I am at work on the outline for a new novel, which will take my love of history's mysteries in a new and unusual direction. I have come across a coincidental set of events joining all of the world's great religions, and the steps taken in the first days of the Dark Ages to break that link, forever. As much as I enjoy cryptofiction, and have devoted my first three novels to it, it has not provened to be a very viable commodity as the subject of fiction. My deep and scientifically accurate research is lost when compared to glorified novellas that immerse themselves in the thinnest of plots and the most outrageous of situations. Nothing against them. I just feel that my talents would be better served in more of the mainstream genres. I know that there is a market out there, when my books have routinely climbed so high on Amazon rankings without my promoting them. I will finish "Wake of the Lake Monster", then shop the trilogy around to a larger publishing house. The one disappointment I have is that I have not heard back from any more readers than I have, thus far. I will be glad to finish "The Cryptids Trilogy", and can scarcely rouse myself to take it up again. Two years has been a long time to go without publishing anything more than a novella. In that time, I have not attended a CZ conference and have not hosted a radio show in over a year. I miss it, but no one can provide for themselves and their family in a field with a major discovery every half-century. The odds of being the one making that discovery are slim to none. Until then, many are eeking out a cottage industry, but little else. I have bigger aspirations for my writing career. Thus the change in focus. I look forward to a wider audience and hope that those of you who have enjoyed my writings thus far will continue the journey with me. I wrote for myself until I published. I have been a professional author for three years. Most do not make a living at it, as evidenced by the "About the Author" portions of most books. My hope and goal is to be an exception. It should be the aim of all who write. Until I promote again and you find me a second time, I will keep this journal as a record of that effort. Feel free to comment on anything I write, as ever. It is a very lonely craft, and any distraction, in the form of replies, is appreciated. D.L.

I have finally finished the third chapter to "Wake of the Lake Monster". It's hard to really get started again. I have also gathered and sorted my research, adding copious notes on the Altamaha River and the Nahanni Valley. My heart is so full with the emotions that will be rife in the story, because it has paralled my life for the past 4 years. The third book in "The Cryptids Trilogy" is drawing to a close with the publication of this novel. It will be about vindication, reunion and fulfillment. Everyone will end where their triumphs and failures have landed them. As ever, life, even in fiction, is expedient rather than fair. As much as I love the attention this craft has garnered me, it is still a lonely work. When I wrote songs, performing in concert, I knew immediately the reaction of my audience. An author is much like a film maker. I cast my characters according to the plot of my script. I set the storyboard, the editing and the artwork. I do not have a large house backing me, and even so have had to struggle to get the product I envision to market. I do massive amounts of research, and have turned the world of cryptozoology on its ear with the herecy that an actual species, other than the one generally proposed, could account for Bigfoot. As I told a woman recently at work, it is a cultural thing for me. I have never seen anything out of the ordinary, but it makes the world less mundane to think something strange and wonderful could be out there. Some people ride roller coasters, others jump out of perfectly good airplanes. Me? I enjoy the hunt, the study to discover what is behind the historical and eyewitness accounts of undiscovered species. Whether they be the mountain lion in South Carolina or the ivory bill woodpecker anywhere, it's all the same to me. "Wake" is about the legendary creature named by the Tama Indians of Georgia for the river it ranges, the Altamaha-ha. I have my own feelings about what I believe it to be. Just as I don't believe that Gigantopithecus Blacki accounts for Bigfoot, I think it is too easy to chalk Nessie and her children up to pleisiosaur or zeuglodons. Amphibious reptiles and primitive whales have been done to death. It is time for reason and an acceptance of fact. It is my intent to turn another dogma on its ear. We are all entitled to our opinions. In this case, I am accepting a challenge. I will leave it to you to discover what that dare might be. I hope to move on with "Wake" over the Fall, to publish my 3rd novel in the Spring of 2006. After that, I have two other tales I would like to tell, neither of which involve cryptids of any kind. I will have covered with "The Cryptids Trilogy" things that walk, fly and swim. Don't get me wrong, Ian McQuade and I have come along way together, and we will part as friends. More like brothers. I have other things I want to do, all involving creative expression and making my own way. I'm glad that you will be there with me. As ever, I would love to hear from the thousands who have bought and read my novels. I have made many friends in the process, and that will probably be my greatest reward for writing 3 volumes over half a million words in length. It's been a wild ride. Remember, this Blog is yours, as well. Feel free to participate, and to post your thoughts and feelings. I appreciate you for making this journey with me, whether it is a new experience for you, or one that you've been with me every step of the way. Until next time, take care... D.L.

Well, it's been two years since I published "Track of the Bigfoot", volume two of "The Cryptids Trilogy". Alot has happened since I left the road for good, including starting what is becoming the foundation for my own successful software company. Writing is first and foremost my greatest aspiration, but domestic balance and financial buoyancy are strong motivators, as well. "Shadow of the Thunderbird" is still read alongside Michael Crichton and Agatha Christie as required reading at the largest technical college in South Carolina. "Wake of the Lake Monster" is coming along well, and will contain many revelations. Most of all, the cycle of tales in the life of cryptozoologist Ian McQuade will finally be revealed. "Chupacabra", the soon-to-be audio book I wrote as a 9-part novella serialized between the publication of the second novel and the writing of the third manuscript, was a wonderful lead-in that kept my head in the writing. I love this field, and all the people that populate it. I will add my thoughts and feelings as they rise from writer's block, to share what I feel are the obstacles and advents that make this journy worthwhile. Thank you for sharing it with me. Come back soon, and see what else has transpired along the road of writing and publication.