Blog #6 - The Method is My Own

Tupelo, Mississippi

Saturday, January 31, 2026

  Welcome, everyone!! I’m super excited to be putting Blog # 6 together today. At our 1st Quarter meeting, I asked the RPC Family if they would like to write one of the Blog posts. Kim, my spectacular editor, immediately volunteered. I’m about to post the body of what she sent me. It really touched my heart and, I think, captured the message Misty and I have been trying to build as one of the building blocks in the foundation of the Ramey Publishing Corporation.

  Before I do that, I’d like to share with you all the new title of my Blog Series!! Some months ago, as I was struggling a little with how to go about structuring some of Book II’s storyline, a short statement came to me, and I immediately wrote it down on my plotter board! It reads like this:

  “The method is my own. It belongs to me, with God’s help.”

  I thought part of that would be an INCREDIBLE name for the blog series. So, there it is!!

  Now on to the fantastic blog post that Kim wrote for us. Kim Coghlan is my editor, and she is the magic behind Coghlan Professional Writing Services. She has been my anchor. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Here is Kim…

  “I once had an author tell me that editors are the unsung heroes of publishing. He even wrote a poem about it—one that’s still hanging in my office to this day. And honestly? He was right.

While authors (rightfully) receive credit for their creativity and talent, there are always editors working quietly behind the scenes—polishing plots, tightening prose, and eliminating wordiness in the hope that readers will fully lose themselves in the story.

  The relationship between an author and an editor is a close one. It has to be. An author pours heart, soul, and countless hours into a manuscript, and allowing someone else to step in and suggest changes requires an extraordinary amount of trust. In many ways, the relationship is an intimate one.

  Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to build lasting relationships with the authors I’ve worked with. Still, editors often remain invisible in the publishing world. Not every author is eager to share credit for what becomes a stellar story—and that’s simply part of the job.

That is not the case with D.E. Ramey and Ramey Publishing.

  I met Dave the same way I meet many of my authors: through my free manuscript review, which includes an editing sample and a price quote. He clearly connected with my feedback because he requested a Zoom call so we could “officially” meet. From there, the rest is history.

  From our very first conversation, Dave made one thing clear—if he hired me, I wouldn’t just be an editor. I’d be part of his team. Part of his family. And that has proven to be absolutely true.

  Ramey Publishing truly is a family, and I’m honored to be part of it. That warmth and sense of belonging reflect exactly who Dave and Misty are as people—and it shows clearly in Dawning, from The Evil in the World Saga.

  From the moment I began reading, I was hooked. I even told Dave that the novel borders on horror—not because of monsters or gore, but because it taps into so many real fears Americans face today: the loss of electricity, communication, and resources. The loss of control. Being forced to make impossible choices.

  The story is thrilling, suspenseful, and an undeniable page-turner. But beneath the chaos and fear lies its true heart: family. The theme is honest, grounded, and deeply human—and it reminds readers why family matters, even in the darkest of times.

  Today, I’m grateful to be part of the Ramey Publishing family. And I encourage you to read Dawning for yourself—to see just how powerfully D.E. Ramey captures the importance of family, faith, and resilience in a world turned upside down.”

Kimberly Coghlan
Coghlan Professional Writing Services

888-530-2964 | 662-769-0349 | owner@coghlanwriting.com

wwww.coghlanwriting.com

| Fax: 888-530-2964

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." ~William Wordsworth~

 Wow… I was and still am humbled by Kim’s words. She truly is a professional and a wonderful person to work with! I can’t recommend her enough! Until next time, take care, folks!!

  Dave

  DE Ramey

Blog #5 - The Dungeon

Blog #5

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Mount Vernon, Ohio

The Dungeon

Hello everyone!!

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Holiday Season!! Welcome to 2026! I hope that this year brings you success and goals reached!

All right, the pleasantries are done! Let’s talk about what’s going on around here!! I saw a bunch of you on my author page on Facebook who were super excited for the coming year! I’m quite excited for the new year myself. I’ve been trying to think of attainable goals to set for this year.

First, I SERIOUSLY need to finish the outline for Book II. I’ve already written the first two chapters, but I’m much more comfortable working from my outlines! Nothing against our Pantser friends, but working from an outline just makes more sense to me. I can use my bullet points as nav buoys for the storyline and then add all of the colors in between! The difficult part is laying out the ideas that turn into the outline!

