Writing has been going extremely well the past few weeks. And I’m at the fun part in the book where the main characters are riding around in a Willys Jeep shooting kaiju with the pedestal mounted Browning Machine Gun.
So that’s exciting.
It’s like writing something out of a video game.
The book will probably be wrapped up in the next month or so and then the writing of Leap the Dead will start.
In other news, the publisher who had contracted for these books went out of business it appears. Their website has disappeared and they haven’t posted on FB in about a year and a half. Thus, I’m toying with the idea of self-publishing these two. I have this very rational fear of having all my eggs in one basket. (Or all my books with one publisher.) So I might as well learn a new skill set and make some bigger royalty percentages.
As for the West of Prehistoric series, I’ve got a rough idea for the next book. It’d be titled Settling Prehistoric and be all kinds of fun. I’ve set up some cool things in the previous books that I always wanted to go back and revisit.
In personal news, our Bear has turned ten! For an English Mastiff this is quite the milestone. As the Vet said during his checkup, he’s a ‘Super Senior’.
We had a small party for him and sang Happy Birthday. Then he promptly ate the cupcake WITH a candle in it.
Also, a shout out to Henry Rifles for one of their recent instagram posts. As you all know, Jedidiah Huckleberry Smith and his iconic 1886 rifle in .45-70 are a pivotal pair in my books.
So when this popped up, I was promptly tagged by a buddy.
If you aren’t following me on Instagram, I’m on there. Feel free. My handle is ‘authoreriktesterman’.
It’s a great feeling to have something you worked hard on come to life after such a long time. Especially in this case… this book took much longer than typical due to some external reasons and I’m grateful it’s finished and publishable. 🙂
Link is above.
Kindle is out now, paperback should be out within a few hours/day… and audible should be out in a few months.
This is a bitter sweet moment as I leave the world of cowboys and dinosaurs behind to work on some other projects.
I really just want to keep going…
But, writing is a business and needs to be treated as such. Thus, I must go out and gather more readers by writing various things. The good news is that a rising tide raises all ships. By bringing in readers to my upcoming WWII series and the modern day action-adventure series that are in the plans now, I’ll be introducing more people to my work and in turn, to the world of West of Prehistoric.
Which means I can and will return. 🙂
I’ve already been rolling around ideas on how to continue and the series is certainly set up for some more fun and violence down the road.
So, here we go.
Tell your friends about it, buy family members copies, mention it in passing to your coworkers and neighbors, if you can without being weird about it. The more readers the books get, the sooner I can return.
Writing this series has been a dream come true.
And ironically, I believe it was a 4th of July Weekend in 2018 when I first started writing the opening pages for this series. So it’s fitting that this one should come out on the same weekend six years later.
I never thought I’d find this measure of success. I just hoped to write something that didn’t suck that would entertain people. And while these books may not be the next great American novel they’ve done just that… they’ve entertained many a person in a satisfactory manner.
And I’m eternally grateful for you giving my books a chance.
I heard about this Weird West anthology a couple months ago when it first opened for submissions.
It was being held by Ranconteur Press, a relative new comer to the publishing world. But they’ve been selling books chock full o’ short stories like mad, so I figured why not put in.
And beside. Weird West?
That’s right up my alley, alongside West of Prehistoric.
Originally, I was going to write a ‘WoP’ type story. Not directly related of course, since my publisher currently holds the rights to Jedidiah Huckleberry Smith. But of a similar vein. Cowboys and dinosaurs. Woohoo.
Then my wife told me I should try something new. She suggested Sasquatches. (They are all the rage in our little town in the NC mountains. We have a Big Foot Festival every year.)
But with everything going on between my daughter’s health and writing Book 5, it really didn’t appear like I’d be able to write a story.
And it bothered the heck out of me. Because I wanted to do expand a little bit and try my hand at the short story game. And this seemed like the best opportunity I’d have.
Then, on Monday, things aligned. I sat down and started writing… knowing that the story was due on Friday.
Four days. Four days to come up with a basic plot and fill in the details and action.
With the wife’s blessing, challenge accepted.
So, I wrote. A bunch. About 1k words per day, which is a lot for me… for three days straight. Last night, I wrote 2.2k words.
(It has to be between 5,000 – 8,000 words. I hit 5,267 words. 🙂 )
After finishing at about 10pm, I hopped on my personal Facebook page and asked if anyone was still awake who was willing to read my first short story submission.
A few folks came to the rescue. Including my former Platoon Commander from the Marines. He stayed up until almost 2am taking notes then sent them over with some ‘conditions’.
Erik,
I am not an author and have never written anything outside of a 5 paragraph order.
I have been drinking.
I have read your prior work and I think that you are a very talented author. I am proud to say that I know you and even more proud to say that I should call you my brother. The following is my honest and candid response:
Then he proceeded to tear my wonderful little story apart. 🙂
Which was awesome. It was exactly what I wanted and needed. Then I freaked out and typed like crazy to fix it.
And now my story is 10x better.
