Long time no blog. I see the last one was in Sept 2012. My dad had massive open heart surgery in Oct 2012. I helped take care of him. He recovered from it but passed away in Sept 2013 from euthanasia. There's a long story behind that. When he got to the hospital, all his test results were normal except for his CO2 count. The hospital didn't want to treat him, but they eventually did and and released him. He picked up a staph infection while there and had to go right back in. They didn't treat him that time. They used a legal maneuver to take away his food, keep him awake for long periods of time and pump him with steroids to kill him. Long story short: the death panels are already here. Think I'm paranoid? The hospital never billed for any of it. They took what insurance paid and never sent a bill for the rest. Enough of that for now. It's too depressing to go into.
Early in 2013 Linda A. that I dedicated the series to also passed away. The A stands for Alkire. She wanted to be anonymous, but she deserves a lot of credit that I can give her now. Besides my dad's surgery, 2012 was a very hard year on its own, and with the losses so was 2013.
What's going on now with the books? I just uploaded re-edited versions of Chronicles 2, 3 and 4. The revised Chronicle 1 should go up in a few days or maybe next week after I check the changes in it to make sure no new errors crept in. I need to go through the new live versions of 2, 3 and 4 and make sure they are as they should be. I have to check those before uploading 1 because it will cause an update on anyone's Kindle who has it, and a lot of people downloaded 1 for free. I want things to be right in case the people who didn't read it start reading and move on to the rest of the series.
There are no major changes. The original plan was to fix some "errors" where a couple of characters did or said things that didn't properly reflect the Way. I put them in to show that they weren't perfect and were still learning and growing. But I was never comfortable with it and finally said enough was enough. Since I haven't worked on the books in a while I was able to see all kinds of embarrassing things that needed polishing. It turned into a re-edit. Most of the changes are polishing type things like changing awkward verb tenses and smoothing things out for better readability. For instance, I dropped "he said" at the end of sentences that didn't need them or turned "Ceinwen said" into "she said" where it made more sense and was more readable. I deleted a sentence here and there and fixed some trivial continuity errors. Overall the books are more professional and read more smoothly.
The story is the same. Changing anything would take virtually forever. There are too many details for that. However, at some point I'd like to hire a professional editor.
What's next? I'm still at about the halfway point on the space novel rough draft. I think I've blogged about it. It's set in the future of the current series in the time of Calan Sterrit. I also am about halfway through the rough draft for an inspirational romance set in the present day. To pen name or not to pen name? That is the question. :) I was working on that as a break from Messengers and making extremely good progress until my dad had the CO2 problem. I'm going to try to work on the space novel and the romance at the same time. Finish the rough draft of one then switch and finish the other. Go back to the first one for an editing pass then do a pass on the other. I think it'll help keep my eyes fresh for things that need fixing. If nothing else terrible happens, I should get them both out the door this year. Unless I get an agent for the romance. I'm thinking about that. Maybe for both of them. I believe I'm at the point in my writing where it would make sense. We'll see.
What about the MMO? Back burner. Hero Engine changed the fee structure so I couldn't bring people on the project without paying even more money.With that and everything else there's just not enough time right now. However, the license is still active, and more success with the books should get things on track.
I have just started reading the kindle version of your first book, Messengers of Yesh. Thank you for your work! I don't normally contact authors, but I felt compelled to seek you out and thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry about your dad and your friend, Linda. Please be encouraged and know that God has heard the cry of your heart even in the midst of darkness and pain.
Thanks! I appreciate that. I'm glad you stopped by.
DeleteI hope you enjoy it and get a blessing from it. I should have the updated version with New and Improved editing uploaded next week, but I'm not sure how it's going to work for people with the old version. I used to get updates to books on my Kindle, but Amazon doesn't do that now. I have to contact support to ask them to update my own books for my own device. I'm hoping I can get them to push the update to everyone.
There's a place where Joe lied to Adina. Ignore that, please. It doesn't read the way it wrote! :)
Okay, just finished Chronicle 1. I did really enjoy it and I'm looking forward to getting and reading the second! Somehow I missed the part where Joe lies to Adina... It's just as well; I don't believe Joe would lie! :)
ReplyDeleteI am finding the characters intriguing; specifically the messengers. It is interesting (and appealing) that not all of them have accepted their calling and that they aren't characterized as "goody goods" the way most christian novels seem to do. I'm rooting for Ben! I'm hoping he can come to accept and even revel in his gifting, while rejecting the toxic messages of his father.
I have to admit that I don't feel as warmly toward Marion... He is not as easy to love. However, I'm open to having my opinion changed about him. :)
I'm very interested in knowing who all (currently living) has most influenced your story. I really appreciate the "gifts" and know each one has an anchor in the bible... I have a feeling we follow some of the same people.
