Why I'm Not Doing NaNoWriMo This Year.

To my dearest friends and followers,

As you may already be aware, I finished revising my novel Beyond the Veil last Monday (10.14.19)!! I have since sent it to my five beta readers to get their feedback. I am so excited about the progress I have made so far and continue to look into self-publishers.

So, the novel I just finished was quite a long project. I wrote most of it when I joined NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2016. That was the first time I joined. I did not join so that I would finish my book. My goal was not to write a 50k word novel. My goal was to write a novel prior to hearing about NaNo. I joined so that I would stay motivated. I finished the book roughly two months after NaNo ended.

This year, I have put a lot of thought into joining again. I finished writing my book, I finished revising it (it's currently on it's third draft), and now it's in the hands of my beta readers. I have time off!! I've been going back and forth a lot. Will I join NaNo this year? Maybe I won't. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't.

With a lot of thinking and consideration, talking to other writers about it, looking at my old account, I decided I will not be joining this year. Sure, I'm finished with my novel for the moment, but I'm not done. I have time to look into publishers, to decide on one, to make sure I have the cover I want, etc..

I also have time to begin my next project!!
When I finished writing Beyond the Veil back in 2017, I began to think about the next book I would write - the book that demanded to be written by the character who demanded his own story. I am finally ready to answer that call. I made my own notebook and have begun building my world, naming my characters, playing with different ideas and directions in which the story could go.
In all honesty, I haven't taken the time to even think about what the story will actually be about. I haven't even gotten that far. I've only gotten as far as an idea - an idea about another novel within the same universe as Beyond the Veil...
And I am unsure if I want all of my focus to be on my new project when I feel like the previous one isn't complete yet. Within a month, I could start to get those manuscripts back from my beta readers. I want to be ready when I do. I don't want to put them aside because I am in the middle of trying to write a new novel. I want to be ready for more editing on my part.

That being said, I would still love to share ideas with others who are doing NaNo this year. I would love to join a Write-in, if any are being hosted in my area. If any of you reading this are in the San Diego region, hit me up!!
Come NaNo 2020, I will be joining without hesitation!!

Yours truly,
Me

Additional:
What is NaNoWriMo 

Beta Readers.

To my dearest friends and followers,

I just want to give all of my faithful readers an update about my fantasy novel, Beyond the Veil.
Let me begin by saying,
this week was THE week.
It was a very good week for me. It was the week I finished my book!!

There have been so many steps in this process, and though I completed another, I am not done yet.
Allow me to explain. XD
Rather than telling you what happened (I made some choices regarding my book that I wish I had done in a different order), I am going to tell you those steps that I wish were true:

The first step was to write the book. I did that.
The second step was to let it sit for a year (or slightly more in my case).
The third step was to revise my book on my own.

This is the step I just finished!! It took me a little bit longer than I anticipated, but I finished!! I couldn't be more excited about that. I fleshed out a lot of ideas that were only mentioned in the first rough draft, I omitted some ideas entirely that were placed there originally. What was a 61,752 word manuscript is now a 75,401 word manuscript!!

My next step is beta readers. I've heard that this is a good step, though I've never really done it before. I have recruited 5 individuals who will be going over my book for me. I requested that they have it back to me in about two months. I even sent them little bags with goodies for editing (highlighter, page tabs, sticky notes). I am super excited and cannot wait to hear what they have to say!
Once that process is done, I will be going over the book again with their feedback in mind. After that I will work on the publishing process.
For now, I am going to begin looking into the publishing services I have been considering. I am also working on writing down ideas for a second project that I will talk more about at a later time.

I will do my best to keep you up to date as this latest process unfolds. If there is anything you would like to know about my book, anything at all, please let me know in the comments!
As always, thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,
Me

Talking With Authors: Charles Reed.

Getting to know us:

Author Interviews #3

Chronicles Of Darkness.

To my dearest friends and followers,

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing indie author and friend of mine, Charles Reed. Today I am excited to share that interview with you!

To start, I met Charlie back in 2016 over social media. I believe we met in one of the many writing groups I joined on Facebook. At any rate, I was writing a darker fantasy novel and he was too. We enjoyed sharing our work with each other and what our books were about. 

Since then, he has gotten his first book published though I have yet to read it because I'm a terrible friend (sorry Charlie!!), but we message every so often and I usually end up asking for writing tips, his thoughts on potential book covers I create, and what it was like publishing his book. Now I'd like to share some of that with you! Thank you for reading and thank you Charles for taking the time to answer these questions for me!

