Tag Archives: editing

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An Important Announcement About “The Vampyre Blogs” Novel Release Date…

For those of you who don’t already know, I started attending the California State University at Monterey Bay in August and the workload had been fairly manageable, until recently.  Things are heating up and I have less and less time to work on “The Vampyre Blogs”.  I had planned on getting the latest draft finished, edited, beta-read, etc. so I could have it out in time for this Christmas.

 Unfortunately, that is not going to happen.  I’m afraid I’m one of those authors will not release a book until it’s had all those things done to it.  Currently, I’m still trying to finish the 2nd draft and I’m still not entirely happy with the piece.  Plus I haven’t even started on a cover for the book.  I do have this, which I made on my computer.
However, I’m not totally sold on this version really.  I’d prefer to try and do a soft pastel piece like I did with my other two novels.  But instead of doing the entire cover in soft pastel, I’d like to create more of a background and then super-impose the image I have on top of the background.  In short, I’d like a nice blend of the two and that’s going to take time.

All this is bad enough, but there is also the issue of the holidays getting closer and closer.  I’d still need to get the novel to my beta-readers, but they’re going to be busy with family stuff like cooking, visiting, and shopping.  I don’t feel right asking them to take time out of their schedules to read the book and give me their feedback.  That wouldn’t be right.

So I’m going to continue to finish the 2nd draft and getting it edited and whatnot over the holidays.  Then I’ll be sending beta-versions out in January and doing another draft after that.  I hope to have it all done my March, but I won’t be releasing it then.  Instead the book will come out in late October to coincide with Halloween.  Why wait until then?  Because the story begins in early fall and ends just around Halloween, thus making it a a more seasonal novel.

Now for anyone worried they have to wait for more Nathaniel and company until then, never fear because I’m still going to be posting more mini-stories here.  Plus, I’m working on a special ‘free’ short story for this Christmas that will involve Nathaniel and several characters from my other novels in the Para-Earth Series.  Anyone who’s read “The Bridge” or “The Ship” will be pleased to see some old friends as well as our favorite Civil War vampyre.

I’ll be releasing the short story through Smashwords which carries e-book formats for all the new e-readers and laptops people will be getting as gifts.  You’ll find Mobi (for Kindle), Nook, Apple, Sony,  Phones, and even plain good old PDF for those who just have a computer/laptop.  And in the spirit of the season, the story will be “FREE”.  So stay tuned.  I’ll be announcing more as the day draws near.

Finally, I want to also let you all know that Nathan will not be a one-book wonder.  I intend to keep him going for some time.  When you’ve got someone who’s over a 150 years old, you got a lot of room for many tales.  I’m even considering making an anthology filled with short stories from different eras he’s lived though.  But that’s a little ways down the road.  For now, I’ll leave you with the following list of novels I’m working on and their intended release dates for the next 2-3 years:

October/December 2015 “The Vampyre Blogs – Coming Home”

In 1862 Nathaniel Steward was only sixteen years old. He left home to fight in the Union Army, knowing the experience might change him. He had no idea how much it would. Now, 150 years later, he’s finally coming back to what he thinks is an empty manor. What he doesn’t know is someone has been waiting, and some ‘thing’ is following him, a being that does no belong in this world.

Coming Mid-2016 “In The Shadow Of The Door – Book 1”

Cassandra’s ghostly protector Brandon has always been an enigma to many. Now, we get to hear his story which will lead directly up to the events that took place in my third book, “The Door”.

Coming December, 2016, “The Vampyre Blogs – Family Ties”

Nathaniel is back and he’s not alone. A mystery involving a member of his family has arisen, but so has an old enemy. New dangers arise that threaten not only those he loves, but his entire hometown. Like any soldier he will fight to protect his place of birth, but it may cost him his very existence.

Coming Mid-2017 – “In The Shadow Of The Door – Book 2”

Brandon’s story continues as he and his uncle continue to struggle with the family curse that everyone believed was over. The threat has been thwarted but not ended and time is running out. Soon the door will be reopened and nothing will be able to stop what will come out of it if they don’t seal it for good first.

