Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Quick Revision Update

From: http://ift.tt/1h46ll1



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Just dropping in for a quick update. I finished my latest draft today after almost two weeks of picking apart my manuscript. The total number of revisions was nearly 2,000. I’m pleased with the vast majority of what I have. There’s only a couple of pieces that need a little extra attention. I’ll begin checking out things I noted as I read through and begin working on what will hopefully be my final draft. Almost there!




Filed under: The Enemy Within (Fate's Haven 2), Writing Tagged: Book, Book Writing, Creative writing, E-book, eBook, Fate's Haven 2, Fiction, Self-Publishing, Sequel, The Enemy Within

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Enemy Within Cover Revealed

From: http://ddennisbooks.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/the-enemy-within-cover-revealed/



http://ddennisbooks.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/enemywithincover41.jpg?w=600&h=893




EnemyWithinCover4

Filed under: Writing Tagged: Cover, Fate's Haven, The Enemy Within

Friday, December 6, 2013

The Enemy Within: Updates, Background and Brief Description

From: http://ddennisbooks.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/the-enemy-within-updates-background-and-brief-description/



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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.




Filed under: The Enemy Within (Fate's Haven 2), Writing Tagged: Background, Creative writing, Fate's Haven, Fiction, Plot, Release Date, The Enemy Within

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fate’s Haven Now Included in Amazon’s Matchbook Program

From: http://ddennisbooks.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/fates-haven-now-included-in-amazons-matchbook-program/



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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!


Fate’s Haven – Paperback




Filed under: Fate's Haven, Marketing, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Book, E-book, Kindle Matchbook, Paperback

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Just checking in…

From: https://ddennisbooks.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/just-checking-in/



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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.




Filed under: Untitled Project, Writing Tagged: Fate's Haven, Fiction, Novel, Writing

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Progression and Writing Part-Time

From: http://ddennisbooks.wordpress.com/2013/09/14/progression-and-writing-part-time/



http://ddennisbooks.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/stipula_fountain_pen12.jpg?w=300&h=200

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?




Filed under: Marketing, Untitled Project, Writing Tagged: Book Writing, Goodreads, Part-time, Publishing, Writer, Writing