Thursday, June 30, 2011

RB Editing

It's moving along nicely and with minimal issues. In fact, the only problem is when I leave twitter and Facebook up while I am editing because it's a pretty big distraction. When I close them out, it's smooth sailing. The girlfriend has been off with her kids on a mini vacation and she hasn't had cell phone service so I can't really speak to her, although I'd like to. I am using the time though to continue working so I am trying to make the best of her being away.

 

I've already loaded descriptions for this next work into Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Being that this is going to be a shorter work, I am thinking of a starting price of $2.99 but I'm still figuring that out. This book will pick up where RH left off so it should boost the sales of that work as well so I will see how I feel when it comes to that. To those who have expressed interest in proofing this work, some first revisions are done and I am looking to have a couple of people go over those chapters. Please keep in mind I am looking for more feedback than a simple "it's good" or "I liked it" so please keep that in mind when asking me for copies. Obviously those copies are not the final draft so if you do some proofing for me, chances are there will be changes in the final work so be sure to ask me for your free copy once its officially released.

 

[caption id="attachment_836" align="aligncenter" width="202" caption="Sample Cover Art"]Sample cover art[/caption]

Friday, June 24, 2011

Recorded Butterflies - First Draft Done

First draft is done and in record time. Now comes what can be seen as either the really easy part or the really hard part. I don't mind editing, but as most writers, when we edit our own work, we tend to miss little things here and there such as spelling and grammar. I had a few mistakes in the final cut of RH, but after reviewing it, it didn't take away from the story at all so I was able to live with it. Besides, there is always a second edition.

Still, I am not slowing down. I wrote pretty much all day today, so I am going to have a shower and try to relax so I can get started on revisions first thing in the morning. If i can get through this rather quickly, I would have the book ready and released in early July as I've progressed much further along that I thought I'd be able to.

 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

$2.99 sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble - Rumbling Heart

Decided to have  a sale and drop the price pretty dramatically. For those of you who have not had a chance to pick up the book thus far, now is the perfect opportunity to pick it up for next to nothing.

$2.99

Essentially $3 which is a darn good price for a book of it's size (510 pages). Both sites have the new lower price already set so head on over to them and check it out. If you can't get the book quite yet, at least give me a like or a star rating for good karma!

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

[caption id="attachment_760" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Cover"][/caption]

 

Chapter 11 of Latest Work - First Draft Done

This chapter will be a real mind bender. I put quite a bit into each word and collection of sentences so skimming over it may cause confusion for a reader later on in the book. There isn't much left to be written with regard to the basic idea of the book, but the last two chapters will be explosive and still people a feeling of...well, just a very odd and unthinkable feeling.

I'm not wasting time. I decided to send out the prologue to a proofer and they are going over it. All sections still need major work to them, but my proofer seems to be a really big fan as well so they are wondering what is coming next in the story.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Desire

I look at my screen and it’s slowly giving me a headache,
yet I cannot stop myself from punching keys
and making more words and telling a story.

How quickly and easily they flow out
like water spilling out of a river
and into a waterfall of endless ideas.

The time passes and I do not care
that I've been here, typing for well over 4 hours now
and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Who’s to say I won’t just fall asleep
at the keyboard and end up smashing my face
into the keys as it comes falling down to my desk.

And if I do, I won’t care.
This beautiful rage swelling out of my heart
will not stop and I doubt that I ever will.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Chapter 10 Already? Really?

Yes, really.

I've progressed through this work faster than I have 6 page college papers. I am already 3 pages into chapter 10 and I had to make myself stop writing yesterday. I wrote all of 8 and 9 in a span of 5 hours. I then started on 10, but it was getting late so I opted for sleep. Ended up waking at just before 5am and I had to make myself stay in bed. I finally got up a little before 7 and kept myself from writing. I don't want to burn myself out so I am forcing a small break, but I am sure to restart sometime today. I am within sight of the end of this book and once I get through the first drafts, I am immediately going to start hitting the second drafts. I plan on getting through those in record time as well. I already know certain revisions I want to make so this will not take long at all.

As mentioned this release is a little shorter so I will get it all finished probably by some time in July. If I really push it, I can see it completely finish by the end of this month; I am that plugged in. When will it be available for purchase? I haven't decided yet. I am hoping mid to late July if I am happy with what I've done up till that point. This one will come in at about 250-300 pages so it will be a faster read. I've condense a lot of material into this one as I didn't have to go into great detail since most of it was covered in RH. Still, the book will be able to support itself in case someone happens upon it who didn't catch RH.

I am hopping to have one of my proofers go over it within the next couple of weeks.

That being said, I am still looking over cover choices and I am kind of bummed on what I've come up with so far. If anyone happens to have a public domain photograph of a butterfly , I'd greatly appreciate a link to it.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Building a Mystery

Chapter 7...this is where things get a little crazy. I decided to add in a story line that will change the way a character looks at their life. It will also change the way they look at their goals and friends. I don't want to give away too much because it's very much a surprise. I wanted to give the character more depth and by doing this is makes them very much human, painfully so. It's going to set up another story that will come later on and I hope it goes well. Because of the subject matter, I have to construct it just right as I don't want to have the character end up so far gone that its' impossible to get them redemption. Whereas a lot of people read books as an escape, i also believe the sometimes read to see what its like to experience certain things through other's lives. I want to try to present this in a truthful, yet respectable way.

