Kevin Patrick Kenealy's Blog, page 3

My Lego Story

I stumbled across a Lego story I wrote when I was a young buck yesterday called "The Pirate Secret." One of my favorite sets back then was the Renegade Runner, so it was only natural that I should drum up a story about the pirates versus the imperial guards.

I think someone sold that Renegade Runner set in a garage sale for peanuts, and I can't seem to find one on eBay for under one hundred bucks. I'm kicking myself for it now. I've been knee-deep in nostalgia of late - searching to buy sets I had as a kid, along with video games and such. Yet, most of the time, searching eBay, Bricklink, or Facebook Marketplace ends without hitting the buy button. It's hard for me to fork over all the money.

I digress. Even from a young age, my imagination flew wild. I recently published my fourth book, Neighborhood Watch, a psychological thriller about the perfect town gone wrong. It has won me critical acclaim, but my writing started well before this.

I read over this story yesterday, and this wasn't too bad for a young kid who was perhaps in second grade at the time. Below is the short story, grammatical issues and all.

"The Pirate Secret"

"There were two boys one was named Broadside and the other was named Redbeard. They were brothers. One day their father built a boat. The boys asked if they could go look for treasure. Their father said you can go but I'll have to go with you. Broadside and Redbeard were so excited thats all they thought about. The next day the father and the boy's went. Broadside found silver and Redbeard found gold. That night Redbeard snuck into Broadside's room. Redbeard wanted silver too. So Redbeard took the silver. When Broadside grew up he was an Imperial Guard. When Redbeard grew up he was a pirate. The brother's fought. Broadside wanted to get the gold and silver and give it back to the people who the pirates stole the gold and silver from. But Redbeard just wanted to keep all the gold and silver. So they kept fighting."

I remember wanting to pause the story in the middle and run to my friend's house to play, but my mom forced me to finish it before I could go. I owe a lot to her to advance where I'm at today. I also had a story about going to an island where the Lego came alive, but I couldn't find that one. Good stories start with good questions. Even though this story is littered with grammar issues, the bones are there for a decent read. Actually, an adult could flush this out for a dramatic read. Two brothers are close until one makes a fateful decision. The other doesn't forgive him, and they choose different paths in life. Those paths decide their destinies, and they can never get over their feud. The ending is still up in the air, but it would make a pretty good action/adventure story.

I'd love to collect the Pirates, and Imperial Guard sets now that I have more money to afford them. I wish Lego could take risks and open up more of their own lines as they had with Lego System. Those who grew up with Pirates, Islanders, Wild West, Space, Castle, etc., miss these. Star Wars and Harry Potter are great, but there is a reason these sets cost an arm and a leg. It's nice to see that Lego's Galaxy Explorer set brings back yesteryear, but we want more of this.

Anyway, I thought this post would be fascinating for lovers of Lego, nostalgia, and writers. Ideas are all out there, and if anyone knows more about getting ideas, it's fans of Lego. Just look at the Lego Ideas line. The original copy of that story is below. Who knows? Maybe I'll turn out another Lego story. I know I'll continue to incorporate nostalgic Easter Eggs in my works, though. Until then, happy building and happy writing.

I went all out and even added a cover to the three-ring folder!

This is pretty neat handwriting for an elementary school kid.

I think the drawings were a nice touch.

To find my books, go to this link for myAmazon profile or go to the Author page of this website.

Kevin Kenealy received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and his English secondary education certificate from Trinity Christian College. He is also currently pursuing a master's in English Literature from Southern New Hampshire University. He worked as a reporter and designer for several local newspapers before he started teaching English, AP Lit, and journalism at the high school level. He wrote his first book, 20 Something at age 23, a book of poetry about growing up in your 20s and trying to figure yourself out. The book was featured in a local newspaper and can be found in local libraries. He completed his first novel Life and Death at age 31, a horror/thriller book that received local attention and is also featured in suburban Chicago libraries. In his latest book, Neighborhood Watch, Kirkus Reviews calls it, "Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale."

What can I do?

I’ve been asking myself this question. When will the violence end? The July 4 Highland Park shooting marked yet another blow in America’s bloated killing spree. The following day, Brookfield Zoo went on lockdown because the zoo’s crisis line got a call threatening violence. What is wrong with us? Why are we so broken? How did this happen? And...what can I do?

