Richard Alan's Blog
December 11, 2014
The Show Must Go On
Today I started plotting my next short story that could easily become another novella. As planned, “Off the Grass” is intended for the Kindle collection I’m putting together with Barry Woodham of the “Genesis” and “Elf Wars” series, and possibly a guest writer. Within a couple days of writing, I should know where this new story will fit.
“The Last Train” has launched successfully and is doing well. Since the 21st, I have received 6 reviews from both people I know and strangers so I’m happy about that. Reading, being entertained, and then leaving reviews are the biggest blessing to an author, so thank you!
Meanwhile, email and promoting has been my focus. I’m generally bad at keeping up with my social networks, but I am very interactive to posts that come to my email. I’m a one on one and small group person. That’s why counseling fit so comfortably into my life. As a teacher, I prefer interactive teaching. Both activities are on hold due to reactive airways asthma that has left me unsure when I can say more words than coughs.
That also killed my ability to continue performing my songs. Hey, I had a 30 year run and made many wonderful memories, friends, and supported several non-profit organizations along the way. I freely wrote songs just for the asking.
Well, the next two days I hope to be writing my next story for a few hours before jumping back into the cyberspace fray. I try to avoid the black holes, but they do blend in so well among the stars – my friends, colleagues, and luminaries.
Have a Beautiful, Loving Holiday Season! Peace and Goodwill to you All!
The Last TrainRichard Alan – Author
::Bump:: Day or Night
http://bit.ly/1xSsoWh
“The Last Train” has launched successfully and is doing well. Since the 21st, I have received 6 reviews from both people I know and strangers so I’m happy about that. Reading, being entertained, and then leaving reviews are the biggest blessing to an author, so thank you!
Meanwhile, email and promoting has been my focus. I’m generally bad at keeping up with my social networks, but I am very interactive to posts that come to my email. I’m a one on one and small group person. That’s why counseling fit so comfortably into my life. As a teacher, I prefer interactive teaching. Both activities are on hold due to reactive airways asthma that has left me unsure when I can say more words than coughs.
That also killed my ability to continue performing my songs. Hey, I had a 30 year run and made many wonderful memories, friends, and supported several non-profit organizations along the way. I freely wrote songs just for the asking.
Well, the next two days I hope to be writing my next story for a few hours before jumping back into the cyberspace fray. I try to avoid the black holes, but they do blend in so well among the stars – my friends, colleagues, and luminaries.
Have a Beautiful, Loving Holiday Season! Peace and Goodwill to you All!
The Last TrainRichard Alan – Author
::Bump:: Day or Night
http://bit.ly/1xSsoWh
November 23, 2014
THE LAST TRIN HAS LEFT THE STATION!
My fortune is in friends and family, not circumstances, and I’m happy to say that its lack could not stop the wheels of time from grinding forward. Now, I’m mostly up and running on my laptop, and my novella came into the light beginning on my 61st birthday, November 20th, and hit Amazon and Barnes and Noble on the 21st. I was really hoping for that since the publishing process overshot my plans for an October release. Wrought with problems and processes, which I had never done without a full-package deal, was more time consuming than I knew. We live, we learn.
Many of my friends have helped in my word-of-mouth, or look-of-type campaign, if you prefer, to shake up a small part of our world with the great announcement. I am so grateful to them all! You see, I’m not an entrepreneur, or advertising genie. I’m personable. Maybe the grand promotion designs will catch up with me. I’ll watch, but my goal is to entertain, not to overwhelm with ads.
Yes, I know. The more you sell, the more people you entertain. I don’t know how intensely the public wants to know how I shook the world, or how much they pant for my ads. I am to assume they do. This is the backbone of advertising. Bug potential buyers now or they may have to live less enjoyable lives. My product, I am to say, is the miracle cure for sadness.
Do I believe in my product? Yes! “The Last Train” was such a delight to write. My characters pulled me this way and that, sometimes by the heart, and sometimes by the hair. I’m durable, but I felt every tug. At least they let me have the last two words: The End.
As most of my writing friends say, “I love creating something out of nothing, but I hate that advertiser’s hat once the party’s over.” We are wordsmiths. We have a gift to share.
My voice has spoken up again, not for my usual nonprofit causes, not for web pages and e-Zines that come and go, but back in the world of books; lasting, precious books. Alas, that cheers my heart and I hope to catch up many others with my prose; yours perhaps?
SYNOPSIS:
THE LAST TRAIN
By Richard Alan
In this short and witty novella, Jake traverses a treacherous path between heaven and hell to reunite with his beloved Bernadette. A vacation celebrating their Silver Anniversary goes very wrong, and so the bizarre journey begins. Jake’s premature death is the catalyst for this comical, suspenseful, and thrilling page-turner. Love is the fuel that empowers his resolute stubbornness.
“The Last Train” is a romantic comedy with a symphony of twists that defy an accurate genre classification. You will face the most unusual life-after-death situations throughout. Angels and demons fight, and crazy people roam the pages. Humor and horror face our sarcastic hero, labeled “heaven’s most wanted.”
It has been described as, “Laugh out loud funny” and, “Bloody brilliant!”
Like many small packages, it contains an amazing and memorable gift from Richard Alan to you. Only 99 Cents!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/11HP8LN
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/11nOhjz
Thank You, to all my wonderful friends, and to new readers whom I have not met. Please, Enjoy!!!
Many of my friends have helped in my word-of-mouth, or look-of-type campaign, if you prefer, to shake up a small part of our world with the great announcement. I am so grateful to them all! You see, I’m not an entrepreneur, or advertising genie. I’m personable. Maybe the grand promotion designs will catch up with me. I’ll watch, but my goal is to entertain, not to overwhelm with ads.
