Adam Blumer's Blog, page 4
May 5, 2017
What Henry James Taught Me about Writing Suspense
If you’ve read any works by Henry James, American-born British author (1843-1916), great suspense probably isn’t the first thought that leaps to your mind. Consider the all-important first sentence of his famous novella The Turn of the Screw. The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. That’s sixty-two words in the first sentence alone. By today’s standards, such writing is “wordy” at best and “frankly hard to read” at worst. But writing styles come and go just like the bell-bottoms of the seventies, and during James’s day, this was cutting-edge stuff. Perhaps the economical writing so popular today…
April 26, 2017
Clean Christian Fiction Makes Sense
It used to be that Christian readers could pick up a book (fiction or nonfiction) from most recognized “Christian” publishers and never think twice about coming across questionable or outright offensive content or language. This, unfortunately, is no longer the case, folks. And that’s why I sometimes like to remind readers and publishers of where I stand on the issue. As the years pass, I’m afraid it will only become more necessary to do so. Lest anyone question the accuracy of my claim about slipping standards, let me offer two examples to illustrate my point. In a desire to be kind and fair, I won’t mention the authors, book titles, or publishers. The first example is very recent. A recognized author of Christian nonfiction had a 99-cent Kindle sale of one of his books from one of the leading Christian publishers. I had heard good things about this author’s writings and…
March 17, 2017
How Long Before My Book Is Published?
Here’s the place where I address common questions about the mysterious world of royalty publishing (as opposed to indie publishing). If you have a question you’d like me to answer, be sure to post it in the comments below. Keep in mind that I’m not as much an expert on some topics as those who are more experienced, but I have worked with three different publishers so far and can give feedback accordingly. How Long Before My Book Is Published? Let’s say you found a publishing home for your book or are seeking one. If you sign a book contract, how long are you expected to wait before that wonderful product shows up (as an e-book or in print form) with your name on the cover? I have no intention of ever glossing over the truth here, so I’ll be straight with you. At a minimum you’ll be waiting at…
February 22, 2017
News: Publisher Interested in Novel #3
Hey, I have some exciting news to share with my readers. My literary agent (Hartline Literary Agency) called yesterday. One of our targeted publishers likes the book proposal and has requested the full manuscript of Drone (book one in the hoped-for Time Redeemer series). So I’ll be sending off the manuscript today. No guarantees, but at least there’s some activity on the novel front. I’m also about 11K words into Daymare, book two, and having fun with it. In addition, I’m getting started with Scrivener, writing software that is sure to make life easier with book two. I’ll be sure to let you know what happens. Thanks for your support! Can I just say that this writing journey can be lonely at times (after all, writing is a solitary venture), but encouragement from my readers helps me remember that “somebody is out there” who is reading and enjoying my projects.…
December 16, 2016
Christmas Sale for Both Novels!
Fatal Illusions: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RTS3KLC/ The Tenth Plague: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6X6XDS
November 10, 2016
I’ve Signed a Contract with Hartline Literary Agency
I’m pleased to announce some exciting news. I have signed a contract with literary agent Cyle Young at Hartline Literary Agency for my next novel, DRONE. I’ve already been working with Cyle for a few months, and it’s been a great experience. He has already begun shopping the book proposal around to several different publishers, and hopefully I’ll have some good news before too long. I’m grateful for his help in fine-tuning the proposal and my opening chapters. I’d appreciate prayers as we pursue God’s leading and as I work on novel #4. My first two novels are still on sale ($1.99 and 99 cents) for Kindle. Check them out! Thanks for your support, and to God be the glory. Fatal Illusions ($1.99): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RTS3KLC/ The Tenth Plague ($.99): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6X6XDS
October 7, 2016
Did I Correctly Predict the Creation of a Bible/Koran Hybrid?
I saw this article this morning, and my eyes widened. If you read The Tenth Plague, my second thriller, you are familiar with my fictional parallel Bible that combines the Bible and the Koran (by the way, Koran is Webster’s first preference for the word). Wow. Somebody just published a book just like that called The Qur’an with References to the Bible. According to the Religion News Service, “The new translation shows more than 3,000 parallels between the two religious texts in a split-page format. The top of each page is the English translation of the Quran, and the bottom shows the analogous biblical verses, from the New Revised Standard Version — which account for 40 percent of the book.” Wow! That’s exactly what I had in mind, and in my novel it was a controversial project, to be sure. Some would see such a project as seeking to create legitimacy for the…
September 8, 2016
Where Do I Get My Story Ideas?
Some have asked me where I get my story ideas. I read a lot, but I also watch the news. Crime news is also something I follow, including this latest heartbreaking news (see below) about Jacob Wetterling’s body being found after being missing since 1989. At least his family can now bury his body and find closure after waiting for so many years for him to come home. Why stories like this? The evil of this world, when depicted tastefully without offense, only makes the gospel of Christ shine brighter, and that’s the contrast (light overcoming darkness) I like to show in my novels. Here is the latest on Jacob’s killer: http://www.people.com/article/source-...
August 29, 2016
August 28, 2016
99 Cents Tweet for The Tenth Plague
DEAL: @AdamBlumer – The Tenth Plague ($0.99) https://t.co/BMAEvFi7Ze @KirkdalePress pic.twitter.com/m04mUpmENv — Gospel eBooks (@gospelebooks) August 28, 2016
