A quick thing to report on the work front, in that my editor has done a quick beta-read on the second Action Figures – Legacies book, so after I do one more pass myself, it’ll be ready for editing. I don’t plan to release it until sometime next year, so you have plenty of time to read the first Legacies to prepare.

Onto something more of interest to the aspiring/new authors out there, and Legacies plays a small role in the anecdote I’m about to share. Long story short, there’s a new scam/cash grab out there hitting authors, involving an email that sounds a lot like the sender read the target’s book, analyzed it, checked out its performance on Amazon, lamented its lack of traction in the market, and is now generously offering to share the book with a huge group of avid readers who will be happy to review it.

I’ve received three of these emails. They all had identical tones and approaches, but another giveaway that something was off was: one of them spoke of a book I didn’t write. When I replied to one to see what happened, I was informed that the sender had indeed read my book. I asked if they would leave a review on Amazon themselves to show their good faith. They said they’d be happy to do so.

Guess what I haven’t seen yet?

Victoria Strauss did a deep dive into this scam on Writer Beware, and I encourage authors to check it out, but the long and short of it is, the scammer wants the target to download a PDF of their book for distribution to the “book club,” and to pay a fee for the privilege. There are red flags abound, so if you get one of these emails, delete it and block the sender immediately.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Legacies 2 – Finished, waiting on cover art. Tentative release date: early 2026.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – A Wanton Criminal: Edited, awaiting cover art. Tentatively set for late 2025 release.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – untitled book nine: First draft underway.

APPEARANCES & EVENTS

Nothing currently scheduled.

MISC.

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