I can see the finish line

See that?  It's a bit in the distance but it's getting closer.  If you squint your eyes and concentrate it'll come into focus for you too.  Yep.  That's right.  It's the finish line.  I know.  It seemed like I'd been running in place all this time.  Trust me, patience is a virtue that I certainly don't possess but we're in the home stretch now.  Can almost feel it, can't ya?  I know I can.

What am I blathering on about?  Today is my birthday!  And one of the cooler presents I've gotten are THE LINE EDITS TO GHOSTS OF DEMONS PAST!  Yeppers, you read right.  My editor finished up going through my manuscript today.  It's a gargantuan load off my mind.  Feels as if a lifetime has passed since I'd first written the damn thing.  Seemed like I'd never get to this point.  But I'll say this: it was worth the wait.  Hiring a pro editor is by far the best decision I made during this whole process.  Are there a lot of red marks?  Sure, but it's mostly superficial stuff; a weird sentence here, a punctuation blooper there, an odd detail muffed up once in a great while.  The book will be even better for having been scoured through by a set of seasoned eyes.  However, the plot remains unchanged.  The character development remains unchanged.  In other words:  the story is SOLID.  

Of course, a solid story without plot holes or any major mistakes is one thing.  The real test is if it's enjoyable or not.  Is Ghosts of Demons Past an enjoyable read?  I think it is.  Then again, I'm biased.  Over a dozen beta readers happen to agree with me.  What about my editor?  While she was finishing it up today, she'd tweeted me to say that she had to read ahead to see what happened and THEN go back so she could focus on finishing up the final few chapters.  Yep.  Got its hooks in her!  

This is a recurring theme with me, but I don't like to toot my own horn.  I'm of the mind that there's a fine line between being confident and being delusional, and it's one I try hard not to cross.  That being said, I think I'm onto something with this book, with this character. 

Now that the finish line draws closer, I guess we'll see what we'll see, right?  I'm gonna bust my balls to go through the line edits and clean this thing up for final proofreading.  After that, it's on to formatting for kindle then the nerve wracking moment when I hit that 'publish' button on Amazon.  

I'd hoped to get it out sometime in June.  Looks like that wasn't a bad target.  June's getting closer.

Just like the finish line.  Can ya see it more clearly now?  I think we just got a few steps closer to it.

Words With Fiends "400 page likes" Giveaway!

Here it is folks!  The day you've all been waiting for.  Or not.  My Author Page has hit 400 likes so I'll be raffling off five free Kindle copies of 'Words With Fiends'.  Starting.....NOW!  Contest ends at midnight Sunday.  

Remember, sharing is caring!  For those of you who end up winning, please leave reviews on your blogs/facebook pages/amazon/good reads/twitter if you have the time.  Tell your fiends, I mean, friends! 

**disclaimer--I've never used rafflecopter before so I'm flying by the seat of my pants here.  If for some reason this doesn't work, I'll figure something else out and start a new contest/method on Monday**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Hop. Am I the 'next biggest thing'?

Unless you're referencing my prodigious waistline then no, I am most certainly not the next biggest thing.  BUT, this here is part of a blog hop.  The premise is simple.  Someone who thinks I'm pretty groovy sends me and two others a list of questions.  We answer them on the Wednesday after the blogger who tagged us posts theirs.  In turn, we choose our own victims, send them questions of our own sinister design and send them along.  Wash, rinse, repeat. 

So, who tagged me and thinks I deserve to be a part of the 'next biggest thing' blog hop?  A lovely person by the name of Lisa Woods.  She's recently had a story called 'Die With Your Boots On'  published in the anthology 'Fifty Shades Of Decay'.  Check it out!  

Now, onto the questions.

What are you working on right now?

At this very moment I'm working on draining an oil can of Foster's Premium Ale.  Insofar as writing?  When I'm not promoting my upcoming Urban Fantasy/Paranormal novel 'Ghosts of Demons Past' I'm cleaning up a novel I'd written even before that.  I have a title, but I'm not giving that up just yet.  What I will say is that it's a total departure from 'Words With Fiends' and 'Ghosts'.  It has a Lifetime movie of the week feel to it.  *enter sappy violin music here*.  Sort of a life story.  The only hint I'll give as to the plot is that the main character is already dead.  But that's all you get...for now!  *twists imaginary mustache*

 

How does it differ from other works in its genre?

As far a 'Ghosts of Demons Past' is concerned, none of the other works in its genre have been written by me, thus making it a spectacular departure from anything you've ever read!  All kidding aside, Urban Fantasy seems to feature female lead characters.  My main character, Seth Gabriel, is a guy--as if you couldn't tell by the name.  It features no vampires, no werewolves, no fairies.  Seth is a medium who can see and speak to the dead and his life hasn't been pleasant as a result.  

