Joshua C. Cook's Blog, page 10

Do a Review – Could win you a 50$ Gift Card!

So, getting good viability on a book isn’t easy these days. There’s just a lot of self published stuff out there, and it really boils down to getting enough eyes on the prize so to speak to get a critical mass of interest. Take Project: Perception. It’s a book that combines the other two stories, adds 2 chapters, and is sort of an “Omnibus” version. But yet, I can’t seem to get much traction on it.

 

So.. Here’s the “contest”.

 

For the next week, whomever downloads, reads, and reviews the book, Project: Perception on Amazon, will get their name entered in a random drawing for a 50$ Gift Card. If you have KindleUnlimited, you don’t even have to spend any extra money, just grab it for free, read it, and review it. Easiest 50$ gift card you can get, assuming you win. I will reach out to the winner via email and send them their prize.

 

Thanks, and happy Downloading! (The Stuff I’ve written page has a link to the book in question!)

The post Do a Review – Could win you a 50$ Gift Card! appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Good Story – Boring Main Character

I’ve as of late been really struggling with CANITUS. The story itself is solid, and good. The outline of it is workable, and flows. A lot of the supporting characters work in the sotry. But the main character, is just.. a bit dull. He’s missing a spark, something to make him more interesting. While he gets a bit more interesting down the line, there’s still something missing.

As a result I find myself not overly interested in writing his story, He’s sort of a sad sack to use an old phrase.

So it got me thinking, what could I do to make him more alive? More.. believable. I want the readers to have some level of interest in him, so engagement.  This isn’t a new thought, I’ve been thinking about it for a few days now, and this morning had a bit of a breakthrough.

Some background: In the distant mists of time, when I was in middle school, I played a lot of AD&D. (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons for you not in the know.) My favorite character I ever played was a simple Dwarf Fighter (this was 1st edition rules for those who know what I’m talking about.) Which normally isn’t all that interesting. I decided to make him totally paranoid however in one way, he was abosolutley paranoid to the point of obsession about Doppelgangers.  In the game, Dopplegangers were monsters that could assume the shape, form, voice, etc of another “humanoid.” This character was terrified of this, and came up with elaborate methods to test if someone he meets is a Doppleganger or not. Eventually he got enough wealth and influence to get a magical item that let him see if someone was one or not.

But he was a hella lot of fun to play. He was interesting. He had a purpose other than “kill stuff and get treasure.”

Last night, watching an episode of Sherlock and then one of the new House of Cards, it hit me, I could make my main character just generally paranoid. In Sherlock, Holmes finds things out through his powers of observation and his brilliance. In House of Cards, Underwood through his totally lack of morality, and his connections, gets what he wants..

 

So now, I’m going to embark on a rewrite.. the book isn’t done, but I think making the changes to the main character will in fact help me get it done and make him a hell of a lot more interesting to actually write, and of course, to read.

 

 

The post Good Story – Boring Main Character appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Interviewed

So I got interviewed for a small but active book reviewer site. Which was pretty damn cool honestly. Linkage: https://katherinej1012.wordpress.com/...

 

On the writing front: Still using dictation and making good progress. Though the formatting bits leave something to be desired, and I find myself typing dialogue still. So it’s hybridizing a bit. But still progress is progress. I’m still on track to by the end of the month to have the rough draft done of CANITUS. Then need to rewrite, edit, clean up, etc. etc. Then Covers, etc etc. I HOPE to have all that done by the end of February.

I’m also thinking about offering paper copies via Createspace of CANITUS, and if it goes well go back and offer one on Project: Perception. We shall see. I just want to get CANITUS done. I think I’ll work on Forgemaster after that, then the next book in the Perception Series.  Looks to be  busy year!

 

The post Interviewed appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Dictation time

So, to update.

 

1) Still a slacker – been writing, but not enough.

2) Went through a very unmotivated time period to write.

3) Going to try something new.

See one of the reasons I write in spurts is getting the things in my head down on paper, things don’t .. flow.. as well they do when I’m thinking them. At times I’ve been known (when alone) to speak it all out loud. It sounds great.. but when I go to type it I forget parts, or it doesn’t flow as well. So I decided to try voice dictation for the PC to finish CANITUS and the other books rattling around in either partial form, or in my head totally.

