Reflections + Resolutions

 

It's that time of year again! The time for reflecting and making plans for the upcoming new year. While I do understand that pretty much every year never goes quite as planned, I do still enjoy creating intentions to take into the new year and then trying my best to work on them between the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of life.

2024 was an oddly challenging year for me because, on a personal front, everything was pretty normal. But as you all know, the world was still a dumpster fire and in mid-March, my day job produced a bully as my new boss and I spent eight months in complete frustration and dismay wherein my creative flow suffered until finally, in November, that negative person left and I was able to start to regain a sense of normalcy in the workplace again. However, I stand on the precipice of meeting yet another new boss this coming year, and I can only hope that they will be, at the very least, your average expectation of a boss. If not, I've certainly learned my lesson about protecting my mindset so that hopefully this time around, I can still create despite the challenges I cannot change. I think we're all going into 2025 holding our breath and hoping to stay above water for various reasons. And in the in-between moments, I hope we all still find it in ourselves to create a little magic.

As far as writing goes, 2024 ushered in the release of SOMNISCOPE: A Dreampunk Convergence. This is a collection of short stories from various Dreampunk authors and includes my story Looped. I hope you enjoyed it! And if you haven't grabbed a copy yet, now is a good time to add it to your 2025 TBR stack!

I also began writing Project DWC but stopped about 15K words in because of two reasons. One, the aforementioned attack on my creative energy. Two, I really wanted to rush The Dead Oaks: Omnibus into production. I spent most of the summer re-editing the previous four Dead Oaks books for this new edition and in the Fall, I began writing a new short story that will be included. It's almost complete and I plan to spend the first part of the year putting on the finishing touches and setting a release date.

I'm not making any promises about what will or won't be released in 2025, but my intentions are to:

Finish & Publish The Dead Oaks: Omnibus

Write a New Short Story

Continue Writing Project DWC

I'm also hoping to work on some mini-projects related to my books, such as more illustrations and maybe even a few craft projects. I'll share these on Instagram, so be sure to follow if that sounds like something you'd like to see!

I'm wishing you all a very happy new year and I'm here to support and cheer you on in all of your endeavors as well.

As always, thank you for all of your continued support and happy reading! 

❤ Dez

Spring Updates

 

Happy Spring!

Summer is nearly here and it's hard to imagine that we're almost halfway through 2022 already. I haven't posted here since the beginning of the year so I wanted to share some updates on what's going on in my writing life!

There's a lot going on in the world (we all know so I won't get into it here), and I feel as though--to an extent--the weight of it has slowed down my writing process this year; BUT I am consistently writing, so I do have a few things to update you on.

Work-In-Progress

My main project at the moment is the sequel to The Dandy Medium (the paperback edition is currently on sale on Amazon). This M/M Gaslamp Fantasy catches us back up with Alfie and Sebastian several months after the events of the first book. New crimes are afoot and this time they heavily involve the citizens of the Night District. I won't say too much, but a certain vampire and his underground society play a huge role in this story! As for progress, I'm about 1/4 of the way through the first draft.

Coming Soon

If you enjoyed the Dreampunk Anthology Mirrormaze then you'll be pleased to hear that a second Dreampunk Anthology will be releasing later this year titled Somniscope! My short story contribution to this one is titled Looped and is a surreal, psychological drama. A bit different from what you've seen from me so far but still in line with my Dreampunk style (ex: ROAM series). This new anthology, featuring a wonderful group of Dreampunk writers, will release in December 2022.

Aside from writing, I've also taken on a role as a Proofreader for NineStar Press! I'm thrilled to be able to keep finding ways to contribute to the LGBTQ book community.

As you can see, I'm keeping busy. But I am hoping to get into the habit of updating this blog more regularly.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Until next time, Happy Reading!

- Dez

Reader Share

Thank you for sharing this gorgeous photo, toshsbookcorner!

Previous Post Highlight

Meet Mateo & Christopher From HOLLYWOOD TO HORSES

Quote of the Week

Reader Review

Preorder DREAM WEAVER Today!

DREAM WEAVER is now available for PREORDER on NINESTAR PRESS Order today and get it 3 DAYS EARLY (April 24)!

