Volume 2

And We’re Off!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

Welcome to a new week! My hope is that it will be a week filled with productivity and accomplished goals, for me as well as for you. Let’s get to this week’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

Since last week’s post, there have been a few developments regarding my WWII collection. First, the details for Book Four’s cover have been sent, and I’m essentially awaiting my designer’s confirmation that he received it, as well as a quote for the design service. Hopefully within a week or so, work will begin on the next cover. Second, I spent some time this weekend (as well as time today after I write this) chipping away at the Prologue of Book Four. I’m just over 250 words into it, and I’m hoping for another 1,000 by the end of the week. I was a little anxious that I wouldn’t be able to start off this story strong, but so far things are proving otherwise!

If you’re new to my work and are interested in my WWII historical fiction, you can check out my books Resistant, Unguarded, and Imminent on Amazon in print and on the Kindle.

The Short Story Collection

Minor progress is being made on this project, but progress nonetheless. I think we’re getting into that part of the writing on this project where I will only update every so often about it, considering that its progress won’t be as quick to come as with Faces. Fear not, for I will keep you informed of this project’s details, especially when release draws near!

If you’re new to my work and are interested in my short stories, you can check out Volume 1 and Volume 2 on the Kindle.

Writing Tip: If you encounter a rut in the road of writing, be open to considering courses of action your character(s) can take that surprise you – if it surprises you, maybe it’ll surprise your readers.

That’s all I have for this week. If you’re new, welcome to my post and my website. Please feel free to browse around and see what I’m up to, and don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list (click the Contact tab) so you don’t miss the inside scoop on my work. Thank you for reading this post and for supporting me in my passion. It means a great deal!

Until next time,

-Eli

Details All Around

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I’d like to start off today’s post by remembering the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on this day in 1941. It’s the event that acted as our catalyst for war, resulting in our involvement in both the Pacific and European theaters of the war. Without our entry, things may have turned out very differently. So please, take a moment and think about how this day 74 years ago changed the course of history, and be grateful for the victorious outcome our country achieved in its aftermath.

~ * ~

I’d like to thank you for reading this post, and to welcome you to my blog. If this is your first time reading, you’ll find information in my blog posts related to my writing projects, as well as to other things going on in my life such as teaching and traveling. If you’re not new, then you already know! Let’s get into this week’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

In my WWII historical fiction collection, I’ve made some good progress on my third book, titled “Imminent.” At the moment, I have about 13K words remaining in the manuscript that still need edited and placed into the final draft file, so things are progressively coming to a close. I got a good chunk of work done yesterday, and I’ll continue to chip away at it over the coming weeks. A reminder from last week’s blog post: the new release date (more than tentative but not 100%) is January 8. If not then, it will be around that time (like the following Monday the 11th, for example). I am wrapping up communication with my cover designer this week, so you can expect to see a reveal next week. There will be other book/story details given at that time as well, so keep your eyes open!

If you haven’t yet checked out my first two books, you can find them on Amazon in both Kindle and print formats: Resistant and Unguarded.

Writing Tip: A piece of advice I was once given stated that when writing, don’t be too liberal with the exclamation point. The person said, “If the character isn’t on fire, don’t use it.” If used too much, it can take away some of the urgency or emotion in the dialogue, which can negatively affect the story.

The Short Story Collection

I’ve said recently that I plan on developing the next volume of short stories simultaneously with the fourth book (writing begins in January), and that I hope for a summer release. I currently have the three story ideas in place; I just need to plan them out in detail. From there, the writing could take anywhere from 2-6 months. My focus, however, will be on my WWII projects, so the short stories will be tended to here and there.

If you haven’t yet checked out my first two volumes, you can find them available for the Kindle on Amazon: Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Writing Tip: When writing story text (dialogue or otherwise), don’t include too many commas in any one sentence. In most cases, those lengthy sentences can be broken down. Having too many commas can lend to reader confusion. 