Since the Columbine Massacre on April 20, 1999, there have been 304 fatal school shootings (Vigderman and Turner 1). For those not very good with mental math, the Columbine shooting occurred 23 years ago. Politicians have had 23 years to figure this out. Twenty-three. If you’re counting killed or injured and considering all mass shootings, that number has increased to at least 2,000 people killed or injured since 1999. The FBI’s definition of a mass shooting is when an act of gun violence results in three or more deaths (Jackson 1).

To put this in perspective, 2,352 U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014, and 2,750 people perished during the Sept. 11 attacks (Girardin 1) and (Bergen 1). It is downright disgusting to know that we are on pace to pass these numbers in the coming years.

My purpose here is not to further separate American views. However, we all can acknowledge we have a problem. We need a solution. We can’t keep hurting each other. One of the problems is that we are all so stuck in our ways. This report shows that a majority of those committing mass shootings are those who can buy a gun legally despite their mentally ill red flag.

I believe technology through the Internet, social media, Smartphones, etc., has dramatically increased anxiety, depression, and mental illness. My high school students have said they average over ten hours daily on their phones. Highland Park shooter Robert Crimo posted graphic videos on YouTube before the shooting. While YouTube did remove the videos afterward, why were they allowed to be published in the first place?

More than ever, we need to take mental illness seriously in this country. We have to prevent things before they escalate. Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland High School shooter, posted on YouTube that he would be a “professional school shooter.” But the social media problem continued as Cruz posed with guns on Instagram. The FBI was aware of the YouTube post, and Cruz was expelled from school for another matter as well. Despite this, he was still legally allowed to purchase his AR-15 rifle (BBC News 1).

So, going back to what can I do? It feels like we’re helpless. Doesn’t it? It’s like we’re waiting around for the next big bang to happen. So, I took matters into my own hands today, even in a small way. I emailed a couple of reporters in response to their story that ran on ABC 7 News asking why they had not reached out to YouTube or social media companies for comments about their restricted use policies. I am waiting to hear back. I’m tired of waiting around. We need to pressure our leaders to find a way to get our country back on track. We need to ask questions to find solutions to these problems.

When I go back to the classroom to teach my high school students this fall, I’m really going to concentrate on mental health. More than ever, I will focus on building a rapport with kids. As a journalism teacher, I’ll have them contact reporters and ask follow-up questions. I may have them reach out to the interest groups and companies to ask why they aren’t doing this or doing that. I am tired of waiting around for things to get done. Are you?

To find my books, go to this link for myAmazon profile or go to the Author page of this website.

Kevin Kenealy received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and his English secondary education certificate from Trinity Christian College. He is also currently pursuing a master's in English Literature from Southern New Hampshire University. He worked as a reporter and designer for several local newspapers before he started teaching English, AP Lit, and journalism at the high school level. He wrote his first book, 20 Something at age 23, a book of poetry about growing up in your 20s and trying to figure yourself out. The book was featured in a local newspaper and can be found in local libraries. He completed his first novel Life and Death at age 31, a horror/thriller book that received local attention and is also featured in suburban Chicago libraries. In his latest book, Neighborhood Watch, Kirkus Reviews calls it, "Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale."

Works Cited

BBC News. “Florida Shooting: FBI and Teachers Warned about Nikolas Cruz.” BBC News, 15 Feb. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-4307....

Collins, Ben, et al. “Highland Park Shooting Person of Interest Left Online Trail of Violent Imagery.” NBC News, 5 July 2022, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chicago-....

Peter, Bergen. “September 11 Attacks | History, Summary, Timeline, Casualties, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/event/September-11.... Accessed 7 July 2022.

Girardin, Pascal. “Defense Academy Excellence Casualty Aversion In Tepid War.” Connections: The Quarterly Journal, vol. 02, no. 1, 2003, pp. 99–124. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.11610/connections.....

Jackson, Cali. “A Timeline of Mass Shootings in the U.S.” Abc4.Com, ABC, 25 May 2022, www.abc4.com/news/a-timeline-of-mass-....

Thrush, Glenn. “What Do Most Mass Shooters Have in Common? They Bought Their Guns Legally.” The New York Times, 17 May 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/us/politic....