Yes, I know. The more you sell, the more people you entertain. I don’t know how intensely the public wants to know how I shook the world, or how much they pant for my ads. I am to assume they do. This is the backbone of advertising. Bug potential buyers now or they may have to live less enjoyable lives. My product, I am to say, is the miracle cure for sadness.
Do I believe in my product? Yes! “The Last Train” was such a delight to write. My characters pulled me this way and that, sometimes by the heart, and sometimes by the hair. I’m durable, but I felt every tug. At least they let me have the last two words: The End.
As most of my writing friends say, “I love creating something out of nothing, but I hate that advertiser’s hat once the party’s over.” We are wordsmiths. We have a gift to share.
My voice has spoken up again, not for my usual nonprofit causes, not for web pages and e-Zines that come and go, but back in the world of books; lasting, precious books. Alas, that cheers my heart and I hope to catch up many others with my prose; yours perhaps?
SYNOPSIS:
THE LAST TRAIN
By Richard Alan
In this short and witty novella, Jake traverses a treacherous path between heaven and hell to reunite with his beloved Bernadette. A vacation celebrating their Silver Anniversary goes very wrong, and so the bizarre journey begins. Jake’s premature death is the catalyst for this comical, suspenseful, and thrilling page-turner. Love is the fuel that empowers his resolute stubbornness.
“The Last Train” is a romantic comedy with a symphony of twists that defy an accurate genre classification. You will face the most unusual life-after-death situations throughout. Angels and demons fight, and crazy people roam the pages. Humor and horror face our sarcastic hero, labeled “heaven’s most wanted.”
It has been described as, “Laugh out loud funny” and, “Bloody brilliant!”
Like many small packages, it contains an amazing and memorable gift from Richard Alan to you. Only 99 Cents!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/11HP8LN
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/11nOhjz
Thank You, to all my wonderful friends, and to new readers whom I have not met. Please, Enjoy!!!
February 22, 2014
A Whole Lotta Writing Going On
Greetings Everyone!
June was eight months ago, more than a half a year. This is enough time to fall off the planet, but I didn’t!
Let’s start from scratch. So much has changed since the last post so here’s my current standing and links to some of my e-zine stories online. I recalled “The Rising of Julian Adams” for a major rewrite, yeah, my one published book. Hence the short stories below to give you something to read while I finish up this foundational rewrite.
I received kind 5 Star reviews but after writing three more books in the series I had to return to the first and stop ignoring my own disappointment over editing and style. The 2nd edition will be a great improvement and I hope my readers will appreciate the extra work I put into it when it returns to Kindle. For financial reasons I have to start small and expand its availability across the other platforms. An author friend just informed me the CreateSpace was also free so I might have print-on-demand available sooner than I thought! I love holding a real book, don't you?
Book 2: “Empire 13” is no longer a novella. It’s a full size book in a first draft. I can blame my beta readers for that but I fully agree with them; it needed something more. I hope to publish it this year.
Book 3: “The Great Expansion” is also in first draft form and I would be overreaching to say it will be published this year.
Book 4: “Clash of the Orders” is, yep, in its first draft form.
Books 5-7 (if my notes hold up) might wrap up this series… but I have other plans with tie-in books, maybe novellas, and two very different back storylines once The Rising series takes a rest. Then the sky’s the limit…
Now I’ll give you the keys to three other online short stories. They are in the December, February, and the coming March editions of Valterra Magazine (all are still available as PDFs)
http://www.valterramagazines.com/
I published “3 AM” in December. It’s a demonic ghost story with a message on unity.
In February, “Encounters with Trixie” was published. It’s an apocalyptic journey through horror and a little grittier than I usually write.
In March, “Life in the Green” will come out. Does life in the green refer to having money or something far more menacing? You should know by now, but let me say it hints at one and fall headlong into the other.
I also entered a Horror Flash Fiction contest. I’d never written flash fiction so it was a fun experiment that took a couple hours from reading the criteria to submitting it. It was like a creative writing assignment and I learned from many other fine authors. I didn’t win, but it’s certainly an interesting plunge into insanity. Enjoy my friends, followers, and colleagues!
GOD OF OBSCURITY
I sit in obscurity, composed by my last opus. Demons intimately steal my life-spark with incessant strokes of darkness. Bitterness and disgust forge my thoughts ladled from a decaying heart. Mayhem overflows my dank abode. Inside and out, my stool slips in excrement against a catacomb wall.
“Is it my own? Could I make such a mess of things?”
My feet draw to my chest. Would I not sink in search of an absent floor?
“Touch not!” Yells something inside. A familiar voice. Mine, once upon a time, now obscured in madness.
Fidgeting, I mumble to myself. No one can reach me but inhuman things.
Shadows cast butchered visions in the wake of a dream long gone. Nowhere I look relieves their torments. Be still my lips and they may pass me by. Yet they confuse my name as something profane. They always leave, I think, as I pull myself tighter on this decaying stool.
Once I was something before loathing ate all but the final piece. I am the savior of the world! I must vanish to oblivion or condemn it to live my nightmare.
This kindness redeem thee. I erase my bane.
June was eight months ago, more than a half a year. This is enough time to fall off the planet, but I didn’t!
Let’s start from scratch. So much has changed since the last post so here’s my current standing and links to some of my e-zine stories online. I recalled “The Rising of Julian Adams” for a major rewrite, yeah, my one published book. Hence the short stories below to give you something to read while I finish up this foundational rewrite.
