BotM January 13: The Idea Miners

[Scott, Fabled Reviewer o' Tales!]

Congrats to P.W. and apologies for having his book not discussed when it won the first time due to unclear rules. In the fantasy nominations you said you could send copies to anyone who had interest in reading the book. Could you please leave info on how you would like contacted about that here so people can take advantage of your generous offer.

[Jeffrey, Lentarian Fire Thrower]

Nice! Been looking forward to this one!

[Jeffrey, Lentarian Fire Thrower]

Ok, congrats to P.W.! You finally get your book reviewed by the club!

So, my first question... Idea Miners? How'd you come up with that title? What inspired you to write this one?

[P.W.]

I’m very excited to have my book selected as a book of the month selection. Thanks to all!

As to what inspired me to write it: I’ve always been very positive and excited about the world and I wanted to share that with others. I feel there is too much negativity when we should be excited and positive about how far we’ve come and where we are going. We’ve been to the moon and back and overcome many terrible diseases. Sure there are problems in front of us. But like the problems of the past, they too will be overcome. I wanted to share this positive outlook, particularly with the young who are the future, for I think it’s contagious.

And for me, it all centers on ideas! As Ella says in the last line of The Idea Miners: The Lost Lake Dig, “Ideas define us, our past, our present, and most importantly, our future.”

As to how I came up with the title: The title evolved from writing the book. The book is about the discovery and “mining” of ideas, so it just followed.

PW

[P.W.]

If you would like a digital copy of the book, please send an email to parkerwcross@gmail.com requesting a copy and the format (PDF, epub, etc.).
When I get your request, I’ll send you a link to downloading your copy.

Thanks,
PW

[Jeffrey, Lentarian Fire Thrower]

How long did it take you to write it? Was it spur of the moment or had it been a work in progress project for an extended period of time?

[P.W.]

How long did it take me to write "The Idea Miner--The Lost Lake Dig"?

The book’s creation spanned a five-year timeframe. I wrote around a full-time job and family life. The story evolved over time. I carried a small notebook or voice recorder with me most of the time so I could capture ideas while driving or doing other things, I wrote mornings, evenings, and weekends as I was able. After three and a half years, and many revisions, I felt it was time to find an editor. I found one and thought I was nearing the end of the process. Silly me! The editing added another year and a half.

I had contracted the editor for a single pass through the book, but he liked the book so much he went through it three times! Our working relationship was via emails: change this word to…, add a comma here, did you really mean to say…, etc. It was a very “interesting” experience (and very beneficial as well).

After the third pass through the book--and with some final tweaks--I finally deemed the book finished and moved on to production (but that’s another story).

PW