Russell Slater -- FIVE THINGS LEARNED WRITING

Russell Slater is a writer and author AND small press publisher located in West Michigan.

Here, he talks about FIVE THINGS LEARNED WRITING his Classic Monster (in my words) novella, ACIPENSER.

 

 

Something in the lake… 4th of July Weekend!

 

Time for flags, barbeques and late night fireworks. For the residents of a sleepy West Michigan community, the carefree days of sun-soaked bliss are about to be interrupted by a deadly abomination of nature…lurking in the depths of a local lake. ACIPENSER

 

Vietnam veteran Silas Sobel loves Green Lake. He watches over the water – protects it. When he witnesses a mysterious attack on a pontoon of partiers, his claims are dismissed as wild stories. Setting out on a lone mission, he utilizes unconventional methods to capture the proof he needs. As the town slowly realizes the truth, they find themselves woefully unprepared to combat the hideously mutated monsters of Green Lake.

 

##

 

FIVE THINGS I LEARNED while writing ACIPENSER

 

FYS – Finish Your Shit.  Don’t look backward (until the end). 

 

1. FYS

This is the most important acronym for a writer.  Put simply: Finish your shit.  Great words of advice.  Twenty half-written stories are useless, whereas a terrible yet fully-written rough draft has a future.  Get it done, maintain momentum, and don’t stop until you write “THE END.”  I’m still working on this.   

 

2. ACIPENSERS don’t have teeth – wait, yes they do! 

 

When I chose the Lake Sturgeon as my “Green Lake Monster,” I soon was disappointed to learn that these fish don’t even have teeth!  Somehow a giant mutant fish that gummed people to death didn’t seem as frightening as rows upon rows of serrated steak-knife teeth.  So we gave him chompers – deadly, pointy ones.  Coincidently, I did learn later on that certain species of Acipensers in Eastern Asia are predatory fish, and do in fact have teeth. 

 

3. We’re famous!  (not really)

People aren’t like cockroaches – in fact, they like the spotlight.  I love writing stories based locally, and I knew by creating a fictional lake monster in a community near where I live, I would be scaring my friends and neighbors.  Knowing there are many “Green Lakes” out there, I specifically had my cover artist (Jordan Richardson) put an outline of “our” Green Lake as a glare in the monster’s eyeball.  It’s just something small, and discrete – not something you’d normally notice, but when locals say, “Is this about our Green Lake,” I can point to that small detail, and they instantly smile.  Some area readers like to guess which characters resemble actual people.  

 

4. Great art will sell your book

Yes, people do judge a book by its cover.  An awful story with a great cover will outsell an awesome story with a terrible cover.  We are visual creatures, and we buy visual entertainment (whose actual content is mostly unseen –movies, books, magazines) based on the package it comes in (or cover).  Work with talented artists who can convey your story through a great cover.  The reader should have some idea what the book is about based on the cover – when readers pick up a copy of Acipenser to thumb through, they have a pretty good notion that the story involves some type of terrifying monster with sharp teeth.  Too many covers on the market today, whether through independent or traditional publishing houses, appear too generic.    

 

It took Jordan and I several months to develop the final look of Acipenser.  He went through many variations, and after several sit-down meetings and dozens of emails exchanged, we finally got it right.  I love the final look of the monster – so much so, I got him tattooed on my left shoulder. 

 

5. It’s all good: Feedback

Feedback is our emotional payment for our work (physical payment in the form of cash, checks, and credit are nice too).  After pouring heart and soul into a project, hearing the response from readers can be satisfying, encouraging, or maybe disheartening.  Even if a reader gives you blunt, at times rude, feedback – it’s all good.  Our first reaction when receiving negative feedback may be to snatch the nearest solid object and thump them over the head with it, but resist the urge.  Bite your tongue.  Smile.  Say, “thank you for taking the time to read it.”  Think about their feedback – does it have merit?  Yes, the truth can sting sometimes.   Use negative feedback as a learning experience. 

Toughen thy skin until it becomes an armor shell that can absorb whatever a reader throws at you. 

 

Positive feedback makes us writer-types puuuuurrrr.  “I liked it,” or “it was an enjoyable read” are nice to hear, but what really gets me purring is the feedback with details.  Stories of readers’ reaction to your material are great.  I recently had a woman who lives on Green Lake tell me how her teenage daughter bought a copy of Acipenser, and then invited her girlfriends for a sleep over.  They took turns reading it aloud to one another and then went swimming in the lake at night. 