I received kind 5 Star reviews but after writing three more books in the series I had to return to the first and stop ignoring my own disappointment over editing and style. The 2nd edition will be a great improvement and I hope my readers will appreciate the extra work I put into it when it returns to Kindle. For financial reasons I have to start small and expand its availability across the other platforms. An author friend just informed me the CreateSpace was also free so I might have print-on-demand available sooner than I thought! I love holding a real book, don't you?
Book 2: “Empire 13” is no longer a novella. It’s a full size book in a first draft. I can blame my beta readers for that but I fully agree with them; it needed something more. I hope to publish it this year.
Book 3: “The Great Expansion” is also in first draft form and I would be overreaching to say it will be published this year.
Book 4: “Clash of the Orders” is, yep, in its first draft form.
Books 5-7 (if my notes hold up) might wrap up this series… but I have other plans with tie-in books, maybe novellas, and two very different back storylines once The Rising series takes a rest. Then the sky’s the limit…
Now I’ll give you the keys to three other online short stories. They are in the December, February, and the coming March editions of Valterra Magazine (all are still available as PDFs)
http://www.valterramagazines.com/
I published “3 AM” in December. It’s a demonic ghost story with a message on unity.
In February, “Encounters with Trixie” was published. It’s an apocalyptic journey through horror and a little grittier than I usually write.
In March, “Life in the Green” will come out. Does life in the green refer to having money or something far more menacing? You should know by now, but let me say it hints at one and fall headlong into the other.
I also entered a Horror Flash Fiction contest. I’d never written flash fiction so it was a fun experiment that took a couple hours from reading the criteria to submitting it. It was like a creative writing assignment and I learned from many other fine authors. I didn’t win, but it’s certainly an interesting plunge into insanity. Enjoy my friends, followers, and colleagues!
GOD OF OBSCURITY
I sit in obscurity, composed by my last opus. Demons intimately steal my life-spark with incessant strokes of darkness. Bitterness and disgust forge my thoughts ladled from a decaying heart. Mayhem overflows my dank abode. Inside and out, my stool slips in excrement against a catacomb wall.
“Is it my own? Could I make such a mess of things?”
My feet draw to my chest. Would I not sink in search of an absent floor?
“Touch not!” Yells something inside. A familiar voice. Mine, once upon a time, now obscured in madness.
Fidgeting, I mumble to myself. No one can reach me but inhuman things.
Shadows cast butchered visions in the wake of a dream long gone. Nowhere I look relieves their torments. Be still my lips and they may pass me by. Yet they confuse my name as something profane. They always leave, I think, as I pull myself tighter on this decaying stool.
Once I was something before loathing ate all but the final piece. I am the savior of the world! I must vanish to oblivion or condemn it to live my nightmare.
This kindness redeem thee. I erase my bane.
June 23, 2013
Where Does the Time Go?
Greetings Friends,
Four months have passed since my last blog because I was caught up in a tornado, as my previous world was undone my new world was spun. Part of me looked at this blog and interpreted the lack of comments as talking to myself and I have plenty of opportunity for that without posting it. The metaphor tells the quick story about everything changing and that has at least been a whirlwind.
I was redirected by the opportunity to write a few short stories while working on the novella. I’m sorry that it has at least contributed to the delay of my primary focus on The Rising series. It also so happened that in working with my first beta readers (oh how I wish I had them on “The Rising of Julian Adams”) they gave me so much more than my editor(s) ever did, and with full transparency of their thoughts, opinions, and editing I have been edged towards a new course in my writing.
What is this new course? The novella, Empire 13, has turned into book 2 as I added new threads of continuity to it so it’s a much better stand-alone piece. It is on its way to becoming book 2, or better said, it is book 2 with a bit of editing to do between myself and my wonderful betas. This also means the other two installments to the series that I’ve already written but not edited are books 3 & 4, oh my!
There’s a catch, short stories excluded. Since I have returned to my pre-first-book writing style I have seen the drastic need to edit my first book with my faithful betas and put out a 2nd Edition! It might not excite you who have been patiently waiting to find out what happens next, but I’m excited! I realize it’s another delay but I have to build on a good strong foundation considering this project is at least a 6 book series and the foundation I have now will not do. It’s my story but it is my creative writing professor’s style, not mine. That must be remedied and my whole team is behind this choice. I don’t want to sound boastful when I tell you I am a much better writer than that version demonstrates. I still stand behind the story but it’s going to be broken down into shorter paragraphs and chapters, and while taking this journey the few mistakes that got past my editors will also be fixed; to perfection… are we not human? Of course it won’t be perfect and the thought of that term applied to creative writing seems facetious and dare I say, irrelevant. Suffice it to be the new improved version.
If you come across my short stories to appear in various anthologies and to be published independently on kindle you will see the vast difference right away. I’m the same storyteller but with a very different style. Most of the anthologies won’t come out until around Christmas or after in 2014 and I am awaiting word from the various publishers whether or not I passed their gauntlet, so here’s to hope.
Bless You my Friends, Followers, and Fellow Writers,
Richard Alan
Four months have passed since my last blog because I was caught up in a tornado, as my previous world was undone my new world was spun. Part of me looked at this blog and interpreted the lack of comments as talking to myself and I have plenty of opportunity for that without posting it. The metaphor tells the quick story about everything changing and that has at least been a whirlwind.
I was redirected by the opportunity to write a few short stories while working on the novella. I’m sorry that it has at least contributed to the delay of my primary focus on The Rising series. It also so happened that in working with my first beta readers (oh how I wish I had them on “The Rising of Julian Adams”) they gave me so much more than my editor(s) ever did, and with full transparency of their thoughts, opinions, and editing I have been edged towards a new course in my writing.
