Steven O'Connor's Blog, page 6
January 18, 2013
What can I say, producing a book is a slow business!
The cover of my MS after prof. editing – don’t worry the actual book won’t be as plain as this!
Sometimes I wonder if my own inner editor is more obstinate than the most hard-nosed New York publisher. Many writers say it’s hard to let go of your book – and I’m probably one of the worst. There’s always something else you need to do. ‘No, not yet. Just one more change!’
The final step for me these days, the creation of an ebook, presents a fabulous opportunity that no writer has experienced in the history of publishing until now. Until now, it has always been advisable to print off your final draft and work on it as a hard copy, often reading it out aloud as well, as your eyes can skip over things like missing words, but reading aloud adds another safeguard against that.
But now, with ebook publication, it is possible to view your book in exactly the state the reader will see it. It’s like seeing your baby in ultrasound. It’s fantastic. BUT! (That’s a big but, isn’t it?) It does give you one more reason not to publish just yet. It has become another layer of editing. One more reason not to publish … yet.
There are many ways to create an ebook, I do it chapter by chapter through something called Pressbooks software. Each time I add a chapter, I privately publish it and read through it as an ebook on my iPad’s kindle app. You would be amazed at the new things that jump out at you as you read. Subtle things, but, for me at least, still crucial . I did this with my previous book (EleMental). It had already been trade published, yet still more things jumped out at me. Things that I, the editor, the copyeditor, and the proofreader had all failed to spot.
So please wish me well as I work through the ebook creation of MonuMental . I am up to Chapter 6 – and I am maintaining a running tab of my progress on my home page here.
Well, back to it …
The post What can I say, producing a book is a slow business! appeared first on StevenWriting.
December 28, 2012
‘E-FPS’ for 99c & win a $100 Amazon card!
I’m happy to let you know, EleMental: A First-person Shooter is a part of the Holiday eBook Sale.
Today’s hottest fiction ebooks are on sale for .99 from Dec 28-Dec 31 only.
Mystery, romance, young adult, sci-fi, fantasy – there’s something for everyone …
… including the chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card!
Click here to check out the Indie Book Festival’s Holiday Ebook Sale!
December 24, 2012
Happy Xmas!
Wishing you a big, happy Christmas and an excellent 2013.
Okay, okay, this picture is rather mean-looking for Christmas. But I still love it.
His name is Gilbert and he’s a dragonbot. This is from my new book, MonuMental, and is the artist’s first go at a cover. It’s wonderful to see ideas coming to life in other ways!
Best wishes, everyone.
December 22, 2012
Your chance to get Tracy R Atkins’ ‘Aeternum Ray’ for free!
It’s always good to tell you about worthy promotions from fellow writers, and so I want to tell you about Tracy R Atkins’ debut novel. It’s a huge work. But one thing I must say right up front – apart from being futuristic, this is nothing like my writing. The emphasis here is on hard sci-fi.
That’s not to say it isn’t readable! It certainly is. If you like your sci-fi hard, or if you like reading something with a difference, this is definitely worth checking out.
It’s written in the form of a futuristic memoir through the letters of someone who has gained immortality. And through this intriguing way of telling a story, Tracy R Atkins leaves no detail out. His examination of how mankind becomes immortal is thorough and his imagination is boggling. You truly can see how it’s possible, perhaps even probable, eventually.
I won’t tell you more, it’s a story best left to the reader to experience slowly, as it gradually reveals itself. In fact, for me, it’s a book for slowly discovering. I am enjoying dipping in and out of it while reading it in parallel with more traditional writing (like Hunger Games!).
If Plato had written sci-fi, this is what it would have looked like. My favorite Line: The medics had seen the same look on countless bodies over the years; the stare of eternity.
Aeternum Ray is free right now, You can get it here at Amazon, and here at Amazon UK.
And if you are reading this late – no problems! Tracy R Atkins has very kindly informed me he has four more free dates for the holiday season. So you can also find Aeternum Ray free (US times) on:
Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve
Dec. 26 – Boxing Day (why is it called Boxing Day? I prefer the more traditional St Stephen’s Day!)
Dec. 28
Dec. 30.
All that’s left for me to do is give you Tracy R Atkins’ website for those of you interested. You can find him here.
December 11, 2012
Going free (before it goes for good)
I have reached the final promotion activity for EleMental: A First-person Shooter. As you know, I have been offering my complete YA novel as four free episodes. I will be taking down all four episodes of the YA book after this free offer. They will not be available anywhere again after that. Only the complete version will remain.
If you’ve been collecting them, this will be your last chance to make sure you have Level 4. Don’t forget they’re limited editions!
EleMental – A First-person Shooter (Level 4)
YA near future thriller about addiction to virtual reality gaming: one moment, you’re sitting at your desk, the next, you’re battling something that’s half-dinosaur, half-tank. Grab it here: Amazon or Amazon UK.
