After several yeas of starting over and editing the manuscript, I just wrapped up the rough draft of The Eve Beguilement. The 137K word story took a lot of twists due to the delay in the translation of some of the journals and records, but it's finally done.
I'm doing typo read through of The Adam Eradication. I will edit the The Eve Beguilement, while I get From the Garden Cast flushed out. It's at 26,464 word, so only 100K or so words to add. No big deal. :-))
The MacKenna Saga. The ins and Outs of Writing
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Working Cover: The Eve Beguilement
Hi everyone,
Take a look at the working book cover (not the final) for our second book "The Eve Beguilement".
This is the web version so the colors are not what then are in real time.
Incase you can't read the text on the back cover.
The MacKenna Saga
Book Two
The Eve Beguilement
Kalen and Mayla return to Mayla's family's Outlands estate. They hope to leave the past behind settle into a peaceful life. That is until an attempt is made to abduct Daniella and kill Kalen. While seeking answers for the senseless crime, Abel Santiago, Mayla's middle brother returns. Convinced Kalen is guilty of murder, and angered by his family's unquestioning support of him, Abel attempts to kill Kalen. After recovering from the near fatal attack, Kalen travels to the nearby town of Solana and interrupts two men in the midst of kidnaping a woman. The crime uncovers an even darker secret the Central Council is concealing, hundreds of Arrisian young women are missing.
Suspecting his enemies Maria and Jenna are involved, he investigates. Following a lead from the kidnapers, Kalen, Mayla, Jamie Santiago and three roving patrol officers travel to an isolated corner of the Outlands on a rescue mission. But the mission turns in one of survival, their own.
Separated from their friends, Kalen and Mayla stumble on the kidnappers’ hideout, and derail Maria's plans. Their interference thrusts him and the entire Santiago family into a life and death struggle that destroys the Santiago estate and threatens the lives of Mayla's family. Another attempt to kidnap Daniella, followed by a mid air attack on her and Connor O’Dell sends Kalen and Mayla hunting for the conspirators.
During the ensuing battle to rescue Daniella and Connor Kalen tries to uncover the reason one of the riches, most powerful woman in the colonies would risk death to accomplish her mission. Jenna and Maria escape, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake, one Santiago dead and another near death.
I would appericate any comments.
This is the web version so the colors are not what then are in real time.
Incase you can't read the text on the back cover.
The MacKenna Saga
Book Two
The Eve Beguilement
Kalen and Mayla return to Mayla's family's Outlands estate. They hope to leave the past behind settle into a peaceful life. That is until an attempt is made to abduct Daniella and kill Kalen. While seeking answers for the senseless crime, Abel Santiago, Mayla's middle brother returns. Convinced Kalen is guilty of murder, and angered by his family's unquestioning support of him, Abel attempts to kill Kalen. After recovering from the near fatal attack, Kalen travels to the nearby town of Solana and interrupts two men in the midst of kidnaping a woman. The crime uncovers an even darker secret the Central Council is concealing, hundreds of Arrisian young women are missing.
Suspecting his enemies Maria and Jenna are involved, he investigates. Following a lead from the kidnapers, Kalen, Mayla, Jamie Santiago and three roving patrol officers travel to an isolated corner of the Outlands on a rescue mission. But the mission turns in one of survival, their own.
Separated from their friends, Kalen and Mayla stumble on the kidnappers’ hideout, and derail Maria's plans. Their interference thrusts him and the entire Santiago family into a life and death struggle that destroys the Santiago estate and threatens the lives of Mayla's family. Another attempt to kidnap Daniella, followed by a mid air attack on her and Connor O’Dell sends Kalen and Mayla hunting for the conspirators.
During the ensuing battle to rescue Daniella and Connor Kalen tries to uncover the reason one of the riches, most powerful woman in the colonies would risk death to accomplish her mission. Jenna and Maria escape, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake, one Santiago dead and another near death.
I would appericate any comments.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
A 'Microsoft' email you should avoid at all costs
"Danger Will Robinson, danger!"
