I have recently appeared on The Otaku Momentum Podcast episodes 83a, 83b, and 84. Neokage the leader of that rowdy bunch has been very kind to let me spout off and let me get in shameless plugs. I again visited their ranks this weekend and the episode is currently available at http://an.132productions.com/2012/03/11/explicit-the-otaku-momentum-bonus-ep-the-quest-for-content/. I should also be appearing on episode 105 of the No Prisoners No Mercy Podcast in the next week or so. My own podcast 2 Lazy 2 B Otaku Podcast episode 74 is out at http://2lazy2botaku.com . A quick warning, I tend to do lots of swearing and general inappropriate commentary when I podcast. It's cheaper than therapy and anger management classes.
Hopefully in the next week or so my new short story "My Turn Ons Include Napalm" a Prey for Vengeance story should be up on http://lorewriter.com/ with the venerable R.W. Harper's blessing. Mr. Harper is still editing the story for best website presentation and is a vary busy man so I will wait patiently for his verdict.
I have a friend putting together a press release for me and the timeline on it is a little sketchier. She is also working on a wedding for two of the hosts of The Otaku Momentum Podcast and it's cruch time. I again will wait patiently because the help I am receiving is being paid with a little gratitude and good will.
I have joined the Linked-In website and still feel a little out of my depth. I've been lucky to know some people already hooked in but if you are interested in networking with me I'm sure I can bring something to the table. If nothing else you can come on my podcast and promote.
I appreciate your patience and thank those of you who have been screaming for more of my content. It does the heart good to connect at such an early stage in writing.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Why my eyes itch
I have a new thing to add to my list of things that cause me trouble with my visual imapirment. As a person suffering from Star Gardt's disease I spend the greater part of my life trying to circumvent my shortcomings. Simple tasks such as shaving require concentration and a seperate set of skills from the majority of humanity.
This has also carried over into the writing process for me. Writing a story doesn't require much except a program called Zoomtext which magnifies a portion of the screen and scrolls with the text that I am writing. Where things get really interesting is when I go back to revise my work and proof read. Since I have no central vision and I look at the world out of the corner of my eye so to speak, I have to slow the editing process down to an absolute crawl. Each letter has to be carefully scrutinized even with spell check. This is especially true to proper names that spell check doesn't usually pick up on. A few pages of revising and I literally feel an itch and sometimes a pulsing across the surface of my eyes. The tricky part is to know when to stop and avoid the piercing headache that this work inevitably produces. It isn't uncommon for me to have to take a thirty minute nap every couple hours just to let the muscles in my eyes to relax. The process is usually done at a one of the higher settings in my adaptive software and the curse is that the higher the magnification the more I lose my place in the text.
All frustrations aside it's very rewarding to find a creative outlet for me to explore. I largely taught myself to play the trumpet when I was in midle school an achievement I was quite proud of. I hit a wall with try to read sheet music with my visual impairment and as the musical pieces got longer they became harder for me to memorize. I eventually abandoned the trumpet and have spent the intervening years searching and struggling to find a way to explore my creative side and it appears that writing fiction is finally combining all the things I need to adapt and overcome my disability.
I still have a lot to learn and I have appreciated all the advice and those who have taken time out of their busy lives to help me along and I will always be grateful to them. I only hope that the enjoyment of writing will one day outshine the enjoyment of others reading my material.
This has also carried over into the writing process for me. Writing a story doesn't require much except a program called Zoomtext which magnifies a portion of the screen and scrolls with the text that I am writing. Where things get really interesting is when I go back to revise my work and proof read. Since I have no central vision and I look at the world out of the corner of my eye so to speak, I have to slow the editing process down to an absolute crawl. Each letter has to be carefully scrutinized even with spell check. This is especially true to proper names that spell check doesn't usually pick up on. A few pages of revising and I literally feel an itch and sometimes a pulsing across the surface of my eyes. The tricky part is to know when to stop and avoid the piercing headache that this work inevitably produces. It isn't uncommon for me to have to take a thirty minute nap every couple hours just to let the muscles in my eyes to relax. The process is usually done at a one of the higher settings in my adaptive software and the curse is that the higher the magnification the more I lose my place in the text.
