Month: July 2015

Summer Days Drifting Away

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

The summer continues to press on, affording us all new chances to do something great or to strive for something awesome. I hope you are accomplishing all that you set out to do, or are in the process of it! Let’s get to this week’s material…

The Faces of the War Collection

As I eagerly await the arrival of Imminent‘s cover draft, I continue to chip away at the manuscript. I am editing the rest of Part I to give to my editor, and I’m also writing here and there for Parts II and III. I already have the Prologue and Epilogue completed; I just have to go back and see if any of it needs tweaking once I’m done with the body of the text.

With this book, I want to try a few things regarding writing style and experimenting with the feel of the story. You’ll understand what I mean when it releases, but for now just know that the story is a different kind of story from my previous two books, yet something I think we all can relate to. And that’s a big part of how I write – to make the characters’ experiences relatable to the reader. I will be relying on my editor, and any beta readers I use along the way, to help mold the words into the right kind of story with what I’m talking about in mind.

YouTube

I noticed that the end slate (the final slide with my photo, the subscribe button, etc.) on the vlog two weeks ago was cut off a bit. And then last week’s vlog was cut off even worse. The weird thing is that it looks perfectly fine in my video editing software. So I don’t know what the problem could be, but hopefully I can get it fixed.

Regardless, I hope you’re enjoying the videos if you’re watching them, and if you’re not then I invite you to. You can subscribe to my channel to know exactly when new videos are uploaded, just so you don’t miss anything. I’d love to have you along, as well as any friends, family members, or coworkers who might be interested in writing, reading, history, and much more!

If you are new to me and my work, what would you like to know?

And if you have been following me and my work for a while, what aspects of my books, my blogs, my videos, and so forth resonate with you?

I would really like to get a feel for what my readers and followers are getting out of my content, what they like and dislike, and perhaps what more they’d like to see. It’s all part of connecting in the small community made up of readers and followers. So please, let me know! You can reply to this blog post, or even better – you can post to one of my social media profiles (like Twitter or Facebook) and share your thoughts. You never know if someone else has the same thoughts as you, and how that might bring us all closer together!

That’s about it for this week. It’s just a matter of waiting for the book cover to be revealed, and then finally for the book to release before my blog posts light up with extra juicy information. Thank you for following me and supporting me in my passion!

Until next time,

-Eli

Cover to Launch!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Welcome to a new a week! Have you set goals for yourself this week? Have you thought of how you’ll go about accomplishing those goals? I think that is just one way (of many possible ways) to start out the week in the best way possible – for if you know what needs to be done and how you’ll get it done, then your chances of success are much greater! And the great things is, that idea can be applied to anything, so it’s not just a piece of advice coming from a writer. So if you haven’t yet gotten your to-do list together for this week, get to it! Speaking of getting to it, let’s get to this week’s content…

The Faces of the War Connection

I will be contacting my cover designer this week to finally get that process moving. It is exciting to be at that point to see a new cover materialize, and to see how the final product compares to the vision I had for it from the start. I will keep you updated here and on social media throughout the process!

Editing is continuing on Imminent, and I’m eagerly awaiting the first revision from my editor on the material I’ve given him so far. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll have some things on my plate that will take up some of my time, but I intend to use the spare time during the weeks ahead to continue writing and editing. The tentative release date is now moved to later in the fall, but I’ll include more details about that when I release the cover.

The Short Story Collection

I haven’t talked about this for some time, but I wanted to address it. I put this project on hold for a while so I could focus on my Faces project. After I finish Imminent, I’ll put some time in to work on Volume 2. My goal is to primarily focus on my WWII project until it’s completed, because I really want to finish that and not let it slip into the “I’ll get to it later” pile. But I am excited to get that project up and running again, but when the time is right!

If you’d like to check out my first short story ebook, Volume 1, you can find it here.

YouTube

In the coming weeks and months, I aim to add little things here and there to my vlogs with the intent to spice them up a bit. I think I’ll keep them geared toward a mix of my personal life and writing life, but I feel like there’s something missing that might give the videos a better quality. I’m not entirely sure yet what I’ll be doing, but you can expect small changes and/or additions as autumn approaches.

If you missed last week’s vlog (on editing and news about Imminent‘s book cover), you can find it here.

That’s all I have for you in terms of news, but it’s all been part of an exciting process that will ultimately lead to the publication of another book. I am extremely grateful for those who have supported me in my writing, my vlogging, and my overall passion that has been a part of my life for the past couple of years. It really means a lot to me!

Until next time,

-Eli

Imminent Cover & Other News

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

It is a new week, and thus a new chance to accomplish your goals. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” so get out there and tackle your goals and dreams with purpose! I have a few things for you today, so let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

I am just about ready to submit my cover ideas for Imminent (my third and upcoming book) to my cover designer, so you should expect a reveal sometime in the next month or so, barring any impediments along the way. I am debating whether or not to include the story description/synopsis with the cover. I didn’t do that with either of my first two books, but maybe I should change it up for this one. What do you think? As for the writing, I have today off from both jobs, so I intend on getting work done.