What is this new course? The novella, Empire 13, has turned into book 2 as I added new threads of continuity to it so it’s a much better stand-alone piece. It is on its way to becoming book 2, or better said, it is book 2 with a bit of editing to do between myself and my wonderful betas. This also means the other two installments to the series that I’ve already written but not edited are books 3 & 4, oh my!
There’s a catch, short stories excluded. Since I have returned to my pre-first-book writing style I have seen the drastic need to edit my first book with my faithful betas and put out a 2nd Edition! It might not excite you who have been patiently waiting to find out what happens next, but I’m excited! I realize it’s another delay but I have to build on a good strong foundation considering this project is at least a 6 book series and the foundation I have now will not do. It’s my story but it is my creative writing professor’s style, not mine. That must be remedied and my whole team is behind this choice. I don’t want to sound boastful when I tell you I am a much better writer than that version demonstrates. I still stand behind the story but it’s going to be broken down into shorter paragraphs and chapters, and while taking this journey the few mistakes that got past my editors will also be fixed; to perfection… are we not human? Of course it won’t be perfect and the thought of that term applied to creative writing seems facetious and dare I say, irrelevant. Suffice it to be the new improved version.
If you come across my short stories to appear in various anthologies and to be published independently on kindle you will see the vast difference right away. I’m the same storyteller but with a very different style. Most of the anthologies won’t come out until around Christmas or after in 2014 and I am awaiting word from the various publishers whether or not I passed their gauntlet, so here’s to hope.
Bless You my Friends, Followers, and Fellow Writers,
Richard Alan
February 20, 2013
Busy, Well, and Sparkling Reviews
Greetings Friends,
I’ve been very busy writing, editing, searching out publishing options, and keeping up my friendships found while expanding my internet presence. My Printmaster program also came today which is a familiar graphics design program I haven’t had since I moved up to Windows 7. Their graphics are copyrighted so I have searched online for suitable graphics for the cover of my upcoming novella, “Empire 13.” I have a wonderful new beta reader who has also read my first book and had offered to help me do more editing on it for a second edition release. I would still like 2-3 more beta readers, so if you’re interested let me know. My public email is Rixbusiness86@gmail.com.
Two of my author friends have graciously written those elusive reviews of my first book that I wanted to share with you as bright stars in this labyrinth life of mine. I copied them right out of Amazon:
5.0 out of 5 stars An incline upwards, the vista opens wide, and you are dropped into a thrilling plunge into a world you only thought you knew! February 17, 2013
By Wren Hartwood
Format: Paperback |Amazon Verified Purchase
'The Rising of Julian Adams' A superbly written story. Like a tiny pebble dropped into an ancient raging river; a solitary, bright flame of a man dies out, barely discernible to more than a few. Within a short time the story morphs and mutates in depth, breadth, and scope, culminating in an epic showdown. Filled with many things you thought you knew, Richard shows us a very different view of the world. A richly created tapestry Richard manages to have skillfully and masterfully written in a huge plethora of both allies and adversaries. Definitely not your ordinary vampire novel! I’m looking forward to the next in anticipation.
5.0 out of 5 stars One of hubby's fave Christmas gifts December 25, 2012
By C.M. Wright
Format: Paperback
Hubby got this book today for Christmas gift from our boys. He's a vampire freak! LOL! And he is also VERY particular about his books. He has thrown books across the room when he says "It sucks!" This one, he has read more than half of already and LOVES it! Likes it a lot more because it isn't all about sex, which he hates. He likes the action most. He's even got me excited enough to read it and I'm not the biggest vampire fan. Great job, Richard! He is asking for the next and hasn't even finished this one!!!
If you have your own reviews, please post them so that I might rise in the ranks of public opinion and congeal from obscurity for future readers. Reviews are especially important to us independent authors, so I encourage you to be proactive with your opinions about the long and laborious affairs creating our stories for you.
I’m off now with plenty to do to prepare my novella for publishing. Sorry it’s not really book 2 yet; I cheated with the novella, but I promise, I am working on book 2 in The Rising Series, “The Great Expansion.” I will have my beta readers chewing on it soon; I’ll design its cover, and put it out in 3 or 6 months (according to my Kindle Prime contract).
My children’s fantasy is also being edited so I hope it too will be coming out soon. I’ll let you all know. For those new to my blog, it’s titled is “The First Adventures of Shawn.” I will be honored to birth Lyric into the family where Wonderland, Oz, Narnia, and Middle-earth have reined brightly for so long.
I’ll try to check in sooner next time, and maybe do some much needed sprucing up of this blog page (that’s a learning curve thing.)
So, Bless You my Friends, Followers, and Fellow Book Fanatics!
Richard
I’ve been very busy writing, editing, searching out publishing options, and keeping up my friendships found while expanding my internet presence. My Printmaster program also came today which is a familiar graphics design program I haven’t had since I moved up to Windows 7. Their graphics are copyrighted so I have searched online for suitable graphics for the cover of my upcoming novella, “Empire 13.” I have a wonderful new beta reader who has also read my first book and had offered to help me do more editing on it for a second edition release. I would still like 2-3 more beta readers, so if you’re interested let me know. My public email is Rixbusiness86@gmail.com.
