H.G. Ahedi's Blog, page 7

The Idea dilemma

Often authors come up with a different dilemma than others. We are somewhat considered ‘not normal’ (no pun intended). In my book, a person who can dream up an idea by looking at other people’s hair (that is me by the way), is not normal. Now you may argue with me and say you cannot define normal, but that argument is for another day.

Writers are the creatures which are most known to come up with fantastic ideas that can be utterly spellbinding or completely rubbish! I am one of those. When I discuss my stories with my friends, readers and colleagues they are thrilled to hear my great ideas. What they do not know that some of my ideas are totally rubbish, and I never discuss those. Yes, a wise man or maybe it was a woman who told me, it was a good idea not to discuss an idea when deep down you know its stupid!

So how should an author decide which idea is good and which is bad. Now, every author has different idea about this idea. Yeah, we are complicated creatures that sit in the dark and plan massacres with a black ink within the realm of our pages. Thank God for that!

My Misadventure With Pages

Hey all, hopes this post finds you well. It inspires you and encourages you not to make the mistakes I did!

Creating my first historical fiction novella

Hey all! 

Its spring and no surprise COVID is still here, we are working from home, Zoom is the new normal and I am working towards my next book.

Welcome new subscribers! 

As a part of five books in thriteen months strategy (if you want to call that), Transcendence would be my fourth novel and its different in several ways. 

First of all, its a novella. Now you might think, whats the difference? The difference is novellas are shorter than a standard novel of 50,000 or more words. This is the first time I have written a novella. All my other books are 50K words or more, Haunted being the longest one yet. What I have learned over the months working on this book is, shorter does not mean faster! I remember, I preferred novellas because I could finish them within 48 hours.

Secondly, most of my books are based in the present, Transcendence is set in 1944 during the World War II. Writing it was a bit of a challenge and strange. To imagine a life without smart phones, internet, social media and limited air travel was a bit hard. The research involved for this book was extensive and I was forced to think out of the box.. For example, I didn’t know if people in 1944 used a tooth brush. Did you know they bathe only once a week! 

My life is surely exciting!

You are not alone

Hey all,

Hope you having a amazing weekend and Happy Easter! 
I wish you well and please stay safe, eat healthy and stay at home. We all can and will get through this. I just wanted to let you know, you are not alone. We are all in this together and the best thing we can do is be there for each other.

Today I will share the two things I do get everyday to stay motivated and not be overwhelmed. 

1. Shuffle your routine. 

If you are working from home, try to plan your day differently everyday. My day includes, get up, have my coffee, get ready for work (yes I get ready even though working from home), take my lunch break and then work till 5 pm. Of course this also includes catch up with my team, other zoom meetings etc. Then I go for a walk (yes, it is still allowed in Australia), cook, watch some TV and then read a little before I sleep. In the last week, I got really bored with it… so I started changing it around. I started my day with physical activity, and listening to exciting music/podcasts, talking with my friends before I get to work, watching motivation videos, etc. Shuffle works! Especially for the long time. 

2. Listen to motivational podcasts

 There are experts or people out there who have gone through worst situations than this. If they haven’t they have interviews or spoken with people who have. Over the years I have learned it always helpful to connect with them. Especially with people who offer solutions. Say, you are depressed, your friends will give you a hug, say it will be alright etc. But if you are looking techniques/ideas on how you can cope with it the next time it  shows up in your life you need tool. Try listening to Brendon Burchard’s podcast. I am now listening to his Striving in Chaos series which is available on iTunes, Google play, Spotify, etc. Its absolutely fabulous, very uplifting! Give it a try!   

That’s all for today. Hope this helps, and serves you. Thank you for your support, please share with friends and family. I would be really happy even if this makes one person’s day.

Free books and Prizes

Hey all, I am H.G Ahedi the author of Haunted and Black Moon.

On 24th December 2020, I am going to publish Realm: Fall of Titan. It is currently on Preorder Christmas special just for $4.99. (Original price $9.99)

You should get it now and I can give you five reasons!

One – This Christmas Special Ebook will be autographed.

