Sneak Peek

I have some new concept art for my next novel. My brother, Russell, made an awesome sketch for the cover and I've been playing around with several ideas. Nothing is set in stone - except for the title... Well, maybe not even that. I like the title so far, but I want to see if i still like it in a few months. Tell me what you think.

Title: ALL FOR OWEN

Ta-da! I thought it was pretty cool. Especially because it's very fitting to the story.

Now here's the really cool stuff. This is the original sketch Russell did.

In case you're wondering what the heck it is, it's a dude wearing an Italian plague doctor's mask. I don't want to give away too much of the story just yet, but I can say that it is also crucial to the story.

Next, I added some color and texture to make it look more realistic.

After sever hours of playing, I decided to go less real and more artsy. This is the cover so far.

I'm going to keep playing, so let me know what you think.

Shout Out.

Feels like forever since I last posted. I guess the holidays and finals do that.

I've been thinking a lot about marketing my books lately. So far, I've had more success that I had actually expected, though I'm far from a best seller. I think a HUGE part of my success has been the book trailer that Jay Jensen did for me. Seriously, it's hard enough to write, publish and promote your own novel, but making everything look professional is another challenge altogether.

A big part of my marketing strategy has been to send free e-book copings to my friends and anybody else willing to blog or vlog about it. I believe this is where most of my success has come because my readers sell the books for me. Sweet deal huh? Well, nobody with a trusted opinion would read my book if it weren't for the trailer Jay did.

I like to troll the internet looking for book reviewers with big audiences. When I find them, I send them an email along with the book trailer. And that's when I have them. I always get a response that goes something like this.

"Wow! This book looks awesome! I can't wait to read it!"

I know they aren't getting that impression because I'm such a handsome guy. I don't send pictures after all. (Hmm... there's an idea) No, they are drooling over the novel because of the video trailer.

So here I go. I try not to do this took often, but here is my official endorsement for JJ Productions. I wouldn't have sold books without readers, I wouldn't have readers without reviewers, and I would have no reviewers if it hadn't been for the amazing book trailer.

If your thinking about going the ind-publishing rout, let me know! What are the best book trailers you've seen?

A REALLY Great Review!

Over the past 3 months, I have given out dozens of copies of "The Cause" to reviewers. I expected it to take awhile for reviews to start trickling in from the internet because people are busy and reviewers usually have several books they are reading all at one time.

I am please to announce that the wait is over.



Dottie Randazzo of "Reader Of Everything" has given "The Cause" a great video review. It's posted on Amazon.com and it should shortly make it's debut on her YouTube channel.

Usually, reviews make me a little nervous because I have no control over it. Reviewers can be harsh, as I experienced in my amateur music career. Apparently, the author of this blog didn't think highly of my singing and the record in general.

Since, I've become accustomed to big thumbs down, I've lost the fear of rejection. What's the worst that can happen right? Because every bad review only helps me get better. Not to mention the fact that good reviews are so much more special.

"The Cause" has made me really proud. I enjoyed writing it and now that reviews are starting to surface, I can see that my readers are genuinely enjoying it too.

Thanks for all your support. I'm going to take this adrenaline rush and put it to good use on my next book!

Politics

A lot of my research lately has been looming around politics. It helps that I am taking a class right now that also wants me to stay caught up on all the latest in politics. I've been looking at it all from a very different perspective than I used to. For a lot of people, politics is about the issues and the parties. This makes sense because... well that's just how politics work now days. But, if you look at the politicians and how they talk about their issues, there are some interesting things to learn.

So what have I learned? Nothing, really. I can't put my finger on an exact problem or an exact solution, but by watching how politicians maneuver and coerce the public to agree. It's actually really fascinating. Some people (not just politicians) use scare tactics. They spell out these big hypothetical disasters that will inevitably occur if they don't get their way. It can be frightening because people put a lot of faith in these nay Sayers.

The thing that scares me, is the "boy who cries wolf" scenario. What if someone actually has a valid warning and the public doesn't pay heed because we are too used to it? This is all great stuff for my next book.

What do you think? What scare did you buy into? swine flu? Y2K? Anthrax?    

Endings

Outlining my next great novel has been an absolute thrill up until I reached the ending.

The ending of a story is, in my opinion, the most important part of the story. Some people might say the beginning is the most important. Though I agree that the beginning is crucial to enticing an audience to read on, I don't think it's as important as the ending.

Have you ever watched a movie that really got you going right from the start only to have the ending pass you by? The credits start rolling and you think to yourself, "That was it?" Sometimes the ending is so disappointing that you actually sit through the credits hoping that the director pasted a clever little scene afterward that might clear everything up. Finally, when all other disappointing movie goers leave, and the lights are back on, and some zit-faced 15-year-old is sweeping up the carnage in the front row, you realize that you had indeed witnessed the ending. Now you feel like a sucker. The trailer and the acting and the mood, everything that once seemed purely awesome, is now one big joke.

I'll admit that I've read some stories that made me a little disappointed because the author took the story in a direction I wouldn't have gone, but the next day, after I've had time to contemplate the ending, I feel much better. Sometimes sad endings do that to me. But these endings can still be great. They leave you with a profound statement of some sort. The message is something you think about for quite a while.

Here are some examples of great ending:

"I Am Legend" (The book!) Yes, the main character dies in the end but I still feel satisfied with the ending because the twist. Robert Nevell realizes that he is the monster. He's the one killing the masses while they sleep, even though they happen to be vampires.

"Oceans 11" This was a great ending because you never see it coming. Not only do the protagonists pull-off the ultimate heist, but they do it in perfect style. This ending satisfies by giving the audience what they want plus some.

"The Village" I know I'm going to get some backlash for adding this to my list a great endings, but first let me defend my reasoning. The entire movie is based in a fantasy world, but in the end you find out that the village is really just a bunch of disenfranchised Americans trying to go back to the good old days when crime wasn't a problem. You also learn that nostalgia isn't really helpful. This is one of those endings that, at first, left me wanting more but after I thought about it, I felt better. The greatness of this ending is because of the message. I know many critics disagree, but they have different criteria for great endings than I do.

I don't have time to go through all the endings that I really enjoyed. I'm not saying these are the absolute best endings of all time, but they are endings I've admired.

What do you think? What movies or books have great endings?  

Thriller

Things have been a little slow for me recently. Now I am feeling more free and motivated to continue working on my next novel. (Still no working title yet.)

I really want this book to be more of a thriller. Of course the story is set in a dystopian world, but I feel like I need more than just an awesome universe.

Many of the dystopian books I've read are interesting because of the unique scenarios characters are put in. But the writing can be slow moving so illustrate the authors literary agenda. I enjoy reading these books but I'm just not that kind of author. I like high stakes and fast action, so, I'm going to be doing some research into thriller novels to learn just how to bring some of that adrenaline into dystopia.

Any suggestions? What are some books you've read that get your heart pumping? 

Stop #2 On The Blog Tour

Today I am providing a giveaway for my second stop on my blog book tour. The blog is appropriately called "Candace's Book Blog".

The giveaway is being posted at 3PM PST, and it closes on October 14th, so I thought I'd give all my readers a heads-up.

THE CAUSE has been published for about two months now and I have been pleasantly surprised with how well it's been received. I've been making a steady incline toward the top 100 best sellers on Amazon.com. I still have a ways to go, so tell everyone you know about THE CAUSE. Write a review, post the book trailer on Facebook, tell your friends about the giveaway. As an indi-author, I need all the help I can get.