Vigderman, Alex, and Gabe Turner. “A Timeline of School Shootings Since Columbine.” Security.Org, 6 July 2022, www.security.org/blog/a-timeline-of-s....

Thank a Vet this Fourth of July

Every July 5, my best friend from childhood and I would go throughout town and blow off unused fireworks.

The Fourth of July always excited me as a child. If I wasn't spinning around with a sparkler, I was throwing snappers or running around the neighborhood with my best friend thinking we were in the middle of some great battle. As the sparks flew and the bombs popped, we stuck our fingers high above and made machine gun noises as we sped down the sidewalk.

A few years later, my best friend and I created a Fifth of July celebration where we walked around town, looking for fireworks still with a wick. Only out of dumb luck did we not end up in the ER blowing off those firecrackers, bottle rockets, and such.

As time passed, so did traditions. The days of thinking as soldiers were long gone, and I certainly had no intention of looking for yesterday's powder kegs. Instead, as I approached adulthood, I attended shows and parties with friends. I spent many nights on picnic blankets, hearing pop culture and Americana tunes blast out over loudspeakers in sync with the pop and roar of the fireworks as they glistened and shimmered across the night sky. Thank you, China, for inventing the magic we use to celebrate our freedom. And, thank you, France, for gifting us Lady Liberty. It's only fitting that others have aided a nation of immigrants to celebrate its freedom.

However, we must remember those who fought and died for us on the battlefield. While July 4 recalls the Declaration of Independence commemorative signing (the actual day was July 2), we stood up to Goliath to earn that freedom. We continued to do that throughout history when we defeated the Axis powers in both the World Wars and stood up to tyranny in Vietnam, the Middle East, and other conflicts.

Our family enjoyed the presence of a terrific fallen soldier who went by the name of Ozzie. Ozzie served in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. He once gifted me his jacket that read, "I know when I die, I'm going to heaven because I've already lived through hell." Ozzie hated the Fourth of July. He always said he would sit in his house with the curtains drawn because there were too many bad memories.

Today I am going to Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill, with my family. I'm sure Ozzie would have liked that. Cantigny Park is the former estate of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. A history of military tanks and a military museum is part of the 500-acre grounds (Freyadmin 1).

I remember my childhood and how I innocently ran through the sidewalks playing war. I think about Ozzie, who fought in war thousands of miles from home only to hate the day we celebrate our country's freedom. I'm thirty-five years old now, and my perspective on the Fourth has changed since then, too - my little ones don't go to sleep as quickly this week, so my love for the day is not the same as it once was. However, I cannot complain because I was never in Ozzie's shoes.

Several years ago, my best friend, who helped me scavenge for those fireworks, came to visit. He said he signed up for the military and wanted to see me before starting basic training. It's funny how life sends you where you need to go. One minute we're playing war, and the next, he's getting ready for one.

This Fourth of July, I thank Ozzie, all my friends who served, my cousin, my uncle, my late grandfather, and all other veterans who continue to help our country remain free. Whenever I see a firework in the sky, I will think of you.

Works Cited

Freyadmin. “History.” Cantigny, 1 June 2022, cantigny.org/about-cantigny/history-m....

To find my books, go to this link for myAmazon profile or go to the Author page of this website.

Kevin Kenealy received his journalism degree from Eastern Illinois University and his English secondary education certificate from Trinity Christian College. He is also currently pursuing a master's in English Literature from Southern New Hampshire University. He worked as a reporter and designer for several local newspapers before he started teaching English, AP Lit, and journalism at the high school level. He wrote his first book, 20 Something at age 23, a book of poetry about growing up in your 20s and trying to figure yourself out. The book was featured in a local newspaper and can be found in local libraries. He completed his first novel Life and Death at age 31, a horror/thriller book that received local attention and is also featured in suburban Chicago libraries. In his latest book, Neighborhood Watch, Kirkus Reviews calls it, "Superb characters headline this chilling, slow-burn crime tale."

Author Spotlight: Tabitha Fefee

I had the privilege to interview local author and puppeteer Tabitha Fefee. Tabitha is a five times published book author and likes to make children happy while reading her books. Tabitha's poetry is a variety of poems that will make you laugh, cry and shake your head! Her works can be found at www.ladyfefee.com

Listen to the podcast below for the full interview!

