Since my other threads are being combined, and I'm obviously a slobbering puppy for self-promo....
So I've been writing for a long freakin' time. First short story at age 16 about a guy who gets sucked into a video game, a la Tron. Then I read a note from a submissions editor: "Please do not submit amateur work, especially story ideas that are overused: i.e. Guy gets sucked into video game."
After that I found journalism to be friendlier, and spent ten years writing for every publication that would take my work. But my dream was to emulate my favorite authors and write stories that would really spark the imagination and chill the spine. I just needed on original premise. So I graduated from college, found no work in newspaper, then one day read a NY Times article about an archaeological dig at Mt. Nemrut, Turkey. By the end I was literally hearing a voice in my head - the main character - making a declaration of intent. That was 1999.
Ten years later I published a 500+ page, two-book novel, and found no rest until it was finished. At first I was like Jonah (made famous by a whale), resisting the incredible task put before me. I mean, this story wanted to be told and
hounded my ass until I got serious. Problem was, I was a journalist. I
told stories. I knew excellent fiction when I read it, but creating it is such a subtle process, and the difference between mediocre and really good is just a few degrees apart.
So now I'm promoting
Something Coming, a New Age Thriller. Every chapter (70 in all) has been drafted at least 20 times. Five versions have gone to the printer, until finally satisfied that my work rivals other professionals with publishing companies behind them. It has been read by proofreaders, a writing coach, friends, relatives, and other writers. What's really killing me so far is everyone seems to like if not love it! Sure, they found some typos and such, and the writing coach said that I needed to make the ending more hopeful. I shaved four chapters entirely and combined some others, reducing the story from over 210,000 words down to about 180,000 total. But basically they said I had a best-seller on my hands. Which actually makes me feel kinda shitty because now I have a greater responsibility to sell it. If the reactions were more like "yeah, it's pretty good," I'd say to myself, well, I wrote it and now I can move on. But no, I actually had to create something completely original and well-written. Darn me....
If I've made you interested, even if you're the pickiest reader,
I offer the first thriller for free at Scribd. Can be downloaded for Kindle or any e-reader plus most mobile devices. You tell me: Am I kidding myself, believing hype, or have a written a potential hit? Thank you!