by krj | Jan 28, 2014 | Books, misc, Projects, Writing
It’s amazing how time can get away from you, especially if you’re in a place where you’re not taking much care to watch how it’s flitting by. Or speeding by. The last post I wrote here said I finished writing the sequel to Omni in 2012. Yes, 2012. As it so happens, the world didn’t end. Just like the world didn’t end, the sequel to Omni (Omni 2: the Omniing—no, that’s not the title; it’s an inside joke) wasn’t published. That means, of course, that I still haven’t completely finished the book. How is it that I finished writing a book more than a year ago, yet haven’t said anything further about it, let alone published it? Good question. Indulge me for a moment as I recall a quick story. Years ago, when talking to a gentleman I opened the conversation with, “Hi. How are you today?” (I actually wanted a response–it’s not a greeting, damn it.) His response was roughly thus, “Interesting. I’ve had an interesting day.” As we continued to speak he told me the meaning of his response. “When I was training, I was taught that when you’re having a bad day and you don’t want the other person to know, you say you’re having an ‘interesting’ day.” With that in mind, 2013 was interesting in a lot of ways. However, in just as many ways as it was painful, last year was also a time of exponential growth and unexpected positives that, on the whole, turned what could have been a festering, rotting pile of rubbish into a pretty—albeit small—flower bed. It’s not often you get dealt...
by krj | Nov 10, 2012 | Books, Projects
Technically this update is a couple of days late, but that’s because I’ve been working on something new. What exactly? I’ll get to that, but first, it’s official: the first draft to the sequel to Omni is finished! As of some time Thursday evening I completed the manuscript at the end of a marathon writing session. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed the title of this post, I don’t have a name for the book. Not a clue. Nope. Seriously. I have no idea what to call it. That usually comes later, sometimes after everything else has been completed. Speaking of completion, I had been thinking I was close to finishing the book for several days, but it wasn’t until Thursday that I actually saved the file, pushed myself away from the keyboard (I was sitting at my desktop computer instead of writing on a notebook like usual), and knew I was done. Now, don’t get me wrong: I still have a lot of work to do on the story before it’s ready. Before I even get to my revisions, I’m going to sit on the story for a while. After enough time passes that I’m able to come back to it with a fresh perspective and hard, critical eyes, I’ll start cutting and shaping the story. From there, it’ll need to be edited and I’ll get some beta feedback. I also need to whip up a cover, which means contacting Igor again and hoping he has time in his schedule for yet one more commission. Once all of that is done and I make my final changes, it’s...
by krj | Dec 30, 2011 | Projects
I realize there’s still another day remaining in this year, but the likelihood of me actually writing something here tomorrow is so slim that I figured I’d just go ahead and do it today. It’s not that I can’t wait to do it, but I thought I should post a little update just in case anyone is wondering what the status of various projects are. To recap 2011, I went from being somebody that almost everyone had never heard of, to someone slightly-less-than-almost everyone had never heard of. It’s not so bad, really. This is what I figured would happen based upon what I’m comfortable with doing. Quite simply, I don’t want to promote, promote, promote for the next several months, so instead I’m just writing. That, of course, means that I’m usually too busy to do the things that would get me name recognition now, but all in good time. I’m a patient Padawan. Anyhow, 2011 saw Omni‘s release, the first book in the Debate Team series. I’d be lying if I told you the Debate Team has more than three books planned, but I think more is possible. However, the story arc is a relatively small one, and three feels right, so that’s what I’ll be writing. (I reserve the right to change this somewhere down the road, likely around the time of writing book three.) Book two in the Debate Team series is moving along quite well. The focus on the first book was fairly narrow, and for specific reasons. There’s a lot of information that’s left to the reader to inuit, and more that’s simply not...
by krj | Oct 30, 2011 | Projects
At least when a deadline is self-imposed, you only have yourself to disappoint. And perhaps anyone else you may have let in on your deadline that is interested in what you’re doing. Oops. About that: sorry! As it turns out, waiting until a couple of weeks before you’re finished with the final revision of your manuscript to hire an editor (at least a well-known one (or ones) with a good reputation) is all but impossible, especially with the holidays looming. You see, much as you might want to delude yourself that you’re the only one aiming to get a book ready in time for Christmas, chances are reasonably strong that someone else is, too. Of course I know that I’m not the only one who’s been trying to hit that deadline, but I really did drop the ball on my timing of everything. It’s easy to say that life has gotten in the way, and while that’s true to a degree, it also comes down to planning. Then again, this is still a new experience for me, so I haven’t quite gotten the hang of how far in advance I need to be booking people. However, as noted above, more than two weeks notice is definitely required. My first go-round, it was a little different. I’m intentionally doing things differently now because I learned a fair amount with my first book. However, for as much as I learned with that experience, there’s still a lot more to learn. I can only assume this will continue to be a learning experience for quite some time. Because things are bound to...
by krj | Aug 26, 2011 | Projects
Omni is almost ready! (Yes, that’s the official title.) I can see the finish line, and I ought to cross it some time in the next couple of days, which puts me roughly on my planned timeline. Though I had originally hoped to publish it some time in the first part of August, and then revised it to September, I may still hit the end of August. How’s that for everything mostly working out? I’ve received the almost-finished piece for the cover and it’s awesome. I’m very pleased with the quality of work, and it’s going to stand out against other books in the genre, especially since it’s a bit of a genre blender. I’m still not entirely certain what to call it, but for lack of a better classification, it can be considered to be a thriller, only with some fantasy or sci-fi elements that really shakes things up and takes it out of the realm of the other thrillers. I’m actually finishing up last minute edits/changes following editor and beta reader feedback, so Omni ought to be available some time in the next few days. Omni is the story of Ryan Sutter, a regular guy thrown into an impossible situation. What should be a regular day at work becomes a struggle for survival as Ryan finds himself thrust into a dark government underworld where mystery and intrigue are the norm, and the rules of physics and reality don’t necessarily apply. So as soon as Omni goes up, that means it’s time to go back to work and begin revisions on my epic fantasy story. Being fantasy, it’s...
by krj | Aug 3, 2011 | Projects
Because I like to do things backwards, let’s start this two-topic post by covering the second topic first. Logical, right? I received the preliminary work from my cover artist yesterday, and even though it’s “just a few placeholders cobbled together,” I’m blown away. Part of that, of course, is just seeing cover art for your own story. That’s a feeling that’s difficult to describe, but I’ll try: it’s awesome. Oh, that wasn’t so difficult after all. I only had a couple of suggestions for him in regards to changes for the art, and I can’t wait to see how he incorporates those changes, and even more so, where it goes from there. Once he massages it all together, colors it, and puts the finishing touches on it, I think I’m going to have a piece that really stands out from some of the other books out there. Even though it’s only the first draft of the cover, he’s already managed to nail a few of the things I wanted. I’m not going to pretend that people buy books strictly based on the cover (I’m sure there’s some small percentage that does, but they’re just that: a small percentage), but the cover should tell the reader a few things about the story. It should give them an idea of what’s happening in the story, perhaps introduce them to the setting and some characters, and most importantly, impart a feel that the book strives for. It’s the latter that I think has really been nailed, even though it’s the first draft. That’s a great feeling to see that. Although I’m excited...
