Daryl Leonardo's Blog

After publishing my second novel, silver boy, last year, I made the decision to take some time off from writing. silver boy was a book that went from inception to publication in just a little over a year, and I'm not a very fast writer to begin with, so that took a lot of out me. That being said, I've been spending this time picking up new hobbies -- such as ice skating, which quite a few people have suggested be the subject for my next book -- and working on some other projects.

Probably the biggest project I've been working on is producing audiobook editions for both my first novel, drown, and silver boy. It's been... an experience. From the trial and error of figuring out how to capture decent audio from my home studio -- i.e. my apartment -- to learning the craft of audiobook narration, and all the hours spent figuring my way around the audio editing software, Audacity, this whole thing has been over a year long process at this point. But all that time and effort is paying off, as the audiobook for drown is quite close to being ready to publish. I do not have a release date yet. Honestly, I'm not comfortable setting one as this will be my first time publishing an audiobook, so who knows how that's gonna go...

Aside from the audiobook, I've also been getting really into my art. Last year, I purchased a drawing software, Clip Studio Paint, and started learning how to draw digitally. I'd always stuck to pencil, pen, and paper before because I found drawing software a little overwhelming. But now that I am drawing digitally, it's really opened up the options of what I'm able to create. One thing I like to do in terms of drawing is I like to make comics. I even had a brief stint of comic strips that I posted onto Webtoon before I decided to take those down, so I could reboot them with the intention of adding in a proper narrative. I haven't gotten around to doing that yet, but I will get to it.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, I've got a lot going on. Because of that, I don't know when I'll have another book out. I do plan to continue writing and I have a couple of ideas, but they all need a lot more time to stew. Also, when it comes to writing, I really want to explore other genres, which I know isn't exactly the thing that a lot of people want to hear -- I actually have a friend who joked that if my next book isn't gay, they don't want it -- but I felt like that was something I should put out there. That way it isn't a complete surprise if my next book is just completely out of left field. But who knows? We'll just have to wait and see.

It's called 'silver boy'
It comes out March 11, 2022
Kindle Pre-orders are available on Amazon.
Paperback Pre-orders are available on Barnes & Noble's website.

I wanted to make a more fun announcement about it on here rather than just having it pop without word. I just wish I knew how the heck to do html formatting on this thing because it would've been so cool to post a picture! Oh well. That's what social media's for, I suppose.

This weekend marks the first year anniversary of my debut novel, drown. The kindle ebook went live on December 3, 2020 and the paperback became available on December 4, 2020.

It’s crazy to think that it’s already been a year since I put this story out there at an “official” capacity. And to see how well it’s done and has been doing has been quite the ride. Especially considering the fact that I am self published and have been struggling to build an audience for myself for years.

You know, I didn’t set out to become a writer. I was just a would-be actor who couldn’t land an audition, much less book a book a job, and I was hoping to create an opportunity for myself. I had a story I wanted to tell that I put a lot of myself into and writing it into a book seemed to be the most accessible way to get it out there. And I’m so glad that I did.

Since putting out drown, I’ve had a number of people reach out to me through social media to tell me how much the story resonated with them. I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with people — writers and readers alike — who’ve become friends to me via online messaging. I’ve even been able to pay down a credit card — which I promptly spent — using royalties. Like, that’s crazy.

So, with all that being said, I just want to say thank you. For years, I felt it in my bones that this story would be the thing that would finally help me launch some sort of career, and in a way, it did. I may not be a “Best Seller” and I don’t make a whole lot of money from the book, but I have people reading my work and looking forward what I put out next. People are paying attention and for that, I will forever be grateful.

I JUST finished writing my second novel.
I could cry. I'm so happy.

Please excuse me. That is all.

Alrighty folks. I just wanted to drop in and give a quick update on the progress of my second book. I'm currently in the process of writing the last few chapters that I had planned and everything is coming together really nicely, I think.

A few weeks ago, I was really struggling with my motivation. I just could not for the life of me find the will to want to write. And even when I did manage to get myself writing, I was questioning everything I was doing, and it just wasn't coming out very smoothly or naturally to me. Writing became sort of an uphill battle for a while.

Now, I have managed to get back into to the groove, but unfortunately, I have gotten a bit behind. Initially, my plan was to have it ready for publishing by the end of the year, but with the holidays fast approaching, I'm having doubts. And given that my first novel - drown - had a decade to stew, I don't want to rush this one. I don't want to put out a product that I'm not satisfied with simply to meet a deadline, and being an independent author, I'm fortunately in a position where I don't have to.

That being said, I am working on it. The second book is coming. I don't want to set another date for it until I'm closer to publishing, but just know, it is on it's way.

It's a difficult balance trying to keep up with writing on top of your real life. I can be a little obsessive when it comes to my work, and I often find that when I'm not working on it physically - writing, that is - I'm working on it mentally whilst I'm going about my day. That being said, I have been getting quite a bit of writing done, and I'm happy to say that I'm about 2/3rds of the way to completing my next manuscript.

Now, I don't want to say too much since I'm still in the process of writing it. I just wanted to drop a quick update. I've had a number of people reach out to me via social media asking about a follow up to my first book - drown. The answer is yes. I wouldn't say it's a sequel, but it does take place in the same universe and begins a few months after the end of drown. Probably the biggest piece of info I'm willing to drop is that it's told from another character's perspective, but I'll leave that up to speculation for now.

I'm not exactly the most consistent person when it comes to reading. But being that I am now an author -- I realize how pretentious that sounds -- by way of self-publishing, I figure I should really be better about taking in more literature. And what better way to do that than by becoming an active presence on a website dedicated to reading? So... hi, I'm Daryl, and this is my first blog post... yeah, I feel like I always get really awkward when I run out of things to say. Anyway, check out my book!


drown by Daryl Leonardo