NEW BLOG LOCATION

Hey there,

I've neglected this too long. I've published a few new things. I've redone the main site. I've started a new blog. I've released half of my books, soon all of them, on kindle. I'm really expanding.

I've also started some new educational sites. I'll be on www.common-core-assessments.com and www.littlelearninglabs.com.

For more updates and some new excerpts from my books, see the new blog at www.veleriondamarke.wordpress.com

DONE

I finished editing tonight. I changed a lot less than I expected, mostly just cleaning up awkward sentences and fixing unclear parts. I think it stands as it is, perhaps a bit silly and uncomplicated at times, but hopefully an enjoyable read.

I look forward to seeing what the real-life inspiration for the main character has to say about it!

I happily say goodbye to Rob and Sera, though there is still a bit of cover work and final editing to do to get the book actually into print. I need another late night, perhaps, and then I'll be good to go.
Some final silly artwork will likely make its way into the back of the book, too.

48 pages left

Not much left to go! I'm trying to finish in the next week or so. I'll keep you all posted.
Cover art should be quick once the editing is done. It'll probably take me longer to find a good pdf converter than anything. It's so hard to get a good one that switches to 6x9 and embeds fonts.

expect it on lulu within 2 weeks!

Final 100 pages

I'm into the final 100 pages of editing for Earthbound. I'm going to try to finish it in the next 2 weeks. Cover artwork and layout should take a day or two. It should come in around 600 pages, and I toned down the appendices. I have a few pieces of artwork that may or may not make it into the volume.

The real question is... open ending for a possible volume 2, or leave it with a pretty good cliffhanger for a necessary volume 2? I'm not sure it's necessarily worth revisiting, but it might be popular. We'll see.

Two Thirds Done

Still editing earthbound. I'm 2/3 of the way done. I had to shrink it to size 10 font to get it under 700 pages. It was near a thousand at size 12. I also shrank a few things down and cut down some of the appendices and other junk I wanted to add. They didn't add much to it.

I'm 400 of 600 pages done, and moving fairly quickly. I work on it for 30-45 minutes perhaps 3-5 times a week. I'm trying to move it along, but there's not always a lot of time.

After that's done, I might work on The Emperor's Dogs, a new book I have an idea for. The Sworn Lands Vol 2 is still in the works, and I have about a third of In Roam 2 done, too. Not sure if I'm going back to that.

Still Editing

Still working on Earthbound. I have a lot of ideas of where to go after that, but it will be some time yet. I think I"m around 30% done. On weekdays, I get half a chapter or so done. I don't find myself adding as much to this book as I did in previous ones. Typically, I add about 10% during the editing process. This time it's more like 2-5%. Does that mean I didn't have as much to say or that I wrote more completely this time? It's hard to say. Unlike some other books, this one does not have to be backfilled with a whole world of history. Instead, it's mostly our world with a few visitors...

I'll keep you all posted on the progress, especially since I'm on here more often blogging for an educatonal site anyway.

Sera & Rob

Editing Earthbound, and I'm really liking the side character Phil. He's the comic relief character, but he's probably my favorite. I'm still pondering an expanded or alternate ending. I'm not sure. It's coming along, but I'm really starting to get interested in a second set of Perennials novels, or another project tentatively titled The Emperor's Dogs.

I'll discuss that one more later.

Back in Action

So I just started editing Earthbound after something like 6 months out of action. Hooray for that, eh? I also played around a little on lulu.com, adding previews to most of my books. They fiddled with a few settings here and there, and I'm not sure I'm in love with it to be honest.

We'll see how that all goes... I'll keep you all posted about Earthbound as it progresses. Keep an eye out on my new homepage on weebly, too.

Writing on Hold

So fatherhood has been a bigger sponge of my time than expected, but it is not without its blessings.

In the meantime, I've compiled Pancake & Hen into a new volume, including 4 new short stories and some reformatted text to make for a better read.

Earthbound is at a standstill. I've had no time to edit it, and I'm not sure what I'll think of it when I do. I can't believe it has been nearly a year and still nothing has been done on it.

I've had lots of ideas for writing lately, but all my time that's not going into the baby ends up in a math textbook I'm working on and on some blog posts I'm doing for a friend. It's so hard to write for fun when I can write and get paid instead - although it's a totally different kind of writing. Maybe the math textbook project will pan out and I can stop teaching to write professionally instead, eh?

I'll try to post more now, especially since I'm doing another blog on here now over at Have Fun Teaching's Blog.

Closing in on an end

I've been busy doing this and that lately, but I'm finally knocking out the last few chapters. A skirmish that is prelude to the final fight and then some concluding chapters that may end up in Sera's world... I don't want to give too much away.

It's odd how writing can be kind of a chore, but then when I sit down to do it, I enjoy it. I think if I like writing the chapters, then readers should enjoy reading them. If I struggle to write them, they'll come out awkward and unreal. Not every chapter can be easy though.

Trying to decide whether to go on with In-Roam 2 after this, picking up where it was left off, or go on to newer projects. I still think a combined Pancake & Hen volume (new content?), and perhaps an expanded Afterlives book are in the works. Let's not forget Legends of the Sworn Lands Volume 2, probably the second half of the story. I don't really see a third book there.