What experiences have influences you?

This is such a broad question I don't even know where to start, so I guess I'll just give a broad answer.  We're the sum of our experiences.  Everything we've ever gone through up to this very moment makes us who we are in the here and now.  Nebulous answers...I has them.

 

Why do you write what you do?

Also another question I've been asked on more than one occasion in which I've yet to formulate a proper answer.  Why are my stories 'Hollow' and 'Words With Fiends' horror?  Why'd I write them as such?  I've no idea.  They're just story ideas that popped into my head and seemed would be cool to write.  I don't read a whole lot of horror to be honest.  Why did I write an Urban Fantasy?  I read more UF than horror so I guess it was bound to happen but, once again, the character and some story elements came to me one day and I worked around that.  Plenty of ideas knock around in my noggin and not all of them are horror or paranormal.  Some are sci fi, some are goofy, some are straight up contemporary fiction.  As long as I think the idea is good and it'll both be fun to write and tell a good story, I'm all for writing it despite the genre.

 

How does your writing process work?

So far I've been flying by the seat of my pants.  I don't do long, involved outlines.  I don't have a room resembling that of a conspiracy theorist's, filled with note cards, clippings, print outs, all connected by red yarn.  The flow of the stories tend to reside in my head before I write them, at least the general arc.  I come up with some characters as I'm dreaming up the story and then I start to write when I think there's enough there to make a move on.  It's worked for me so far and that's how I've written every single word to date.  Will it change?  It might.   Who knows?  Also, I write when I want to or feel like it.  I'm not the type to sit at my laptop and force myself to write if I'm not feeling it.  Many writers would banish me to the tenth level of writer's hell for even thinking such a thing, but hey, different keystrokes for different writers.  There's no method that works for everyone.  You do what you do and do it as best you're able.

 

What is the hardest part about writing?

Another question that's difficult to answer.  I'd just answered the same question in an interview not too long ago, although it was worded a bit differently.  The hardest part of the actual writing for me is turning an idea into a plot and turning that into a story.  An idea will only get you so far but making a cool plot with characters that readers will get attached to?  Nothing's harder than that if you ask me.

 

What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?

I've written books and I've written short stories, so those are covered.  Honestly?  I don't know.  Being that I'm pretty green at this whole thing, I haven't done all that much, so it's all new to me.  Although, come to think of it, writing a full novel in third person perspective from multiple points of view is high on the list.  My short stories have primarily been third person, but both of my novels have been first person.  That's just the way they formulated in my mind.  But yeah, a full novel in third person from several different perspectives. I'd like to try that and, if the ideas I have for future novels work out the way I have them tentatively planned, it may come to fruition.

 

Who are the authors that you most admire?Yikes.  So many to name.  Ken Follett is absolutely amazing.  He's the master.  'Pillars of the Earth' is my favorite book of all time.  James Rollins is up there as well.  So are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  Deborah Crombie, Brian Freeman, Kim Harrison, Peter F. Hamilton, Arianna Franklin...just too many to name.

 

Who are the new authors to watch out for?

Once again, tons to name and I hope any writer who happens upon this and doesn't see their name doesn't get offended!   Tracy Tucker, Richard Wright, Belinda Frisch, Marika Christian, Holand Peterson, Lisa Woods (yes, I went there!!!!)...just too many to name.

 

What scares you?

 Sentient household appliances.  Seriously though.  What frightens me the most?  The future and its uncertainty.

So, that's all folks!  Who have I chosen for my victims?  Right now, there's only one.  I know, it's supposed to be three but I put out the feelers on my author page and nobody bit and I'm not going to bug people about it!  So *begin drumroll here*  my victim issssssssssssssssssssssssssssss:

 

Belinda Frisch! Yes, she's (un)lucky enough to deal with a bunch of questions that my twisted mine has (yet to) come up with!  Look for her answers to my inane questions one week from today!!   

Take care, talk soon, be well, thanks for popping by!

Cover Reveal AND Book Blurb AND interview!!!

Ah, it's been an excellent day!  I have much news to report!

First off, my Author Page hit 300 likes, and you know what that means:  COVER REVEAL!  But, not to stop there, I've improved upon my book blurb for Ghosts of Demons Past.  Will it change between now and publication?  Who knows, but I think the one I will post here sums up the story pretty well.  Thirdly, Belinda Frisch not only read and liked Words With Fiends, she's featured me on her blog, complete with a review AND interview.  Go check it out.  While you're there, take some time to nose around her blog.  She's got lots of great information for writers and links to her fantastic backlist of books.

