In the meantime, we're also working on the cover, trying to get it perfect. Britta and I are working and bouncing ideas back and forth. So, I thought I'd share with you where the cover is at now, both front and back ideas we're looking at and developing.
While the book is highly unlikely to be done on the 12th, it IS getting awfully close. Certainly done by the end of the month. Currently I'm going through the manuscript and using three editors' notes to catch (hopefully) all the little grammatical and punctuation errors.
In the meantime, we're also working on the cover, trying to get it perfect. Britta and I are working and bouncing ideas back and forth. So, I thought I'd share with you where the cover is at now, both front and back ideas we're looking at and developing.
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First of all, thanks to everyone for your well-wishes and prayers for my wife and newborn son, Cal-L. Both of them are doing great. Last week was busy. My daughter lost her first tooth, we cared for a newborn premie, and I got my book deal from Shadow Mountain Publishing for A Tale of Light and Shadow, due out July 29, 2014. The details aren't ironed out yet, but I've submitted to them my requests for changes to the contract. We'll see what they say in return over the next week or two.
In the meantime, the process of publishing Psion Alpha moves forward. Today I'm going to post below three of the concept images that Britta and I are working on. These are based off of my thoughts and her sketches. Again, these aren't final products, but the next steps as we try to figure out the awesome final cover. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Okay, the book deal isn't IN MY HAND yet, but Thursday it will be. This morning I met with Chris Schoebinger and Heidi Taylor, the head of Shadow Mountain Publishing, and his assistant. Both are really great people, who I've enjoyed working and meeting with over the last several months.
Today, we reviewed my first draft for a short story called The Fool and the Crocodox. The short story will be a digital download (free) to interest people in the first volume of A Tale of Light and Shadow, which you remember as Flight from Blithmore. They liked it and offered some great feedback, which I'll be working on immediately so I have time to get Psion Alpha formatted and published as soon as it's back from editors. After going over their suggestions, they introduced me around the office to their Art Director, Richard Erickson, and his team. Then I met their marketing directors and publicists. Very cool. As usual, I left with an arm load of free books, and an appointment to go back Thursday and pick up my contract for review. This whole process has happened so slowly that I'm not really in shock. I'm just glad and grateful. It started back in March when they contacted me about their interest in Flight from Blithmore, now 7 months later, my first book deal. I'll put up a post next week about the contract process. So Psion Alpha is nearly done. The first 3 chapters are now available to download and read on the Psion Beta website, which you can link to from here. For your pleasure, I will post the next stage of the Elite symbol that Britta and I are working on.
I'm on the "read-through" stage of Alpha now where have the computer read it to me while I read along and make small changes. This helps me catch sentences that don't sound right, fix small continuity errors, and get a feel for the overall flow. Blazing through the book in 2-3 days is really an important part of editing because it helps me experience what most of my readers will experience as they read it. After Psion Alpha is finished, I'll have to decide what to work on next. I have several options, and all of them sound enticing. I'm thrilled to be so close to having the Psion series completed. Only one book left! Part of me wants to dive in and finish the series. On the other hand, Super Six is waiting for me, and I already have a publisher interested in it. Plus I'm super invested in the story right now. And on the third hand (what???) A Tale of Light and Shadow 2 (formerly Storyteller's Tale) is rearing to go. Two drafts done and lots of ideas for the 3rd draft.... That will be the easiest of the three projects. Part of the problem with Psion Omega is that I haven't plotted it at all. Yes, I know how it ends, yes I have lots of ideas for the story, but so far it's only ideas. So technically Omega is the farthest from publication. Psion Alpha is well under way. Things continue to move forward with Flight from Blithmore. . . errr . . . A Tale of Light and Shadow. I've been in regular contact with Shadow Mountain regarding cover art and a prequel short story that we plan to release for free before the summer (July 2014) release of the novel.