Tell me a bit yourself? 

Hello, my name is Charles Reed. I am a single father to my 7 year old daughter. I am 25 years old.
I spend a lot of my time exercising and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, most of my free time is spent with my daughter where we 

will often go exploring the local woods, playing games, hiking etc.

In my own spare time I like to get a little more adventurous and will go off trail, taking up climbing, and swimming.
Outside of that I also have interests in forms of art besides literature. I enjoy painting, drawing, cosplay, occasionally taking up gaming, reading, watching shows and anything else I can try
(Not that my schedule allows for much of this haha).

Tell me about your published book or books?

My first book I: Chronicles Of Darkness book 1 is a dark fantasy novel following the life of a young god shortly after he is born. It is primarily a first person book, being retold by the god as he reflects on his life. The book focuses mainly on his travels at a young age as he combats enemies and deals with growing up in a society where he is largely alone.

The book shows a more humanistic nature to gods and follows the nameless protagonist as he develops both mentally and physically.

It is set in many different places, an ancient city, a mystic castle, a primeval forest and a futuristic city. I will have a sequel upcoming however you can look forward to a side project coming first! A Horror/Suspense novel will be coming from me next!

What made you decide you were going to be a writer? When did you start writing? Why do you write?

I started writing I in high school, so it was a very lengthy process. I was given quite a lot of encouragement from my English teachers

as they kept giving me high marks on my work.

I feel like what gave me the drive to write was simply that I had a story to tell.
I largely write for myself as all authors should, I am my own driving force when it comes to writing, it makes for a much simpler writing process.

What do you think makes a good story?

I feel like anything can be considered a good story, it's how it is told that carries the most weight in my opinion and how people connect with it.

Some people will connect with a story and some will not, it's a vastly individualistic experience, and there's no one right answer for what will make a person feel connected to the story in a way that they enjoy it, in reference to the previous question this is largely why a person should write for themselves, in contrast to the approval of others.

Do you believe in the worlds you create?

I think that every author is the pseudo-god of the world they write.

So you should absolutely feel guilty for killing off any characters you kill. (Kidding)

If we take this from an advanced scientific perspective we can compare multiverse and string theory for baselines. According to these 2 theories, its possible that the stories you write are a connection to an alternate reality. For a simpler answer though, I absolutely believe that if nothing else, the stories we write exist in the hearts and minds of both the readers and the writers. 

What is a favorite book you've read and is there an author you feel influenced your own writing style?

I have quite a few favorite books, but only to pick one I would say...City of Bones, an excellent book that started me out on a journey that split into multiple series. I love it, those are also considered dark fantasy, but are on the lighter side in my opinion.
Love Cassandra Clare, the author of the previously mentioned book and following series. She was a great influence that happened to give me the right push into writing.

What is the weirdest/most interesting thing you've had to research for your books?

Mmmm to be fair, I've only ever had to do some minor fact checking when it comes to my writing.

So the most interesting thing I've researched is Gargantuous. Not a real word (oops)

Tell me, how did you decide on a publisher for your book? Who did you go through and how was it using their services?

Aha, sore subject! So originally I submitted to agents, which I recommend regardless of my continuous rejection, as it is a very good practice and prepares you for doing it all over again later. I ended up self publishing through Amazon for the reach, and achieved a modicum of success in the process.

Do you have a creative space? What does it look like?

I usually do my first draft on my phone, so my create space is primarily in my room, I connected my desk to my bed (Which I'm typing this on). And that's where the majority of my magic happens, I find it good to relax when I'm writing. The majority of my editing is done on my computer so that I can utilize more resources while I'm going through drafts.

What advice do you have for other indie authors?

Persevere! Never give up and keep trying over and over again!

What are some of your pet peeves?

When people put up their bare feet on an object that's near other people, i.e. a movie theatre seat, airplanes, the dash of a car.

Are you a coffee drinker or a tea drinker?

Yes. 

I'm an espresso drinker chronically so I can wake up and stay up.

I'm a tea drinker when I want to relax.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Well I found this to be an enjoyable interview, I want to thank Vanessa for the opportunity. I will also be available for free on Ebook for the next 7 days!

You can also follow me on Twitter for my more humorous side and the occasional book sneak peaks/ info about what I'm working on.

Thank you and happy reading everyone!

Thank you so much for your time Charlie!!

Yours truly,

Me