Archives: manuscript

I need your help, and I’ve got goodies in return!

Hello again, it has been awhile and I wanted to catch you up on what I’ve been up to these past several months.

I’ve submitted my upcoming novel “Cataclysm Epoch” for consideration in the 2017 William Faulkner – William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition in New Orleans.  I’ll know if it made the semi-finals on September 25, and I’m pretty excited about this.  The contest is held annually and has several categories including fiction novels, non-fiction novels, novellas, essays, short stories, even poetry.  I’ll keep you posted on what happens!

In addition, I’m not just sitting here waiting for September 25 to roll around… I’ve started another novel!  This is a sequel to “Cataclysm Epoch” and the second book of my sci-fi trilogy.  I’m 46000 words into the first draft so far and it’s going well.  I have a feeling I’ll be writing in some regard about this character for a long time to come.

And speaking of writing and books, here’s what I meant by the “needing help” part of this post title.  I’m looking for a special group of people that can help me push my writing to the next level.  I want to send you copies of my books, starting with “Cataclysm Epoch” if you’re willing to read and write a review for them.  In return, I’m willing to send you copies of my books before they’re published, for FREE.  Also, I’m putting together some great giveaways like e-readers and gift certificates that you’d be eligible for.  And I’ll even mention your name in the acknowledgements at the front of the book.  There’s no cost to you at all, just a little time and all the free books from me I can churn out, and I’ve got a lot coming up, a sci-fi trilogy for starters!

So, to recap: this group would get the following:

• Free advance copies of my upcoming novels
• Chances to win prizes like e-readers, gift cards, signed books
• Mentions at the start of my book

Sound good?  Interested?  Just head over to the Krewe of Paul sign-up page and sign up for the Krewe of Paul!

Don’t wait too long, though… I’m only taking a limited number of people into this group.  Don’t miss out on all these free books and great giveaways!!!

Stay in the Write

Hi there, how’s your 2017 going so far? We had a rough start in my hometown, some nasty tornadoes ripped through the area pretty good. Thankfully no one has died due to the bad weather though.

I’m hard at work on finishing up the dystopian novel, book one of an intended trilogy. I’ve gotten feedback from a good friend and writing buddy, and I’ve decided to make some revisions. I’ve been working on this one for a while now (since 2012), and at times I wonder if I’ll ever get finished. I’m heartened though that whenever I make adjustments, the story seems to pull a little bit tighter together, so it still feels good when I look at the whole picture.

I’ve got a short story submitted to the Wundor Editions Short Fiction 2017 Contest in jolly old England. Wish me luck! I’ll find out if I won by late March.

The Bayou Writers Club has resumed their meetings for 2017. Lisa, our organizer, is doing her part to make sure everyone not only has incentives to write, but also specified goals to work for. I think it helps people who may have considered writing for years but never sat down to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to do the work and get it done. It’s not easy, for sure. I compare it a little to the exercise mentality. You know how so many people (perhaps even yourself) say after New Years: “I’m gonna get to the gym this year and get in shape!” Then, what happens? I have a gym membership myself, so I can see it – a lot of people go in January, but a few months into the year (if that), people drop off.

Motivation is good, motivation is important. But persistence is the key. Keep yourself to it. Imagine the finished work. Think of why you’re doing it: to be published, make money, or just to get something out there. I go back and forth on why I write. At the end of the day, I care about the story, and sharing it. Of course, I wouldn’t turn down the chance to make gobs of money, but I still enjoy making the story work, and hopefully interesting to other people.

Ok, that’s my piece for now. Stay in touch!

Dystopian Manuscript progressing!

Very excited that I’m done with the writing phase of my dystopian manuscript!  I’ve been working on this particular piece on and off since about mid 2013, so this is a great accomplishment.  Currently, the manuscript is approximately 86k words in length and is what I’d say about the third draft.

Mind you, I may still have a little bit of rewriting in order on this one.  I plan to read it from start to finish though.  The way I wrote this one, very little of an outline… it seems necessary to go back through to make sure what I’ve written and anything else I intend to write to fill in the gaps fits with the story.  Otherwise, I’ll just be writing end on end forever.  At some point it’s got to be finished, right?

My hope and plan for this is to be fine tuning and polishing this manuscript up throughout 2016, and then start presenting/querying this to prospective agents by 2017.  I’m giving myself some time to get it together so it feels right.  Seems better for me to have a goal, but not one so imminent and close that I rush things.

I still have the 2nd half of a critique of my general fiction manuscript to work through as well, so I’ve got something to break up my train of thought a bit too.  I find that helps me from getting stagnant.

Anyway, plenty of writing and rewriting work in my near future.  Now I wonder if the Bayou Writers Group will be sending their novel length project for me to edit as well.  Busy times!

I hope you’re all well and are able to write and read plenty!