Audible · blogging · Emergence Ascended · Horror · NaNoWriMo · narrators · Podcasting

Im not stalling really.

Yellow Man

I have been reviewing what I wrote during NaNoWriMo, the novel Yellow Man. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it since I wrote it so fast it felt like it would be a trainwreck. Overall, I am happy with the story. There is a lot to edit, no lie, and I missed a few crucial relationship interactions that I wanted to get in (I started a storyline between two characters but forgot about it halfway through). Since I barely met the word count goal, it’s technically not an entire novel, so I am glad that I forgot the extra content, and now I can take my time and add it in. I am also on the fence about the very, very end; I exposed maybe too much. I like to assume the reader is intelligent, so I try not to make some things obvious or point things out. so I might change it. If anyone wants to beta-read it and give me an opinion, That would be great! I am reluctantly starting the editing process (not my favorite part of writing) and I might share excerpts from it.

On the Audible update: I will resume recording Emergence Collective on Sunday and share it on Spotify. The studio is ready to go so I am going to start from the beginning, chapter one, since the sound quality has much improved since the first recordings. Would you prefer pure book content, or would you like commentary before or after the episode? I might keep it pure. I dunno.

How is the new release of the book going? Slower than the first. I don’t really know how to grow an audience, this is my broad stroke attempt (the blog), other than that I think I have only one copy sold to a stranger the rest of the six copies sold are the three I gifted and my close family. My severe introversion seems to be a roadblock. I guess when I die I will start selling books, I cant wait! just kidding, but maybe if I do get famous, after I die, you can say that you were here when it started!

Thanks for stopping by Give it a like and comment! I

amazon · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · Podcasting · readers · reading

Emergence Ascended is to be featured on a podcast December 8th

Free Writer reviews is a podcast by T.A. Walker. She reviewed Emergence Collective, and I am happy to announce that she will review Emergence Ascended! T.A Walker (a.k.a the Bookie) has over 25 published works. Her work can be found on Spotify T.A.Walker audiobooks. Check out her work, its great stuff!

If you haven’t already read Emergence Collective, buy it now! So you can follow her read-along before Dec 8th, where she will read and review Emergence Ascended on Free Writer Reviews.

buy it here. Get the whole story experience.

amazon · Audible · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · NaNoWriMo

NanoWinner 2023

I completed the NaNoWriMo 2023 Challenge a day early! But I am not finished with the novel. I succeeded in meeting the fifty thousand-word minimum, but there is still a lot to do.

My takeaway from completing the challenge: First of all, I have been a member of NaNoWriMo since 2012. I have started it but never got anywhere. This year I officially registered for the challenge, (it has been on my bucket list of things to do at least since 2012)

Dedicating time to write every day and write enough to keep up with the daily word goals had developed into a habit. And when I am writing I am writing more, faster. Remember it too almost two years to the day to complete Emergence Ascended from starting it after Emergence Collective and that is a little over sixty-thousand words. So to do comparatively the same in thirty days blows my own mind.

It is changing my writing ‘style’. I was a ‘pantser’ as they call it, I write by the seat of my pants, making up the story as I go, typically. But For Yellow man I did write an outline, cast of characters, notes and fair about of research before starting it. So The value of the outline for me has increased substantially. Honestly I never wrote outlines because I am lazy. I will use outlines on future books, (Oh the bigfoot story is probably next FYI)

So, what now? Now, I am going to keep working on Yellow Man and finish it. I dread the editing phase that is coming. One of the reasons why it takes me a long time to get the story on paper is that I tend to edit as I go. During NanoWrimo, I didn’t. I ignored types, wrong words, grammar and punctuation to get complete the challenge, but now I have a nightmare to clean up. I am also taking the weekend off from writing, and prepare to start recording Emergence Ascended again. I have some projects that I set aside during NaNoWriMo that I desperatly need to attend to, Laser engraving projects for myself and a couple clients (Custom laser engraving stuff) Check out my etsy site to see what I am talking about.

All in all I am proud of accomplishing NaNoWriMo, (I get to call myself a novelist now) And I am glad os the skills that NanoWrimo has taught me. If I can do it, YOU definitely can, so I expect to see you next year!

amazon · Emergence Ascended · Horror · NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo:Final countdown

NaNoWriMo 2023 is on the last four days! I kept up on the word count this weekend, and I am currently (as I write this) 42554 words. I did just under 5000 yesterday and around 2000 on Saturday. Thursday the 23rd was an American Holiday, which put me in a bind to keep up, and I was already behind and still am. The good thing is that I have less than 8000 words to finish. 2000 a day is doable, so I have high hopes of completing the challenge.

