The Enemy Within, my second novel, will be finished soon. Currently, I’m working on the final chapter and will begin editing in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, it will not be ready for public consumption by Christmas as I had originally planned. Instead I decided this would be a great time to put out a short description with a little detail.
A little background:
When I wrote the epilogue for Fate’s Haven, I was unsure whether I would continue writing or not. I’m not a writer by trade. I’m an IT security auditor. I’m paid to be an ethical hacker. Writing a novel was something I wanted to do. Basically, it was on my bucket list. In the beginning it was a project I only intended to have printed for one person: my wife. After a few conversations I decided to attempt to find a publisher. Shortly after, I found some self-publishing avenues and decided to give it a try.
It wasn’t long before I had another idea. A new direction to take the story. I knew at the time if it was going to be written then it had to be done very specifically. After writing the first chapter, I waited a week, re-read it and decided it was garbage. It was lacking the twist it needed to help draw the reader in and feel something when the protagonist’s world begins falling apart. Furthermore, I tried to write specific pieces a bit more gently and quickly learned that since life doesn’t hand hard situations out gently there was no reason to try to write them in that manner. I’m not sure why I tried to be gentle. I tend to be pretty blunt with people anyway. These sections were completely rewritten in a way that strikes the emotional level necessary to set the scene.
The Enemy Within
Warning: Spoilers for Fate’s Haven ahead!
The story picks up where the epilogue from Fate’s Haven ends. Three years have passed since Gabriel and his friends escaped from Haven‘s invaders. His life with Sara has been almost nearly perfect and old injuries have been difficult to adapt to.
The Enemy Within introduces some new faces. One in particular is another young man named Bishop, a human test subject imprisoned by union forces. He shares the storytelling role alongside Gabriel. The decision to write this novel with a second perspective was a necessity and could not have been written without doing so. I shouldn’t elaborate any more than on this particular subject other than to say it was, well, necessary.
When the paths of Gabriel and Bishop cross, more of Haven‘s dark history is revealed. Gabriel’s world quickly begins falling piece by piece when a buried secret from his past is discovered. Meanwhile, the everlasting war he sought to avoid is quickly catching up with him.
The cover art will be up soon. Most likely this weekend.
I received notice today from Amazon that Fate’s Haven was accepted into the Kindle Matchbook program. For anyone who purchased a paperback copy of Fate’s Haven, you are able to receive a Kindle edition for $0.99. Thank you in advance for your support!
It’s been about a month since my last post. After sending what I have to a handful of people for feedback, I felt I needed a bit of a break to ground myself. There ate times when I wake and can tell within a few hours that I shouldn’t do any writing that day. I had two weeks of those days.
This past week was spent reviewing, revamping, and rewriting various pieces. I have 2/3 of the novel in a workable format, though I know before I finish there will be many more edits and rewrites. I have a general idea of where the rest of the story needs to go but without a little motivation, my fire is burning out and there is only so much music (my typical muse) can help with before it too ceases its use for a time.
Travel is also post of my job and when it happens it gives me a chance to think while on the road for long periods of time. Nights alone in the hotel never produce much new writing, mostly because it depressed me to be away from my family. Regardless, I intend to try to use the time while I have it.
I am pleased with the novel so far. I had doubted in the beginning and often wondered if I should leave the Fate’s Haven alone and let it be. To be completely honest, I actually started the sequel a month after releasing Fate’s Haven but was so disappointed with what I was working on that I deleted it. Not just archived for future use, but deleted (which I don’t usually do).
I’m looking forward to seeing this one come together and hope it proves to be up to the standards of fans of Fate’s Haven. This novel is darker than its predecessor and because of this I tried even harder to pour add much emotion into the characters as I could. I am also pleased with the name and will be making that public as soon as the final piece of the story is underway. You can expect it by the end of the month.
About a month ago I set a goal of writing a minimum of 5,000 words per week. My first week it seemed like a lofty goal given how much time I had to work with. But the past two weeks have proven easier than expected. I’ve managed to meet and exceed my goal by about 2,000 words per week.
Years ago, I would force myself to sit down and write. Often it wouldn’t result in much of anything and the quality wasn’t what it should have been. What I’ve found recently is I have to be in the right frame of mind. Simply making the time and using it isn’t enough. Some of my time has been planning, proofing, reading, and re-writing at varying times and places and using an array of devices to suit whatever mood I’m in all in an effort to make sure I’m happy with what I produced. One thing I learned while writing Fate’s Haven was if I wasn’t pleased with a particular piece, whether it be an entire chapter or just a single paragraph, I would often become discouraged with moving ahead.
I’m currently 30,000 words into what I estimate will be a 90-95,000 word novel and I’ve managed to put together something I am pleased with in a little more than a month. I am debating whether or not to put out an excerpt from the first chapter. Onr thing I am learning about publishing is there is a need to have a following before the book is released l. Sort of marketing it and writing it concurrently. I am still not finished but I don’t foresee many changes being made to the first chapter. Have any other self-published authors tried this and had any luck?
I just received notification that the Apple iBook version of Fate’s Haven has been made available on iTunes. A list of all other available version can be found under the bookstore link on my website. Thanks!
When I began writing my first novel, I never intended to have it published. As I stated in a previous posting, I have written short stories in the past. They too were never published. My research into the world of publishing left me with an over-whelming feeling that A) my chances of landing a deal were slim to none and B) there’s nowhere for a hobbyist such as myself.
A Facebook article from Barnes & Noble advertising their eBook publishing program changed all that. A few months later I discovered a handful of other companies offering similar resources and today something I began as a hobby intended for my wife is readily available from multiple sources for any electronic e-reader, computer, and even physical print copies (both paperback and hardback).
Marketing has never been my strongest subject. Though I hold a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration (albeit for Information Security), marketing was not my strongest subject. I understand how social media works and spent time ensuring my own social media avenues were inter-connected for optimum efficiency. What I don’t excel at is spreading the word to new potential customers.
If you have read any of my novel, please encourage those around you with similar taste to check out samples. If you or someone you know finished reading it, please leave some feedback on Amazon or wherever you purchased it from. My greatest marketing tool is word-of-mouth and its biggest driver is social media.
Thanks again for all your support.
I’ve had a few false-starts but my second novel is finally underway. I spent some time during the summer ironing out details and making notes to make the process easier. Thank God for Evernote. This entire process would be much more difficult without it managing my projects.
The first chapter is finished, though it will likely be altered from time to time as I continue and especially during my editing process. As of now, it remains un-named. I have a tentative name for the first of the three parts. My hope is to have it finished by the end of the year…but we’ll see 
Updates have just been posted for the Kindle and Nook and are now live. Smashwords is also carrying eBook editions for epub, mobi, pdf, and web browser support.
An updated paperback is being pushed through to Amazon and will be available soon, likely next week. The hardback is available now. eBook editions for iTunes and the Kobo will also be available soon.
Amazon Kindle eBook
Barnes & Noble Nook
Smashwords
