Publishing Update

Late summer, late afternoon shot of the creek that inspired the fictional Ryland Creek

Where did summer go?
 
Hi Folks,

It’s been over three months since my last publishing update. Much has happened in my little corner of the publishing world, so here goes!
 
In The Works

Return to Ryland Creek: Book V of the Ryland Creek Saga

The draft of the next installment of the Ernst family saga, Return to Ryland Creek, is complete. The story follows Mead Ernst, as a grandfather, and his grandson, Lance, and their coonhounds, Bella and Blaze, as they face threats from within and without the forests of Painted Post.

The original version of the story clocked out at ~105K words. I’ve finished my first two revisions, and the latest version of Return stands at a little over ~99K words, which would make it the longest book in the saga if it stays at this count. There are still more revisions planned, but all’s on track.

Special thanks to my beta readers (you know who you are) who provided excellent feedback during the drafting stage.

This manuscript is due to Joyce Mochrie, world’s greatest copy editor, for her review on September 21, 2025, which should allow (just) enough time to have Return released for the November-December holiday season.

Look for some draft covers for reader feedback soon.

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A swamp in Painted Post. Special note: When my wife saw this, she asked me if I was Joe Monet? I told her it was poor focus that caused the impressionistic effect. (But I think it worked!)

A Place Called Painted Post: A Ryland Creek Story

My co-author, Shanne Bowie, and I put A Place Called Painted Post: A Ryland Creek Story on “summer break,” so I could focus on finishing Return. It was a good decision, and it also allowed our illustrator, the wonderful Lee O’Connel,  to catch up, too.

Beyond doubt, the storyline has morphed into an outright adult (vs. middle grade) novel.

This book’s main character is a raccoon, who routinely interacts with characters from the first two books in the Ryland Creek saga: The Last Coon Hunter and An Exceptional Hound, as well as some new heroes and villains. There are plenty of  “Easter eggs” planted throughout, hooking back to the first two books, which I hope those who’ve read the other books catch.

Current word count stands at ~34.5K, and with our plans, I suspect this story will hit 70K when all’s said and done.

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Uncle Arthur and Seth from a scene in An Exceptional Hound

The Ryland Creek Saga (print format) is back on Barnes & Noble (B&N)!

As of August 2025, most Ryland Creek saga print books (soft cover only) are now available on B&N.  Please note: at the moment, only the dust jacket version of The Time of the Backroads is available (on B&N but distributed via Lulu); I hope to get the soft cover print version of Backroads up there by Oct-Nov 2026. Also, while the fifth anniversary edition of The Last Coon Hunter (Book I) is available for purchase on B&N, the original version of Book I isn’t available and likely won’t be for the foreseeable future.

Because my books are available on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, the e-book format won’t be made available on B&N.

I’m considering placing the hard covers (casebound, not dust jacket) for the same titles as mentioned  on B&N, but that project won’t take place until 2026.

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A fall picture from last year. I'm expecting a very brilliant fall foliage season this year. Let's hope I'm right!

Ryland Creek Print Book Prices

Moving my print books to both Kindle Direct Publishing and B&N self-publishing allowed me to reduce print costs on Amazon and B&N for soft covers and reduce hard cover costs on Amazon. Note: the target cost for soft covers on Amazon and B&N is $19.99, but it takes time for the systems to respond.

I’ll always consider myself a Lulu author first—and the Ryland Creek saga will still be made available globally through Lulu—but unfortunately not at the reduced prices due to higher print costs.

Of course, my author website carries the books at even further reduced prices as well.

Okay, folks, that's all there is for this update. As noted above, I'm expecting a wonderful fall foliage season this year. My leading indicator (a dry summer) is telling me the leaves will be spectacular.

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