Doug Farren's Blog, page 7
February 5, 2017
Solar Eclipse
Update
It's Sunday morning and I'm about 75% done with my editing pass of Peacekeeper Pathogen. I will get back to editing as soon as I finish putting out this post.
My place of business does an annual auction for Harvest for Hunger. This year, I donated two complete signed sets of all my books. While this will most likely not result in any sales, it sure feels good to know that I've contributed to a good cause.
Launch Pad
For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know I'm a huge supporter of the Launch Pad Workshop. If you are involved in the generation of science-related material that can be viewed by the public (such as science-fiction writers, script writers, movie producers, editors, etc.) and you have a desire to expand your knowledge with a group of like-minded individuals, then please apply to Launch Pad. If you are selected to attend you will enjoy an experience that will shape your life and give you pleasant memories for the rest of your days. If you have a few spare dollars in a savings account or you are getting back a little from your income taxes, please consider donating. I've made it easy by setting up a GoFundMe account.
2017 Total Solar Eclipse Preparations
On August 21st, the first total solar eclipse of the sun to be viewed in the United States in 40 years will occur. Where will you be? If you haven't made your travel plans yet, good luck at finding a place to stay. Based on the reports I've been hearing, every hotel, motel, campground, bed & breakfast, and even rooms to rent all across the path of totality are now sold out. I made my hotel reservations 7 months ago at a hotel 400 miles outside the path and two days before the eclipse. At the time I made the reservation, I was told there were two rooms available. I'm sure they're booked up now.
That hotel is not my final destination. It's just a waypoint on my trip from Ohio to South Carolina. I will be comfortably reclining on my dad's porch when the eclipse starts. His house sits just over 1,000 meters from the exact centerline of the path of totality. What luck!
There are some precautions you must take to properly observe an eclipse. Even if the sun is covered in clouds, even during totality, NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN! You might think you're safe because you're eyes aren't burning, but you're staring into a naked fusion reactor that's emitting huge amounts of dangerous radiation. Don't do it. I've already purchased my eclipse glasses so I and the others with me can safely observe the event. If you don't want to spend the few dollars to buy a pair or eclipse glasses (or forget to do so) you can always resort to the ancient technique of using a pinhole viewer. Instructions for this simple device can be found online.
If you miss the one this year, you will have another change in 2024. This one takes a different track across the nation and just happens to pass over my house. Making plans to see that one will be easy for me.
Planning Ahead
The 2017 solar eclipse is a great example of an event you need to be prepared for. If you have waited until now to make your plans, you will most likely be disappointed in the type of arrangements you end up with. There are many other life events a person needs to be planning for--some of them have to be planned many years in advance. Retirement is the one most people think about, but there are others. Unexpected car repairs and other expenses, sickness, taxes, and bad weather. It's okay to live in the moment, but you must also plan for the future. Even driving provides an example of how important it is to plan ahead, even if only by a few seconds. If you are only watching the tail of the car in front of you, you might not have enough time to avoid the accident that happens two cars in front of you. Read the road ahead - far ahead. Plan your life and look into the future as best you can. If you don't, your life will be a lot bumpier than you like.
Time to get back to editing.
It's Sunday morning and I'm about 75% done with my editing pass of Peacekeeper Pathogen. I will get back to editing as soon as I finish putting out this post.
My place of business does an annual auction for Harvest for Hunger. This year, I donated two complete signed sets of all my books. While this will most likely not result in any sales, it sure feels good to know that I've contributed to a good cause.
Launch Pad
For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know I'm a huge supporter of the Launch Pad Workshop. If you are involved in the generation of science-related material that can be viewed by the public (such as science-fiction writers, script writers, movie producers, editors, etc.) and you have a desire to expand your knowledge with a group of like-minded individuals, then please apply to Launch Pad. If you are selected to attend you will enjoy an experience that will shape your life and give you pleasant memories for the rest of your days. If you have a few spare dollars in a savings account or you are getting back a little from your income taxes, please consider donating. I've made it easy by setting up a GoFundMe account.
2017 Total Solar Eclipse Preparations
On August 21st, the first total solar eclipse of the sun to be viewed in the United States in 40 years will occur. Where will you be? If you haven't made your travel plans yet, good luck at finding a place to stay. Based on the reports I've been hearing, every hotel, motel, campground, bed & breakfast, and even rooms to rent all across the path of totality are now sold out. I made my hotel reservations 7 months ago at a hotel 400 miles outside the path and two days before the eclipse. At the time I made the reservation, I was told there were two rooms available. I'm sure they're booked up now.
That hotel is not my final destination. It's just a waypoint on my trip from Ohio to South Carolina. I will be comfortably reclining on my dad's porch when the eclipse starts. His house sits just over 1,000 meters from the exact centerline of the path of totality. What luck!
There are some precautions you must take to properly observe an eclipse. Even if the sun is covered in clouds, even during totality, NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN! You might think you're safe because you're eyes aren't burning, but you're staring into a naked fusion reactor that's emitting huge amounts of dangerous radiation. Don't do it. I've already purchased my eclipse glasses so I and the others with me can safely observe the event. If you don't want to spend the few dollars to buy a pair or eclipse glasses (or forget to do so) you can always resort to the ancient technique of using a pinhole viewer. Instructions for this simple device can be found online.
If you miss the one this year, you will have another change in 2024. This one takes a different track across the nation and just happens to pass over my house. Making plans to see that one will be easy for me.
Planning Ahead
The 2017 solar eclipse is a great example of an event you need to be prepared for. If you have waited until now to make your plans, you will most likely be disappointed in the type of arrangements you end up with. There are many other life events a person needs to be planning for--some of them have to be planned many years in advance. Retirement is the one most people think about, but there are others. Unexpected car repairs and other expenses, sickness, taxes, and bad weather. It's okay to live in the moment, but you must also plan for the future. Even driving provides an example of how important it is to plan ahead, even if only by a few seconds. If you are only watching the tail of the car in front of you, you might not have enough time to avoid the accident that happens two cars in front of you. Read the road ahead - far ahead. Plan your life and look into the future as best you can. If you don't, your life will be a lot bumpier than you like.