Coming in December 2017, “Harlequin House”

When Alex Hill was only twelve years old he went inside the most haunted place on the planet as part of a team of paranormal investigators from the university his older cousin Rick was attending.
  Within those walls he watched most of the team die one by one, and barely got out with his sanity intact.  He swore nothing would ever make him go back.
Tonight he will enter the place the very place that has haunted his dreams for the last twenty years, to save his father. Will he be as fortunate this time?

OTHER BOOKS IN THE PARA-EARTH SERIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE NOW FOR ALL E-READERS AND IN TRADE PAPERBACK:

 

THE BRIDGE

Alex Hill buried his psychic talents for eighteen years. But with the scream of tires and twisting metal all this changes. Upon learning his girlfriend Police Sergeant Veronica Ross was nearly run down by two teens he becomes concerned. But when he learns both the driver and passenger had been dead for almost twelve hours when they nearly ran her down, he knows what he must do…
*NOTE: You can sample the book for free at:
 

THE SHIP

What starts as a simple surfing lesson, turns into a struggle for survival for billionaire heiress Cassandra Elliott and her new love interest the Seneca shamaness Julie Cloudfoot.
Cassandra is knocked off her board by an unseen assailant who leaves a terrifying gash in her wetsuit, along with a small red mark on her leg. Soon terrifying visions of a ghost ship begin haunting the heiress’ dreams. She also begins to find herself strangely drawn to the sea whenever a strange fogbank appears in the distance.
Something hiding within the miasma, but what does it want from her, and what connection does the entity have with the legendary “Lost Colony of Roanoke” and the tribe of Tuscarora Indians who Julie is distantly related to…

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Another Note From the Author….

Hello everyone, sorry for the slow updates recently.  I had planned on another post today, but life has a way of kind of being really getting in the way sometimes.  Especially when you’re going back to college.  I started attending my first university this week.  Prior to that the past few weeks have been chaotic with my wife getting a new job.

She got her Bachelors Degree last spring at the same university where I’m going now.  She studied to become a high school math teacher.  This summer had been a rough one for us for several other reasons as well, including her taking special summer courses for her credential to be come a teacher.  I had to drive her around a number of places including a couple of schools where she was interning.  A lot of that driving meant time away from the keyboard both for this blog and the novel itself.    There were a lot of things to be done around the house that only I was available to do (cleaning, laundry, errands, etc.)

I also had to go through some skin cancer surgery, which didn’t always leave me in the best of shape to be working on things.

However…

These last two weeks, I was spending a lot of time on the novel itself thanks to my wife’s new job.  She had to go through the interview process, be offered the job, accept it, and went through a couple of weeks of training at the new school so she could settle in.  Now the location of her job was in another town about 1/2 an hour away from where we currently live, which is actually quite a nice drive.

But even better, the town where she’s working has the most beautiful library, where I parked myself for hours working on the book.  I’m happy to announce that the 1st draft is almost finished.  I’m within pages of finishing it off.  Once that’s done, I’ll be doing a second draft to iron out certain issues such as clarity of thought, spelling, making sure the story flows, and finally getting to work on the actual cover.

After the 2nd draft is completed it will be going to my proofreader/editor.  Then I will do the 3rd draft at which point it will be unleashed on some willing Beta-Readers.  Once I hear back from them, a final draft will be completed and the book will be released.

How long will all that take?  I don’t have a clear idea yet, but the release will happen between late October and early December.  That much I can tell you.  It will all depend on how long it takes for others to get back to me (editing, beta-reading, etc.)  Once the 1st draft is completed the second one will come fairly quickly.

So hang in there, the actual novel is coming.  I will be posting more blog entries by the various characters you’ll be meeting in the book very soon.  Some will be funny, others interesting, a few tearful, but I’ll try not to leave you bored.

A new post will be here in a week.  From what the characters are telling me, we’ll be hearing either from Nathaniel, Lisa, or Marisa.  Or someone completely new.  Some characters can get kind of pushy.

For now I bid you a pleasant week.  Come freely, visit frequently, but always leave a bit of the happiness you bring to this blog.  (paraphrased from Bram Stoker’s Dracula).  This is my copy.  As you can see, I’ve read it a ‘few’ times, give or take…