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Friday, August 27, 2010

Questions From My Brother - Answered!

I recently sent out an announcement to my friends and family about the publishing of Book Two of my trilogy. The Siliphore (you can see the covers of books 1 and 2 if you scroll down to an earlier post).


My brother sent me a letter in return, asking some questions about the books, and my answer to him contained so much information I thought you’d enjoy hearing it also. You’re also welcome to comment and ask questions. Here’s what I said to my brother (only slightly paraphrased for your benefit):I


Thanks for buying Book One – all I ask is that if you like it spread the word both by mouth and over the internet because that’s the only way I really have to let the world know the books are out there. I don’t get any free copies of the books – I even have to purchase the proof copies, so I can’t afford to buy 50 copies and peddle them at events or in the street. I’m primarily trying to spread the word via the Internet, so any and all assistance is greatly appreciated! Believe me – WRITING the books is the EASY part!!!


I’ve self-published through Amazon.com and will be doing so as well through Barnes & Noble if they ever finish the development of their competing self-publishing venue. I’d LOVE to put the books on tape but I’d have to pay for the production, and can’t afford it.  If anyone out there knowsw how that can be accomplished, please let me know!

I hope you like the covers of the books – I designed them and even took the photos on books 1 and 3. Al took the photo of me that appears on the back, (though my hair is MUCH longer now) and of course, I wrote the précis that appears on the back. That was really hard – in a précis you have to tell just enough about the story to interest a reader while revealing nothing!! Yeow!


All 3 books are presently available through Amazon for the Kindle eBook reader but I’m going through and proofing/editing the hard copy of book 3 before I release it. It’s actually much easier to find errors and better word/phrase choices when the book’s in hard copy, though I don’t know why that is. Every time I submit a newly edited version I also re-submit the file for Kindle, so both venues are consistent.


If you wonder why each book costs progressively more (in hard copy, that is… they all cost $10 each via Kindle) it’s because MY cost is calculated per page. The more pages, the more it costs to produce it, plus if Amazon sells them via other venues (libraries, bookstores, conventions, etc) their costs go way up, and my royalty plunges to less than a dollar per book! That’s why they’re priced that way – so that if Amazon sells them to a library or something I don’t end up having to PAY THEM for each book!!! Difficult business to get rich in, believe me!! That’s why authors being interviewed on TV talk shows are always introduced as “author, lecturer, teacher, and shoe lace collector” and so forth. Very few people just write for a living!

As for the books themselves, I actually wrote them years ago but was able to edit them into a better story through this process. They were originally sort of spewed out of my head but I think I’ve honed them into a complex and involving hero journey. There’s a lot in them – the most important factor of which is deeply believable characters who do and react to things in a realistic way, and with whom one can sympathize, identify, and empathize. I recall that many years ago I let our mother read the first book, (I don’t think I’d finished the 2nd at the time) and at first she tried to assign each character to real people. “Oh, this character is your sister, isn’t it?” she’d say, and I’d emphatically deny it, as THAT character was doing things our sister’s personality would never have let her do.

Naturally, the characters do contain aspects of many people I know personally; myself chief amongst them, of course but there are actually only four characters who were modeled after specific people. Two are minor characters and two are major; one of whom ironically seems to be the only caricature-like person in the trilogy! If you want to look for me in the characters, I fancy myself as three of them, one of whom is not immediately presented. DO let me know what you think and who you think represents me!


There’s violence in all of the books, some of which is a bit extreme and rather graphic. I remember that our mother was worried about that; wondering how I’d ever thought up such heinous goings-on, (lest she had secretly harbored an insane monster?). I admitted that it had taken some time to think up the nasty stuff, as I’m actually quite a peaceful person. Violence is so much easier to imagine if it remains outside the realm of reality. I think she felt better that it hadn’t come to me easily, though I suspect she remained a bit cautious. Actually, some aspects of the violence, especially in Book One, are more sensual than blatantly cruel, and represent an imposed dominance rather than brutality. Well, see for yourself and you’ll clearly see what I mean. Now that I think of it, some of the violence in Book Two IS deliberately cruel but it’s done for a purpose and by a character to whom it DOES come naturally. I don’t use gratuitous violence – there’s always a purpose to it.


There’s also a lot of intimately described sex in the books but I wrote those scenes without melodrama and they flow naturally and read quite nicely. If they stimulate the reader, so much the better; not only for the reader’s gratification but because any emotional reaction to the characters or situations make the reader more closely involved in the book, adding to their enjoyment. Those scenes either promote character relationships or plot development (Yes! Sex as plot development! It happens!) and in all three books there is only one instance of deliberately gratuitous sex but it’s fun to read and I refuse to write it out!!


Publishing these books has actually been a life-long dream of mine, and seeing them appear in hard copy in especially-chosen colors with photos I’ve taken (exception: book 2’s photo is a public domain image) is a truly wonderful feeling. While it can be a bit intimidating, since it’s true that one reveals oneself in one’s writing, I welcome one and all to look inside my head in my books – there’s a lot of laughing and poetry and conflicts, and a few surprises…just like real life, only with maybe a tiny touch of unreality thrown in.


Enjoy it with my gratitude and love!!





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