Adam Holt's Blog, page 8

Best book news of the summer!

Here's my second wish fulfilled (reference = last post, lost plot)

Today the Tully books are featured on Tumblr's most popular astronomy blog! I met its creator at Johnson Space Center this summer, and he digs my stories. I'm humbled that he would share them with his many followers. Click the NASA logo to see his update and beautiful blog. 
http://astronomicalwonders.tumblr.com/post/126181272718/sneaking-onto-rockets-scientific-literacy

My Mad Dragon Eye (On Writer's Block, Voodoo, and Deep Woods Witches)

  My plot wandered off into the woods this week. Here’s what that means: I tried to write but I lost focus. None of my chapters came together. I made little or no headway on book three. I revised, rewrote, but couldn’t progress the story. The characters were there, but I could not decide where to take them next.   Only I realized this at first. Then my characters noticed. Tully sat on a distant moon and waited for instructions. Tabitha and Sunjay returned to Earth but had no idea how to tackle their problems. Sorry, my magical protagonists. Mea culpa, sorta. The plot wandered off.   “Well, go find it,” Tully said.   “I’d rather wait for it to come to me,” I said. “You know, wait of the lightning bolt of inspiration to smite me.”   “Stars, how’s that working out for you?” asks Tabitha.   I tried all my tricks. I worked late, I worked early, I worked out to get the blood flowing. I made smoothies, drank strong coffee, and, in the end, made a decision. I would work without the plot for a while. I’d press on with no particular end in mind.   After all, not having a plot is a plot in its own right. It’s a story I can tell myself and my readers. I can be honest with Tully and Tabitha. So I told them.   “Okay, Tully, you’re stuck on a moon. And Tabitha, you just returned to Earth. That’s the best I can do for now. You figure it out from there, my little friends. Fend for yourselves. You’ve done it before.”    Tabitha rolled her eyes.   Nevertheless, I embraced the situation. I played the game. I kept writing without the plot. I kept writing when the writing got bad. A tsunami crashed on a deserted moon. It was beautiful and meaningless. Tully wandered the streets of a haunted city. No one met him there. He peeked into vacant buildings hoping for a confrontation or resolution, but the phantoms fled before he could make out their forms.   Is this what people call writer’s block? I wondered. I’ve always thought writer’s block was a self-fulfilling prophecy, a bit of voodoo where you’re both priest, supplicant, and victim. And I’ve never been much for needles.   Needles reminded me of compasses. A compass, my plot, was lost.  Back to the plot then. What was I supposed to do?   In a word, what I do now.   Write.   In more words, do the writer’s job, which is to keep the pen moving and the keys clicking. It’s that simple.  Each stroke is a step in some direction. Each stroke I learn what I already know. I simply need to go, to follow the breadcrumbs deep into the woods. That’s not so complicated. That’s what it takes to find the plot sometime. I have to let it go in order to find it again. I have to walk into the woods, no matter how much doubt tells me to turn around and run back to a normal job and a regular paycheck. Once I enter the woods, I’ll find what I am seeking. It might not appear for a spell though. I might languish beside a gurgling stream from which I cannot drink. I might meet a wise old man that leads me astray. I might fall in love with a wood nymph who turns me into a frog-infested log in a murky bog. Eventually I will un-log myself. I always do.   Then I will find the witch of the woods, drink her poison, and fly away on dragon’s wings.  
  Out of the corner of my mad dragon eye I might then espy the plotdrowning in a bog of ink from three days’ writing. I speak the magic words; The plot rises up to meet me. 
  “Thank for that,” the plot says, squeezing bog juice from his pantaloons. (Sorry, he dresses himself).   “Anyway, glad to be back. You’ll be wanting your three wishes.”  “For what?” I ask.   “For saving me,” he says.    And thus we return home.   In the meantime, Tully figured out that he wants to stay on that moon for a while. And Sunjay and Tabitha have made alternate plans of their own. And all while the supposed plot was wandering around in the enchanted forest. Unplanned goodness is the best sort of goodness to plan.   Well, that seems to have worked itself out nicely on a Friday afternoon, I think. The plot still owes me three wishes, and I’ll cash in my first wish today.   In the form of a blog post.   Happy Friday, everyone. 
  Expect a second wish tomorrow, and this one surprised me much more than finding my lost plot.

