The Writing Life, 1 March 2025
Beta reading on The Yank Striker 2 has begun, and announcing a quick format change here at The Writing Life.
Good to welcome you all to my neck of the Internet. It was a bit warmer, but I am not exactly wishing for June temperatures even though I’m starting to think of my summer break increasingly.
Let’s get into some talk about what’s going on with me and with writing. Turns out there’s a bit going on.
What I’ve Been Writing
The Yank Striker 2: the sequel to my book The Yank Striker: A Footballer’s Beginning. The Yank Striker series follows the exploits of a prospective American soccer player who leaves his family behind to try his fortune with an English Premier League team in the East End of London. Book two focuses on what my main character, Daniel John “DJ” Ryan has to face now he is trying to establish himself as a footballer in England, both as an American in a strange land and someone whose sexual orientation brings extra scrutiny.
I’ve now finished the second draft (2.0 or 2.1 depending on how you define it). This is my schedule for the rest of the process.
Beta reads - Now beginning at the start of March and completed by the end of March.
Two more rounds of revisions in April.
Final editing and proofreading in May and concluding by the end of May.
Speaking of Those Beta Readers…
I am sincerely looking for beta readers for The Yank Striker 2. If anyone out there on the Internets or on Substack is interested in becoming beta readers for this project and completing your work in a timely fashion, I would be willing to reward you for your hard work.
Anyone interested in serving as beta readers for the project will get a complimentary paid subscription for this site lasting at least one year. I will sort it out for you. Depending on your services, I might also throw in another freebee or two.
If you are interested, chirp back to me in the comments of this post or in DMs. Thank you for your service ahead of time.
Now, on with the other projects.
The Untitled Pro Wrestling Fiction Project: I’ve been making more progress on this. Over the past year and a half, this story about a family of pro wrestlers from Texas and a young man’s determination to understand what it all means has been at the head of my creative interests for a while, with the exception of The Yank Striker 2. Currently, I’m at 32,000-plus words on the project and have continued to make progress on it.
Poetry: Just entered the Lyrical Iowa 2025 Contest at the last minute. I’ll be interested to see if anything comes of it. I’m glad I’m starting to do things like this and the poetry slam contest the Iowa Poetry Association sponsored.
The Heart Project: This is the name of the… let’s call it speculative/fantasy/soft sci-fi story I have in mind informed by our troubled times. I’m just starting some initial notes on the project.
I’m going to keep this very vague right now, but it involves four one-time friends, a high school reunion, and a microcosm of a larger sense of chaos.
I think it’s going to take me a while to pull this story together in my head, so I’m going to be coy about the whole thing in the meantime. I might start letting some rough excerpts escape into a Prose Night post one of these nights.Oh, and I’m trying to participate in this year’s Iron Pen Contest sponsored by the Midwest Writing Center. Trying to get a short story and poem sorted out in 24 hours or less, heh heh. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.
A Slight Change in Programming (A Revamp of my Posts)
I want to make sure I am trying to provide some value to my readers, both old and new. For the first several months of this Substack, I was doing a newsletter every week, and it wound up getting pretty repetitive. For those not aware, I went to producing the newsletter (The Writing Life) every first and third weekend of the month rather than every week. That’s why you are seeing this now, on the first Saturday of March.
Now, I’m beginning to think that might be a bit too much. So, I am going to change gears and try and provide some more value for your read. This is going to be my publishing schedule going forward. There’s not a massive amount of change from my previous schedule, but I will point it out as I lay it out here.
First weekend1 of the month: The newsletter (The Writing Life). This is where I keep everyone updated on what I’ve been writing, what is upcoming for me, just to say hello.
Second weekend of the month: Prose Night. I produce an original piece of prose writing for reading here. Sometimes it will be an excerpt of a larger work in progress. Sometimes it will be an original essay, usually tied in some fashion to writing or myself. For example, I’ve been writing these posts off and on throughout the years entitled A Writer’s Biography, where I look back on my life through a writer’s lens to see how my passion influenced my interests, my path in life, and how it made me into who I am right now. I might even do an occasional short story here, perhaps. It’ll be brand new stuff.
Third weekend of the month: [LOOK OUT, HERE IS WHERE THE PROGRAMMING CHANGE IS.] The Writing Lab. These posts might be slightly shorter than the first two types; we will have to see. I’ve been inconsistent with providing advice and insight into writing for readers. I want to address that with The Writing Lab.
Sometimes the post will be a straight piece of writing advice. (I’m going to make an effort to keep track of all these topics to make sure I’m not repeating myself too often.) Often, I’ll take you into my prime writing spot, my writing nook, as I review or reflect on writing difficulties I have faced or am facing, and how I try to deal with them.