Make time for what you love

I'm currently reading Fahrenheit 451 in my spare time.

Just like I write every day, I read for pleasure every day. In Stephen King's On Writing, he recommends this practice, and while it's not easy, anything can become habit-forming if you do it enough.

As a high school English teacher, I constantly read material for work. In AP Lit class, I'll read Frankenstein, while in Junior English, I'll be running my eyes through Tuesdays with Morrie. All of this happens while I do my best to keep fresh on the latest news so that I can stay relevant as a journalism instructor. So how do I find time to read and write for myself during a busy school year? I make time.

People have more time in their days than they may realize. For example, my students always say they're busy at home, but they also tell me they spend, on average, over ten hours a day on their phones. People will tell me that there aren't enough hours in a day, but they are the first to rattle off several Netflix shows they are currently watching.

Always use time wisely. I tell my students to use as much class time as possible to get homework done. "I'll just do it at home," they say. But I know their chances of doing it there are even worse than finishing it in class. If you want to set aside time to exercise, why not make time to listen to that audiobook while you're doing your cardio? Or why not make time to listen to new music that you have always been saying you will?

This leads me to how I fit in time for daily reading and writing. I don't allow myself to stay up too late. This makes it so I can get up by 4:30 at the latest, have a leisure breakfast and concentrate only on writing for at least a half-hour. There are no distractions in the house. The only sound is that of my fingers on the keyboard.

I always find time to read my latest work on the car ride to work as far as reading goes. Because I'm carpooling, I pull out my phone, open my Scribd app, and read around 20-30 pages. When I was driving, I would listen to audiobooks. I would usually knock out a book every couple of weeks this way.

All I have to do is think about how I will manage my time throughout the day. Many people want to sleep until the last possible minute, and I get that. But think about how you are using other points in your day. Do you go home and mindlessly scroll through social media?

Reading every day helps me in my writing. I get exposed to new styles, and it gets me over writer's block to help me form my unique voice. If you're a writer and don't read, it will be hard for you to grow in your craft.

So, find the time for what you love to do. Even though I get up super early, my days feel much more fulfilled.

Eat up each and every moment

Life moves pretty fast. My wife and I have been together for seven years; we've been married for almost five, and we now have two kids, one three and a newborn. We celebrated my wife Mary Ellen's birthday yesterday, and we ordered the above from our favorite restaurant Chi Tung, where we had our first date and where I proposed to her. We also ordered this same order two years ago but from Mo's Chinese Kitchen out of Orland Park at the time.

Each day, each minute, each second is precious. Sometimes we forget about certain days unless they're documented. Like the one below, this one was from April 8, 2019, which was the last time I recall taking a picture of my old house. That was the kitchen table in Chicago Ridge we sat at for years. We ended up selling it, and we just hope it went to a good home.

Facebook often has these "On This Day" posts, and I thought it would make an exciting blog piece. I scanned through my photos and noticed I took several pictures on or around April 8. They show these little snapshots of where I was in my life. But they don't only showcase my life, but perhaps they are relatable to all of our lives - seeing your parents leave their home, marrying, having kids, etc. It's like that old quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." The next photo is from April 8, 2018, and to be honest, I have no idea what this photo means. Other images in April were more interesting, as in the day I bought my car later in the month and when we prepared Easter breakfast at my church earlier in the month, but sometimes I think vague photos make for interesting shots.

Yes, I have no idea what this means. Did I take it for the sake of what was on the tag? I have no idea. We forget several days and times in our lives, and I suppose this moment was one of them.

This one was from April 14, 2017. Mary Ellen and I planted tulips alongside our pool. I thought this was a fitting picture because I gave her tulips as part of her birthday gift with the reasoning, "Do you remember when we planted those tulips?"

In 2016, I took her to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios for her birthday. It was a far different birthday than celebrating with two kids at home eating Chinese food, but she loved both. In fact, I think she liked this one more because she had her two wonderful sons to celebrate it with. However, that trip was pretty awesome too.

