Category: Book Status

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My Second Draft – What I Never Imagined

Villain's Vacation cover What is it like?

My Second Draft – What I Never Imagined – Here is my second installment of this series in real-time. I just finished my second draft and sent it to my editor. I’ll have the third installment in the future. Be sure to read the first post on my first draft here. Click here.

As always, you can get free books from me by clicking here.

Also, if you ever want to contact me, to comment or ask me something, click here.

So, what shocked my socks off about this second draft?

By the way, this book is the third in my Secret Supers series. It covers the adventures of four disabled middle schoolers who become superheroes. Here’s the first book:

Interesting Links My Second Draft
Secret Supers – click for free audiobook.

My Second Draft – My First Surprise

I finished my first draft last week and contacted my editor. She informed me that she has a six-week lead time. I didn’t know that. Oops!

Why is this a problem? I wanted the book completed by November 14th and the Christmas shopping season. I ASSumed she had a four-week lead time. My error.

My second error is that I promised it to her by Columbus Day October 10th and didn’t get it to her until today. That’s a double oops. So my publishing timeline is probably shot.

You see, when you’re a self-published author like me, you’re responsible to keep yourself on schedule and meet deadlines–or your sales suffer.

But why was I late? I have multiple excuses, but basically, it’s poor planning.

Villain's Vacation cover What is it like? My Second Draft
My second novel in the series, Villain’s Vacation. Click for a free copy

My Second Surprise in My Second Draft

Remember I mentioned being self-published? That means I contact and contract with an illustrator for each of my books. Fortunately, I’ve found a great illustrator, Sean “Fuzzy” Flanagan. I contacted him the same day as my editor about doing a cover illustration. He had the time to do it in October. Hurray!

We met yesterday via Zoom and Facebook conference and brainstormed a good cover we both loved. We also brainstormed the chapter icons. I love them! All my books have them. Here’s a sample:

What Do Readers Think My Second Draft
Chapter 1 icon of Villain’s Vacation. Click to get a copy

So what’s the problem? The cover we both wanted depicted a scene I hadn’t written. It was in the back of my mind for the whole book. So I spent yesterday afternoon writing it. But that was one reason I didn’t get my book to my editor yesterday.

The Other Reason I was Late

Just adding a new scene isn’t enough. With every second draft, after I clear off all the Grammarly errors and made all my points of view correct, I read the whole book aloud.

It’s amazing what you discover when you do that with a book you’ve just written. I find inconsistencies in point of view. I find awkward sentences. And I discover plot inconsistencies.

I read really fast and I don’t read every word–unless I read it aloud.

One last pitch: find out when my new book comes out through my newsletter. Subscribe here.

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Finishing My First Draft and Starting My Second

Villain's Vacation cover

Finishing My First Draft and Starting My Second of my latest book, Secret Supers in Space. What an adventure! Let me tell you about how it all happened.

First, this book is the third in my Secret Supers series. The first is:

First Draft Interesting Links
Secret Supers – click for to get yours

Jeremy Gentle fell flat on his face at therapy. That was normal since he had cerebral palsy. But his new superpower wasn’t normal.

Then things got weirder when his best friend, Dan Elanga, got a different superpower. But Dan was still blind.

Kayla Verdera and Aubrey Wilcosky, two girls in their middle-school special ed class, discovered they too had new superpowers. Kayla was mute and needed a walker. Aubrey lost two legs and used crutches. But they were as powerful as the boys.

What should the four friends do? Jeremy knew if the word got out, it’d be a media circus. Then they started fighting crime, as the Secret Supers. Who knew a disability could be a perfect disguise? No one would ever think of disabled kids as superheroes. Then they ran into problems they never expected.

Secret Supers blurb

Then I wrote the second novel:

First Draft Villain's Vacation cover What is it like?
Villain’s Vacation cover. Click for your copy!

Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.

Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.

Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?

You can only find out by reading the adventure ‘Villain’s Vacation’.

Cover blurb

And now, I’ll tell you about my WIP, Secret Supers in Space.

We Interrupt This First Draft to Edit Another Book

I began SSS in November 2021 as my novel for Write a Novel in November Month. But instead of writing fifty thousand words, I wrote 3,940. My stats from my tracking spreadsheet as of November 30, 2021.

Start WordsEnd wordsWordsWords/hour Running total of words Running total of time
3,8373,97313670.343,97321:29:00
from my writing log spreadsheet

Why so few? I spent more than half my time editing my non-fiction book, The Gospel Medley.

First Draft Gospel Medley Writer's Block: My Experience
The Gospel Medley cover. Click to get

Why did the Gospel Medley get priority? 1) It was almost done and 2) I’d been working on it for forty years.

Everything Takes Longer Than You Think

“Everything” includes editing my non-fiction book. I didn’t finish that until April 2022. By the end of April, my stats were:

Start WordsEnd wordsWordsWords/hour Running total of words Running total of time
6,1016,1292814.006,12942:43:00
from my writing log spreadsheet

Why did I write so little in 42 hours devoted to the book? Research.

I had to research Space Camp. That included its curriculum, the space simulations it runs, and when they occur during the week. I watched Youtube videos and learned a lot.

