Steven M. Nedeau's Blog: What's an Author To Do?

Hello Everyone!

I just want to spread the word that Memory Reborn has received a Kirkus Review and, well, I really liked it.

Here are some highlights:

"This thought-provoking SF novel by author Nedeau painstakingly details the fragility of identity." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Nedeau also accomplishes the surprising feat of making the unpleasant protagonist likable by novel’s end; Darien is shown to mature as he learns that he’s not the only victim of the conspiracy at the heart of the story." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A tense read with an impressive reveal and an unpredictable conclusion." -- Kirkus Reviews

Anyway, the review is up at the Kirkus website and just hearing someone else tell me that my books don't suck had made me stand a bit taller today.

Kirkus Review of Memory Reborn

Do me a favor, read and review this book.

I haven't written anything here in a while.
I know.
I know.
The last post I wrote was about past project depression. It's kind of a weird subject. You would think it's like finishing a race. Wait, strike that. You might think finishing a project feels like winning a race. In a way it does. But, it also feels like watching your children leave for college. I'm happy with the accomplishment, but I will also miss the closeness and familiarity I had with those characters.

Moving on. I am writing queries for my new book. Yes, I have a new book. No, it isn't the sequel to The Soulweb.
I know.
I know.
Hey, I said, I know.
The new book is a science fiction book and the tagline is:
At John's new job at the memory storage facility he is shocked to discover that he is the intended storage device, and has been all along.
I'm pretty exited about this one. It has that Black Mirror feel to it.

Oh, and I AM working on the sequel to The Soulweb. I promise.

I just finished a project and the downs are back.

I don’t know about you but I ride the emotional roller coaster every time I finish a project. Several things could relate to this feeling.

Pushing hard during the last week has deprived me of sleep and I’m barely functioning.

expectations of excitement from others that doesn’t manifest right away.

still can’t get the damn cover to update on amazon.

I have ten other projects that need my attention.

my TBR pile is growing but I don’t have time to relax with someone else’s words.

Like I said, there are a ton of reasons for my post project depression. The Unlikely Hero, A Fair Play Renaissance Fair Play is available for sale on amazon.com, but it’s a play, and it isn’t very long. I really don’t expect a play to sell like a novel. There are three different versions in the book , written for three different types of performance. I should be happy I finished it. That’s one more item in my writer resume.

I know this is going to pass and I’m going to dive back into my half done science fiction novel, Memory Reborn. Chapter eleven is going to be steamy. I have a lot of stories to look forward to. After Memory Reborn I plan to write Soulweb Sleeping. I have a couple of new story ideas about post apocalyptic society after that. I might write a second play. Let’s see how the first one is received. And eventually I’ll write Soulweb Shattered. Who know knows? I might feel like writing the two remaining books of the trilogy in sequence.

All I know right now is that I’m tired and I’m rambling on. You know what keeps me going when I feel like this?

You. You’re reading. As long as that is true, I know everything is gonna be alright.

So here it is, my new website. This is my first blog post here and I don’t really know what to write. I guess I can tell you about the website.

Why a new website?

The last one was in serious need of updating. The images of the book covers were incorrect (I had been editing the cover and didn’t give the new images to my web-builder, who is fantastic by the way). The names of my works in progress were incorrect. I didn’t have anywhere to add events or add photos sent to me by my readers. I even had a bunch of new event photos that I wanted to post.

It didn’t have enough room. I had received notices that I was using too much bandwidth and taking up too much room from my hosting provider. Really, how was that possible? The site barely had anything on it, a couple of pictures, a couple of links.

The price of what I was getting in terms of hosting and domain service vs what they wanted to charge me was ridiculous. For the outdated and inadequate hosting plus domains, they wanted $687 for three years, all while trying to convince me that I was getting a discount. F that. This site I have up now is costing me roughly $188 a year ($41 cheaper) and I don’t have half the restriction of my last hosting company. AND this site was almost half price for the first year.

I didn’t know how to update that site on my own. A very good friend of mine built a beautiful website on the other hosting platform but that is what he does for work. I felt that any time he spent helping me with my site was taking away from his business. Don’t get me wrong. He was more than willing to help me and I love him, but I wasn’t compensating him and I felt guilty about that. Rest assured, when my books explode and I’m making money, money, money, that guy is going to building my web platforms and I’m gonna make sure he’s well paid.

So here we are. I’m planning on adding new items like a mailing list and videos. I also want to allow image attachments in the contact area so that you can send me photos of you wearing my Soulweb tshirts. Rock that swag!

Well, I am not one to write three hundred blog posts a year but I really should try to write twelve.
What have I been up to, you ask? A lot.

I am still working on the sequels to The Soulweb (on the back burner). My science fiction novel, Memory Reborn is coming along nicely but nowhere as quick as I would like. I've started an audience participation comedy play to be performed at the 2019 New Hampshire Renaissance Faire and to top everything off, I am trying to get a spot at the NHNEA conference in the spring so that I can hold a workshop about creative writing.

I ordered a new set of cinch bags and am printing a whole new round of t-shirts for those people that purchase a book at my events. I'm thinking I might make the t-shirts and bags available for sale separately from the book but I would have to figure out pricing.
Somewhere in the back of my brain I'm thinking about offering Soulweb banners for sale as well. I just need to see how they turn out.

That's all for now. This is a short one. I can't wait for warmer weather so I can see you all again!

So I have a short story related to The Soulweb in the

November December Issue of Kyanite Press

If you are one of the many fans of The Soulweb waiting for the story to continue, get your copy today!

