How I Scored a Mentoring Session with a New York Times Bestselling Author (And What He Taught Me)

What an exciting few weeks it's been! I'm thrilled to share some major developments from this summer's Realm Makers conference and significant progress on Nights of the Purple Sky.

Realm Makers 2025 - An Even Better Experience

This summer marked my second year attending Realm Makers. This year it was in my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I'm thrilled to report it was even better than 2024 - which was already pretty good! The conference continues to impress me with its supportive community of authors who genuinely want to help each other succeed.

Pre-Conference Business Session

Before the main conference even began, I attended a pre-conference session with Seth Ring and E.A. Winters (her website) focused entirely on the business side of being a writer. The session covered the practical steps you should take, what your daily routine looks like, and how to build your personal brand as an author-entrepreneur. It was an incredibly valuable session.

I've had several opportunities to sit down with Seth, and he's a genuinely good guy who's achieved remarkable success. He's an accomplished author who's particularly strong in the LitRPG genre - if you're interested in that space, you should definitely check out his website. The man has written six different series, and it's always a pleasure to talk with him.

Here's a fun fact about Seth: he's extremely prolific at writing. He has a system that allows him to produce what seems like an inhuman number of words. He touched on his approach during the session, though I won't share those details here - if he discusses it on his YouTube channel or website, feel free to check it out, but I think that's his story to tell. What I will say is that his output is simply amazing.

Conference Highlights & New Connections

One of the highlights was having the Expo alongside the conference, which really helped me establish some valuable relationships with other authors. I also had the exciting opportunity to meet a talented graphic artist who's going to create the image that will eventually become my book cover. He's a local Michigan guy, which is fantastic - keeping the business in Michigan feels right. I've already seen some thumbnail sketches of his concepts, provided feedback, and he really understands the vision. He's hit the ground running on the project. From there, the image will go to Emily at EAH Creative (her website), who will transform it into the final book cover. I had a chance to talk with Emily as well, and she's genuinely excited about the project.

During the Expo, I also got some new headshots taken (see above). I just received the final images - since I've been blessed with not having hair on my head, the photographer had to take them back to Adobe Lightroom and remove the shiny spots! But from what I saw at the conference, I think they'll be a big upgrade from what I currently have.

It was also neat to meet the other authors from the anthology we all contributed to - the collection of short stories designed around that role-playing game I mentioned in my last post. There's something special about seeing your work in print alongside other talented writers. Once I have some books, I’ll be able to get you a copy if you desire at my cost plus a little profit.

Classes & Learning

The classes at Realm Makers were fabulous. I took a session with Steven James (his website), a well-known author, on his technique called "The Story Cube" - a different approach to laying out story structure. As with all writing craft instruction, you must pick out the little gems that resonate with you and figure out how to apply them to your own writing habits.

I also took two classes with Donald Maass (his website)- one focused on creating great openings, and the other on writing riveting scenes and adding emotion to your storytelling. As a bonus, I got the opportunity to share lunch with Donald. I found him to be genuine and caring of new authors.

Mentoring Sessions

I had two mentoring sessions during the conference. The first was with Lisa Magnum, the managing editor for Shadow Mountain Publishing (her website). Honestly, I mainly needed my imposter syndrome bubble popped, and in our 15-minute conversation, she did an excellent job helping me realize I do belong in this game and can make the most of it if I really try. Sometimes, we all need to hear that encouragement from an established professional.

But the true highlight of the conference was my mentoring session with Brent Weeks (his website), the New York Times bestselling author who shares my worldview - something that's important to me. Brent and I have in common is that our writing styles both push the edge. We don't shy away from including strong language or graphic violence in our work when the story demands it.

Going into the conference, I had spent months preparing to ask him how he deals with that paradox of writing grittier content, but not living his life like that is normal. But the day before our session, he addressed exactly that topic during a panel discussion! All my careful preparation suddenly felt unnecessary, and I wasn't sure what to focus on during our 15 minutes together.

After consulting with a good friend from our local writing group - an established professional in the craft - I decided to take a different approach. Instead of seeking advice, I offered to help. I told Brent it would be great to learn from someone who's already made it, then asked: "Are there things you'd like to do that you can't accomplish due to lack of time? Are there ways my professional skill set could help you get those things done?"