DREAM WEAVER is the exciting conclusion to the ROAM trilogy! Ethan Roam has faced a lot of nightmarish challenges—finding out he’s a sandman, falling in love with the man who once hunted him, and thwarting attacks from The Order of Azoth, a secret occult organization set on using his bloodline to conquer the universe by controlling immortality. And the battle is far from over. To defeat The Order and its leader, Phantom, Ethan must first find the original Sandman and then bring the fight to the Dream World. Saving the universe might be too tall an order for one dream creature, but with the help of his friends and some Celestial beings with questionable motives, Ethan just might be able to weave a trap of surreal proportions. EXCERPT: “Nightmare’s Gateway isn’t so much a place as a state of mind.” Mercury’s scythe appeared in his grasp. They’d learned he only produced the blade when things were about to get messy. “All that’s required of you is to suspend any disbelief you may have and cross the threshold. You’ll find his home quite…immersive.” “Since you’re most familiar with him, why don’t you lead the way?” Marcus chimed in a dare. For once, Grady and Marcus were on the same page. “As you death wish.” Mercury gave a cheeky nod. He strode with confidence into the swirling oblivion. The smoky tendrils consumed him, and he vanished from sight. “Will we even be able to survive going in there?” Grady asked Kit. “I think so,” Kit answered. “Depends on you, really. Just remember the truth. He’ll try to make you forget what’s real.” Grady frowned. “Well, that’s unnervingly vague. Thank you, Kit.” She gave them an encouraging smile and bounded into the darkness alone. “Second guessing your resolve?” Marcus teased him. “Not at all,” Grady defended. “Just trying to ascertain any helpful information before blindly jumping into what looks like a pit of cosmic despair. Yourself?” “I’m a vampire, Hunter.” Marcus smirked. “Darkness is my home.” He sauntered into Nightmare’s Gateway without a second thought. Ethan took Grady by the hand. “We’ll go in together. I’ll do everything I can to make sure we come back out together too.” Appreciating the solidarity, Grady squeezed his hand in return. They both allowed themselves to be engulfed by the Gateway. DREAM WEAVER (ROAM #3) releases April 27th! PREORDER from NSP and get your copy 3 DAYS EARLY!

Author Life: New Books + New Routine

Hello, friends!

Because if you read my books then I definitely consider you a friend of mine. :)

Is it just me or did January last twice as long as it should have?? I was overwhelmed with "adulting" and constantly busy. On the bright side, I made a lot of progress on my writing projects and even found some time for my hobbies (which is always a great way to recharge the creativity well).

I'm still utilizing a daily planner which has helped to keep me on task and also helped in tracking what routines work best for me. I've come to realize that my optimum writing times are first thing in the morning and mid-afternoon, so I've been trying to write for at least two hours a day (broken into those time-frames). I would love to have written more each day but this month was just too packed with other things. Overall, I managed to write for approx. two hours a day at least three days a week. My goal for next month is to see if I can write for longer stretches and to increase that to around 4-5 days a week. I enjoy having weekends off to catch up on things around the house or just do something fun (Other than writing! Which is still great fun for me and why I have a hard time forcing myself to set it aside.) and give my brain a rest.

WIP UPDATES:

- I'm about 15% of the way into writing the M/M Contemporary Rom-Com novel and I'm thoroughly enjoying the process so far. I just know you'll love these characters. :) It is different not to be writing supernatural elements, though! But this story called to me so strongly that I just had to write it, even though it's outside of my Paranormal wheelhouse.

- As of now, DREAM WEAVER is still slated for a Spring release. However, the original publication date of March 9th might change. My publisher had to shuffle some titles around and I'm waiting to hear if mine will be moved or not. I'll let you know as soon as I know!

- Thatcher Maugden and the Dream Witch is finished and sent off to be included in the Dreampunk Anthology, Mirrormaze. More news on that as it comes.

- I finally sat down and outlined a short story prequel series about Grady Hunter! They will take place over the two decades prior to when he meets Ethan. I plan to make them very dark horror and very '90s/'00s. Depending on content guidelines, I might put them up on Wattpad; if not, then I'll find another platform. You know I will definitely shout from the rooftops when I'm ready to unleash the first one. ;)

To be directly informed about any new releases or sales, please visit www.dezschwartz.com and sign up for the newsletter. I only send them out once a month or if I have a new release/promotion, so you don't have to worry about being swamped with them.

