Re-Enjoyable

Blog No. 193

I’ve just finished ripping through the Percy Jackson books (by Rick Riordan) again. I think it’s the third time I’ve read them, but I don’t keep track of that stuff much. This year I’ve made a conscious effort to make reading more of a daily habit. As a writer, it’s a necessity, and it’s a good way to spend the last hour or so of your day. I haven’t exactly met my goal of a book a month. Sometimes I can’t seem to find the time, or the book isn’t quite good enough for me to make the time. Sometimes I just have to priorities writing (which is still a touchy topic at the moment). Either way, from January to May I had only had four books read. The last one was slower than I’d like, and I didn’t have another book lined up yet, so I figured it was time to go back to some books I had previously enjoyed and knew I could get through quickly. Partly to beef up my count (Christian is a reading machine this year) and also because I had a hankering to experience that world again.

New Year Updates

Blog No. 165

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably noticed the new layout. I didn’t set out (in the beginning) to do a New Year refresh, but that’s how it worked out, and a fresh look about once a year seems like it works. It’s not too jarring and things don’t get too boring. It’s just about right. For me at least, and since I’m the number one viewer of the site, I want to keep myself happy. It’s not a big change (which is something I prefer) but it’s enough to keep things interesting.

Christmas Miracle

Blog No. 161

So Christmas Eve happens to fall on my post date. How about that? Because of the assumed busyness everyone is experiencing (I hope) I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Over the last few months, I’ve been working very hard (though not as hard as I could be working I suppose). The stories for No Light Tomorrow were written, but the process of taking the first drafts and putting them into a finished book is long and harrowing. Editing took its toll. It’s not always easy to be shown your mistakes over and over again, but it ends up with much cleaner stories. We went through a few layers of editing, culminating with sending the stories away to a professional who took our carefully written and rewritten stories and shredded them. They were fixed and a last loving look from Christian for my stories, and me for his, brought them to their final versions.

When they were finally done, the layout began. While I have limited experience, I wasn’t ready for what awaited me. Reading tutorials, searching for how to’s, and trial and error eventually ended in a final layout. Sending that layout to the printers resulted in having to make changes, but after learning what I had, it wasn’t as big a job.

After that, we were done. The proofs came back, some last minute changes were made (including some oversights that we just missed).

Now the book is in their hands. We expect to get it in the New Year and we’ve already planned a release event for January 9^th.

It was a long year and things are just getting started. There is a lot more to do in the coming months to bring me to a place where I’ll be happy as a writer. Besides the readings and conventions, more stories, more books, and more editing awaits for me.

But for now, I’m proud to show you the cover of No Light Tomorrow. Sales start January 9^th in soft cover and ebook. There will be links to follow, but I hope the cover will entice you to give it a read.

Thanks for all the support this year. I’m looking forward to keep things going next year too. Have a wonderful day wherever you are and whatever you’re celebrating or not!

I Miss Writing

Blog No. 160

The collection, No Light Tomorrow, is finally at the printers. After months of hard work, it is out of my hands and (though there were expected hiccups) the sample copy is on the way (or here by the time you read this) and everything is on track for a release event. By the way, unless something drastic happens, the release party will be January 9^th though the place is too be determined. We’ll make some serious announcements when a few more things are settled. Also, keep an eye out for poster plastered around the city, a facebook event, sky writing, carrier pigeons, and, if he got our lists, invitations delivered by Santa.

Gimmick

Blog No 159

With the release of No Light Tomorrow imminent, Christian and I are in publicity mode. We are working on the best ways to advertise the launch event and the book as a whole. From there we will need to spread the word even further and gain as much attention as possible. It’s the same story with any new author, but being self published means you are doing it all on your own. There is a lot of work involved after the book is written. Then there is a lot of work to do then the book is printed. After all that work you need to make sales and short of standing on the street begging people to buy your book, some authors have found success in gimmicks (or at least novel ways to get the reading public’s attention).