Two– This version of the book will only be available until the Preorder date. Once the Preorder date crosses, it will be replaced by a standard eBooks.

Three– I am running super fun promotions at the moment. If you purchase this book, you could get three more books for free! For instance, if you preorder Realm 1, and you are one of the lucky winners, you will get the other three books (Haunted, Calculated Murder and Black Moon) for free! Keep reading

Four- When you purchase a copy and send me the invoice or snap shot of the invoice on hgahedi@outlook.com, you enter a lucky draw to win 10 dollar amazon gift card!

Five– You get readers points! For each person you refer, you get 5 points. So if you refer 4 people, you get 20 points. The reader who refers the most, gets the highest points, get a 10 dollar (USD) Amazon Gift Card and also gets other books for free!

Excited!

Realm: Fall of Titan (Sci Fi Fantasy) now available for Preorder on Amazon and Apple Books.

A bit about the book.

***

Peace of the 24th century is shattered when aliens called the Orias attack the outer rim of the solar system. Argon Keston, a cadet of the Imperial Command, joins the Fleet to defend his home colony, Titan. Meanwhile, Emmeline Augury, a cadet of astrophysics, believes she has unraveled the key to the mysteries of the universe. A mythical device of immense power that can neutralize the Orias and take humanity to the next level of space exploration.

But her claims are based on a myth, not on science, and winning the interstellar war is imperative. Everyone, including Argon, wants her to help. However, Emmeline defies rules and logic, and follows the clues left by her ancestors to discover plaque, the key to unlocking doors to the seven realms and unearths a part of the mythical device. Before she can celebrate, tragedy strikes hard. She is charged for conspiracy and second degree murder and thrown behind bars by her own people. 

She knows her fate is sealed forever; she gives Argon the mythical device and wants him to continue her quest. Unfortunately, for them, her discovery has caught the eye of a power-hungry alien Queen, and the worse is yet to come.

What began as a scientific adventure turns into a manhunt when a fleet of Orias attack Titan and the Queen threatens to slaughter everyone unless she gets the device. Emmeline must make a choice, save Titan or the mythical device. The choice is made, and it will transform her life forever!  

***

Download or read the first chapter, The Orias online or on Apple device

A few rules

These offers are valid for Ebooks only and only if you preorder Realm 1: Fall of Titan.

Please note: This offer will close on Christmas Day (25th Dec 2020, U.S time). The winners will be contacted within a month (Jan 2021) after the release of the book.

There are a few countries where Amazon does not allow preorders (like India). I apologise, you can certainly try Apple Books.

There will be three winners: 1) Gets the free books 2) Gets the Amazon gift card through the lucky draw. 3) Gets the Amazon gift card and three books for free by referring the most people.

You can only win one prize.

Win Win Win!

Hey all, I am H.G Ahedi the author of Haunted and Black Moon. I wanted to let you know that I will be releasing two more books this year, and all the readers are in for the ride!

These two books (Calculated Murder and Realm I) are currently on Preorder and these are special.

Why?

One – These ebooks would be signed my the author (me!).

Two– These books will have a special design. The eBook will be professionally designed (that means they it will probably be animated), and will only be available until the Preorder date.

Three– When you purchase a copy and send me the invoice or snap shot of the invoice on hgahedi@outlook.com, you ensure a chance to win 10 dollar amazon gift card! If you purchase both books, you double your chances. You can also fill in the subscription form below, and we will contact you for further details.

Fourth– I will contact one lucky winner for each book, and interview him or her and feature that interview on my blog. And if they are happy, we can a make a video.  Its all about you, the reader.

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Excited! Let me tell you more!

There are TWO books for preorder. Calculated Murder (murder mystery) and Realm: Fall of Titan (Sci Fi Fantasty). Both of them are now available on Amazon and Apple Books

Calculated Murder is set in our time and is more like a cozy mystery, Realm is set in the 24th century and would be loved by the fans of Star Trek and Star Wars. Read more here.

A few rules

Please note: Calculated Murder release date is 1 Aug 2020 and Realm 1 will come out on Christmas eve this year. The winner will be contacted a few days after the release of the book. I will send an email around letting everyone know.