Later this year, I'll start working on the final book in The Dead Oaks series. If you're a fan or interested in learning more about it, I'll be back on the blog next week to recap the series. Let me know if you have any questions you'd like answered!

Until next time,
♥ Dez 

Promotion Exp. 02/05/20

ROAMiversary! One Year Later

One year ago today (Oct. 1st), ROAM had its first traditional publishing through NineStar Press!  Previously, the book had been self-published.  And this past April, its sequel, HUNTER, was also released through NSP.

I'm happy to say that the ROAMverse is still going strong and I'm so excited for everything to come!  Thank you all for joining in on the adventures of my band of paranormal Dreampunk misfits.

Some Fun ROAM Extras:

ROAM Pinterest Boards

ROAM Playlist

ROAM Launch Party Transcript

Conceptualizing ROAM

The Mechanics of Sleep Travel

Fun Casting ROAM

What's Next For The ROAM Series?

DREAM WEAVER, the third ROAM book will be headed your way in March 2020!  This will complete the main trilogy and tie up the end of Ethan and Grady's story.  Eventually, ROAM will also be released in Spanish through NineStar Press.  It's in the works but no date is set yet.

Future ROAM Plans?

As you may know, The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett is a prequel to ROAM.  In a similar vein, I have also been sitting on plans for a short story prequel series about Grady's life before moving to Shady Pines.  I can't give you any real timeframe for when I might write these because I have a number of other projects that I really need to focus on and I also haven't decided the best way to go about releasing something like this yet.  I'm considering doing it as a supporter project through Ko-Fi but I'm still on the fence.  HOWEVER, I do have plans to write more stories in the ROAMverse, focused on new characters which will more than likely include cameos from some old favorites.

Until then, be sure to keep following this blog and join me on Twitter!  I'll be posting more ROAM-related things very soon.

Yours, always dreaming up new stories,
- Dez

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OUT NOW

Haunted Road Trip: The third Dead Oaks novella!

Available on Amazon

COMING SOON

DREAM WEAVER: The fourth and final ROAM novel. March 9, 2020.

Dream Interpretation & How I Dream Journal

As a Dreampunk author, keeping a dream journal is a pretty natural thing to do.  I used to keep up with one years ago but I had fallen off the wagon.  However, I had been wanting to get back into it for a while and finishing up writing my Dreampunk trilogy, the ROAM series, inspired me to start!

The benefit of keeping a dream journal, other than immortalizing some of the most embarrassing things that might ever run through your mind (is that a pro or a con?), is that it makes you incredibly self-aware.

I believe that dreams serve two purposes.  The first being exercises from your own subconscious in the form of critical thinking challenges.  Suppose there's an issue in your waking life that you keep ignoring.  Your dreams present the matter to you in order for you to work out a solution.  Or maybe you're anxious because of something that you fear and so your dreams facilitate a controlled environment where you have the opportunity to face that fear and hopefully conquer it.  The second purpose that I believe dreams have is to serve as a connection to the universal subconscious.  When we sleep, our minds are free and we are more receptive.  Have you ever had an instance where you were thinking about a song, got in the car, turned on the radio, and that very song was playing?  Have you ever thought about a person or place that hadn't crossed your mind in years and then later that day or the next, suddenly you find out news about them or you start to see others mentioning them everywhere?  That's the power of the universal subconscious.  And so why wouldn't the universe relay messages through dreams?  I know, my inner-Ethan Roam is showing here. :)

To create my dream journal, I chose a basic journal design that was available at Michael's Arts & Crafts.  Since I'm a planner addict, I knew I wanted to decorate it similarly to how I use my daily planner.  I ended up choosing the Happy Planner "Free Spirit" sticker sheets because they had a lot of moon, dream, and zodiac options that fit perfectly.

For fun, I went ahead and decorated the first page with some of the stickers and a few of my favorite dream-related quotes.

The rest is pretty self-explanatory.  I've included a couple of photos of the more entertaining entries here. I journal what my dream was, mark if it was a good dream or a nightmare, and what the interpretation might be.  I would say that most are fairly obvious but if you're unsure what to make of yours or if you're not familiar with dream analysis already then you can always use dream interpretation guides.  There are a few free websites that can help with this.  To decorate, I like to add little doodles to illustrate something memorable from the dream and add a few stickers and washi tape to fill the space.  