Amazing eBook News | Tully's Universe Chores

Adam Holt Writes UpdatesJuly NewsletterDear Conspirators,
 This comes out a bit late (my autorelease failed us...), but here are some updates. Read and share...if you dare. But you do dare, don't you? You're the brave sort, aren't you? :)
Happy belated 4th,
Adam

The Conspiracy Game Cracks the Top 100 in YA Category!

Over the weekend we ran a direct mailing book promotion. The results: The Conspiracy Game appeared on the Top 100 of YA dystopian ebooks! #75 was the highest I saw. That's top 3% of its genre...and dire cool! It helps that the ebook is now all major platforms - Kindle, iBooks, and Nook. It's a great time to share the link or post on social media. Each purchase will help Tully stay on those charts and reach more readers. Here’s my website for the details: http://adamholtwrites.com/purchase-books/.

Update on Book Three: Universe Chores (spoiler alert)

I'm writing. Universe Chores isn't the title of the third book in the series, but it does give you a hint as to what Tully is doing. If you already read The Rathmore Chaos (spoiler alert, read on at your own risk), you know Tully didn't exactly make it back to Earth. Far, far from it. Now he and "the Misty Man" have business elsewhere in the solar system. Back on Earth, the Ascendant have returned. So have Tabitha, Sunjay, and the rest. Ever wanted a glimpse inside Tabitha's head? What about Sunjay's? In Book Three, you will have your chance. I can't tell you how fun it is to write from their perspectives. Now go grab an ebook or two and have a great week. It's Hump Day (what what?).

Love and Rockets,
Adam 

The Three Rules for Writing a Novel...

"...Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

This quote always cheers me up. I've started six different novels, but only two let themselves be finished. My novels disregard all of my rules. If I write an outline, the novel refuses follow it. If I plan a chapter, some strange occurrence steers it off course. And, of course, if I send a boy into space, he's bound to touch a mysterious object that will turn my one book into a trilogy. 
I think my novels, like many of my former students, enjoy bending and breaking my rules, and like my students, I still love spending time with them. Not that I mind when a chapter comes out of my head fully formed or someone nails a presentation with no help from me. There's just glory in redeeming all the unruly things. So if anyone finds those three rules for novel writing, tell some other author. Don't tempt me. I'll probably be busy duking it out with some 80,000-word delinquent. Fortunately.

Review The Tully Harper Series - just the links...

Click a link, write a review, spread the word!
Barnes and Noble Link 
Amazon Link
Goodreads
Love and rockets, 
Adam 

Reviews for Tully Weekend!

So one thing I've realized about being an indie author. I sell a lot of books directly to the reader. I like that. I love that really, standing in front of someone who is about to enter Tully's world, the one that I designed. Being the ambassador to that world is a duty that never grows old.



A second thing I've realized - all those direct sales mean that I don't have as many online reviews. It makes sense. People buy the book from me and Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc., don't ever ask for a review. Few reviews means fewer online sales because, I don't know about you, but I won't buy anything online, whether it's a light bulb, volleyball, headphones, sweatpants, some indie author's book (!),  unless I see 50+ reviews. So there's the goal. 50+ reviews. And I'm asking you directly for them.  Here's one:


Barnes and Noble Link 
Amazon Link
Goodreads

They don't have to be RAVE reviews, just honest ones from my readers this weekend. The books need some good, honest reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. to help readers make good decisions about their summer reading. There's your writing assignment for the weekend. Five minutes is all it takes to help Tully reach a broader audience. Have fun with it! Write something worthy of The Atlantic or just throw up a few stars and a one-liner. Doesn't matter to me.