I reviewed this warning from Kim Kammando a local radio personality about a Microsoft E-Mail going around. Instead of me telling you about it just click on the link and read for yourself. Kim's claim to fame. 'She is your digital goddess.' She's good and if you've never heard of her check out the rest of her website when you're done reading
The link to the site is no longer active My apologies
http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=14152&utm_medium=nl&utm_source=alerts&utm_content=2013-03-07-article-in-body-b
I reviewed this warning from Kim Kammando a local radio personality about a Microsoft E-Mail going around. Instead of me telling you about it just click on the link and read for yourself. Kim's claim to fame. 'She is your digital goddess.' She's good and if you've never heard of her check out the rest of her website when you're done reading
The link to the site is no longer active My apologies
http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=14152&utm_medium=nl&utm_source=alerts&utm_content=2013-03-07-article-in-body-b
Monday, March 4, 2013
Self Editing: The Bane of Self-Publishing
Think how many times you've received a reply to an email you sent out, only to noticed that your original text contained errors. It turns out that editing one’s own writing is remarkably difficult. Once they are initially missed, errors tend to become "invisible" to a writer when they review their work. Our eyes skim past them. A lot of new writers make the critical error of self-editing and think they are done.
If the publishers of writers like James Patterson. Issac Asimov, Sue Grafton, Robert B Parker, Raymond E. Fiest all require an editor to review and check their work. What makes any of us first time writes believe we are better and don't need an editor.
My co-author and I had our self-published Tyranny series picked up by a publisher in Las Vegas. What was the first thing the owner did? He tore out the first chapter (literally). We had to create a whole new chapter starting in a different place. Next he took a scene from book one and had us move into to book two. Next he underlined all the placed where we did tell and not show. We sat together in a marathon session over a weekend and removed all the places he raised objection. Now the company editor is taking her turn and bringing up very good points about character development, scene description, and repetition in the story. The process is frustration at times but necessary.
I'm doing a last read-through of The Adam Eradication. I printed the entire manuscript, got away from my computer and started reading. While the manuscript is complete, and was edited twice, this read is pointing out a boat load of typos made while removing my telly pros and replacing them with pros that help the reader to see the story.
This brings to mind an elderly woman I met. She wrote a book and was very anxious to get it published. So anxious in fact she didn't want to bother having an editor read it at all. This was huge mistake, made by those who decided to self publish.
Concerned about her book I request she allow me to send the first five chapters to the woman who did the first edit on my book. She went through the pages as a courtesy. What this editor returned shocked to woman into taking a second look and she paid the editor to run through her manuscript.
She received her red-lined manuscript back entered the edits and corrections. This writer figured she was done. I tried to convince her to have someone outside her family read through it one more time. Her reply, I made all the changes, it's ready to go.
She had 500 copies printed. After receiving cases and cases of books, her son took one home to read. He returned it to her three day later, red lined, pointing out errors on almost every page. Her concept is a good one, but instead of book worth reading she had boxes of books that are good for little more than starting a fire.
My first editor did the work and I made the corrections. But The Adam Eradication, being my first book, I found what I considered holes in the story and proceeded to plug them. Enter a good friend (enough of a friend to tell me the truth) she did the second edit. The first thing she did was cut the last 10 chapters (48K+ words). Her analysis. Your book ends at this point. A good piece of advise. I used those 10 chapters to start the second book. (Never trash anything you've written, archive it. A good idea can be reworked to fit somewhere else)
Throughout the edit she deleted whole paragraphs as redundant. Some writer suffer from this problem some do not. I was anxious to get the story to press and rushed though the last edit. After publishing the book I gave several copies away. My friend's wife read the book and sometime later handed me her copy. She said "I love you story but --" The book was marked with over forty sticky tabs each on a typo. Though minor typos, I learned my lesson. Fifty fire starters.
Editors cost money. Not as much as publishing an unreadable book. This mistake marks you as an armature, not serious about your craft. This kind of attitude will stop readers from ever considering reading any future work you publish, no matter how much you improve. And without someone finding your story compelling enough to look past your mistakes, no published will take you seriously in the future.