The Fifth Monday: Hard On’s Curse – Behind the Writing

Blog No 158

Behind the writing was an idea I came up wit back when we started Adventure Worlds. Other people have done similar things (it’s not like I invented it) but for the purposes of this blog, it was something I pushed for. The others weren’t convinced, and now I seem to be the only one sticking with it. Which is appropriate, since I was the only one interested in the first place. So now I’m doing them on my blog and I just finished the conclusion to Hard On’s Curse, and now I’m going to talk about it. So *spoilers* and all that. (http://adventureworldsblog.com/2015/03/29/the-fifth-monday-hard-ons-curse-complete/).

Layout and Design

Blog No. 157

In days of yore, and author was responsible for one (or at the most a few) things. The number one thing on that list is writing. They may find time to do readings or interviews. If they are successful enough, they may hold signings, be judges in contests, or teach classes, but above all of that, there was the writing and little more. Once they were finished with a manuscript, they sent it off to their publisher who would take care of the rest. (That’s a major simplification, but you get my drift). Even now there are a lucky few authors who have enough clout that their publishers handle most things, but the most successful of those tend to be active members of their own publicity.

Little Books

Blog No 156

Each week I sit down and write one of these blog posts. When I’m done (and it’s posted) I spend the time before the next one furiously brainstorming what to write about. Last week, due to the book I was given by my mother, I decided to write about book lengths. Instead I wrote about audio books, my mother, and a little about my brief time in another city. I don’t know how I got so far off track, but it happens, and I am happy with how that post turned out. Now I want to try again (this time more focused) and explore the topic of book lengths. I can only hope I manage to stay on track. You may need to check out the last post Thoughts about Books for this to make sense.

Currently I am working on the final layout issues of the short story collection that Christian and I are publishing. I’m also a third of the way through writing my first novel and picking away at a novella that I’m rewriting, hoping it will be the start of a series that has been on my mind for my years. They are all writing, but the lengths are very different and therefore they are written in different way. The story structure, the detail, and the plot vary greatly based on the length of each publication.

Thoughts about Books

Blog No. 155

Much of the following story has been told on this blog before, but it may have been a while ago, or you may have not read it, or you have and I’m telling it again anyway.

Some time ago I was in London Ontario for school. I was only there for eight months, but in that time I made some astounding discoveries. One of the greatest was audio books. I took the bus to campus most days. The school forced students to buy a bus pass and I wasn’t about to pay for a parking pass. I wasn’t overly experienced with riding the bus (coming from a family of drivers) but I was given a crash course. The first month or so I tried to read during the short trip. Sometimes it was things for school, but mostly it was for leisure. At every stop (and there were many) I would look up from my book and lose my place. I’m a slow reader naturally, so over the twenty minute ride, I wasn’t getting more than a page read, and being distracted at every stop wasn’t helping.

Collections and Lies

Blog No. 153

How tired are you of hearing about this, so-called Collection, that Christian and I have been yammering on about for the last year and a bit? If you are as done with it as I am, get ready to be exasperated, because that book is done and ready to print! Boom! What started as a lark back is 2014 will be out before the end of 2015 and it will be spectacular. Don’t believe me? The title is No Light Tomorrow. How does that strike your fancy? Still not convinced? It’s over 30 000 words spread across six stories written by two authors! You know, a short story collection. You want more? The cover was designed by an actual graphic designer and approved by none other than the authors themselves. Even better, it will mark the first book released by the newly formed Adventure Worlds Press, a publisher in name only dedicated to printing whatever Christian and I want and nothing else. How exciting is that? If your answer was ‘very’ that this collection is right for you, and we want you to get excited.

To recap some of what has happened up till now, back in the distant era of 2014, somewhere near the beginning of that fretful year (fretful being used for dramatic purposes only) two authors, Christian Laforet and Ben Van Dongen, were sitting in a coffee shop, working on their writing and discussing the future. What you will see next is a dramatic retelling of the situation and has little to no bearing on the actual past and does a terrible job representing both the individuals included in the story and the situation as a whole.