Second, I want to finish the Book II manuscript!! Then I can do my personal edits, several times through at least. Then the manuscript gets shipped off to my wonderful and fantastic editor, Kim Coghlan of Coghlan Professional Writing Services. This young lady is a Viking Shield Maiden!!! She can take a manuscript and carve it into a brilliant work of art with an axe!! Yes, this is yet another blatant, up-front, in-your-face plug for Kim!! It’s what I do!

I mentioned in my last post that I lost my Number 1 Beta Reader. That was Bob Neil. My Best Man! I had a video chat with his wife, Nanette, a couple of nights ago. Our chat lasted two and a half hours. We told stories, talked about old Seabee stuff. I don’t know how I managed not to break down in tears while we talked. It was beautiful, honestly. I loved Bobby. He was a brother to me. Now, I feel it’s my responsibility to reach out to Nanette every so often. Bobby would do the same for me to reach out to Misty Isty.

I’ve mentioned the Ramey Publishing Corporation Family numerous times. That Family includes our little group of hooligans. I love them all. But Bobby, yeah, he was really family to me.

I know that not everyone who might read this blog is a Christian, or may have polar political views than I do. You might be anti-whatever. That’s all cool. No worries. We don’t judge here. Bobby, myself, Misty Isty, Tommy’s mother Kim, we all signed that Blank Check to the United States so that you, as an individual, might say or think whatever you’d like. Of course, we’re all different, which means that we’re all going to have different viewpoints. Here at the RPC Family, we respect your rights to think that way and say whatever you’d like.

I wrote up a Business Plan when I started RPC. In that plan, I stated that the backbone of this company was my faith in my lord, Jesus Christ. I stand by that till the end of time. Now, secondly, I believe that our little Family is the second driving force behind this work. And that’s some hardcore stuff!!

I want to invite any of you reading this to adopt a sense of closeness, security, and strong Christian Family values when you read our blogs.

Like them.

Love them.

Hate them.

Talk about them.

It’s all good. We’re in this adventure together, and it’s going to be a long ride.

Now, with all of that being said, I have to ask for another Beta Reader. Shoot, I’ll take several of you, if any of you are interested. It’s going to be a little while yet before I would need you, but need you I will. If you’re interested in becoming a Beta Reader for Book II of the Evil in the World Saga, please email Arilyn at office@deramey.com and let her know. I can’t replace Bobby. I won’t, we wouldn’t even try. So if you do want to sign up, know that you’re in exceptional company.

I sent out an email to the RPC Family earlier today. We need to have our first Quarterly meeting of the year. I’ve already got a bunch of stuff on the board for us to look into, plus I’ve asked them all for their input on what we can do or change, and what we can do later. I’m excited for this meeting! It should get pretty wild!! Hopefully, we will have video input from Ohio, Mississippi, and Northern California during the meeting!! I have to say that we are so blessed. I can’t begin to describe the love and laughter we shared at the last meeting, even though we were missing two Family members at the time.

I have a mission. Bobby told me I had taken on a Calling when he and I talked about what the Evil in the World Saga was really about. Another dear friend, Leonard, told me back in 2018 that I would be getting death threats when the story started to unfold across the country. I wasn’t afraid, though, as I put in the book, “Whom shall I fear?” That mission is to touch one soul with this Saga, let them see terror and horror and loss, and even despair and despite. Then, through all that pain and chaos, they can find love, healing, grace, and redemption in Jesus Christ. If I can bring just one soul back or even introduce one to the gospel, how great will be that glory?

Wow! I really had no idea that this would come leaping out onto the page. Awesome!! It’s no secret, my mission. And I’m in no way ashamed of proclaiming my faith in Jesus Christ here. It’s my blog. Every one of you are welcomed to share in our Family fun and faith. Or not. That’s your choice. We’ll love and respect you either way.

I believe some fantastic things are coming in our future. And I hope that this blog has given you some insights into the Ramey Publishing Corporation Family. We aren’t perfect, but we do laugh and love! A lot.

I should probably end this blog here. That was some cool stuff! Plenty of food for thought, that’s for sure!

Have a great week, folks!! READ BOOKS!!

