Creating a Novel: From Initial Draft to DeLuxe Hardback

Spring Wild Flowers in North Alabama Character Art for Beyond Oakenwald

Creating a Novel: From Initial Draft to DeLuxe Hardback

Are you intrigued by the process of writing a novel? I wasa late started, although now I have published 28 novels or novellas as well asseveral short stories.

I published my first novel, The Lady is Blue,in 2014. However, I wrote the initial draft some decades earlier. This sci-firomance / alien invasion story has more than 100,000 words. I wrote the first draftsby hand on sheets of paper that I arranged in a binder. This handwrittenversion went through several rounds of hand-scrawled revisions. The picture showsthe first lines of the story with revisions and notes in pencil.

The next picture shows my character sheet with the names,physical appearance and personality of the major characters in the story. Thestory is set on a remote planet with a favorable climate and a small colony ofhumans. The scaled alien Atrapako come from another planet with a toxicatmosphere where an earlier civilization was destroyed by a major catastrophe.

Over the years, I typed the novel into digital files indifferent formats. Anyone remember floppy disks? By 2014 I had a complete,edited version, which I decided to publish on Amazon kdp. The ebook and paperbackcame out in late April. A few years later, I published the ebook at otherretailers including Barnes&Noble, Apple, Kobo, and GooglePlay. Now I alsohave a webstore.

Also in 2014, I was inspired to write a sequel set on the aliens’home planet. Since I was familiar with the characters, I wrote the sequel, Dragons of Vkani,in a couple of months and published it in July 2014. This story explains theorigin of the Atrapako and gives hints about the cause of the catastrophe thatleft a harsh climate and barren terrain.

Five years later, at the request of readers, I wrote anotherbook in this series, Trapped on Vkani,which stars a different romantic couple struggling to survive on the alienplanet. This plot has a surprise twist on alien abduction.

In 2024, a decade after the first publication, I made aspecial anniversary duology with interior art for the two novels, The Lady isBlue and its sequel, Dragons of Vkani. The print editions have holographic foilcovers, endpapers, ribbon bookmarks, and decorated edges. You can see the deluxehardback at - https://youtu.be/qvC2Y9pq6vk

The two maincharacters, Dr. Lucy Stannis and Sa Kamizan Veedak, are shown below in an illustration prepared for the anniversary duology.

The series, Atrapako on Eden,has three novels and favorable reviews. Have you read them? Would you like meto write another story set in this world?