You see, as I write the first draft if I have a question I must answer it before I can write anything else. You might say, ‘Just guess and check it later.’ But no–I can’t write something factually wrong. It drives me nuts.

Some might say I’m already nuts.

First Draft
Nut expert.

Why Did It Take Five Months to Write 30,000 Words?

You’re right. It’s odd it took me that long. One excuse is I had several book conventions–ten from March to September. I love them, but each takes up three to four days of my time: preparation, travel, selling, and documentation, where I record my sales.

Here are my final stats:

Start WordsEnd wordsWordsWords/hour Running total of words Running total of time
35,38936,7961,407686.3436,796149:10:00
from my writing log spreadsheet

You ask me, “Andy, what took you one hundred hours to write 30,000 words?” The answer is more research. I studied SpaceX, the Dragon capsule, the International Space Station, the docking procedure, the undocking procedure, the landing procedure, and where the Dragon capsule lands. I studied the map of Florida, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico for hiding places for my villains.

That’s where my time went. Ask me a question and I’ll send you a free book. Or, just click here to get seven free audiobooks.

What’s next? My second draft. Look for another blog post on that.

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Summertime and the writing is easy – NOT!

Chapter 12 icon for Secret Supers

Summertime and the writing is easy – NOT! In this blog post, I’ll tell you about my writing struggles with Secret Supers in Space and what I’ll do about it.

Plus, I’ll give you some new reviews I’ve written and about my writing.

Plus, plus, I’ll give away some free books.

Let’s get started!

Summertime Book: Secret Supers in Space

This book continues the Secret Supers disabled superheroes series. It started with:

Summertime Interesting Links Summertime
Secret Supers – click to get yours!

Then I followed up with this book:

Summertime Villain's Vacation cover What is it like?
Get a free copy here!

Now I’m working on the third novel in the series: Secret Supers in Space.

What’s it about?

What my next book is all about

Secret Supers in Space covers the Secret Supers trip to Space Camp – and beyond.

Here’s what Space Camp is like:

Space Camp video

Now we come to my first struggle: I have to learn all about Space Camp to write this book. It’s a real camp with a real agenda for real kids. I didn’t want to get anything wrong.

I have no trouble exaggerating or compressing facts but I want to faithfully give the space camp experience.

The problem is, I can research or I can write. I can’t do both. I must research before I write so I have the facts in mind.

That was my first delay.

Wait! Why am I writing this book?

Because I like to get nice reviews like this:

Secret Supers Chapter icon

4.0 out of 5 stars 

A fun story!

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2022

Jeremy has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. He is in a special education class with Dan, who is blind, Kayla, who was mute and used a walker, and Audrey, who lost her legs and uses crutches. One afternoon, when conducting experiments in his laboratory, Jeremy accidentally gives himself superpowers. Specifically, he gains the ability of telekinesis, which he can use to help himself walk, cause his wheelchair to travel at much higher speeds, and even fly.

Not wanting to keep this discovery to himself, Jeremy tells his 3 friends about it and gives each of them superpowers as well. But now that they have superpowers, what should they do? Following the words of Uncle Ben of Spiderman, they decide they must use their powers for good, beginning by trying to solve a case of a stolen car, and keep their identities a secret, modeling their costumes on the Incredibles.

This book was a fun story that placed individuals with disabilities front and center in the story. While the superpowers allow them to do things they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise, it is what they choose to do with their powers that makes all the difference. Also, even with their superpowers, their initial disabilities aren’t erased, which I think is important. I liked to development of the characters and how they interacted and supported each other; I only wish the book had been longer so I could have spent more time with them. I am glad that there’s a sequel already published, and I look forward to reading/listening to it.

As for the audiobook edition of this book, the narrator, Luke Castle, did a fair job. Some of the voices he chose for a few characters I did not care for, but that comes down to personal preference more than anything else. His pacing was good, and the energy he put into the narration was evident. Despite disliking a few of the voices, I would still listen to the sequel given the opportunity.

Jennifer C.

Summertime Reading

What do you like to read in the summer? Let me know and get a free book. Here’s one of the 60+ books I’ve read so far this year:

Summertime
Two Necromancers, et. al.
Review ofTwo Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf (The Unconventional Heroes #1)
Rating[ 4 of 5 stars ]
Shelvesaction-adventure, fantasy, humor, read 
FormatKindle Edition 
StatusJune 8, 2022 – Shelved as: action-adventure
ReviewThis was my first exposure to L.G. Estrella and I definitely want more! The author creates humorous and ironic juxtapositions of characters and roles: Timmy, the dread, dark necromancer, who’s reluctant to kill. Katie, the whiz-bang apprentice who’s 10 and cute as a button and hates being called a kid, and is protected by invisible ninja rats.

Then we meet the bureaucrat who’s 6′ 6″ (two meters) skinny, and loves paperwork. But he can magically retrieve any paperwork at any time. As well as other things.

Finally, there’s the woodland elf who’s a pyromaniac because her magical power is creating fire.

I assure you, you will enjoy this romp

“So what?” you ask. Reading, which I do a lot of, distracts me from writing. Another struggle.

The Final Answer to My Writing Struggles

Write. Write every day.