Seven Cities, Wisconsin

I've been an absentee author. I apologize. I've been working through all the massive emotional work of moving to Utah, and it's been overwhelming. Also, I came back to the wonderful land of grasses. There is grass everywhere in Utah. Grass in sidewalk cracks, grass covering the fields, and in all the spaces between the grass, there's more grass.

On behalf of my allergies, I give you all a grand and glorious 'hello.'

At the same time, though, I've been trying to develop a direction and course for my writing career. Authors and agents both say that there is a difference between the life of a writer before and after publication. Before publication you are free to write whatever you want, without contracts or deadlines (or royalties). After--well, you get the picture.

Also, there's the matter of 'brand loyalty.' It's easier to create a following for the 'Andrew Cannon' brand if I write something in a consistent genre, whether it's young adult fantasy or adult fantasy. If I'm skipping between genres, I face the battle of trying to gain a following in two camps. Now, I'm not saying I couldn't do it, but it's going to be hard to sell that idea to an agent or publisher, and I don't want to be hard to sell. I want to float down onto the shoulders of agents and editors like manna from heaven. The floating kind of manna. That doesn't hurt when it lands on you.

And so, after weeks of thinking and praying and wandering around in confusion through a maze of boxes with labels like 'A's Files' and 'Random Toys, Papers, & Lamp,' I have reached a solution: Seven Cities, Wisconsin.

It may not be Seven Cities. It may end up as Five Cities, Wisconsin, or maybe only Four Cities (since that's how many I know about for certain at the moment), but what I do know is this: Seven Cities, Wisconsin, is the city where Pete and The Dog live. It's also where Perry and Brie live, Daimon Home is just outside the city, and it is also the place where a man named Practicality has accidentally become a god. Mr. O runs a news stand somewhere downtown, and there are two gregarious hit men who wander the less savory parts of the city in search of things that shouldn't be there (and you all haven't met them yet). There's also a group of teenagers who travel through the different cities, delivering messages, and a boy who goes everywhere with a demon on his shoulder (though his parents don't quite approve).

This is all possible because the Seven Cities are all in different worlds, and they happen to meet in Wisconsin. The Cosmic Center of the Universe.

It took me a while to get here, but now that I'm here, it's time to start writing again. Welcome to the Seven Cities. I hope you enjoy your stay.