Update on Parting Shot

Once again, I'm sorry it has been so long since I last wrote here. Life has an odd way of intruding on my intentions sometimes.

I hope you're doing well amid the chaos of our current lives. I find myself feeling a little like I've stepped into the pages of a novel ... and it's not one of mine! Whose novel is this and how do I get out? We need to have a few words about the writing style, I think.

Anyway, I do have some news! It definitely looks like I'm going to release the fifth novel, Parting Shot, this year.

I know it's hard to believe, since it's been four years since the last one and I've already said there would be a new one this year, followed by mostly silence. I don't blame you for feeling skeptical. I'm trying not to be skeptical.

I really thought it would be sooner, because I had the text ready to go in February, but then the coronavirus decided to get into the act. My artist and I were affected in different ways, but we both got sidetracked and delayed. We did the whole thing remotely, which is a testament to her creativity and patience because I found I don't always excel at describing what I want/expect in an image. We kept working, though, and I think you're going to like the result.

Here's where I am: I have uploaded the whole interior of the novel and the cover image to KDP. Both have been accepted, so I ordered a proof copy. (The Other Side taught me how crucial it is to do that every time.) The proof should get to me in a little over a week (because I'm too cheap to pay to expedite it), so we'll see what happens then. If the proof copy looks good, I'll be able to publish Parting Shot. Sometime in there, I'll also get the Kindle version available.

The end is in sight! I will keep you updated, I promise.

Thank you for your patience. Stay safe.

Update on the Fifth Novel

It occurs to me that this blog is supposed to help you keep track of where I am on my novels, but it's kind of hard for you to do that if I don't post updates once in a while!
So here goes ...

The fifth novel, which does not have a title that I want to share yet, has a long way to go. This weekend I finally started to break part of it into chapters so that it's not just one big lump of story. I've done some other minor formatting, but it doesn't have headers yet.

The biggest problem is the story itself. I had a story written, but it's too short and the beginning is horribly boring. Because of this, I decided I needed to add something to the beginning, and that's where I've gotten myself in trouble. It turns out that it's very hard to add onto the beginning of a story because you have to come up with stuff that not only fits in with what's already written but also doesn't mess with the themes or give away anything that's coming later in the story. That's hard!

I also find that it's hard to write toward something that's finished. In other words, I'm used to writing with no particular ending in mind, which gives me a lot more freedom. Right now, I'm limited on where the story can go or what the characters can do, and that's had a negative effect on the writing itself. I wrote myself into several dead ends and had to backtrack to get where I wanted to be.

I like most of what I've written and I think I can make all of this work, but there's still a lot to be done. Because of that, I'm not very far along. I'm sorry to say that, because it makes a potential reader a little exasperated, I'm sure.

I am working on it, though! I spent quite a bit of time this weekend on the novel, which felt incredibly good after my long bout of writer's block, so I'm confident that this novel will see the light of day.

We'll just have to see when I can finish it, but I think that's a lot better than having to see if it will happen.

In the meantime, if you'd post a review of any of my novels, I'd really appreciate it! Please be honest if you do so. You can post a review on Amazon, Goodreads or wherever you prefer.

Thanks! And thanks for reading my blog.

The Other Side Update

I haven't given you much in the way of updates lately for The Other Side, have I? I am working on it, but things are a little slow in that department. Here's why:

When I started on my novels, I wrote Outsider first (no surprise there) and then I slowly wrote four other novels. In between writing, I would go back and edit/rewrite on previous novels. After a while, I realized that the third novel was too short, so I combined it with the second to create Another Shot. What started as the fourth novel was now the third, and I was having some real trouble with it: I couldn't come up with an ending that worked. I rewrote and rewrote, but it never ended to my satisfaction. Finally, with more than a little regret, I realized that the novel would never work as it was and I discarded it. (Believe me when I say that was not an easy thing to do.) The final novel was now referring to things that had never happened!

I wasn't happy with only three novels, so I resolved to write one to go between Another Shot and the final novel. As it turned out, I managed to fit two novels in there, In the Shadows and The Other Side. This means the final novel also neglects to mention big things that happened in those two novels! As you can tell, that last novel is going to need a lot of work.

