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  • New site icon!

    Check it out!

    I did the line art on paper, then did the shading and coloring on my tablet (I’d never done that before and boy was it a learning curve), and finally added the lettering in Adobe Photoshop CS2. You used to be able to download CS2 for free from Adobe at https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/thankyou.jsp?ftpID=3088&fileID=2908, but sadly it looks like it’s no longer available. Unless… I don’t know… There’s a  machine of some sort… that can take you way back…

    ANYWAY, I don’t know why the background is always black. That part’s supposed to be transparent, but the black works too so I’m not mad at it.

    There’s a different term for this type of icon since it’ll pop up in a search engine next to my name in certain circumstances. For the life of me I cannot remember what it is. I just know I like it a whole lot better than the one designed by UENI on my behalf:

    Mine’s not objectively better than this, but the new one is more me, you know?

    I spent entirely too much time learning new skill sets for one icon, so this weekend I’ll be working on putting up Chapter 2 of Jascian up on Patreon (free) and going through my manuscript of Flow for… I dunno… the eight-hundredth time because hyper-fixation can suuuuck. 🫠

    Oh hey. Is there a site you’d like me to try and upload Jascian to? I have a Ko-fi, which still exists but seems to have been cleared out of what little stuff I was able to upload there (they don’t allow the explicit content thing). The first draft of current chapters is on Nifty.org. I have a Discord which I have no idea how to use but I’m willing to make that my next hyper-fixation for you. 😉 If you have other suggestions, I’m open.

    Take care,

    –Rowan

  • Test!

    Okay, I’ve uploaded the first chapter of The Jascian’s Toy to Patreon. Jascian will always be free to read, so no payment required. 🫶🏽

    If you have problems accessing it, please let me know and I’ll do my best to fix it.

    The Jascian’s Toy – Chapter 1

  • Blurb!

    Flow:

    I was ten when Charlie Davis showed up on our doorstep. He was only a year older, but in my eyes he was cool and kind and mature. He’d barely taken a step inside before I was head over heels.

    Small problem: The older we got, the more his talent for music pulled him in one direction, while my talent for…uh…sex pulled me the other way.

    Bigger problem: The reason he was at the door in the first place? His mom was marrying my dad.

    I thought when I turned eighteen I’d somehow become a grown man with all the answers. But things are getting worse, not better. Not just for me, but maybe for Charlie too.

  • Possibly call it a comeback?

    Sorry, LL Cool J on the brain for some reason.

    I used to have my novels at several different indie publishers in an attempt not to have all my eggs in one basket. Then the mega corporation THAT WE WILL NOT BE NAMING HERE BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE THE CASH FOR A LAWSUIT put all of them out of business.

    I don’t want to submit previously published books (this go around there’s at least one that will be a Third Edition). I also don’t have the energy to maybe get accepted by a new publisher only to see it crash and burn. I know there are ones that have been around for a minute, but that was the case with my old publishers as well.

    This time I’m taking the self-publishing route. Given how corporations work, the platform I’m using might very well get gobbled up, but at least I’m trying something new, right?

    And self-publishing isn’t so bad with the backlist. I’m always trying to improve as a writer, so it’s cool to take stuff that’s already been edited and do my best to make it better.

    With the new stories… Not so cool. I can’t afford an editor, and I get hyper-fixated on my writing. The super rough draft of my next book–Flow–was on my favorite forum (which also no longer exists) for a hot second, but I took it down to make it an ebook. There was a major plot issue that took me literal years to figure out, which caused a cascade of changes that I also had to figure out. I think the overall story is much better than the rough, and honestly I think the draft I have now is some of the best stuff I’ve ever written. It’d be nice to have an editor confirm that, though.

    Because. I cannot. Stop. Self editing.

    Yeah, best stuff. But IMO the prose could be much better. Plus it’s my longest novel to date at over a 100k words. For context, my next longest is 60k. So… What if my pacing is off? What if there’s something developmentally wrong with the overall story? What if I’ve handled some issues insensitively? Plot holes? Cringe language?

    There are many different types of editors, and asking just one to tackle all that is unreasonable. But having one editor usually gives me the courage to stop obsessing and publish the the thing.

    I’ve been away for a long time, so I’ve lost touch with most of my writer friends. I remember they would send me emails or IMs (God, I’m old), that simply said, “PUSH THE FREAKING BUTTON.” I miss that. It made that last, stressful step almost fun.

    Where does that leave me? Save money. Practice writing techniques that I want to implement but can’t quite grasp 70% of the time. Hire an editor if I can. Buy some ISBNs. Edit. Read books other than mine in genres other than mine. Learn. Edit some more. Maybe find a writing group and force my introverted ass to make some friends. Do another pass on the novel. And, as soon as my anxiety drops the tiniest but…

    Push the freaking button.

  • Uh. Hello World. Again. Again.

    This poor post has gone through a website that absolutely did NOT work for me, to the free WordPress blog I used to mirror the previous because apparently being able to comment and subscribe is an entirely new concept. Now it’s here, with the domain name rowanmcbride.rocks, because moving pretty much everything to a site where I can actually do the things that I’d like to do is awesome. It’s a process, but I’m doin’ my best. 👍🏽

    I also wanted to say that I have plans, and even though things will happen at a slower pace, I definitely intend to do them.

    Before I do that, I should mention that ODSOL lost my original domain name with no explanation even though I’ve been with them for TWENTY YEARS (god I’m so old), GoDaddy SOMEHOW is hosting it now and has no explanation, and Ueni seems to have been made more for people who have actual storefronts or home businesses with services/physical products on hand. Just want to let other writers know. Oh, and Ueni rewrote everything I sent them (about me, splash page, and my BOOK BLURBS.)

    (Text below originally published June 18th, 2025)

    I’ve been gone a crazy long time, yeah? There were a lot of health issues (including two near death experiences) followed by a bout of pretty serious depression.

    Then one day I started to (horrendously) play piano again, then draw again, and finally write again. Mostly I’ve been revising my existing books and self-publishing them. So far I’ve got “One Good Hand,” “One Good Year,” and “Lone” up.



    “Chains” has also just launched! And it’s free!

    If you’d like some to pick up any of these stories, go to books2read.com/rowanmcbride, choose the story you want, and pick the retailer that suits you. Chains is free, but not available on Amazon, because Amazon’s gotta Amazon, I guess.

    As you’ve probably noticed, my domain name has changed. That’s because it was stolen. Even though it was paid for. And now I’m being ghosted by my previous hosting company. But no no. These things happen (although no one seems to be able to tell me HOW), so I’m not in a rage or anything.
    (╬ Ò﹏Ó)

    But rowanmcbride.rocks is kinda cool, yeah? I smile every time I see it. 🙂

    More news! I’m saving up to buy some ISBNs. The publishing platform I use offers them for free, but of course there are catches. I figured owning mine would be much better for me in the long run. One Good Hand and One Good Year were listed as brand new books on Amazon. Last I checked they had no reviews, which makes me sad. When I publish “Flow,”  I’d like it to have a longer shelf life.

    Let’s see… email address (mcbride_rowan@yahoo.com) is the same, so feel free to contact me if you want to reconnect.  🫰🏽

    As always, take care of yourselves. We are living in “interesting” times.

    — Rowan