Book 2 - A New Path and Series Direction

So, I have been struggling with book 2 on several levels. First and foremost has been complexity. Book 1 for me seemed like a breeze. I knew exactly what I wanted to write, with the arc of the book pretty much laid out in my head for so long it felt relatively easy to get it all down. I’m not saying there weren’t a few learning curves and additions to my original ideas, but all in all, beginning to end of first draft in 7 months is pretty good I think for a 500+ page novel for a first time author.

Now we have book 2 and while I know the general story arc, it was much less defined than the first. Couple this with the fact that I have almost three times the number of storylines to write and a timeline to adhere to for them to converge…first time author boy was getting a bit overwhelmed. I was constantly having to go back and reference material for continuity. As a new author who maintains a day job to fund this little hobby, I have to say, it has been a much more difficult writing experience.

Additionally, the more complex and varied storylines that have evolved during my writing of book 2 has me wanting to dive down into them and how they affect our world and characters. As I have gone down this rabbit hole with all the new stories in book 2, I have come to realize that the original ending I had laid out for the end of book 2 was getting farther and farther away from being achieved in an appropriate book length.

So, with this in mind I have changed my original concept of book 2’s ending. In addition to this, I spent a lot of time actually outlining the remainder of the stories in book 2 as well as its new ending. Once I did this, then I had to start thinking about how all these changes impacts book 3 and potentially…wait for it…my trilogy expanding to a fourth book. Who would have thunk it right?

All kidding aside, I really did struggle with this a bit and after talking it all over with Holly, I just decided to go back to where I was when I decided to start this journey, “Just write a story that I would want to read.” With this in mind, and the added complexities I mentioned above, I have spent the last month or better going back over what I have written in book 2 and outlining its new ending. Which led me down the path of how they impact book 3 and a potential book 4. I’m not convinced a 4th book will happen but I’m not going to sweat it. If it happens it happens. I think I had it in my head that, “Hey, go write a fantasy trilogy. It’s what all the cool kids are doing,” instead of just telling myself, write your story, one book at a time and forget about how many that is. The trilogy thing was kind of messing with my head and now I’m over it, and I think the series will be better for it. It will make for a far more detailed and rich story, and in the end a much more structured and detailed world in Galleant, that I can go back to and explore in many more novels.

So, all that being said I have done actual little writing over the last month+, but I do now have a bit more structure and path forward given all the new storylines emerging in book 2. I’m now looking forward to not really caring how much I write or how detailed or depth I want to add to a character or place. Just go with the flow and write my story.

Have a Happy Holidays and New Year Everyone. See you on the other side!

AudioBook Release & Book 2 Progress

After several months working the Judith, the audiobook for A New Age of Man is finally out! (check the home page for links) I cannot tell you what a joy it is to listen to Judith bring my words and characters to life. She did a fantastic job. Her ability for accents and enforcing the dramatic is absolutely fabulous.

As for the second book in the series, I have been working diligently. I am finding it a bit more difficult than the first, though. There are quite a few more storylines in book 2, making it a more technical writing experience than the first. But, I think everyone is going to enjoy the continued world building, backstories, and your favorite characters developments.

I would put book 2 at about 50% complete with the first draft . I have a solid outline for the remainder, so now all I have to do is write it :).

Take care and we’ll see you for another update soon.

-Doug

Release Complete & Book 2 Progress

So today marks the two week anniversary of the book release and it has been a whirlwind. I would like to thank all of the friends and family who have supported me during this journey. It has been wild.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how much activity I have received on Kindle Unlimited so far. People have been finding my book and reading it from several other countries outside the US. Very exciting. The number of pages recorded shows the book has almost been read by 10 different folks. A modest number for sure, but if any of you are listening, feel free to leave me some feedback or a review. I would be extremely interested to hear what the international contingent thinks about my little contribution to the Fantasy genre.

As for Book 2…I have begun writing in earnest over the last few weekends, completing the Prologue and I’m currently on Chapter 3. The ideas have been in my head for so long on how to continue this journey, and it has been extremely rewarding to begin putting it all down and reconnecting with the characters and the next step in the story. This volume is shaping up to be an exciting journey with more revelations for the world and exciting adventures for all. Hopefully you will enjoy the growth and shape of your favorite characters as much as I have so far writing them.

P.S. - I am currently in the works of finalizing a contract with a wonderful narrator for all of you audiobook fans. I’m very excited to bring the first book to life in an audio format.

Stay tuned.

My New Author Journey

So, how did I come to this point and decide that throwing my entry into the giant pot that is self published books was something I really wanted to do? The truth is, I guess it has been brewing for some time. Over Thanksgiving and Christmas break in 2022 I had the urge to revisit all the snippets and pages I had jotted down over the years. I’ve done this before, enjoying the trip down memory lane, maybe writing down a few more ideas or adding to the existing ones, but this time felt different. I actually had an urge to finish something. So, I collected everything together from Google Drive, iCloud and Dropbox, surprised to find some documents dating back to 1999. I went through them all, and from that coalesced the idea of A New Age of Man. What about a fantasy magic origin story? I started writing down my ideas and quickly came to what I thought was a decent story arc to run with.

I would like to tell you there was a great epiphany or some jolt of inspiration that I could point to, but it was that simple. I just sat down and began to write. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the ideas, characters and writing of the first draft came to me. Writing in the evenings, after work, on weekends, holidays and using vacation days from work when the inspiration hit, I wrote. The first draft was done about 7 months later. I was kind of surprised with myself and if I’m honest I think Holly was also. I have had, shall we say, a short attention span when it comes to trying new things. I love the experience and thrill of said new thing and then it slowly fades off once the newness is gone. But here I was, 7 months later with a first draft of a book. It was a bit clumsy looking back, but it was there, the bare bones of a story. Insert, make sure you get a good editor here. With a lot of coaching and feedback from my editor and my lovely wife Holly, I began to edit. And edit. And then edit some more. Every time I went through the book I would find passages that just felt cringy, clumsy or just out of place. I would obsess over it. I’ve read my own book front to back, every word at least a dozen times, probably more, I wish I had had the foresight to count. Maybe on the next book. Anyway, I’m not sure if that’s a lot compared to other writers, but the time it took me for each pass, with the corrections and edits I made during each run…it feels like a lot.

Which brings us up to date and here we are. It has been an extremely fun ride and I’m already jones’in to continue on the second book. I wrote a few chapters in book two when I took some down time on A New Age of Man while it was with the editor. But once I got her edit back I purposefully put book two aside to concentrate on this first book’s release.

The release will be April 1 on Amazon to start and then hopefully reaching out through other channels and formats in the coming months. It has been an extremely fun and rewarding journey. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have had writing it.