Well, hi there. Welcome back. It's nice to see you. Grab a chair and take a seat, we have some things to talk about.
First and foremost, I've been BAD at this whole blogging thing. I was doing good for a while, but then the pressures if life and my own head kept getting in the way. I rambled about some of that here already, so I'm sure you're caught up on the story so far. If not, here's a quick recap: My day job has been super stressful recently, and that's been effecting my mental health, which in turn has been effecting my writing. On top of that, my writing itself suffered from a period of burnout. I powered through a first draft of this novel in three months, was on track to be way ahead of schedule for release next year, and then realized the MASSIVE plot holes and problems that I'd fallen into while making it would take a tremendous amount of time to fix. I was feeling defeated, and getting on with the work was tough. I've cleared that roadblock for now, reset the goals and timelines, and I'm back on track. Also, these are all arbitrary deadlines I'm setting for myself, and I don't have to do any of this if I don't want to, so there's always that thought to fall back on.
The problem is: I DO want to.
So, the goal now is to finish this second draft by November, then hopefully I can get onto my edit pass and rewrites and then betas and all that good stuff. I'm SO EXCITED for this book that I just want it to be done and out and see what people think about it. I've been living in this world for a while now, and I can't wait to share it with you all.
Another thing that's happened recently is, on a whim, I ordered some copies of Psyconics and Path of the Divine Order. I needed a real hardcover of Psyconics for my bookshelf, instead of the proof I had been using as the display, so I went ahead and grabbed some extras. Now though, I have 3 copies of PotDO and 2 of Psyconics and I don't know what to do with them.
I think I'm going to sign them, but then what? I'm contemplating trying to do a giveaway closer to the time of release of the next book, but I don't know what sort of contest or rules I would have for it. My "mailing list" (which yes, is a thing on here) is weird and wonky and doesn't do much for me. Facebook is my biggest driver, so it would probably be something on there, but I can't ask for people to follow me because they would already be following me to see the post about it in the first place, in theory. I've been toying around with TikTok recently (find me there @davefillawrites) so maybe I could do something with that. I'll have to do some research and see what the best options are. I also had someone ask for me to just sell signed copies - or at least sell them one - so that's an option also, I'd just have to figure out how that works in general. On top of all that, I was thinking of maybe just bringing them and giving them to local bookstores to see if something comes from that. The possibilities are endless!
I've also got plans to go out and get a legitimate author photo taken for this next book as well, and I need to start getting prepared and thinking about that realistically. There's probably only a week good weekends left of perfect fall weather before it starts getting ick outside, so I need to make that happen sooner than later.
The problem with all these plans is that I'm still only 25k into this second draft, so what happens if I do all these things and never finish...no. I couldn't even finish saying that because it's not going to happen. This book is going to be fantastic!
To double down on that sentiment, I thought maybe I would share the blurb idea that I've had for a while. Just to entice the few of you that actually care to read my random mumblings on here.
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BOUND TO PARISH
Family. Some spend their lives wanting to get away from him. Some only miss it once it's gone. Some would kill to have it at all.
In Pointe DeLeaux, Louisiana - a monster prowls the swamps in search of the perfect family. A family he believes was promised by God. He'll stop at nothing to bring his destiny to life, even if it means taking the lives of others.
Alphonse Bordeaux spent his childhood running the canals of the Pointe, frogging at midnight, and helping his mother in the corner store that bore her name. Family meant sweating but surviving in the parish, a life of good enough and just barely. He longed to get away and make a name for himself.
When a third girl is reported missing, local police call for help. Now a state detective, Alphonse is pulled back to the bayou, surrounded by memories dredges up from muddy waters. He's searching for a predator without motive in a town without a future, hoping his own life won't get caught up in the mire as well.
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And there we have it. What do y'all think? I'm always excited for feedback, so let me know if you have any thoughts or feelings or suggestions. I made some changes to what I had written already on the fly, some necessary and some just stylistically, so any thoughts are appreciated.
And now that I've shared the blurb with you all, I guess I HAVE to finish this story.
Sometimes you just have to trick yourself.
-Dave
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