In the meantime, here is some fun concept art of the Elite symbol that Britta and I are working on for the cover of Psion Alpha. I'm over halfway done with the 4th draft. Once I'm finished with this draft, it's all downhill from there. My goal is 11-12-13, but it all depends on if I can have the book done and in my editors' hands and back in time for me to format the novel. Those of you that follow me on Facebook already know that I had a great meeting with Shadow Mountain Publishing on Friday. For those of you who DON'T follow my writing posts on Facebook, here's the four takeaway points:
1. They loved the idea behind Super Six. I pitched them the story, characters, and outline of the first novel, and they like it. 2. They said they will never be able to publish the Psion series. 3. BUT they said they'll send Beta and Gamma to a top-of-the-line agent they know at Writer's House and tell him to read it. 4. They want to publish Flight from Blithmore ASAP. They have a meeting with the national board on Wed. If it is approved, then Flight from Blithmore is HAPPENING (new cover and likely a new title). It'll be published as YA fantasy after I make some small tweaks. Characters ages staying the same. So immediately after the meeting, what book do you think I started working on? Not Psion Alpha, but Flight from Blithmore. I'm getting that book to where Shadow Mt needs it to be to be able to sell it. That means for those of you who have bought it, there will be some big and small changes that happen if Shadow Mt does indeed pull the lever on Wednesday. After these few changes are made, and I send it back to them, I'll be able to turn my attention to Psion Alpha and get it out hopefully November, but possibly December. But what happens after that? Well, truthfully, Super Six will probably happen. Why? Because I know that a publisher is interested in it and wants it. My goal as a writer is not just to finish the Psion series, but to be able to support my family with my writing. And to do that, I have to write what I can sell to publishing companies. If a company swoops in and says "WE WANT PSION!" then I will definitely write more Psion books. I'm not saying that Psion Omega is being put off indefinitely, but I'm saying it may not come out in 2014 like I hoped. It may be put off until 2015. I hate to say that. I hate to do it, but at the same time, I have to push for that goal of writing full time. Fortunately, I've got great fans who I know will understand. Self-publishing as a side business while working full time and raising 3 (almost 4) small kids and doing other stuff with church, etc keeps me dang busy. I'm lucky to have published 4 books in 3 years. I hope to keep up a similar pace. And I don't want to keep fans waiting for the THRILLING CONCLUSION of the greatest self-published series of all time. Okay, that was a little over the top. But one more possible scenario to consider: Let's say my friends at Shadow Mt DO send Psion Beta and Gamma to an agent, and he DOES love it, and even sells the rights to the series to a major publisher. What if they pull all the books from sale and re-release them over the course of the next TWO YEARS? Doomsday? Possibly if you have to wait until 2016 to read Psion Omega. Anyway, these are things to consider as my career (very much hopefully) transitions from self-published to publishing house. (and a few movies whose sequels I would wish away if I could)
Some people out there HATE movie sequels. Why? Do they also hate book sequels? Do they hate TV series that are renewed for second seasons? What is that hate with movie sequels? Good sequels explore character, or thrust enjoyable characters into new situations. How is that a bad thing? Here is my top ten list of movies that should have gotten the sequel treatment but didn't. And then, for fun, five movies that shouldn't have been sequeled. 10. The Incredibles - How does Pixar give us Cars 2 and Finding Dory, but not The Incredibles 2? Can we live in a world with Cars 2 and no Incredibles 2? It's proof that life isn't fair. 9. Kill Bill 3/4 - Because I just don't think you can have too many Tarantino-directed films starring Uma Thurman killing people with a sword. 8. Serenity - Summer Glau with an axe. Nathan Fillion with a script. Joss Whedon directing. Is there any reason this movie shouldn't be made? 7. X-Men 3 - No, I don't mean X3, I mean X-Men 3 where Bryan Singer directs and doesn't make a crappy movie. In fact, can we just erase every X-men movie that's been released since X2 and start from there? Please? 6. Zombieland 2 - Because the first one is so great and yet self-contained, it seems possible to do another one loosely connected to the first. Same world, completely different actors. Maybe we can even work Bill Murray back in there somehow. 5. Silmarillion - Dear Peter Jackson, never stop mining the Tolkien mythos for stories. The sky is the limit. My wallet is open. 4. Star Wars 7 - Yes I know it's happening, but I want it now, if for no other reason than to wash the taste of the prequels out of my mouth. God bless anyone who died between Episode III and Episode VII thinking that's all there was to life. 3. Stargate - this film inspired three television shows, but never a major motion picture. I thought it introduced enough characters and mythos that it could have been expanded upon in films. Plus, I really liked it. 2. Unbreakable - The story was just getting going. Shyamalan had a trilogy planned. Quit directing crappy films and GIVE ME THE REST OF THE TRILOGY, MAN! 1. Dredd - If I had the money I'd fund this movie myself. It needs to happen. There has to be more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Every Disney sequel ever made. 2. Indiana Jones IV - There was nothing good about this film. NOTHING. 3. Jaws 2 - Which was basically Jaws 1 all over again. But the worst thing about Jaws 2 was that it paved the way for Jaws 3. And Jaws 4. 4. Batman and Robin - They should have read the signs with Batman Forever. They should have known. Someone could have raised their hand in some meeting somewhere at some point in time and said, "Maybe Alicia Silverstone isn't a great idea. And Uma Thurman. And Arnold. And a really fake Bane costume. How did they not foresee this? 5. Godfather III - Does anyone not agree? Editing. I used to hate it when I first started writing. It was something I wanted to get through in order to get to the fun stuff, writing more stories. Now I think I enjoy editing more than writing, or at least I look forward to it more because it's where the real beauty happens. It's where you take the good ideas and make them even better.
