Sins of the Father Drops 11/27/2025

Finally.

Woo hoo! About damn time. Seriously? You have to be kidding me, right?

After a long and laborious process (well over a year late), my next book, Sins of the Father, is finally available starting tomorrow, 11/27/2025! The eBook is on pre-order, but starting on Thanksgiving, midnight to be exact, the eBook, paperback, and hardcover go into the wild. Starting with Amazon and then all major bookstores and retailers, Sins of the Father becomes my second published novel. And, it becomes the second book as part of a three book trilogy for The Carmichael Trilogy book series!

Hand to head saying, what have I done?

I keep asking myself that. Every. Single. Day. Well, to be frank, and not the capital letter kind since my name is Jason, Sins of the Father is a continuation of the original story set in Pandemic-19. The overall story has always been a larger plot. So, I broke it up into three books. Otherwise, it would be War and Peace long which is not ideal in handling a massive and heavy thriller fiction book!

Hands clapping in the background.

Pandemic-19 kicked it all off. Sins of the Father takes its lead from the ending of that book and propels the plot into another sphere. Readers are kept on the edge of their seats with a constantly moving thriller that brings you right into the story alongside the characters. Subplots make you question what you think you know. And, as the breadcrumbs unravel, what was taken as a fact may be part of a twisted web of lies that you didn’t see coming.

But, enough of that. Why did it take so long to get this creative masterpiece out the door? Inquiring minds want to know!

It’s simple, really. Life. Plus a laborious editing process where the perfectionist in me went back a thousand times over and over tweaking, nudging, and caressing the words to make them as engaging and actual as possible.

Before the editors took their turn and it all started back to square one.

Writing a book is easy. You just type words and string them along. Try to create a story that is engaging and people want to read. The nail biting and knife stabbing part is doing so in such a way that works. Writer eyes see things one way.

Editors see those letters of the alphabet in a much different light.

With Sins of the Father, I finished the story last year. Probably the beginning of it. Dates are a bit hazy. Then handed it off for editing work. That’s where it gets convoluted and time starts to get strange, because while that was going on, I went back and edited all over again.

Changed stuff.

So what got handed off was different than what I had in my greedy little hands. As you might imagine, at that juncture things just might be out of whack. What you handed off (meaning me) might be completely different than what resides currently as the latest, greatest, version of the book.

Moronic.

Lesson one: Don’t edit after giving to your editors. It mucks it all up. Lesson two: Wait and have some patience for editing work to be done. It makes life so much easier. Lesson three: When you do get editor notes back, and there will be a lot, set them aside for a minute. Re-read the book. Refresh your brain. Then, absorb the notes. As a writer I am deeply invested in my story. I see it through my eyeballs.

You must see it through someone else’s lenses that doesn’t carry your baggage.

So, as you can begin to see, things got a bit messy. Like giving chocolate to a baby that smears it all over their face. Then, it gets on their clothes. Plus, all over the immediate are where grubby little hands can reach. A brown gooey mix that takes forever to clean up.

Unless, you throw the kid in the tub for a quick dip and dump the clothes in the washing machine.

I was out of synch. Some notes had already been fixed. Others, well, they didn’t apply to the content anymore. A few hit the nail on the head. I worked the issues I could, then went back to the pile. Finessed the pages more until I was good and ready to move forward.

Then, handed it off again.

In the interim, the cover design has to happen. Having a great graphic that speaks without words is a must. You want something eye-catching at a glance that makes someone want to pick up your book. Even if no title existed on the front cover. I had been contemplating an idea, one that to me, really spoke volumes. It summed up the book with absolute certainty that it made me shiver. Without giving it away, I want you my beloved readers to see it for yourselves, the cover took just as long.

An idea is an idea. Someone has to actually bring it to life.

So, cover work got to cracking on taking a vision and bringing it to life. It’s not just the image either. Or, the title that speaks. There is that whole back cover too where words go. While the design moved at a pace consistent with all the layers involved to create a front cover, I went to work, so that idle hands didn’t go stir crazy, on creating the text I wanted for the back on Sins of the Father.

