Dayton Book Expo

Dayton Book Expo & U.S. Air Force Museum

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Welcome to a new post, a new week, and a new chance to achieve greatness! Let’s get into today’s content…

Dayton Book Expo

This past weekend, I attended the Dayton Book Expo at the David H. Ponitz Conference Center at Sinclair Community College. There were over 90 other authors, some of which were sponsored by the Dayton Metro Library. Prizes and awards were handed out throughout the day, and there was an award at the end given to the author with the highest sales that day. It was populated by many readers, some local and some from out of town. Overall, it was a good experience!

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My table at the Expo, with all of my tabletop material set up

Though I can’t put a number on it, I had many people – readers and authors – visit my table. It was great to chat with others about my writing story, my work, and what I’m planning for the future. Most of the slots on the free ebook signup sheets were filled, and many people wanted to be added to my mailing list. If you haven’t done that yourself, you can easily join the group here.

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Resistant and Unguarded for sale

In terms of books sold, that number was 3. Bright side: both of my books will be in a library in Michigan, available to be read by countless high school students. I also gave away many business cards, so hopefully I’ll be contacted in the near future for networking and/or collaboration. It’s a start, at least, and that’s how you’ve gotta make your way sometimes.

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My short story volume covers

Plans have already been started for next year’s expo, but I’ll wait until closer to then before deciding on returning. I’d like to attend other expos to see what else is out there; I simply treated Dayton as a test expo to get the basic gist of things. We’ll just have to see what time brings!

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

On Sunday, my wife and I visited the Air Force museum in Dayton, and let me tell you – it was great! It’s crazy to think that all of the planes there had seen action in wartime, and it’s even crazier that they survived to be showcased as pieces of history. And what made it even more special for me was that I got to see many planes from the World War II era, which greatly interests me.

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75mm cannon that would have been the armament of a B-25 bomber

While there are far too many pictures to show here, know that I did see the plane that is featured in my second book, Unguarded. It is the Supermarine Spitfire, the primary fighter plane used by the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Though it has the emblem of the US Air Force – because U.S. airmen did fly it at one point – it’s the same version of fighter plane the British used…

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Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vc

I am so glad I got to visit the museum and see these pieces of history, and know that they were used to bring the war to an end. More pictures will make their way onto my social media and website over the coming weeks and months, but I think this will do for now. In addition to these pictures, I’ll have footage of my visit in this week’s vlog, so subscribe to my YouTube channel to catch that video!

The Faces of the War Collection

Progress is being made on this front, with the total word count approaching the 15K word mark. I plan to tackle more writing this week in great amounts, so my hope is that I’ll exceed the 20K by the beginning of next week. Work will soon begin on the book cover, I hope, so I will let you know of those details when the time comes.

The Short Story Collection

Progress has slowed a bit on this project, but I still am shooting for a summer release. Keep an eye out for details about Volume 2 as the summer months approach. And if you haven’t checked out Volume 1 yet, you can find it here.

As for other news, I am still keeping up with my YouTube vlogs, with the next video going live this Friday. I’m also keeping the GoFundMe campaign open to receive donations for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. As for personal things, I am on the lookout for a new, full-time job. I’m hoping these next couple of months will bring some change in my life, and that I’ll be able to accomplish the writing that I want to get done.

As always, thank you for your encouragement and support. I truly appreciate it!

Until next time,

-Eli

Dayton Book Expo is Close!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week awaits, hopefully holding for you a slew of opportunities and experiences that will enrich your lives! Let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

I am happy to say that writing for Part I is nearing its completion…only a few thousand more words to go! Though writing has been slow due to preparations for the Expo this coming weekend, I look forward to picking up the pace upon my return next week. Also on this front: ideas for the book cover are coming together and I’ll soon be getting things moving for that, so keep an eye out for details in the coming weeks and months for its reveal!

During the writing of this book, I have come to realize that I have a better understanding of creative writing, and my hope is that this trend will only continue so I can produce better writing. The storyline of this book is different from my previous two books in many ways, yet my aim is to intertwine familiar plot and structure attributes into it. I am excited for what this story will convey to readers and how the moral of it will be perceived. Time will tell!

If you would like to check out my first two books in this collection, you can find them under the tab above entitled “The Faces of the War Collection.”

The Short Story Collection

Not much has happened on this project, given that my main focus has been preparing for the Expo and writing in my third WWII book. I am still awaiting the return of a manuscript from a beta reader, so the project as a whole won’t be moving forward anyway. As I said before, my hope is to now have this project released by early summer, so keep an eye out for details to come!

If you would like to check out my first short story volume in this collection, you can find it under the tab above entitled “The Short Story Collection.”