And finally, my Photos App would only allow me to reach back to 2015, which is fine considering that it was this trip when I knew that Mary Ellen would become my future wife. Funny enough, I came across this tulip field in North Carolina, and just two years later, we would be planting them together at our home. Two years after that, we would be welcoming our first son, and three years after that, our second. Like I said, life moves pretty fast. Enjoy each moment because, in an instant, it's gone. But at the same time, there are many more coming on the way.

Know your Target Audience

To understand your target audience, one must first know what style they like to write in. I got hooked on the Goosebumps books as a kid. I liked the unbelievable stories and how relatable the characters were. I came to expect cliffhangers and suspenseful plot lines. My relationship with my target audience was just beginning.

Thus, at a young age, I knew that the horror genre was for me. Goosebumps supernatural horror novels with obnoxious titles like “The Horror at Camp Jellyjam” encouraged me to start writing my own in elementary school. My short story, “Tenth Planet,” won me a young author’s contest in fifth grade, and I got to represent my school at a conference at Illinois State University. I wrote about a group of scientists that discovered another planet in the solar system. However, after the team made the heroic journey there, they found out that a group of aliens was studying them. The aliens forced the scientists into their lab, strapped them to exam tables, and recorded their movements. My classmates were thrilled that I met their expectations to add the horrific twist in the end, and so were the contest judges.

If I learned to write to lovers of the horror genre and meet their expectations from a young age, I learned to defy their expectations as I aged. It is challenging to be a talented writer without being a heavy reader. I graduated from the likes of R.L. Stine to Stephen King later on, and he gave me an elevated sense of the horror novel. Yes, King hits the checkboxes of incorporating suspense, cliffhangers, the supernatural and delivers the ‘scare factor,’ but he also spends large portions of his books developing character, setting, and non-horror themes. For example, It is just as much a story about coming of age as a horrific shape-shifter. Carrie hits on the theme of the cruelty of teenage adolescence just as much as it does supernatural horror elements. The ways this established writer defied expectations inspired me to change my writing later on to incorporate the theme of coming of age alongside good versus evil.

King is one of the best at marketing. I attended his author’s talk at North Central College in Naperville, Ill. a few years back. He and his son, Owen, fielded questions about the writing process and their newest book, Sleeping Beauties. At the end of the talk, King gave away free copies of the book and said some were personally signed. The crowd went nuts, and shouts of joy rang through when someone received a signed copy. Here is a man who knows his audience, and he continues to defy expectations. I only hope to keep growing in my craft, just as he had in his.

How to be a Better Writer in Four Steps

I have considered myself a writer for as long as I can remember. I have written in about every area imaginable – journalism, non-fiction, poetry, blogging, children’s lit, and the thriller, Christian, and horror genres. For the last seven years, I have taught freshmen through seniors in many of these areas. I prepared them for standardized test and AP Literature essays, literary analysis, creative writing, and research papers.

Someone recently asked me what someone can do to become a stronger writer, and I said write first and edit second. Yet, there are two steps before this. 1) Be curious 2) Plan 3) Write 4) Edit

I’ll review each of these steps, but I will mainly focus on my approach to writing invention as per the directions.

1) Be curious – You have to be observant of the world around you, and as a writer, you have to read. Writers notice things and store them away for later. Being attentive is helpful in any writing. I saw a line in a sidebar story on my paper in college that referred to our campus’ power plant as a “ticking time bomb.” The line jumped out at me, so I investigated the plant. I found out that it was so dilapidated that they said it would be cheaper to build a new plant than find replacement parts. The story ended up receiving praise in the newsroom. I changed that idea into a twenty-page work of fiction for my Genres class and appropriately titled it “Ticking Time Bomb.” That piece followed a college student as he fought to bring the horrors of the dilapidated plant to the surface, but his paper did not think it important enough to run. Consequently, the plant explodes at the end of the story. My curiosity produced a strong work of non-fiction and fiction. After all, truth is stranger than fiction.

As far as reading is concerned, read as often as you can and in as many different styles as you can. Say you enjoy writing fantasy. Definitely read JK Rowling, but branch out and read horror, dystopian, romance, etc. The Harry Potter series contains traces of all these different genres within its seven books. While I currently write in horror and thriller, I am presently reading Catch-22, and it’s broadening my scope of how twisted humor can add a new dimension to my genre.

