The Key to the Universe

So now that the first book is out there, I’ve been working diligently on the second one. Or, trying to at least. I do find myself getting distracted easily. I think it might be because I’m faced with writing the second book – making it as interesting if not more than the first book. It has to live up to the first one, and still stay true to the characters, and also, still leave room for a third installment of the story. All things that kind of make me want to surf the internet aimlessly for hours, or watch movies, listen to new music, or do just about anything other than write.

That living up to the first book is kind of tough. It’s pretty much the way of the world, I think. If you’re an artist, you most likely get caught in the sequel doldrums. You’re debut is usually good, then you go into the sophomore slump, and then most of the time, you’re third installment is the masterpiece. I know it’s that way with music a lot of the time – bands go through that. I don’t know if writers have that same trajectory. Probably not, because generally, your career as a writer lasts a lot longer then your career in a band.

But I’d really like to make my second book as good as, or better than the first one. Which will require a lot of thinking, a lot of work and a lot of concentration. Focus, focus, focus. The key to the universe right there.

So going a little off topic, I’ve had a few sales of Drowning in the Dark. Nothing major, but I didn’t really expect anything major right off the bat. But even just the few sales I’ve had make me feel all giddy inside. Thinking that some people are out there reading my book is pretty cool. The feeling’s definitely a lot stronger than the one you get from people reading your news stories. Because unlike a lot of those news stories, I really feel like I’ve put myself into Drowning in the Dark. It’s coming from a different place, if that makes sense. A much deeper, more meaningful place then it does when I’m writing about education or city business.

So those are my thoughts for now. I should get back to writing my book I guess. I’m at 10,000 words, and hoping to make it to at least 15,000 by the end of this week, in between work and all the other nonsense that needs to get done. So I better cut this post short then. Catch you on the other side of 15K.

Drowning in the Dark: The Walking Demon Series

So here's my newly published book, Drowning in the Dark: The Walking Demon Series cover, along with links to booksellers where you can purchase a copy, if you feel so inclined (which I hope you do!) Thanks for stopping by!

Buy at Barnes & Noble

Buy at Amazon

Buy at Smashwords

The Big Day

Today is the day.

The official day that my book, Drowning in the Dark, becomes available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Smashwords in an e-book format.

And I have to say, it’s pretty damn exciting. This is my debut book, and it’s a wonderful feeling to see it online, available to the reading masses like that. Not to mention, the feeling of just writing and finishing a book. That’s pretty special too.

I never thought I would get to write and publish something like this so soon. I'm 23 years old, and I had always thought you could never really become a writer until you became older and more established. I always thought you had to slave away for years and years in far-flung corners of the publishing industry, and maybe if you were lucky, the earliest you could publish something would be in your 30’s.

But this whole new e-reader wave has really broken down those old and outdated industry standards. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be writing what I want to write at my age. And of course, to have the opportunity to have it published! That last part is pretty major. Because I’m pretty sure that if I went through the normal query route, my book would not have been be published, or if it did, it wouldn’t be ready for another two years or maybe more. And by then, it wouldn’t be cutting-edge anymore.

So what I’m saying is that I’m so extremely pleased to be apart of this new wave of e-reading. I truly do believe it’s the future, and I’m so thrilled to be apart of it, and have the chance to mainline my book directly to the readers.

On a side note, I’d really like to thank all the fine folks at You Come Too Publishing. I couldn’t have done it without their valuable insight and help.

So with that, I’m going to leave you with a description of the book below. Here you go:

There's a demon walking the streets of Freeport. And only teenager Samantha Carver can stop it.
It's hard to outrun your past. But that's what Sam thought she could do. After moving to a sleepy town on the Oregon coast to live with relatives, she thought she was safe. She thought she could be someone different. She thought she could be a normal teenage girl.

However, the quiet coastal town of Freeport is no refuge. After a girl at the high school is brutally murdered, the police believe Samantha's cousin and best friend, Terry, is responsible.

But Samantha knows what her friends, teachers, and the police don't. The murderer isn't human. Samantha has seen this before. Too many times. She has witnessed the dead rise from their graves and do unspeakable things. She carries the scars on her skin and the sorrow in her soul to prove it.

