Winter 2025 Update

Earlier this year I was proud to publish my first non-fiction book in eight years. I published six books from 2008 until 2017 and had struggled to develop a new project since then. Granted, from 2023 through 2024 I did have two short stories published in anthologies as well as wrapped up a novel I had been working on before 2017 as well as create and finish my second. My shift to fiction took a bit of time but I feel the grip under my feet the more I write.

Since I lost momentum after 2017’s Handbook for the Amateur UFO Investigator I feel like I’ve gained greater confidence in writing as well as ability to finish projects since finally tackling that first novel. I did feel like I had unfinished business in the non-fiction realm and felt I needed something else to hold up my most popular book, Handbook for the Amateur Cryptozoologist, that came out in 2014 with good success that led to a second edition in 2015 with a foreword from Loren Coleman and other minor updates. Eastern Cryptids supports and ties in a lot of stories and folklore that I have been talking about at libraries for years and has provided a much-needed refresher for my presentations.

I had developed several ideas for multiple novels in the Kalas Papers series and after some consideration decided to publish a novella through KDP for Kindle as well as a paperback version. My hope is to capture some more readership with a lower price point and a bit of a newer audience than my presentations and appearances at paranormal conventions has brought. I have already outlined the next novel, and potentially the entire series, with the arc of my main characters and am hoping the series will take off. The novella, The Kalas Papers Volume 1.5: Trust of Betrayal, serves as a direct story between parts 1 and 2 and may be a theme moving forward if sales dictate.

I do, however, have many other ideas for fiction and non-fiction and don’t want to focus on just one project. While that may seem counterintuitive to most writers I have other unfinished business in the publishing world. In the fall of 2025 I shifted gears to create a long overdue series for children. My wife had wanted to publish a coloring book, and I also had outlined a series of coloring and activity books for children. Once she published her project I quickly produced my first in a series for Primary Cryptozoology Education. My first coloring book is Coloring Cryptids A-Z where children can encounter kid friendly coloring pages, learn to write their names, as well as discover a bit about each one in a summary at the end of the book.

I quickly followed that up with Coloring Cryptids in Ohio which is not only a coloring book about cryptids in Ohio but also contains activities such as dot-to-dot, crossword, word find, word scrambles, and more. My goal with this series is to educate young minds not only about cryptids and cryptozoology but also about the known animals in their backyard as well as science and critical thinking. 

These two books serve as a foundation for the series, and I plan to develop more activity books for growing minds exploring the science aspects using cryptids as a catalyst. The motivation for these books also includes the fact that I have never had anything to offer children who show up to these events and I’ve reached that age when I know I need to begin to pass the baton as much as possible to keep these subjects alive.

Of course, the next question is where to for 2026? Part of this is keeping up with this blog a little better. I was fortunate to have been invited to a self-publishing roundtable with other authors at the Wadsworth Public Library in October. It was interesting to hear the questions as well as the experiences, perspectives, and opinions of those seeking to publish or who already have. I've had a lot of converstations with authors who are at various stages of their careers and I hope to share some insight to help anyone else out there.

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