Dave

PS. Here’s a super awesome picture! It’s the original cover art design that Kim and I came up with!! It’s taken from the scene where Avery and Ahrie find all of the desecrated headstones in the cemetery.

Blog #4 - 2025 in Review

Mount Vernon, Ohio

  Hello Everyone!!

  Welcome back to my Blog Series! It doesn’t really have a name as of yet; maybe in time, I’ll name it. Maybe something like, “Dave’s Big Ol’ Blog.” I don’t know.

  Hey, maybe you all could email me suggestions? An excellent idea! Let’s do this! Everyone interested, send me a title to use for my Blog Series. I’ll pick the title I like best, and the two runner-ups. Then I can send each of the top three a prize!! Send entries to Office@DERamey.com, with the subject title “Blog Name.” At the end of January 2026, we will have a drawing to see who wins!

  Well, that’s a pretty cool way to start this off!! HA!

  First off, here is some news on the personal side. Whisper, our German Shepherd, had her puppies early this morning. She had a total of 9, but the last one was stillborn. So we have 8 new puppies!

  Christmas was amazing. All of our kids were here, plus 14 of 17 grandkids, too. Yeah, it gets pretty wild around here during the holidays. All in all, it was a great time!

  Misty is currently on a Nursing contract down at the Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus. She’s almost finished with her first contract there. The Hospital has already extended an offer for her to renew, and she’s accepted. The new contract will begin in mid-January.

  I’ve had several major surgeries this year, one on my left hand and one to remove my gallbladder. I’m still having some issues with flexibility in my hand, but the gallbladder issue is fine.

  On a sad note, I lost a dear friend not long ago. Bob Neil passed away. He was the Best Man at my wedding. We had some incredible adventures back in the day. Bobby was also my best Beta Reader!! He was incredibly excited every time we would talk about the story in Dawning. He couldn’t wait for me to get going on Book II. I miss him.

  Alrighty, now on to the professional stuff!!

  Dawning is out and on the market! I hired a publicist in November to help promote the book and the business in general. This wonderful dude’s name is Bradley Jones, and he’s INCREDIBLE!! I must say that in the short time I’ve known him, Bradley and I have had some wild conversations. He definitely opened my eyes to several things (thank you, Bradley!!).

  We are currently working on linking my website (www.deramey.com) to my GoodReads account and several others, such as Amazon and Booksbuy. I’m sure that Bradley will have a few more to link up before we’re done. Basically, if you go to my website and want to order a copy of the books, you’ll be able to click a button and be given the options of numerous locations to order from. Hopefully, one of those options will be where you would generally order from.

  The next big news is an upcoming podcast!! Yes, I said podcast!! I’ve never done a podcast or a serious interview before. This will be all new ground for me to travel. Nothing is set in stone at the moment. Bradley and I have had to ship some books around so that everyone involved would have a copy to read. Good stuff, folks! As soon as I have more information on this and get the nod from Bradley, I will make the official announcement about this first podcast!

  From what Bradley told me, this Blog will now also appear on my GoodReads page!

  As far as news goes, that’s about it. The Ramey Publishing Corporation Family has rightfully slowed down over the Christmas Season. Some of us have traveled, vacationed, had time to ponder, lost loved ones, and shared love and laughter. As the leader of this ragtag gang of hooligans, I want to wish you all a wonderful, safe, and Happy New Year!!

 Oh, and remember to eat some sort of cabbage on New Year's Day. My great-grandmother Florence told me that if I did that, I would always have a little money in my pocket!!

  God Bless you all!!

  David

Blog #3

Friday, August 22, 2025

Indianapolis, IN

  Well, another week has gone by. The wife and I got to spend six days back home before we had to come back to Indy for her work. We got back here right around 9:30 PM Tuesday. So now I’m back at my portable office in our little bedroom. I posted a picture of my little office on my Facebook Author page.

  I was able to get a bunch of social media stuff done on Wednesday, and some outlining done for BOOK II on Thursday. Misty worked both of those days, so she’s off today. She’s been playing ‘7 Days to Die’ on her PS5 all day since she got up. I usually play Minecraft Bedrock on my laptop in my downtime. BUT…. I’m experiencing an error that prevents me from logging into my game. That’s fairly aggravating!! I have other games I can play on my laptop, but not being able to play the game I want to play kinda sucks!! Hehehehe

  So, what was I working on for BOOK II????