Also currently free: MotherCraft – A Short Story
Leaving home can be hard, leaving the planet, doubly so. Set at The Little River Spacedocks, this near-future short story is based on a much cherished scene from EleMental, removed by the editor because she didn’t feel it fitted with the rest of the story. (Grrr. But actually, I understood what she meant.) It’s being offered free in support of EleMental – A First-person Shooter (Level 4).
Grab it here: Amazon or Amazon UK
So what’s next?
Xmas of course! And I’m now well and truly on track to publishing MonuMental, due in early January 2013. From now on, all my posts will be focused on that task. I hope all is going well in your world and you’re looking forward to Xmas as much as I am. Not long now!
Currently free: MotherCraft - A short story
Set at The Little River Spacedocks, this near-future short story is based on a deleted scene from the author's first book. Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/MotherCraft-ebo...
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MotherCraft-e...
MotherCraft is being offered free in support of EleMental - A First-person Shooter (Level 4), which is also currently free ...
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/EleMental-First...
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/EleMental-Fir...
MotherCraft
Steven O'Connor
Currently free – limited edition!
I have been offering my complete YA novel as four free episodes.
This is the last time Level 4 will be free. I will be taking down all four episodes of the YA book after this free offer. They will not be available anywhere again after that.
EleMental: A First-person Shooter
Steven O'Connor
November 12, 2012
Ideas and story making at Fitzroy Community School
The school I visited
Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be invited to Fitzroy Community School to talk about EleMental: A first-person Shooter. This visit has to rate as my very favorite school presentation so far. I was made feel very welcome from the outset, given a quick tour of the school and then we all settled down to an hour’s chat (with some readings from me) in the school library. Here are some of the things we talked about …
Exploring words and ideas
Writers are often asked the question: ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’. The best answer is: ‘From everywhere! The important thing is to be open to them.’
But are there some special ways? On the dedication page of her novel Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones describes how she got the idea for writing the book. A boy approached her after a school presentation and asked if she could write a book about a moving castle. That idea was a gift and she was very much open to it. Thankfully, because we now have that fabulous young adult fantasy. (Sadly, she says in the book, she put his name in such a safe place, she couldn’t find it when it came time to publish the book.)
We can’t always rely on wonderful ideas being presented to us so succinctly and directly from our audience. So another way to find interesting ideas, one that I came up with, is to think about words that interest you. Some we talked about on the day at Fitzroy Community School were droplet, sun, music and float. These are just words I quickly came up with while preparing the presentation. When I think about music, all sorts of images present themselves to me that could lead to a good story idea. So too any of those other words.
But there’s another step – and this is a truly magical one. Try putting two or three of these interesting words together. We can get things like: Floating music. Or even: Droplets of floating music. Wow! Lots of interesting images there.
When you have selected some interesting words, it’s always worth turning them into a what if sentence: What if there was a girl who floated every time she heard music? Or: What if man wrote a piece of music that made people float when they heard it? This what if sentence could act as the main idea behind your story, expressed as a question that your story will answer.
And, most importantly, as you you have selected words you’re interested in, remember to pour that interest into the story as you write. That’s the best way to ensure others will find your story interesting too.
Words I found interesting while writing EleMental: A First-person Shooter
We then looked at some of the words I found interesting and wanted to explore in my story: virtual and addiction. (I worked for years as a social worker in the addiction area, the part that most interests me is: when people keep doing something over and over too much and lose the control to stop even though its making them sick). Combining the words, I came up with the what if question: What if someone created a virtual game that was so addictive that when people played it too much they could no longer tell when they were in the real world … and when they were in a game?
I named this blurred state, gameblur. One moment, you could be sitting at your desk, the next you could be battling a creature that’s half-dinosaur, half-tank.
Pretty scary. But thankfully there’s humor in the book too!
Smaller ideas
We then talked about smaller ideas that can be related to your big idea. These smaller ideas are important as they can help you fill up your story with details. However it’s important that they don’t grow so big that your reader starts to get confused about what is the main idea behind your story. A smaller idea in my story is how virtual games can start up and shut down. I loved finding different ways to describe those moments and they’re peppered throughout my book. I gave some readings to the school group to illustrate this smaller idea.
The photo
It all went so well, I almost forgot to take a photo until the last minute. Check it out, above, it was taken in the school library with a few of the remaining students. I forgot to get everyone’s names – but you know who you all are!
Some thank yous
A very big thank you to all I met at Fitzroy Community School for being such a great group. Thank you to Marlon (who had already read the book – both print book and ebook versions) for his informed comments to everyone (including me!) about my book. Thank you to Bridie (who happens to be my niece) and Freda for the tour of the school. Thank you to Myf, for organising it so beautifully and to Nick (the teacher) for his class help. And to everyone for their great questions during and after my presentation. I felt very welcome and I’d love to come back again sometime, if you’ll have me.