All frustrations aside it's very rewarding to find a creative outlet for me to explore. I largely taught myself to play the trumpet when I was in midle school an achievement I was quite proud of. I hit a wall with try to read sheet music with my visual impairment and as the musical pieces got longer they became harder for me to memorize. I eventually abandoned the trumpet and have spent the intervening years searching and struggling to find a way to explore my creative side and it appears that writing fiction is finally combining all the things I need to adapt and overcome my disability.
I still have a lot to learn and I have appreciated all the advice and those who have taken time out of their busy lives to help me along and I will always be grateful to them. I only hope that the enjoyment of writing will one day outshine the enjoyment of others reading my material.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Onwards and Upwards!
It's nice to see that so many of you have found my blog. I haven't bothered learning to use most of the doo dads that the service on this site provides so I was surprised when I actually bothered to click on the stats tab. Feel free to leave comments or if you have questions you can always feel free to email me at thischrisdodson@gmail.com.
My short story is finished and I have sent it to the illustrious R. W. Harper from http://lorewriter.com/ . He agreed to take a look at it next week after he returned from GDC (Game Developer's Conference). I hope that it meets with his approval and goes up on the site smoothly. Once there I will wait a couple weeks before posting both here and for free on the Amazon Kindle. I wanted to show a sign of respect to Mr. Herper for taking an interest in my work and allowing me to present some of my work on his site. The short story was his idea and I want to give credit where it's due. Being he is a professional writer himself, I really look forward to his feedback.
Moving forward I have started revision on the first draft of the Prey for Vengeance series book two. I have a few working titles but having settled on one as yet. I have revised and sent a total of four chapters off to my editor all of which were returned in record time. At this rate I should have the final draft in a few months. Edward Walerius, my editor has been working on his own book and I have been trying to do my part to offer help where I may. Ed is a smart cookie and has sent his work to quite a few people and getting some good feedback. I have his first two chapters staring at me and they will be the next thing I tackle after this post.
It was a nice surprise to receive some work from Ed and I am grateful for all the editing work he has done for me. It's really nice to know that I will be able to return the favor. I knew he had it in him and it's exciting to see him spread his wings.
My cover artist Steve Griffing is starting the concept art stage for the comic version of "Prey for Vengeance" and I a am really excited to see what he comes up with. The whole reason this novel got started was so he could adapt it into a comic and I am glad to see Steve is up to the challenge. Since the novel was in it's final stages he started working on his own story and another comic idea, only this time he will be doing the writing himself.
It's so exciting to see what had started as friends playing a online video game together become a den of creative ideas. When we left the game and Steve and I moved to different states I was concerned that we might grow apart. Since then we have carried on the frienship and grown together with my friends in Ohio and started a podcast ( www.2lazy2botaku.com ) and from that sprang forth a need to create some more traditional media but with a distinctly modern twist.
In my 33 years I never thought things would turn out this way and for the first time in my life I have a rather positive outlook. It's a little scary to be upbeat as a life long cynic, but I am doing my best to remain tentatively cheerful for the time being.
My short story is finished and I have sent it to the illustrious R. W. Harper from http://lorewriter.com/ . He agreed to take a look at it next week after he returned from GDC (Game Developer's Conference). I hope that it meets with his approval and goes up on the site smoothly. Once there I will wait a couple weeks before posting both here and for free on the Amazon Kindle. I wanted to show a sign of respect to Mr. Herper for taking an interest in my work and allowing me to present some of my work on his site. The short story was his idea and I want to give credit where it's due. Being he is a professional writer himself, I really look forward to his feedback.
