My journey as an author...
Nine months ago, I decided that my career as a software engineer was lacking something. Rare were the days I would wake up and say, "Oh joy, I get to write more code today."
Unsure what to do about it, I applied the age-old advice of, "Find something you enjoy doing and then figure a way to make money doing it." I had always enjoyed storytelling and creative writing, but had put off the idea of trying to write anything too ambitious. I felt I had stories inside of me that I wanted to tell, but the task of getting them out stood as a giant barrier, intimidating me into not taking action.
But as I thought about the next thirty years of my life spent in front of a computer screen, I realized I could be either writing code for applications that would have a shelf life of five years or crafting a story for people to enjoy forever.
So, I decided to write a novel.
Following another saying, "Write what you know," I focused on writing a type of book that I enjoy reading. I wanted to tell a good story, something that when the book ends, the readers say, "Damn...it's over." I have always enjoyed books that are a part of a series, so even if a portion of the saga concludes, I know that I can pick it up again when next one is published. The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini, Raymond E. Feist's journeys through his world of Midkemia, and Stephen King's The Dark Tower all drew me in, keeping me entertained for years, even decades. That sort epic tale is what I felt passionate about writing. Ambitious? Umm... just a little.
Please understand that I am not comparing myself to those men. They are all great authors and I am just me. Rather, I am saying that their work is what inspired me to try my own hand at delving into the writing process. To them, I say thank you.
My desire to do something different with my life coupled with positive feedback I received on a series of short stories I wrote for a group to which I belong was the impetus for me sitting down and starting the writing process. I picked up a few books on tips for writing, found some things that worked for me and discarded those that did not. In the end, I discovered what worked best was to just let my imagination run free.
I envisioned where my first story would live. I thought of the history and cultures spread throughout the world and built out the framework the story would hang on. I outlined a rough plot, identifying the main storyline and envisioned the main characters. I had a beginning and an end, but the middle was fuzzy. At that point, I finally started to write.
Ever hear the phrase, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray?" Or for sports fans, "A gameplan is only good until the first snap?" I will attest to their accuracy.
As I wrote, I was often surprised by where the story took me. More often than not, I was not telling the story, rather it told itself. I was just the guy hitting letters on a keyboard. Two individuals I had never counted on being more than being a minor character grew into integral parts of the tale. One of them quickly became my favorite character to write. This organic growth of the story required revisions upon revisions to make things line up appropriately, but I found myself enjoying every minute of it. I cannot say I ever experienced that while writing a single line of code.
After writing the story, having a former free-lance writer edit it (mostly for basic grammar), I reviewed the manuscript, tweaking it. Then I reviewed it again, tweaking it some more. And again. Each time, I told myself, 'Just one more time.' I will fess up; I am still doing it. However, one of the bits of advice I did follow was to eventually send the book at some point, otherwise you will edit the thing forever.
I researched the heck out of what to do next. I bought all the books about how to contact and query agents and publishers: what goes in a query letter (the one page of "Hi, I'd like to introduce me and my book"), how to write a synopsis (the two page "Here's a 300,000 word novel jammed into two pages"), and the dos and don'ts of submissions. I came up with a first list of agents to submit to as most publishers do not want un-agented submissions, looked up their submission guidelines, and put together a personalized package of what they wanted. With a lump in my throat, I sent them. I was more nervous hitting the 'Send' button than I had been in years about anything.
Then I sat...waiting...hoping that someone somewhere will take a few minutes to read the letter, maybe the synopsis, and if I am really lucky, a chapter of two if they even asked for some to be sent. I understand agents are bombarded constantly with queries, but from a new writer's point of view, it seems a daunting task to get in the front door.
While I waited, I did something else. I reached out to a blog where I knew some authors lurked and lived. And I asked for help and advice.
I knew that I could sit and wait forever for some literary agent’s intern to send me a polite ‘I thought about taking three minutes read your query, but then I thought I maybe I would go get a latte instead. Your book is not for us’ response. That was disheartening.
