Getting Ready to Dive Back Into Drafting
Oct 05, 2023 3:01 pm
Hey there!
Another great week in the great and busy life of this homesteading/working full-time/author/father. I recently did something that is completely unheard of in the life of Dan.
I sat down and planned something. *GASP*
If you didn't gasp there, you really should have. Plan and Dan, while they rhyme beautifully, are like a cat and mouse. But this week, I decided to put together a business plan. I'd been struggled with social media, to be frank, and needed to re-think my strategy and how I want to approach creating a community for my books and my works. That said, you'll see me around less and less in places like Tiktok and Instagram, but moreso on YouTube. If you haven't had the chance to subscribe there, you don't want to miss out!
My Progress This Week
I am a couple days short of putting the final edit (from my personal round of edits) on Book Three of The Kid of Cybercity. *Input exploding mind emoji here* These stories have been such a wild ride, and I can't wait for them to be 100% ready to send out to the world (and most especially, YOU). It also means that I can finally take a step back from editing and get back to the very part of authoring that I love most, drafting! We'll be ready to send out ARCs for the whole series of books very soon, so if you want to be an AR (advanced reader) for this middle grade sci-fi, let me know!
So what's next? Well, I submitted my short story, The Seduction of Thieves, to the Writers of the Future competition, so now I can get back to writing the next story that's been tugging on my mind without reservation. Demonblooded. I had to put a pin in the story at about 6,000 words to dive into all the editing for the Cybercity books and I'm looking forward to picking it back up.
But what about Dragonblooded?! Never you worry, I'm coming back to that one in a the next few weeks. At this point, I need to step back from the editing to remind myself that I do get to write again at some point. I will most likely get to editing Book One of The Hidden Heritage series before finishing Demonblooded (book 2), but I'm rarin' to write something, so that's what I'll be doing.
New Episodes of The Casual Author!
Captivating readers is the name of the game for us authors, but sometimes we overlook the most important pieces of writing that story. How can a reader come along with you if you aren't true to the story? True to the characters? True to the setting? Join Chad and me as we dive into how writing authentically is instrumental in reaching and enthralling your readers.
OR
So you've got that story in your mind. You may even have the perfect set of characters ready to throw into the fire for your reader's pleasure. Now you need to craft the perfect world to drop everything in to intrigue and amaze your reader. Join me, and full-time Indie Author, Seth Ring, as we dive into the perfect worldbuilding practices and potential pitfalls.
When Kids Get Creative
We are always encouraging our kids to think outside the box and create whatever they want. They've been told that they have free rein of the kitchen if they have the inkling to make cookies, or cake, or brownies (you get the theme here ;) right?), or anything else. My son randomly decided to sew a pillow from scratch the other day. Our house is full of really creative and innovative inventions, like a paper-made telescope that attaches to your head so you can use it without holding it.
Well their creativity has spanned to the homestead building materials. Thinking ahead, I purchased what I thought was all the wood we'd need to build the outdoor chicken run (though I failed, I'm missing another 4X4 pole, so back to the store for me). One day, after my kids had been outside playing all day, I found it arranged in this manner.
Our third son decided to make an airplane and prop it up on the wall. This was after it had fallen due to cats climbing all over it, but I thought it was amazing that he dragged all the pieces together. He even made glue out of mud and stuck the pieces to each other! Useful? Not so much. Super cool? Absolutely. I mean, he had some great adventures 'flying this airplane' in his imaginary games. So that's a win.
And Now for the Free Books of the week!
Another great book to check out!
Four identical sisters, separated by a tragedy, and soon to be reunited by the twisted hand of fate.
The barbarian, Hogan, is the leader of a band of mercenaries. One night, while accepting a job from a merchant involving the protection of a caravan, and the hunt for bandits who aim to plunder its goods, a madman makes his sudden entrance in a tavern and raises his weapon in abnormal frenzy. But little did the mercenary captain know that this event was somehow connected to his lover and lieutenant, Sarah, and soon he would learn of her tragic past, and her true quest.
Can Hogan help Sarah fulfill the promise she made to herself and others, or will they suffer from the forces that play them?
warm regards,
Dan
