P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 294

Fantasy Authors Unplugged Featuring Daniel Adorno & Thy Kingdom Come

This is continuing feature on Archer’s Aim – Fantasy Authors Unplugged. I hope to frequently share an interview with a fantasy author. If you have authors to suggest and/or questions you’d like to see answered then leave a comment or send me an email. If you are a fantasy author and would like an interview please let me know and we’ll plan one that fits your schedule. Today, I welcome back Daniel Adorno who’s sharing his newest title due out on 8/5. Take it away, Daniel!

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Q. Your latest book is a departure from your previous work with fantasy. How did you come to write a post-apocalyptic science fiction?

A. Originally, I planned to write a scifi novella in three months, but then it snowballed into something greater. I wanted to tackle three personal writing challenges: a new genre, a shorter work of fiction, and the first person perspective. Two out of the three worked out in my favor (the book became longer than a novella!) So in a sense the departure from fantasy was a creative experiment, but I’ve also been intrigued by the post-apocalyptic genre and thought it would be a good setting for a story.

Q. What are your thoughts as to the current popularity of this genre?

A. I think the genre is largely popular right now because of The Walking Dead TV show. I’ve never watched that show, but the themes of survival and humanity joining together for a common cause are compelling. Post-apocalyptic fiction is also popular because of the uncertainty of our own times. Widespread violence on a global scale, political corruption, economic fears, religious persecutions, cyber threats, and a whole host of other issues are reported on the news daily which feeds into the fear that our world is getting worse and the end times are just around the corner.

Q. What’s the plot of Thy Kingdom Come?

A. Many years into the future, a nanovirus outbreak occurs that affects the majority of the world’s population. The virus called Navitas alters human DNA and essentially turns them into machines with an insatiable hunger for electricity. Since the Mindless congregate where electricity is present, the surviving population has entered a new dark age to avoid infection. One of the survivors of the outbreak is Dex, a teenager who lost his family to the epidemic and now finds refuge in the basement of his neighbor’s house. In his spare time, Dex talks over the radio secretly with his best friend, Cassidy, who lives miles away. When the infected Mindless invade his new home, Dex realizes he doesn’t merely want to survive. He wants to uncover the cause of Navitas and how to stop it. A surviving member of his family, Uncle Richard, has the answers. But Richard lives in Minneapolis, which is ground zero for Navitas and the Mindless. Despite the dangers posed by infection and looting gangs squabbling for resources, Dex embarks on his quest not only to find Richard, but also save his best friend Cassidy.

Q. Have you changed your writing process since your first book? If so, how?

A. I have altered my process dramatically for this book since my last one. I used to just write with no plan or outline in place then go about editing multiple drafts. With this book, I made a concise outline of the major plot points I wanted to cover. After the writing was finished, I did a major content edit of all the beats of the story to make sure I hit all the high notes and kept the story fast-paced and engaging.

Q. What’s been the response for this latest book?

A. So far, the handful of advance reviews I’ve received have been overwhelmingly positive. People enjoy the action-packed storyline and the plot. It’s very encouraging and I can’t wait for the release!

Q. Is there anything that helped you write this book – a trip, music, etc?

A. There’s a song by one of my favorite bands, for King and Country, that constantly helped me focus as I wrote the book—it’s called Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. If this book had a soundtrack, that song would be on it!

Q. Are you thinking about writing a sequel or other science fiction? Anything dystopian in your plans?

A. There will be a sequel to Thy Kingdom Come, but it may be a while since I’ll be transitioning back to fantasy so I can finish my initial trilogy in that genre. No plans for anything dystopian, but never say never!

Q. What have you done differently in releasing this book versus your first one?

A. For this release, I’ve really reached out to subscribers of my email list to help me promote the book and I’ve contacted several authors to review and cover the book on their blogs. I’ve listened to multiple influencers like Jeff Goins, Michael Hyatt, and Chandler Bolt talk on their experiences in releasing best-selling books. In my first year of self-publishing, I’ve gained a wealth of knowledge about book launches and I’m trying to implement several key strategies to get this book in front as many readers as possible. We’ll see if it works!

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Bio:

Hi, my name is Daniel and I’m a fantasy/scifi author. Thanks for visiting my website and blog. Here’s a little background on me: I began writing back in 4th grade when my teacher assigned everyone to write a short book with construction paper and crayons. Little did I know then that my award-worthy book on race cars would be the start of my writing career. This year, I accomplished what I thought would be an impossible feat: publishing my first novel. You can learn more about it here.

I’m a Christian and a history buff, so my stories weave themes of faith and historical elements with fantastical plots and characters. My blog runs the gamut on topics, but typically you’ll find me covering these subjects:

Self-publishing advice and resources
Methods for being an effective writer/blogger
Updates on my current projects.

