For a few weeks, my intention was to write a blog post about what’s going on at Chase Connor Books. Some of you may have noticed some changes, some of you may not, and some of you may not care. However, I wasn’t quite sure how to explain the changes, why those changes were made, and where I am in my writing journey accurately. Or, more precisely, I didn’t know how to explain those things without sounding like a pretentious douchebag.
Hopefully, I’ll manage to explain while keeping some of my dignity and street cred. So…let’s get into it, shall we?
Basically, I am fifteen years older than I was when I wrote my first novella – JUST A DUMBER SURFER DUDE. A lot changes between the ages of 17 and 32. As each year passes now, even more changes occur. It seems like the older you get, the quicker the changes happen. Life flies by when you’re busy living it. Those years flying by inform each of us more about who we were, who we are, and who we want to be. These lessons aren’t simply about who we want to be as a person, but also open our eyes to what we want out of our hobbies, our relationships, spirituality, family, and our professional life (lives?). Personally, I love that these changes happen more often as I get older–it proves that I’m not dwelling on what was, but embracing what can be. I’m accepting of the good changes and allowing myself to grow in every way possible.
Though many changes happened in the first ten years of my writing life, ten times as many have happened in the last two years. Don’t misunderstand–they’ve been great changes and I’m feeling highly blessed and favored. However, I feel now, in my thirty-second year of life, that I finally understand who I am as a writer. I understand the messages I want to convey with my writing. And I understand even more now than ever that the pursuit of money through writing isn’t my primary goal–though I am eternally grateful for what my readers have done for me in that department.
Ultimately, I’ve found that I feel I’m at my personal best when I’m writing stories like A SURPLUS OF LIGHT and POSSIBLY TEXAS and BETWEEN ENZO & THE UNIVERSE and HEAD ROCK HARBOR MYSTERY series. Those are stories where I feel that I shine as a writer. That’s my niche.
The kind of writer I am is one who writes character-driven stories, smalltown life, the minutiae of the human existence. If there’s a touch of mystery or magical realism, all the better. I shine best when I try to use the blank pages in front of me to peel back the layers of my characters and lay my deepest thoughts bare to my readers.
I feel most myself as a writer when I blend my imagination with my personal philosophies and thoughts on the human existence.
After all of this keyboard vomit, I know that I’m probably not explaining myself well or fully. The curse of a writer–I can tell stories, but damnit if I can explain what’s going on in my head otherwise! However, I know that at the end of my life, if there’s that mythical “life flashing before my eyes” phenomenon, I want to be proud of what I see. Not just as a person, a husband, a father, a fur father, a friend, a son (in law), a brother…I want to be proud of the writer I was.
So, if you fiddle with the website menus a bit, you’ll see that many of my books are no longer in print. Some of them were books that were consistently selling copies years after their release–so that should tell you how serious I am about becoming the writer I want to be.
I sincerely apologize if this upsets any of my readers that have been with me for the long run. Thinking about that caused me considerable anguish as I tried to decide my path forward. I love all of you and cherish the wonderful readers and friends I’ve made in my writing journey. So, know that this isn’t meant to upset anyone, but I need to make changes for my own good. I hope you’ll all understand and stick around. If not, no hard feelings. I get it.
However, if you decide to stick around, I still have at least 6 more books I will definitely publish in the HEAD ROCK HARBOR MYSTERY series. I will be releasing novels called TALK TO ME, A BOY CALLED NEVER, MIDNIGHT MARINARA AT THE MIRACLE CAFE, THE GURU OF LITTLEBURG, THE LAST OF THE LIGHTNING BUGS, the THE THATCHER GRAVES SERIES, and a few others. (If a title isn’t clickable, the landing page for it simply hasn’t been built yet because the cover for the book hasn’t been finalized)
I think that if you enjoy the books I still have in print, you’ll love all of these upcoming novels as much.
I’ll have more information about everything coming with version 2.0 of Chase Connor soon, but in the meantime…
Tremendous Love & Thanks,
Chase
Chase Connor Books 