Friends,

I hope the last three months have treated you well since I posted my Summer 2024 Update blog! We’ve been busy doing life in our household — between school starting, the soccer season kicking off, spending time with family, and so much more — time has flown by. I also have some juicy updates for my next book, so let’s jump on in…

Life Update

Everett and Marin have begun the new school year and have settled into their new grades/routines nicely. Parent-Teacher Conferences were just last night, and both of their teachers had only positive things to say! Adler has enjoyed getting to spend time at home with me, just him, since the other three are out of the house. It’s been a joy for me as well, getting to see more sides of him on his own. Eliza-Jean is growing into a spunky little girl; all her hair is wild, and her squawking and cooing is loud and adorable. It’s crazy that she’ll be 1 here in just a couple months. Sarah and I just sit back and watch the kids do their thing, raising them up as best we can and trying to enjoy the little moments we know we’ll talk about years from now (and even those we may not remember by then). Time is a funny thing, and growing kids certainly highlight that fact.

Work and Education

My job at UJ has been going well, albeit kind of hectic over the summer months into the start of the new academic year. My course designs for the new MBA program have been met with satisfactory approval from the program director as well as my boss, so that’s reassuring. Again, with the notion of time, it’s hard to believe I’m approaching a year into this new position already. I’ve learned a great deal and have really found a new passion for work doing what I do.

As for the teaching side of things at Mount Union, I wrapped up my Western Civ summer course and got the fall term up and running effectively. I was particularly pleased with the activity and assessment I created to gauge my students’ knowledge of Chicago style citations/formatting, which they need to use in their course papers (even for non-majors, as part of the liberal arts educational experience). The majority of them scored well and have applied what they’ve learned to their weekly discussion forums; and those that are a little behind have shown progress too. I still haven’t heard about any course offerings for the Spring ’25 semester, though I should hear either way within the next few weeks. If anything, I know I can look forward to offering courses in the two terms next summer. And at UJ, there may be a potential to design and offer some history courses, but that’s more of a medium- to long-term project, likely not to bear fruit for another 3-5 years. But I’ll wait — as far as I know, I’ve got time.

Progress on The Ivory Obelisk

Wow! That’s all I can say at this point. It’s been such a fun ride developing and writing this story; I could never have guessed that it would go where it’s gone when I started this project back in September 2017. I’ve learned a good deal about the writing craft and have tried to apply those learnings to this story. And the early beta reader feedback has been positive and constructive; I can’t wait for it to go live so others can read it. As for the word count, the in-revision draft is currently at a little over 77,000 words, but I’m sure it’ll slim down a little by the time I’m finished revising and it’s officially finished. I feel good about the plotline, the characters, the themes of the story, and the general outcome when I sit back and consider all I’ve done on it. In past blog posts, I’ve given working book blurbs as a sort of teaser; here’s the official book blurb:

In the late summer of 2007, Fabian Loxley is a conflicted man with a complicated past. On the cusp of merging his pharmaceutical company in order to save it, a turn of events thrusts him into circumstances he could never have imagined nor be prepared to handle. A series of grim developments exacerbate the situation, forcing him into a corner as revelations are made, questions are asked, and his past confronts him head-on. With his life in the balance, Fabian’s chances of saving himself dwindle as time ticks away — will his actions be enough in the end?

As for the book cover, I’ve been working with a professional designer on finding the right look for this story’s cover; it’s been a good experience so far, and I’m happy where the cover design is going. As for timeline, I’m currently tossing around a couple different ideas on how/when to obtain editorial book reviews to post on the Amazon sales page as well as on the print covers; however, this shouldn’t affect the launch of the book from a reader perspective. Therefore, I’m still aiming for the Kindle version to be available for pre-order on Black Friday (11/29) and then go live on December 12. The paperback (and hardback, if I end up doing that as well) should go live within 1-2 weeks after the Kindle version. I will add that I’m planning a discounted price for the pre-order, so if you’re interested in buying the book you may want to do so before it drops on December 12 and the price goes up (not much, but still). All in all, I’m excited to see my work come to fruition, especially this project — the first new book in almost 8 years!

That’s it for now. I plan on posting a special update to the blog when The Ivory Obelisk goes on pre-order, so keep an eye out for that — and spread the word to your book-loving friends!

Take care,

Mike/”Eli”