#Publishing
Publishing this book series has been very challenging to me. I've told
you that working on Book #5, "The Owl from Oblivion" has been
challenging in itself because it is a big book (about 146,000 words at
the moment) and because I am lucky enough this time to have a really
good editor who challenges me to improve my writing in ways I didn't
think were possible. Many days, it is like taking a couple of university
courses in writing simultaneously with endless homework
assignments. Sometimes it is hard not to procrastinate when facing a
mountain of homework! But at the same time I have the publishing side
which can also be a pretty big burden. Right now I am running an ad
campaign that reaches about 26,000 people a day. What I am trying to do
with that campaign is create a story with ads. I just added a twelfth ad
to the ad rotation last night. The ad you see the picture of is the one
I added. It's an interesting writing challenge as well as creative
challenge. I have to pick an attention getting image and write a piece
of the story in 50 characters. When the twelve ads are viewed in mass, a
characterization of the many themes in the series is revealed. By the
reaction of the ad agency, I don't think this is something they have
seen before. They usually just see which ad performs best and pound that
one into viewers endlessly. I don't let them do that. I force them to
rotate between the ads and I never let them show the ads to any one
person more than twice in one day. So, in some sense, I have turned the
ads into a form of entertainment. One more bit of innovation, perhaps.
The kid in this ad is Ty. Some of the ads are a bit darker than what you
might expect because they represent the increased darkness of book #5.
Syon, on the reality timeline, is an abused child, and the editor has
told me that surprisingly, I have nailed what goes on with the children
and adult friends surrounding the abused child pretty accurately. I am
sorry if I disappoint some people who expected this book to be a happy
romp with fairies because it won't be, though the fairies do their best
to help Syon. You can see it coming in book #4 when you see that as
these talented kids interact with the human population, various factions
of humans (exploiters and exterminators) are drawn toward them (as well
as well meaning humans seeking to help them). It won't be like a Disney
movie where kids get locked up and the worst is what is said to them.
It will be more like the entire planet Earth is the equivalent of a
brutal third world for them. It is a rather interesting turn to portray
the first world as if it is a third world place. To see where this ad goes, go to: http://www.SaeshellBookOfTime.com?link=Blog
#IllustrationOfTheDay
Seven-year-old Stefan from the reality timeline in Book #5, "The Owl
from Oblivion". Stefan was born with nonhuman color variations in his
hair. His mom used to dye the color variations so they would look
unnatural. She would tell people that Stefan dyed his hair because of a
fantasy game he was playing.
To learn more about the series, starting with book #1, click the link below and follow the trail.
This #Giveaway is still running. Books are available. #Giveaway This is your chance to own the paperback Book #1, "The Saeshell Book of Time Part 1: The Death of Innocents"for free. I am giving away at least 10 of these books (limited for non-US locations). To enter this giveaway, find the "Talk to the Author" contact form in the right column and send a message telling me you want the book. If you win, I will send you an email letting you know and asking for the postal address you want the book mailed to. If you win the book and it turns out you like it, posting a 4 or 5 star review on Goodreads.com will likely win you the next book in the series for free as well. For the complete description of Book #1 and the overall series, see below.
Magic is an advanced science that humans don't understand. Two young
people are betrothed at birth and forced by alien races to serve as the
secret King and Queen of contemporary Earth: from the UK, Stefan, a
seventh-grade artistic prodigy and from the US, Tova, a
nineteen-year-old life sciences genius. Both were raised as humans and
left to discover that they will be immortal at age nineteen. Using their
emerging magic, they must protect the kingdom of Earth from unwanted
alien intrusions. Shy, reclusive Stefan is ripped from his childhood and
has eight weeks to learn to rule. Tova must do more than love Stefan —
she must keep him sane or kill him to protect humans from his irrational
use of his powers.
Book #1: The Saeshell Book of Time Part1: The Death of Innocents In this first part of the four part serial storyline, Elof, an abused
Tibetan-American science wizard must teach the magical children, Ty and
Tyco, to use their talents ethically. Otherwise, Tova will destroy them
to protect Earth. Ty, the mysterious, fearful third-grade son of a
British Prime Ministerial aid, has an ancient knowledge given to him by
‘ghosts’. Tyco, who is the fifth-grade son of a Mayan astronomer, must
learn to keep his warrior impulses in check and protect his friend, Ty,
from harm. While teaching these kids, Elof reconciles his own childhood
with his sociopath father. Does he have a magical inheritance he has yet
to discover? Far grittier than Harry Potter, this story is an
intellectual puzzle of mysteries and surprises for readers ready to meet
the challenge.
Enter the giveaway NOW! Use the "Talk to the Author" contact form in the right hand column.
Paul25 sighs, thinking, “In many ways, the brutality of the reality timeline is not much worse than this. During my greater than one-thousand-year tenure on Earth, I saw many a friend fall terminally ill — comforted and given false hope by their friends, including me.” He shakes his head, continuing his silent muse. “Here, there is false hope a plenty, instilled in all on this timeline by Dad’s all-encompassing love. They will all die, as sure as a summer leaf will fall in the Autumn to rot. And yet, like a warm end of summer day, they will feel the warmth of love from this doppelgänger of the reality timeline’s Stefan and the joy of success — all of it filling them with hope for what can’t possibly be. I feel absolved of my incompetence in creating the reality timeline. Reality sometimes kills the dream — the dream-like life on this timeline that created us.”
Paul1 breaks into a gentle cry and buries his face into Stefan’s side. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”
Stefan cuddles Paul1 tightly and strokes his hair with his bloody hand, giving him the mark of a butcher. “I know my son. I know. It was a terrible event for all of us. Now there is just one thing left to do—something that will keep your brother’s death from being totally useless."
I have added a contact form in the top right column of the blog. This contact form can be used to talk to the author (me), sign you up for email notification of blog postings, register you for giveaways, or put you on a list to receive random goodies I send out to email subscribers. Just tell me what you want to do in the message. You just say subscribe to everything if you want receive broadcast messages from the author about all of the above. Your email address will not be sold to the great world wide spam machine.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
#IllustrationOfTheDay
One of the dreamier aspects of Paul25 is how he spent much of his first 1000 years of life on the Earth. Here was a high empathy,
immortal kid who, in this picture, spent his time sleeping on stinking,
rotting, urine covered sailing vessels. A
single thought could send him back to the hyper-modern planet of
comfort where a motherly computer would materialize whatever he asked
for (provided he could picture it in his mind). And yet his empathy was
like a shackle because his poor captain --- a lonely, refined man among a
crew of ruffians --- needed a life-long friend and companion throughout
his travels. Here, a thief would like to take advantage of the
terminally ill captain and steal his sextant. He definitely caught
Paul25 at the wrong time. Paul25 was upset at losing yet another of his
long-time human friends. Plus, a bitter irony gnawed at Paul25 because,
using a beam from his palm, he could heal the captain. But his world
forbid him from interfering in human evolution. By seeing so many of his
friends die, his will to obey that rule became weakened in the later years. At times, Paul25 can be the mischievous little boy whose big heart is always getting him in trouble. He comes home to Sophista beaten up by Earth so that the Peters can fix his broken body and his fellow Pauls can cheer-up his mind. But the event on this particular day was so traumatic that only his new adoptive mom, Tova2, could heal his heart.
Everyone has hidden talents. At some point in your childhood, you selected a fork in the road and decided which of your good talents you would pursue. My first fork led me through government funded school research, corporate funded research, finally to various bleeding edge projects in Silicon Valley. Now, I am looping backwards in time so that I can try the other fork. I am on a campaign to help kids keep those brain cells us adults no longer have. Use them or lose them.
