Revisions on 1,200 Are Going Slowly

Greetings all,

Just a bit of an update today. When I sent Discovered out for Alpha Readers, I started on revisions to 1,200. The book really seems to be shaping up in a good way, but they are going slowly. There are two reasons for this.

First, I was a much less mature writer when I wrote 1,200 originally. There are things the book needs just to give it the depth it deserves. That means some additional chapters and a bit more development and (a lot more) description.

That leads to the next issue. Back when I wrote this, I hadn’t started generating character sheets like I do now. So what I’m doing is generating a character sheet each time I encounter a character. That’s really what’s taking so much time. I keep having to stop. But this is worth it. Back in those days, I really leaned into my discovery writing tendencies, which made it easy to type, but don’t help very much when I’m trying to be consistent with (or have any) description. Once I get the bulk of these character sheets generated, the revisions will go by much more quickly.

I’m still a little more than a week out from when I asked Alphas to get Discovered back to me, but I’m nowhere near done with 1,200 yet. I do plan to finish this set of revisions before doing the Alpha Draft of Discovered.

I haven’t heard any good or bad news about Discovered, and that’s fine. I only mention it because I would give you updates if I had any. I tend to leave my Alphas and Betas alone. They don’t get paid or anything, so the least I can do is leave them be. I don’t know that I’ve ever had any be late, so it’s worked.

Once I get through revisions on 1,200, I’ll get back at Discovered, and get that over to my editor for a developmental edit.

I just wanted to give you all an update. I’m working as hard as I can given circumstances, and I will keep you up to date on my progress.

As always, I thank you for your support. It means a lot to me.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

I Got The Edits Back on Betrayed! I Have Some Work to Do

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report I got my developmental edits back for Betrayed from Sara. That means there’s a lot of work to do. This was probably among the more disappointing sets of revisions I’ve had in a while. That doesn’t mean that 1) Sara was mean or 2) she hated the story. It just means there are some developmental issues to work out. Sara is paid to be honest and constructive, and she’s earned her money this time around.

I’m not entirely surprised  in this regard. This is my first trilogy, and I expect the middle books to be challenging. I have to balance pace with development, and most of the things I have to address are in that regard.

In my last update post, I said I wasn’t sure whether I was going to finish Discovered or get right to work on Betrayed. Honestly, I’ve been struggling to get to the computer for the last few days. My expectation is I’ll be getting to work on Monday, and when I do, I’ll be attacking Betrayed.  I hope that before that, Sara and I can talk about things a bit more and ensure we’re on the same page. That depends on her schedule. I might plug a bit more time into Discovered while I wait for a chance to talk with Sara more, but I do intend to get the developmental draft of Betrayed done as soon as I can. I hope those revisions to wrap up by September. I’m feeling like Betrayed will be much closer to early 2021 than 2020, but Discovered should be close on its heels.

Thank you all for your support and your interest. I want to make sure I keep everyone up to speed on what I’m doing because I want readers to be a part of all of this. My hope is these little updates are informative and that they help you get excited about these stories. They are coming.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Writing Update: How are things going?

Greetings all,

Even by my standards, I’ve been behind in my social media updates. Plus, it’s been a little while since I gave an update on the projects I’m working on.  This felt like a good time.

Betrayed: Book Two of the Oneiros Log is still with Sara. I’m still not sure if I’ll jump on this when she sends her feedback of if I’ll finish this draft of Discovered first. The further along I get in that draft, the more likely I’ll finish that before I start revisions on Betrayed. I’m still hopeful for a 2020 release on that, but there are just so many factors that go into it these days. This is still my primary writing project though.

Discovered:  I’m all but 50% through the discovery draft of the last Oneiros Log book. It’ll be the first saga I finish and publish, so that’s super exciting! I expect things to slow down just a bit since I’m in the real meat of the plot. Things can expand and contract too as I draft this story. We meet at least five new characters in this, and I’m working to make sure the plot lines are well woven.  I’m pretty happy with how this draft is going. I am aware of a few things that’ll need work in revision, but I think this is a nice start.  It’s currently about 35,000 words. That feels a bit short to me. I anticipate the complete story to be somewhere around 90,000. One reason for this is because my percentages are based on chapters written rather than word count. It’ll definitely be the largest book in the trilogy (or quadrilogy if you count Kaitlyn’s little outrigger story, Repressed). But all of these stories were meant to be fast-paced pop-corn movie type books.

Images of Truth: This is officially Book On in the Perception of War series. Elele’s story, Sojourn in Captivity, was more like a prequel novella focused just on her, but it does introduce one of the many planets and alien species in this universe. Before I started work on Discovered, I was about 53% through the discovery draft of IoT. I still feel like it’s fantastic, but it’ll need some careful revision. This will become my main priority once I finish Oneiros.

So that’s just a quick update on my current workload. I think things are going nicely. I’m thankful for all of you who are reading and offering encouragement. It’s a real blessing just to be able to write and publish books. Of course I hope to make this my occupation, but even this is wonderful.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

Writing Update: The First Draft of The Worth of Words is finished! A Call for Alpha Readers

Greetings all,

I’m happy to report I’ve finished the first draft of The Worth of Words! Technically speaking, this is actually the second draft, but this is the first draft I actually let other human beings look at.

