On Writing

I just finished reading Stephen King's On Writing and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is the first piece of non-fiction that I've read in quite some time. He doled out some excellent advice, some of which I had already been doing (which pleased me greatly) and the autobiographical material was interesting. I never considered myself a huge Stephen King fan, but then, when I sat down and thought about it, I realized that I had  read quite a few of his books in my teen years. I think the first of his books I read was The Shining, then a collection of short stories titled Night Shift. Then I read The Stand. I don't remember if I read any more of his works after that, but I've seen tons of movies and made-for-TV movies based on his work, enjoying most (but not all) of them. So I guess I am a bigger fan than I realized!

As for my book, I am still making tweaks to it. I'm on the third proof version and still found a few things I want to change before I pronounce it ready for the public. Adobe InDesign helped me tame the layout problems and now I'm just tweaking a few sentences my daughter Emily wanted changed. The cover is still giving me a few problems, but I have a handle on what I want to do and it is all coming together. Soon...very soon!

Update on the proof

I received the proof copy for my book on Monday! There were a few problems that I'll have to correct so it's not quite ready for the public yet. The cover turned out very nice and with the exception of the main image being slightly too dark, I am very happy with the look of it! I would put it up against any other book on the bookstore shelf! The interior is another story. For some reason the formatting was very strange with page numbers popping up in strange areas and chapter headings looking off. I've decided to bust out Adobe InDesign (thanks to a recommendation by my editor Jill!) to redo the formatting. I had been using Microsoft Word 2007 and a freeware pdf conversion utility, but I think it will be much easier for me to do this with InDesign (allowing for some time to become familiar with the application!).

In other unrelated news I am going to be launching a second blog soon that will focus on my gaming adventures with my children. We are going to be playing several boardgames and RPG's over the next few months and I wanted to blog about it. The blog is called: Ludious Resurrectio - The Resurrected Gamer  the name reflects my attempts to get back into the sort of gaming I did in my younger years! Mostly RPG's but several boardgames as well! 

So close I can smell it....

The new paperback version of the revised Emily & The Silent King is almost ready. Thanks to a ton of help from a good friend (Jill MacCorkle) I think this is the best version of the book to date. She gave me some excellent (and candid) advice that I put to use in polishing up the book. I really think this version will give me that "it's finally done" feeling and I can put it to rest and concentrate on going back over books two and three (not to mention book four).

I am just waiting on the proof to be delivered to me and then if everything looks good (fingers crossed!) I will be offering it on Amazon and an e-store very soon! I just hope the work I put into the cover picture comes through when it's printed.

I've been working on other things to support the books in my free time (what's that?). Trying to come up with a logo and other images to jazz up the pages. Hopefully I'll get enough free time this weekend to put a dent in that!

Emily & The Silent King Update

The revised edition of Emily & The Silent King is getting one more thorough look over by a copy editor and then it will be ready for publication. I can't wait to get this new version onto the virtual bookshelf at Amazon! In the meantime, I've been working on art work to support the first book as well as revising book two (Devin & The Empire of Wolves) and getting it ready for copy editing!

I've also become addicted to the Grammar Girl podcasts! Minon Fogarty has such a quirky style and a cute voice, I can't help but listen.I absorb about 10-15 episodes per day on my commute to and from work. I'm almost caught up with the current podcasts.

No one was able to come up with Thulsa Doom from Conan as the last "Guess the Villain" entry, so here is a new one! This one should be a lot easier and I've decided to seek out a villain that wasn't from the 80's. Good luck!

Creeping Closer!

The paperback version of Emily & The Silent King is nearing completion! I am hoping that the publishing process is much smoother this time around! If all goes well, I will be able to publish my books at a more affordable price while maintaining a high level of quality! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

As promised, here is the sneak peek of the upcoming book cover! It features Ixdee the unicorn in all her glory! I hope you like the cover, let me know what you think!

I need your help! I always have difficulty trying to come up with an interesting description for the back cover of the book and the blurb on the sales page. Please take a few minutes to visit this review link and let me know your thoughts on the two paragraphs I've come up with!

Microsoft Tag

Microsoft has developed a new technology called Microsoft Tag. It basically is a generated image that you can capture with your cellphone camera and it is linked to a resource. This resource can be many things, more information on a product, a website URL, almost anything! I think it's a really cool piece of tech and I am already trying to think of ways to use it.

I have created my first tag linking back to this blog! You can see what it looks like in the image I've posted! I can put this image on the back of my book, on T-shirts, wherever, and when people snapit with their cellphones, they will automatically be taken to my blog here, where they can learn all about the Legends of Midralon! Cool huh? No more having to memorize a URL or jotting down a note.

The best part is that this is free technology! I can't wait to start using it!

Emily & the Silent King update!

I have just received the edited copy of the revised version of Emily & the Silent King from my editor. I'm relieved that my grammar wasn't as bad as I'd thought it might be! I feel like I've been getting stronger and stronger with the my sentence composition and structure, but had no barometer to measure it against, until now. I was nervous about using an editor, but the one I found has been very easy to work with and I hope to work with her again.

Now the pressure is on me to finish up the new cover and get this baby out to press! I am very excited about the possibilities of this book. Although, I am nervous that it might be the worst time to introduce a book, since the US economy is struggling right now. Still, I am hopeful that people will still look to reading as an escape from the worries of the day and that my book finds it way onto the list of preferred titles somewhere!