Logan Judy's Blog, page 4

A Title Reveal and Back to the Writing Cave

At the beginning of this month, I was determined that I was going to have the first draft of my newest book done by the end of the month. I’m estimating it to be around 80,000 words. That’s right. I was going to write 80,000 words in a day. NaNoWriMo is only 50,000 words and a lot of people don’t make it, so I knew I was being ambitious. I was going strong, writing about 3,000 words a day, when something hit me.

My research paper.

Sometimes I forget that I’m still in college.  It really sucks remembering that, especially when you have a 3,500 word research paper to write.  Plus, there’s also your day job.  Because of these responsibilities, I had to push drafting the novel back.  It pained my heart to do so, but I’d really like to graduate with grades other than D’s, so it had to be done.  However, I’m now proud to say that the paper in question has been submitted, and my coursework for the semester is completed.  I do have summer classes, but those don’t start for another month, leaving me with quite a bit of time in between now and then to get some work done.

So it’s back to the writing cave.  I’d like to say that I can work overtime and still get the book done on time, but I’m not that stupid.  I’m only about a third of the way done, and there’s no way I’m writing 60,000 words in a week.  I’m not that stupid.  But all is not lost.  I still plan to release the novel in the summer, and if I’m lucky, July, but I realize that things often get pushed back.  It took me two years to write my first book, and with good reason.  I was still figuring it out.  Heck, I’m still figuring it out right now.  But it’s coming.

Before I go back into the cave, however, I do have some exciting information.  I have settled on a title for the second book of The Rogue.  I’m throwing it out on the internet so that I can’t change my mind, as I’ve already done half a dozen times.  I do really like this one, and I’m so confident in it that I’ve already ordered the book cover, which I hope to be able to show you sometime fairly soon.  The title is (drum roll, please) . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

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. . . .

A Gray Crusade.

Like it?  I hope so.  Otherwise all of that drama will have been incredibly childish.

Maybe it was anyway.

Oh well.

 

An Update to the Finding Sage Sequel

The time has come for book signings!  The first shipment came to my house on Wednesday and I’m thrilled to start looking into doing book signings in my local area.  And if you want one but don’t live around West Lafayette, IN, that’s not a problem.  Just email me at loganrjudy@gmail.com and I can send you one.  Due to the time-consuming nature of mailing them, however, I can only do 20 of these per month, so keep that in mind.  The price is $14 including shipping.

As I hope you know, I’m hard at work writing the sequel to Finding Sage.  Here’s a little update on how that’s going.

I’m loving the story.  When I write, I’m not one of those people that can have an outline of everything that happens beforehand.  I’ve tried to do that, but it just doesn’t work for me.  Instead, I end up changing the outline so many times that I might as well trash it.  So writing is an adventure for me, because I discover the story as I’m writing it.  And I am really enjoying this story, and hopefully you will too!

This book follows two primary things that were left unanswered in Finding Sage.  The first is the phoenix symbol.  What does it mean?  Why is it showing up in Silas’s dreams?  Why did the prime minister have a pendant of it?  What’s the significance?  That is a big deal in this book, and the book also follows Grayson.  After the debacle in New York, will he still pursue the life of his best friend?  Does he still think that’s the right thing to do?  What will happen when he finally faces that moment?  Also in the story are some new characters that are a lot of fun, plus one returning minor character from the first book.

My original plan was to release this book in the middle of June, but alas, classes and my day job have gotten in the way, so I must push the date back.  Now I’m hoping for the end of June or early July.  Rest assured, I will get it to you as soon as I can!

So I leave you for now.  If you want to hear from me more often, as I’m terrible about writing regular blog posts, sign up for my newsletter.  Not only will you hear from me more often, but I also do things like cover reveals and title reveals early through the newsletter. I also have Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr pages, and I just started a Pinterest.  Follow me on stuff.  I like interacting with people, so don’t be shy!

Finding Sage Available on Paperback

I am very proud to make this announcement.  No longer is Finding Sage only available as an e-book, but it’s available on paperback as well!

You can buy it on Amazon here.

 

One Week Mark

I’ve been a self-published author for about a week.  I’ve thought about how I’m going to address my “public image.”  Whether I’m going to pretend to be some big time author or if I’m going to be honest with myself and what few fans I have.  I’m going to be honest.

There are a lot of dreamy pictures associated with being an author.  A lot of things are left out.  Like how many traditionally published authors are making ridiculously low royalties on their work.  How authors need to do their own marketing.  How you have to work to gain a fanbase.  I’ve known all of those things because I do a lot of reading about this trade (as every aspiring author should do, and precious few actually do).  However, they’re sinking in quickly.

The end result?  I love it.  Every bit of it.  I love emailing book blogs and updating my social media sites and writing newsletters and blog posts and planning promotion ideas and thinking about my next books and, most especially, writing my next book.  It’s incredible.

Now, as of the time I am writing this post I am not a full-time author.  Far from it.  I’m still in college for Pete’s sakes, and I haven’t even made $100 on the book yet.  But I absolutely love the process, and I’m proud of my work.  That makes it a whole lot easier to be okay with the fact that I’m not successful yet.

I’m being pretty transparent.  Consider that a sign of things to come. I’ll be writing til I die, so I’m not going to drop off the planet because I’m not an overnight success (hello, no one is.  This is an oversaturated market, after all).  So stick around, because I’m here to stay.  And if you don’t like my work, that’s fine.  Thankfully the internet is pretty non-discriminatory.  If you like it though, I’m very grateful to have you as a fan.  And you should sign up for my newsletter.

Hey, I said authors have to do marketing.

Amazon Author Page

I now have an Amazon Author Page!  You can look at it here.

Finding Sage, and the future of The Rogue series

I am proud to announce that within 12 hours, Finding Sage will be available for purchase on Amazon Kindle!

Finding Sage is the first novel I’ve ever published, and I’m very proud of it.  It’s the tale of people, called rogues, who display supernatural abilities.  This is in a dystopian future where the world is under a global government that hunts these people and executes them, imprisons them, or turns them into assassins.  The book follows the stories of these extraordinary individuals, and their attempts to find more of a meaning in life than running from death.

It’s the first of four books in the series, and this one mainly follows Silas, a young man who has the ability to tap into other people’s brains, allowing him access to thoughts, memories, and brain function.  It’s not as great as it sounds though–if he is around too many people at the same time, he becomes weak, susceptible to sensory overload.  When a crazy-eyed hobo named Eli saves his life, he begins searching for the man who might hold the answer to his problems, who could help him not only escape from execution, but also find meaning in his life: Sage.