Moving forward I have started revision on the first draft of the Prey for Vengeance series book two. I have a few working titles but having settled on one as yet. I have revised and sent a total of four chapters off to my editor all of which were returned in record time. At this rate I should have the final draft in a few months. Edward Walerius, my editor has been working on his own book and I have been trying to do my part to offer help where I may. Ed is a smart cookie and has sent his work to quite a few people and getting some good feedback. I have his first two chapters staring at me and they will be the next thing I tackle after this post.
It was a nice surprise to receive some work from Ed and I am grateful for all the editing work he has done for me. It's really nice to know that I will be able to return the favor. I knew he had it in him and it's exciting to see him spread his wings.
My cover artist Steve Griffing is starting the concept art stage for the comic version of "Prey for Vengeance" and I a am really excited to see what he comes up with. The whole reason this novel got started was so he could adapt it into a comic and I am glad to see Steve is up to the challenge. Since the novel was in it's final stages he started working on his own story and another comic idea, only this time he will be doing the writing himself.
It's so exciting to see what had started as friends playing a online video game together become a den of creative ideas. When we left the game and Steve and I moved to different states I was concerned that we might grow apart. Since then we have carried on the frienship and grown together with my friends in Ohio and started a podcast ( www.2lazy2botaku.com ) and from that sprang forth a need to create some more traditional media but with a distinctly modern twist.
In my 33 years I never thought things would turn out this way and for the first time in my life I have a rather positive outlook. It's a little scary to be upbeat as a life long cynic, but I am doing my best to remain tentatively cheerful for the time being.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Companion Short for "Prey for Vengeance."
As I have stated in a previous post I started work on a short story as a companion to the "Prey for Vengeance" novel. In it we will find two major characters in the novel about two weeks after the first novel ends. I have submitted my final draft to my friend and editor Ed Walerius and to my illustrator Steve Griffing and already gotten some feedback.
This was my first shot at short fiction and I wanted to do it right. According to Wikipedia a short story is a work that is 7,500 words or less and I regret I was using that as a ceiling and forgot the basic point of short fiction which is to say as much as you can with the fewest amount of words. I finished my first draft and it was well over six thousand words. When I was going over the first draft I wasn't satisfied with the word choice and unecesary sentences. The problem was so wide spread that I thrashed the first draft and re-wrote the whole thing. My second attempt ran just over four thousand words and got straight to the point. I sent it off before even performing a spell check I am ashamed to admit now but my good friends somehow looked past my indiscretion and dutifully read it immediately and gave me some minor points to reword or rephrase.
My main concern about the content itself was that it be consistent with the novel and that the characters would do something not because I wanted them to, but because it was something it was in their nature to do. I thought it necessary for the side characters in this series to really take on a life of their own despite not having their prospective involved. I did my best to continue this in my short story and even dial it up a notch. I will be releasing this for free along with some sample chapters of my novel. Mr. R.W. Harper has graciously said that he would consider hosting them on Lorewritter.com and has given me some guidance on how they should be presented to which I am eternally thankful. It was a really good day when I heeded Sister Julie and Sister Fran's advice from the No Prisoners No Mercy Podcast when they suggested that I drop Mr. Harper a line.
I hope to get my short story back soon from Ed Walerius, but he has a rather busy schedule with school and I must allow for that since he edits my material out of the kindness of his heart. I hope I will be able to post it soon so that I can share my work with all of you.
Chris Dodson
This was my first shot at short fiction and I wanted to do it right. According to Wikipedia a short story is a work that is 7,500 words or less and I regret I was using that as a ceiling and forgot the basic point of short fiction which is to say as much as you can with the fewest amount of words. I finished my first draft and it was well over six thousand words. When I was going over the first draft I wasn't satisfied with the word choice and unecesary sentences. The problem was so wide spread that I thrashed the first draft and re-wrote the whole thing. My second attempt ran just over four thousand words and got straight to the point. I sent it off before even performing a spell check I am ashamed to admit now but my good friends somehow looked past my indiscretion and dutifully read it immediately and gave me some minor points to reword or rephrase.
