Space, Joy, and Social Media, Oh My

It has been a lot, I'd say.

There’s something about the end of the year that summons the entities of chaos to worm their way in to every facet of life, it seems. It’s holidays, sure, but there’s a lot to be said for all of the other “things” that go on and throw wrenches into the best of intentions.

To sum up:

I am behind on social media upkeep.

I am behind on writing.

I am behind on editing.

I am behind on audiobook recording.

I am behind on bills, doctor visits (I’m almost 50, and I need to be singing “Moon River” soon), organization at home, and calling my Mom on schedule. I am ever the forgetful son.

What I’m NOT behind on, apparently, is book releases. Now, you’d think with all of these shenanigans going on, I’d at least have SOMETHING buttoned down, but nope. Not gonna happen.

So let’s start with the good.

SPACE FTW!

SPACE PEW PEW has been released into the world, and you can SNAG YOUR COPY RIGHT HERE!

This book was a blast to write, and it’s being enjoyed by many even just a day after release. We’re climbing the Amazon charts, and getting epic reviews like this one:

Stephen gets it.

I’m thrilled I’m finding readers that are interested in something light, humorous, and fun - particularly after the brutal slog that was election season for the last … I don’t know … year?

At it’s core this is a humor book, but the characters and banter are a bullseye (that’s from a fellow author), the story and world are fun, and I’m certain that the unfettered and overflowing glee I had writing this thing shines through on the page.

So as SPACE PEW PEW is rocking it (and you should absolutely pick up your copy today!), I had another release last week that’s just as epic, and wildly different.

Joy Jitsu.

(Which you can also get right here!)

It’s hard to quantify how important this book is to me. I was asked by my good friends Erik and Kyle to help them write a book about living a more joyful life. About perseverance, gratitude, creativity, growth, and being of service to others. They wanted my voice front and center as the narrative storyteller helping guide people through a shift in mindset to help them break out of those dark doldrums we so often find ourselves in.

When they asked me to write it, I wanted to say no. I was depressed, feeling not good enough (even after the success of The Caretaker), and it was a struggle to get any words of any kind down. I said yes, because I knew it was what I needed, even if I didn’t want to admit it.

That was my first lesson in Joy Jitsu. And this book is a journey, a creative story, a peek into the lives of three friends who have all overcome the darkness of depression and being lost, and a perfect example of what kind of magic you can create when you work with people who share your mindset and perspective on life.

This is a book that will help people, and may just help you.

Go listen to the audio sample. Listen to me have a chat with you about failure. If you give it about 5 minutes, you’ll understand the kind of impact this book will have.

The Socials.

It’s easy for me to get lost doing all of the things that I have myself doing. I’m running a full-on interview show/podcast. Doing a ton of design work, and trying to get the creative career rolling while holding down the day job and maintaining every other responsibility under the sun.

Being an independent can be rough. We are the marketing department, the artist, the financier, the customer service department, our own agent, social media coordinator, and sometimes we gotta scoop the litterbox. That makes it hard to keep up with things like Substack, Twitter posts, Facebook (ew gross), etc.

It’s not perfect, and the chaos critters are everywhere, but there are bright spots - getting words out into the world for people that want to hear them, being myself in doing so, and caring less and less each and every day what people think of me.

If you’ve ever enjoyed anything I’ve created and pushed out into the world, I hope you’ll do the only favor I’d ever ask for - snag a book, and support a creator trying to tell great stories and change the world one word at a time.

Much <3

-David