If you preorder one book, you will enter the draw for that one. If you like to buy both, you will double your chances.

Extended goals, if Realm 1, crosses 500 preorders, I will not pick one but three winners and interview two lucky ones!

More details will be coming out soon.

These are exciting times. If you have already purchased a preorder copy, do not forget to let me know. Send an email, with you name, and the invoice. If you are in a hurry, leave your name and email below and let us know that you have preordered. We will contact you for further details.

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Please note, you name and email address will be added to a readers list. I do not believe in bombarding people with hundreds of emails, you might hear from me once in a month. Maybe twice when I have something exciting to share. Thank you very much for being a part of my journey.

Lets begin!

2020-08-01T21:48:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Until the first release

Journey of a writer

On the 29th Feb 2020, I released another book, Black Moon. I have recently done an interview on a site that likes to talk about authors, their books and gain their insights about their writing process. It can be hard, and sometimes quiet challenging for writers to talk about their process but writers interviews are opportunity for us to share our insights and also the questions people ask do prompt us to think more and write better book.

Here is the interview for my novel, Black Moon. I hope you like it!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE BLACK MOON TO A NEW READER?



If you are looking a complex, thrilling read, you should read this book.



WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND BLACK MOON?



This book has an interesting history. I have republished it this year, but it was originally published in 2008. The thing is the idea/plot came to me in a dream and I causally told about it to one of my friends. And she was like, ‘This is interesting, why don’t you write it down?’. And I did.



HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?



The first draft, I believe it took me two years. At that time I wasn’t planning to be a writer, it was just a story I wanted to get out there. So I didn’t do much about it. After publishing Haunted in 2019, I thought, it would be a good idea to bring this book back to life. The editing and rewriting, including the various updates to the plot and characters took me about three months. I began somewhere in Nov 2019, and got it published by Feb end.



WHAT IS YOUR WORK SCHEDULE LIKE WHEN YOU’RE WRITING?



Usually its couple of hours at night, almost every day. I might get more done over the weekends. Overall, it’s when I do get the time. It’s also good to have deadlines. Like my next two books are due in 6 months and 9 months and that is a good incentive.



DOES WRITING ENERGIZE OR EXHAUST YOU?



Writing energizes me! I feel, when I am working on a book I am transported into a different world.



IS BLACK MOON A STAND ALONE NOVEL?



Yes. Black Moon is a standalone novel. I have used the same characters in other novels, like Haunted. However, the plots are not connected.



WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH DO YOU DO, AND HOW LONG DO YOU SPEND RESEARCHING BEFORE BEGINNING A BOOK?



If I get an idea, I start the first draft right away. The other thing I do is write a detailed summary of the book, outlining the plot. Then I do research on each and every aspect. It might take me a month to 3 months to complete the process.



WHAT DID YOU EDIT OUT OF THIS BOOK?



As I said, this is the second edition of this book. I edited or removed a lot of unnecessary dialogues, scenes and settings. These did not serve the plot. Also, in my opinion they wouldn’t have appealed to the readers.



WHAT ARE COMMON TRAPS FOR ASPIRING WRITERS?



Over analysing. I know, and I do it too, that sometimes we just criticise our writing way too much. Of course, we shouldn’t publish our work without thorough editing and get a proper designer for the book cover. The issue is we writers spend just too much time thinking over and over about certain aspects of the book, instead of just either going with our gut or asking people for their suggestions.



WHY SHOULD PEOPLE READ BLACK MOON?



If people are looking for a fresh, complex, thrilling book with unseen twists and fantastic plot, I feel Black Moon would deliver all this and much more. It is highly entertaining, gripping and well… if you like sherlock holmes or Agatha Christie, you will like Black Moon.

Thanks for reading! You can find the original interview here.

Check out early reviews of the book on Goodreads

Black Moon is a crime mystery thriller with a supernatural twist. Purchase your copy here or download a sample.

What would you like to know? Black Moon's author's interview.