YouTube

I’d like to thank those who have subscribed to my YouTube channel and who’ve watched my videos. I make these videos to document my life – writing, teaching, traveling, and personal – because I want to share my experiences with those who will listen. We all grow in our own way, but having a part of that growth be in the form of connecting through an amazing platform as YouTube is pretty awesome, and I want you to join me on the journey!

You can subscribe to my channel here, where you’ll find weekly videos posted about my writing projects, my teaching life, my travels, and certain aspects of my personal life. And if you’d like a more detailed look into my work, as well as to connect with me and fellow readers, I encourage you to join my mailing list. You can email me at elikale.author@gmail.com with a quick “hello” letting me know you’d like to be added to the list. I welcome anyone and everyone!

That will do it for this week’s blog post. Be sure to check out next week’s post where I’ll reveal the book cover for Imminent and detail book/story details.

Until next time,

-Eli

Excitement Galore!

/ Eli Kale / 1 Comment

Friends,

I hope this post finds you well and striving to achieve the goals you’ve set down for yourself! Let’s get down to this week’s content…

The Short Story Collection

It’s been over a week since I released my second volume of short stories. It was an exciting release because it sort of happened off the cuff. I’d planned to release it sometime before my birthday in February, but I ended up pulling some strings to make it happen sooner. If you haven’t yet checked it out, you can find it on Amazon here.

Looking ahead in this collection, I can tell you that I already have ideas in development for Volume 3! Granted, these ideas are at their most basic state of being, and have been sitting on the back burner for months. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to know that I already have a footing for the next installment of this collection, and that it’s ready to be worked on in the coming months.

The Faces of the War Collection

I am on the cusp of finalizing the first half of Imminent‘s manuscript, which should end up being around 21K words. The tentative release date of December 11 still stands, and I am working very hard to see that the book is released at the time. As I said before, once I get the edited manuscript back from my editor, I’ll reveal the cover and book details.

Looking ahead in this collection, I am preparing the material for my next book. I plan on beginning work on this the day I submit Imminent to Amazon. This is because once that’s done, the story is out of my hands and I can’t change it for this release. This next story will be different from its predecessors in its own way, which is something I’ve tried to do with each new release. At this point, it may be a little trickier to write, but that’s the fun of writing – to test yourself!

Indie Writing Advice

I’ve picked up on something of a habit of mine while editing Imminent: I tend to resort to certain words to express the thoughts in my head while initially writing the story. And it definitely shows. So for some advice, I’ll direct my wording to you:

When you go back through your manuscript (whether before or after having another person look at it), look up all the instances where you use certain words a lot. For example, I tend to use “then” when describing a sequence of events or telling what a character does next. It might be hard to envision it right now, but trust me – something like that shows. Another one is the word “just” being used a lot to modify short distances between objects or the relative time before or after something happens. Leaving words like these out can make a world of difference in your writing!

That’ll be it for this week’s post. I hope you are accomplishing your own work and are getting along well with developing your craft. If you’re not a writer, I encourage you to keep reading! Thank you for reading my post, and if you haven’t yet joined my mailing list or follow this blog, I encourage you to do that as well.

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

Spring Is In The Air

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

I hope this post finds you well and ready to tackle the week ahead! Let’s get into today’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

The word count for Book Three is currently sitting just shy of 5,000, but I foresee that count going up this week. I am going to try something new over the next handful of days that will hopefully improve my writing output. I will set a timer for one hour and write during that time, really trying not to get distracted. When the timer goes off, I’ll take a quick break…maybe check my emails, social media, or whatever. Then I’ll set the timer again and write for another hour, repeating the process as much as possible to fill up my day.

I think it’s good to try new things in terms of improving yourself, even if it’s just something small like setting a timer. Over time, those small actions add up, and the hope is that it will produce something far greater and more efficient than what would have been produced through previous habits or practices.

I’m also starting to do a better job of tracking my word count as I go through the writing process on Book Three. During the first week of every month, I’ll record my current word count, then compare the different counts later as the months move along. This will hopefully give me a better idea as to how productive I am, and it might get me thinking on how to change to improve upon it. Again, it comes back to the little things adding up.

