Yes, it’s going well. Yes, I’m advancing with book 3 of the Khekarian series. I’m exceedingly pleased with what I have so far. But posting this every other week is rather repetitive and undoubtedly boring to you guys. On top of that, there is so much happening in the world today, I really doubt anyone is interested in a writer’s progress, so I shall shift my posting pattern and post less frequently for the time being until I have something to offer.
There is so much happening in the world. A lot of NOT good things and a lot of VERY GOOD push-back! I’m in Victoria, Australia. I’m trying to live my life. What else can I do? I’m a writer of science fiction, tucked away in a rural setting, past my best years (to put it politely) and like everyone else, I crave normalcy and a return of freedom. That’s why I’m back in my writing and why I blog about that. Apart from the catch-up necessity in my career, it’s a reprieve from the war that is going on around us all – don’t mistake it, it really is war.
So forgive me if I talk once a week about what’s happening in my writing-life as though nothing is going on in the world. I am watching, witnessing, supporting where I can, reposting on Gab when taking a breather from working on my next book, and discussing the mayhem and madness locally. Compared to many it’s not much, for sure, and compared to the brave, my efforts are weak, yes. But my heart is in it and I care very much about what is going on, just as we all do.
Follow me on Gab If you are on Gab, find me or leave a link in comments and I will follow you.
Getting back in the saddle with my writing career has involved picking up the reins on my past books (done), my work in progress (done), straightening out the mechanics of blogsville and social media (done and in progress respectively), re-establishing my blog domain (done) and finding where my bookcover artist went – or find a new one. Oh and finish writing book 3 (not done, but well on the way).
There is more to writing than meets the eye.
These necessities fall to me, it is after all my career, but as to the bookcover, I am joined by the love and light of my life, my husband Greg who is growing quite proficient in PaintShopPro and is happy to work the process while I get to do the fun stuff, pick the pictures.
Things are looking good, folks. I’ve had a chance now to go over my working files and notes, I can see my way clear to continue on with the 3rd book in the Khekarian series and I’m already making good progress. The tangles I had left myself have already been dealt with and it now just boils down to bum-in-chair-fingers-on-keyboard dedication. I’m on it!
Loving how this book is shaping up. The story is solid and pleasing (the humor catches me out as always, when I work with a character they really take over. That little monster Va’el rather steals the show in this one, I thoroughly enjoy working with him).
Okay! I have read and re-edited both books so far in the Khekarian series. Both books have been freshly uploaded to Kindle and paperback. I have also changed their prices.
If you already own them on Kindle, I believe you can just freshly download them (it’s worth it) for no extra charge. If you have not already purchased them, my Kindle books are now going for USD$8.00 (down from USD$9.95) and my paperbacks are now USD$15.00 (down from USD$29.95).
Kindle seems to be up with these changes, one of the paperbacks not yet showing it, so it might be worth waiting a couple of days for that one.
If the price has changed, you know that the content has been upgraded too.
Enjoy, folks!
Sure is! I have lots of action in the Khekarian series, a rich assortment of characters and different worlds, three dominant species of being in control of much of it, and a fourth coming into the picture – there’s a war on (isn’t there always) between two of the three civilizations and a small planet in the peaceful Terran Sector -humans- may end up being the pearl of the galaxy.
The Khekarians are fishing around, they know what’s there. They want what’s there to aid their war effort.
Two books of the series are written and printed. I’m having another look at those after a three-year hiatus. It’s good to see them fresh and new as though I am a new reader and not the author. These ARE being tweaked and will be re-uploaded. No major changes and none at all to the plot – just better for me being able to see those few patches that jar. The third book (unpublished) will undergo the same treatment and follow the first two, and then I can get on with the next.
It’s happening and fast, but it takes time to pick up the pieces, to know where I’m at and to move forward again.
Sweeping out lots of commas, a good thing. 😀 LOVING the story, I actually think the second book The King’s Sacrifice is better than the first book The Khekarian Threat – I suspect that is because the second is fresher to me than the first (I lived and breathed The Khekarian Threat for decades and it pretty well grew up as I did. Yeah it took that long).
The Khekarian series has been my passion for a long time and it’s good to get back into it after a lengthy break. I’ve completed reading my first book through – and I’m very pleased with it, it’s great to be able to see my work as a reader does rather than as the author (time away does that for you). We writers typically get up close and personal with our characters and frequently see our work through that lens, meaning we see what we know and not necessarily what a reader sees at all when they enter into that world and meet our characters for the first time.
For the most part, The Khekarian Threat is good and strong and I very much like the humor throughout. Great sex too (gotta say it, it’s true)! However I also saw a few (not many) weak points where a bit of clarity was needed or more info given. There was one glaring typo I corrected and in one scene a very important adjustment made on a singular slip up in continuity. Ouch on that one!
When my publishing house went down (roughly when I did three years ago), I lost access to my account and the sales at Amazon – I couldn’t access my published books, I couldn’t edit, change the price, or even order my own copies at cost.
It added an extra weight to my own personal crunch and the whole became too much, at that time, to deal with.
Now here I am, up and running again, refreshed and eager, and I discovered to my surprise that my publishing house had not collapsed into nothing, but had morphed into something else and although my account was useless, it was still there to transfer across into the new format.
Voila! This has been done, and hey presto, just like that I have access to my own works again. Both books are live on Amazon and always were. I can fully access them again. I don’t need to start over, I don’t need to have the whole series finished before I venture out again – I can start up where I left off and NOT keep anyone waiting extra long for Book 3.
I’m currently reading through everything I’ve got so far to know what I have and what threads I need in hand to carry into the rest of Book 3 and the rest of the series. Liking it so far with very little tweaked in correction.
Gosh, it was me all along! They’ve changed everything in WordPress Blogsville and I find myself in alien territory, no joke. Not knowing how to do stuff, stuffing up my own links from Post to Page…
Sheesh, not enough coffee, I swear…
…Right. I’ve gone back and RE-LINKED my links so that they actually POINT to something. Just in the two new posts over the last week (I thought it had something to do with the domain mapping I also had to get up and running. My bad).
Anyhow, now all should be well. For me, it’s back to work in my manuscripts, picking up threads and getting back into the action. I’m actually enjoying myself, it’s where I need to be and what I should be doing.
Progress report coming next…
Bloodstone Sci Fi 