Just finished revising After the Fall: Jason’s Tale; a friend read the book and she has a natural gift for proofreading. She uncovered about 15 small proofing errors which I corrected over Memorial Day weekend. I smoothed out a few other passages along the way and toned down one scene. It was important as a driver for subsequent action in the story, but I didn’t need to be so graphic; that was a distraction to the overall story. I also made some revisions in my references to the smell of the battlefield; for those detail oriented readers. If you haven’t read it yet, the story is even more improved. If you have, you can recommend it to others knowing I’ve improved it and smoothed it out. The revised version is available now as an ebook and the paperback will be available in two days. You can go to here to order. And if you like it, write a short review; reader reviews are very important.
Speaking of the proofreading challenges, my experience convinces me of what brain researchers tell us. Our brains are programmed (wired) to fill in “blanks”. We can see partial shapes and identify them, partial words, partial sentences are part of that phenomenon as well. It must have an evolutionary use, such as helping us to quickly assemble a picture of our surroundings with incomplete input. I can read over a passage multiple times and not see a missing word…or a word misspelled, because my brain fills in the blank or corrects the error.
I’m going to hire a proofreading professional for the sequel. I spend too much time on the task and it still is incomplete when I’m done. Speaking of the sequel, I feel the hot breath of public demand. That’s good, but I don’t want to rush something into print. I’m not being smug or pretentious when I say that my readers deserve my best efforts. The work an author produces goes out there for the whole world to read (hopefully), so, in a way, we are exposing ourselves. That is something new to me. But it is not just my pride that makes me want to present only my best, it’s my respect for the readers; you deserve my best efforts if I am to ask that you spend your time with what I’ve written.
I have read bad books, as we all have, especially in this era of self-publishing. The reader purchases a book on an act of faith and I want the reader to feel a sense of satisfaction when they finish a novel of mine. I hope to write many more and want the readers enjoy and appreciate the fruits of my labors, even if I don’t get a new novel out every three months.
I’m a little over half way through the sequel (by word count), but am reworking the beginning once more (third time now). I woke up around 2:30 am last Saturday with a new slant to the story, one which allows me to get Catherine into the narrative sooner (the working title is “Catherine’s Tale” after all). It shouldn’t negate what has been written, so all the previous work is not lost.
None of this is said as an excuse for not getting the work done. I’m showing up every day so inspiration can find me working. I will do my best to make the wait worth it.
Donna Gray
I just finished After The Fall: Jason’s Tale. The characters are life-like, and well rounded. The story is believable and I can’t wait to read the second book which I believe will be Catherine’s Tale. I admired the moral fortitude of the male lead character when faced in a difficult position when his “step” daughter told him she wanted to have his baby. He handled that situation like a gentleman should and went out of his way not to hurt poor, young, Catherine. It was a nice touch to have Jason and Anne “marry” themselves and produce a healthy child. I don’t care for the ending that brought in the Military although surprisingly, the Military did not force the issue of relocation. A lot of the apocalypse story lines have people thrown into “camps” where the ones in charge are evil, self serving anarchists. It was refreshing to see the Military see reason and be flexible when their orders deem otherwise. I wonder how long that will last. I am looking forward to the next book.
David
Donna,
Thank you for your kind comments. Regarding the ending, I foreshadow a tension between Lt. Cameron, who wants to do the right thing and a more corrupt senior officer. This tension is brought out in the sequel. I honestly don’t know yet how Capt. Roper (the corrupt officer) will act; will he do the right thing or act according to his own selfish interests? With order breaking down, he may not see a future in staying in the army and remaining true to its principles. The additional danger is that the army can be misused by corrupt political leaders since they take an oath to follow the commander-in-chief. We’ll see as I work my way through the story.
Thomas Herbert
Very good read, hopefully we won’t have to wait a year for the sequel. One small thing that may have been cover reacted already, rifles such as the AR-15 and semi-automatic pistols use “magazines” to hold their ammunition, not “clips”.
As prior military and law enforcement if you ever feel the need for a proof reader with those skill sets, please let me know.
Thanks again
Thomas
David Nees
Thomas,
Thanks for your comments, and, no, you won’t have to wait a year for the sequel; I’m 2/3 of the way through it. I thought I caught all the “clip” references but I must have missed a few; more careful use of “find and replace” is needed. I might call on your skills in upcoming stories. Please sign on to my mail list, if you haven’t already. The sequel gets into more military/fighting issues. Thanks, again.