Dayton Book Expo

With the Expo only days away, my excitement is ever increasing. I have just about everything ready to go for my table displays, which I hope will be sufficient. That’s all part of the process, I think–gauging what I should take with me and hoping it’ll be enough, and then comparing other tables when I get there. Then if I plan to go again in the future, I’ll have a better idea of what to do!

The Expo will be from 11am to 4pm this Saturday, April 25 at Sinclair Community College. I’ll be in the Great Hall (Building 12), but I’m not yet sure where exactly I’ll be set up. But the details for that will be in the reader’s event booklet, so you can find me in there. At my table, I’ll have paperback copies of my two books, which I can sign if you’d like, as well as an email signup list to receive a FREE ebook of your choice after the Expo. And of course, if you’d like to chat about WWII or my books, I’d love to entertain a conversation!

Remember: I’ll be in attendance under my real name (Mike Pratt) and will be listed accordingly; however, my table information and books will have my pen name on them (Eli Kale).

I hope to see you there, and if not, then I’ll let you know how it went in next week’s blog post!

YouTube

My writing process videos are coming along well, with my ninth one in production this week. Last week’s vlog touched on the topic of having another person (friend, colleague, professional, etc.) edit your manuscript and the importance of it. This week’s vlog will touch on what to do once you get the edited manuscript back. To catch up on (or start watching) my vlogs, you can find them on my channel here. Please consider subscribing!

GoFundMe Campaign

I am raising money to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. If you have it in your heart to help me support this organization, and to help maintain an important part of history, then please consider donating to my campaign. You can find the details on my campaign page here.

That’s about it for today, but more details and information will arrive in the coming weeks. Thank you for reading my posts, and for supporting and encouraging me as I pursue my passion. It truly means the world!

Until next time,

-Eli

Movin’ Right Along

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week has arrived, bringing to us more opportunities to accomplish our goals! Let’s delve into today’s material…

The Short Story Collection

Last week, I mentioned that I was on pace to complete my next short story ebook, Volume 2, by the end of the month. I really wanted to reach that goal so that I could focus on my next WWII book for a few months. However, upon receiving feedback from my beta reader, it is clear to me that I should spend some extra time on one story in particular. This means that I won’t be releasing a new ebook in the spring, at least not by May 1. But that’s okay – I’m excited to see how the stories develop and where they take me this time around. And who knows…maybe putting in a little more time than usual might make the stories really good. Time will tell!

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

The Faces of the War Collection

Since the beginning of the month, writing has slowed a bit on Book Three. As is usually the case, life simply happens and thus pushes concentrated writing down the priority list, as well as decreases the amount of time in which to do it. However, I am convinced that the overall pace of this book is still very much on schedule for my intended release, but those details won’t be revealed yet for another few months.

If you’re interested in checking out my first two books set during the Second World War, you can find them here: Resistant and Unguarded.

YouTube

Videos about my writing process are slowly making progress on my channel. I currently have seven videos posted on the topic, with eight more to go! If you haven’t yet checked them out, I encourage you to do so. And while you’re at it, be sure to click those “Subscribe” and “Thumbs Up” buttons. It’ll really help me out!

Dayton Book Expo

The Expo is fast approaching, and I have most of my tabletop material together and ready. I am very excited to see how it goes and who I meet. This is a big step for me in my writing life, and I’m glad I have the opportunity to do it! Also, I plan on vlogging while I’m there, so keep an eye out for that video!

National WWII Museum

I am raising funds via GoFundMe to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. I am doing this because I want to take part in maintaining history, especially that of a time period of which I am so attached and by which I am so intrigued. If you have it in your heart to donate in support of this campaign, I implore you to check out the campaign website and consider donating. Every little bit helps!

Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement of my writing passion. Without you behind me, this would be a whole lot harder!

Until next time,

-Eli

Come On Over!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Welcome to a new post and a new week! My hope is that you set out today to accomplish something on your To-Do list, and that you set out with a positive attitude. Now, let’s get down to business…

The Faces of the War Collection

I will resume writing on Book Three today, after this post goes live, and hope to get into another rhythm throughout the rest of this week. I am only about 5,000 words away from finishing Part I, so I’d really like to hit the writing hard this week to reach that mark. I am still very excited to see what this writing experience brings me and where this story will take me!

In other Faces news, Resistant and Unguarded are selling consistently…slow, but consistently. I have been told that Unguarded is a much better book in terms of writing improvement, so I encourage you to check it out! You can find the Amazon sales page here. You can also find the sales page for Resistant here, if you’re interested.

Dayton Book Expo

Speaking of my first two books, I will have hard copies (paperback format) available for sale at my Expo table. There will also be an email signup list for those interested in joining my mailing list, as well as for a FREE ebook copy of one of my books. There is a limited number of spaces to sign up, so once they’re filled, that’s it! So if you’re coming to the Expo on April 25th, be sure to stop by my table for a chance at a FREE book and to chat with me.

