advent calendar

What? I know, crazy, eh? And almost true. But what it actually means, is that from July 1, I will be releasing a chapter a day of a so-called “Christmas in July” advent calendar. It will be the same format as my other advent calendars with a new chapter for each day in the Christmas season. Except, it’s obviously not Christmas (phew… sighs all round!) and there are 31 days in this summer calendar, compared to the usual 24 days of the Scandinavian Christmas calendars.

What brought on this madness?

Madness, I think. 🙂

Actually, I just want to have some fun. But this time the fun will be on Patreon.

I’ve been slowly uploading a lot of content to my Patreon site, and I want to up the ante, and hopefully make it more interesting for readers to join in. So, A Dog called Blitzen is going to be exclusive to patrons. It’s possible to sign up, and then stop your subscription before it renews the following month, dipping in and out as you much as you like. While subscribed, patrons will be able to read all the previously uploaded content, including lots of short stories that have yet to be published elsewhere.

However, there are different tiers, so the lowest tier (Behind the Scenes) will not unlock A Dog called Blitzen. The highest tier (Behind the Scenes PLUS) unlocks everything. But if you just want a fun Christmas in July, with a new chapter delivered to your email inbox each day, then the tier called Seasonal is for you. It’s about the price of an eBook.

Why, you may ask, do I feel the need to put some of my stories behind a paywall?

The answer is it’s getting tougher and tougher to compete with other indie authors, independent publishers, and traditional publishers chucking money at Amazon adverts, for example. My books sell predominantly on Amazon, but if you search for my author name, the first several hits are other authors bidding for clicks on my name. They pay per click (regardless of sale).

Am I whining? Sure. 🙂 Of course I am. But do I have the money to throw at advertising? Nope. Not a bean. Inflation saw to that. 😉

So, I’m in the process of carving out a little space on the Internet where readers get to read exclusive content a year before anyone else. That’s the plan, and I’m committing to it with lots of fun projects including A Dog called Blitzen.

So, who is Blitzen?

Basically, she is a Greenland narcotics dog who goes missing during a drug bust in the beginning of July. The missing part is the important bit as Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen is going to do her best to find Blitzen. Of course, she will need help, and who better to help her than Constable David Maratse? I mean, he has a way with dogs, doesn’t he?

The tone of the book will be cosy(ish), with a little edginess in between, but nothing too gruesome. There will be action, and the events in each chapter will occur on that day. Just like a Christmas calendar, the closer we get to the end of July, the higher the stakes for bringing Blitzen home.

I can’t say anymore as that would be a spoiler. But if you fancy joining in, then please check out my Patreon site.

Just to be clear, the first chapter of A Dog called Blitzen is scheduled for July 1, 2023.