Writer's Note #3

I don't know how others feel about it, but I am still affected by my own writing no matter how many times I read my novels.

In Infused, reading chapter four always makes me smile. In that chapter, an inexperienced Geoff seems to be enthralled by a woman's leg (once he comes to the realization that he is actually touching it). I find it amusing and a bit heart warming. It really shows how Geoff was at this point, how removed from any kind of intimate interaction he was.

In A God's First World, I can't help but cry when I read chapter sixteen because of the intense emotions that occur as the characters deal with life and death. Geoff's minimal experience with friends and loved ones prior to this had led him to have limited control over his emotions. Faced with the the events of this chapter, his emotions are pushed to extremes.

Writer's Note #2

In my second novel, A God's First World, there were some details about the story that I did not put in the book.

One of the details was why a person was in a location at a certain time, when they would normally be there at a different time of the day. There were a couple of reasons that I didn't explain this detail. The main reason was that I did not want to break the mood by throwing in an explanation in the middle of a very emotional chapter. The other reason was that none of the characters knew why the person was there at that time, so they couldn't answer the question in story (if you have read the book, this will make sense).

The character was there at that time because they were attempting to avoid running into Geoff.

Writer's Note

Before the final editing of my first novel, Infused, had been completed, a few friends read it and gave me some feedback. I learned that some things that I had left unsaid, needed to be said.

Since I wrote the story, I knew why people were doing the things that they were doing, and I understood how they felt. However, sometimes things aren't as apparent to people that do not have the story living in their head. So, I added a few lines in to the story to clarify what was meant.

I try to look for things that may not be evident when I write now, and then I will make sure that I state the non-so-obvious.

Two Novels in One

After A God's First World had been out a short time, I released a new printed book that includes both Infused and A God's First World. This is mainly for people that prefer printed books, but had not bought Infused previously. However, Infused is still available as a separate printed book.

This new combined book does use a smaller font to allow more words to fit onto a page. The print size is similar to what is commonly used in a standard paperback book. This allowed me to keep the page count down to 400 (from 530 pages with the larger print). This provides a less expensive alternative to buying the separate novels.

I'm seeing sales in new countries with the release of A God's First World. It seems that some people take you more seriously as a writer when you release your second novel; the new foreign sales have been for both novels.

I appreciate everyone that reads my stories. I hope that I bring some enjoyment, thought, and emotional involvement to you.

A God's First World is Published

After receiving the proof copy of the paperback edition of A God's First World, I found that I was happy with the cover and the formatting, so I released it for purchase on Amazon. I had also formatted e-book versions for Kindle and Nook, so I released those on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble web sites. I will be releasing the iBook version for Apple products soon.

It always feels good to have a nicely printed and bound copy of your novel in your hand. It presents you with a solid piece of evidence of your work that seeing the words on the screen just don't. Don't get me wrong, I am fine with reading books on an e-reader, but you want to be able to hold your baby in your hands.

Almost There

I have finished editing A God's First World, and I have formatted it for the print version, the Kindle version, and the Nook version. I am waiting for a proof to be shipped to me of the paperback version. Once I have that (assuming that it looks good), I will be making all of these different versions available for purchase. I still have to work on the iBook version for Apple's store, but that shouldn't take too long to do.

I pushed myself to go through this last pass of editing fairly quickly; I was able to work through three chapters on each of several evenings. Once I had finished the writing, I wanted to get the book into people's hands as soon as possible. With Infused, it sat around for about a year and a half after I had finished writing it before it was published. This was partially due to me slowly editing it myself, waiting on a friend to perform an in-depth grammatical edit, my lack of knowledge of how to publish a book, and being disillusioned by listening to other local authors talk about the business of selling books. This time, the book will be available about a month after I finished writing it.

I hope that people will enjoy this book. I have heard my best friend laugh, and I have heard her cry, as I have read the initial draft to her on the phone at night; it is a somewhat different type of store than Infused was. Whereas in Infused, Geoff reacted to the changes in his life without really changing himself (he was just freer to express who he was), he grows as a person in this story by actually experiencing life.

A God's First World has been written

I have finished writing A God's First World, the sequel to Infused. I still have editing and formatting for the different mediums to take care of, but, of course, completing the initial draft is a major milestone. It ended up being thirty-seven chapters long and right around 90,000 words.

I have done a fair amount of editing along the way, and I have a better grasp on what things should look like than I did while working on my first book, so hopefully I will be able to finish up the editing and have the book available soon.