My primary goal is to write stories that enlighten, inspire, and entertain readers who love the imaginative settings of fantasy and science fiction. However, I also feel a responsibility to help aspiring authors and writers, so I do my best to share what’s worked in my writing career through the blog. Some methods I’ve adopted may work for you as a writer, but some might not. The cool thing is we’re in it together as writers. So please, read the blog, sample one of my stories, or contact me for anything you might need. If you like what you read, then subscribe to my newsletter to receive blog posts and first access to new stories straight to your inbox. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to knowing more about you.

Titles:

You can find Thy Kingdom Come on pre-order at Amazon.

His first novel, The Blade Heir is available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Createspace & Googleplay.

Thanks to Daniel for the interview today and kudos for taking on a few new challenges with your latest title, Thy Kingdom Come. As always I encourage everyone to check out this indie author’s work and support his efforts. If you’re a fantasy author and would like to be interviewed for “Fantasy Authors Unplugged” just contact me via email or one of my social media channels and we’ll set one up.

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. I’ve updated the site with a new landing page starting today but you can still　view the News page for announcements. As part of the changes, new email subscribers will receive my free new guide, Recommended Reading for Authors. Sign-up today! I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. Also, the cover of my book, The Bow of Destiny, was revealed recently so take a look.

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Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

 

Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Daniel Adorno, Editing, Fantasy Authors Unplugged, Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, Marketing, Pinterest, Pre-order, Science Fiction, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Blade Heir, The Bow of Destiny, Thy Kingdom Come, Tips, Twitter, Wattpad, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Blog Tour, blogging, Coverart, creativity, Daniel Adorno, Editing, Facebook, Fantasy Authors Unplugged, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Launch, Marketing, nanovirus, Pinterest, Post-Apocalypse, Science Fiction, SciFi, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Blade Heir, The Walking Dead, Thy Kingdom Come, Twitter, writing

Indie Author P.H. Solomon Guests On Beyond The Cover

PHS:

Thanks Beem! Set the date in your calendar everyone and share it from the Thunderclap: http://thndr.it/1Jumtc6 Reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Beem's Blog:

Have you heard the big news? Indie author P.H. Solomon has agreed to be my special guest on Beyond The Cover airing live at 12 noon CST on Saturday, August 8th. P.H. will drop by for a thirty minute chat about his books, his writing process, personal experiences as a published author, and whatever else crosses his mind.

Those who wish to participate in the program may do so by posting questions and comments for my guest via Twitter, using #RRBCBeyondTheCover. Whether you’re a Rave Reviews Book Club member or simply a fan of talented indie authors, you are invited to tune in for what will certainly be a fun time.

Haunted by his past. Hunted in the present. Uncertain what is real.
Athson has seen things that aren’t there and suffered fits since being tragically orphaned as a child at the hands of trolls and Kregen…

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Guest Post by Jill Bennett: The Five Commandments of Marketing a Book

PHS:

Excellent book marketing guidelines – reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

Jill Bennett is a marketing specialist for LitFire Publishing, a company based in Atlanta, Georgia. For the past six years, she’s been working with several self-publishing authors in terms of book marketing, publicity and distribution.

She contacted me with this idea for a guest post, which I think you’ll enjoy!

The Five Commandments of Marketing a Book

Found on laura-marshall.com

Marketing is something that should be done prior and subsequent to publishing. This article will show you how to market a book effectively in the form of these five commandments.

Thou shall know thy readers

To be able to know how to market a book, one must know who the readers will be. Different types of readers read different types of books, which is why authors should not assume that everybody would want to read their book. An author must focus on who will want to buy and read…

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Career: How Changing Your Thinking Will Change Your Life

PHS:

These are great guidelines for a writing career! Reblogging on Archer’s Aim.

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

You may remember Jill Bennett from her guest post, The Five Commandments of Marketing a Book. Jill is a marketing specialist for LitFire Publishing, a company based in Atlanta, Georgia. For the past six years, she’s been working with several self-publishing authors in terms of book marketing, publicity and distribution.

She has now kindly sent me a second guest post, with some great career tips.

How Changing Your Thinking Will Change Your Life

Let me tell you why your career should be built from passion, hard work and perseverance. If you do your job half-heartedly, chances are your output will be half-baked as well. In the self-publishing industry, authors won’t get to publish a great book or improve their sales if they are not passionate about what they do and if they don’t work well for it. People publish and sell millions of books a year. If a…

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Tame Your Muse With Appropriate Music

Sometimes creative activity of any kind and feel like this picture. You’ve got to coax it from hiding and keep it dancing without totally losing control of it. For these guys it’s easy and it can be for you as well whether it be writing, painting or anything else creative.

A few weeks ago, author Jason Link was featured here on Archer’s Aim in Fantasy Authors Unplugged. It was a good interview in which Jason shared an interesting tidbit that’s stuck with me – what music and composers would best fit what he writes.