2) Plan (Writing Invention) – Call it writing invention if you want to sound fancy, but it’s really just how you start a story, a chapter, a work. How does an architect start a major project? Depending on the medium, I approach this differently. If I were writing a research paper, I always map out a traditional outline where I follow the rubric. I fill in that outline with primary sources found through such search engines as LexisNexis or EBSCOHost. Then I put it all together, and I write. I always took notes when I reported journalism stories because they served as my rough outline. Then I would juxtapose those notes into my inverted pyramid style.

While I teach all writing styles, I write creatively (unless it’s for a specific grad school assignment). The way I go into these projects varies. Sometimes I talk a plot or a character through in my head and then write out their attributes. I may start a chapter or a book with research. I wrote a short story called “The Year of the Cicada,” where there were these mutated cicadas that took over a town. Despite it being a work of fiction, I wanted to really understand everything I could about cicadas. So, I scanned credible Internet sources and thoroughly read about the strange insect. I also read about grasshoppers and locusts because, in the story, they mutate with these close ‘relatives.’ Despite it being this horrific sci-fi world, I still needed some element of realism there. When I wrote my latest novel, Neighborhood Watch, I wanted it to take place over many years. To get the setting right, I researched what was popular in that particular year, down to the magazine covers that were out that month.

Lastly, I brainstorm and outline creative works differently depending on the situation. Sometimes I work through characters and plots in my head, and then I free write. At others, I jot down notes about where I intend to move on in the story. However, I always will write a rough outline of how I want characters or a scene to progress for the following day.

3) Write – This is as simple as it sounds, as difficult as it sounds. Stephen King said in On Writing that it’s essential to write every day and do so with the door closed. While some people may be able to write with music or even with the TV on, I think it is important to have a set time and place to call your own to sit down and write. When you get into the habit of writing, it becomes so much easier. I forced myself to wake up at 4:30 every morning for three years to turn out my latest novel. I find I only have early in the morning or late at night to tap my fingers on the keyboard, and usually, I am too exhausted to type at night, so I like to get up early when no one else is awake, and the house is quiet.

A first draft does not have to be perfect. Get your thoughts and feelings down, and then smooth them out later. Too often, my students go days without starting their papers because they “can’t think about what to write.” They’re thinking too much and not letting themselves be free in the writing process.

4) Edit – I tell my students that they will become much stronger writers if they just reread what they write and run it through Grammarly or even spell-check. While this is surface-level editing, it will get students in the habit of fine-tuning their work and noticing their errors. As I have progressed through my craft, I have worked closely with editors in all fields – journalism and the creative world. I have learned much about my strengths and weaknesses, and I continue to hone my skills.

I hope this analysis was helpful for you. You can write whatever you want, one word at a time, but you have to start somewhere. Start by examining the world around you and asking questions about it.

Choosing the right self-publishing company

I published my latest book, Neighborhood Watch, off Amazon KDP. For a copy of Neighborhood Watch, click here .

At 23, I self-published my first book, 20 Something, through a company called Authorhouse. I heard about them through a former baseball coach of mine, and at the time, I had already compiled hundreds of poems that I wanted to publish. While getting my work out there was exciting, I would never work with them again.

First off, it costs a tremendous amount of money to publish through this company. While they do provide services with that cost, I question how they followed through with those services. I created my cover and set up my pages, so my 'design team' didn't do much other than make sure it all fit together nicely. They were available for contact every step of the way, which was nice. However, they were also pushy to sell you more services even after completing the book. You would get voicemails to set up marketing, for example.

In contrast to future companies I would publish with, Authorhouse did not leave you with a ton of profit. Authorhouse gives authors ten percent royalties, which is a joke compared to IngramSpark and Amazon KDP. It is also one of the companies listed to steer clear of in the book Choosing the Best Self-Publishing Services. It did get me expanded distribution throughout Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Scribd, etc., but I would hope so for the price. The product comes out professional-looking, so at least there is that, but it is one I would recommend avoiding.

I learned from my mistakes when I published my following books, Life and Death and Faith Journey. Those two I uploaded on both Amazon KDP and IngramSpark. Both IngramSpark and Amazon KDP have their advantages and disadvantages, as outlined here and in more detail in Choosing the Best Self-Publishing Services.