The evil that she thought she had left behind in the rotting graveyards of her past is still stalking her.

Will Samantha be able to save Terry, Freeport, and herself from the malevolent power that threatens to rip her world apart? Or will she succumb under a surging tide of evil and drown in the growing darkness that surrounds her?

In the tradition of Amanda Hocking and Charlaine Harris comes a paranormal romantic thriller with more chills than a cold and windblown night on the Oregon coast.

Pushing Past the Gray Days

So I’m relatively new at the writing game. There are those writers who say things like, "I’ve been writing since I was 10," and maybe that’s the case, but not for me. I always leaned in that direction, and I think back then I would have said that I was writer, but it was only recently that I really became one, and learned what its all about.

In college I tried to work at the student newspaper, but ended up not really liking it, so I kind of gave up on the whole journalism thing. When I graduated, I came out to a terrible job economy, and ended up working at a call center for a while. And then, I finally landed my current job as a reporter.

I’ve been at the paper for about a year now, and it’s taught me so much about being a writer. I learned that some days you have it, and some days you don’t, but regardless of how you’re feeling, that deadline comes no matter what. So you better just buck up and push past whatever block you’re having, otherwise you won’t meet your deadline, and pretty soon, you won’t have a job.

Being able to do that – to push past things even when you’re in a slump – is really the most valuable lesson I’ve take away from it. There’s no giving up. Some days you turn in stories that you feel less proud of than other days, but that’s just the way it works. It’s all about being persistent, and continuing even when you don’t feel like it.

I applied that same principle to my creative writing as well, and it’s really helped me. If I have a deadline for something, I know I can complete it within the time frame. Each day, I stuck to writing 1,000 words, no matter how I felt. Of course, going back through the editing process, you can see the days when you weren’t feeling it (Sometimes you have an overwhelming "What the hell was I thinking? moment), but that’s what the editing process if for. The first step is just to get the words down.

I only learned this recently however. My upcoming paranormal romance book, Drowning in the Dark (Got my title picked out!), is the fourth book that I started writing. I had tried to write three other books before this one, and I never got past 15,000 words because I’d get stuck and loose enthusiasm for the story. And soon I’d loose complete interest, and abandon it because I couldn’t get past those gray days.

So finishing and publishing this book is a really big step for me (I guess that’s a stupid thing to say – it’s a big step for every first-time author.) But I’m really excited about it. Even if the book doesn’t do well right away, the fact that I actually finished it and put it out there is good enough for me. (At least for now J ) Now that I’ve done it, I know that I’ll be able to again and again in the future. And that right there is pretty cool.
　

If I Can't Think of a Title for This Post, How am I Gonna Think of One For My Book??? and other good stories...

I’ve been studying the market a lot recently trying to come up with a title for my book. I’m getting closer and closer to the publication date, but haven’t actually chosen a title yet. I’ve had some ideas, but have found it a little problematic when I consider them from a marketing standpoint. Plus, with the book being solely available as an e-book to begin with, the rules seem to be a little different.
The genre is paranormal romance, and of course, you have to take your audience into consideration, but you also have to consider what will sell books. What I’ve learned with the book titles and covers in this genre is that they are not scary or frightening. Usually the titles are vague, one word, and allude to things you won’t understand until you’ve read the book. Though the covers are visually interesting, they are equally vague.
I’ve been playing around with the one-word title thing, and seem to have gone down a silly path. My book takes place by the ocean, so I’ve been coming up with absurdly simple names like – "Rocks," "Seaweed," and "Starfish." Things that really have nothing to do with the book, and titles that I would probably pass over if I were the consumer.
That one word thing is harder than I thought.
On the other hand, going with a full-blown horror title and look seems like it would sell more books initially, but maybe scare away the people who should actually be reading the book.
So here’s the conundrum. Striking the right balance between horror and romance, so that both groups will know what the book's about.
But maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself here. The book should sell a few copies before I start worrying about alienating audiences.
I am having my cover designed by You Come Too Publishing’s graphic artist, and I’m really excited about how it’s turning out. The title… well, I'm still mulling it over.
The hours are ticking.