My main concern about the content itself was that it be consistent with the novel and that the characters would do something not because I wanted them to, but because it was something it was in their nature to do. I thought it necessary for the side characters in this series to really take on a life of their own despite not having their prospective involved. I did my best to continue this in my short story and even dial it up a notch. I will be releasing this for free along with some sample chapters of my novel. Mr. R.W. Harper has graciously said that he would consider hosting them on Lorewritter.com and has given me some guidance on how they should be presented to which I am eternally thankful. It was a really good day when I heeded Sister Julie and Sister Fran's advice from the No Prisoners No Mercy Podcast when they suggested that I drop Mr. Harper a line.
I hope to get my short story back soon from Ed Walerius, but he has a rather busy schedule with school and I must allow for that since he edits my material out of the kindness of his heart. I hope I will be able to post it soon so that I can share my work with all of you.
Chris Dodson
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Book aftermath
So the books out and I have been in a wild rush to figure out how to promote it. I of course did a bonus podcast on the 2 Lazy 2 B Otaku feed. http://www.2lazy2botaku.com/archives/948 I did a guest appearance on The Otaku Momentum on episode 84 and shamelessly plugged my book. http://theotakumomentum.info/2012/02/20/20120220.aspx I will be appearing in episode 105 of the No Prisoners No Mercy podcast as well. http://www.virginworlds.com/podcast.php?show=26&ep=103 I have been taking advice from all corners including reading articles I have seen linked on twitter from other authors who were really nice to follow me back and even pop in with a note from time to time. One of the members of the Otaku Momentum (Midori) is even now putting together a pres release for me which I thought was awfully nice of her. The wonderful ladies from the No Prisoners No Mercy podcast suggested that I talk to R.W. Harper from Lorewritter.com. I did so and Mr. Harper gave me the wonderful idea to write a companion story to my novel to give people a satisfying taste of the world I have created and a nice highlight to the characters I have introduced into this world. I am currently four thousand words into the story and about two thirds away from completing the first draft. My only concern is trying to get my ever busy editor to get a look at it before I have the second novel for him to work on. Let it be said that I came to Mr. Harper with a request to post sample chapters of my book and shamelessly exploit the traffic on his site to get them to buy my book. I would have felt him well within his rights and wouldn't have thought any less of him if he had turned me down. Instead he gave me some brilliant advice and was nothing but a nice guy and even managed to work in a little mentoring.
I have felt more than a little blessed by all the people who have touched my life as a result of this book. It's threatening to make me reconsider my cynicism towards mankind. Even before the book sold the first copy I have been riding a high that has left my brain in a fog. I've had a hard time concentrating on working on writing and marketing the book so overwhelmed I have been by all the thoughtful and insightful help I have received. Maybe it's not such a terrible old world after all.
I got my first review on Amazon the other day from one of our podcast listeners (Aaron). Aaron messaged me to let me know he purchased the book and was reading it and even gave me a few tweets along the way to let me know how he felt. Afterwards he told me that he loved the book and I asked him if he wouldn't mind leaving me a review. I was surprised and grateful to see that he gave me a five star review but didn't stop there. He went on to give a very comprehensive review that was flattering and very kind. To know that someone I don't personally know would go out there and give me such a wonderful review touched me in a way I don't think could ever be topped.
When I was in high school in my junior year I won the medal in Speech class saying that I was the finest student in school. I also received a certificate nothing that I was in the top 10% of my class in the subject. Even with those honors, the next morning my father got up before six AM and stumbled down the hall to my room and opened my door and called my name. When I responded his words of eternal encouragment were "You know you won those awards because your good at shooting your mouth off." His echoing laughter down the hallway was what I heard while I tumbled into a sleepy incredulous rage.