Time to get back to editing.
January 29, 2017
Self-Publishing Tax Preparation
Update
I am almost half-way done with my editing pass through Peacekeeper Pathogen. If I continue this pace, I will be able to hand the manuscript over to my wife for her grammar check toward the end of February.
Tax Preparation
Tax time is approaching and it's time for me to begin gathering up the documentation and paperwork needed to file. You might think that doing taxes when you have a small business (which is what writing is) is difficult and time-consuming. Actually, it's not.
I used to do it all by hand but now there are several very low-cost tax preparation software programs available. Still, a person needs to be organized and prepared before sitting down to do your taxes. Each year, I like to post what I do to prepare for tax-time in the hope of helping other authors avoid problems. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
The miles you put on your car for writing purposes are tax deductible. But, if you are audited, you must have detailed records showing starting mileage, ending mileage, date, vehicle, and the purpose of the trip. You will also need to know the mileage on your vehicle at the beginning of the year and the end of the year.Business-related expenses. You would think that this is a no-brainer, but many authors fail to realize all their benefits. By using a program such as Quicken, you can track all of your expenses and automatically categorize them in a format acceptable to the IRS. Did you discuss writing with another author over dinner? The trip and the dinner are a valid business expense. So are advertising, office supplies, parking expenses, travel expenses, book purchases, etc. Other valid expenses include writer magazines, professional organization membership fees, and anything related to your business.
Writing income is something you must report, but how many people compare what appears on the 1099 to what was actually deposited in their accounts? If you have Amazon 1099s, you should do this comparison because there's an interesting glitch in how Amazon reports things to you. Did you know that Amazon extracts a small (about 3%) fee from your earnings as part of the cost of converting foreign currency into your local currency? If you have foreign sales, make sure you add up all of your Amazon 1099s and then compare this against what was actually deposited in your bank. You will find that your deposits are slightly smaller than what appears on the 1099. The difference is the conversion fee and this is a reportable business expense.Do you have savings accounts? Make sure you get the interest you earned on all of them. Do you pay bank fees such as account maintenance fees? These are tax deductible as well. Just make you have the paperwork to back it up.Do you use a part of your home exclusively for writing? This can be a small area in one room but it must be exclusively used for the business. If so, deduct it! Keeping track of all your business expenses, incomes, and activities in a detailed manner throughout the year makes filling out your taxes easy. The hardest part is making sure you have all your paperwork together so you can start the filing process. Being organized is the only way to properly run a business.
I am almost half-way done with my editing pass through Peacekeeper Pathogen. If I continue this pace, I will be able to hand the manuscript over to my wife for her grammar check toward the end of February.
Tax Preparation
Tax time is approaching and it's time for me to begin gathering up the documentation and paperwork needed to file. You might think that doing taxes when you have a small business (which is what writing is) is difficult and time-consuming. Actually, it's not.
I used to do it all by hand but now there are several very low-cost tax preparation software programs available. Still, a person needs to be organized and prepared before sitting down to do your taxes. Each year, I like to post what I do to prepare for tax-time in the hope of helping other authors avoid problems. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
The miles you put on your car for writing purposes are tax deductible. But, if you are audited, you must have detailed records showing starting mileage, ending mileage, date, vehicle, and the purpose of the trip. You will also need to know the mileage on your vehicle at the beginning of the year and the end of the year.Business-related expenses. You would think that this is a no-brainer, but many authors fail to realize all their benefits. By using a program such as Quicken, you can track all of your expenses and automatically categorize them in a format acceptable to the IRS. Did you discuss writing with another author over dinner? The trip and the dinner are a valid business expense. So are advertising, office supplies, parking expenses, travel expenses, book purchases, etc. Other valid expenses include writer magazines, professional organization membership fees, and anything related to your business.
Writing income is something you must report, but how many people compare what appears on the 1099 to what was actually deposited in their accounts? If you have Amazon 1099s, you should do this comparison because there's an interesting glitch in how Amazon reports things to you. Did you know that Amazon extracts a small (about 3%) fee from your earnings as part of the cost of converting foreign currency into your local currency? If you have foreign sales, make sure you add up all of your Amazon 1099s and then compare this against what was actually deposited in your bank. You will find that your deposits are slightly smaller than what appears on the 1099. The difference is the conversion fee and this is a reportable business expense.Do you have savings accounts? Make sure you get the interest you earned on all of them. Do you pay bank fees such as account maintenance fees? These are tax deductible as well. Just make you have the paperwork to back it up.Do you use a part of your home exclusively for writing? This can be a small area in one room but it must be exclusively used for the business. If so, deduct it! Keeping track of all your business expenses, incomes, and activities in a detailed manner throughout the year makes filling out your taxes easy. The hardest part is making sure you have all your paperwork together so you can start the filing process. Being organized is the only way to properly run a business.
January 22, 2017
How Long Does it Take to Publish a Book?
Update
Lee Dilkie (my content editor) has finished reading Peacekeeper Pathogen (AKA PK3) and has provided a plethora of useful feedback. Now that I've been away from the novel for several weeks, I can begin editing with a fresh mind. I started that process yesterday and have gotten up to chapter 5. If all goes well, I hope to have the book edited and ready for proofing in a couple of months. My wife does the proofing and she usually takes a couple months to work her way through the book. She is not a fan of science fiction. She also doesn't really "read" the story. She looks more at the sentence level looking for grammatical errors and sentence structure. I have a content editor precisely because my wife is not a fan of science fiction and because she is so focused on the structure of the individual sentences. After I input all of her changes, I send the manuscript off to Germany (email delivery time of about 17.9 milliseconds) and let Flessa Ekkehard (a German engineer) have a look at it for additional proofing suggestions.
If the timetable works out as predicted, I should have a new book up on Amazon in about 5 months. FIVE MONTHS!???? Let's talk about this time-frame for just a moment because it's important.