What can an editor do that I can't? What can an editor do that you can't? An editor will read what you wrote, not what you think you wrote. A good editor will find your inconsistencies, help you with the language appropriate for your genre. For instance a steam punk novel's use of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc will be different from those used in a science fiction novel as will a fantasy fiction novel will differ from SF or romance. Next, an editor will point out your flaws in the construction of paragraphs, scene breaks and poor character development. Some writer's characters all talk the same. A good editor will point this out and help you see how to vary your character's personalities. A good editor will tell you when you've shifted you POV(Point Of View) If character A is you POV character you cannot have character's B thought in a scene or describe a scene through character B eyes. You can if your novel is written from an omniscient POV, but few good writers use this POV anymore.
An editor will spot problems with spelling, punctuation, and grammar that can escape your notice.
Does the phrase familiarity breeds contempt. Well, familiarity with your subject can result in explanations and descriptions that are incomplete or confusing to readers. What you see in your minds eye is always what you've put on paper. An editor will ensure that your copy is intelligibly and concisely written.
You may also ask yourself why an editor is necessary when your word processing program already has spell checking capabilities. Spell check, it turns out, is only partially effective at catching problems. For example, homonyms (e.g., council/counsel) you won't find these flagged. Words used nonsensically are regularly accepted by a spell checker. These programs have nothing to say about confusing, ones needlessly wordy, jargony or telly prose.
One of the biggest helps is to join a writer's group. You read your work aloud and they critique your writing. Be advised, while most groups offer good non threatening environment, you need a thick skin, because it is still hard to hear your writing evaluated by others.
You took the time and effort to create a good story. Give it the polish and attention it deserves.
If the publishers of writers like James Patterson. Issac Asimov, Sue Grafton, Robert B Parker, Raymond E. Fiest all require an editor to review and check their work. What makes any of us first time writes believe we are better and don't need an editor.
My co-author and I had our self-published Tyranny series picked up by a publisher in Las Vegas. What was the first thing the owner did? He tore out the first chapter (literally). We had to create a whole new chapter starting in a different place. Next he took a scene from book one and had us move into to book two. Next he underlined all the placed where we did tell and not show. We sat together in a marathon session over a weekend and removed all the places he raised objection. Now the company editor is taking her turn and bringing up very good points about character development, scene description, and repetition in the story. The process is frustration at times but necessary.
I'm doing a last read-through of The Adam Eradication. I printed the entire manuscript, got away from my computer and started reading. While the manuscript is complete, and was edited twice, this read is pointing out a boat load of typos made while removing my telly pros and replacing them with pros that help the reader to see the story.
This brings to mind an elderly woman I met. She wrote a book and was very anxious to get it published. So anxious in fact she didn't want to bother having an editor read it at all. This was huge mistake, made by those who decided to self publish.
Concerned about her book I request she allow me to send the first five chapters to the woman who did the first edit on my book. She went through the pages as a courtesy. What this editor returned shocked to woman into taking a second look and she paid the editor to run through her manuscript.
She received her red-lined manuscript back entered the edits and corrections. This writer figured she was done. I tried to convince her to have someone outside her family read through it one more time. Her reply, I made all the changes, it's ready to go.
She had 500 copies printed. After receiving cases and cases of books, her son took one home to read. He returned it to her three day later, red lined, pointing out errors on almost every page. Her concept is a good one, but instead of book worth reading she had boxes of books that are good for little more than starting a fire.
My first editor did the work and I made the corrections. But The Adam Eradication, being my first book, I found what I considered holes in the story and proceeded to plug them. Enter a good friend (enough of a friend to tell me the truth) she did the second edit. The first thing she did was cut the last 10 chapters (48K+ words). Her analysis. Your book ends at this point. A good piece of advise. I used those 10 chapters to start the second book. (Never trash anything you've written, archive it. A good idea can be reworked to fit somewhere else)
Throughout the edit she deleted whole paragraphs as redundant. Some writer suffer from this problem some do not. I was anxious to get the story to press and rushed though the last edit. After publishing the book I gave several copies away. My friend's wife read the book and sometime later handed me her copy. She said "I love you story but --" The book was marked with over forty sticky tabs each on a typo. Though minor typos, I learned my lesson. Fifty fire starters.
