When God performs miracles in your life, you have a story to tell.  That’s my case, it’s why I’ve been writing my 1st book.  The book isn’t about the miracles (there were two).  The book was born from my desire to spread His good news, to evangelize.  I’ve witnessed firsthand how God can pull you […]

When I started writing my fictional AI Christian themed action adventure novel it was all fun.  I had a rough idea of how the story would unfold and creative license to develop it without any interference.  For me, creative freedom is uplifting, rewarding, and highly personal.  It’s my personal stamp on my personal POV.  That’s […]

I can’t remember the first day I had to push myself to write.  I know it wasn’t long after I started.  It doesn’t take long for enthusiasm to crash head on into reality.  Sometimes you’re not feeling it but need to plow ahead anyway.  Writing a novel is a long-term commitment.  I’m short term, easily […]

When you ask God for help, He’ll deliver, he works thru others.  One of those deliveries came from my daughter.  Knowing that I’m nearing the end of my writing, she gave me the book, “The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published.”  Just what I needed for my next step!  I jumped in headfirst, gung-ho, […]

I had to sit down, I could feel my heart working too hard and was out of breath.  I wasn’t finishing a marathon, just doing normal yard work.  This didn’t feel right.  I called it a day, let it go.  My wife didn’t let it go; she relayed this news to my nurse practitioner daughter […]

Writing a novel meant I started with a sizable assortment of things I’d have to do myself, figure out, or find help for.  Money wasn’t on my list.  Among my growing list of naïve assumptions, I figured money wasn’t needed, or at least very little.  I think I hear fellow writers laughing.   My thought […]

For the past 4 weeks I’ve been saying I’m 2 weeks away from completing my book.  I’m afraid in 2 weeks I’ll still be saying the same.  It’s not that I’m not writing, I’m writing more than ever, just not on my book.  The promoting stage, in which I’m late to the game, has imposed […]

My social media outreach is working, hooray!  Numbers are climbing but not everyone is happy with me.  One respondent offered to send me his book in exchange for my comments.  I wish I had the time, I’m still only halfway through my How-To book on getting published.  I responded with a question, “how long is […]

It was my swing for the fences.  For a writer, being invited on Oprah is a winning lotto ticket, so why not swing for that.  Realistically I knew that I might have better odds with a lotto ticket, but I also knew that I’d have a zero chance if I didn’t try.  I drafted my […]

I’ve discovered something about writing and the writer’s world, it’s a solitary isolated activity supported by a very social network of fellow writers.  Misery loves company.  OK it’s not all misery, we have many bright spots.  The writing part is generally a bright spot, misery lurks in the editing, promoting, and publishing processes.  The remedy […]

My book cover arrived!  On the assembly line floor this is the glossy painted car body being lowered on the chassis.  Now it looks like a car, in my case, a book.  Giving my book a face just made the dream seem imminent.  I can picture this cover proudly sitting on the new arrival shelf […]

In my sourcing for literary agents, I’ve run into a dilemma, my book has an identity crisis.  Primis is a Christian themed, sci-fi, action adventure set in current times.  That’s the problem, which section in the bookstore does the book belong, Christian, sci-fi, or spy thrillers?  The answer isn’t evident, which I discovered when looking […]

In my Day 12 post I focused on finding the right literary agent.  That may not happen, and it may be just as well.  The advantage of having an agent is the possibility of landing one of the big 5 publishers.  Initially I thought that was the way to go.  I’m learning as I go […]

Of all the things I’m doing for my book promotion I just realized I was forgetting maybe the most important piece, the book trailer.  I need a video, about 90 seconds long, that captures the essence of Primis.  It must convey the AI’s exploration of God followed by a whirlwind of following events:   CREATION […]

My search for a book trailer producer has begun.  The first step was identifying the top 20 film schools and who to contact within those schools.  Each of these individuals will receive an email, offering their students an opportunity to produce a 90-second trailer.  I’m seeking submissions in the form of a competition or direct […]

I’m a week away from finishing my novel!  Ok, I don’t know if that’s true but I’m tired of saying I’m 2 weeks away.  I did finish the climax scene and I’m wrapping up the ending.  My next goal is to finish my 1st edit by end of November.  The promotional sharks have noticed, I’m […]

It’s been 2 years in the making but I finally did it, I finished my book! First let me clarify, I finished writing, now there’s editing. But that’s not stopping me from enjoying this milestone. As an analogy, I have the statue fully formed, now I just need some chiseling on the details. OK, a […]

Who knew a simple 90-second book trailer could be so difficult? Like much of my writing to publishing journey, I’m finding out the hard way that things aren’t as simple as I think they should be. The worst part is, I’m the problem. As the director directing what I want, I’ve complicated this production. I […]

Enthusiasm is contagious. Which is a blessing since I needed a good dose. Yesterday I connected with a student animator from Texas A&M, he’s interested in producing the trailer. We had a long conversation, his enthusiasm was refreshing. He likes the big picture, the theme of Primis and how his animation could connect people to […]