FnF up for Beta Reading

Well, here we are—Fire and Fools is officially heading into beta reading! Honestly? I’m as surprised as you. This one came together faster than I expected. The outline and character work were buried in my college-era Google Drive, so when the writing bug bit me again, picking it back up felt a little like riding a bike.

I'll be releasing chapters twice a week over on Scribble Hub through July. You can follow along by using the link below—or just hit the bottom-left button on this site.

CLICK HERE

(If that link’s broken, it probably means the story’s been pulled for a KDP release—don’t panic. Just means it did better than expected. And no, you don’t have to dig through old blog posts. I promise I’m not that interesting.)

I’ll likely continue tweaking and polishing chapters right up until they go live. If you catch a scene where characters lean against a wall five times during a single conversation, feel free to call me out. That’s half the reason this is a public beta, after all.

Now, let’s talk numbers (and why this could be a trilogy).

When I released my cyberpunk western Dystopia’s Edge, I had about eight sequels locked and loaded in my head before it even launched. But then the numbers came in—and reality hit. People liked it! It got some nice reviews on Amazon. But the kind of engagement needed to keep that universe alive just wasn’t there. Writing more would’ve felt like screaming into a void. So I pivoted, moved on to other novels, and tucked that dusty hat away.

Now here I am again. Fire and Fools is a fantasy story—somewhere between Game of Thrones and Blackadder, if you can imagine such a thing. Like a good BBC miniseries, the goal is to make sure this first arc works on its own: clean, complete, and satisfying. But... it could also be Book One of a trilogy. The outlines are sitting right here on my desk.

So I’m putting on the publishing-business hat (it’s more of a beanie, really) and laying out the metrics that would justify writing more in this world:

• 100+ Favorites

• 10,000+ Views

• 4.0+ Rating

If Fire and Fools hits those marks by the time the epilogue goes live in July, I’ll consider the demand strong enough to keep it up on Scribble Hub and start drafting the sequel.

This isn’t a call to action or a ploy to boost my stats. Please don’t go padding numbers. I’d rather know the truth. This is just me setting expectations for myself and keeping you all in the loop.

One last Thing. I’m publishing Fire and Fools under a pen name. It’s a little inside joke—borrowed from Sarah’s pet buzzard in Dystopia’s Edge. Just a bit of cheeky fun.

But it’s also part of a personal experiment. I want to see if I can win over a new audience. Folks who don’t already know I’ve written books elsewhere. Starting fresh, just to see what the story can do on its own.

So if you’re reading this blog and decide to check it out over on Scribble Hub… keep it quiet for now.

I appreciate the discretion. And I appreciate you.