How is the actual story going? Yellow Man, my ghost story is turning out pretty good. I am on track with the elements I wanted to get into the story. It is nowhere near finished I will be writing on it after NaNoWriMo for certain, but it’s getting there. Not that I have really established my writing style or found my voice as they say since I am new to writing, NaNoWriMo has upended my comfort zone. I have no idea how the pacing is (A personal struggle), are there long drawn out boring parts, did I slip in that nugget of info to keep you guessing? I who knows, I do know that writing at this pace there is going to be a lot to fix, and the editing is nightmarish and I don’t even want to think about that now.

Oh Yeah, just a reminder, I do have a new book out, Emergence Ascended is out on Kindle. Be sure to get you copy! I look forward to seeing your ratings and reading those reviews!

amazon · Author · Emergence Ascended

5 star rating for Emergence Ascended!

Thank you, random person, for the 5-star rating! My first rating on Amazon was 5 stars, which made my day; I had not expected one so soon since it hadn’t even been released for a week. Coincidently, I recently commented on a fellow blogger’s post (MichaelbChikondi, check out her vampire stories; they are really good.) about ratings and reviews and their importance to indie writers. They help keep us on the radar of Amazon’s rankings.

Emergence Ascended current rankings.

Thank you again, random person! Share in the joy of giving and make someones day! I mean mine, by picking up your copy of Emergence Ascended and leaving a rating and review.

Audible · Emergence Ascended · NaNoWriMo

Writing status: Legendary

My fingers actually hurt. I had started the weekend already desperately behind on my word count for NaNoWriMo. Saturday was filled with publishing Emergence Ascended (click to buy 😉 ) putting me farther behind. I planned on today for the big push to catch up. Today was the most I have ever written in a single session. My fingers hurt, and my eyes feel like they are bleeding. Feels so good.

5390 words logged in today. I am still behind, though, but not so far that it is impossible to catch up. I am feeling confident that I am actually going to complete NaNoWriMo.

amazon · Author · Emergence Ascended

Emergence Ascended is live

The Kindle edition is now available! The paperback is pending review and should be live in the next 72 hours! I look forward to hearing what you think! Buy my book, rate it, and review it! Your ratings and reviews help me get noticed on Amazon rankings and build a following. Who knows, I might be your next favorite author!

amazon · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective

Cover reveal!

Here it is, the cover of Emergence Ascended!

Its been a long road but I can see the end! I have finished the final edits, and just received the cover art! Emergence Ascended will be published on Amazon Kindle And Paperback this weekend so stay tuned and watch for the links!

Check out and follow my Amazon Author page. While Emergence Ascended can stand on its own, you will miss out on a lot if you don’t read Emergence Collective.

Let me know what you think of the cover in the comments!

Audible · blogging · Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · NaNoWriMo

Audible Update: Took on too much

As excited as I am about having my recording studio ready, I will have to wait to record. At least its not because of technical issues that are the most frustrating for me. But because this month is packed, and I don’t have enough time or mental energy to do it all.

NaNoWriMo has taken a life of its own, dominating my time. I wrote a lot in Yellow Man this weekend, but I am still a couple thousand words behind. Currently sitting on seventeen thousand words. (Which is crazy to me.) It was just bad timing to be honest. I had just finished writing Emergence Ascendedand am still working on the final edits. So to try to record Emergence Collective is too much. After NaNowriMo is over, I can cool my jets a bit and dedicate myself to that project.

Emergence Ascended · Emergence Collective · Podcasting · spotify

Audible update: New episode

If you are new and just stumbled on to my blog, you may wonder what my audible updates are… I started recording “Emergence Collective,” my first book, to release on Audible. I have received a lot of feedback about people wanting an audio version of my story; however, I am a bit too poor to afford a narrator, so like just about everything I do, I end up doing it myself. There is the fact that I have no idea what I am doing (as with most things I try). I learn as I go, grow from mistakes, and move on. What is interesting about writing, in general, is that I did not expect it to cost so much. Writing is free; I have a list of things I can not wait to get out of my head, but sharing it is a roadblock. Editors and book cover designs are expensive, something I did not anticipate when I started this journey. So I soldier on because, frankly, I can not, not write or be creative in some fashion. In the end I just hope people enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy thinking them up and writing them.

Back to the Audible thing. I have overcome some hurdles and am getting to the point where I feel that I might start producing something that will pass muster at the Audible People (ACX) and with me personally. The format is very important, and the audio quality as well; they seem to be pretty picky. As far as the narration is concerned, at least in my personal experience, not so much. I have returned audible books because I could not bear the narration. (so honestly not to worried about that, I will get better the more I do it of course.)

As far a NaNoWrimo goes, I had a busy weekend and did not keep up with my word count goal. Not all is lost, though I will try to make up some time on that. That being said, I had a successful weekend getting the recording studio (I am calling it a studio, but to be honest, that is an optimistic name) put together and getting a new episode recorded. I got some side projects in the works, like updating my etsy site. (Thanks Mom for helping with that).

Give my episode a listen, and let me know what you think. Be sure to like and comment!