Two of my author friends have graciously written those elusive reviews of my first book that I wanted to share with you as bright stars in this labyrinth life of mine. I copied them right out of Amazon:
5.0 out of 5 stars An incline upwards, the vista opens wide, and you are dropped into a thrilling plunge into a world you only thought you knew! February 17, 2013
By Wren Hartwood
Format: Paperback |Amazon Verified Purchase
'The Rising of Julian Adams' A superbly written story. Like a tiny pebble dropped into an ancient raging river; a solitary, bright flame of a man dies out, barely discernible to more than a few. Within a short time the story morphs and mutates in depth, breadth, and scope, culminating in an epic showdown. Filled with many things you thought you knew, Richard shows us a very different view of the world. A richly created tapestry Richard manages to have skillfully and masterfully written in a huge plethora of both allies and adversaries. Definitely not your ordinary vampire novel! I’m looking forward to the next in anticipation.
5.0 out of 5 stars One of hubby's fave Christmas gifts December 25, 2012
By C.M. Wright
Format: Paperback
Hubby got this book today for Christmas gift from our boys. He's a vampire freak! LOL! And he is also VERY particular about his books. He has thrown books across the room when he says "It sucks!" This one, he has read more than half of already and LOVES it! Likes it a lot more because it isn't all about sex, which he hates. He likes the action most. He's even got me excited enough to read it and I'm not the biggest vampire fan. Great job, Richard! He is asking for the next and hasn't even finished this one!!!
If you have your own reviews, please post them so that I might rise in the ranks of public opinion and congeal from obscurity for future readers. Reviews are especially important to us independent authors, so I encourage you to be proactive with your opinions about the long and laborious affairs creating our stories for you.
I’m off now with plenty to do to prepare my novella for publishing. Sorry it’s not really book 2 yet; I cheated with the novella, but I promise, I am working on book 2 in The Rising Series, “The Great Expansion.” I will have my beta readers chewing on it soon; I’ll design its cover, and put it out in 3 or 6 months (according to my Kindle Prime contract).
My children’s fantasy is also being edited so I hope it too will be coming out soon. I’ll let you all know. For those new to my blog, it’s titled is “The First Adventures of Shawn.” I will be honored to birth Lyric into the family where Wonderland, Oz, Narnia, and Middle-earth have reined brightly for so long.
I’ll try to check in sooner next time, and maybe do some much needed sprucing up of this blog page (that’s a learning curve thing.)
So, Bless You my Friends, Followers, and Fellow Book Fanatics!
Richard
January 13, 2013
A Long Bumpy Road
Traveling through the holidays was the usual journey and not entirely an unhappy one. My daughter and her family moved away where she enjoyed her first white Christmas sharing her fascination through photos. All our parents, but one, have left their terrestrial journey, and most friends have taken residence in distant places. Few are left, and that adds a bitterness to the holidays which I know we share with many. I heard of grand family gatherings and have such things tucked in my memory. My brother works at his church in a position which demands overtime through this time of year. He lives with us, but we only saw him at odd times making the best of it when we had the opportunity. My wife and I had lots of time together not that dissimilar from the joys of the royal suite at The Villa; we don’t have to be royalty to enjoy each other, and like Julian and Carolyn, we are each other’s best friend. She sooths my longing heart, and I hers.
My writing has produced a novella which we are proofing together, and it should come out soon for those of you desperate for another fix of The Rising series. I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long between books. I’m still editing book two with number three to follow shortly thereafter. I’m brushing off the many whispers from my Haunting books and short stories like pollen from my shoulder, but they are tempting forks in the road I force myself to veer away from. I know the way back to each of them; their trails are clearly marked to my eyes of intimate acquaintance with notes and much more than bread crumbs to lead me back when the time is ripe.
Forward has been a direction needing great discipline in the face of a rash of migraines that demand I stop, but cannot transfix me when they drain away my resolve. The scent of The Great Expansion permeates me and cannot be lost even when it seems a great distance away. Ethereal roving has captured me in incomprehensible cloud-lands, castles, and dungeons left in the wake of the sparkling rainbow aura. Those who suffer migraines should understand how real these phantoms are when you’re forced to hang on to reality as it tips towards an unknown precipice. You ask yourself, “Did I have a stroke,” and for good reason; they are very much alike, but their residue differs.
…but look, there is a signpost ahead, and it says “Exit.” You ponder what that means: will it lead me out or further still from mental confines. With my gift of sight I am able to discern a sigh more distant than the first, and it says, “Come, write, least you forget that you are an author.”
So, I have chosen, and am back on my path. What a wild ride it has been, and like Alice returning from Wonderland, I have much to write.
Thank you my friends and followers for your personal encouragements and reviews of The Rising of Julian Adams. This has revealed the wizard behind the curtain, and I have backed away from the façade to join the real world again.
My writing has produced a novella which we are proofing together, and it should come out soon for those of you desperate for another fix of The Rising series. I apologize for leaving you hanging for so long between books. I’m still editing book two with number three to follow shortly thereafter. I’m brushing off the many whispers from my Haunting books and short stories like pollen from my shoulder, but they are tempting forks in the road I force myself to veer away from. I know the way back to each of them; their trails are clearly marked to my eyes of intimate acquaintance with notes and much more than bread crumbs to lead me back when the time is ripe.
Forward has been a direction needing great discipline in the face of a rash of migraines that demand I stop, but cannot transfix me when they drain away my resolve. The scent of The Great Expansion permeates me and cannot be lost even when it seems a great distance away. Ethereal roving has captured me in incomprehensible cloud-lands, castles, and dungeons left in the wake of the sparkling rainbow aura. Those who suffer migraines should understand how real these phantoms are when you’re forced to hang on to reality as it tips towards an unknown precipice. You ask yourself, “Did I have a stroke,” and for good reason; they are very much alike, but their residue differs.