On the 29th Feb 2020, I released another book, Black Moon. I have recently done an interview on a site that likes to talk about authors, their books and gain their insights about their writing process. It can be hard, and sometimes quiet challenging for writers to talk about their process but writers interviews are opportunity for us to share our insights and also the questions people ask do prompt us to think more and write better book.

Here is the interview for my novel, Black Moon. I hope you like it!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE BLACK MOON TO A NEW READER?



If you are looking a complex, thrilling read, you should read this book.



WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND BLACK MOON?



This book has an interesting history. I have republished it this year, but it was originally published in 2008. The thing is the idea/plot came to me in a dream and I causally told about it to one of my friends. And she was like, ‘This is interesting, why don’t you write it down?’. And I did.



HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?



The first draft, I believe it took me two years. At that time I wasn’t planning to be a writer, it was just a story I wanted to get out there. So I didn’t do much about it. After publishing Haunted in 2019, I thought, it would be a good idea to bring this book back to life. The editing and rewriting, including the various updates to the plot and characters took me about three months. I began somewhere in Nov 2019, and got it published by Feb end.



WHAT IS YOUR WORK SCHEDULE LIKE WHEN YOU’RE WRITING?



Usually its couple of hours at night, almost every day. I might get more done over the weekends. Overall, it’s when I do get the time. It’s also good to have deadlines. Like my next two books are due in 6 months and 9 months and that is a good incentive.



DOES WRITING ENERGIZE OR EXHAUST YOU?



Writing energizes me! I feel, when I am working on a book I am transported into a different world.



IS BLACK MOON A STAND ALONE NOVEL?



Yes. Black Moon is a standalone novel. I have used the same characters in other novels, like Haunted. However, the plots are not connected.



WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH DO YOU DO, AND HOW LONG DO YOU SPEND RESEARCHING BEFORE BEGINNING A BOOK?



If I get an idea, I start the first draft right away. The other thing I do is write a detailed summary of the book, outlining the plot. Then I do research on each and every aspect. It might take me a month to 3 months to complete the process.



WHAT DID YOU EDIT OUT OF THIS BOOK?



As I said, this is the second edition of this book. I edited or removed a lot of unnecessary dialogues, scenes and settings. These did not serve the plot. Also, in my opinion they wouldn’t have appealed to the readers.



WHAT ARE COMMON TRAPS FOR ASPIRING WRITERS?



Over analysing. I know, and I do it too, that sometimes we just criticise our writing way too much. Of course, we shouldn’t publish our work without thorough editing and get a proper designer for the book cover. The issue is we writers spend just too much time thinking over and over about certain aspects of the book, instead of just either going with our gut or asking people for their suggestions.



WHY SHOULD PEOPLE READ BLACK MOON?



If people are looking for a fresh, complex, thrilling book with unseen twists and fantastic plot, I feel Black Moon would deliver all this and much more. It is highly entertaining, gripping and well… if you like sherlock holmes or Agatha Christie, you will like Black Moon.

Thanks for reading! You can find the original interview here.

Check out early reviews of the book on Goodreads

Black Moon is a crime mystery thriller with a supernatural twist. Purchase your copy here or download a sample.

Five things I learned from republishing my book.

In 2003, I wrote my first book Black Moon, and self published it with vanity press after paying a nominal fee. Seeing my first book in print was more than enough for me at that time, so I didn’t bother to do much about it.

Years passed by and then in 2019 I published Haunted. While describing this book I mentioned several times that this is my second book and I started getting a strong feeling that I should republish it. So, in Dec 2019, I decided to republish Black Moon and started to work on it. I wanted to be sure I did not repeat the mistakes I made before and also learn new techniques.

So here are few things I learned!

