do as I get better at writing, being an author and learning the fiction business.

Leave a comment about what questions you have for me, and what you want to see more of from me!