I’ve just completed the first draft of my first book! I’m pretty pumped about that but there’s a ton of work left to do. I’m trying to do this on the cheap so I’m doing as much of it myself as I can. A couple rounds of edits, cover design, put together all the front and back matter, output to eBook formats, figure out how to publish it on the various sites. Marketing. That’s a lot to figure out and execute. I think if I can get it done by the end of July I’ll be satisfied.
In the meantime, I’ll be reaching out to friends and family for some guinea-pigging. I’d like to get this thing in front of a few sets of eyes for some feedback. I think its pretty good, but you know, forest and trees and all that. In the dog breeding world they say you’re “kennel blind” if you can’t see the faults in your own dogs. So here’s where you come in. If you’d like to take an early crack at it, send me a note and I’ll get you an advanced copy as a Word or PDF file, after I’ve cleaned it up a little with some more editing. I’ll gladly take as much or as little feedback as you’re comfortable giving. All I ask is that you at least give me your overall impressions of it. Anything more than that, I’ll be grateful for but won’t require.
A little about the book, so you’re not going into it blind. At the moment its titled No Time To Bleed. Just the title might give you some idea of the content. It’s a fast-paced action/thriller. There are plenty of bad words, violence, and irreverence. If that sort of thing doesn’t float your boat that’s fine, I won’t be offended if you don’t want to read it. I just would like you to know going in. I know some readers are averse to profanity, so I intend to pre-warn readers in the blurbs.
This book was sort of accidental in its origins. I had already started an (almost) unrelated series of books that are historical-based thrillers, sort of in the vein of Steve Berry, Dan Brown, etc. The earliest installment of that series is set back in the 80’s, when my protagonist and his friends were teenagers. When I sat down to write it, I didn’t get very far in before I realized I didn’t know much about these characters yet. And it was a challenge getting back into the mind of a teenager in the 80’s. So I thought I’d write a short story about a couple of the characters, based closer to the present, to find out who they grew up to be. I thought that would give me some insight into who they were back then (which it did).
The hero of those books is a fellow by the name of Hank Stone. I’ll talk more about him later, as those books flesh out. You’ll see a couple of references to him in No Time To Bleed. But his cousin, and best friend, is a guy named Austin Conrad. Austin only plays a supporting role in those books, but I chose him to start with my short story/characterization project. And this book was the result. As I said, my intention was for it to just be a short story that would probably never see the light of day. But it grew a little more than that, into a 20,000-word novella. And I thought it was good enough to go ahead and share. I also think it might serve as the basis for a series of its own, with Austin as the main character.
While my love for history still seeps into the story somewhat, Austin Conrad is more like Jack Reacher or John Milton, than Indiana Jones. I won’t say much more about him or the book other than to say if you enjoy a fast pace, head-knocking, weapons, and the desert, you’ll probably find something you like among the pages of No Time To Bleed.
Before I go, I’ll make a plea to please join my mailing list. I’ve read a lot about the importance of indie authors building a mailing list of readers, so I’ve set one up. I won’t spam you incessantly, I’ll just use it to let you know when new books are coming out, and the occasional update. Please use the simple form below to add yourself to the list:
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