Greetings friends! It’s been some time since I posted the epilogue to Dog Days. After three years straight of writing, it was time for a vacation/hiatus. In that time, I learned that finishing this story was going to take much longer than anticipated. Balancing a full-time job and big boy responsibilities can be draining, but that’s no excuse to stop now.

I’ve spent the last few months rereading Dog Days and evaluating characters and plot points. The revision process has been slightly faster than the initial run. I feel like I’m navigating a mine shaft as opposed to chipping away at solid rock. This has led to more than a few dead canaries. Subplots have been exposed as weak and unfulfilling while entire chapters may require total rewrites.

Through it all, I still feel there’s something good there. I may need dynamite to reach it, but it’s there.

The first major change is the title. I can’t tell you how much I loathe the name DOG DAYS. Look how obnoxious it is! That’s the name of a direct to DVD family film starring a golden retriever with an askew baseball cap! It was only meant to be a placeholder until I thought of something better. It didn’t take long. The problem was that people already came to recognize the story as Dog Days, and I didn’t want to create unnecessary confusion.

As a result, the name of book two will be called What Teeth They Had. Know that in my heart it was always this. Even if a publisher decides that name isn’t marketable, at least you and I will know the truth. Please enjoy the childish mock-up cover to book one I made up above. Book two will have the other half of the face so when you put them together you get the whole wolf face!! Disgusting.

Many changes will be coming, but I will keep you up-to-date with posts like these. I may not post the revised chapters of Dog Days, but there will definitely be some patch notes, for lack of a better term, before What Teeth They Had begins in Spring of 2017.

As always, I appreciate each and every one of you that has taken the time to read my work. I adore you. Never be shy about sharing your thoughts in the comments section. If you stumbled upon this post or my Facebook page by accident–read my book you coward!

Until next time…

-Matt