Editing is what separates the grown ups from the kids. You can't be a good writer without becoming a good editor, ESPECIALLY if you're an indie author. Sadly, indie authors are judged on a different scale than published authors. While published authors have the luxury of great editors combing their books and making wonderful suggestions, indie authors are on their own. Deal with it. Learning to edit is harder than learning to write. It takes lots of patience, experience, and some tough love from readers who aren't afraid to hurt your feelings. As an example, I will post the original prologue to Psion Beta that was eventually cut out. I showed the first several chapters of my book to my brother-in-law who give me very good, non-watered-down advice. Recently, in a conversation with a publishing company, I was told that one of my favorite authors no longer edits his/her work. The author delivers the scripts, asks for proofreading, and nothing more. This not only shocking but sad. No wonder the author hasn't written something I enjoy in so many years. I suppose that what happens when egos go unchecked. I can't imagine ever reaching a point in my writing where I think I got something perfect on my first draft. I also think my fans deserve better than a half-yewt effort. (Yewt is the word I use to replace a swear word, by the way.) As I said before, editing is where you take something okay or good, and make it great or wonderful. So, before I get too long winded, here you go. Without any changes since 2006, The magnificent air rails that brought the world together into a global community, linking continents together with fast, cheap, and clean transportation also brought the world to its knees. In 2036 a new strain of the flu was discovered in rural Thailand by local medical examiners that immediately caught the attention of the Southeast Asian Institute of Health. A family of farmers was found scattered around their home, rigor mortis had frozen their facial muscles to reflect the excruciating agony they had endured before death had relieved them. Their bloody and raw fingernails had gouged the floors, walls, and even their own skins. Highly acidic bloody feces and pools of vomit were found everywhere. Virologists announced to the world that the disease was a mutated strain of a flu virus that caused horrific pain as it ate away at the intestines while cholera-like diarrhea laid waste to body. The virus had quickly traveled to the lungs, bringing rapid respiratory failure and the blessed relief of death. The doctors’ worst nightmares were confirmed when they discovered the virus had an airborne life span of about fifteen minutes. What the doctors found out too late was that the virus had an average latent period of two hundred hours before symptoms began to manifest. By then, a neighboring Thai businessman had been to Beijing and back with his wife for celebration of their 20th anniversary, unknowingly carrying the deadly virus with them. The first reports of flu-ravaged hotel employees in Beijing came in over a week after the farming family had been discovered. Within seventy-two hours, Los Angeles, Omaha, and New York hospitals were reporting similar occurrences. For a period of about two weeks, the epidemic was thought to be contained within the Asian and American continents, but one month to the day the Thai family was found a case turned up in Madrid. At that point the flu was virtually uncontainable. Naturally, pharmacies raced to find the golden cure, a vaccine or treatment, which they did, but production was costly and took time, and the quantities were woefully inadequate. Panic and hysteria broke out taking the face of mobs and riots on pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. When people heard that there was something to protect them from the next global killer they stormed the plants by the thousands. Larger corporations were forced to buy private armies to guard the plants. Finally, fourteen months after the “Thailand Epidemic,” the smoke began to clear. The great plague killed over six billion people, roughly sixty per cent of the world’s population. In 2038, the first anomalies occurred. Abnormally high numbers of fetuses were discovered in vivo missing vital organs such as the liver, kidneys, or pancreas. Others had increased cranial diameters or webbed feet and hands. However the most dramatic “anomalies” did not manifest themselves until puberty. The first of these was in the case of Ivan Drovovic, a thirteen year old boy who had, up to that point, displayed no signs of prodigious