In the meantime, however, I have to deal with The Other Side. Since it was technically written last (even though it isn't the last novel in the series; how confusing is that?), it has had the least work. Some of the original writing came as late as 2008 or after, so I haven't been through it as many times as the other novels. Since I don't write things perfectly the first time (or even the second or third time), I'm having to do a lot of rewriting. I've also been adding scenes that should have been in there but somehow weren't.

All of this means I'm doing more work on this one than I even did on In the Shadows. (You might remember how much work I did on that late in 2014.) The good news is that I'm doing this work over the summer instead of over the fall, so I've given myself some more time. I'm still aiming for a release date of January, although that isn't set in stone.

Meanwhile, just to make things "interesting" for myself, I'm trying to create a video for In the Shadows. Sometimes it gets confusing and I have to remember which plot line I'm working with, but it means that things don't get boring!

That's the latest update. I appreciate your patience and I thank you for reading my blog (and my novels).

Another In The Shadows Update

Good news! I finally finished the blurb for In the Shadows, which means I was able to submit the whole book to CreateSpace.com for review. After waiting 24 hours, I got the word: it's good to go!

I've now ordered a proof copy that's supposed to arrive around January 5. (It's hard to wait!) Then I'll finally be able to hold my latest novel in my hands. What a feeling that is. (And it lasts until I start proofreading and find the inevitable mistake. Oh, well, that's part of the process.) I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, believe it or not, I've starting working on the next one! (It already has a rough draft.) This one will need A LOT of work: it doesn't have a title and it isn't even broken into chapters yet! (I think I have a good title in mind, though. I'll give it some thought and let you know once I'm sure.)

Remember to tell all of your friends and family members about the first two novels. They'd better hurry and read them before the third one is out, right?

I hope you had a peaceful holiday and will have a wonderful New Year. Look for the beauty that's around you, sometimes where you least expect it.


From Photography Workshop, November 2014

Thanks, as always, for your support.

Sean

(SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read Another Shot yet, you might not want to read this post.)

I think I always knew that Sean wouldn't stay with the crew.

How many times have you seen a movie or read a book where the main character gets snatched from his/her surroundings and thrown into a completely foreign situation? After a bunch of adventures, the character decides that this is where he/she belongs, no matter what his/her original plans might have been.

It always troubled me a little. I mean, sometimes the writer goes to great pains to let us know that this character is much better off this way, instead of in the dreary life that was abandoned, but sometimes it's not clear. And I always wondered what that character might have achieved in that original life.

So, being the stubborn person I am, I decided that my main character would not only have a good goal in life (teaching), he would also continue to pursue it, even after meeting Lamont's crew and acknowledging the importance of what they do. Sean didn't really fit in with them anyway, no matter what Hawkins might think, and it wouldn't have made a lot of sense for him to stay.

Some of my readers have expressed surprise at Sean's fading into the background. "Isn't the series about Sean?" they ask.

Well, no, not really. Sean is our introduction to the crew and he's a major character of the first novel, Outsider, that is true ... but he was always just one of the characters. Anybody who's willing to destroy the ship that her first novel was named after is going to be willing to jettison a major character. Call me brave or call me stupid ... it seems more true to the story that way.

Don't worry, though. You haven't seen the last of Sean. He's sure to pop up sometime in the future.

The Latest Title

I've been writing a little about the third novel lately and it occurred to me that I haven't revealed the title of it yet. Are you interested? Read on!

I was doing a reasonable job of keeping the title a secret until a couple of people asked me flat out what it is ... so I told them. Now it just doesn't seem fair to keep it to myself any longer.

Here goes: the title of the third novel is In The Shadows.

As you might guess, I play around a lot with darkness and light in this one. You might recall that Penumbra, the name of Lamont's ship, means an area of shadow that's between the darkest shadow and the light, so it made sense to me that I should explore that a little more.

I'm still rewriting, which is the fun part: I get to play around with scenes and words to see what I can come up with. Eventually, however, I'll have to decide that I've done what I can and it's time to format the final product.

Stay tuned!

This Weekend

I hope those of you in the U.S. will fly your flag on Saturday, which is Flag Day. Our flag stands for quite a few important ideas and actions, so let it fly to show what it means to you. We might have a lot of differences of opinion in our country, but I think most of us would agree we'd rather not live anywhere else.

And for Sunday, I want to wish everyone a happy Father's Day. Give someone's dad a hug or a smile. And while you're at it, do the same for someone's mom. Parents are special people. I want to say "thank you" to both of my parents for putting up with me for all of these years! I love you both.