Timing
Five months is actually quite aggressive. Years ago, back when I didn't know all that much about publishing, I wondered why it took a year or more for a major publishing house to get a book published. Now that I have a small team to help me in my own publishing process, I understand why. If you're an author, you will want your book to be in the best shape possible when it is released to the world. It should have a good cover because a book is still sold by its cover to anyone who is not searching for your book by name. The manuscript should not have any grammatical mistakes (okay, a couple are fine because even major publishing houses miss a few). The sentences should flow and sound natural and entertaining. The interior of a printed book should be properly formatted following industry standards. If your book is an ebook, the interior should follow the standards set forth by the distributor.
All of this takes time. None of it will matter though if your story is not one that people will want to read. Put it all together and you have a book that will bring you an income for many years. If you try to rush any part of this, you will end up with a product that does not sell and all your effort will have been wasted.
I am exceptionally lucky to have the team I have. Lee Dilkie and Flessa Ekkehard are people who've read my books and were vocal in pointing out flaws in the content as well as the grammar. As a self-published author, I believe it is my duty to listen to what my readers are saying and I read every review. If someone emails me direct, I will reply. Lee's and Flessa's comments were always right on the mark so I asked if they would like to become beta readers. I am very grateful they've accepted and my books are better because of their feedback.
Another member of the team is Heather Zak. She is the wife of my best friend from high school and is my preferred cover artist. She reads the first draft of the manuscript and starts working on a cover early in the process. Her covers reflect what happens in the story and are beautiful works of art.
Publishing a book is a team effort. If you are looking to self-publish, look around at the people you know and assess their talents. If you can find a cover artist, content editor, and at least one proofing editor, then you have your team. If not, you might want to look into having your book looked at by a reputable editor. It will not be cheap and you must do your research before signing an agreement, but you will not regret doing so. If you think you can do this all on your own, you're wrong. Even editors use other editors to check their own work.
You spent months or perhaps years working on your book. Now that it's finished, take the time to put the polish on it. If you don't, if you try to rush to the finish line and get your work published, the only thing the world will see is a book full of errors, bad sentences, and poor design. How do you want the world to see you? As a professional author who's written a wonderful story that's a pleasure to read or as someone who slapped a story together and blasted it out to the public without any thought as to what it looks like?
Finally, readers of this blog should know that I'm a huge supporter of Launch Pad. I've started a GoFundMe campaign to help support this year's workshop. Please consider donating. Even a small amount helps. I would also like to ask if you would take a moment to help promote this workshop by putting out a shout for the GoFundMe campaign on your own social media accounts. The link is:
https://www.gofundme.com/launch-pad-workshop
Thank you!
Lee Dilkie (my content editor) has finished reading Peacekeeper Pathogen (AKA PK3) and has provided a plethora of useful feedback. Now that I've been away from the novel for several weeks, I can begin editing with a fresh mind. I started that process yesterday and have gotten up to chapter 5. If all goes well, I hope to have the book edited and ready for proofing in a couple of months. My wife does the proofing and she usually takes a couple months to work her way through the book. She is not a fan of science fiction. She also doesn't really "read" the story. She looks more at the sentence level looking for grammatical errors and sentence structure. I have a content editor precisely because my wife is not a fan of science fiction and because she is so focused on the structure of the individual sentences. After I input all of her changes, I send the manuscript off to Germany (email delivery time of about 17.9 milliseconds) and let Flessa Ekkehard (a German engineer) have a look at it for additional proofing suggestions.
If the timetable works out as predicted, I should have a new book up on Amazon in about 5 months. FIVE MONTHS!???? Let's talk about this time-frame for just a moment because it's important.
Timing
Five months is actually quite aggressive. Years ago, back when I didn't know all that much about publishing, I wondered why it took a year or more for a major publishing house to get a book published. Now that I have a small team to help me in my own publishing process, I understand why. If you're an author, you will want your book to be in the best shape possible when it is released to the world. It should have a good cover because a book is still sold by its cover to anyone who is not searching for your book by name. The manuscript should not have any grammatical mistakes (okay, a couple are fine because even major publishing houses miss a few). The sentences should flow and sound natural and entertaining. The interior of a printed book should be properly formatted following industry standards. If your book is an ebook, the interior should follow the standards set forth by the distributor.
All of this takes time. None of it will matter though if your story is not one that people will want to read. Put it all together and you have a book that will bring you an income for many years. If you try to rush any part of this, you will end up with a product that does not sell and all your effort will have been wasted.
I am exceptionally lucky to have the team I have. Lee Dilkie and Flessa Ekkehard are people who've read my books and were vocal in pointing out flaws in the content as well as the grammar. As a self-published author, I believe it is my duty to listen to what my readers are saying and I read every review. If someone emails me direct, I will reply. Lee's and Flessa's comments were always right on the mark so I asked if they would like to become beta readers. I am very grateful they've accepted and my books are better because of their feedback.
Another member of the team is Heather Zak. She is the wife of my best friend from high school and is my preferred cover artist. She reads the first draft of the manuscript and starts working on a cover early in the process. Her covers reflect what happens in the story and are beautiful works of art.
Publishing a book is a team effort. If you are looking to self-publish, look around at the people you know and assess their talents. If you can find a cover artist, content editor, and at least one proofing editor, then you have your team. If not, you might want to look into having your book looked at by a reputable editor. It will not be cheap and you must do your research before signing an agreement, but you will not regret doing so. If you think you can do this all on your own, you're wrong. Even editors use other editors to check their own work.
You spent months or perhaps years working on your book. Now that it's finished, take the time to put the polish on it. If you don't, if you try to rush to the finish line and get your work published, the only thing the world will see is a book full of errors, bad sentences, and poor design. How do you want the world to see you? As a professional author who's written a wonderful story that's a pleasure to read or as someone who slapped a story together and blasted it out to the public without any thought as to what it looks like?