I've kept up with this journal throughout June and I will continue to keep dream journaling.  I try to journal shortly after I wake up so that I don't forget any details because we all know how quickly they slip away.  I also don't journal on days that I don't remember what I dreamed or if the dream was something that was truly upsetting to the point that I'd rather just forget it than write it down.  So, dream journaling doesn't have to be too time-consuming if you'd like to give it a try.

(Even though it was a nightmare, this dream makes me laugh now.)

The majority of my dreams this month actually ended up being centered around writing/publishing--so that was interesting.  Also, I'm apparently scared of alligators (??  News to me.) so that will make our tentative visit to Gatorland later this year very interesting. LOL

Do you keep a dream journal?  Is it something that you'd like to try?  Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading,
Dez

Want to check out my Dreampunk books?

You can find them HERE.

HUNTER is now available at:

AMAZON | B&N | NSP

Writing HUNTER: Special Extras

(Special thanks to @aparanormalromance for providing this photo)

HUNTER has been out in the world for a little over a month now and I'm so thrilled with how well it's been received!  For those of you that have already read it and are wanting more of the ROAMverse, here are some Special Extras:

WRITING HUNTER: A Dreampunk Author's Journey

If you've been following me for a while then you know that HUNTER was originally self-published in 2017.  Once ROAM was picked up by NineStar Press, I submitted HUNTER shortly afterward and they signed it as well.  So, even though HUNTER is now seeing its official re-release through a publishing company in 2019, I actually wrote the story around this time two years ago.

I'd initially written ROAM as a stand-alone novel but, just a few days after completing it, I knew there was an even bigger story to tell.  Not to mention the characters wouldn't leave me alone!  And I mean that in the best way.  At the time, Dacey was speaking volumes so I decided to go ahead and write his story, The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett.  Once that prequel was finished, I had already set some major story arcs in motion and was ready to play them out with a sequel.

Other than the obvious desire to explore Ethan and Grady's relationship further, I began to really flesh out what I wanted from a Dreampunk story and how to continue the original message of the first book in a way that would still feel fresh and unique.  HUNTER owes a lot to the creative journey that I took in writing The Revelation of Dacey Sinnett.  It honestly wouldn't be the same without me having dived into that prequel first.  I had the chance to make the story so much more complex and to bring back some of my favorite characters.  It also allowed me the opportunity to set the stage for what's to come next...

HUNTER: Bonus Content

A HUNTER-inspired Mood Board on Pinterest.

What I listened to while working on this book: HUNTER Spotify Playlist

A fun Character Interview with Ethan, Grady, & Chris

Still want more?  Add some ROAMverse Merch to your collection!

HUNTER: Feedback

Readers have been incredibly supportive of this book!  I think I've received more positive messages on this one than any of my other books so.  Most people are excited about an event in the book which is a spoiler--so I can't mention it; but I'm glad it made so many people happy.  Readers also love the Dreampunk aspect of the series and the continued world-building.  I've also had a lot of lovely comments about Benny which, honestly, makes my heart soar every time because Benny is the first ROAM character that I ever created.  He predates the story itself because he's actually based on an original character that I used to roleplay as many many years ago.  haha  :)

Thanks again to everyone that has grabbed a copy of the book and also to those that have taken the time to send me messages and/or leave reviews!  If you have any other HUNTER-related questions or topics that you'd like to see me cover in future blog posts, please leave a comment or email me through my website.

Haven't read HUNTER yet?

No worries!  It's available here:

AMAZON | B&N | NSP

New Release - HUNTER (ROAM: Book Two)

HUNTER - OUT NOW

Dr. Grady Hunter has a vampire infestation on his hands in the town of Shady Pines but he’s been deserted by those best suited to help. After enlisting Chris Reed, a techno-mage, they find the vampires might only be the tip of a deadly iceburg. 


Returning home from his dream travels, Ethan Roam is eager to experiment with his newly discovered powers. But Ethan isn’t the only familiar arrival in Grady’s life. As more reminders of his dark past crop up daily, Grady and Ethan are swept up in a mystery of cosmic proportions.


Grady must fight to keep an ever-evolving Ethan on his side while being challenged by the ghosts of his past.

Available Online & Through Most Major Retailers

AMAZON | B&N | NSP | KOBO

Add it on Goodreads today!