I also had a chance to reconnect with Janeen Ippolito (her website), a writing and business coach who was at the conference. It was great talking with her, and I still have one session scheduled with her that I need to plan out.

Nights of the Purple Sky - Second Draft Progress

I'm currently about 40% complete with the second draft of Nights of the Purple Sky, and the work is going well. Note to self:  I need to update my website to reflect this progress - it currently shows 60% complete, but that was before I scrapped the previous version and rewrote the entire story.

One of my biggest challenges as a new writer has been giving my characters distinct voices and making dialogue flow naturally without constantly needing dialogue tags to identify speakers. I've really doubled down on that work in this draft, and I'm pleased with the results.

I've also taken feedback from my writing group seriously, which has meant ripping out chunks of chapters that weren't working and replacing them with entirely new content. It's been a substantial revision process, but the story is much stronger for it.

From World vs. Character to Character vs. Character

The biggest change between drafts has been shifting from a "man versus world" story to more of a "man versus man" conflict, which I've always found more compelling. In a man-versus-world setting, the world never really changes - only the protagonist evolves. I believe the best stories feature fabulous antagonists with understandable motivations for their actions.

Between the first and second drafts, I completely re-outlined the story direction, created detailed character sheets to establish those distinct voices I mentioned, and wrote extensive world-building documents - including a 40-page treatise on the world setting and a 100-page document detailing how the magic system works. Maybe when I've published the last Purple Sky Saga book, I'll put that up for you to see.

In this world, magic is called "Dunamis" (simply Greek for "magic"), and I've created real costs for using these powers. Both the protagonist and antagonist face consequences, but one of the magical abilities literally consumes the user's body. This transforms my antagonist into a hideous-looking person, creating a character I hope readers will empathize with and understand, even as they oppose the antagonist.

I think having two dynamic characters oppose each other creates a much more interesting story than one dynamic character fighting an unchangeable force.

Genre and Expectations

When people ask me what genre Nights of the Purple Sky is, the cover might suggest post-apocalyptic urban fantasy - after all, there are werewolves and vampires. But I tell people it's actually traditional fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic world, and the monsters you encounter might not be just the ones on the cover as the story progresses.

Character Development

I'm particularly proud of how one of the secondary characters, Jonas, is turning out. He's 22 years old in the story and teamed up with Kanyin (the main character) along with other survivors after the purple skies came. Jonas has developed into a character with genuine quirks and an exciting backstory that I don't want to spoil. I'm confident that readers will fall in love with him - he'll make you laugh, make you cry, and really move you throughout Kanyin's journey.

Timeline and Next Steps

I'm working to develop better timeline discipline in my writing practice - something that translates well from my 35 years in industry. The goal is to get the second draft to beta readers by September 1st, giving them a month to read and provide feedback. I'll then have a month to incorporate their suggestions before sending the manuscript to a developmental editor on November 1st. If you would like to be a beta reader, I can get you the information. Send me an email at m.b.everett@mbeverett.com.

The developmental editor should turn around initial comments in 2-4 weeks, which I'll incorporate and return by January 1st. After that, the book will go through line editing, copy editing, typesetting, and proofreading. There are a lot of people who will touch this story before it launches at Realm Makers 2026.

The timeline works well with my retirement plans - I'm stepping away from my current career at the end of March 2026, which will give me about three months to focus intensively on marketing before the book's launch.

Cover Progress

The cover design is progressing beautifully. I've seen updates to the initial sketches, and I'm thrilled with the direction. I wanted something more retro and traditional - think Robert Jordan's original Wheel of Time covers with their parade of characters and scenes from inside the book, not the redesigned versions that came out with Amazon's TV series.

I selected a scene from the very first chapter that I think will be exciting, draw readers' attention, and help them understand exactly what type of book this is. It's a retro approach that might not win awards, but I'd rather win readers than awards.

Looking Ahead

The rest of 2025 is shaping up to be transformative, both professionally and creatively. With the momentum from Realm Makers, progress on Nights of the Purple Sky, and my upcoming transition to full-time authorship, I couldn't be more excited about what's coming next.

As always, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. What questions do you have about the writing process, Realm Makers, or Nights of the Purple Sky? Let's start a discussion!

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Bonus content

The above Picture is approachable M.B. Everett. This one is serious M.B. Everett. Let me know which one you like better.