Finally, readers of this blog should know that I'm a huge supporter of Launch Pad. I've started a GoFundMe campaign to help support this year's workshop. Please consider donating. Even a small amount helps. I would also like to ask if you would take a moment to help promote this workshop by putting out a shout for the GoFundMe campaign on your own social media accounts. The link is:
https://www.gofundme.com/launch-pad-workshop
Thank you!
January 15, 2017
Tax Thoughts
Update
While waiting for Peacekeeper Pathogen to be reviewed by Lee Dilkie (reader turned content editor), I've been catching up on my reading and television shows. The writing itch however, got the best of me yesterday and I pulled out a short story I'd started a very long time ago but never finished. Yesterday, I finished it. It's not very long and it's not really science fiction. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now that it's done. I also began work on my next novel -- a sequel to Off Course which I haven't named yet. I only added a few hundred words, but I can officially say it's been started.
Yesterday, we were supposed to have our monthly writer's meeting at Barnes and Noble. My wife dropped me off and took off shopping for sewing material. I didn't see anyone from the group but it was still a bit early. When the meeting time arrived, nobody was there. I haven't been to a meeting since October either because I was at an event selling books or the weather was too bad. But yesterday it was nice out and everyone should have been there. I emailed and texted everyone I had contact information for. Only one person responded and she had no idea what was going on. She was actually at another meeting. I hope to hear back from someone soon. In the meantime, I asked to be put back on the mailing list for another group I've been to before.
On the way into work last Friday, I had a deer run out of the woods and slam into my car. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw it get up and run away. The impact did a little bit of damage to the edge of the cowling just forward of the front tire. When you live around here, being hit by or hitting a deer is to be expected at least once in your driving career.
Tax Thoughts
Tax time is approaching and it's time for writers who treat their writing as a business to begin thinking about gathering up everything they will need. I have a reminder in my Google calendar to record the mileage on my cars on January 1st of every year. The reminder triggers two days, one day, and then 12 hours from the start of the year. That way, I have the mileage recorded for tax time. I also have a checklist of things that I will need prior to sitting down in front of the computer to begin working on my taxes. This list will be printed out soon and hanging next to my computer. As paperwork comes in or each item on the checklist is completed, it all goes into a file folder or an electronic folder on the computer so everything is together.
Running a business requires a lot of documentation and a well-organized method of keeping this documentation for at least 7 years. If you don't have a system now, you should give some serious thought about setting one up. Tax time might only come once a year, but the documentation needed to file your taxes will arrive at unscheduled times all year round. Being organized will make tax time easy and it can also make surviving an audit much easier. I normally put out a short series of tax-related posts just before it's time to begin filing your taxes. I plan on doing the same again this year.
While waiting for Peacekeeper Pathogen to be reviewed by Lee Dilkie (reader turned content editor), I've been catching up on my reading and television shows. The writing itch however, got the best of me yesterday and I pulled out a short story I'd started a very long time ago but never finished. Yesterday, I finished it. It's not very long and it's not really science fiction. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it now that it's done. I also began work on my next novel -- a sequel to Off Course which I haven't named yet. I only added a few hundred words, but I can officially say it's been started.
Yesterday, we were supposed to have our monthly writer's meeting at Barnes and Noble. My wife dropped me off and took off shopping for sewing material. I didn't see anyone from the group but it was still a bit early. When the meeting time arrived, nobody was there. I haven't been to a meeting since October either because I was at an event selling books or the weather was too bad. But yesterday it was nice out and everyone should have been there. I emailed and texted everyone I had contact information for. Only one person responded and she had no idea what was going on. She was actually at another meeting. I hope to hear back from someone soon. In the meantime, I asked to be put back on the mailing list for another group I've been to before.
On the way into work last Friday, I had a deer run out of the woods and slam into my car. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw it get up and run away. The impact did a little bit of damage to the edge of the cowling just forward of the front tire. When you live around here, being hit by or hitting a deer is to be expected at least once in your driving career.
Tax Thoughts
Tax time is approaching and it's time for writers who treat their writing as a business to begin thinking about gathering up everything they will need. I have a reminder in my Google calendar to record the mileage on my cars on January 1st of every year. The reminder triggers two days, one day, and then 12 hours from the start of the year. That way, I have the mileage recorded for tax time. I also have a checklist of things that I will need prior to sitting down in front of the computer to begin working on my taxes. This list will be printed out soon and hanging next to my computer. As paperwork comes in or each item on the checklist is completed, it all goes into a file folder or an electronic folder on the computer so everything is together.
Running a business requires a lot of documentation and a well-organized method of keeping this documentation for at least 7 years. If you don't have a system now, you should give some serious thought about setting one up. Tax time might only come once a year, but the documentation needed to file your taxes will arrive at unscheduled times all year round. Being organized will make tax time easy and it can also make surviving an audit much easier. I normally put out a short series of tax-related posts just before it's time to begin filing your taxes. I plan on doing the same again this year.
January 8, 2017
Quick Update
Not much to report this week. Waiting on a report from Lee Dilkie on Peacekeeper Pathogen. In the meantime, I've started thinking about and doing some research for my next book which will be a sequel to Off Course. My biggest problem with this book is I can't seem to answer the question: "How do you stop an unstoppable warship?" When I have the answer, I can begin work on the novel.
I've also been catching up on television and scifi shows I've had on standby while writing. Even though I've not been writing for only a couple of weeks, the itch to write is beginning to appear. Soon, the itch will be unstoppable and I will have to start writing something.
There was a news story the other day concerning one of the nuclear power plants owned by the same company that owns the one I work for. According to the analyst, there is a 50% chance the plant could be closed down resulting in the loss of a little over 10 million dollars in tax revenue for the surrounding community as well as the State of Ohio. It will also result in the loss of several hundred jobs which will impact families and communities far more than the loss of tax revenue.