That means I’m looking for alpha readers.

Worth of Words is essentially a science fiction heist story.

Here’s a blurb for the story:

In the year 3753 on the planet of Leznova, all forms of communication are extremely regulated. Drones patrol the skies, seeking out gestures and expressions, executing punishments to any who violate the Communication Act of 3748. Every person over the age of 7 is fitted with Communications Monitor Collars, which send progressively stronger jolts of electricity into any who speak without permission. Should any wish to speak, they must purchase words at increasingly higher fees.

Ardelia Sabine wants it all to stop. She’s simply a mother who doesn’t want her daughter to be forced to stay silent. Formerly a monitor, a police investigator, she’s developed a plan to corrupt the server that regulates the policy and keeps the world silent. She leads a team of brilliant criminals, one of whom is the man she married after capturing him ten years ago. This band of thieves, led by one who used to chase them, must get into the most guarded server room on the planet. They do so knowing it isn’t likely they’ll all survive the effort. To make matters worse, a rival from Ardelia’s past seeks to make an example of her and her betrayal of the monitors. He’s fixated on stopping her, and he’s confident he’s already derailed the most critical part of her scheme.

END BLURB

As with all alpha drafts, what I’m looking for most are people who will point out plot holes and inconsistencies. I’d be very grateful for anyone with experience in writing heist stories. I’d also appreciate anyone who understands hacking to any degree, as one of the characters in the story is supposed to be a renown hacker, and I’d like to avoid looking foolish.

I’d like about 10 alpha readers. If you’re interested, please email me. I’d like to receive feedback by Jan. 5. I’ll be working on a new draft of Repressed by then, but I’d like to jump right back into Worth of Words once I finish those revisions.

I’m honestly very proud of this story. I’ve been talking about this as well as The Power of Words, the anthology this story inspired, for about two months now. I honestly believe the Holy Spirit filled me as I crafted this story. I had the idea, and once I did, I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t think about anything else until I started writing it. Then, once I started, I finished this project (20,000 words) in a very short period of time (I think it might have been less than a week).

I teach journalism. I believe in speech and the protection of the people’s right to speak freely. This story was inspired by the fear of what would happen if people in power began to think the answer to problems is limiting speech.

So what’s next for me? Well, the editorial comments on Repressed aren’t due for a few more weeks. My next priority will be reading the other contributions for The Power of Words. I’ll be making my own editorial comments on those four stories and working with other authors who volunteer to be part of the anthology.

As always, I’m thrilled to know there are so many people who are interested in my work. Each story I finish feels like its own reward, but knowing there are people who are as excited about these stories as I am is a whole new level of euphoria. Thank you.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Another Draft Done: A Sojourn in Captivity Update

Greetings all!

I’m home on vacation, which for me means I get to spend way more time on writing.  I was making good progress on Sojourn in Captivity already, and now I’m happy to report the fourth (of five) draft is done! I want to take another moment to thank my beta readers. Your feedback helped make this a much stronger story, and I was pleased with it before I sent it out.  Now it’s back to the editor for the copy-editing pass. The story is what it is, now we’re making sure the writing is as strong as it can be. That’ll be the last draft before I add a bit of information (a forward) to it and send it off to the Slush Brain’s honorable captain.

This also gives me a chance to put out a few other updates.

First, I’m happy to announce I did manage to get another event lined up. I went to Shore Leave a few years back, and I confirmed a few months ago that I’m heading that way again.

Speaking of conventions, at last year’s AwesomeCon, I had the chance to talk about the pitfalls of self publishing. I’ll be doing that panel again. This one is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday, June 16. It was a fun panel to do last year, and I have more information this year.

Sojourn isn’t the only project I’ve sent to my editor. I’ve re-designed The Journals of Bob Drifter, and I sent that PDF her way for a quick proofread before I re-release that. I would have loved for that book to be re-released before AwesomeCon, but it’s not not logistically possible.  Still, it will be re-released this year, and doing so will allow me a lot more freedom with that title (not to mention a lower (I’m not sure how much) cover price).

Now that I’m not bring so much mental energy on Sojourn, I can turn my attention back to Images of Truth the actual first complete novel in the Perception of War saga. (Sojourn is simply a prequel novella.)

I want to finish Images of Truth (I was halfway done when I switched gears for Sojourn) before I put my full attention on the Oneiros log. I’ve started (and even nearly finished) an outline for a novella featuring Kaitlyn. Then it’s full steam ahead on the rest of the trilogy.

I’m a guy who needs something to look at when his eyes start to cross, so I’ll be working on a draft of 1,200 (another project that should be coming your way in the not too distant future). It’s still my ambitious hope to dedicate the rest of 2017 and all of 2018 to writing and conventions and then release a minimum of six projects in 2019. That would be three Oneiros books, 1,200, and a few from a new series I plan to start. I have a bunch of other drafts too, but those projects are much larger. My hope is this new series will keep good product from a common universe coming, which will then give me more time to finish those larger products (New Utopia and Perception of War) the way they’re meant to be finished.

I want to thank all of you who read my blog (and of course my books)! Your support really means the world to me. I’m putting a lot into 2019, hoping that will be “my year” more or less. Your support always makes it easier to sit down with the lap top.

Thanks for reading,

Matt