November 4, 2012
I’ve been to the puppet show and I’ve seen the strings
Isn’t that a great phrase? I spotted it in a comments box at the bottom of a blog post. The blog topic was about self-pubbing and the phrase immediately resonated with me. For I too, like the writer making the comment, have been to the puppet show and I’ve seen those strings (there are a few). And, as far as the writing process goes, I know which strings I want to pull – to emulate the best bits of the traditional publishing process .
Thus, I feel very lucky to have engaged the highly experienced Euan Mitchell as my editor. He has undertaken the structural editing of MonuMental, my follow-up book to EleMental: A First-person Shooter.
Euan Mitchell was the senior editor at the well-respected Reed Publishing, he is a young adult fiction author, he is a university lecturer in professional writing, he has self-published on several occasions, and he lives locally. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone more suited to my needs! (You can check out his website here – but remember to come back, OK?)
I handed over my draft MonuMental manuscript – all 72,441 words of it – to Euan Mitchell and now have a wealth of feedback from him that I am busily working through. A serious attitude to every aspect of the editing process and, later, excellent artwork for the cover, are two very important ‘strings’ that I am firmly tugging as a part of this puppet show.
I am looking forward to seeing my follow-up book sitting alongside my first on websites. But it is critical that I do not succumb to the temptation of shortcuts and publish as soon as possible – for the sake of readers if nothing else. I have learnt from my traditional publishing experience with my first book, and I will use that knowledge to make MonuMental the very best I can.
As I work through Euan Mitchell’s editing suggestions I will post again, and let you know all about it.
Free ebook dates
Meanwhile, here are the free dates of the last two level ebooks (levels 3 and 4) of my first book, EleMental: A First-person Shooter. Hopefully, you have been keeping up and have downloaded the first two ebooks. (If not, they are still available from my Amazon page for a short time for 99c.) This will be your last chance to receive the third level ebook for free. Remember, the level ebooks are for a limited time only. I am taking them down mid-December.
E-FPS3
E-FPS3 will be free for one last time on Monday 19 Nov. to Tuesday 20 Nov. (This is US time, so if it’s not free when you look, check back later.)
Available from Amazon here and Available from Amazon UK here.
E-FPS3 will no longer be available anywhere after 14 December 2012.
E-FPS4
E-FPS4 will be free for the first time from Monday 19 Nov. to Wednesday 21 Nov. (This is US time, so if it’s not free when you look, check back later.)
Available from Amazon here and Available from Amazon UK here.
E-FPS4 will no longer be available anywhere after 13 December 2012.
October 13, 2012
New dates for free ebooks!
EleMental: A First-person Shooter – the free programs rolls on!
A big thank you to all those who downloaded (and read!) the Level 1 ebook of my young adult virtual reality thriller, E-FPS1. And an even bigger thank you to those who tweeted messages of appreciation, or ‘liked’ it on Amazon. It was a great success for a book that is still very new.
Well, that’s it for the Level 1 ebook. We’re moving right on to Levels 2 and 3. (But if you missed out and would still like it, see my PS below.)
And remember, come December, none of the Level ebooks will be available at all. I repeat at all. I will be taking them down from Amazon and that will be it.
Quick blast of golden trumpets, please, leading us to the dates …
E-FPS2 – Free!
In case you missed it the first time around, E-FPS2 will be free one final time from Saturday 20 to Sunday 21 October 2012. (This is US time, so if it’s not free when you look, check back later.)
E-FPS2 is Available from Amazon here and Available from Amazon UK here.
Remember: E-FPS2 will no longer be available anywhere after 13 December 2012. You’ll have a collector’s copy. Grab it now for free if you missed out last time.
E-FPS3 – Free!
E-FPS3 will be free for the first time from Saturday 20 through to Sunday 22 October 2012. (This is US time, so if it’s not free when you look, check back later.)
E-FPS3 is Available from Amazon here and Available from Amazon UK here.
And again remember: E-FPS3 will no longer be available anywhere after 14 December 2012.
PS: Is this the first you’ve heard about the free series, EleMental: A First-person Shooter?
If so, and you’d like to jump on board and be kept up to date, you’re more than welcome to subscribe to the EleMentaList. I’m currently offering my complete novel as a free four-ebook series. We have had Level 1, and are now into Levels 2 and 3. There are four levels in all. Level 1 is still available to purchase but is no longer free. But have no fear, at 99c it’s still very cheap. Cheaper than a glass of coke! But as you know, and this is so, so important, it will no longer be available at all from early December.
E-FPS1 is Available from Amazon here and Available from Amazon UK here.