My own plant is officially up for sale. The possibility of someone buying it is much greater because we are a much larger facility and we make a ton of money when the plant is running. But, there is no guarantee that I will have my current job after the new owner takes control. I'm not incredibly worried, but the possibility is there. I've always been a long-range planner and the prospect of being unemployed (especially with our nation's current health care insurance problems) does not sit well with me. So, I am heavily weighing the possibility of cutting back on my writing so I can learn a new programming language. I am very well versed in Microsoft Access and I'm pretty good at SQL. I used to be very good at VB6 (no longer used much) and even longer ago I was good at C (back when DOS was king). Today, Java seems to be the language to learn and so I might embark on that particular path.
If I do decide to learn a new language (about 90% sure at this point), it will impact my writing and will result in a delay of the next book. But, that's life.
I've also been catching up on television and scifi shows I've had on standby while writing. Even though I've not been writing for only a couple of weeks, the itch to write is beginning to appear. Soon, the itch will be unstoppable and I will have to start writing something.
There was a news story the other day concerning one of the nuclear power plants owned by the same company that owns the one I work for. According to the analyst, there is a 50% chance the plant could be closed down resulting in the loss of a little over 10 million dollars in tax revenue for the surrounding community as well as the State of Ohio. It will also result in the loss of several hundred jobs which will impact families and communities far more than the loss of tax revenue.
My own plant is officially up for sale. The possibility of someone buying it is much greater because we are a much larger facility and we make a ton of money when the plant is running. But, there is no guarantee that I will have my current job after the new owner takes control. I'm not incredibly worried, but the possibility is there. I've always been a long-range planner and the prospect of being unemployed (especially with our nation's current health care insurance problems) does not sit well with me. So, I am heavily weighing the possibility of cutting back on my writing so I can learn a new programming language. I am very well versed in Microsoft Access and I'm pretty good at SQL. I used to be very good at VB6 (no longer used much) and even longer ago I was good at C (back when DOS was king). Today, Java seems to be the language to learn and so I might embark on that particular path.
If I do decide to learn a new language (about 90% sure at this point), it will impact my writing and will result in a delay of the next book. But, that's life.
January 1, 2017
2016 Review
2016 is now history. It was a year I hope to forget but I know I can't because of all that happened. Humanity lost many people that were a part of our past -- people that will live on in our memories and in the media for many years into the future. We saw Brexit and soon we will see just how it will affect the UK. There were terror attacks, wars, police shootings and shootings of police, the standoff at the Dakota access pipeline, the tainted presidential election that has split this country and will continue to do so, and many more events I would rather forget. Based on what has happened in 2016 and the path this country is taking, I don't see 2017 being much better.
Being depressed about all the bad news has made 2016 a year to be remembered as well as one to be forgotten. I'm lucky. I live in a small community where most people seem to get along with each other very well. I work at a company that promotes equal opportunity and where everyone is treated with respect. I don't see the things that many other people see and I don't have to deal with the things that many people have to deal with every day. That does not mean that such things don't concern me, because they do. For me, 2016 has changed how I see people. I am more distrustful and far more opinionated than when the year first began. Our future looks pretty bleak and I hope things will change.
I accomplished a lot in 2016. Here is a short list:
Finished and released Dragonverse Origins .Started and finished writing Peacekeeper Pathogen.Attended Launch Pad.Raised enough funds for Launch Pad to pay for the cost of one of the vans as well as provide a generous donation to help Mike Brotherton continue the workshop.Revised the interiors of all my existing books to conform to today's professional publishing standards.Revised the covers of all of my existing books to provide a consistent look and feel.I was promoted at my day job.Completed several Microsoft Access projects at my day job.Completed a full revision of a complex Microsoft Access database application that had been giving inconsistent results.Designed and wrote a near bullet-proof watchdog program that monitors the other programs used to keep my database system updated and generate hundreds of daily automatic reports. This watchdog program has allowed me to take vacations without worry.Started work on a major rewrite of an application I wrote in 2003 (SCMS - Simulator Configuration Management System) that no longer runs under Windows 7. Original was written in Visual Basic 6. The new version will use Microsoft Access per owner's request.Provided financial assistance to several family members when they were in need.Updated my website.I learned about Amazon advertising and successfully applied it to boost sales.Looking ahead:I will finish and publish Peacekeeper Pathogen.I plan to start and hopefully finish a sequel to Off Course that firmly ties that book to Dragonverse.Raise funds to support Launch Pad.Attend the 10-year anniversary of Launch Pad.Finish moving SCMS to a full Microsoft Access platform.If possible, begin the final book in the Dragonverse series - Children of 2 Universes.Learn a new programming skill - I have not yet decided if this will be learning about web technology or a new language such as Java or C++, or a combination of these.I will be at my dad's in South Carolina during the total solar eclipse. This is something I've been planning on doing for the last 7 years.I hope to make sure my brother and sister are both in South Carolina with me. If this can be arranged, it will be the first time all three of us have been together since the passing of my mother and it will mark the first time they've visited my dad in his South Carolina home.Let's work together to make 2017 a better year.
Being depressed about all the bad news has made 2016 a year to be remembered as well as one to be forgotten. I'm lucky. I live in a small community where most people seem to get along with each other very well. I work at a company that promotes equal opportunity and where everyone is treated with respect. I don't see the things that many other people see and I don't have to deal with the things that many people have to deal with every day. That does not mean that such things don't concern me, because they do. For me, 2016 has changed how I see people. I am more distrustful and far more opinionated than when the year first began. Our future looks pretty bleak and I hope things will change.