I'm glad to say that he vindicated himself this year when I called to let him know my book was out. Once you publish on the Kindle store it can take about twelve hours t apear in the store. I had posted and gone to bed. When I called the next day it had only been out for a couple hours. When my mother answered her phone she immediately commented on the acknowledgment I had paid them at the begining of the book before I could even mention that the book was out. My father had been checking to see if the book was out all this time and had been my first customer. He has since finished the book and even gave me some favorable feedback. It's always nice to do your parents proud. The thing that I think I loved most was when he said that he had lost himself in the book. My father has been reading novels since I was a child and the bathrooms in our house were always littered with paperbacks. Besides being a nice toilet paper replacement in an emergency all those books lying around the house are a nice reinforcement when my father complimented my work.
That's all for now. I got a ton of work to do and I can't sit here reveling in my own self proclaimed glory. If writing has taught me anything it's that it's hard and just because you tell a good story it doesn't mean it's gonna get read unless you have some marketing behind it so that people know it exists.
I have felt more than a little blessed by all the people who have touched my life as a result of this book. It's threatening to make me reconsider my cynicism towards mankind. Even before the book sold the first copy I have been riding a high that has left my brain in a fog. I've had a hard time concentrating on working on writing and marketing the book so overwhelmed I have been by all the thoughtful and insightful help I have received. Maybe it's not such a terrible old world after all.
I got my first review on Amazon the other day from one of our podcast listeners (Aaron). Aaron messaged me to let me know he purchased the book and was reading it and even gave me a few tweets along the way to let me know how he felt. Afterwards he told me that he loved the book and I asked him if he wouldn't mind leaving me a review. I was surprised and grateful to see that he gave me a five star review but didn't stop there. He went on to give a very comprehensive review that was flattering and very kind. To know that someone I don't personally know would go out there and give me such a wonderful review touched me in a way I don't think could ever be topped.
When I was in high school in my junior year I won the medal in Speech class saying that I was the finest student in school. I also received a certificate nothing that I was in the top 10% of my class in the subject. Even with those honors, the next morning my father got up before six AM and stumbled down the hall to my room and opened my door and called my name. When I responded his words of eternal encouragment were "You know you won those awards because your good at shooting your mouth off." His echoing laughter down the hallway was what I heard while I tumbled into a sleepy incredulous rage.
I'm glad to say that he vindicated himself this year when I called to let him know my book was out. Once you publish on the Kindle store it can take about twelve hours t apear in the store. I had posted and gone to bed. When I called the next day it had only been out for a couple hours. When my mother answered her phone she immediately commented on the acknowledgment I had paid them at the begining of the book before I could even mention that the book was out. My father had been checking to see if the book was out all this time and had been my first customer. He has since finished the book and even gave me some favorable feedback. It's always nice to do your parents proud. The thing that I think I loved most was when he said that he had lost himself in the book. My father has been reading novels since I was a child and the bathrooms in our house were always littered with paperbacks. Besides being a nice toilet paper replacement in an emergency all those books lying around the house are a nice reinforcement when my father complimented my work.
That's all for now. I got a ton of work to do and I can't sit here reveling in my own self proclaimed glory. If writing has taught me anything it's that it's hard and just because you tell a good story it doesn't mean it's gonna get read unless you have some marketing behind it so that people know it exists.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The book is out!
Well the book finally came out for purchase on Valentine's day! I have had friends and family congradulate me all round. Now the real struggle begins as I attempt to do some grass roots marketing on a low budget. I'm not sure how I will be able to do it but I always have friends around that are more than willing to lend a helping hand.
I was able to involve myself with the KDP Select program which allows Amazon Prime users to borrow the book for free. Thus far I have sold books but no one has actually borrowed the book yet. As I am not a Amazon Prime user myself I am unsure of how the Owner's Lending Library works. At least I have a free option for new readers and I am glad for its availability.
I have already done a bonus podcast for the 2lazy2botaku.com site and the title of the podcast will be 2lazy2bpublished. In it I discuss with my illustrator and editor how the book got started and all the stages in between until the book was published and the background as to how the story took shape. I also go into the detail of the painstaking work that goes into preparing a manuscript for Kindle publishing. It wasn't anything too difficult but I did have some slogging through help forums to do. I'm sure publishers require an even higher standard. The conversion to the .mobi format took a bit and I got some real headscratching problems that didn't fall into FAQ territory, but I was able to muddle through just fine.
