Friends,

There is much to tell you, so let’s dive right into today’s blog…

The Faces of the War Collection

In case you haven’t seen or heard, I finished the first draft of manuscript for Unguarded, the second book in the collection, last week. I am ahead of schedule in the writing/editing/publishing process, so there is now a chance that the book will release before New Year’s of 2015. Follow along in this blog to stay up-to-date on the process. If you want more of an inside scoop on things, join my mailing list here for those juicy details.

I am beginning to really get into the editing of the first part, so needless to say I am excited to be moving along! As I mentioned before, the word count in the first draft was just over 43K, so it will be longer than Resistant (which was just shy of 38K). I believe the story was told very well in 43,000 words, so I don’t want to force more words onto the page and risk the quality of the story. I hope you will take to it well upon its release!

During the writing process of Unguarded, I experienced quite a bit in terms of emotion and writing application. I couldn’t believe that I had written the amount that I did in the span of time that had passed. I began writing in earnest around June 23 and finished in mid-September — a whole month ahead of my tentative writing schedule. I was overwhelmed with satisfaction and joy at my accomplishment, but I know that I can’t hold on to that as rewrites and edits are now on my plate.

If you are a new author, you will find that working on your first project can be daunting. Even just thinking of what all you’d like to accomplish and what lies ahead of you can sometimes thwart your motivation, leaving you fatigued before you even get out of the gate.

My advice to you is this: baby steps. If you’ve ever seen the movie “What About Bob?” then you know what I am talking about. If you haven’t seen that movie, then you need to go buy because it is a classic! The point is, just tackle your aspirations a little bit at a time.

For example, if you want to write a book that is 50K words and has a complex plot, then break your tasks down so they fall into chapter format. You wouldn’t try to write the tense climax in Chapter Eight if you haven’t even introduced your characters and the problems she/he will face along their journey in the first seven chapters. So don’t do that! Rather, start out in baby steps, tackling the first chapter and putting your efforts and focus on that. Then move on from there.

Granted, you may have planned out your book in rough skeleton format, like I did with my debut book Resistant, but it is still wisest to start at the beginning. I am not saying it is unwise to plan out your book.

If you ever find yourself overwhelmed with tasks to be completed, just stop, take a breath, and remember “baby steps!”

The Short Story Collection

Over the past week and a half, Volume 1 of my short stories has been live on Amazon. It is available for the Kindle and is only $0.99. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free! If you do read it, please consider leaving me a review on the book’s Amazon page. I greatly appreciate the feedback I receive from my readers.

The next volume in this collection has already been started, but I don’t yet have a date set for publication. I will keep you informed in my blog as well as on the “Short Story” tab of this website.

Until next time,

-Eli