…but look, there is a signpost ahead, and it says “Exit.” You ponder what that means: will it lead me out or further still from mental confines. With my gift of sight I am able to discern a sigh more distant than the first, and it says, “Come, write, least you forget that you are an author.”
So, I have chosen, and am back on my path. What a wild ride it has been, and like Alice returning from Wonderland, I have much to write.
Thank you my friends and followers for your personal encouragements and reviews of The Rising of Julian Adams. This has revealed the wizard behind the curtain, and I have backed away from the façade to join the real world again.
December 9, 2012
Nobody knows the troubles I've seen
I have had time to further develop my new friendships and associations, but had to do it in little spurts as best as I could manage. I’ve been reading a romance novel by one of them which is a first for me, it’s a historical romance so at least I had the historical aspect is there to tempt me into jumping in. In turn, the author, Kim Scott, is reading my novel. Her book is “Regarding Ruth,” the first in her series with four in print. I also ran a contest for “likes” on my Richard Alan – Author Facebook page which C.M. Wright won; he’s working on “The Zombie Overload Series” with two books already published.
Next I am going to reward the 100th “Like” on my author’s page with a hardbound autographed copy of “The Rising of Julian Adams.” Consider this the official announcement which will also be posted on my Facebook page.
So, what else has been going on since November 15th? First, I had thumb surgery to remove a benign tumor. It was immediately obvious that I wouldn’t be typing with a big ball of bandages on my thumb. That was just awkward. Worse, however, against my writing was the fact that I had to keep it held above my heart or suffer the consequences of a throbbing and stabbing pissed off thumb. One handed typing was such an untrained goofball idea that it was quickly abandoned.
Thumb surgery was bad, but I was paled by a string of migraines that are still threatening me almost daily. I’m prone to migraines, and have medication to help fight them off; during this long episode, however, nothing helped. The pain alone was intense, but even worse was the visual disturbances sometimes associated with migraines. The corona of flickering lights was compounded by blurred vision and occasionally my sight went completely black. Even if I felt like it, there was no way I could write!
Last, but hardly least, with the migraine came confusion like a perpetual senior moment. I had times when somewhat coherent thoughts could not reach my lips without being scrambled. I’ve had migraines this severe before, but they really worry my wife because the so closely resemble a stroke. Once I actually did have a stroke, but never figured out when because of my headaches. The scarring was visible in a series of scans, so the stroke happened migraine masked or not. This was the final nail in my coffin that kept me from the bright sight shattering glare of my laptop, the shear pain trying to type, and the confusion that couldn’t string a single sentence together let alone a book!
The good news is that I have survived two relatively short days of edit/writing on book two in The Rising Series. I’m not out of the woods yet, haunted by the migraine threat, but feel that I’m back on the horse again and so ready to make up for almost a month of lost time.
Again, my friends and followers, wish me Godspeed, and Bless You All!
Next I am going to reward the 100th “Like” on my author’s page with a hardbound autographed copy of “The Rising of Julian Adams.” Consider this the official announcement which will also be posted on my Facebook page.
So, what else has been going on since November 15th? First, I had thumb surgery to remove a benign tumor. It was immediately obvious that I wouldn’t be typing with a big ball of bandages on my thumb. That was just awkward. Worse, however, against my writing was the fact that I had to keep it held above my heart or suffer the consequences of a throbbing and stabbing pissed off thumb. One handed typing was such an untrained goofball idea that it was quickly abandoned.
Thumb surgery was bad, but I was paled by a string of migraines that are still threatening me almost daily. I’m prone to migraines, and have medication to help fight them off; during this long episode, however, nothing helped. The pain alone was intense, but even worse was the visual disturbances sometimes associated with migraines. The corona of flickering lights was compounded by blurred vision and occasionally my sight went completely black. Even if I felt like it, there was no way I could write!
Last, but hardly least, with the migraine came confusion like a perpetual senior moment. I had times when somewhat coherent thoughts could not reach my lips without being scrambled. I’ve had migraines this severe before, but they really worry my wife because the so closely resemble a stroke. Once I actually did have a stroke, but never figured out when because of my headaches. The scarring was visible in a series of scans, so the stroke happened migraine masked or not. This was the final nail in my coffin that kept me from the bright sight shattering glare of my laptop, the shear pain trying to type, and the confusion that couldn’t string a single sentence together let alone a book!
The good news is that I have survived two relatively short days of edit/writing on book two in The Rising Series. I’m not out of the woods yet, haunted by the migraine threat, but feel that I’m back on the horse again and so ready to make up for almost a month of lost time.
Again, my friends and followers, wish me Godspeed, and Bless You All!
Making Connections
I wrote the majority of this blog November 15th, but it wasn’t posted for health reasons. I will explain that in my next blog which will be written today.
I had the fortune of being chosen for a name-your-price coaching sessions with my cyber friend, Carma Spence. We started our relationship when she did an article on me for the Orange County Register. Our one-on-one session was on speakerphone so my wife, Barbara, could take notes and also ask questions, and the notes are extensive which she will type out for us with so much great information my head was spinning after the call.
First, Carma guided me to three authors and people in the industry to start me off, and those relationships are quickly blooming past formalities and into friendships. They are all supportive, offer to be my sounding walls, and through them I have been guided to others in our special community. They are embracing this newbie and it feels great finally having this resource in my life. Why didn’t I do it long ago? I didn’t know such wonderful people were touchable by someone just starting out.
She also gave me information to further build my network and make it specific for this community. She knows of organizations in the area and in cyberspace where I can connect even more, and get genre specific mentors. Now I have a greater understanding about the publishing process from my own fumbling through it, and many ideas she knew to make the process easier next time. Her advice should also help my following books in The Rising series and my children’s fantasy to reach publication quicker!