The first draft of the second book is already finished and part of the book has already been edited. I hope to get back to it and have it out sooner than the first book as far as time frame. With my attention on trying to promote the first book and researching how to do it successfully I haven't really been able to concentrate on writing much. I hope I am able to do a good job and get lots of feedback so I can further refine my style.
That's al for now. I have to descend into the dregs of social media hell and do a lot of shouting and hope somebody will hear me. Maybe I can make some new writer friends along the way. I think I would like that.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Final Read Through and Beyong
I've finally finished my final read through and have sent it over to Ed my editor for his final approval for the first book of "Prey For Vengeance." Steve has started work on the front cover and things are looking really good. It's been a year since I started this project and I am eager to get this first book off the ground and start posting sample chapters for the reading public. It's really gratifying to finally get a life goal ticked off the list and I have found that I have a ravenous need to write even more. I've been going over everything that I have written thus far on the second book in the series and I am close to half way done. I have been sending things along to poor Ed so I don't overwhelm him with one big book when I finish the draft. Unfortunately Ed is mired in school so i just ended up dumping chapter after chapter in his lap without him having the time to go over them. Once I finish the second book and am left sitting stwittling my thumbs I'll probably take a stab at my side project again ("Digital Divine Intervention") and see how I can tighten up the story. I got a little ambitious with the scope of the book much in the same way I did with PFV. In PFV however I got caught up in the multiple prospective style which cause havoc with continuity and being forced to give the same information in a condensed form with a different prospective and make it still seem fresh.
My new book I went a little crazy with grandiose events and had to try and seat them in a believable reality. I also tackled some religious questions and avoided others a bit too pointedly. Hopefully I can keep a little of the philosophy and not lose the humor. It's a tightrope I am walking with this book and one wrong move would be a great slip of responsibility to my reader. I've already written around 60,000 words in this story and it will take a two book approach. It's pretty simple cause and effect. Watching the utopia form and then watch come crashing down around the main characters ears in a blaze of glory. I'm hoping the blending of complex themes with basic primal response will lend some weight to the "savage civilian approach to my writing style.
I'm finding in my writing that I want to explore the primal nature and show how it doesn't work in a civilized world. I surround my characters in complicated events and try to show that underneath it all it's our basic needs that drive us and nothing quite as honorable as we like to believe. We like to couch our behavior into some exagerated ideal but mostly it always seems to biol down to some sort of selfishness and some how I feel it defines humanity and the addition to consciousness makes it somehow a little more profain.
Well that's about enough of the ramblings of a sleep deprived author. Hopefully next time I will be able to announce a release date and show Steve's artwork. I'm almost looking more forward to his growth in creativity more than my own.
My new book I went a little crazy with grandiose events and had to try and seat them in a believable reality. I also tackled some religious questions and avoided others a bit too pointedly. Hopefully I can keep a little of the philosophy and not lose the humor. It's a tightrope I am walking with this book and one wrong move would be a great slip of responsibility to my reader. I've already written around 60,000 words in this story and it will take a two book approach. It's pretty simple cause and effect. Watching the utopia form and then watch come crashing down around the main characters ears in a blaze of glory. I'm hoping the blending of complex themes with basic primal response will lend some weight to the "savage civilian approach to my writing style.
I'm finding in my writing that I want to explore the primal nature and show how it doesn't work in a civilized world. I surround my characters in complicated events and try to show that underneath it all it's our basic needs that drive us and nothing quite as honorable as we like to believe. We like to couch our behavior into some exagerated ideal but mostly it always seems to biol down to some sort of selfishness and some how I feel it defines humanity and the addition to consciousness makes it somehow a little more profain.
Well that's about enough of the ramblings of a sleep deprived author. Hopefully next time I will be able to announce a release date and show Steve's artwork. I'm almost looking more forward to his growth in creativity more than my own.
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