I’ve been working on training the dictation software to recognize my way of speaking, and going to do it a few more times before I really dive in. The goal is to really push it starting Monday, the 5th. If it goes well I shouldn’t have to many issues with meeting my goal of finishing three books in 2015. And, once i get used to doing it, it may help with my long standing podcasting idea.

Pod casting still bothers me because I *hate* the sound of my voice recorded. I sound like I’m a kid. I’m 40 damn it, not some 17 year old kid. My voice is missing gravity, that weight of age and knowledge. Annoying.

The post Dictation time appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Damn I’m a slacker

Ok ok.. I haven’t updated this as I said I would.

My excuses:

1) Work stuff. – My day job got really really busy, and I ended up doing a lot of work from home at night to get stuff done. I’m only partially out of the woods now, but seeing the other end.

2) Sickness – The flu hit our family hard, and I mean hard. My daughter got the flu mist (live vaccine) and came down with the flu.. pretty hard. I got it from her, and then my son got it from me. My wife, didn’t get it at all. I can’t write worth a damn when I’m sick. Still not 100% there either, but better.

3) Podcasting – I’m finding myself nervous about podcasting, I don’t know what to say LOL

4) Lack of progress on the book – Even more annoying, I’m pretty far behind on CANITUS. The same issues as above, and because of that I’m out of the writing ‘habit’ now.

 

So, I’m going to have to do the timer thing again.. get the groove back. This time I won’t promise anything, I’ll just say I’ll try my damn best.

 

The post Damn I’m a slacker appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Scratch that, CANITUS

So, yeah.. I’m a slacker on the blog. I need to do better. Far better.

So if anyone does read this (which is doubtful based on the numbers)I swear to at minimum update this twice a week, and I will start a once a week podcast.

I think.

 

Anyways.. the power about the fantasy novel? Forget it. Burn it out of your memory forever and ever. I can’t write fantasy. Which is very strange to me as that’s what I read. That and sci fi. Though I’ve noticed as of late I’m having a hard time getting through most fantasy books. Tastes changing maybe? Who knows.

So Now I’m writing a book called ‘CANITUS’

It’s a thriller/mystery with an IT bent. (IT meaning Information Technology) Which is what I know. At least I think I do. *heh*

Sadly working on the book has been hard. Just when I’m starting to write, that’s when…

1) My kids need me

2) My wife wants to talk.

3) My cell rings about something.

etc etc.

I find the only time I can find most days is at night. And I’m TIRED at night. So its’ been a struggle.

For this book though I story boarded it out, which surprisingly to me has helped some. My first efforts where stream of consciousness books. And looking back I can see where that approach caused the work to suffer. So we will see how this one goes.

On a side note, I’m trying to get Amazon to list the first book for free.. It’s being a pain.

The post Scratch that, CANITUS appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

New Book, New Series, ForgeMaster

I’m working on a new series, this time a fantasy novel. I actually started this story first, but got stuck, and started writing the Perception series instead. But now I’ve come back to it, and moving right along on it. I’d like to share the all important “Blurb”, that short description that is supposed to cause prospective readers to say, “Hey that sounds interesting, I want to read it.”

 

———————————-

One thousand years ago, the ForgeMasters and the Chosen of Amder, the God of the Forge and Creation gave up their lives to stop the mad God of Rage from destroying the world. Now, the country of Taval faces new challenges and dangers. It’s army, once the pinnacle of all the free countries, has fallen into disrepair. The Priesthood of Amder falters under corrupt leadership. And the remains of fallen avatar of the Rage God, are slowly corrupting the land and it’s peoples. Taval needs help, Taval needs hope, Taval needs a ForgeMaster.

But no new ForgeMasters have been chosen since they fell in battle, and only the Priesthood knows how one becomes a ForgeMaster. William Reis, descendant of the last Chosen of Amder just wants to be a guild trained blacksmith. But Amder has something else in mind…

The post New Book, New Series, ForgeMaster appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Writing Books

So I’ve not updated the blog as of late. A few reasons why:

 

1) The Day job has been crazy busy. To many projects, lots of paperwork, lots of running around. Keeping track of what everyone wants and needs is getting headache inducing. Add the fact that they want it *now* with very little warning or headway, and it’s a pain at times.

2) Writing. I finished the second book! Whoot! I’ll be putting a link up to it on the Books page, but I finished it, and it’s up on Amazon!

3) I did the joined book or the two parts! Whoot! It will also be on the books page!