The Short Story Collection

Good news! I believe I have found an idea to develop for the third story in my upcoming Volume 2. It isn’t for certain yet, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. As for the other two stories, they are coming along. I think it is safe to say (at least at this point) that this ebook will be ready before May. I will keep the details coming as they develop.

I recently added a story sample to my website (which you can find here) from my short story “At the Gates of Sevastopol” in Volume 1. I figured this would be a good way to give you some idea of what my writing is like if you haven’t read my work yet, so enjoy!

YouTube

On Friday, I released my second video on writing process, specifically covering the step of planning the story. If you missed it, you can check it out here. The video to be released this week covers the step of writing the rough draft.

The main reason for uploading videos to YouTube is to expand my author platform and presence in the reading/writing community, but I can’t do that without YOUR help. So please, whether you watch the videos or not, spread the word by telling your friends, sharing the video links, or clicking the “Subscribe” and “Thumbs Up” buttons on the video’s page. It truly helps bring others in the know about what I do.

Whatever is done, I want everyone to know how appreciative I am of your support and encouragement, and for your desire to read my work and follow what I do outside of selling books.

GoFundMe Campaign

So far, no donations have been made to my campaign to support the National WWII Museum. I hope to see that change in the coming weeks.

That’s about it for today’s news. I encourage you to Follow me on social media and on this blog if you aren’t already, and again, I’d appreciate it if you checked out my YouTube vlogs and GoFundMe campaign.

Until next time,

-Eli

It’s Already March!

/ Eli Kale / Leave a comment

Friends,

A new week, a new chance to make a difference, a new opportunity to accomplish your goals. It’s crazy that March is already here! Let’s delve into today’s post…

The Faces of the War Collection

Some more copies of Unguarded have sold in the past week, and that makes me very happy to see! I encourage you to please check out my new book if you haven’t already done so. And pass the word along to your friends and coworkers!

As I mentioned in last week’s post, I haven’t put much time toward Book Three because of work and the fact that I’ve been writing my next short story volume. However, I’m not going to fret over this. The book will be tended to in due time. I don’t want to rush the writing just to match the time frame of previous books. It will be written in its own time. Another big part of why writing has taken a hit in these past couple of weeks is because of my launch on YouTube, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

As for Book Three, I am anxious to see where the story takes me and how the process goes along this time around. I’ve said it before – the writing experience for all of my books thus far has been different every time. And I like that. It shows that I am improving my craft and making the stories new and exciting, not recycling the same routine and feel when writing.

In terms of the story, I can’t give out too many details just yet, but they will be coming to you over the next few months!

The Short Story Collection

I have two of the three stories fleshed out and already half-written, but the third story has yet to be figured out. I have a pool of story ideas from which I can choose to fill that spot, but I just can’t seem to land on a solid enough idea. There is still time, though. I don’t plan on releasing this volume until further into spring, and I’m almost three-fourths of the way through the first two stories. If you haven’t checked out my first ebook, Volume 1, I encourage you to do so.

YouTube

The first two vlogs on my YouTube channel launched this past Friday, and they both already have more than a dozen views each! If you missed the launch and what it’s all about, you can check out my post about it here.

I am really looking forward to the journey ahead and seeing where it takes me, and who comes along for the ride. If you check out the videos, please “Subscribe” to my channel. It greatly improves my presence and author platform, and besides – I do this for you, my readers, and also for fellow writers!

GoFundMe Campaign

I recently started a campaign to raise money on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding site. I want to raise money for the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana because keeping the history of that time period alive and understood is something important to me. If you’d like to learn more about it, you can check out the link for it here. I’d really appreciate it if you considered donating some money, even five dollars, because every little bit helps and will get me to my goal!

I am very thankful for those who have been following my work since the beginning, and for the support and encouragement you’ve given me. Please pass the word along to anyone you know who would be interested in what I do. I always love being able to share my passion with new people!

Until next time,

-Eli