Updates to the Manuscript Section
Upgrades have been made to the manuscript page. I rewrote the manuscript page’s main section, added the Journey to God subpage, and updated the Primo Capite and the Others subpage. These updates should clean up all these pages. It is weird, I want to share information about these manuscripts, but I don’t want to give away anything important. So expect the manuscript section to be a revolving door with different information as I try to nail down the perfect blurb.
On a secondary note, I have sent a treatment of Journey to God to the agent who sent me the personalized rejection letter. It took me awhile to get all the necessary parts in place. Also, it was weird handwriting a letter that required perfect grammar and spelling. In the end, I realized my handwriting is atrocious but my spelling and grammar are solid.
Read MoreJourney to God and Tesla’s Travels
Journey to God has officially moved from a work in progress to a completed manuscript. Soon, I will be writing it’s blurb in the manuscript page of the website. Many lessons were learned from Primo Capite and the Others: grammar, sentence structure, editing, and time management. All of those lessons culminated in completing Journey to God in a semi-polished state with minimal secondary editing, which is now done. Also, I got an editor that has been fantastic and has helped me grow immensely in my own abilities. If you want to see an example, look at the short story section (that section is there to show my journey and growth as a writer).
After I finished Journey to God, I began editing the manuscript. It was a breeze because the writing was stellar in comparison to Primo’s first run. Once I finished editing, a wave of uncertainty sent me spiraling (for about a day). Luckily, I had three book ideas lined up. So I began the heavy process of creating the plot lines, world, and demographic information for Tesla’s Travels. This piece will be the precursor to the short story: The Bohr’s Protocol. Unfortunately, to make sense of the world I will have to change The Bohr’s Protocol to fit the world of Tesla’s Travels. So, the chornological layout of these stories will be: Tesla’s Travels (book), The Bohr’s Protocol (short story), and a second book (no working title yet).
Well, there are two of the three book ideas. The third book is a secret. However, a should be releasing a hint in short order.
Lastly, I will be querying the agent that sent me my first personalized rejection letter. As stated in My Journey to Writing section of the website, this letter is framed and sits next to the computer I work on. I am drafting all of the paperwork to send her Journey to God and hope this piece is more to her liking. For some reason, I feel obligated to give her the first opportunity to see this piece. More than likely, it is because her letter inspired me in a weird way. That single failure showed me that someone was listening. If no one was listening, I wouldn’t have gotten this far.
Read More
Journey to God, my Odometer
Miles keep getting added to the book. Around 5:00 PM today, the word count was: 59,366. Saturday and Friday night were spent getting ready for the first climbing trip of the season (I am exuberant over here), but I was able to get some text on the page during the afternoon. Then came today, I hit my stride by turning off my phone and listen to some Gustav Mahler. Four amazing chapters poured out of me, and I realized that I am close to done. Journey to God only has three to five chapters till the rough draft is complete. As I write this post, I realize I am spent. Thus, I decided to go to bed now (8:02 PM my time) and continue writing in the morning.
There is some good news, the short story hiatus will be lifted soon. Oh, and don’t worry, I have been stock piling all the ideas that I wanted to write over the last couple of months. Based on my pace, expect a short story in two weeks. Journey to God should be completed Tuesday and that means my self imposed ban will be lifted. Man, it feels good to read and write.
Read MoreGetting the Rhythm
For five weeks, I was too busy to work on Journey to God because school work was taking up the majority of my week. Last semester in a class, I touted my ability to sit for hours on end and fall into my work with no realization of time’s progression. Yet, life happens and the effect is my writing declines. I want writing to be my priority, alas, it isn’t always possible with school and work. During these lulls, where I cannot write, I traditionally read heavily and outline other works. Yet, these extended periods of “life” create a problem where I cannot get into my rhythm of writing for hours on end.
I experienced the fear of not being able to sit and write, this week. Sitting was making me itchy and I was unmotivated because of fear. I wanted to write, I had the ideas, but they weren’t coming out like the used too. In two days I wrote a combined total of ~4000 words. This was good, but it wasn’t my pace for writing in a day.
Now, I am finishing up a day of writing, and gearing up for bed, but I wanted to share. I got my rhythm back, and was able to crank out ~8000 words today. With my old pace back, I should actually finish Journey to God by next week. Just in time for me to go on a climbing trip. I will have a pen and a journal with me. I am hoping to come back with a new short story. The forest has been kind to me, and many pieces have been birthed from a wooded campsite.
Journey to God is currently: ~48,000 words.
Read MoreA Break Between Chapters and A Call to Arms
It has been a long time since my last update. I have been trying to finish Journey to God but it has a mind of its own. Unfortunately, that means that I am not working on short stories. Even though I am not working on them, I have three that are outlined and have their introductions written. There was a small break where I focused on only reading (holidays). Right now, I am on Moby Dick and will be moving to Winnie the Pooh. However, I am writing again and pouring more of my time into Journey to God. Tentative completion of the rough draft is the end of February dependent on work and classes.
Before I jump back into my work, I wanted to bring up a good cause from an old and very important friend of mine. Courtney works for Teach America (in the Chicago public school system) and one of her students experienced the horrors of a home fire. For those who have never experienced this disaster: imagine taking all of your belongings and throwing out 80+% of them, including heirlooms and mementos. Nonetheless, if you are interested in her student’s story I implore you to visit the following link and donate: Click Me! Everything helps, instead of buying that nice frosty IPA buy the cheap PBR and donate the difference.
Read MoreStatus of Writing
The short story hiatus is in full swing and Journey to God is moving along at a calm pace. Realistically, Journey to God will be completed by the end of November. Based on the content, it should end at roughly 50,000-70,000 words, and is currently ~13,000 words.
Since there will be a new manuscript soon, I am not sending any new query letters to agents until Journey to God is written and edited. This way, I can send two manuscripts instead of one. I feel that my writing fluctuates between multiple genres, and it is important to give the agent I query an opportunity to see my other work when they make a decision. Thus, the holding off on query letters.
Another Day is in secondary edits and should be released sometime this month. However, it is not a primary priority and has a few corrections in regard to content. Thanks for understanding the pause in releases, and I hope to have something for all of you to read shortly.
Read More