Diane Kistner, Production Manager and Associate Editor at FutureCycle Press, read my diary and heard my plea. She wrote a long reply delving into the options I had before me, suggesting that I consider taking things into my own hands. After getting in contact with her, she patiently answered my many, many, many questions about print-on-demand, self-publishing, and what it takes to found a small publishing company.
Replying to her post was her sister, Donna. She had been involved in the self-publishing of a rather successful novel (and one of my own favorites) a few years ago. The book did very well in its self-published version, was picked up by a major publisher, and went on to become an international bestseller.
I took a chance and asked if Donna would mind looking at my novel and give me some feedback. I had wanted to know ‘Do I have what it takes?’ for months during the writing process. And here I was, presented with an opportunity to get the opinion of someone who had been involved with one of my favorite novels. Lucky, right? Try incredibly lucky. Of course, for a few days while I waited for her to read the sample chapters, I was terrified that I was going to get back a response that might be summed up as ‘meh.’ Thankfully, that did not happen.
Donna trudged and weaved her way through the manuscript, waving her magic copyeditor’s wand, fixing all of my mistakes, getting it in prime shape. Once done, she laid out the interior and kerned up a storm, kicking around every widow and orphan she could find (for non-writers, that is not as bad as it sounds). To top it off, she walked me through cover design, ultimately delivering what I have to admit is a sharp looking book.
In November, my proofs arrived in the mail. (Yeah!)
I cracked open the box, pulled out my book. (Wow... look at this!)
I opened it to page one and started to read. (Hey, this is pretty good...I wrote this?))
I got halfway down the page. (Wait... doh!)
On page 1 – page one! – I found a silly contextual error. Thank goodness for proofs. With encouragement from Donna O, I read all 655 pages in a two-and-half day period and she worked with me to eliminate all of remaining errors (we hope). Now, I have a book I am damn proud of.
On December 1, 2010, Progeny was released. Now it's yours to enjoy.
Unsure what to do about it, I applied the age-old advice of, "Find something you enjoy doing and then figure a way to make money doing it." I had always enjoyed storytelling and creative writing, but had put off the idea of trying to write anything too ambitious. I felt I had stories inside of me that I wanted to tell, but the task of getting them out stood as a giant barrier, intimidating me into not taking action.
But as I thought about the next thirty years of my life spent in front of a computer screen, I realized I could be either writing code for applications that would have a shelf life of five years or crafting a story for people to enjoy forever.
So, I decided to write a novel.
Following another saying, "Write what you know," I focused on writing a type of book that I enjoy reading. I wanted to tell a good story, something that when the book ends, the readers say, "Damn...it's over." I have always enjoyed books that are a part of a series, so even if a portion of the saga concludes, I know that I can pick it up again when next one is published. The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini, Raymond E. Feist's journeys through his world of Midkemia, and Stephen King's The Dark Tower all drew me in, keeping me entertained for years, even decades. That sort epic tale is what I felt passionate about writing. Ambitious? Umm... just a little.
Please understand that I am not comparing myself to those men. They are all great authors and I am just me. Rather, I am saying that their work is what inspired me to try my own hand at delving into the writing process. To them, I say thank you.
My desire to do something different with my life coupled with positive feedback I received on a series of short stories I wrote for a group to which I belong was the impetus for me sitting down and starting the writing process. I picked up a few books on tips for writing, found some things that worked for me and discarded those that did not. In the end, I discovered what worked best was to just let my imagination run free.
I envisioned where my first story would live. I thought of the history and cultures spread throughout the world and built out the framework the story would hang on. I outlined a rough plot, identifying the main storyline and envisioned the main characters. I had a beginning and an end, but the middle was fuzzy. At that point, I finally started to write.
Ever hear the phrase, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray?" Or for sports fans, "A gameplan is only good until the first snap?" I will attest to their accuracy.