  I believe I’ve already got the main outline complete. That’s been done for a while. It’s more of a framework than a proper outline. Now I’m starting to work on the scene details! I am in no way a Pantser. If I don’t have an outline prepared, I’m the 2nd Mate on the USS Minnow!! I will be lost on an island in no time.

  The beginning of BOOK II is sort of time sensitive, in that there is a sequence of events that happen early on. I want all of that to happen in the correct order, timed exactly right. I prefer details, at least some minor details, be given to the reader. I want you to use your imagination, absolutely, but I still want to give you enough details to get your thoughts and mind in motion.

  One of my FAVORITE authors is a man named Stephen R. Donaldson. I started reading his books when I was in 8th grade. The first one I read was called ‘Lord Foul’s Bane.’ That book changed my life. I read the 2nd book as soon as and as quickly as I could. I had to wait for the next eight books to be written. The series was called ‘The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.’

  The reason I bring up these books is that they were large, and complex, and magical! I didn’t realize it at the time, in the very early 80s, but the Covenant story was very psychological, and it used very odd words. I very quickly fell in love with the characters and setting in those novels. I remember being able to ‘see’ what was happening in all the books.

  As my writing career started, I tried to emulate Donaldson’s style. He doesn’t know me, I’ve never met him, and I’ve never sent him a letter or an email. But I’m a fan… I’ve read the entire series six (yes, 6) times over the years. I’ve listened to the whole thing on audio twice.

  For Dawning, the manuscript that I gave to my editor was nearly twice as large as the finished product. I had to bite the bullet and let her take the axe to it. It was huge compared to what was actually released. I went overboard with a lot of the details, or I added too much internal stuff, or tried to move the story along with too much weight. Yet, that was sort of what I wanted to achieve.

  I’m very blessed by having an incredible editor. She was really able to give my story what it needed!! I’ll be singing Kim’s praises for a long time to come! Since this is my first time jumping into the Indie Author playground, Kim has been super patient with me and my learning curve.

  Well, I think this is enough for right now!

  Have a great week!!

  Dave

Blog #2

Hello everyone!!

  I hope everyone had an awesome week! I know that we’ve had an interesting and sometimes exciting week since my first Blog post went out on the website. I’d like to give you all a rundown on all of the stuff we managed to get into last week.

  As some of you might already know, the Ramey Publishing Corporation is home based in central Ohio. With the exception of our highly talented editor, Kim Coghlan, the rest of the staff is all family and lives within 25 miles of one another. Even though our name same ‘Corporation,’ don’t be fooled by that. Technically, we’re a very small ‘mom & pop’ start up business! Not counting myself, all of the staff here at RPC have real jobs in the real world and real families of their own.

  All of that brings me to my first point in our review of the week! My beautiful wife, Misty Isty, is a Travel Nurse. Her current contract has brought us to Indianapolis. Upon occasion I travel with her, like right now. Last Tuesday, 8/5, Misty and I drove here to our apartment here in Indy. It’s actually 4 rooms of a newly remodeled tri-plex house. We’ve found that it’s much cheaper this way than to rent hotel rooms each week.

  I have all the things I need to set up a temporary office space while we travel. I have my laptop, notes & binders, a small folding table, an office chair, desk lamps, my journal. This definitely doesn’t have all the comforts of my Dungeon back at home, but it’s surprisingly comfortable. We’ll be going back home Thursday, 8/14.

  So, coming to Indy to support my wonderful wife for 9 or 10 days is really cool!

  Last Tuesday, right before we left home, all of the hard back copies I had ordered of DAWNING finally came in!! I was really thankful for that. I was able to sign each copy for all of the folks who had pre-ordered them. That was great! I’m still kinda ticked off about how long it took for me to get those after I’d ordered them, but what’s done is done. I believe ALL of the pre-orders have been delivered!!

  Now I have to wait and see if anyone posts REVIEWS!!!

  We’ve been getting a lot of behind the scenes stuff accomplished. A lot of that involves social media stuff!! This past Friday, Arilyn and I worked up a really nice Facebook post introducing ourselves and the Dawning book. Then we BOOSTED that post.

  WOW!! My author page on Facebook has been going wild all weekend!! I’ve gained a bunch of new FOLLOWERS and we’ve received a TON of LIKES on that post.