Friends,

I have much to tell you today, so let us jump right into it, shall we?

The Short Story Collection

I mentioned in last week’s blog that I would be releasing the first of many volumes (hopefully) that will come to comprise my Short Story Collection soon, as in sometime by last Friday. To my surprise, and a welcomed one at that, the publishing process through Amazon KDP was very easy and much faster than I thought it would be. I submitted my story Monday night and by Tuesday morning it was live. Since then, I have made a few changes here and there–mostly formatting and aesthetic changes–but I still got it “out there” long before I thought I could. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can go to the tab on my website that says “The Short Story Collection” and find information there as well as the sales page. Note that it is only available for the Kindle.

I am very satisfied with the effort and work put into this first volume, and I can safely tell you that I already have a handful of more stories in the works for upcoming volumes. So stay tuned!

The Faces of the War Collection

Last week, I began Monday morning with ZERO words typed for Part III of Unguarded, the second book in the collection. By Friday, I had nearly reached 10K words. For me, that is an incredible accomplishment. I have never written that many words in such a short amount of time. I am in no way meaning to boast, but rather to use it as encouragement for others, especially if they are experiencing a rut or bump in their own writing path.

If ever you find yourself encountering an obstacle in your writing, do not give up. I repeat…DO NOT GIVE UP. Find a way around that obstacle. In most cases, or at least in my experience, the best first option to take is to give yourself a break. Even if it is only for 5-10 minutes, that little bit of time away from a project can work wonders. There is more I can tell you, but I am putting together material and ideas for a blog post related to this topic, so keep an eye out in the coming weeks for it!

The point is, a vast majority of beginning writers–and sometimes even not-so-new writers, quit writing even for a time because of the obstacles they face. That is part of the whole process. Writing is not meant to be easy…not good writing, anyway. It takes time and practice to come close to reaching whatever it is that you consider “perfection” for your own process and purpose. I am by no means “perfect” myself–not by anyone else’s standards or my own–but I accomplish most of what I set out to do because I make it work. I don’t give up on myself or what I am aspiring to do.

In Other News…

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I revamped my website. I also mentioned that in last week’s blog as something that would probably happen in the coming weeks. I felt compelled to do it sooner, apparently. I’m sure you don’t mind, as it is hopefully a pleasant surprise for you. I feel that it is more streamlined and better looking than the old website.

As for the mailing list, it is slowly growing! I am very pleased that I have gained some readers in my “inner circle” if you will. That is, after all, the intention of the mailing list: to reach readers on a more personal level. I think it is great when readers can connect with authors whose work they enjoy. It helps you appreciate their work more, I believe. If you haven’t joined yet yourself, or if you know someone who you think would like to join, you can find the (free) subscription form under the “About” tab on the website.

The last thing I wanted to touch on today is regarding ratings and reviews. I recently reviewed a memoir on mental illness (something I don’t usually read about), which turned out to be a very interesting read. It is entitled, “Please Save Me From Myself” and is written by Sebastian Aiden Daniels. Afterward, he told me he was very appreciative of me for leaving him a review. If you aren’t aware, ratings and reviews really help spread the word about someone’s work. Not just of any one particular book, but of all the work of an author in general. Writing a review literally takes no longer than fifteen minutes, tops. And it goes a long way, let me tell you. So to close this spiel, I encourage you to leave a review for books you read. If you didn’t like the book, that’s one thing. But it really encourages an author when he/she sees a new review, and it inspires them to keep on doing what they love. So please, think of that the next time you finish a book!

Until next time,

-Eli