All that said, I think it's time to get back to work on it. RB is almost done. That's right. It's already gone that far. I am going to produce a book in less than 2 months and it will be high quality material and not just a bunch of filler.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Amazon and Barnes and Noble

My latest release Rumbling Heart is currently available on both Amazon and barnesandnoble.com so be sure to check it out. Both sites offer free samples so you can essentially try it before you buy it.

Currently in progress is the follow up to RH which I have titled Recorded Butterflies and once a release date has been set I will let everyone know. This next work is moving along nicely and I hope to have the final draft ready for formatting by no later than the end of this month. It will be a shorter work so that time needed to prepare it will be significantly shorter.

Thank you for your continued support and I hope that my work is at the very least entertaining.

 

Read

"I want you to read everything I say, but don’t take it personally. It’s just the hurt talking."

RA

More Words

It’s forgiveness to write for my lack of continuity,
but only if I work from sun up till sundown.

I’ll type till my fingers are numb
at times and I often feel like I’ve accomplished
some great feat even though it’s just typing.

Sometimes I will start in the morning
and won’t stop till very late at night,
after the moon has graced us with its presence.

When I work during the day, I regret it
at times because I think I work better
when its 2am and I am sipping on some sort of fruit juice.

As the words pour out and the juice hits my palette,
I think of how I will feel when I am finally done
writing and what my words will sound like
to other people as they read them.

I've grown accustomed to that feeling
because I know that regardless of how I feel
when I am done writing,
I will just do it all over again the next night.

Over and over again until I have something
that resembles a novel that is alright,
and no one will buy it.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Chapter 4...Weird and Long

I think it went very well. It was one of those chapters that just flows out of you. I was looking forward to writing it because it's been swimming through my mind for a couple of months now. I'm not stopping though. I am moving right on to Chapter 5 as it will throw an interesting twist in the book and I hope my eventual readers will enjoy the way it explores a certain friendship. After 5, I will have a large group of friends getting together and I will see where the story takes me. That part I do not have worked out all the much, so I will just let it sort of write itself.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Recorded Butterflies - A Novel

I've settled on this title. This will be book two in a series of what should be four novels that I will complete. Obviously, book 1 is out and available and I am currently working on it's follow up. I am trying to hone in on the idea so I can produce this book in far less time than the first. This book doesn't require me to lay much groundwork as that's already been done so its overall size will be smaller, making it a much faster read. The last book came in at about 500 pages and about 220k words. This one I am thinking will be about 300 at most, but I will pack just as much entertainment into it.

Being that it will be a smaller book, I am also planning on having a lower purchase price as well. While the reading of RM may not be necessary, it is definitely advisable as some of the early themes set on RH play out in this book and will continue to play out through the series. The 3rd and 4th book will not be as long, similar in size to this current work and will probably see similar pricing. I have already started working on the cover art and I am happy with the early creations. I do not have a projected release date yet, but I am hoping to get it all done by some time in July. That's right. I want to move right through this book and get onto the next. The overall literary quality should still keep, but the shorter book will help when it comes to revision and editing. While they will not be perfect in every way, I still hope to produce a work worthy of appreciation...and also drop a few plot bombs along the way.

I've made a decision in the direction of the story, and for those who have read RH and liked the progression and the character development, RB will be a massive plot twist in itself, forcing the character to make some of the toughest decisions anyone could ever make.

For those that are curious, below is a sample of the art I have been looking at. I may not be able to use this image as I do not own the copyright.

 

[caption id="attachment_836" align="aligncenter" width="363" caption="Sample Cover Art"]Sample cover art[/caption]

Monday, June 6, 2011

Interesting Chapter 3

A very interesting chapter indeed. Never written anything quite like it so I know I will definitely need to come back and do some big revisions. It was a challenge to write but I was able to get through it. As it sits, it has 25 pages, but I know that will increase as I will need to add further details.

The next chapter is one of the ones I was looking forward to. It has an old character yet to appear in this next book and I am looking to see how I can write this encounter. Chapter 5 will be another interesting one as it comes right after this one does without any break in the action whatsoever. Chapter 5 will involve a study on sleep and our perceptions while we are snoozing. I think it will draw in all the right interests and spell out exactly what i want to do. I'm a little excited about it and I want to get started on it right away.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Writing a Dream

It seems like this used to be so much easier. I have been working on a certain piece of my next work, and I've written pretty much any scene you can imagine, complete with details, but this one is just a little harder to write for some reason. I think this scene is challenging because the scenery changes quite often, sometimes from page to page and getting into detail each and every time, while not required at this point, is something I really want to nail as certain details will play out over the course of the book. I am ripping my thesaurus to pieces and it actually feels really good. I've always worked with the aid of one and now I am looking even deeper, but not too deep as I don't want to start using words so remarkably obscure that it challenges the reader to the point where they are picking up a dictionary to understand half of what I am saying.

Planting seeds is actually easier because of the type of book I am writing. As previously mentioned, this work will explore other aspects of the characters lives not previously looked at. I find myself wanting to skip certain parts to get to those that I have outlined in greater detail. Some of the chapters are also providing more of an emotional benefit to me than others.

That being said, I have an offer from another reader to proof some of my newer work which is always welcome. I doubt that I will be offering first drafts for proofing as a ton of changes generally take place from 1st to 2nd draft. Hopefully this will get easier and I will being to push through this chapter.