Jeez, talk about hair pulling there.

The back cover has finite space. You can only say so much. As a writer, you have to nail it. Be concise while still enticing a potential reader with enough juice to make them want to drink the concoction. It’s the at-a-glance marketing plain that can make or break an in-customer experience.

I went through so many drafts I lost count.

Finally, a concept emerged and what you see is the end result. It is a description that tantalizes me to even want to know more and read. And, I wrote the damn thing!

Months and months passed as the process worked itself. I could have rushed and pushed for the editing notes to get them back quicker, but if you want a great product, let those who edit do their thing. Finally, I got the notes back. I discussed with trepidation, and then was pleasantly elated that edits were minor.

A massive relief!

I dove into fixing the line items. Mostly, spelling errors or comma use. Spelling errors as in the wrong spelling of the word for the context it was used. See, that’s why you have editors. Writers, our eyes are so used to the story, that we tend to gloss over a misuse of a word’s spelling as our brain reads it as correct. An editor, new to all the letters and gibberish on the pages, can see around our failures. They don’t know the story, so they don’t put the wrong word in place.

They catch it!

Page by page I flipped. Chapters and chapters between what needed correction. That glee was wonderful to feel. Then, the last page was closed. Finished, or so I thought. I had a few nagging story bits tugging my ears. I set the book aside.

And waited.

A clear head is crucial. The cover design was in full swing so there wasn’t anything I could do as the book wasn’t coming out anytime soon. Fresh eyes are a blessing. When my headspace felt right, I opened Sins of the Father back up for one last look. Made a tiny, teeny, miniscule tweak that felt right for the plot.

The rest is history. For the words on the pages at least.

Once a cover design is all put together, the real work begins. How the cover looks when printed as a proof is important. You still have rounds and rounds of work to do.

Say it ain’t so Mr. Writer!

Alas, ’tis all true. I think eight rounds of proofs went forth. It is a must! Checking that everything appears correct and aligns the way it should. And most crucial, that nothing changed!

It did.

For some odd reason, page numbers for the chapter pages disappeared. Just the chapter pages. On one round of proofs they were right. Then, gone. Then, it was sporadic pages where only a few chapter pages were minus a digit. Somewhere, somehow, something got all wishy washy and the numeration from looking at hundreds of pages, eyes missed the tiny, little numbers on the bottom of the pages.

Late nights can play tricks on ya.

Exacerbation. Wringing hands. A bit of weepy eyes? Not really. Frustration for sure. Bugs, the bugs that defied logic got resolved and the final, final product came to life. Late, ever so late to what the schedule was supposed to be, but the fruit of labor found the golden end of the road.

What now writer guy?

Well, that’s not exactly up to me. My part is done. I wrote the story. Now, it is time for people to find and read my creation. I can do book promotions and the bits I have control over for exposure, but ultimately, the book has to find its audience. Marketing promos and ads do their parts as part of the puzzle, which helps, but it is the people who really sell a book.

My book.

Recommendations to friends and family. Social sharing and all that jazz. I don’t do it for the money, as the reality is that I am a small fish in a massive ocean. I write because I love it. It keeps me sane. Sort of. As my family knows, I am a storyteller. I love a good tale. I put words on the proverbial paper because I enjoy capturing my plots and reading them. Over and over with such enthusiasm each and every time.

Do I wish that I become a popular writer?

I do. But, for selfish reasons that don’t have anything to do with the almighty dollar. Or, pound. Euro. Whatever money system you choose. But not bitcoin as I still am hesitant about all that. It kinda creeps me out as you can’t touch it or keep it in your wallet. Physical one I mean. Digital wallet is a different discussion.

No, I would love to be popular in knowing that my stories entertain people. Keep an audience enthralled in a plot that for the time invested, is worth their money spent. I would love to know that my books give a person a sliver of respite from all the noise out there. That they found quiet and peace tucked in a chair or reclining back in bed and the outside world didn’t interrupt.

I love telling stories. And, there are many more to come.