As I wrote, I was often surprised by where the story took me. More often than not, I was not telling the story, rather it told itself. I was just the guy hitting letters on a keyboard. Two individuals I had never counted on being more than being a minor character grew into integral parts of the tale. One of them quickly became my favorite character to write. This organic growth of the story required revisions upon revisions to make things line up appropriately, but I found myself enjoying every minute of it. I cannot say I ever experienced that while writing a single line of code.
After writing the story, having a former free-lance writer edit it (mostly for basic grammar), I reviewed the manuscript, tweaking it. Then I reviewed it again, tweaking it some more. And again. Each time, I told myself, 'Just one more time.' I will fess up; I am still doing it. However, one of the bits of advice I did follow was to eventually send the book at some point, otherwise you will edit the thing forever.
I researched the heck out of what to do next. I bought all the books about how to contact and query agents and publishers: what goes in a query letter (the one page of "Hi, I'd like to introduce me and my book"), how to write a synopsis (the two page "Here's a 300,000 word novel jammed into two pages"), and the dos and don'ts of submissions. I came up with a first list of agents to submit to as most publishers do not want un-agented submissions, looked up their submission guidelines, and put together a personalized package of what they wanted. With a lump in my throat, I sent them. I was more nervous hitting the 'Send' button than I had been in years about anything.
Then I sat...waiting...hoping that someone somewhere will take a few minutes to read the letter, maybe the synopsis, and if I am really lucky, a chapter of two if they even asked for some to be sent. I understand agents are bombarded constantly with queries, but from a new writer's point of view, it seems a daunting task to get in the front door.
While I waited, I did something else. I reached out to a blog where I knew some authors lurked and lived. And I asked for help and advice.
I knew that I could sit and wait forever for some literary agent’s intern to send me a polite ‘I thought about taking three minutes read your query, but then I thought I maybe I would go get a latte instead. Your book is not for us’ response. That was disheartening.
Diane Kistner, Production Manager and Associate Editor at FutureCycle Press, read my diary and heard my plea. She wrote a long reply delving into the options I had before me, suggesting that I consider taking things into my own hands. After getting in contact with her, she patiently answered my many, many, many questions about print-on-demand, self-publishing, and what it takes to found a small publishing company.
Replying to her post was her sister, Donna. She had been involved in the self-publishing of a rather successful novel (and one of my own favorites) a few years ago. The book did very well in its self-published version, was picked up by a major publisher, and went on to become an international bestseller.
I took a chance and asked if Donna would mind looking at my novel and give me some feedback. I had wanted to know ‘Do I have what it takes?’ for months during the writing process. And here I was, presented with an opportunity to get the opinion of someone who had been involved with one of my favorite novels. Lucky, right? Try incredibly lucky. Of course, for a few days while I waited for her to read the sample chapters, I was terrified that I was going to get back a response that might be summed up as ‘meh.’ Thankfully, that did not happen.
Donna trudged and weaved her way through the manuscript, waving her magic copyeditor’s wand, fixing all of my mistakes, getting it in prime shape. Once done, she laid out the interior and kerned up a storm, kicking around every widow and orphan she could find (for non-writers, that is not as bad as it sounds). To top it off, she walked me through cover design, ultimately delivering what I have to admit is a sharp looking book.
In November, my proofs arrived in the mail. (Yeah!)
I cracked open the box, pulled out my book. (Wow... look at this!)
I opened it to page one and started to read. (Hey, this is pretty good...I wrote this?))
I got halfway down the page. (Wait... doh!)
On page 1 – page one! – I found a silly contextual error. Thank goodness for proofs. With encouragement from Donna O, I read all 655 pages in a two-and-half day period and she worked with me to eliminate all of remaining errors (we hope). Now, I have a book I am damn proud of.
On December 1, 2010, Progeny was released. Now it's yours to enjoy.
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