Kyle Pratt's Blog: Musings & Rantings, page 26

December 1, 2014

Bestseller!

Through Many Fires is again a bestseller, reaching #5 on the Amazon War Bestseller list.







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Click to Enlarge








What sparked the return to those lofty ranks is the upcoming release of the sequel, A Time to Endure. As part of the promotion we’ve lowered the ebook price of Through Many Fires to 99 cents and done some advertising. Consequently, Through Many Fires is currently #5 on the Amazon war fiction bestseller list and on two other bestseller lists







Click to Enlarge





Click to Enlarge









In the first novel, Through Many Fires, Strengthen What Remains, book 1, terrorists smuggle a nuclear bomb into Washington D.C. and detonate it during the State of the Union address. Army veteran and congressional staffer, Caden Westmore in nearby Bethesda, watches as a mushroom cloud grows over the capital. The next day as he drives away from the still burning city, he learns another city has been destroyed, and then another. America is under siege. Panic ensues and society begins to unravel.


A Time to Endure, Strengthen What Remains, book 2, starts the same day the first novel ends. Caden struggles to keep his family and community alive as the nation’s economy teeters on the verge of collapse, the dollar plunges, inflation runs rampant, and the next civil war threatens to decimate the wounded country.

A Time to Endure is now available for preorder now on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Smashwords. On December 12th the paperback edition will be released and the audiobook will follow shortly afterwards.

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Published on December 01, 2014 14:10

November 22, 2014

I Write Like

I often avoid gatherings where writers read from their work. 

I believe in my writing ability. I can draw the reader into the text and soon they hardly notice the words as they flow with the story, but when I read my own words I get nervous, and often stumble. So, I avoid those kinds of get-togethers. However, last night I forgot to check the agenda for the meeting at the Matrix Coffeehouse and went blindly to it. 

When I find myself in those situations I should just go first and get it over. That’s what I should do, but I don’t.

The organizers asked each author to bring a digital copy of their text. They then read from a nearby platform. When each author was done they used the website I Write Like to analyze the selection. Although we humans were stumped the website came back with names like H.P. Lovecraft and Margaret Mitchell.

I enjoyed hearing everyone read their selection and even enjoyed the comparisons from the website.

Ten or eleven people had gone before my name came up. I read from the only thing I had, a paperback copy of Through Many Fires. Although I was nervous and did stumble, I think I read well, at least for me.

Since I didn’t have a digital copy, my text couldn’t be analyzed by the website so, they asked me to do it when I got home.

Okay, everyone here it is…







Kurt Vonnegut





Kurt Vonnegut









I input my selection from Through Many Fires into the I Write Like website and. according to it, I write like Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughterhouse-Five. Wikipedia says his writing is a blend of satire, gallows humor and science fiction.


The amusing thing for me is, I’ve never cared for Vonnegut’s writing.

I decided to test the website and input a selection from Titan Encounter. Now it said I wrote like James Joyce, another great writer that I don’t particularly enjoy. Next I entered the first portion of Final Duty and the website said I write like Arthur C. Clarke.

The third time was a charm. 

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Published on November 22, 2014 14:51

November 10, 2014

Done with Endure

I wrote the last words of A Time to Endure this morning. 





















Except for improving some word choices or making a few sentences clearer, the writing of the book is done and it is now in the editing process. The first twenty-eight chapters are with my editor, Barbara Blakey. I’ll be sending two chapters out for beta reading and two chapters are left for critiquing, but that process should all be done in two or three weeks.


Then the novel goes to final formatting and uploading to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Smashwords for distribution.

A Time to Endure is the second book in the Strengthen What Remains series. It begins on the same day the first book, Through Many Fires, ends. In the first novel, terrorists smuggle a nuclear bomb into Washington D.C. and detonate it during the State of the Union Address. Army veteran and congressional staffer Caden Westmore is in nearby Bethesda and watches as a mushroom cloud grows over the capital. The next day, as he drives away from the still burning city to find loved ones and family, he learns that another city has been destroyed and then another. America is under siege. Panic ensues and society starts to unravel.
















In the second novel, Caden is home, but the nation’s economy teeters on the verge of collapse. The dollar plunges, inflation runs rampant, and the next civil war threatens to decimate the wounded country. In the face of tyranny, panic, and growing hunger, Caden struggles to keep his family and town together. But how can he save his community when the nation is collapsing around it?

A Time to Endure will be released on December 12th, but the Kindle and Nook versions are available for preorder now. It is also available for preorder on Smashwords

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Published on November 10, 2014 13:07

November 1, 2014

NaNoWriMo Kickoff!

National Novel Writing Month Began Today at Midnight.







Holly Straw, Paula Gill (Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo) and Kyle Pratt





Holly Straw, Paula Gill (Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo) and Kyle Pratt








Commonly shortened to NaNoWriMo (na-noh-ry-moh), the event challenges authors to write 50,000 words of a new novel from November 1st until the deadline at 11:59PM on November 30th. That’s about 1,666 words every day of the month. I’ve written that much in a day before, but not every day for a month. If I take my birthday and Thanksgiving off, I would have to write 1,785 words a day. I’m not sure I can do that, but I’m going to see how much I can write in one month.
















The kickoff event for my area of Washington State was at the Matrix Coffeehouse in Chehalis. I arrived at 10:30 Friday night and joined with about ten other writers. Until midnight we socialized and watched the strange people, some in costumes, walk by outside. It was during that time that introduced myself and learned everyone’s name and what they were writing. Unfortunately, when I awoke this morning I couldn’t remember most of it.
















Just after midnight we began our writing projects. I wrote about 800 words before I left just after two this morning. That combined with what I wrote after waking this morning brings my total to 1695. A good start, but I’m going to have to do better to achieve the 50,000 word goal for the month. 