I accomplished a lot in 2016. Here is a short list:
Finished and released Dragonverse Origins .Started and finished writing Peacekeeper Pathogen.Attended Launch Pad.Raised enough funds for Launch Pad to pay for the cost of one of the vans as well as provide a generous donation to help Mike Brotherton continue the workshop.Revised the interiors of all my existing books to conform to today's professional publishing standards.Revised the covers of all of my existing books to provide a consistent look and feel.I was promoted at my day job.Completed several Microsoft Access projects at my day job.Completed a full revision of a complex Microsoft Access database application that had been giving inconsistent results.Designed and wrote a near bullet-proof watchdog program that monitors the other programs used to keep my database system updated and generate hundreds of daily automatic reports. This watchdog program has allowed me to take vacations without worry.Started work on a major rewrite of an application I wrote in 2003 (SCMS - Simulator Configuration Management System) that no longer runs under Windows 7. Original was written in Visual Basic 6. The new version will use Microsoft Access per owner's request.Provided financial assistance to several family members when they were in need.Updated my website.I learned about Amazon advertising and successfully applied it to boost sales.Looking ahead:I will finish and publish Peacekeeper Pathogen.I plan to start and hopefully finish a sequel to Off Course that firmly ties that book to Dragonverse.Raise funds to support Launch Pad.Attend the 10-year anniversary of Launch Pad.Finish moving SCMS to a full Microsoft Access platform.If possible, begin the final book in the Dragonverse series - Children of 2 Universes.Learn a new programming skill - I have not yet decided if this will be learning about web technology or a new language such as Java or C++, or a combination of these.I will be at my dad's in South Carolina during the total solar eclipse. This is something I've been planning on doing for the last 7 years.I hope to make sure my brother and sister are both in South Carolina with me. If this can be arranged, it will be the first time all three of us have been together since the passing of my mother and it will mark the first time they've visited my dad in his South Carolina home.Let's work together to make 2017 a better year.
December 25, 2016
Holiday Update
Updates
Happy holidays! Please remember why so many people celebrate this time of the year. It's not about the gifts. 2016 is a year I would dearly love to forget. It has changed my perception of people and not in a good way. But, there are still islands of goodness out there.
Yesterday, I was standing in line at the grocery store holding a huge tray of chicken for today's feast. When the young woman in front of me had her turn at the register, she turned and said, "I'm paying for his as well." I said, "No you're not!" She turned to the cashier and said, "Ring his up as well." I've done similar things in the past in restaurants but this is the first time anyone has returned the favor. Thank you again, stranger.
With Peacekeeper Pathogen in the hands of my content editor, and me being on vacation for another week, I've got some time on my hands. I have an extensive todo list and I've started working my way through it. Here is what has been accomplished so far:
A newly reformatted interior for Dragonverse: The Adventure Begins.A new cover for Dragonverse: The Adventure Begins.A newly reformatted interior for Ishnef's Revenge.A new cover for Ishnef's Revenge.I'm very proud of the new cover for the first book in the Dragonverse series. I'm including it at the end of this post. The cool artwork was a gift from the wife of my content editor, Corinne Dilkie. I love staring at it and I hope those who buy the newly recovered book will too. The goal is to make all of my covers look the same as far as basic formatting is concerned. It helps with the branding of my books.
Yesterday, I started working on redoing the interior of Off Course. That was when I noticed that back in 2010/2011, I was still putting two spaces after a period. So, I decided to to a complete re-edit. I'm not making large changes, just cleaning it up to bring it up to standard. I hope to be done in a few days. Then, I will work on When Ships Mutiny. That will complete my total reformatting project thus giving all of my books a more professional look and feel.
That's it from today. I have a lot of work to do. Here is the promised cover. You will see it on Amazon soon.
Happy holidays! Please remember why so many people celebrate this time of the year. It's not about the gifts. 2016 is a year I would dearly love to forget. It has changed my perception of people and not in a good way. But, there are still islands of goodness out there.
Yesterday, I was standing in line at the grocery store holding a huge tray of chicken for today's feast. When the young woman in front of me had her turn at the register, she turned and said, "I'm paying for his as well." I said, "No you're not!" She turned to the cashier and said, "Ring his up as well." I've done similar things in the past in restaurants but this is the first time anyone has returned the favor. Thank you again, stranger.
With Peacekeeper Pathogen in the hands of my content editor, and me being on vacation for another week, I've got some time on my hands. I have an extensive todo list and I've started working my way through it. Here is what has been accomplished so far:
A newly reformatted interior for Dragonverse: The Adventure Begins.A new cover for Dragonverse: The Adventure Begins.A newly reformatted interior for Ishnef's Revenge.A new cover for Ishnef's Revenge.I'm very proud of the new cover for the first book in the Dragonverse series. I'm including it at the end of this post. The cool artwork was a gift from the wife of my content editor, Corinne Dilkie. I love staring at it and I hope those who buy the newly recovered book will too. The goal is to make all of my covers look the same as far as basic formatting is concerned. It helps with the branding of my books.
Yesterday, I started working on redoing the interior of Off Course. That was when I noticed that back in 2010/2011, I was still putting two spaces after a period. So, I decided to to a complete re-edit. I'm not making large changes, just cleaning it up to bring it up to standard. I hope to be done in a few days. Then, I will work on When Ships Mutiny. That will complete my total reformatting project thus giving all of my books a more professional look and feel.
That's it from today. I have a lot of work to do. Here is the promised cover. You will see it on Amazon soon.
December 18, 2016
First Draft
Update
The first draft of Peacekeeper Pathogen is complete! I finished it off this morning. The final word count came out to be 87,450. A couple days ago, I mentioned on social media that I should be done with the book yesterday. But, after sleeping on it, I came up with something I just had to add. The basics were there in the ending paragraphs, all I had to do was to make a few changes and the book's ending shines.
That's the fun part of being a seat of the pants author. I never know when something good is going to happen to my characters. It's a fun, strange feeling when that happens too. A wonderful feeling that the book is practically writing itself. That's when I know I've written something good when the story begins to surprise me.
The book will be converted to Microsoft Word and sent out to my content editor Lee Dilkie for his take on the plot. His job is to read through the entire manuscript and point out any plot blunders, mistakes in how people interact, and other over-arching corrections that need my attention. With the holidays upon us, I don't expect anything back from him until next year. Once I get all his input, I will make the appropriate corrections, write a second draft, and hand it over to my wife for proofing.
She will fix my grammatical goofs and correct my sentence structure. This process can take upwards of a month or more primarily because my wife does not really care much for science fiction. But, bless her heart, she sticks to reading it and will help me turn the final product into a professional book.