If you've never seen soccer (futbol) before, give the World Cup a try. There's a lot of fancy footwork--and if you think American fans are intense, try some of these international fans! To say they love the sport is to say that it gets a little warm inside a volcano.

I just wrapped up a run-through of the third novel and you'll be glad to know that I think it's worth keeping. I wasn't sure it would stand up to my scrutiny after the year or so since I'd last read it, but I think it does. It needs some tweaks and I'm working on those now. Then will come the most dreaded step: FORMATTING. Just the word strikes fear in my heart, but I will prevail! (And I'll try not to be so dramatic about it.)
I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend!

Perspective

I've been spending too much time lately staring at the images produced by the cameras aboard the International Space Station.  Here's what I've learned about Earth:
1) It's beautiful.
2) There are a LOT of clouds.
3) The people living on it had enough ingenuity to put a station up there so I could see these amazing views. I'm so lucky!

Another thing I've learned is that no matter what my mood, I will feel better when I look at our blue and white planet from above. For one thing, darkness lasts less than an hour up there, so the sun is going to rise again soon.

And the funny thing is that this is a big theme in my third novel! It couldn't be more timely for me to see the embodiment of darkness giving way to light.

It's dark and scary over there to the left, but all of that is shrinking away against the returning light.

Darkness has its purpose and is not always bad, but it's only part of the equation. The trick is to pass through it without becoming part of it.

And down here on this part of the surface, the days are getting longer.
Enjoy your summer.

Recollection

Happy Memorial Weekend! It's the unofficial start of summer, but it's also a time to remember ...

I started to think about those I remember, and it saddens me that the list is longer than I expected. I guess we can't escape that unless we have no human contact whatsoever, which wouldn't be worth it. The sadness is accompanied by a feeling of gratitude to have known them as long as I did. Family and friends, you are not forgotten.

I plan to use this weekend to make as much progress as I can on my third novel. Yes, there is a third, and yes, I have a rough draft. I'm in the polishing stage. That's when I read over what I have and wonder, What was I thinking when I wrote that???
Then I fix it (at least I hope so). I enjoy jumping back into that world temporarily, especially when this "real" one gets a little hectic.

Speaking of different worlds, how would you like to know what it's like to be aboard the International Space Station, gliding peacefully over the Earth? I don't know about you, but I would spend the whole time staring out the window ... and now I have the chance to do that! No, NASA hasn't invited me up there (although I would accept the invitation, NASA! Call me anytime). Instead, the Internet has come up with yet another way to suck up my time. Look at this.

How would you like that view out your window? Here's your chance to see it! It's here: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/  (If you go there and the image is gray or black, give it about 30 minutes. The station orbits in and out of darkness several times a day. One orbit takes a little over 90 minutes.)

So while we remember the ones we've lost, we can also remember what an awesome planet we live on and how much it's worth saving.

Amazon

Contrary to my dealings with Facebook, which have not been favorable so far, I am happy with Amazon for having an author page that's rather easy to update. They even let me set up a quick and simple URL so people can easily find me there: www.amazon.com/author/dianemccallum . Thanks, Amazon, for being user-friendly!

Another Shot is off to a slow start, as far as sales go, but that's to be expected. It takes a while for word to spread. Remember that you are part of that: if you've read either of my novels and enjoyed it, please recommend it to your friends, family, co-workers, casual acquaintances, bus drivers, hairdressers, postal carriers, doctors, dentists, etc. I appreciate your support!

I'm thinking about having another book signing, but things are rather hectic around here right now, so it might not be until late March or April. I 'll let you know here and on the Amazon page once I set a date. You should also be able to find it on my Goodreads author page here: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6911034.Diane_McCallum?from_search=true

Meanwhile, I'm working on the third novel. This one is going to require more work because I haven't spent as much time on it as the first two novels. We'll see if I can get this one ready by December or January. Stay tuned to this blog for updates!

Breaking News!

I have great news: Another Shot is now available on Amazon.com!

Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Another-Shot-Penumbra-Diane-McCallum/dp/149366414X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387324797&sr=1-3&keywords=diane+mccallum

(I'll try to make a link on the side like the one for Outsider once I have time to figure out how I did that before.)