intellectual capabilities. Almost overnight, Ivan developed an interest in mathematics, and was devouring information on nonlinear dynamical systems, systematic/chaos hybrid functions, and harmonic analysis. When his teachers noticed the drastic change, he was given IQ and mental aptitude tests. Upon finding that his intelligent quotient had suddenly leaped 75 points, he was sent to some of the most advanced brain clinics in the world. Not long after the case of Ivan other forms of anomalies were discovered. Normal teenagers suddenly went comatose and were never able to be revived. Others became dangerously psychotic. Of all the varying forms of delayed onset “anomalies,” none were as fascinating as the case reported December 2054, in Wichita, Mid-American Territory. At a public high school a fight broke out between a boy and his friend, both ages fifteen. The boy in question, later classified as NWG-***** Anomaly 14 Alpha, was angry at his best friend over a girl. According to the official reports, blows were exchanged until some other friends arrived on the scene, and attempted to break the two apart. They grabbed 14 Alpha from behind, and him pulled away from the young man he was fighting. Then, without any physical contact, 14 Alpha knocked the young man backwards down the hallway nearly six meters. Fortunately, the victim only received a minor concussion and bruised back muscles. 14 Alpha was also taken immediately to Wichita Hospital. Three witnesses verified this report to local police, but upon later questioning each of them vehemently denied their testimonies. The story could never be confirmed again. Over the next thirty-one years several other incidents of similar scenarios surfaced. A young woman, attacked at night in a park by an armed man, mysteriously blasted him five meters into the air. He was later found by law enforcement officers with severe head and chest injuries. A sixteen year old soccer player was racing down the field for a game winning goal, bowling opponents over without ever touching them. Each person disappeared shortly after… I. LOVE. BOARD GAMES. Love love love. According to www.boardgamegeek.com I own 96 games. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least a half dozen that I haven't even played yet. I try to play a board game a week at least. I have played games by myself, but this isn't nearly as much fun as with others. It's safe to say that board games has all but replaced my video gaming love.
What kind of board games do I love? Most of my favorites are highly interactive with great themes. Ameritrash with a Euro blend. And preferably some kind of board with figures. However, I play plenty of games without these elements. You will rarely, if ever, see me sit down to play something like Risk or Monopoly. I detest those kinds of games. Right now, my favorites are: Descent 1st Edition - a 3-5 player, 4 hr dungeon crawl in which heroes pit themselves against the evil Overlord to accomplish their quests. Currently my all time favorite. Acquire - a, 2-6 player 60-90 minute stock buying, money crazed, tile placement game. The kind of game that can be awesome or terrible depending on how it shakes out. Sentinels of the Multiverse - a 60 min, 3-5 player cooperative card game in which a number of heroes battle a villain in a unique environment. A fun thematic game for anyone who likes superheroes. Twilight Struggle - a 2 player 2-3 hour game of deep strategy to win the Cold War for either the USA or the USSR. A slow burn type of game. Resistance Avalon - a 5-10 player bluffing game with the theme of Merlin vs Morgana. The awesomeness of this game with a fun group of people cannot be overstated. Just freaking fun. Those are my top five games, but I have many more that I would play at the drop of a hat. I am very protective of my games. Most of them, if they have cards, are sleeved in protective plastic slips. I often laminate pieces of the games or download extra player helps to aid the players in game play. I'm also a collector. I enjoy hunting down all the pieces, promos, expansions, etc of the games I buy so I can feel at peace that I've got a complete set. I also enjoy the interaction between players, the bantering, those moments of triumph, defeat, exultation. Board games are awesome. |
I am an Author.
And a dentist. And a husband. And a daddy. And a movie lover. And opinionated. My Projects:
1. Super Six:
-First draft finished 2. Tale 2: Secrets of Neverak -Published 4. Tale 3 -on hold Archives
June 2022
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