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I’ve often used instrumental music while I write and find it helpful. However, Jason’s music choice was rather intriguing. Here’s the excerpt from the interview:

Q. What song might fit your book well?

A. There’s a playlist on Youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guXMb7zLblM ) that is full of epic instrumental music created by talented (and I believe relatively unknown) composers. If my book were made into a movie, I think many of the composers on this list would score it beautifully.

I went out on YouTube and listened to the music and also found what was on this link and several others rather interesting both musically and visually. I decided to use these while writing to supplement my usual instrumental & classical choices.

The result was rather surprising. I found that these “epic instrumentals” affected my productivity profoundly. It gave me the mental focus for the type of fantasy I write so that I wrote more consistently and churned out a story rather quickly – Trading Knives. Not only that, but I’ve had to edit it very little and gotten some very positive feedback – though it honestly does need some final work before I release it to retailers for free. Everyone’s welcome to take a look.

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Since then, I’ve continued to be rather productive while working on An Arrow Against the Wind as I’ve finished the rough draft and begun my first structural edit that requires a solid amount of writing. It’s been great for my creativity and my productivity (after all, being productive in one way leaves you more positive in other areas too). This music is now my go-to for submerging into my fiction writing. I think it’s quite important for other writer’s who often bolster their muse this way while writing to find music that fits their genre and run – er, write – with it.

Do you use music while writing? What do you find best inspires you while writing? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits? Join the Insider Team to share upcoming links.　Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, for free as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

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Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

Filed under: An Arrow Against the Wind, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Creativity, Editing, Fantasy, Fantasy Authors Unplugged, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Jason LInk, Kobo, Mailing List, Pinterest, Planning, Rave Review Book Club, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, The Legender, Tips, Trading Knives, Twitter, Uncategorized, Wattpad, Writing Tagged: blogging, creativity, Editing, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Authors Unplugged, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Jason Link, Muse, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Legender, Tips, Trading Knives, Twitter, Wattpad, writing

Using Scrivener Collections For Editing

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page.

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In last week’s Scrivener post, I introduced the use of Collections as a multi-function tool. This week, I’d like to address the usage of this tool by focusing on my ongoing structural edit of my second novel, An Arrow Against the Wind.

First, let me define structural edit. This is the kind of editing where you might re-organize your draft so that flows better. It’s also the type of editing whereby you discover all the holes and inconsistencies within the draft and try to fill them. Another way of addressing the structure is to bring consistency to style as well as characterization, plot and other basic elements of the book.

Next let me describe the situation with my rough draft and how I’m approaching it. While writing An Arrow Against the Wind, I realized I had numerous holes to fill. This was due in large part to removing a sub-plot from the series to publish later as a parallel series. This left a need for more words for An Arrow Against the Wind. I’ve already made decisions about what needs to be added where.

My approach at this point, is to handle all the big structural issues of content. This means writing more in a number of places while I’ll handle style inconsistencies after the additions are completed. So at this point, I want to make a collection that includes all the planned additions and keeps something of a schedule at the same time – the latter so that I stay on-time for the first hand-over of the manuscript to the editor in a few months.

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For this Collection, all I need to do is choose all the empty documents that need content added and include them. So I highlighted the first chapter that needs more content and created the Collection using the instructions I mentioned from last week. I named it “Structural Edit – Additional Content”. From there I began to add all the empty documents that need work by clicking on the Binder tab in the Collection and right clicking on each targeted document and adding it from the context menu as pictured.

Adding to the collection

When finished, my collection looks like this:

So now I have what I need to begin to set a schedule to complete each necessary document. I can assign a label and a status to each of these from the context menu – which is adding Scrivener meta-data. I chose to edit the standard status and label meta-data to fit my work. To do this go to either Label or Status to get a fly-out menu of available choices after right-clicking on a document. Choose edit and make your changes.

First I edited the Labels to add deadline dates for each of the documents and assigned them successively to each one. Then I created a custom status for each category I need: “In Process”, “Overdue”, “Completed” and “Not Started”. I then set all the documents to the last one. Now I have my deadlines and can assign a status to each document as I progress, finally removing them from the collection once completed.

Adding Labels

Adding Status Schedule

So now my Collection is complete. I can choose to view only the Binder by toggling off the Collection (Ctrl+Shift+9) or clicking View, slide to Collections for the menu and click Collection. To toggle the Binder on go to the same menu and click Binder. To go back into my collection, I can use the same menu and click on the named Collection where it appears in the list below Binder – in this case I only have one Collection (though I’ll have several over the next several weeks).

And that’s how I’m using Collections in Scrivener to begin editing An Arrow Against the Wind. Next week I’ll add another collection for my structural edit encompassing stylistic changes. After that, I’ll proceed onto other uses for Collections in my editing.