The Short Story Collection

I am currently in the process of awaiting feedback from beta readers on my upcoming release Volume 2. If all goes as planned, the ebook will release by the end of the month. However, sometimes things happen so it’s wise to take that into account. I will continue to update you with release details as the time nears.

If you want to check out my first ebook, Volume 1, you can do so here.

GoFundMe Campaign

I am really looking forward to the initial donation to my campaign! Money donated will support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. I am looking to help make a difference in the world of history by helping to maintain a part of it, and your donations will help! So please, consider it and consider telling a friend about it. Every little bit helps!

YouTube

My videos are slowly but surely gaining more exposure in the YouTube world, and hopefully in the writing world as well! If you haven’t yet seen my videos, you can find all of them on my channel here. My most recent video on writing process can be found here. I will continue to produce these videos, because I have developed a passion for it and it also is something that I think can help expand my author platform.

That’s about it for news on all fronts, but things are always changing and improving. So I will keep you in the loop! BUT – I can do that way better if you join my mailing list, where I divulge more details and reveal more information than here in the blog posts. So come on over!

Until next time,

-Eli

News, Quotes, and Such

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I’d like to start this week and this post off with one of my favorite quotes:

“We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.” Let’s get down to today’s material…

The Faces of the War Collection

This past week, I had one day off from my day job. I earmarked that day as a day of writing, and let me tell you–I wrote. I typed over 3,000 words in Book Three, bringing the size of the manuscript up to just over 12K words. That’s a little more than a quarter of the way done with the first draft! I was satisfied with the writing I accomplished, and am looking forward to yet another full day off this week. I only hope I can be just as productive, if not more!

Resistant and Unguarded, my first two books in this collection, are continuing to sell at a slow but steady rate. I hope to see that rate increase after I attend the Dayton Book Expo and as the following few months roll along.

Dayton Book Expo

I am looking forward to heading south to Dayton on April 25 for the Expo. This week, I’ll be putting together all my table supplies and book accessories for the event; I hope everything comes together all right! If you will be in attendance at the Expo, I hope to see you at my table. You’ll be able to find me in the Expo author directory; however, I’ll be under my real name of Mike Pratt because that’s how I signed up. Remember, Eli Kale is merely my pen name.

If I get things put together well enough over the next few weeks, I might slip you a sneak peek at my table materials, perhaps through Instagram. So keep an eye out!

The Short Story Collection

I will resume work on my next short story book, Volume 2, this week. I gave myself almost a week off from the project, mostly so I could rest my eyes and brain from those stories, but also to devote time to my WWII project as mentioned above. I also have one of the stories out to an editor friend who is looking over the story for me. Another set of eyes always helps with writing!

If all goes as planned (which it sometimes doesn’t) with this project, I’ll release the ebook by May 1. I’ll keep you posted on it. You can check out Volume 1 on the Kindle here.

YouTube

If you haven’t checked out my vlogs (video logs) on YouTube yet, I encourage you to do so! I am currently in the middle of a series on my writing process and my writing life in general. In each video, I include details about a specific step in my writing process, and how it can relate to you. I also give brief talking points on other writing-related topics, some of which go hand in hand with the day’s writing process step. Not only do you learn of how I write, but you get a glimpse into my life and what makes me the writer I am. Be sure to subscribe to my channel (by clicking the red Subscribe button below any video of mine that you watch) and to give my videos a Thumbs Up (by clicking the thumbs-up icon near the video’s title). It helps grow my presence on YouTube!

GoFundMe Campaign

I am still awaiting my first donation to my campaign to support the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. As an incentive, the first few donors will receive a Kindle ebook copy of one of my books, as a thank-you! So head on over to my campaign site and donate – even $5 will do!

As always, thank you all for the support and encouragement you’ve given me to do what I have a passion for doing. And if you’re new to me and my work, welcome aboard and I hope you can get something out of what it is that I do!

Until next time,

-Eli

Pressing On!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I got to spend the weekend with some of my family members. Being able to do that is a wonderful thing, and I will always cherish the memories we make together! I come to you now, ready to begin a new week of work and passion. I hope this post finds you well and also in high spirits! Let’s get to today’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

After last week’s post, much progress was made on this front. I tweeted later in the week that I have almost reached the 9,000 word count mark for Book Three, and I owe it to a new system of writing that I have picked up. I set a kitchen timer for 50 minutes, taking that time to write and only write. When the timer goes off, I give myself a few (up to 10) minutes to check my phone, email, social media, and so on. Then I repeat the process over again.

Disciplining myself in this way seems to have a better effect on my writing output. I guess I’ll just have to continue the trend and see if the results will be the same for this week. If they turn out to be, then I have the feeling that much of the story will be written by the summer! Indeed, only time will tell.

With respect to Resistant and Unguarded, I will be selling copies of those at the Dayton Book Expo, which I will detail below. I will only have so many copies on hand, so if you are going to the Expo and want a copy, be sure to stop by my table early on.