Summed up? If I had to put it into a quick little blurb:
An unnamed man seeks death and a confrontation with God. Finds Sasquatches instead.
Fun, fun.
If it’s not picked for the Wyrd West anthology, that’s fine. (Really, it’s just my feelings and pride that will be hurt…) I’ll post it up here for everyone to read. It was a great learning experience and neat to try my hand at something other than the WoP series.
For anyone else interested in Raconteur Press, below is the link to their site.
And now feels like a good time to thank my Beta Readers. Not just my old Officer buddy, (Who was the greatest officer I’ve ever known.), but to everyone who has offered to read my stuff first to make sure I don’t look stupid when it goes to print.
That includes, everyone from NC4x4.com and CarolinaGunForums.com.
You guys rock.
And a special shout out to Joel. You ALWAYS read my stuff and give the BEST feedback. And you’re enthusiasm for what I write keeps me going. Thanks Buddy!
I should know by the end of the month if I get picked.
Now it’s time to get back to Book 5, wrap it up, and move on to what I owe Conundrum Publishing. (So excited to write some WWII sea monster and Modern Day Expendables type stuff!)
Oh yes, before I forget.
I grew a magnificent mustache the past weekend. It lasted for about 8 hours before being shaved. But man, it was so cool. I just walked around the house quoting Tombstone to myself.
(You’re a daisy if ya do….)
Have a great month folks.
Thanks for the prayers for myself and my family. Answers and solutions for my daughter’s health are on the horizon and coming our way. And writing will be restored to it’s usual pace once again… one day….
I’ve got to go over the changes made and see what I accept or don’t.
So far, I’ve only found one that I don’t accept. And that’s in reference to the phrase, “I felt like I’d been shot at, missed, shit at, and hit all over.” Everything else appears to make the book tighter and better.
But it’s pretty cool to see what a professional editor thinks of my writing. It’s like, BAM! Run on sentence. BOOM! Apostrophe here. Ka-POW! Make this not suck. Yippee Kay Yay! Semi-colon.
We’re getting closer and closer to publication! Yeeehaw.
The first book took me two years to write, the second took me a year, and I’m hoping to pound out the third in six months.
That means I’ve got to really get on the ball. I think I can do it. And a book in six months is pretty professional. Heck, it’s probably way better than professional. But I’ve got to put out QUALITY writing. I don’t want to be a Nora Roberts equivalent who spits out a romance novel every three months. (Not that I plan on writing romance, unless the market REALLY takes a turn for the worse and I get desperate!)
All this means is that the first book really needs to sell well so Severed Press will demand an immediate sequel that is already written. Or else my stories will end with a quick and premature death. And I’ve a LOT more to write about in this world I’ve created.
So if I’ve sent you the first manuscript, and you liked it, buy a copy when it comes out. Then buy several more for your friends and family. Drive up the sales. Make it look popular. Heck, MAKE it popular!
But it’s been great to go back to the ‘early days’ of writing a book. Where the pages are blank and I’m just beating that keyboard like it owes me money. It’s the editing process that is SO tedious and time consuming… the rough drafting process is what I really love.
Because writing is problem solving. You’ve a million little issues that have to mesh together, not just the over arching story line and plot – which certainly has to go together, but figuring out each individual character’s subplot as well. (Because they all have a purpose, a reason for being and doing what they do, and that has to be explored and expounded upon.) It’s like a giant 2,000,000 piece puzzle that you get to cut the pieces to size and put them together how you see fit.
It’s just fun. Most of the time.
Also I just wrote an awesome intro scene that really drives home who my main character is and the lengths he is willing to go to do what he feels is right regardless of what the law says. And that’s Jedidiah Huckleberry Smith in a nutshell – Dark, quirky humor, with a morally ambiguous code of ethics, and the willingness to resort to gun play at moment’s notice.
🙂
As for an update on when West of Prehistoric will come out – I don’t know anything yet. But the contract has been signed and I’m eager to start the publishing process.
As for a personal update.
I’m a Jeep guy, I’ve a built 2001 Jeep Wrangler that I’ve had since 2005 and will continue to have until the day my kids inherit it. I also bought another 2001 Cherokee XJ recently for a daily driver. (Sure, I could have something nicer like a Jeep Gladiator Truck… But debt is stupid.)
And because I can’t help but tinker sometimes, I removed the fender flares, cut the fender wells larger, and installed some armor on the back end to protect the tail lights. Sure, it’s just a daily driver, but it was built by a guy from NC4X4.com forum with upgraded suspension, axle shafts, lockers, etc and it’d be a shame to not take the kiddos out in something more comfortable than my TOY Wrangler.
Here’s the after/before pictures.
Turned out pretty well. I’ve still got a few rivnuts to fix on the body armor. (Rivnuts are the suckith.) And I managed to only cut myself once working the angle grinder when I cut the wheel wells open. 🙂 Now the wife says I need some rocker guard armor on it, and I agree. So that’s in the future.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how a daily driver gradually turns into an offroading toy!
Gunpowder and Ink! 