Have you tried using Collections yet in Scrivener? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my Contact page for that information. Want to be listed in The Bow of Destiny credits?　Join the Insider Team to share upcoming links.　Either way, you’ll be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. You’ll also receive a coupon to download my e-book short story, The Black Bag, for free as well as July’s free e-book: Recommended Reading for Authors!

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Just as a note: I am not affiliated with Scrivener in any official capacity. For support questions, pricing and other concerns please contact the vendor. However, I am working on becoming an affiliate for Scrivener ads since I like the product so much. I’m not required to write about Scrivener to be an affiliate; I just like it that much. For more about my FTC statement see my sidebar.

Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information – including email addresses – with third parties nor do I store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies (which is a WordPress.com function and not mine).

You can turn off the use of cookies at any time by changing your specific browser settings.

I am not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission.

This privacy policy is subject to change without notice and was last updated on July 2nd, 2015. If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: ph at phsolomon.com (replace the “at” with @, it’s written that way to avoid spammers).

Filed under: An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Creativity, Editing, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Pinterest, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Social Media, Tech Tips, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, Wattpad, Writing Tagged: An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Collections, creativity, Editing, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Short Stories, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Tips, Twitter, writing

Har! How to Deal with Book Piracy

PHS:

This is a great analysis by Nicholas Rossis about piracy – reblogging on Archer’s Aim.

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

image: ghostradio.wordpress.com

I saw the other day a post about book piracy in Anastacia Moore’s blog. She was rightly fuming, because, while checking out her video trailers, she noticed that someone was advertising on You Tube a link to receive free copies of said books.

A few days before that, my friend N.N. Light had kindly emailed me to let me know that she had found her book, “Princess of the Light” on a similar website, and that she had seen my work there as well.

Then came the news that Australia’s Copyright Agency has welcomed a decision by the British High Court requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to websites hosting millions of pirated e-book titles. The decision means Britain’s five major ISPs – BT, Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk and EE – will be asked to block seven offshore-hosted websites within 10 working days.

The sites – AvaxHome…

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Guest Post: RRBC “Spotlight Author” SARA HATHAWAY on Day After Disaster

PHS:

Excellent thoughts from the author. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim – would love to have Sara do a guest post on my site soon about writing survival for fictional characters!

Originally posted on Cassidy Salem Reads & Writes:

Today I am honored to have Sara Hathaway, author of The Day After Disasterand fellow RRBC member, as a guest on my blog. Sara is here to tell us a bit about the philosphy behind her book.

Day After Disaster Philosophy

One day, as a teenager, I was hanging out at the Middle Fork of the American River. I asked my girlfriends that I was with, what would happen if we lost all power tomorrow? I was absolutely horrified when they replied, “we wouldn’t have our curling irons or blow dryers.”

I have never been your typical “girl”. I just wasn’t raised that way. My mother was the middle child in a group of five girls and quickly became my grandfather’s masculine counterpart. She helped him with all the chores a boy would have and eventually became a very skilled upholsterer, working with her hands. She was as big…

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SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY – #RRBC STYLE! “Responding To Comments On Your Blog Posts” A Blog Lesson

PHS:

Replies are indeed most important – thanks for Nonnie for reminding us all – reblogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Rave Reviews by Nonnie Jules:

We’ve been talking a lot lately about “engaging” when you visit blog sites and how important it is to leave comments.  But, today we’re going to dibble just a bit on host responses to comments left on blog posts, or the lack thereof.

How many times have we seen a party of comments being left on someone’s blog post, yet the hosts themselves, never take the time to respond to any?  Could that be one of the (small) reasons why people are hesitant to leave comments?  Maybe they feel as if it’s a waste of their time.  I must admit, that I, too, am guilty of not responding to comments left on my sites (sometimes, not always), but seriously folks, my life has changed drastically since the inception of Rave Reviews Book Club.  It takes TONS OF WORK to maintain this club to its present standards, and yes, the…

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Help, when you least expect it (but really need it)

PHS:

Reblogging on Archer’s Aim – help is best when you least expect it!

Originally posted on stuarthotchkiss:

There comes a time in everyone’s life when the least likely of friends, or even acquaintances, steps up to lend a helping hand. It’s so unpredictable sometimes that it’s simply and prophetically precious.

Such is my experience with an old friend, Glenn Mason. We first met in 1987, when Glenn helped with my corporate relocation from Alexandria, Virginia to London, England. He was an accountant then, and several years later, he left the company to become a public school teacher in New York City. We stayed in touch, mostly through mutual friends, but months and years often went by without any contact between us.

We were then and still are different men. Glenn has a phlegmatic personality; he is a northerner and a man of color, not a southern WASP like me; he doesn’t smoke or drink; he goes to bed way too early and only after eating a pint of…

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