Well, well…it’s been a moment or two since I’ve written to you. Very much has changed since May 2018, and of course coming off the tails of 2020 means we just closed out a very chaotic and unique year. I simply wanted to use this post to bring my followers, friends, and family up to speed on life, career, and writing.

What Has Changed at Home

When I wrote my last post in May 2018, my son Everett was just over a year old, I was about halfway through my master’s degree, and I was on the cusp of finishing my third year of online teaching (during which I implemented a World History curriculum that I had spent the previous two years or so developing). For whatever reason, that summer brought about a lot of stuff that seemed to consume my personal time. It didn’t help that I wasn’t actively writing anything new – at least not consistently working on a manuscript day in, day out – but my time at home was taken up by things that I made a higher priority.

As that year progressed, Sarah’s pregnancy with our daughter became more of our focus. We spent time nesting for a girl instead of a boy, the latter of which we moved into his big boy bed and own room around Thanksgiving. Knowing that we would be welcoming a girl into the world excited us, but boy is she a spitfire now! Marin Verona is independent, fiery, loves her cuddles, and speaks her mind even in her limited vocabulary. She was born the day after Christmas (after Sarah got induced) and right away we knew she would further round out our family.

Not too long after that, Everett turned two years old, followed by my 30th birthday. It surprisingly wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, though Sarah didn’t refrain from reminding me that she was still in her twenties and I was not. Throughout the rest of 2019 we enjoyed family time at home with two kids, both of whom loved on each other and gradually played well together. One less happy thing sticks out in 2019, and that was the sudden and unexpected passing of our dog Nika the week before Thanksgiving. The kids of course were too young (especially Marin) to really know what happened; Sarah and I weren’t even 100% sure why Nika passed away. I think it had something to do with her heart, but I was too distraught to have the vet look into it. I still haven’t taken Nika’s leash down from the hook behind the door. Everett brings her up every now and then, and at times we have to remind him that she died and she’s not just “gone” from the house somewhere. It’s been over a year at this point, and I’m finally moving on internally – but there will always be a part of me that wishes we could’ve had more time with her as she lived out the rest of her life.

Developments in My Academic Life

In the spring of 2019, I went to the campus of my alma mater – the University of Mount Union – to give a guest lecture in one of my history professor’s classes. While there, the department chair and I talked about the potential need of adjunct professors in the history department. I told her that it is my academic dream to teach at Mount Union, and that I’d keep in touch as I neared the end of my master’s degree.

Fast-forward to the spring of 2020, by which time I had completed my master’s program courses and was awarded an “A with Honors” designation for my master’s thesis paper I submitted in February of that year, and that’s when things got interesting: COVID hit and changed everyone’s lives and daily routine as they knew it. In the transition from in-person classes to online instruction, the history department needed someone tech savvy with online teaching experience and the proper credentials. Long story short, I was thankful to be given the opportunity to teach the remainder of the Western Civilization II course for the spring semester after an expedient onboarding and orientation process during my spring break of that year.

I went on to teach two summer sessions of the same course, which I had already been developing hoping that the opportunity would eventually present itself. As summer edged toward fall, I finished developing the last components of the Contemporary Europe course that I had also been working on since the spring, which I taught as my first full semester course in the fall of 2020. I ultimately had six students when it was all said and done, all of whom did well and helped make my first full semester course memorable. During that course, I spent my off time developing a Renaissance and Reformation course, which I am offering this spring (2021) and am excited to take a crack at teaching. It was a course I enjoyed learning about when I was a student, and I’ve since cultivated that enjoyment in reading and writing the course. As of the time of this posting, I am about to begin developing an Eastern Europe course that I will offer in the fall of 2021, which I am very much looking forward to doing.

Where Does That Leave Me with Writing?

At the moment, as you can see, I am rather preoccupied with putting my new degree to great use in diving into the world of higher education through online adjunct teaching – and through Mount Union, at that! I do, however, feel the bug to get back to writing. I currently have a manuscript of over 40,000 words on my virtual shelf, but it’s in need of another 20-25,000 words before I can say the rough draft is complete. This story is not related to the World War II stories of the Faces of the War collection, but is its own story. It also is rather different from how I’ve written historical fiction in the past. The best way I can describe this story without giving away details is by providing this hybrid genre name: “mystorical thriction.” It’s a little bit of a mystery, a little bit of a thriller, all mixed into historical fiction.

