Month: November 2015

Imminent Release Date

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this past week, and that you were able to spend time with friends and family. And if you’re a reader who doesn’t celebrate this American holiday, I hope you had a great week nonetheless! Let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

I sliced into Part II of my WIP last week, editing about a quarter of the text. Today is another day off for my Thanksgiving Break (for school), so I intend on editing much more of the manuscript. Despite this progress, things aren’t where I want them to be timeline-wise. Therefore, I am pushing the release date back to January 2016.

Here is my reasoning for doing this: I have always said that I won’t be tied to a timeline, releasing a book on a given date no matter what state it’s in, because that’s not what writing is about. I will release the book when it’s ready. And today, November 30 – the original date of intended release – the book is not ready. With a January release date, I can finish the work over my Christmas Break. There is also a continuity factor in all of this. Based on the release years, the collection looks a little more uniform. Here you can see what I mean:

Resistant (2014)
Unguarded (2015)
Imminent (2016)
Book Four (2017)
Book Five (2018)

I’ve previously stated that I am going to work on my final two books simultaneously, and release them together (or at the very least, one right after the other within a 1-2 months), so this plan will help facilitate that end. So here’s the new release date, which isn’t quite 100% (because ya never know) but it’s more than tentative: Friday, January 8. After I get this week’s worth of editing done, I’ll see where I am and whether I deem the story close enough to being ready for the cover reveal and pre-order to take place…so stay tuned!

Writing Tip: By using action tags in dialogue and doing more “showing” than “telling” with regard to your characters, you can develop what is called “deep POV” which really helps connect your readers with the characters.

That’s all there is to tell in the way of major news, so check back over the coming weeks for information on my next book, Imminent, and the cover/details reveal. As always, thank you for reading this post and for your support of my passion. It truly means a lot!

Until next time,

-Eli

 

Be Grateful

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Welcome to a new week! I hope this post finds you well and on your way to accomplishing all you set out to do this week. I have a couple of news items, so let’s get to it…

But first, I apologize for my YouTube vlog posting late this week. I experienced WiFi issues and didn’t post it on Friday, but it’s live now so go check it out! Also, this blog post is live later than normal, mostly because I was finalizing the YouTube video and I was tending to the work of my job. So now, let’s get into this week’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

With this week being Thanksgiving Break for me, I’ll have some time to really devote toward progressing through the editing of Imminent. I’m really hoping to make some strides toward the story’s completion, so that it’s completed sooner than later. I’ll have more details over the coming weeks as to what is for sure going to happen with the book’s release, as well as the cover reveal and all that fun stuff.

Writing Tip: When editing, try to replace adjectives that are often used – or really any words that are repetitive – in order to sharpen your vocabulary and smooth the story’s flow.

Thanksgiving

This time of year is set aside for each of us to take stock of what we’re thankful for, but we really should be mindful of the things – the blessings – we have in life from day to day. So right now, I’d like to take a moment to express my gratitude and thankfulness for a few things…

First, to my loving wife, Sarah, for loving, encouraging, and strengthening me on a daily basis. For putting up with my goofy side and even being goofy herself. She is who I get to laugh with, get to talk with, and who I get to spend my life with every day, and for that I’m very thankful.

I am grateful for the friends and family in my life, near or far, and for the impact they’ve all had on me. Even though we might not see each other as often as we’d like, the bond we share is strong and keeps us close in a special way. My family and friends mean a great deal to me, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world!

Lastly, I’m so very grateful for the talents and passion I’ve been given, and that I get to share them with those who desire to involve themselves in my work. I may not be a stellar writer, superstar athlete, or quintessential renaissance man, but I am a unique individual who thinks his life has been pretty awesome so far, and is excited to see where it goes. And that’s enough for me!

I implore you to find something you’re grateful for this week, and to hold on to that thing, person, or whatever it may be. Cherish what you have and who you are in this moment in this world, because you never know when or how it might change.

Thank you for reading this week’s post, and for your continued support of my passion. If you’re not yet a member on my mailing list, I encourage you to send me an email at elikale.author@gmail.com to let me know you’d like to be added. With my new book on the way, you could win a free copy in a giveaway! There are also other cool things I do with my newsletter, so check it out.

Until next time,

-Eli

Workin’ Away!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

As you read this post, I hope you are in good health, good spirits, and perhaps in good company! Let’s get down to this week’s material…

The Faces of the War Collection

Work has been progressing slowly but surely on Imminent, and I can’t wait to get the story out to you. I still don’t know when that time will be for sure, but the tentative release date of December 11 still stands. As Thanksgiving nears, I’ll make the decision as to when the actual release will occur based on the progress I make this week. When I know for sure, I’ll reveal the cover and book details, so keep an eye out for it!

If you’re interested in my first two books, you can check them out at Amazon! They are called Resistant and Unguarded.

Writing Tip: If you need to relay information to your reader, do it in the form of character dialogue or inner monologue – but don’t do too much at once, and don’t give unrelated information. Information dumps are bad!

The Short Story Collection

As I’ve said before, I plan on working toward the publication of another short story volume sometime in the next 6-9 months after I get Imminent up and running. For Volume 3, I have the story ideas already cooked up; I just have to develop them and then write them. My focus, however, will be my Faces project, simply because I’ll be working on the final two books simultaneously and aim to get them done sooner than later. As usual, this third volume will differ from its predecessors and will hopefully be another opportunity for me to experiment with my writing craft.

If you want to check out the first two volumes in this collection, you can get them on the Kindle. Volume 1 and Volume 2 are pretty cool!