There were times when it probably seemed like the sequel to Outsider would NEVER come out, but I finally got it done over the past weekend. I had to make the changes from my last round of proofreading and then submit the whole file (interior and cover) to CreateSpace again. Once they approved it, I merely had to approve it myself and then wait for one nail-biting day before it popped up on Amazon.com. (My reaction was about the same as when Outsider first appeared there: yips of delight, accompanied by some clapping of hands and spontaneous hopping.)

I want to thank Kristi Kranker for the cover art, which came out great.

I also want to thank everyone for their support, which made this possible. It was the remarkable interest in Outsider that encouraged me to publish Another Shot, so pat yourself on the back!

It's now officially a series!

Proof Copy

The proof copy of Another Shot has arrived! I can't tell you how exciting it is to hold the physical book in my hands and know that soon other readers will be holding their own copies!

This means I need to do another round of proofing because I want those readers to be happy, not hung up on errors. I already see something on the back cover that I'd like to change. This means we're in for another wait while I read through it again, make the necessary changes and go through the submission process again.

For those of you in the vicinity of Pittsburg, Kansas, I will be making an appearance at the public library (308 N Walnut) on Monday, November 18, at 6:00 p.m. They're having a reception for local authors, who will be selling and autographing copies of their books. I hope you'll stop by to say "Hi" and support our local authors. This is your first chance to get a look at the cover of Another Shot! Don't miss it!

World Premiere of Another Shot Description

I think the title sounds a little pretentious, but it's true! I'm about to share with you a description of the sequel, Another Shot.

First, though, let me give you some good news: I'm in the process of getting the book published. I've uploaded both the interior pages and the cover to CreateSpace.
(You should see the cover! It's awesome!) Now I have to wait 24 hours to see if CS will accept the files. After that, I'll order a proof copy so I can double-check everything.
As you might expect, that could take a week or so, but I'm certainly much closer to publication. It's exciting to be involved in this process again.

So here it is, as promised:
   In Volume 2 of the Penumbra series, Outsider has crashed to Earth and the crew is in disarray.
   And that's only the beginning: a fugitive from Captain Lamont's past has returned to seek vengeance, vowing to destroy everything the captain holds dear.
   Sean Foster rejoins the crew as they try to stop an elusive killer before it's too late.

Please keep spreading the word. I rely on you to help me introduce the series to new potential readers. Together we can make Another Shot a success!

Progress

Great news! I've registered Another Shot at CreateSpace.com and it has its own ISBN! (I had to look it up: ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number.)
How exciting is that?

This past week, I met with the artist and we finalized a few details about the cover art. She's working on her artist profile for About the Artist, which she apparently finds just as hard to write as I did. (I simply modified the one I had for Outsider, so it was a little easier for me this time.) I think she's going to get both of them to me by next week. Things are rolling!

Once I have About the Artist, I'll add that to the final page and then I'm ready to submit the interior. That means all of the pages you see between the covers, which I had to format correctly. We'll see if CreateSpace accepts it or if I have to make some changes. (Fingers crossed.)

Please remember to keep spreading the word about Outsider. Tell your friends, your acquaintances, people you encounter on the street or online! Let's build up interest so Another Shot can do as well as Outsider ... or even better. Thanks for your support!

Delay

Unfortunately, things seem to be on hold for the sequel right now, although I'm expecting that to change soon. I'm waiting to get some information from another source before I can proceed much further.

However, I'm hoping that next weekend I'll have more of the pieces and I can open up a new title in CreateSpace. I think that's the first step to really believing the project will happen. I thought it would be this weekend, but it didn't work out. That's okay, I'm not on a strict schedule ... but I can feel myself getting a little antsy. The internal pressure is starting to build as I gear up for the big push to get published.

I'm sorry I don't have more to report this time, but I'll try to have more next weekend.  Have a great week!

Space Tourism

Sigh. I just found out why I won't be going to space just yet: Virgin Galactic is charging $250,000 for a future ride on one of their spaceships. Unless I sell a whole lot of books, I guess I won't be going that route anytime soon. (If you're interested, here's where you can book your flight: http://www.virgingalactic.com/booking/)

That's okay, I hadn't really counted on that type of spaceflight yet ... although, given the chance, I'd take it! If you know anyone who wants to give away their ride on a parabolic flight, let me know and I'll step right up to accept it.

For now, though, I'll be content to use that old standby, my imagination. That's certainly better than nothing. It created five novels, after all!