I don’t yet know when I will be able to get to writing on this manuscript in earnest, but I’d like to think that after the new school year gets underway and I’m done writing the Eastern Europe course is when it might occur. In that case, if I can utilize my time effectively in the fall, I could have a final draft published by the end of 2022. I really want to do this story well, give it a solid writing effort (as well as have it thoroughly edited by a professional), and make it a clear improvement on my writing from my WWII project of more than a few years ago.

Lastly, given that this post was published on the release date anniversary of my fourth book, Needless, I am offering a discount on the Kindle version of that book between January 5-11. Even if you don’t own a Kindle, you can download the free Kindle app and read it on your phone or other device. You can access the book’s sales page here if you’d like to get your copy. In addition to that book, I’m running discounts on the other three books throughout all of January – but they’re only scheduled for discount at certain times, so pay attention! You can get your hands on my third book, Imminent, discounted between January 12-18; on my second book, Unguarded, discounted between January 19-25; and on my first book, Resistant, discounted for FREE between January 26-30. And if you’re looking for a shorter read instead, check out my first and second short story volumes on Kindle for FREE between January 26-30 as well. I’d greatly appreciate if you left a review when you finish a book. Thanks!

That is all for now, so I thank you for your time and attention to read up on what I’ve been up to over the last two and a half years. I’m excited to see what the year has in store and I truly hope I can get back into a rhythm of posting here and keeping you all in tune with what’s going on – as I know a good number of my family and friends read this to stay in touch.

Until next time!

Mike/”Eli”

Friends,

I hope this post finds you well and (hopefully) enjoying the early signs of an approaching spring! In this post, I wanted to offer some reflection on writing my first four books, which constitute my Faces of the War collection set during WWII. There will also be a special announcement at the end of this post regarding the collection.

Book One: Resistant

When I set out to write my first book in the fall of 2013, I had no idea it would lead to a collection. I figured it would be a standalone book. But as the early stages went on, I thought on the possibility more and more of expanding it. And that’s how I arrived at the idea of a collection, not a series — separate stories set during the same time period but focusing on different characters facing different struggles. The idea seemed solid, so I moved forward with it.

For the writing itself, the majority of it took place while I was long-term substituting for In-School Suspension at my high school. Needless to say, every day was quiet and long, which gave me plenty of time to work on my manuscript. Within about four months, I had finished my rough draft and was ready to have it edited. I reached out to a friend of mine who is a big reader and holds an English degree, and she agreed to edit it for me. At the time, I didn’t have a lot of money so I was (and still am) very gracious to her for helping me get my first project off the ground. From the birth of the manuscript to the release of my book, which was handled by a third-party company (for cover design and book distribution), the whole process took about six months. A little brief most might say, but it was a fun and enlightening ride.

Looking back on the whole experience, the one biggest thing I learned was to not be afraid to write. I think it’s easy to get wrapped up in the idea that people won’t like your work, or think your ideas don’t make sense…or that what you’re trying to do is just plain stupid. Nevermind all that. Writing quickly became something of a passion for me – something that was an outlet, an escape, a way to express myself. Since then, I’ve never cared what people think.

Book Two: Unguarded

Coming off the euphoria of having a published book to my (pen) name, I immediately set out planning and writing my second book. I wanted to approach WWII from a fresh angle, so I figured what was opposite of Book One? The answer was: instead of a French woman fighting on the ground, it was a British man fighting in the sky. All right – I now had my basic story premise. Now, what should the title be? I had worked up the idea of having a subliminal message within the titles of these books, which of course is not so subliminal now that I’m elaborating on it. When put in order, the first letters of each title spells RUIN, which is what is brought on by war and conflict. So what “U” word could go with an RAF pilot? I won’t delve any deeper so as to not spoil the story, but the process of developing the story based on the title was challenging and fun.

From the summer of 2014 through the fall and early winter up to late December, the manuscript was developed and edited (again by another English degree-possessing friend) in time for a January 2015 release. At this point in my life, I was married for almost a year, had been working a part-time job for about four months, and was already looking forward to writing the next book!

The one biggest thing I learned from this experience was how to self-publish in the truest sense of the term. On the first book, I used the services of a third-party company to help get my book off the ground. This time around, and on the subsequent projects, I went about the whole process myself via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and Createspace (for hard copy). Through quite a bit of research, trial and error, and some asking around, I figured out the process of KDP and Createspace relatively quickly. Heading into my third project, I knew I was prepared to tackle it – both on the writing side and the logistics side.

