June 2014 is when I decided to become a novelist. Somehow I’d come across a post on a blog where a bunch of writers were talking about making a living self publishing books. There were about 90 posts from people saying they were making money. Hmmm, sounds good to me.
I spent the next few years reading and studying craft books. In hindsight, I probably should have written sooner. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. But didn’t. Eventually I got the first book, Death in Paradise out in early 2018.
Between closing our auto repair shop and selling our house in Hawaii, it’s been a long road to getting to book 6 in the series. Thankfully, it’s finally finished and will be released in June on the 23rd. It’s the last book in the series and can be read as a standalone. Sam, Jessica, and Pua have been great teachers over the last six books. I’ll miss them to some degree, but it’s time to move on.
At the start of each episode of the 70’s TV show Kung Fu, the scene shows Master Po and young Kwai Chang. Po would hold his arm out with a small pebble in the palm of his hand and say, “When you can snatch the pebble from my hand, Grasshopper, it will be time to go.”
As I finish the final edits of Death Storm, I have metaphorically snatched the rock from the master’s hand. Looking back to when I first began and the mistakes that I’ve made, I’m confidant Sam and Jessica have taught me well and that I will succeed out in the world of publishing.
Aloha and a hui hou. – J.E. Trent
Leave a Reply