Andrew J. Morgan's Blog: Aspiration Keeps Me Alive, page 12

Section 1: We Have a Visitor – Chapter 1

‘Hello TsUP, this is RS0ISS. Reporting unidentified vessel in our region, holding orbit approximately two hundred metres aft of our location. Please confirm.’

The heavy Russian accent, laden with radio static, fell silent. Propped up with one elbow on his desk – which formed part of one row of five in the cavernous cylindrical room – Mission Control Capsule Communicator Aleksandar Dezhurov touched his lips against the stiffly protruding microphone of his headset and considered his response.

‘Mo...

We Have a Visitor…

From my upcoming novel, Vessel, here is chapter one. It’s in a rough state at the moment, but hopefully it will be good enough to enjoy. I’ll be posting a chapter a month, so make sure to come back to follow the story!

Section 1 – We Have a Visitor

Chapter 1

‘Hello TsUP, this is RS0ISS. Reporting unidentified vessel in our region, holding orbit approximately two hundred metres aft of our location. Please confirm.’

The heavy Russian accent, laden with radio static, fell silent. Propped up with one...

My new book...

...is going to be posted on my blog. You can read the prologue over at andrewjamesmorgan.com. Don't forget to sign up to get the new chapters as soon as they're published!

Prologue

First, there was nothing.

Then, a single stellar body flickered in the night sky, and the nothingness ceased to be nothing.

It had arrived, silent and undetected.

It would change everything.

My next book…

…is not a sequel to Noah’s Ark, sorry. There will be a sequel to Noah’s Ark, but I wanted to try something a bit different first. The working title is ‘Vessel’, which I think is going to stick, and it’s about a craft that appears following the orbit of the International Space Station. To whet your appetites, here is the prologue, short and sweet:

First, there was nothing.

Then, a single stellar body flickered in the night sky, and the nothingness ceased to be nothing.

It had arrived, silent and...

Follow me!

So I'm going to be posting this blog on a wordpress site as well in the hope that I can garner some interest for my next book. I will be posting samples on there soon. You can find it at: http://andrewjamesmorgan.com

I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for following me!

Andrew

Second time lucky

Have you ever noticed that a repeat viewing of a film usually flies by a lot quicker than the first? This is because your brain isn't working as hard; it knows the characters, the plot, the twists - the whole lot - from front to back. Second time around, it's cruising on autopilot. There are many things that, like films, are easier the second time around.

I've struggled with knowing how much or how little of things are required when writing, editing and promoting my book (which is, no surprises here, my first). How long should it be? How many times should I edit it? How much should I cut? How much should time should I spend on marketing?

The more time spent on any aspect of becoming a successful author the better, but that raises two issues: the law of diminishing returns and finite time. There is only so much time in the day and there's going to be a point when the dead horse has nothing left on it to flog.

Editing has been a real mystery to me. As a new writer, I'm well and truly in the dark, and editing my own work is an exercise in futility - the blind leading himself. It won't end well. So I paid someone.

This has proven to be an invaluable experience that I should have had much sooner for two reasons: I have realised a lot of my book needs reworking; I have learned a lot for future work.

So the message to glean from this post is this: take the opportunity to make your first time easier by learning from mine. I suppose I should say 'spoiler alert', but paying a good editor will pay for itself in better reviews and subsequent purchases because of it. I certainly won't be making the same mistake twice.

Second Time Lucky

Have you ever noticed that a repeat viewing of a film usually flies by a lot quicker than the first? This is because your brain isn’t working as hard; it knows the characters, the plot, the twists – the whole lot – from front to back. Second time around, it’s cruising on autopilot. There are many things that, like films, are easier the second time around.

I’ve struggled with knowing how much or how little of things are required when writing, editing and promoting my book (which is, no surprise...

Water, water everywhere...

I've got one of those floaty black things in my eye. It watches me, picking the perfect opportunity to remind me of its existence, when - BAM - it jumps out front and centre in full, wiggly glory.

The only thing is - and you know what's coming - no matter how hard I try to look at, I can't. It shoots off, skidding back into the shadows of my eyelids. Damn thing.

And so to painfully graft this metaphor onto reality: Noah's Ark is getting good feedback, which should improve when the professional edit is done, and there are thousands - millions, even - of people who enjoy similar books.

But.

There's always a but.

Those people seem to be like that tedious eye floater, in sight but not in reach, there for the taking but simply a mirage. A nagging thought repeatedly tells me that if I could find a way to give these people my book, they'd read it and enjoy it, but I'll be damned if I know how.

So, like ole' wiggly, all I can do is sit tight and wait for them to come to me. Whether that's right or wrong, I don't know, but I'm struggling to work out how to do it any other way. Of course, I'm promoting the book as well as I know how, but for all I know, I'm shouting at ghosts.

Maybe one day I'll figure it out.

Welcome to my World

Hello, and welcome to Work in Progress, my blog about the books I write. If you’re looking for Noah’s Ark, you can download that here, and if you want to read my new book, Vessel, you can do so below. I will be posting a new chapter every month, so make sure you register for updates.

Thanks for stopping by!

Andrew