Family vacations have been going on as well.. just busy.

Also, the “combined” book is on Smashwords as well. Trying that as an experiment. I’m even trying the  “set your own price” thing. Which so far has gotten me 8 downloads.. all for free :/

But it’s still readers, right?

But I’ll get back to more regular updates now.

Also, starting rewriting and moving back to a fantasy novel I didn’t finish. I want it done!

The post Writing Books appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Doing something more, always makes it easier

So I’ve been working on making a habit of writing a minimum of 1500 words a day on whatever story I’m working on at the moment. At first I’ll be honest, it was a total pain. I’d get stuck, get lost, write something and think “Hey this sucks, I just wasted my time!” then delete everything I’d just written.

But I’ve noticed in the last week or so, things have gotten somewhat to much easier. Maybe it’s because that with the next story I have other viewpoints to go from. One of the hardest things with the first part of perception, was that while I rather liked the Jameston character, he was pretty much the only character in the book. And writing everything from his standpoint after a while, got a bit.. dull? I’m glad I did it, it did force me to really flesh him out more. Which was awesome, from a getting into writing standpoint.

But from a standpoint of making it interesting TO write, I struggled somewhat. With this story I’m doing now, Part II of the Perception Project, I’ve got other people to write for? through? with? Whatever you want to call it. I’m finding it much easier to carry the story along than I did the first time.

I think in a way this is also helping me with something I’ve long known about myself. A lot of people, struggle with a fear of failure. I’m not one of them. I struggle with a fear of success.

Now, you may wonder what the hell I’m talking about. Fear of success? What’s that? That’s stupid!

Yeah, fear of success. If you’ve read my “about” part of the blog (go read now, I’ll be here waiting..) you’ll know I used to do a lot of theatre work. And cooking work, and even art. I’ve always done creative things to various degrees.

However what you don’t know is that in each of those area’s, I had professionals , real working professionals say “Your good enough to do this for a living, stay on it, keep working on it!” and know that they actually meant it. And, in every case, I almost always QUIT whatever endeavor it was, soon afterward.

Why? I’m not totally sure. Maybe it was the attention. I hate attention. It’s one reason marketing the book(s) has been a mighty struggle for me. I don’t LIKE putting myself out there. I love the work, but hate the attention. Back when I did theater, I ALWAYS wanted and auditioned for supporting roles. This sometimes caused issues, as I was told more than once, that my “stage presence” upstaged the main.

Writing has forced me to work through this fear of success.

a) It’s allowed me to do something creative, privately, but also forced me to put myself out there to market the book(s).

b) In a way it’s a passive way of getting feedback on what I’m doing (ie reviews)

To put that second point in perspective, I have a family reunion come up soon. Most of them have read the first book.. and I know they enjoyed it. (And with these people, they don’t just say they like it if they don’t.) and I’m actually hoping no one says anything to me about the books. I don’t like in person praise.

I’m weird I know!

The post Doing something more, always makes it easier appeared first on Joshua C Cook.

Wanting to write vs. Needing to write

As some may know (if anyone reads this blog) my Mom was/is a retired English Professor. When I decided to start this writing thing, I actually didn’t tell her until I had a story basically done and ready. Only then did I really talk to her about it, and ask her to do a proofread and feedback. During that phase of things on the first book, I had a few conversations with her about writing in general. My mom is a poet more than a fiction writer, a subject and style of writing I could never get into. To many “rules” for me. I jsut like to write out the stories in my head.

But she asked me once about when I write, how do I make time? I told her I just do it when I can, and sometimes I don’t write for a few days, just because I get so busy and tired. She said something that stuck with me, and I’m starting to see myself. “There may be a time Josh, that you may not want to write, but you NEED to write.”

At the time I didn’t think much of the statement, I’m sure I gave some sort of non committal answer and went from there. But recently I’m starting to feel that. I was at home the other night, and I had already written for a while the day before, but hadn’t really done much that day. I was tired, sore, and kinda grumpy. Tired and sore from playing with the kids in the pool and doing yard work (Side: Seriously, what’s the deal with yard work at 40 making me sore? WTH middle age!)

But I was browsing Netflix, and I realized, I wanted to write. I craved it.

I’d never had that experience.

So Mom, you were right!

The post Wanting to write vs. Needing to write appeared first on Joshua C Cook.