I connected with another kindred soul on the opposite side of the country who is also disabled and in financial straits. Through her and several others in my new circle of writers and people in the business I am finding encouragement that only my wife and a few friends previously gave me. I am also receiving tips of the trade, and though we are writing different genres, it has turned into a bonus contrary to previous thoughts. We are all on the learning curve discovering different destinations on the internet that offer help, services, and places to promote our works and develop an online presence. I am so happy to have found these new friends, and find some of the things I have discovered are helping them. It feels so good to be helping others.
So, thank you all, my friends and followers, and wish me and these other artists Godspeed in our writing, editing, and in navigating the mysteries of the internet together.
I had the fortune of being chosen for a name-your-price coaching sessions with my cyber friend, Carma Spence. We started our relationship when she did an article on me for the Orange County Register. Our one-on-one session was on speakerphone so my wife, Barbara, could take notes and also ask questions, and the notes are extensive which she will type out for us with so much great information my head was spinning after the call.
First, Carma guided me to three authors and people in the industry to start me off, and those relationships are quickly blooming past formalities and into friendships. They are all supportive, offer to be my sounding walls, and through them I have been guided to others in our special community. They are embracing this newbie and it feels great finally having this resource in my life. Why didn’t I do it long ago? I didn’t know such wonderful people were touchable by someone just starting out.
She also gave me information to further build my network and make it specific for this community. She knows of organizations in the area and in cyberspace where I can connect even more, and get genre specific mentors. Now I have a greater understanding about the publishing process from my own fumbling through it, and many ideas she knew to make the process easier next time. Her advice should also help my following books in The Rising series and my children’s fantasy to reach publication quicker!
I connected with another kindred soul on the opposite side of the country who is also disabled and in financial straits. Through her and several others in my new circle of writers and people in the business I am finding encouragement that only my wife and a few friends previously gave me. I am also receiving tips of the trade, and though we are writing different genres, it has turned into a bonus contrary to previous thoughts. We are all on the learning curve discovering different destinations on the internet that offer help, services, and places to promote our works and develop an online presence. I am so happy to have found these new friends, and find some of the things I have discovered are helping them. It feels so good to be helping others.
So, thank you all, my friends and followers, and wish me and these other artists Godspeed in our writing, editing, and in navigating the mysteries of the internet together.
November 5, 2012
In & Out of The Rising
This last week was full of distractions, and editing is still going slow with chapter one of “The Rising Book 2: The Great Expansion.” Laying the foundation some twelve years after the first book is not just continuing the story from where it left off. A lot has happened, dynamics have changed, and the Julian Empire has taken on a life of its own.
The first short section introduces Julian and Empire telling of this fact in the vampire world he created.
I’m enjoying the time given to writing, and some is being done every day; some days some isn’t much, but I’d still say it is steady going. When I reach the new story telling sections I am making great progress weighed down by very little editing, and the following chapters are of this sort which I expect will also flow well. The descriptive sections of this first chapter are the time-takers. I’m adding details and mixing things up going from vampire culture to utopian architecture to prophecy to religions life to personal relationships; it ponders, states, engages characters, and even has the whimsical introducing my readers to some of the surprising turns I take in this series.
I have also revived the first full book I wrote taking it from typed pages into the digital world. It’s an amusing children’s fantasy along the lines of L. Frank Baum’s “Wizard of Oz”, and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Mine is titled, “The First Adventures of Shawn.” The scope of my works is primarily in the horror, fantasy, and whimsical veins as has been previewed in “The Rising of Julian Adams,” but this children’s book takes the sex, drugs, rock n roll, blood, and gore out as Shawn travels to and through a fantastic land with a great cast of memorable characters. It’s long overdue putting it back on track towards being published.
I’m still in a flux between these books on track to being publish. Of course, “The 1st Adventures of Shawn” didn’t scan in perfectly, and there will be fix-its to be done, but the text has already gone through the first and second editing with the help of a literary agent I once had. The book was not published in the 80s because of one of my agent’s other successful but controversial authors. I was lost on the sideline, and honestly became a little gun shy being blacklisted with them.
Eventually the self-publishing industry attracted me back. If I go with the children’s book next, I promise you the second and third books in The Rising Series will not be far behind since both are in their first draft forms. It is only the nature of this introduction chapter I’m working on that has slowed me down as I have explained in my blogs.
The following chapters will focus on the main thrust of the story, and will need much less time editing; it will be more like read n tweak rather than adding new information to work in like I’m doing now . Also, the third book picks right back up on the story without introductions, so it should be understandable why the two books in The Rising won’t be postponed that much if I do the children’s book first.
If there are any preferences, I would like to hear from you as the choice hasn’t been made yet. Either way, wish me clarity and Godspeed so that I may bless you, my friends and followers, once, twice, three times again (and much more).
The first short section introduces Julian and Empire telling of this fact in the vampire world he created.
I’m enjoying the time given to writing, and some is being done every day; some days some isn’t much, but I’d still say it is steady going. When I reach the new story telling sections I am making great progress weighed down by very little editing, and the following chapters are of this sort which I expect will also flow well. The descriptive sections of this first chapter are the time-takers. I’m adding details and mixing things up going from vampire culture to utopian architecture to prophecy to religions life to personal relationships; it ponders, states, engages characters, and even has the whimsical introducing my readers to some of the surprising turns I take in this series.