*cue thinking out loud (…or on the page…)

I have given some thought as to how the writing of this book has gone thus far, and that it has been drastically different than the previous two books. Part of that reason, I think, is because I’ve started another job. The time that I had free before to write is now mostly taken up by this second job, therefore leaving me with less time to write for extended periods of time. This change in circumstance is slowly forcing me to change my writing methodology, going from writing for a few hours on days off to writing in smaller increments every day. Only time will tell whether I can write effectively this way, or if I must search for a new writing method.

With that being said, I also think some of the issue of my lack of writing is the fact that in my mind I’m still trying to make the late summer deadline to release the book. In reality, though, I’m coming to realize that’s not possible. So, my plan is to rethink the book’s release and aim for that new deadline. I don’t know for sure what that is yet, but when I do I will inform you! After all, you are the reason I write, so it is right that you be the first to know.

If this is your first time reading my blog and you’d like to check out my first two WWII historical fiction books, you can find them here (Resistant) and here (Unguarded).

YouTube

I am continuing to improve my recording habits throughout the week so I can upload good videos to my channel every Friday. “Good” in the sense that they give you a nice look into my life, both the personal and writing aspects of it. I’m not out to impress anybody, nor to suggest that what I say about writing is definitive or “right.” I simply like to talk about reading and writing as I experience it and as I understand it, which is the most anyone can expect of a person in my position, I think.

For the time being, I record footage throughout the week and post a video on Friday. In the future, though, I see myself putting up 2 or even 3 videos a week. I’d like to think that I could gain a following that enjoys watching me and hearing what I have to say about the things I discuss in my vlogs, and that those people would support me in making more than one video a week. But I won’t rush things – it’ll happen when it happens!

Other News

In an effort to vary up the content I put out to my readers and followers, I am taking some time to unofficially poll my readers. What do you want to know about me? What would you like me to discuss on my blog, vlogs, or newsletters? Is there something different I can be doing to better interact with you?

I’d really like to connect with those who read and follow my work, because that’s the reason I write. Well, I also write because I enjoy doing it for me, but you know what I mean! So please, communicate with me your thoughts and questions. I’d really like to hear from you.

That’s all I have for you today, but I’m sure more will unfold as the coming weeks come and go. I’m really looking forward to getting the cover back from my designer and revealing it to you. I’m even more excited to finish writing Imminent and publishing it for your reading pleasure. Just bear with me and it’ll be here before we know it!

Until next time,

-Eli

New Project Title Reveal

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

It is a new week and a good one so far, at that! Why? Because I have some news for you, as well as some other things. So let’s get started…

The Faces of the War Collection

I am pleased to inform you that things have been moving along well enough with my current WIP (work in progress, if you didn’t know), that I am ready to officially reveal the project’s title. As you know, my current book is the third in my WWII historical fiction project, where the Second World War is viewed through the perspectives of different individuals. I have mentioned before that this third story will be told from the German perspective, and that the character is male. I’ll reveal now that the character is in the German army and that the story line revolving around that fact will be more condensed that the stories of the previous two books in the collection.

The title of this book is “Imminent”. This story has taken me on a different sort of path in terms of how it’s been written and what I’ve had to do to get the story onto the page. Like I’ve said in past blog posts and YouTube vlogs, I am excited to see where this story takes me, because every writing experience has been different for me thus far. It is very interesting to get to experience writing in different ways!

Even though this project title, along with the titles of the other books in the collection, is already revealed at the end of the book, I like to dedicate a post to new titles that I’m working toward publishing, because it gives attention to the fact that I’m producing another story. Getting to see how my creativity manifests itself in a tangible book is amazing, as well as encouraging, and it makes me want to continue writing and networking with fellow writers. It’s a wonderful circle of cause and effect!

Now, you may be wondering: Eli, you’ve done title reveals for your first two books, and usually you include the book cover with the title reveal…where is the cover for this one? Great question! I chose to do the title and cover reveals separately for this book because the writing process is a little more drawn out than with the previous two books. I didn’t want to wait to do both reveals later down the road, nor did I want to reveal them both too early and then force you to wait to get your hands on the book. So this is the middle road – I am hoping to get the manuscript finished and published in the autumn, so you can probably expect a cover reveal around mid-August to early-September. That is the hope, at least.

All in all, I think everything is going well with this book, despite not writing as often as I’d like on a weekly basis. But that’s the nature of writing, especially writing as a secondary or tertiary job: you can’t always write as much as you’d like. But you just have to try to make it work, and that’s what I’m going to do. Like I’ve said before – I’d rather not sacrifice potentially good writing in order to get a book on the shelf. That’s not what writing should be about. It’s about being creative and making it something you can enjoy!

Other News

That’s about it for right now, aside from the regular stuff: YouTube vlogs come out every Friday (you can find them on my channel) and I’m working on side projects behind the scenes, which will be discussed later. For anything else you’d like to know about me and my work, you can find it on my website. Most of all, I’d love to connect with you through my newsletter, which comes out every couple of weeks. Either way, I’d love to connect with my readers. So please, shoot me an email or tweet me!

Until next time,

-Eli