New Cover and Picture Books

[New Cover for Book 1]

I've been talking about the various projects I'm working on with my writing. As you know, I published Doomimals Book 1 recently, am working hard on revising Doomimals Book 2, and am helping my son and writing buddy, Ax the Narrator, edit Just Us Chickens. I'm hoping to publish it by the end of the month.  Book 1 has a new and improved cover as created by my child. Recently, someone pointed out that the paper and hardback copies of the book had formatting issues, so I've now fixed those with the new copies. I've also added a coming soon section that gives the first bit of both Doomimals Book 2 and Chickens. I'm meanwhile working on freebie short stories, one that was released before based on "Puss in Boots," which is getting a revision and illustrations, and one that is a prequel for book 1 on the main characters' dad as a kid. 

[Imaginings of Holidays Future: source]

Yesterday, Ax and I were thinking about how the holidays were approaching, so we decided to start working on holiday books. We're going to cross over the Doomimals kids and the Just Us Chickens in a send-up of Christmas shows and tropes. I'm hoping to release that short at the beginning of the holiday season. 

[Impish Cats: Illustration from Book 1 by Ghostelle.]

Furthermore, I've been pondering writing picture books for preschoolers about Cookie, a cat from book 1, and her three sisters, kittens from book 2. I sat down and wrote a whimsical book on the mischievous and super-powered kittens for each of the holidays. It follows the plot of "Three Little Kittens." The first one, to be released by early October, will be, "Cookie and Her Sisters Go Trick-or-treating." By early November, I will release "Cookie and Her Sisters Make Thanksgiving Dinner." The final of the set of three will come out by mid-November and will be called "Cookie and Her Sisters Go Christmas Shopping." Between now and those release dates, I'll be working on illustrating them. 

Tell me what you think of my book if you've read it. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Connecting

 

[source]

When I was in my late teens, I started a novel that came from a dream.  In my dream, I was a shapeshifting alien boy.  I invented a vague backstory with a lot more detail to the world than I had to his life.  I had a working title, Transposition, a name, Joshua, a rough idea of various aliens involved, and the imagery from my dream.  I wrote one scene but then wasn't sure where to go from there.  I wanted to make something of the story, but though I was able to spin other dreams/ideas/concepts into a couple of (never to be published) novels, I couldn't seem to move this one past that first scene.  It had cool bits and pieces that I liked as a youth, but it was going nowhere. 

[Alpaca-lips-source]

Then, 2.5 decades later, my boy and I started Doomimals, a story that seemed to be totally unconnected to anything I had written before.  It all started with a stumble in conversation.  One of us said "Alpacalips" instead of apocalypse.  I thought that germ had promise for a kids' story but didn't come up with a path until later, when I was talking to my son.  Since then, it has become a complex and rich universe with detailed mythology.  And best of all, we've figured out a way to bring in the main character from those defunct novels and the story germ of Transposition forward.  Its basic idea of an intergalactic war between a set of three leading alien races in conflict with seven other alien races became the foundation for the Doomimals mythology. 

[Drawing from one of my Future Books]

Now, the main character has a new name, Adam (a religious and scientific allusion) and title (working title: The Radiant Army vs Me), and is becoming a complex character with a similar backstory but a whole pathway and plot laid out before him.  My boy helped me break down those barriers, so the boy from my dreams so many years ago could help those three alien races (now the Guardian Races) challenge each of those seven races of the Radiant Army to their own game, one at a time.  This is the value of having a working buddy; they can help you overcome writer's block. As I polish Doomimals for you, I'm also working on how to craft this story into a fun adventure for you.  Thanks for listening. 

Onto Book 2

[Book 1: A focus on Characters (art by Ghostelle)]

One Done

If I were publishing book one as a standalone, it would be ready to go to the publisher, ready to be prepared to come to you.  However, it's really hard to break into the chapter book and even middle-grade fiction markets since one tiny book on the shelf doesn't draw the eye nor have a big market or ready-made fans. I've taken some stabs at reaching out to publishers and agents, always ending up empty-handed.  That's why I embraced the idea of a hybrid publisher.  Once all ten of these first books (plus the first three of my boy's) are ready, they'll be available for you fairly quickly.  The hybrid publisher only takes less than a month from acceptance of the manuscript to readiness for market.  

[A focus on book 2 (art by Ghostelle)]

Moving on 

But now, I have the other eight from the regular series plus the bonus books to prepare.  I have the vision.  I know what I need to do for each book.  For one thing, I need to work on making each book's protagonist the kind of kid you or your child will enjoy following on an adventure.  I need to make sure he or she is truly the hero of his or her own story.  I say his or her because I have three main characters, twins Davis and Kitt and their younger cousin, Tessa.  The first book is from Davis's perspective, second from Kitt's, and third from Tessa's.  I need to polish each voice, so you hear their voices and hear their hearts.  Davis the nerdy slacker's first book is done.  I'll be moving to Kitt, the image-conscious overachiever next. After that, I'll be working on Tessa, the shy animal-loving character.  

[On the road to revising the next books (art by Ghostelle).]

What Else They Need

I'll also make sure the kids' antagonists weave throughout the book, causing problems and working under the umbrella of the primary villain of the first set.  I didn't understand story structure when I first drafted these books.  I'll be making sure I follow the story structure (3-act, 7-act, and hero's journey's 12 points).  The first book now fulfills all of this, though it took a lot longer than planned.  On the bright side, I am getting time to work on writing, plus all the other books are significantly shorter than the first one. 

Now, to get to serious work on book two.  This will be exciting.