Rants & Ravings
This blog will contain information about my various works, resources related to them as well as miscellaneous rants and ravings of a lunatic… err author.
Update on Life
Just to let everyone know, I am doing OK. I just haven’t done much writing in the past couple of weeks.
My family went for a final campout of the season at Silver Creek Golf & RV Resort (my cousin’s golf course) at my mom’s request.
It was her final camp trip as she passed away on August 31st, two days after returning home.
My mom loved to go camping, even though the last couple of times this summer it had been so difficult for her that she was pretty much limited to staying inside the motorhome, but it was what she loved.
Her request was that her ashes be spread on crown land out where we go boon docking (off-grid camping). So we’ll likely be doing that next year. May she rest in peace.
With her passing, I’ve done a lot of thinking about life and it has caused me to reconsider the way people live in my Aliens and Cowboys story, and the way that the medical system works. So I will be making some changes and it will affect numerous chapters throughout the story.
I will not go back and edit the chapters on the free sites, but I will be making the changes to the content of the books. In all honesty, my patrons and the free sites are more like the rough drafts of the stories, I give it to the readers on the site and they give me feedback, it’s like having thousands of beta readers. Then I take all their feedback and suggestions and modify the story that ends up in the books.
Once I finish writing Book 3, I’ll be putting them on the big sites like Amazon and Rakuten/Kobo.
Stay safe!
Become a Patron
Many creators have Patreon pages these days, it’s an awesome concept and one of the main reasons I decided to actually publish what I write.
With tiers priced at less than a cup of coffee per chapter it’s very affordable and helps to offset the ongoing costs of domain names, hosting and other writing/publishing related expenses.
Writing takes time and effort and I do have a family and a full-time job… it’s not like I sit at home writing for hours each day and pumping out 5 chapters per month! Often it’s simply 1 chapter per month, maybe 2 if I get on a roll!
By charging per chapter, rather than per month, you don’t get charged without getting something tangible in return!
What can you expect by supporting me?
Currently patrons get early access to chapters of my stories, plus patrons are welcome to participate in a community that contributes to story plot lines, characters, scenes, etc. They also receive discount codes used to obtain the finished products when they get published.
Can’t spare any pocket change, but still want to show your support?
There are ways to read the story for FREE as I publish my stories on several websites. They aren’t as user-friendly as an eBook or Book is and they don’t have all the latest updates, but they are free.
All I ask is… if you do use one of the free services, please leave a review and/or vote for the story. Every review and/or vote helps gain the attention of future readers and potential patrons!
Writing Resources
I was talking with another new author recently and we got on to the topic of what we use in writing our books. So here’s a breakdown of my writing resources, for anyone curious about the process.
My most important writing resources are my imagination… after all, it creates the stories! Followed second in importance by the patrons that support me, paying as little as $1 for advance access to everything I write, and third is the thousands of beta readers that read the rough second drafts on the free sites and provide invaluable feedback!
Second drafts? Yup, as Terry Pratchett says, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.“
Here’s all the technical nitty gritty…
Being an IT guy, I started off using Microsoft Word, then trying Google Docs for writing my book. Then I learned about Scrivener and have never looked back since. It’s just so much better for writing, planning, character development, name generation, compiling and, well, pretty much everything that relates to writing a book! Plus it’s a simple one-time fee!
My main computer is an old iMac, although I also have Windows and Linux computers in my house… hey I’m still an IT guy at heart. The decision to buy an older used iMac was so I could use the original, tried and true Scrivener program, although Literature & Latte do have a Windows version available now that is comparable to the Mac version.
A big bonus is that Scrivener also works on my iPhone and iPad and they all synchronize via Dropbox. Believe it or not, most of my writing is done on my iPhone and iPad, whenever I get a few minutes of free time. I do use the computer for writing as well, but it’s main purpose is editing and compiling. My backups go to iCloud and other cloud storage services.
For grammar checking small snippets, I use GrammarChecker.io, but my primary grammar checker is Pro Writing Aid, because it can work directly with my Scrivener files.
For my Book Covers, I use GetCovers.com, they’re a great team that do quality work for very reasonable prices. I originally used another book cover site, they had good quality, but it was just so expensive and now that I’ve experienced GetCovers, the quality actually wasn’t as good.
For my stunning book advertisements, I use BookBrush.com. They make it easy to create awesome advertisements for pretty much any social platform or application.
For my website, I host with my publisher, Dawn Patrol Publishing using the Website Builder. I still do lots of WordPress web design and I use the Divi theme from Elegant Themes, a truly customizable page builder for WordPress.
For all my graphic needs I use 123RF Stock Photography for the major graphics and use Gimp to edit them and if I have to make maps I use Inkarnate.
Hope you find this helpful.
Aliens and Cowboys @ Bookapy
Since World Literature Publishing Company has been such a huge part of the popularity growth of the Aliens & Cowboys series, I decided to use their publishing arm as the first step to getting the books into the hands of the public.
The books are now for sale and even have samples to read.
Check out my author page at https://bookapy.com/a/16/kkindle
Why Aliens and Cowboys?
Traditional nomenclature is usually spoken as “Cowboys and…”
Originally did call my story Cowboys and Aliens, but the story grew into a series and many people commented on the similarity to the 2011 movie or the graphic novels of the same name.
Fortunately, I have some smart beta readers, one of my readers mentioned, why not reverse it to be Aliens and Cowboys? The premise of this series is almost the exact polar opposite of what the movies and graphic novels were about.
So that’s how the series got to be called Aliens and Cowboys.
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