Dayton Book Expo

At the Expo, which is on April 25 from 11am-4pm, I will have an author table in the Great Hall where I will be available to chat about my work and meet fellow authors and readers. I will also have a sign-up sheet where readers can leave me their emails to be added to my newsletter, as well as to be entered to receive a FREE copy of one of my books. I don’t have the details all the way figured out yet, but they’re getting there!

While I’m in Dayton, I will visit the US Air Force Museum. I am really looking forward to it! I plan on taking pictures while there, and I hope to vlog my experience throughout the weekend and upload the footage to my YouTube channel, which I will detail further below. So if you are in the Dayton area, or are already planning to go to the Expo (which is free to the public), I hope to see you at my table!

YouTube

I uploaded my fifth vlog this past Friday, which you can find here. I am really getting comfortable making these vlogs, and I hope you are getting something out of them as you go along watching them. If you haven’t yet seen any of my vlogs, I encourage you to check out my channel for all the videos I’ve put out. And please, feel free to leave me a comment on any video you watch, and be sure to click the Thumbs Up button near the video title. It helps extend my presence in YouTube. And as always, telling your family, friends, and coworkers about it helps get my name “out there,” for which I am always grateful.

The Short Story Collection

So there’s been a development on this front. I told you last week that I had decided on a story idea for the third short story in my upcoming volume. However, I was looking through my back burner files and found that I have a nearly completed short story ready to go, save for a few minor tweaks and touches. Even if I have to add a little more to that story, it’s closer to being done than the newly decided upon story idea. That being said, I might bump the new story idea to the third volume and put the back burner story in its place. This will help bring me closer to publishing the volume. If this turns out to be the case, I can say with more confidence that Volume 2 will be out before May. More details will be posted as the weeks press on. If you haven’t checked out my first ebook, Volume 1, you can find it here.

GoFundMe Campaign

There still have been no donations made to my campaign for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. As in past blog posts, I will send the first few donors a FREE copy of one of my books upon my seeing their donation confirmation. If you haven’t checked out my campaign page, I strongly encourage you to do so. This organization and its purpose means a lot to me, and I’d be grateful for any support given toward it.

Thank you to all who give their support and encouragement for what I do. I know I say it often, but it truly means the world to me that there are those out there who care about what I care about, and that makes me very happy!

Until next time,

-Eli

Dayton Book Expo (and Other News)

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week is upon us, so let us go into it with a positive attitude and a mind ready to accomplish what lay ahead! I have some news for you today, so why don’t I get right down to it…

Dayton Book Expo

At the end of April, specifically Saturday the 25th, I will be heading down to Dayton, OH for the 6th Annual Dayton Book Expo. I will be in attendance as an author, with a table all to myself where I can meet fellow authors and readers, sell/give away copies of my books, and just increase my presence in the reading/writing community in general. I am very excited about it, and I hope to make it a fantastic experience. I will have more details on it in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

The Faces of the War Collection

Unguarded has been doing well since its publication in January. I can’t say enough on how satisfied I am with that project, because it really was a fun project and I learned new things along the way. If you haven’t checked it out, you can do so here

Book Three is well underway, with the current word count somewhere around 7,000. This project, too, is quite fun and educational, as I am writing on things with which I am not 100% familiar. I have a few things in mind to add to this story that will make it better than my first two, but we’ll just have to see how it all pans out!

The Short Story Collection

I have figured out what I am going to do for my third story in my upcoming Volume 2, due to release in the next couple of months, and writing on the other two stories is also underway. I feel comfortable in saying that I’ll have the bulk of this volume complete by the time the Dayton Book Expo rolls around. You can find details on Volume 1 here.

YouTube

I released the third vlog in my series on Writing Process this past week, and am looking forward to producing more. In case you missed it, or haven’t seen any of my videos, you can access it here. Please keep in mind that these videos are not definitive or exhaustive, but simply my view and opinion on the topic at hand. I can in no way explore and explain every detail of the writing process, for it differs from person to person and would take a great amount of time to cover in whole. So I hope you can get something out of these videos, and watch them with enjoyment. To see my channel and other videos, you can click here.

GoFundMe Campaign

My fundraising campaign for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans is still in its infant stage. I am looking for individuals to donate to this cause of raising awareness of the time period and to sustain its history for future generations. As an incentive, the first 3 people to donate to my campaign will receive a FREE copy of my short story ebook Volume 1. Just snap a photo of your donation confirmation screen and send it to me via email, then I will get in touch with you. My email is: elikale.author@gmail.com

That’s about all the news I have for you today. If you haven’t subscribed to my mailing list yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. The next newsletter goes out this week, so it would be a perfect time! And as always, thank you for your support and encouragement as I do the thing I love.

Until next time,

-Eli