 | I have a lot of stuff to get out this week, and there's no particular order to it, so I'm going to start with news of some of my friends. First and most important, I have another friend from Scribbler's Den, Ashley Alexander, who is launching a KickStarter campaign. This is for Rules of Engagement, a series that will ultimately become a trilogy. It is a steampunk adventure story that comes with some twists, beginning in the synopsis. Rather than write about a book I haven't read, I will strongly suggest that you visit the link and see for yourself. Could be worth your while... |
| A friend of long acquaintance, Sandy, aka Doris the Great, who operates the Aging Disgracefully blog, has posted an insightful dissertation about coming to terms with an aging body. She's really worth a read, as she has a delightful way with words, as well as looking at the world around her, and can always be counted on to lift your spirits. I tripped over her blog one day by clicking the "Next Blog" button on one of my friends' blogs, and up popped Aging Disgracefully. This isn't the sort of thing anyone who knows me would expect me to be reading, but I'm very glad I found her, and I most strongly recommend a visit; you may find yourself glad that you found her, too! |  |
 | Another friend with a project is Erin Fink-Nottle. I hope you recognize a nom de plume when you hear one. Anyway, Erin is a university student with a whole gang of projects going, and to our good fortune, she chooses to share with us on her blog, Short Stories, Poems, and a Half-Written Novel. Her novel-in-progress is steampunk, but I'm featuring her here to point up her Twitter-Novel project. That's right, she's writing a book 140 characters at a time. You might not think that would work (I know I didn't), but click the link and prepare to be amazed! And leave a word of encouragement if you find her work as engaging as I did. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you! |
| Elle Todd is a writer I know, another friend I met on line, this time by looking at the followers of another site I was reading. Again, so glad I did. She is published, knowledgeable, and friendly and easy to talk to, a dynamite combination. She took to the bandwidth yesterday to inform everyone that Awesome Indies, writing guild she belongs to, is having an e-book sale and giveaway to celebrate the launch of their redesigned site. Elle's blog is a site you should have bookmarked if you have an interest in insight into the minds of writers. She doesn't write steampunk, but I'll forgive her because she's sweet! |  |
I promised a milestone, and here it is: I have finished Episode 12 of the Beyond the Rails saga! Episode 12 sizes out at just over 21,000 words, making it twice the size of the typical BtR story, and moving it squarely into the Novella category. This is good practice, as I intend Volume 3 to be a one-story novel somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 words, with plot twists, double-crosses, subplots, side adventures, and maybe even a surprise or two.
But I get ahead of myself. My next step is to proofread Episode 12, tighten the prose, make sure every word is the best one it can possibly be, and get it up at writing.com for beta-reads. While they're doing that, I will be carefully and painstakingly transferring all the separate Word files that comprise the book into one large one, which I can then plug into the Create Space template. Each of those steps is another chance to proofread. Once the prose is formatted for publication, it will be time to finalize the design with my fabulous cover artist, get that magnificent eye-catcher attached, submit it for final format approval, and a few days later, it will be posted for sale on amazon.com. The next project after that will be to contract a new cover for Volume 1 to bring it into visual line with the projected series. While my artist is getting that together, I will be laboring to get the last few renegade typos out of the text, and that will be released as the second edition. After that, it's on to Volume 3.
I should take a moment to drop a note here to my wonderful artist, Aidana WillowRaven, who follows this site. Do not feel rushed! I specified a February date, and the fact that I had some good luck with the story development should not put pressure on you. February works for me as a publishing date. All this means is that I will have a few extra weeks to proofread and perfect everything, so just aim for February and continue as you have been. And lest it ever be said that I missed a chance to say it, thanks again for everything; you da bomb, girl!
Finally, I'm going to celebrate the completion of Episode 12 by updating the site. I'll probably spend tomorrow working on that, so anyone interested may see pieces of it going up throughout the day. I have some ideas for new graphics, a new title that is more reflective of what this means to me and my small but growing fan base, and maybe even a complete new format for the page overall, so swing by again later this week, and let me know what you think. Until then, remember, life is too important to squander a single minute of it being serious, so get out there and live life like you mean it!
See you soon,
"Blimprider"
But I get ahead of myself. My next step is to proofread Episode 12, tighten the prose, make sure every word is the best one it can possibly be, and get it up at writing.com for beta-reads. While they're doing that, I will be carefully and painstakingly transferring all the separate Word files that comprise the book into one large one, which I can then plug into the Create Space template. Each of those steps is another chance to proofread. Once the prose is formatted for publication, it will be time to finalize the design with my fabulous cover artist, get that magnificent eye-catcher attached, submit it for final format approval, and a few days later, it will be posted for sale on amazon.com. The next project after that will be to contract a new cover for Volume 1 to bring it into visual line with the projected series. While my artist is getting that together, I will be laboring to get the last few renegade typos out of the text, and that will be released as the second edition. After that, it's on to Volume 3.
I should take a moment to drop a note here to my wonderful artist, Aidana WillowRaven, who follows this site. Do not feel rushed! I specified a February date, and the fact that I had some good luck with the story development should not put pressure on you. February works for me as a publishing date. All this means is that I will have a few extra weeks to proofread and perfect everything, so just aim for February and continue as you have been. And lest it ever be said that I missed a chance to say it, thanks again for everything; you da bomb, girl!
Finally, I'm going to celebrate the completion of Episode 12 by updating the site. I'll probably spend tomorrow working on that, so anyone interested may see pieces of it going up throughout the day. I have some ideas for new graphics, a new title that is more reflective of what this means to me and my small but growing fan base, and maybe even a complete new format for the page overall, so swing by again later this week, and let me know what you think. Until then, remember, life is too important to squander a single minute of it being serious, so get out there and live life like you mean it!
See you soon,
"Blimprider"