Now, what you've all been waiting for.  The cover and blurb for my upcoming novel, Ghosts of Demons Past.

“Well, Mr. Gabriel.  What do you know about…demons?”

For most people, that’s a question that never comes up.  Medium Seth Gabriel isn’t most people and for him, it’s another normal day in an abnormal life.

 

It’s bad enough that his love life has seen better days but his personal problems are only the half of it.  Seth’s ghost hunting business, SG Cleaning Services hasn’t seen a client in weeks and he’s desperate for a paycheck.  Things look up when two potential clients seek him out.

Courtney Reeves hires Seth to investigate a paranormal disturbance in her home.  On the surface it’s a run of the mill cleaning job but when you deal with the dead for a living, there’s no such thing as routine.  The close of the case is the start of even bigger problems and Seth will find that, while there’s nothing to fear from the dead, the living are another story.

When the nervous and persistent Evan Gallagher enters his life, Seth sees the promise of a big payday.  There’s only one catch.  The wealthy lawyer thinks his wife is possessed by a demon.  Seth doesn’t believe in demons…not anymore, but the money is too good to turn down.  Is Evan crazy or is he one hundred percent sane?  As Seth digs deeper, he’ll ask the same question of himself.

For a guy who’s coasted through life on not much more than Greek takeout, tequila, and attitude, Seth’s going to have to dig deep to survive what will turn out to be a very bad week. 

Cover Reveal and Interviews coming soon!

Evening!  This post should be pretty short.  Underly Verbose, I guess you can say!  

So, first off, the cover for my urban fantasy/paranormal novel is completed and it's sexy as hell!  I mean, it looks like a real frigging book!  Roy Mauritsen, once again, proves to be a master of cover design.  Can't wait to share it with everyone.  And I'll do just that...once my Facebook author page gets 300 likes ;)  Yes, there's a catch.  You knew there would be!  So do me a flavor.  Head on over to my Author Page and click the 'like' button if you haven't already done so!  I'm telling you, the cover is FAN-FRIGGING-TASTIC!  

Second off, a friend and fellow writer, Gary Vanucci  will be posting an interview of yours truly on his site this Saturday!  Once I have the link I'll postify it here for your reading pleasure. 

Oh, almost forgot.  I have it on good authority that my very good friend and horror author Belinda Frisch is currently reading Words With Fiends and is not only liking it but is going to interview me on her blog when she's done!  I really enjoy her novels and it's flattering beyond belief that she's enjoying my first self-published effort enough to feature me on her site.  RAWK!  More on that as I know more.  

See?  Told you it would be short.  Only took a few precious moments of your life to read this!  Now, go click on those links and give the aforementioned people some love.  

Until next time, be good!  But not too good.

Anybody interested in a snippet?

Afternoon!  Yes, it's me again.  I have to say that lest someone think my evil doppelganger has hijacked my blog.  Then again, this could be the very doppelganger pulling a clever ruse.  You may never know.

So, we're nearing the time when my editor will get her hands on my upcoming novel.  To say that I'm excited in the extreme would be an understatement.  The book entering the final editing phase means it's just that much closer to being put out into the world.  My first full length book!  I can't friggin' wait.  I'm also awaiting a cover which is in the works as I type this.  Based on other covers my artist has done previously and the image we're running with, I think it's going to melt some faces...in the best way possible of course.

So, where's that snippet I promised up in that there subject heading?  Here it is!  It's very short so you may consider it a teaser.  If anything, it'll give you a glimpse into my writing style (or lack thereof..HA HA!).  Who knows. If enough people leave some replies to this post (HINT HINT!) I may just let a few more teasers trickle out as the book's release date (as yet to be determined based on how long the editing back and forth takes--I'll give a more solid date when I'm confident of when it'll be) nears!

So, without any further ado, here's the tail end of a scene from my Seth Gabriel novel:

“It’s been a hell of a day,” I said, offering her my hand. “Do a shot with me?”
Jamie took my hand and stood up next to me. She wiped the tears from her eyes, brushed the hair out of her face, and shook her head. At least she was smiling.
“Is tequila your answer to everything?” she said.
“It’s worked for me so far.”
“Really?”
I paused. “No. But hey, when life gives you lemons, may as well drink tequila.”
“Or Corona.”
“The stuff’s piss water.”
“What makes you an expert?”
“I’m a dude which makes me an expert on two subjects: alcohol and porn."

So, there it is.  As I said, just a little peek into the life of one Seth Gabriel during his maiden literary voyage.

Hope you dig it and that it leaves you clamoring (yes, I said clamoring) for more!