As a final check, I will send the book to a fan in Germany. His second language is English and he has been able to find and point out mistakes that everyone else has missed. While all this editing and changing is being done, the first draft will also be passed to my cover creator. She will read the book and based on what she reads will create a cover. The cover creation process will itself go through several iterations until we have the final product.
Finally, the book will be formatted for Kindle (ebook) and Createspace (print version) and uploaded for release to the reading public. The day before, the final version will be electronically submitted to the United States Copyright Office where my book will be officially copyrighted.
As you can see, even though I'm a self-published author, it still takes a team of people working together to create the final product. Sure, I could do it all be myself. But the end product would be a lot poorer quality. I owe it to my readers to produce the best book possible published and formatted as if it came from a major publishing house. Doing that takes many people each one with their own special talent. Without them, I would be just another average writer.
In between all this, I plan on fixing up the rest of my existing books with corrected interior formatting and new covers. I also need to update my website. A writer never sits idle.
The first draft of Peacekeeper Pathogen is complete! I finished it off this morning. The final word count came out to be 87,450. A couple days ago, I mentioned on social media that I should be done with the book yesterday. But, after sleeping on it, I came up with something I just had to add. The basics were there in the ending paragraphs, all I had to do was to make a few changes and the book's ending shines.
That's the fun part of being a seat of the pants author. I never know when something good is going to happen to my characters. It's a fun, strange feeling when that happens too. A wonderful feeling that the book is practically writing itself. That's when I know I've written something good when the story begins to surprise me.
The book will be converted to Microsoft Word and sent out to my content editor Lee Dilkie for his take on the plot. His job is to read through the entire manuscript and point out any plot blunders, mistakes in how people interact, and other over-arching corrections that need my attention. With the holidays upon us, I don't expect anything back from him until next year. Once I get all his input, I will make the appropriate corrections, write a second draft, and hand it over to my wife for proofing.
She will fix my grammatical goofs and correct my sentence structure. This process can take upwards of a month or more primarily because my wife does not really care much for science fiction. But, bless her heart, she sticks to reading it and will help me turn the final product into a professional book.
As a final check, I will send the book to a fan in Germany. His second language is English and he has been able to find and point out mistakes that everyone else has missed. While all this editing and changing is being done, the first draft will also be passed to my cover creator. She will read the book and based on what she reads will create a cover. The cover creation process will itself go through several iterations until we have the final product.
Finally, the book will be formatted for Kindle (ebook) and Createspace (print version) and uploaded for release to the reading public. The day before, the final version will be electronically submitted to the United States Copyright Office where my book will be officially copyrighted.
As you can see, even though I'm a self-published author, it still takes a team of people working together to create the final product. Sure, I could do it all be myself. But the end product would be a lot poorer quality. I owe it to my readers to produce the best book possible published and formatted as if it came from a major publishing house. Doing that takes many people each one with their own special talent. Without them, I would be just another average writer.
In between all this, I plan on fixing up the rest of my existing books with corrected interior formatting and new covers. I also need to update my website. A writer never sits idle.
December 11, 2016
Just writing
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen now stands at 73,394 words with an estimated 2 chapters to go. The end is in sight! After it's finished, I'll be sending it to Lee Dilkie for his take on the overall story. While he's reading it, I'll be taking a short break from writing to update my website and possibly start working on updating the covers and formatting for the Dragonverse series. Once I have his input, I'll begin the editing phase.
When I sat down to write this post, I thought I was very conflicted about what to write about: Should I talk about how it looks as if our society is becoming less tolerant and common courtesy is not something people are taught anymore? Should I talk about the rising threat of your electronic life? Or should I say something about how losing privacy might not be such a bad thing after all?
In the end, I decided not to talk about any of that. We live in an increasingly depressing world and I want to talk about happier things.
Sales are up. I attribute this to using Amazon advertising. A friend of mine (also self-published) heard I have been doing well and asked me to explain how I did it. His sales are also on the rise. Amazon advertising works as long as you know how to properly use it.
We had our first real winter snow starting on December 9th. It caused a large stretch of interstate I90 to be closed due to several multiple-car pileups and bad conditions. I've used the snow blower 4 times since then to clear mine and my neighbor's driveway. In fact, it's still snowing now and we are looking at snow turning to rain turning back to snow for today's forecast. Lovely.
I will say one thing about your digital security. A large majority of people who use computers, cell phones, and tablets are not well-versed in how to protect them properly. People should be educated on how to use these devices properly. They should all come with instructions and warning concerning how you can lose everything you store on these devices. The warnings should also indicate how vulnerable you become to those who understand the technology better than you do.
To help those who read this post, I highly recommend purchasing MalwareBytes 3.0. Use this in addition to a good anti-virus program. Make sure you keep your computer up-to-date and stay on top of the latest security threats. Don't turn off the automatic updates for products such as Adobe Flash. A recent security flaw was uncovered in Adobe, so make sure you update. Be vigilant with your internet presence and always remember that anyone anywhere can be seeing what you post on public sites.
Time for me to finish installing updates on my computers and then get back to writing.
Peacekeeper Pathogen now stands at 73,394 words with an estimated 2 chapters to go. The end is in sight! After it's finished, I'll be sending it to Lee Dilkie for his take on the overall story. While he's reading it, I'll be taking a short break from writing to update my website and possibly start working on updating the covers and formatting for the Dragonverse series. Once I have his input, I'll begin the editing phase.
When I sat down to write this post, I thought I was very conflicted about what to write about: Should I talk about how it looks as if our society is becoming less tolerant and common courtesy is not something people are taught anymore? Should I talk about the rising threat of your electronic life? Or should I say something about how losing privacy might not be such a bad thing after all?
In the end, I decided not to talk about any of that. We live in an increasingly depressing world and I want to talk about happier things.
Sales are up. I attribute this to using Amazon advertising. A friend of mine (also self-published) heard I have been doing well and asked me to explain how I did it. His sales are also on the rise. Amazon advertising works as long as you know how to properly use it.