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Published on November 01, 2014 12:09

October 25, 2014

An Amusing Email

My wife received this from Amazon the other day.

Even though she is not a big fan of the military science fiction genre, as my first editor, Lorraine has read every line of these books—multiple times. That’s why it was amusing when she received the email from Amazon.

















She also checks my reviews, prices and other details, and that is probably why Amazon thinks she would like to read the books but she gets them from me for free. Still, it’s nice that Amazon is trying to help with sales.


The middle cover in the picture is of my latest book, A Time to Endure. This is the second book in the Strengthen What Remains trilogy and picks up the saga of Caden Westmore on the day the story ends in Through Many Fires, the first book of the series. A Time to Endure will be released on December 12th, but is available for preorder now on Amazon and Smashwords and Nook

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Published on October 25, 2014 15:35

October 13, 2014

Two Months Away from the Big Day

Beta readers are already working over most of the manuscript.

The majority of the writing is done. Now it is just tweaking the plot and editing. But there is still much to be done before the release of A Time to Endure, Strengthen What Remains, book two.
















The artwork for the cover, spine and back are done and the preorder page is up on Amazon and Smashwords. Please click on the links, view the pages, and order the book. A Time to Endure will also be available on Nook and Kobo on or near the Amazon release date.

So, what else is left to do?

I write because I enjoy writing and being creative, but once the book is done I have to do the part of the business that is mundane—marketing.

I’m not complaining (Okay, maybe just a little) but, now is the time to write press releases, emailing bloggers and scheduling promotions. Reviewers need to be contacted and copies of the book sent to them as soon as it is available. As I write this I waiting for an email from a book promoter.  

A Time to Endure comes out on December 12th. I’ll already be writing my next book.

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Published on October 13, 2014 19:08

September 16, 2014

Preorder A Time to Endure

The exciting saga of Major Caden Westmore continues!

We announced the release date for A Time to Endure on August 12th, and now just over a month later, it is available for Kindle preorder.





















In the first book, Through Many Fires: Strengthen What Remains, nuclear terrorism destroys six American cities. The nation’s economy teeters on the verge of collapse. The dollar plunges, inflation runs rampant, and the next civil war threatens to decimate the wounded country.


In the second novel, A Time to Endure, Caden faces tyranny, panic, and growing hunger, as he struggles to keep his family and town together. But how can he save his community when the nation is collapsing around it?

A Time to Endure is now available for Kindle preorder on Amazon. The page count and some of the other data is not yet correct. We’ll be building the Amazon page over the next week. The release date is December 12th, but order now, for your Kindle, while you’re thinking about it.

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Published on September 16, 2014 13:03

September 15, 2014

200 Reviews!

Through Many Fires earned review number 200 on Amazon.

A reader named David left review number 200 on Sunday. The 5-star review for Through Many Fires said the book was “very entertaining” and the characters were likable. He also hoped that the book was not our future. Well, that is exactly the reaction I was hoping to achieve.
















Through Many Fires has been well-received with comments like, “The book hooked me with the first chapter.” I’m thrilled that 176 of the 200 reviews are 4 or 5 star.

David went on say that he was waiting for the sequel. Well, David, you don’t have long to wait. The next book in the series, titled A Time to Endure, will be released on December 12th and the pre-order page will be up on Amazon this month.

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Published on September 15, 2014 09:11

September 14, 2014

The Sound of Final Duty

I’ve always thought that Final Duty, the novella that leads off my anthology would be a great audiobook.

In Final Duty, Lieutenant Amy Palmer returns to the Altair star system, onboard the reconnaissance ship Mirage, twenty years after the death of her father during the Battle of Altair. Almost immediately disaster strikes and Amy, along with the rest of the Mirage crew, must face the possibility of performing their final duties.









Click on the image to buy on Audible.com







Click on the image to buy on Audible.com








I imagined the story as more than an audiobook with at least a female and male voice actor and even some sound effects. It would then be a hybrid, or as it is called in the industry, a multi-cast, more than an audiobook, but less than a full radio play.

However, such a production would be expensive, the story is short, about 15,000 words, and I give away the ebook. It’s really hard to sell an expensive audiobook when you give away the ebook. So, although I thought it would be fun, it was a project that would probably never be done.

But then my sons decided to split the cost and give it to me as a Father’s Day present.

Wow!

We’ve been working on the project since before Father’s Day. We hired Brick Shop Audio, a New York City audiobook company to produce the project and two voice actors, Erin Mallon and Michael Braun. They all did a fantastic job of bringing our script to life.

The project is now complete and you can hear a sample on Audible here or on my website here.  

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Published on September 14, 2014 09:14

September 10, 2014

A Time to Edit

It’s nearly ready. The next book in the Strengthen What Remains series, A Time to Endure, is in the hands of beta-readers.

In the picture on the right I’m about to mail the first sixteen chapters of A Time to Endure to one of the beta-readers.  
















In the upcoming novel, the exciting saga of Major Caden Westmore continues. In the first book of the Strengthen What Remains series, Through Many Fires, nuclear terrorism destroys six American cities, leaving the nation in chaos.

In the second novel, A Time to Endure, the economy teeters on collapse. The dollar plunges, inflation runs rampant, and the next civil war threatens to decimate the wounded country. In the face of tyranny, panic, and growing hunger, Caden struggles to keep his family and town together. But how can he save his community when the nation is collapsing around it?

A third book in the series is planned for next year.

A Time to Endure will be released in paperback and Kindle on December 12th of this year. In early 2015 the novel will be available on on Nook, Kobo, Smashwords and as an Audiobook.

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Published on September 10, 2014 16:47