Until next time, stay frosty and be well.  Or be frosty and stay well.  Either works! 

Harper Voyager--I'm still alive??

Hello all of you out in the blogosphere!  Been a while.  I'm sure you've all missed me.  It's ok to admit it.  Your secret is safe with me!

I've probably mentioned it before (I'm too lazy to go back through my post archive and check) but my Urban Fantasy novel that should be coming out this spring has been around for a while.  I'd finished it sometime last spring and let it sit for a while before I pushed it on, I mean, asked some people if they'd like to read it.  It was in the hands of a few friends when I caught a blog post by the awesome Kim Harrison on FB.  She's published through Harper Collins and as it turned out, their e-book division, Harper Voyager, was having some type of 'unprecedented' open submission event.   Basically, it was open to anybody and everybody who's either self published or not published yet but felt they had something to put out into the world.  The guidelines were pretty simple:  you had until October 15 (I think?  Can't remember the exact date) to send your manuscript to them at which point, they'd have editors look at your product and ultimately decide if it was good enough for them to publish.  The deal wasn't a golden ticket.  There was no advance and it was only for ebooks, not physical copies.  But still.  Published?  Discovered?  Not having to pay for editorial services, cover art, formatting, AND having their advertising department behind your work?  It was worth a shot.

The friends who'd read it got it back to me about three weeks before the deadline with comments.  I decided that I was going to bust a gut to clean it up as best I could based on said comments and send it in.  What's the worst that could happen, right?  So, I fixed it and submitted it on October 13, 2012.

NOW, in the FAQs section, one of the questions was 'Will I hear back if my book has been rejected?'  Their answer was no.  "With the volume of submissions we expect, we simply will not have time to reply to every applicant.  Therefor, if you haven't heard from us in about four months, you can assume that your manuscript wasn't what we are looking for at this time."  Or something to that effect.

It's now roughly five months after-the-fact.  They haven't called me or emailed me saying that I blew the editors' knickers off and they would lie, cheat, steal, and kill to have me in their bullpen.  I sort of expected it.  The way they made it sound in the guidelines, it almost seemed as if they wanted super duper uber polished products that they could hit the ground running with.  Being I relied on a handful of comments from buddies and myself to fix any issues, I assumed a couple months ago that it wasn't for them.  That of course is why I sent it to more betas and went over the whole thing again, making it much more awesomer (I wish I could rewind time and send them the book as it is NOW back THEN.  But what can ya do?)

K.  We're all caught up!  

Anyway, last night I was talking to a buddy of mine who's an author.  She'd also submitted her self published book to HV during the open event.  Somehow, we got on the topic of it and she told me that they ARE sending out rejection letters.  I was like 'say whut?' and she was like 'like, really!'.  Turns out, despite what the guidelines said, they are sending out rejection letters and have been for a while now.  Something to the tune of 3200 or so have gone out.

Guess who hasn't gotten one yet.  ME!  Here I was thinking that no news is bad news, based on what I inferred from their website (it was pretty explicit, so I don't think I misunderstood) and it still may very well be.  I forget the exact figure but my buddy said the latest HV update said they still have about 700 that are in the process of 'not having been read yet or already read once and are to be  revisited'.  

So, what does this mean for me?  I'm sure they're going in the order the novels came in.  Not sure where I fall in there.  I got it in only a couple days before the deadline so it could just be a matter of mine being near the bottom of the stack.  If there were a lot of Johnny Come Latelies, it could be that they've already read it and are still considering it.  Either which way, it's nice to know that I WILL hear from them eventually, either way.  As of now, it's on the periphery of my consciousness, but I'm still moving forward with the betas, my cover guy, and the editor I hired to look at in about a week and a half from now.  My book WILL see the light of day not too far from now, that much I promise.  Whether it'll be under the HV imprint or self published on Amazon and Smashwords is another story.

In the meantime, I ain't banking on it but it's nice to know that out of those 3200 or so rejection letters, I ain't been one of them.   So, no news is just that: no news.  We'll see what we'll see ;)  

As an aside, I almost pulled an April Fool's joke on my author page in which I screamed from the rooftops that Harper Voyager liked my novel and brought me into the fold.  (I didn't do it because I thought it would be kind of mean to those still waiting or who've been rejected.  I'm not that much of a dick, although it probably would have been funny to poke some fun at myself when I revealed I was just spouting bullshit. ) 

Coincidence??  Most likely.  Self fulfilling prophecy?  A jinx on myself?  I don't believe in that shit, so I'll go with coincidence. 

Ok, you're blinded by my babble by now so I'll stop right here and now.  As always, thanks for dropping by!