In the meantime, I'll be researching and writing book three, as of yet untitled. One hint at what's to come - we visit another moon, we make it back to Earth, but we also get more than just Tully's point of view...

Love and rockets,
Adam

The Space Writers - coming soon to a galaxy near you...

Are you 12-14 years old? Ready for a different sort of summer camp. Then join The Space Writers, a week-long writer's camp hosted by Adam Holt at Space Center Houston! Click here for details.

http://spacecenter.org/education-programs/day-camps/ages-12-14-summer/

Surprise - book two is in print!

Good, great, fantastic news. Blastoff. The Rathmore Chaos is now available in print on Amazon. It's a happy rainy day. "This time it's not for me. It's for the girl I left behind." 
You go get her, Tully.

Maybe one day this will feel "old hat," but it's pretty new hat for now. Now, the beautiful present, the only hat we wear.

So I'm just going to sit here and drink this coffee, write this update, read some news, and walk back to my little house in the Heights. Then I'm headed on a writer's retreat with a good old friend in the Hill Country. April is going to be a busy month, and I need to recharge my batteries before the launch parties, school visits, etc. commence.

One last thought for the road, and for you, wherever you are.

5 day left on Kickstarter and a date for the launch party

Click this link for the launch party update!


Love and rockets,

-Adam 

The Big Bang Approach + the Launch Party (A Dear Blog Entry)

Dear Blog,

I've all but abandoned you for Novel #2 as of late. My deepest apologies. I wish I could make it up to you but -- wait, what's that? If I write a blog entry today then all is forgiven? Well, as you wish. Your generosity never ceases to amaze me. If could just -- oh, get on with it? Okay, fine.

This week began with a bang, and I have my Amazon and Goodreads reviewers to thank for it.

One of their critiques - especially younger readers - of The Conspiracy Game was the slow prologue. I've been mulling it over for a while. In it, Commander Harper convinces Tully to write his "true account" of their trip into space. His account, of course, is the Conspiracy Game. It sets up the book quite well, but it doesn't raise the heart rate.  Modern readers want to start with a bang and, well, it's not like I didn't have a bang to give. So be it.

Early concept cover art from Allen Quigley of the Harper Device (aka the Sacred). 

I took a crack at the "Big Bang" approach to the new first chapter. Then I brought that to critique group. They gave me some really honest feedback, and a few drafts later, we now have this:



The Darkness and the Device

After the explosion, darkness consumed the aircraft hangar. Silence hung over the place like a cold fog. But the lights wouldn’t stay off for long. I had to get out of there fast.
Calm down, Tully. Get yourself together. You’ve got a second. No one knows you’re here.
I checked myself for injuries. My ears rang. My eyeballs felt like they’d been stabbed by the sun. Other than that, all the body parts moved okay. My favorite jeans were not in great shape though. Not cool.
You can explain a pair of ripped jeans. Now what happened? Why did all the screens disappear?

Only moments before, hundreds of floating computer screens filled the middle of this enormous hangar. They had a purpose. They hid me from everyone else in the room. Scientists, astronauts, politicians, shady looking guys in black suits. The screens had nothing to do with me though. They weren’t searching for intruders. Their real problem was projected on those screens. Their real problem may have caused this explosion, and it could do a lot worse...


So there you have it, Blog, or at least small excerpt.


In other news, The Rathmore Chaos is coming together splendidly. It should be available in mid-March. My Kickstarter helped me raise enough funds to do the launch party at Space Center Houston. You still have about a week to contribute, if you want. I'll let you know more about the party when it happens. In fact, Blog, you are invited. Ironically, space may be a bit limited to 100 people (but space is limitless, right?). At any rate, I'll keep you posted. I'm also planning some school visits. I will list on my Amazon Author page and my website. Oh, what? Yes, I do have a website. I haven't told you about him? Sorry. You've got more siblings than you can count.

So I hope we are on good terms. And I hope you like the rewritten intro. I've learned a great deal about the craft of writing since we first met. Funny what several million keystrokes will do.


Yours truly,

A