Book Three: Imminent

In the spring of 2015, I began working on my third WWII story. Part of this story spawned out of a book I read (as do a lot of tiny details of my stories) the previous year: Ortona Street Fight by Mark Zuehlke. It was a very vivid and engaging read for me, and it showed me a side of the Italian campaign that I hadn’t known up to that point. The rest of the story, though, was formed mostly from my own creation with bits of external inspiration thrown in here and there.

By the time the fall of 2015 rolled around, the manuscript was in pretty good shape with the help of a few editor friends. Thinking of a release date, I wanted to keep in line with the ‘one book per year’ idea if doable, so I aimed for January again. This time, it was earlier in the month than Book Two’s release. Christmas came and went, and I had the pre-order confirmed through Amazon KDP. The release date arrived and I was even more excited to see my newest creation on the virtual bookshelf of Amazon than I was for Book Two. I had done it – I had written three books.

Something valuable I learned with this project was the importance of balancing action and movement in the plot with character development. It’s still something I’m working on, but this is where it really started to pick up (with the early inklings of improvement being felt in Book Two). Establishing solid characters with believable and sensible backgrounds and motives helps make for a great story. I’m sure it will be one of those things that I look back on years from now and wish I could rewrite these stories with the writing talent I’ll have developed when I’m older. I knew the collection was drawing to a close with the final letter of RUIN on deck for Book Four. So I buckled down and tried to approach the genre and time period from an angle I had not yet explored.

Book Four: Needless

Shortly after releasing Book Three, I began work on the final installment of my collection (at least as far as the RUIN acronym goes). The spring of 2016 was a hectic one for me, especially with my wife and I (and our pets) moving into a new house. I had also been teaching online full time for about six months. Once the planning process got underway, though, my gears were churning out some interesting plot ideas.

I wanted this fourth story to be bold, different, and fresh, but also familiar to readers of the previous stories. This was a challenge, but it made the writing process that much more engaging and intriguing. How do I write this or that character differently from others who came before? How do I describe this place or those people without using the same phrases and descriptors as before? How do I keep my reader guessing? All valid questions that perpetually raced through my mind into the summer and fall of 2016. As time went on, the writing came fluidly and the ideas became more concrete. With my eyes set on Christmas as the final deadline for wrapping up the process, I pushed as hard as I could to finish the story and get it ready for yet another January release. This time, I chose January 5 – the due date of my wife’s and my first child. Though he didn’t come until five days later, it was still an exciting end to the process!

Something meaningful that I took away from this writing experience was the idea that I was writing something I enjoyed, yes, but that also my writing could be used to educate. Historical fiction can sometimes become a hairy genre in that facts are skewed and the liberties writers take with the fact-and-fiction balance are usually liberal. With that in mind, I told myself that from then on I would write as close to fact as possible so that my stories could be utilized as tools to educate, and to not only entertain.

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I am so happy that I was able to embark on such a fun, enlightening, and at times exhilarating journey almost five years ago…not because I get to say that “I’m a writer” but because the journey has changed me. And because of that change, I am inspired to write more. It’s a type of process that develops you as a person, unleashing your mind to the world at large.

Since I completed this Faces of the War project in what has come to be an average of ‘four books in four years,’ I wanted to do something special for my current readers but also for ones who perhaps are looking at my work with growing interest. On this, the four-year anniversary of the release of Resistant, I am lowering the Kindle prices of my WWII books in all markets through Amazon. They should be changed within three days’ time of this posting.

As a ‘thank-you’ to everyone who has read my work, has encouraged me along the way, and in general has just been awesome, my work is even more available than it was before. I enjoy writing just as readers enjoy reading, and so I want to make my stories readable to more people. For the convenience of the majority of those reading this blog, I’m including the links to the US and UK markets below:

Eli Kale on Amazon.com  ~  Eli Kale on Amazon.co.uk

~  Resistant on Amazon.com.au  ~

I am truly grateful to have such wonderful people in my life – even ones whom I have not met but with whom I’ve connected through my books. At the core of an author’s work is the people who make it worthwhile. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In addition to this discount celebration, if you will, I am linking a guest post below from a colleague’s blog. It’s just a little something extra that was fun – you’ll see why when you read it. I not only enjoy writing but also networking and building relationships with others in the craft.

Eli Kale Guest Post on Kate Foster’s Blog

Until next time,

EK