We had our first real winter snow starting on December 9th. It caused a large stretch of interstate I90 to be closed due to several multiple-car pileups and bad conditions. I've used the snow blower 4 times since then to clear mine and my neighbor's driveway. In fact, it's still snowing now and we are looking at snow turning to rain turning back to snow for today's forecast. Lovely.
I will say one thing about your digital security. A large majority of people who use computers, cell phones, and tablets are not well-versed in how to protect them properly. People should be educated on how to use these devices properly. They should all come with instructions and warning concerning how you can lose everything you store on these devices. The warnings should also indicate how vulnerable you become to those who understand the technology better than you do.
To help those who read this post, I highly recommend purchasing MalwareBytes 3.0. Use this in addition to a good anti-virus program. Make sure you keep your computer up-to-date and stay on top of the latest security threats. Don't turn off the automatic updates for products such as Adobe Flash. A recent security flaw was uncovered in Adobe, so make sure you update. Be vigilant with your internet presence and always remember that anyone anywhere can be seeing what you post on public sites.
Time for me to finish installing updates on my computers and then get back to writing.
December 4, 2016
Writing a Series
Update
Peacekeeper Pathogen now has 68,279 words. I have two or three chapters left to finish (by my seat of the pants estimate) and that puts the final word count at around 75,000. Not as much as I would like, but a good start. As I close in on the end, my notes of things I need to go back and fix is starting to grow. Most of it involves having to add stuff. But, if the book turns out to be 75k, then it's 75k. I'm not going to add scenes and chapters just to fill the space between the covers. That's what turns a good book into a boring book.
Writing a Series
If you are a new writer, here's a piece of advice: Keep a detailed historical log of what happens in the universe you've created. This applies even if you don't plan on writing a series because your single-story book might very well turn into a series. Plus, having a historical record helps you keep your facts straight. It's very difficult to remember when something happened, who did what, and who was where when, in a complex story that takes place in multiple locations over a long period of time.
I've lived in the universe of my Galactic Alliance series since I was in high school. I actually had a fairly detailed technical reference manual before I became a writer. It's changed over the years, but I had a good place to start. Chroniech was the first complete novel I ever wrote. I finished it while at sea in the Navy back in 1988. I wrote it using WordStar on a CPM machine. The printed version was retyped into a program I no longer remember the name of running on a CPM computer built by my dad. It was moved from machine to machine, translated, retyped, and converted as necessary until it was finally sent to Amazon as my first book in 2009. In between all that time, the book was modified and edited many times. I got to know it very well.
While working on what would become Chroniech, I built up an elaborate history and set of facts for the Galactic Alliance. I turned my Galactic Alliance Technical Reference Manual (GATM), into a collection of facts and then a timeline. I've kept it current ever since and I refer to it very often. Today, I use Aeon Timeline to track the timeline of the entire Galactic Alliance series. So what's in the GATRM? have a look:
Distances from one planet to another.Names and descriptions of all the member races.Cultural information associated with the various races.Important dates and events.Details concerning the major vessels.Descriptions of weapon and defense systems.Details of many of the main characters.Other bits and pieces of interesting information (such as converting joules to kilotons).Having all this information in one location has been a huge help in keeping the facts straight over the years. If I say its xx light years from Earth to a specific planet in one book, it had better match in the others.
I had the GATM on my website at one time but it changes too much for me to continually upload it. One of these days, if I ever decide that the series has worn out its appeal, I will finalize the GATM and make it available.
Writing a series is tough. You have to keep facts, names, places, dates, and all sorts of stuff consistent. If you don't, a sharp reader will point it out! Even though I have the GATM, there are times when I must go back and look at past books to verify a fact.
Peacekeeper Pathogen now has 68,279 words. I have two or three chapters left to finish (by my seat of the pants estimate) and that puts the final word count at around 75,000. Not as much as I would like, but a good start. As I close in on the end, my notes of things I need to go back and fix is starting to grow. Most of it involves having to add stuff. But, if the book turns out to be 75k, then it's 75k. I'm not going to add scenes and chapters just to fill the space between the covers. That's what turns a good book into a boring book.
Writing a Series
If you are a new writer, here's a piece of advice: Keep a detailed historical log of what happens in the universe you've created. This applies even if you don't plan on writing a series because your single-story book might very well turn into a series. Plus, having a historical record helps you keep your facts straight. It's very difficult to remember when something happened, who did what, and who was where when, in a complex story that takes place in multiple locations over a long period of time.
I've lived in the universe of my Galactic Alliance series since I was in high school. I actually had a fairly detailed technical reference manual before I became a writer. It's changed over the years, but I had a good place to start. Chroniech was the first complete novel I ever wrote. I finished it while at sea in the Navy back in 1988. I wrote it using WordStar on a CPM machine. The printed version was retyped into a program I no longer remember the name of running on a CPM computer built by my dad. It was moved from machine to machine, translated, retyped, and converted as necessary until it was finally sent to Amazon as my first book in 2009. In between all that time, the book was modified and edited many times. I got to know it very well.
While working on what would become Chroniech, I built up an elaborate history and set of facts for the Galactic Alliance. I turned my Galactic Alliance Technical Reference Manual (GATM), into a collection of facts and then a timeline. I've kept it current ever since and I refer to it very often. Today, I use Aeon Timeline to track the timeline of the entire Galactic Alliance series. So what's in the GATRM? have a look:
Distances from one planet to another.Names and descriptions of all the member races.Cultural information associated with the various races.Important dates and events.Details concerning the major vessels.Descriptions of weapon and defense systems.Details of many of the main characters.Other bits and pieces of interesting information (such as converting joules to kilotons).Having all this information in one location has been a huge help in keeping the facts straight over the years. If I say its xx light years from Earth to a specific planet in one book, it had better match in the others.
I had the GATM on my website at one time but it changes too much for me to continually upload it. One of these days, if I ever decide that the series has worn out its appeal, I will finalize the GATM and make it available.
Writing a series is tough. You have to keep facts, names, places, dates, and all sorts of stuff consistent. If you don't, a sharp reader will point it out! Even though I have the GATM, there are times when I must go back and look at past books to verify a fact.
