THE REISSUES ARE COMING
In a week or two, the reissues of Pray and Squirming Disease will be made available in paperback and e-book. As e-books, you will just have the novelettes. In paperback form, however, you will receive some bonus stories. Each of these titles will feature a piece of flash fiction, two short stories, and a preview of my upcoming screenplay series, Charters. These paperbacks will first appear on Lulu (the company I use in printing and distributing my books), but then arrive on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and elsewhere.
In October, the reissue of Dead as Soon as Born will be made available in paperback and e-book. It’s been revised, added upon, and given a new look. You can see the working cover here. I say “working,” because this proof printed a bit blurry in areas, and so I need to make some tweaks for a clearer image.
In November, the reissue of Kill for Them will be made available in paperback and e-book. It’s been revised, added upon, and given a new look, as well. It’s first proof will be printed in a week or two.
In December, the reissue of Horrific Holidays will be made available in paperback and e-book. It, too, has been revised, added upon, and given a new look. I’m hoping to also print my first proof copy of this title during September.
As far as the singles I haven’t yet reissued – “Tenebris” and “Out at Sea” – they are ready to return as e-books any time now. It’s really just a matter of me finishing their formatting. Once done, they will appear on my Free E-Books tab. This should hopefully be taken care of in September. You will also find “Out at Sea” in the Dead as Soon as Born reissue.
‘PRAY’ IMPROVEMENT
The Well Read Beard – a friend and fellow reviewer in the writing community – recently reviewed my reissue of Pray on his channel and via Goodreads. He pointed out some things I would really like to fix to make the story better. However, this reissue will still release in this form. That may be a bit confusing, but read on.
What I’m planning on doing is turning Pray into a novel with a different title. The ideas I had outlined for a prequel and sequel will be used for the novel instead. I will also take this opportunity to adjust the things that the Beard and another reader pointed out to me. As such, the story will be fuller, longer, and better. The reason why I’m still releasing this novelette version is because – despite my lack of explanation in a certain area – the story is good, violent fun. I put myself in the shoes of the reader and asked myself if I’d be bothered by a short story being improved upon in a larger form down the road. My answer was, “No.” In fact, I would welcome it. So, I’ve decided that – as long as the title is changed to keep the two releases from being confused – this will be a good way to honor the “original” story, while also making it a better experience. I am always looking to improve my work, but hate to discard what’s good (even if it has flaws). This allows me to keep a fun release coming, while also later returning to it and making the ride stronger.
I wouldn’t expect this to happen until 2021 at the earliest. I am already working on several other projects, though I want to work this one in ahead of some of them.
2021 EXPECTATIONS
I don’t plan to be very present in 2021, at least not in an indie capacity. Aside from releasing my Charters screenplay, I am looking to finish writing several novels and submitting them to publishers. I actually have enough new shorts to make another collection, but right now I am thinking of holding off on that sort of fiction until after 2021. Though I’ve come to love short stories, I also worry they are holding me back. I have large worlds inside my head, and I know some readers have been disgruntled by me cutting them up in pieces for the sake of interlocking short stories. I want to get some novels out instead.
Though I won’t name all the projects in production, I will reveal a few (titles subject to change). There’s Tree of Bones, which is a crime novel I wrote back in 2018, but was weak in some areas. It is going to be rewritten. It’s opening chapter has actually appeared already as a preview in early prints that are no longer available. There’s also Above and Below – of which “Exitium” (found in Dead as Soon as Born) is connected – and the novel expansion for the Pray universe. The last title I will note is Lydia’s Shadow. This large novel has been in the works since 2012, and is spoken about in my author notes frequently. It’s also the book that first introduced Gina Charter, although you all never saw it. This story has actually been written four times already, totaling at least two thousand pages. I went on a break from it around 2016, I think, but am looking to return to it now that I’ve figured out a lot of the kinks I originally had with the story.
There are also a couple novels that are secret for the time being. All of these are planned for submission. In 2022, one or two may arrive under Snow-Capped Press if they don’t get picked up by any publishers, but (of course) I hope they do. I expect to also do another short story collection in 2022 with the homeless stories I currently have, alongside whatever I write in 2021 on the side.
AIDEN MERCHANT 
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