I've finished the corrections to Another Shot. Now I'm double-checking the format and waiting to hear from the artist (about the cover image and the "About the Artist" text at the end of the book). I'll keep you updated on how that's going.

Remember to spread the word! Wouldn't you love to read my blog about a trip into space??

Making Corrections

The proofreading is done! At last.

Now I'm making corrections to my file, based on the proofreading I did. However, it's not quite as easy as it sounds. Since my file is already formatted the way I want, I can change the whole look of it simply by adding or removing a single word. This can be a problem if it means a paragraph is broken awkwardly or the page count changes. I've had several instances where I changed one word and then had to go change several other sentences just to make things line up again. Oddly enough, the forced changes occasionally made the phrasing better than the original! It's funny how that works.

For example, I had a sentence that read this way: "Your altitude is good," Hawkins said, his eyes glued to the controls.
I never liked that part about "eyes glued to the controls" because it's a cliché and why is he looking at the controls anyway?
I changed the sentence to read this way: "Your altitude is good," Hawkins, said, keeping his eyes on the instruments.
Doesn't that seem better? That also meant that a two-line sentence farther down appeared on the same page, rather than being broken up between two pages.
Little adjustments like that are what make this a slow process, but it will make the finished product much better. (It makes me cringe to think of my novel as a "product," but that's ultimately what it will be.)

Once I get the corrections made to the file, I'm going to double-check all aspects of the formatting. While I'm doing that, I'm going to create a notebook of the various format settings so I'll be ready when it comes time to format the third novel. (Yes, there will be a third!) That should save me some time in the future.

So I'm making progress. Remember to tell all your friends about Outsider so they can get it read before the sequel is published!

Cover News

Out of the blue, I got an e-mail from Kristi, the artist, this past week. She asked if I wanted to see the artwork she's creating for my next cover. Did I want to see it??
You bet!

After a little confusion (I wandered the halls for a few minutes because I missed her follow-up message about where we should meet), we found each other outside, where it was a beautiful day. Sitting on the table was a board with the artwork on it ... and I really liked it! It was similar to the original sketch I saw, but it was more detailed and I could get a better idea of how the finished product will look. I think it will look great!

The next step is for Kristi to scan the image into her computer and make some changes, including the addition of some color. We talked about that for a few minutes. There won't be a lot of color, because of the nature of the image (which is top secret!), but she can add a few touches here and there. I'm really excited to see the finished product.

I've been proofreading Another Shot as often as I can lately and I'm making progress. I found some rather big errors, so I know the time spent is worth it. Stay tuned!

Blurbs

This week I started trying to write blurbs for the second novel, and that's proving to be almost as hard as coming up with a cover image. I need short descriptions for two places: the back cover and the Amazon page. Each one has to make the reader want to read the story without giving away too much or being too wordy. (Try it yourself! Summarize your favorite novel in four or five compelling sentences.)

For Outsider, I gave it a lot of thought and then scribbled a bunch of words and phrases on a piece of paper without really thinking about them. Once I had the main points written down, I tried to put those into coherent sentences. (If you want to see what I came up with, click on the image of Outsider to the right, which will take you to the Amazon page for it.)

I have a good idea about the first part of the blurb for Another Shot, but the rest is proving elusive. I'll keep working on it.

I've also started what might be the last proofread. This one might take a while because I want to be very careful not to miss anything.

By the way, how did it get to be September??

Cover Update

I hadn't met with the artist for two weeks because we both had other activities, but we were able to find time this past week ... and I'm glad we did! After we discussed some of the business aspects, the artist showed me an initial sketch, based on my feeble attempts to describe what I want, and I really liked it! I think she's going to come up with something fantastic and I can't wait to see it.

This really brought home to me the idea that I'm going to publish a sequel to Outsider. That might sound strange, since I've been posting updates about it and proofreading the draft, but somehow, having a cover image in the works makes it seem much more real. There's going to be a cover, which means there's going to be a published novel! Then, amazingly enough, I'll be a twice-published author! I'd better put my head down before I pass out. Ha, ha.

I know it won't be easy, because getting the novel properly formatted and working through the CreateSpace steps can be a challenge, but I'm starting to think it might actually happen. Wow!

Thanks for reading my latest post. Feel free to post comments on this or any of my posts. Be sure to read About This Blog (you'll see it listed to the right) if you haven't already. And stay tuned!