Amazon KDP will offer you 70% royalty if you choose to publish exclusively on Amazon, but it does offer an expanded distribution rate of 40%. You can choose between a 35% royalty and a 70% royalty on ebooks. The difference in the choice depends on if you want to only distribute on Amazon or if you want to choose expanded distribution. The turnover rate for publication on Amazon is pretty quick and easy. As long as you have everything formatted and to the specifications requested, the book should go live in 72 hours. You can also order author copies for a fraction of the cost even after the book goes live. Also, you can at no cost should you need to make any revisions after the book goes live.

In contrast to Amazon, it will cost you $49 to publish a book through IngramSpark. Then, if you need to make any revisions after publication, you will be charged an additional $25. The main advantage of publishing through IngramSpark is that their wide distribution is better as there is more of a chance that going through them can land you into brick and mortar stores. This is because IngramSpark's distributors are more likely to do business with the stores versus Amazon KDP. IngramSpark has a comparable royalty rate at 65-70%, but its rate for ebooks is 40% without the 70% option that Amazon KDP offers.

Both companies offer self-publishers gains in the market, and thus, I published Faith Journey and Life and Death through IngramSpark and Amazon KDP to maximize exposure. As far as my latest novel, Neighborhood Watch, I published that on Amazon KDP and have yet to do so on IngramSpark, but I intend to in the coming weeks. I hope this review helped you choose a self-publisher. For more information on this topic, visit this site about the differences between Amazon KDP and IngramSpark.

The process of writing Neighborhood Watch

Three years ago, I started a project that turned into this 391-page published novel. It took a lot of mornings waking up at 4 a.m. before my newborn baby turned toddler woke up and before work started just so that I could squeeze in a bit of time to write a little bit at a time.

I knew I wanted to build a story around the perfect American town with the perfect citizens. Yet, in that town, something was amiss. What was the town's story? How did adults see the town? How did kids see it? I recently had finished reading It, and I loved how King wrote from both the children's and the adult's perspectives in that novel. I wanted to try to emulate that in this text. I thought history was important. How did the town become so moral, and how did kids grow up in that environment over the years? These questions powered Neighborhood Watch.

There were days I only wrote a paragraph. There were days I wrote over ten pages. There were times my writer's block weighed so heavy I had to step away from the computer and think about where I was in the story and where I wanted to go. I made rough outlines for the following day whenever I finished writing.

But the first draft was a far cry from what became the finished product. Between my excellent editor, Alison Moran, my grad school professor Seth Berg, my classmates, and a couple of people in the newspaper industry, I was able to fine-tune the draft into a product I could be proud of. Alison pointed out flaws in the story's plot and character development. "You need to strengthen this scene," or a "woman wouldn't say this," she might say. Her comments frustrated my writing process for the better. I found myself rewriting entire sections of the novel, but it made me better in my craft. I rewrote the whole ending because of her and am so glad I had. Because of my Story and Concept course, I had to lay out an outline for the novel and explain what I did for each decision I put into the work. Those papers and critiques forced me to evaluate my work yet again. My professor and peers offered constructive criticism of points I had never noticed before. Lastly, there are points in the novel that I wrote newspaper articles. While I have a journalism background, it has been some time since I have served my time on a paper. Having current people in the industry analyze those sections made my confidence skyrocket.

These edits consumed me for the same amount of time that the writing had. It would have been easy to throw my hands up and call it quits. It was painstaking having to figure out how to change entire sections. I had to throw my ego aside and put my trust in others. I also had to trust myself and decide what was worth keeping. Before I submitted, I also conducted thorough proofreads. I sent my manuscript out to several agents. Agents sent me back with several "Unfortunately" responses, or I did not hear back at all. After putting in so much effort, the rejection was disappointing, to say the least. But when you believe in the product, you cannot avoid putting it out there. Knowing that I had a strong product and believed in myself, I can only hope that it gets read by as many people as possible.

I will continue to query agents on future works and cross my fingers that one day a piece sticks. Until then, I am proud of what I accomplished. It has been a long and arduous journey, and now it is done. Enjoy reading it. I enjoyed writing it.

Find the book on Amazon here.