Editors cost money. Not as much as publishing an unreadable book. This mistake marks you as an armature, not serious about your craft. This kind of attitude will stop readers from ever considering reading any future work you publish, no matter how much you improve. And without someone finding your story compelling enough to look past your mistakes, no published will take you seriously in the future.
What can an editor do that I can't? What can an editor do that you can't? An editor will read what you wrote, not what you think you wrote. A good editor will find your inconsistencies, help you with the language appropriate for your genre. For instance a steam punk novel's use of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, etc will be different from those used in a science fiction novel as will a fantasy fiction novel will differ from SF or romance. Next, an editor will point out your flaws in the construction of paragraphs, scene breaks and poor character development. Some writer's characters all talk the same. A good editor will point this out and help you see how to vary your character's personalities. A good editor will tell you when you've shifted you POV(Point Of View) If character A is you POV character you cannot have character's B thought in a scene or describe a scene through character B eyes. You can if your novel is written from an omniscient POV, but few good writers use this POV anymore.
An editor will spot problems with spelling, punctuation, and grammar that can escape your notice.
Does the phrase familiarity breeds contempt. Well, familiarity with your subject can result in explanations and descriptions that are incomplete or confusing to readers. What you see in your minds eye is always what you've put on paper. An editor will ensure that your copy is intelligibly and concisely written.
You may also ask yourself why an editor is necessary when your word processing program already has spell checking capabilities. Spell check, it turns out, is only partially effective at catching problems. For example, homonyms (e.g., council/counsel) you won't find these flagged. Words used nonsensically are regularly accepted by a spell checker. These programs have nothing to say about confusing, ones needlessly wordy, jargony or telly prose.
One of the biggest helps is to join a writer's group. You read your work aloud and they critique your writing. Be advised, while most groups offer good non threatening environment, you need a thick skin, because it is still hard to hear your writing evaluated by others.
You took the time and effort to create a good story. Give it the polish and attention it deserves.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Progress On Final Edit
I've printed off my 143, 936 word manuscript The Adam Eradication for my final read-through. 2 or 3 chapter left to complete The Eve Beguilement only another 10K words. Then move on the From The Garden Cast already 35K + words
For you writers, a couple of quotes from Mark Twain on writing (English) One on Adverbs and one on Adjectives both note worthy.
"I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. ... There are subtleties which I cannot master at all,--they confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me,--and this adverb plague is one of them. ... Yes, there are things which we cannot learn, and there is no use in fretting about it. I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won't."
- "Reply to a Boston Girl," Atlantic Monthly, June 1880
"I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
- Mark Twain in a Letter to D. W. Bowser, 3/20/1880
For you writers, a couple of quotes from Mark Twain on writing (English) One on Adverbs and one on Adjectives both note worthy.
"I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. ... There are subtleties which I cannot master at all,--they confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me,--and this adverb plague is one of them. ... Yes, there are things which we cannot learn, and there is no use in fretting about it. I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won't."
- "Reply to a Boston Girl," Atlantic Monthly, June 1880
"I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."
- Mark Twain in a Letter to D. W. Bowser, 3/20/1880
Monday, February 4, 2013
21 Book Marketing Tips
Sorry followers. I've been dealing with some personal issues and haven't been in the mood to blog. I'm back and for those of you writing I received and email from my coauthor with I load of great links for Book Marketing & Book Publicity Tool Kit. This comes from the BookMarketingBuzzBlog. I thought I'd pass them along to you. There are some real gems here. Check Out Brian Feinblum’s blog.
21
Book Marketing Tips
The Grassroots Way To Build A Following
For Your Book
Going Viral: Challenges &
Rewards
What Is Your Book Marketing
Attitude?
Blueprint
Of The Book Publicity Landscape
Book
Marketing With Social Media
20 Ways To Boost Your Website
Traffic
37
Ways To Get Paid For Your Words
Creating The
Perfect Press Release
The Subject Line Is Your
Pitch
25 Tips On What The Media
Wants
33
Twitter Tips, Sites & Strategies
15 Ways For Authors To Work With Book
Publicists Effectively
25 More Tips Of
What The Media Wants
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