Thank you for sharing my story with me.
:)

So, the summer is over and we're driving into October. What does that mean for me? I'm going to try to write some books.

I've spent my summer months playing with my wife and kids. But the kids are getting much older and I'm more of an annoyance than anything. I've attended several events this year and I'm almost ready for a break. Why do I say almost? I really enjoy the events. I love talking about books and meeting new people. This summer was no exception.

Black Swan Renaissance Faire in August was an interesting event. I met some really nice people and sold a few books. I took this opportunity to streamline my sales tent and build upon my wooden book stand. I also ditched the idea of using a table. Screw that! I want chairs. Come into my tent and have a seat. Chat with me. If you wind up buying a book, EVEN BETTER!
I do need to decide if I will do this fair again next year or attend my town's Old Home Day where I hope sales will be better.

The Strafford Renaissance Faire, sadly, was a bust and I am not sure they will hold it again next year. But, even there I sold four books. I had planned on going to the event for both days but bailed on the second day. The woman that played the queen at the Strafford Renaissance Faire told me during the day that she wanted to buy a book but could not until the second day of the event. She didn't know I wasn't coming back. I gifted her a copy of The Soulweb before I left.
What did I learn at the Strafford RenFaire? I learned that I love my tent streamlined for conversation instead of sales.

I also attended the NH NEA conference in Early October. Now, I did not enjoy this event as a vendor. The teachers are really there to learn new things and connect with other teachers. As a vendor, I was standing in a hallway, lined up with people sharing information about insurance and field trips. I DID get to meet some GREAT people again and I sold eight more books.
But, I want to stress how much I got out of being at this event. I met someone from NH PBS that might be asking me to judge a creative writing contest this winter. Then, an idea struck me for a creative writing workshop that I could share with the teachers at the spring conference and, after that, maybe I might even start visiting schools to help run the workshop. Put me in a classroom and let me share my ideas.
I won't sell any books in the classroom but I can give away my bookmarks!

Anyway, now I'm writing again. I'm re-writing a science fiction story I wrote two years ago. I was never really happy with it and I'm excited to see it how it always should have been.

Does that mean I'm pushing away the sequels to The Soulweb? Ultimately, yes. BUT, once I get this science fiction out of my head the Soulweb Trilogy will be in full force.

Love all of you,
Steven

Are you an author? What are your books about? Have you ever been to a renaissance fair?

What the heck are you waiting for?

I know that's a lot of questions. So, why am I asking? Damn, that was another question.

I just finished two weeks (two weekends actually) as an author/vendor at the NH Renaissance Faire. Did I enjoy it? (Another question, and a dumb one at that.) Of course I did! I have not had this much fun in a while.

If you don't know me, I can talk. But I don't just talk, I listen. Do you know what I'm not, a salesman. So, I talked people's ears off, stopped them as they were walking by to engage them in conversation. I asked them question about their favorite books and I wrote down a few to pick up at a later date.

Everyone has passion for something and I love to hear about it. Some people bought my book and I'm so pleased because I intend to be at this fair next year. I can't wait to hear what they thought of it.

Love from a very tired author,

Steve

Hello everyone!
Just a quick note about what I'm doing lately.

I'm preparing for the NH Renaissance Faire in Freemont NH. This event will be held on 2018 dates: May 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th. I will be there ALL 4 days.
I will be selling copies of The Soulweb for $15. I know, I know, it's only $14.99 online. But, for every sale of the book you will receive a Soulweb Cinchbag AND a Soulweb t-shirt AND a Soulweb Bookmark (while supplies last).

I've been busy at work preparing my tent. I bought fabric and hired a wonderful woman, Sherry Duquette to make a new cover for my easyup. It came out fantastic! I built a book stand that's 5 feet tall and holds 60 books. I've built a stand for the Cinchbags AND I made a costume.

On the side, as well as writing the sequel to The Soulweb, I've been working as a script consultant.

Well that's a lot from me. I hope you can make it to the NH Renaissance Faire!

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't written here in a while but I haven't written much of anything in a while. I've been busy with my audio-book for The Soulweb.

I know, I know. Are you really spouting on about audio-books on goodreads? We're all about books here, man!

I've had a lot of people I know brush off the thought of reading my book until I mentioned to them that I might be working on an audio-book. Some people don't have time to read and get their story time in the car on the way to work. So, for them I endeavored to create the audio of my book. I recorded three chapters personally and put them on youtube.com. Here's a link. Then I felt how much work this could be. My voice was raw. Taking the time to edit the work was keeping me from writing my next book and short stories.

Seeking a solution, I joined acx.com where I met a great voice actor named David Swanson and together we worked on the parameters that would define The Soulweb Audio-book.

You would think that this would be a simple hand off. I would sit back and David would provide the completed audio book. But no-one understands a book like the author and David was very open to taking direction. So, together we embarked on this adventure. David would record chapters and provide them to me. I would listen intently, reading the book along with his voice and making minor corrections and suggestions.

I shudder to think of how David must feel about me; all I seem to do is request changes to his work, like a distant Baron in a tower shouting commands. While to me, David has become a friend, a voice of comfort and like a family member I have not seen in years. This is how we all feel about celebrities we are fond of. We develop a familiarity with them that they may never know.

In these feelings, I can only see success. If I have enjoyed his work this much, how will others feel about it? Will they come to hear David's voice and welcome the story he tells? Will they develop the familiarity with him that allows them to fall into my story?

I hope so.

We are nearing the end of our journey together, David and I. Soon, I will be announcing the completion of The Soulweb and all I can say is: Thank you, Mr. Swanson. Nice work.