In 2011 I released my first book, titled Jared’s Island. It did pretty well, though the release was a little rushed due to my excitement, and it had grammatical errors in it. I pulled it shortly after the release and fixed them, but I didn’t get everything. A year after that I released my second book, The Jared Lagdon Files:Dr. Rayther’s Game. There were no errors in it, but it was released with a cover I was less than proud of. Then I started my third book, Providence. I went all the way through and got the first draft done, then the new year came and I realized I was digging myself into several holes, and putting out product that could be better.

My New Year’s resolution for 2015 became apparent. I knew what I had to do. I decided to dedicate the year, or at least as much of it as I needed, to fixing my mistakes. I had another book idea in my head, but I decided it could wait. I immediately turned my attention to fixing the cover of Rayther’s Game. Once that was done I immediately began to feel a burden lifting from my shoulders. I was happy with the entire book, which lifted my sense of pride in my work

There is a lot more I need to finish. My next goal is to finish Providence and get it out there. After that I am going to figure out how to expand my scope to people who have the chance to read my books. Currently, they are all on amazon and not getting seen very well due to the other 2 million books on the site. Next, I am going to go over Jared’s Island once more, line by line, editing whatever needs it. Then I’m going to create a website to showcase my work. Finally, after all of that is done, I’ll be looking for an agent. Hopefully, the pause in my writing will prove beneficial in the long run and I’ll be able to move forward with a vengeance going into 2016.

I was taught that someone’s signature is their mark of excellence, and that you don’t put anything out there with your name on it unless you’re proud of it. I think I just got so excited and impatient about getting my work out there, that I pushed aside the necessity of making it right. I’m not proud of it, but I’m also not ashamed of it. I’m human, and I’m taking this year to make things the way they should be before continuing my journey. I’m still extremely proud of my books. Rayther’s Game is a great story, and I love the cover now, too! It will be exciting to launch Providence soon, which is the sequel to Rayther’s Game. The story took on a life of its own as I wrote it, the same way Jared’s Island did.

I truly enjoy writing. It’s incredibly enjoyable to create something from nothing. Creating a character, making him or her speak with a specific personality and attitude, and then seeing this made up person appear in your mind, really is quite fascinating. The new book roaming around in my head is beginning to take shape. I have a few of the characters molded relatively well. I have the main idea of it, I just don’t have the plot. I need an objective for the characters. Figuring it out is all part of the fun.