Writing Tip: When writing for long periods of time in one day, it’s good practice to take a break every once in a while to stretch your legs, reset your eyes, and give your mind a breather. I do it about every hour or so on long writing days.

That’s about it for this post. Thank you so much for reading it and for taking an interest in my work. I encourage you to check out the links to my books (above) and to follow this blog if you aren’t already doing so. I enjoy networking, especially with other readers and writers!

Until next time,

-Eli

November Rain

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I hope this post finds you in good health and good spirits, striving toward achieving your goals! If you are someone who tends to have trouble in this area, here’s a tip: just do a little at a time. Set small, attainable goals that lead to bigger ones. From there, you should be much more able to get where you want to go.

Let’s get into this week’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

The progress of Imminent is coming along great! I am about a third of the way done with finalizing the manuscript, and I hope to keep up the pace into the coming weeks. I have applied the tips and advice given me by my editor, and have really taken to make it part of my writing habit. It will be very interesting when I start on the next book and can implement those pieces of advice from the beginning of the process. That leads into what I’d like to say next.

My plan for the post-Imminent time period, at least for the immediate future, will involve working on the final two books of the collection simultaneously. As of yesterday, I’ve developed the story and supporting details for the first third of each book. Once I complete the skeleton outline of the story, writing can begin. I’ll stick as closely as I can to my writing plan of 1,500 words a week, and see where that takes me come spring. My overall plan, as of now, is to work on the writing of both books so that “hard part” is done sooner, allowing me to use my creative flow to my advantage and work in the phase of editing as a whole, later. It’s a new approach to my writing, so I’m excited to try it out and see what happens!

Writing Tip: It’s good to try new things in writing, especially when it comes to the method of creativity. You never know what might work better for you than what you’re currently doing.

I’ve noticed something peculiar in the past week, and then by extension the past many months: for some reason, I work more efficiently when it rains. It’s now November (crazy!) and we recently had a short spell of rain. During that time, I felt more “in a rhythm” with my work, and I ended up getting quite a bit done. On the same token, I’ve noticed the same trend in the past. There have been times before where I work extremely well and am very productive while it rains. Weather or not rain is the reason, I don’t know…it’s just an observation. (You see what I did there?)

Other Work

In planning the coming months, I realized that I may not have much time to devote to other projects. I really want to focus on completing my WWII collection because it’s very important to me. I wouldn’t feel good about working on other things, because I’d be taking time away from my main project. Like I’ve said before, I don’t want there to be a large lapse in time before I complete Faces. With that said, I don’t know how it will affect progress of The Short Story Collection, and I definitely won’t start one of the newer, bigger projects I have planned for development. I’ll simply focus on Faces.

Writing Tip: It’s good to have some sort of plan in place for your writing. Look at what goals you want to accomplish and turn those into an action plan with quantifiable milestones.

That’s about it for this week. Thank you so much for reading and supporting me! If you aren’t a follower of my blog, click that Follow button, and be sure to check out my social media pages and subscribe to my mailing list (just email me at elikale.author@gmail.com)!

Until next time,

-Eli

Imminent Nearing Completion

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

It’s crazy that November has arrived! I hope the fall season is treating you well, and that this post finds you in your quest to accomplish your goals. The main bit of news this week is in regard to my WWII historical fiction WIP Imminent, so let’s get down to it…

The Faces of the War Collection

I am happy to say that things are coming together for my current WIP, Imminent. I received all of the edits back from my editor, and have already begun to revisit the manuscript after taking a week off.

Writer Tip: Take some time off between read-throughs or edits of you manuscript, as it will help you catch errors and fill in story gaps more effectively.

The Prologue is the closest to being in its final form, and I’m working on the Epilogue as I write this. I’ve gone through the body of the text with the “Find” tool in Word and fixed minor issues here and there. I plan on getting to the more involved editing of the body next week.

If you haven’t seen my most recent YouTube vlog, then you may not be aware of what I’m about to tell you. I have thought about the book I’m currently working on and what I should do about its publication, as well as looked ahead to the next two books in the project. Weighing my options, I’ve decided to focus on finishing Imminent and only refine the plans for the next two books in my spare time. Once this book is off my desk and published, I’ll write the next two books simultaneously.

Based off the publishing pattern I’ve established with the first two books, one would expect me to write Book Four within 11-13 months and then publish it, and move forward with writing and publishing Book Five. Instead, I’ll write both stories – maybe alternating between the two over time, or I’ll write one and then the other – and edit them together. When they’re both ready to be published, I’ll release them together and thus complete the Faces of the War collection. The reason for this is twofold: one, because I don’t know what my personal life will bring in the next two years and I want to be sure to finish the project I’ve started, and two, because it’ll lend itself to a different marketing tactic that I’ve never tried before and I’m interested to see what will happen.

As for a cover and book detail reveal, that will come sometime later this month when I’m closer to completing the book and will know for sure when the release will be. If all goes as originally planned, I’ll do the reveal when the book becomes available for pre-order around Thanksgiving, but keep your eyes open for a specific post about it.

Writer Tip: When setting up your book for pre-order on the Kindle, be sure to have your final book file (front matter, manuscript, back matter, etc.) submitted to Amazon KDP no later than ten days before its release.

I think that will do it for this week’s post. If you notice, I’m not doing a separate section on Indie Writing Advice in this post; instead, I’ve tried something different with the little tips spread throughout the post itself. Let me know if you like it! As always, thank you for your support and encouragement as I pursue my passion. And please, follow my blog if don’t already, check out my YouTube channel or social media pages, and subscribe to my mailing list for early bird details about my projects. All you have to do is shoot me an email at: elikale.author@gmail.com!

Until next time,

-Eli