Cover all your legal matters! My first book was published with vanity press and I had signed a contract with them. The first thing I did was ask my lawyer if I could republish this book without any hassle. When I got a green light from her, I wrote to the publisher (although it was not required) informing them of my plans for this book. They responded as soon as possible and provided me an updated about my existing contract (it had expired). That was fine. I saved every letter, email and document I had received from my lawyer and my previous publisher (please do this.). And yes I bought ISBN for both eBook and Paperback; although it is not necessary for eBooks. Put your book for Preorder: Nowadays this is an excellent opportunity to promote your book and also give yourself a deadline. Platforms such as Amazon, Apple book and Kobo have this option. However on Amazon, a potential reader cannot see or read the sample chapters although you might have provided the a good readable version (what a bummer!). I have written to Amazon about this, but well…lets see what happens. Overall, I think preordering your book is a great idea. Print and edit is the way to go. I know this is not very environmentally friendly, but even after my editor has done a marvelous job and I have worked on it for months, I always find errors when I am reading a printed version of my book. I do not know why, and I am always happier after I have finished edited a hard copy of my book. So, print and read.Read your eBook on kindle before publishing. Everyone nowadays has a iPad, tablet, Kindle or can read an eBook on their phone. My suggestion is to send your book to your reading device and then go through it page by page. This will give you a feel of how your book will look to the reader and you will see any major gaps or paragraph issues. Amazon does provide the Kindle Previewer for this, but I just feel testing it out your electronic device is a good idea. Before you design your eBook; Test if that design is going to be accepted in the final version! Not everyone can afford a designer to design books. Not everyone can go and buy software’s that create beautiful ebooks (one day I will.). You might be in the same boat. So, a lot of writers like you and me spend a lot of time designing our books. Turns out when we upload it to Amazon or Apple, the design vanishes! (eyes roll). Yes, your designs might not be accepted by the platforms and hence could be a waste of your time. Imagine, all the time you spend adjusting the line spacing! Or all the time you picking the right design. (Don’t fret you can use it in your paperback version). However, be aware that your design or font will change once you upload the book. It is easier with Apple because they usually accept most of their fonts, and Pages is a lot of help. The take away advice is: design only one chapter of your book, upload it on Kindle or Apple or Kobo and see if it works. You could also use services like Draft2Digital which are free and provide standard templates for your books but take a percentage from your sale. If you are running on a budget, this might not be the way to go. Personally, I like to design my own books and kind of enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading this blog. I am happy to share my experiences as I write and publish my books.

Black Moon on sale…

[image error]The past, the present and the future: Checkout my latest and upcoming books!


Five things I learned from republishing my book.
Love mystery thrillers?
Free give way!
This is why you should have a paperback version of your book.
Author's interview: Haunted by H.G Ahedi.

Love mystery thrillers?

Hello friends, 

I have got some exciting news! Black Moon, an early adventure in the Cranston series is now available for Preorder! 

This book has an interesting history. I had published it in 2003 (just for fun). I didn’t plan to be a writer then, so it didn’t occur to me to promote or sell it. A couple of family and friends knew about it, but that was it. But something changed after Haunted, and I thought it would be a cool to kick off this decade by publishing another book.  

Black Moon, is a suspense thriller with a supernatural element set in a time when we had floppy disks (yeah remember those?) and mobile phone were not that popular (iPhone did not exist). This story gives you an idea of where it all began (since it was my first book) and how the characters changed or grew and came together in Haunted. 

After Haunted in Nov 2019, I have been putting in a couple of hours each day to get this book to you. I am super excited when it came back from the editor and Amazon made it live in 24 hours! (Wow, I did not expect that!). The ebook is on half price ($2.99) until 29 Feb 2020. So grab your copy now! 

[image error]An intriguing spine chilling thriller from the Author of Haunted.

Black Moon’s Ebook is available for preorder all over the world including United States, Australia,Canada, United Kingdom and Europe.

Here is a short video about the book. I hope you enjoy it! 

Welcome to my little creative world. 

Please join my readers club and receive offers, free books and promotions.

H.G Ahedi 
Writer, Researcher, Author of Haunted & Black Moon. 

Join H.G Ahedi’s readers club!

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What else have I been posting!

Love mystery thrillers?
Free give way!
This is why you should have a paperback version of your book.
Author's interview: Haunted by H.G Ahedi.
Three deaths, an invisible weapon and a deadly plot. Welcome to the world of Haunted.