The main writing nook. It’s a bit more crowded now. 🙂 In addition, in conjunction with this new feature, I am going to make more use of the Substack Chat feature. Every weekend I post The Writing Lab, I will post an open chat which will be Ask Me Anything About Writing (AMAAW). The times and exact dates of these chats might vary, but I will post on Substack Notes when I have them set. Any questions you have on writing and fiction, or any feedback you want on your own writing, I will be open for business. I would love to see this take off and be successful.
I’m scheduling the first of these Writing Labs for March 15. Looking forward to it.Fourth weekend of the month: Poetry Night. You get a couple of fresh new poems from me on Poetry Night, as well as some nonsense exposition as to why I might have written them. Ever since I started this, I have to say I’ve been much more productive with poetry than I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve written six poems this year so far, which is an unheard pace for me, who never really concentrated on putting out a large amount of poems. I may be talking too soon, but I think the quality of what I’ve been producing has grown. At least, I think it’s become easier for me.
If there is a fifth weekend in the month, I either plan to take that weekend off or we do a Hodgepodge Night. That’s means it could be anything - fiction, non-fiction, poetry - shoot, maybe even a video or podcast if I get crazy. We’ll just have to see, won’t we?
Anyway, that’s my schedule for now. Hope it might shake things up a bit.
What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing
This week, I attended my first meeting of a new writer's group here in Fort Madison sponsored by the Fort Madison Area Art Association. I was really happy to go to a writer's group meeting locally. While I do have a couple of groups I attend on a regular basis, those are virtual and/or out of town, so it's nice to have an in-town option. Looking forward to getting and receiving some good feedback on my work.
I have more than a few plans for book fair appearances in the coming months. Recently, I have managed to confirm these, so I will list them here.
From 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, 22 March, I will be attending the DSM Book Festival at the Franklin Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave, Des Moines. This will be the first year of this festival co-sponsored by one of my favorite independent bookstores in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books. Can’t wait to be part of this.
I will be at the the Badger Public Library book fair between around 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, 17 May, at the Badger Public Library, 211 1st Ave SE, Badger, Iowa. They were one of the first places ever to participate in a book fair and I absolutely enjoyed the experience.
And this was just added to my schedule! I will be at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Indie Author Book Expo from 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at the Valley Junction Activity Center, 217 Fifth St., West Des Moines. I did this show a couple of times these past few years and it didn’t run last year, but I’ll be back at it in June.
If there are other events coming up, I’ll let you know. I’m hoping for some more events, especially to promote what I hope will be The Yank Striker 2 this summer. I’ll keep you in the loop.
Writing Quote(s) of the Week:
Charles Bukowski is one of those poets I just seemed to respond to.
the writing of some
men
is like a vast bridge
that carries you
over
the many things
that claw and tear.
The Wine of Forever
― Charles Bukowski, Love Is a Dog from Hell
The following is quite true this spring especially with The Yank Striker 2 in revisions. 🙂
A good book isn't written, it's rewritten.
― Phyllis A. Whitney, Guide to Fiction Writing
How to support me😊.
As always, go to the links on the side if you are reading this on a desktop/laptop or the links on my profile on mobile. There’s where you can find out about my first book, the journalism thriller The Holy Fool: A Journalist’s Revolt, as well as the first book in my The Yank Striker series, The Yank Striker: a Footballer’s Beginning.
If you go follow the links above, you will be able to buy both the paperback and ebook versions of my books on Amazon. If you just put “Jason Liegois” in Google you’ll probably find them on the first page of search results.
If you happen to visit these fine independent book stores in Iowa, you can find my books there:
Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
Green Point Mercantile, 214 Chestnut St., Muscatine.
Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
I’m always looking for some new places to place my books, so feel free to hit me up in the comments if you have a suggestion.
My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point and Burlington By the Book, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. I’ve set up a new online store for copies of my chapbook on my Wordpress site, Liegois Media. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click on the button below.
As far as this site goes, it’s fantastic if you are signed up for my free subscription, but I would love it if you signed up for a paid one. The monthly rate is the lowest I can put it ($5 per month) but my yearly rate of $35 is a steal at less than three/fifths the monthly rate.
If you want to support me but can’t quite afford a full subscription, I am now on Venmo. You can just send whatever you can afford. Just click the button below; anything you can provide helps me keep things going.
Final Thoughts
All you writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.
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This (and the other regular posts) will run on Saturdays at about 5 p.m. Central time unless circumstances out of (or in) my control dictate otherwise. I’ll try to let everyone know on Substack Notes in the event it happens.