I have also revived the first full book I wrote taking it from typed pages into the digital world. It’s an amusing children’s fantasy along the lines of L. Frank Baum’s “Wizard of Oz”, and Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Mine is titled, “The First Adventures of Shawn.” The scope of my works is primarily in the horror, fantasy, and whimsical veins as has been previewed in “The Rising of Julian Adams,” but this children’s book takes the sex, drugs, rock n roll, blood, and gore out as Shawn travels to and through a fantastic land with a great cast of memorable characters. It’s long overdue putting it back on track towards being published.
I’m still in a flux between these books on track to being publish. Of course, “The 1st Adventures of Shawn” didn’t scan in perfectly, and there will be fix-its to be done, but the text has already gone through the first and second editing with the help of a literary agent I once had. The book was not published in the 80s because of one of my agent’s other successful but controversial authors. I was lost on the sideline, and honestly became a little gun shy being blacklisted with them.
Eventually the self-publishing industry attracted me back. If I go with the children’s book next, I promise you the second and third books in The Rising Series will not be far behind since both are in their first draft forms. It is only the nature of this introduction chapter I’m working on that has slowed me down as I have explained in my blogs.
The following chapters will focus on the main thrust of the story, and will need much less time editing; it will be more like read n tweak rather than adding new information to work in like I’m doing now . Also, the third book picks right back up on the story without introductions, so it should be understandable why the two books in The Rising won’t be postponed that much if I do the children’s book first.
If there are any preferences, I would like to hear from you as the choice hasn’t been made yet. Either way, wish me clarity and Godspeed so that I may bless you, my friends and followers, once, twice, three times again (and much more).
October 23, 2012
Writing in Sections
My first book ended up having some very long chapter, and paragraphs which I would change now that I have sat back and read it a couple times, and have received feedback from other readers.
I’m addressing this in my second book (edit) by breaking up my chapters into sections with subheadings. I thought it too drastic changing it to a short chapter format since the first book is already in print and out of my hands, but to avoid shocking my readers I’m keeping to large chapters with short sections at this point. In my third book in the series, also ready for my edit run, I’m thinking of going down to the short chapter format and stay there throughout the rest of the series.
I am still struggling to make time for my editing/rewrite, but at least with the smaller sections I am able to feel like I’m making more progress while I get back to that place where I’ll fly again. The montage in the first chapter with the working title of “Setting the Stage,” at this point has nearly 95 double spaced pages, but so far at 48 pages I am in my 8th section. “Julian & Empire,” is little over 1 page; “The Marcian Council,” is 5 pages giving more back history and their current activity; “A Web of Participation,” is 7 pages explaining the players and general situation; “The Pyramid & the Prophecy,” is 11pages on the Imperial Pyramid and Mafdet’s prophecy; “A Havenville Première,” is 9 pages describing the new town and a fantastical vampire performance there; “The Prophecy Confirmed,” is 5 pages explaining the Christians’ excitement about the prophecy; “Home is Where the Heart Is,” is 5 pages diving into the bedroom life of the royal couple; and “The Royal Family, Security & Buster,” is still in the works.
So, some progress is being made, and it has been good for me to share it with you to encourage all of us that it will get done. Those who have read “The Rising of Julian Adams,” will surely recognize names I mentioned; proof that it is the continuing story!
My wife is also slowly typing my old children’s fantasy book which I only have in its typed form (we have no PDF converter to scan it in), but I’m going to be looking around and see if we can find a service that will scan it into a Word document for us. Its titled is, “The Adventures of Shawn,” about him as a young boy in an “Alice in Wonderland” styled book. He will appear later in my current series very grown up with a back story (series) I look forward to writing when this first series is done.
Again, wish me Godspeed for both my sake and yours as my readers and friends!
I’m addressing this in my second book (edit) by breaking up my chapters into sections with subheadings. I thought it too drastic changing it to a short chapter format since the first book is already in print and out of my hands, but to avoid shocking my readers I’m keeping to large chapters with short sections at this point. In my third book in the series, also ready for my edit run, I’m thinking of going down to the short chapter format and stay there throughout the rest of the series.
I am still struggling to make time for my editing/rewrite, but at least with the smaller sections I am able to feel like I’m making more progress while I get back to that place where I’ll fly again. The montage in the first chapter with the working title of “Setting the Stage,” at this point has nearly 95 double spaced pages, but so far at 48 pages I am in my 8th section. “Julian & Empire,” is little over 1 page; “The Marcian Council,” is 5 pages giving more back history and their current activity; “A Web of Participation,” is 7 pages explaining the players and general situation; “The Pyramid & the Prophecy,” is 11pages on the Imperial Pyramid and Mafdet’s prophecy; “A Havenville Première,” is 9 pages describing the new town and a fantastical vampire performance there; “The Prophecy Confirmed,” is 5 pages explaining the Christians’ excitement about the prophecy; “Home is Where the Heart Is,” is 5 pages diving into the bedroom life of the royal couple; and “The Royal Family, Security & Buster,” is still in the works.
So, some progress is being made, and it has been good for me to share it with you to encourage all of us that it will get done. Those who have read “The Rising of Julian Adams,” will surely recognize names I mentioned; proof that it is the continuing story!
My wife is also slowly typing my old children’s fantasy book which I only have in its typed form (we have no PDF converter to scan it in), but I’m going to be looking around and see if we can find a service that will scan it into a Word document for us. Its titled is, “The Adventures of Shawn,” about him as a young boy in an “Alice in Wonderland” styled book. He will appear later in my current series very grown up with a back story (series) I look forward to writing when this first series is done.
Again, wish me Godspeed for both my sake and yours as my readers and friends!