Thanks!
DeleteI was replying when the power went out. I'll try again. :)
I'm glad you survived that version. I got the re-edited one uploaded tonight. Pretend that one was more polished. ;)
My original thought was that it would appeal to secular and Christian and Jewish readers. Religion is there, but it's allegorical. I hope. How many people would know that Christianity was originally called the Way? Not many. The characters couldn't be too goody two-shoes. But they're on the good team, so they couldn't be puppy-kicking evil either. I worried a lot that they were too good.
"I'm very interested in knowing who all (currently living) has most influenced your story"
Hmm. With the power going out, I had some extra time to think. I'm not sure it helped! ;)
Linda was alive for all of it. She was the only one who supported me throughout. It was really important having somebody behind me.
I had another friend who "supported" me off and on, but it took about 4 years to write all of it. He would ask me how the book was going. He tried to hide it, but his tone was sarcastic and mocking. He eventually near the end started sounding sincere. However, once I reached The End, he stopped showing any interest at all and never read them and barely mentioned them again. He wouldn't even test read. He considered himself a writer but never wrote. He told me his writing wasn't like mine. He had to be inspired and in the groove and other excuses. It was on a higher level than what I was doing. I was very motivated by his bad attitude to keep going when I didn't feel like it because I was going to show him! Not by responding to the mockery but by achieving the goal. He and Linda were both very pivotal.
I don't believe everything he teaches, but Andrew Wommack influenced at least a couple of things. He teaches that it's always God's will to heal. His example is that Jesus healed everyone who came to him. He never told anyone that it wasn't the right time or some lesson hadn't been learned or some sin was standing in the way, etc. If people went to him, they got healed. Period. Hebrews says that the Son is the express image of the Father. If Jesus always healed, it's always the Father's will to heal. Wondering whether it's God's will to heal or not automatically puts someone in a position of unbelief(double-mindedness) instead of starting out believing in the first place. However, the word is like a seed, and seeds require process. In the series it's always the Creator's will to heal, but sometimes it's a process just like a seed. I didn't soapbox it, though. It may be mentioned specifically in two sentences. The rest of the time it's just a "doctrine" behind what happens.
Some if it is pure fantasy. What would I do if it were me there? I'd rescue the princess! Joe rescues Ceinwen. :) But they're together, so how do they get separated when Joe has all that combat experience?
The year I started working on it, 2007, my cat died of cancer. One of the first things Joe does is heal someone of cancer.
It's hard to explain, but a lot of it was based on what was going on the days I was working on it. I can't think of a single example for this. It's kind of like dreams. Most dreams are based on what happens during the day, but it can be extremely hard to recognize it in a dream.
False doctrine influenced some things later on, but spoilers.
I guess the biggest influence was the Bible. I tried to stay faithful to that even though I don't pretend to understand it all and was getting myself right with God when I first started working on it. I made a ton of mistakes, but once I started reading through the rough, there was a lot of stuff that I didn't put in there. God can use anybody.
Andrew Womack was the first person to influence me about God's will in healing. I really searched the Scriptures out myself and was convinced then God backed up what I saw in the word with a miracle healing in my daughter!
ReplyDeleteAfter that, I couldn't be stopped! I joined a small group of people at a local church and started praying for those who were sick every Friday. It was called, The Healing Rooms based on the model of Cal Pearce. He came from Bill Johnson's church in Redding California. Have you heard of it?
Oops! Gotten get carpool... Will finish later!
It doesn't ring a bell, but I have two of Bill Johnson's book on one of my Amazon wish lists. That probably means I've seen him on tv somewhere.
DeleteIt's starting to look like God sent you my way. I have a huge favor to ask. I've been standing on the word for physical healing for myself for a while now, but I can't seem to get the breakthrough I need. Would you pray for me and agree with me for healing? I'd appreciate it a lot. All the Christians I know are the "if it be thy will" crowd. I've prayed for somebody who really believes to show up to agree with me if that's what I needed. Maybe that's you.
Okay, just answer this question for me, please. Do you listen to/read anything by Dutch Sheets, Rick Joyner, Chuck Pierce,or Paul Keith Davis? Please reply ASAP! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with them, but I remember hearing the first two names for sure. I've seen or heard the name Dutch Sheets recently. On tv maybe? I'd have to look them up to see if I've seen them before. I could've seen them on tv if they're on there and just not know the name.
Deleteyes, i will certainly agree with you in prayer for your healing!
ReplyDeleteyes, God sent me to to you or vice versa. :)
I have something really important to tell you...
no, I won't bite; am not a stalker. :)
Thanks! Sent you email.
Delete