 

##

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Russell Slater is a Michigan author and head of Peninsulam Publishing (Publishing stories Made in Michigan). In addition to his published novels, his work has been featured in the (Wayland) Penasee Globe, Allegan County News, Flavor 616 Magazine, Michigan Medical Marijuana Magazine, Engraver's Journal and the Volunteer: Civil Air Patrol Magazine. He enjoys creative writing in multiple genres, from alternate history political thrillers, to sci-fi/horror, and children's books. He lives in a rural community with his wife and son.

 

 

 

Peninsulam Publishing and Book Links

 

www.peninsulampublishing.com

https://www.facebook.com/peninsulampublishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Great Lakes Authors" Sixlet talks briefly on why they write

Q & A with the GREAT LAKES AUTHORS 

who will be attending 

the GRAND RAPIDS COMIC CON this October.

Jamie-Jo Brenner 

1. Why do you write? I have always loved to write and find that I am much more comfortable with the written word versus the spoken word. I don't get as much time to write as I would like, so when I do write it is because I truly believe that I have something to say and want to share it with people.

2. When do you find is the best time to write? I like writing at night or in the evenings. I like to have the whole day to process what I want to say, or a whole day's worth of experiences to explore. Plus, I am absolutely not a morning person (even though I try to be).

3. What is your end goal as a writer/author? My end goal as a writer/author would be to share my thoughts, experiences, and passions with the world in the way I feel most comfortable. I have always written about topics that deeply matter to me, so my goal would be to try to bring awareness or discussion to some of those topics. And I would like to do so for as long as I continue to enjoy it.


Ingar Rudholm

1. Why do you write? As single parent, my mom worked odd jobs (retail stores, painting, traveling sales, etc) to support her kids. But her real passion was painting and art.  She always said, "When I retire, I'm going to paint and make arts and crafts."  Unfortunately, before she retired, she was diagnosed with dementia and she never pursued her passion.  So, I thought before I die, I want a few books.

2. When do you find is the best time to write? Between the hours of 11pm and 1 am.  Any time after that, I end up falling asleep hunched over my laptop.

3. What is your end goal as a writer/author? Inspire people to never lose their imagination.

Lawrence Heibel1. Why do you write?   I have a pathological need to express myself in written words.  Like eating and breathing I have a need to write that must be exercised.

2. When do you find is the best time to write?  I can write any time any where but prefer the dead of night when the house is quiet.

3. What is your end goal as a writer/author?  I write for myself, but I do want to be heard.  My goal as a writer is to entertain myself.  My goal as an author is to entertain others.

Melanie Swiftney1. Why do you write? I love telling stories. Always have. As a teenager I loved sharing my short stories with friends and that yearning to see people's reactions when they read something I wrote is intoxicating. Since publishing my first novel in 2012, it's been even more addictive. I just love entertaining people.

2. When do you find is the best time to write? My preferred time is first thing in the morning, before I've checked email or Facebook or turned on the TV.

3. What is your end goal as a writer/author? TO RULE THE WORLD! Well, to sell lots of books and be a full-time author. Isn't that every writer's goal?

Deanna J Compton1. Why do you write?  Writing is a way to express myself that I find fulfilling.  It is my voice and I can't be silenced or interrupted or argued with during the process.

2. When do you find is the best time to write? I like to write in the morning before my other responsibilities take over and sometimes in the evening if I have any energy left at the end of the day.

3. What is your end goal as a writer/author? My end goal as a writer is to produce an entertaining story.

Peter Welmerink1. Why do you write?  My therapist says it is therapeutic, then charges by $120 and sends me on my way. I wish she’d loosen the straightjacket though.

2. When do you find is the best time to write? I typically get up before the bird and the worm to catch some words, and place them in some form of order on the blank sheet.

3. What is your end goal as a writer/author? First, to get these stories out of my head. There’s a reason for them being here and wanting to be let out. Second, hopefully I can share with others, and hopefully they get a little form of entertainment from my ramblings.

 

Tommy B Smith - Five Things Learned

Tommy B Smith talks

FIVE THINGS LEARNED ABOUT WRITING

 

 

I met Tommy at IMAGINARIUM 2015, stopped by his table, said hello. I'd seen and heard his name before, and it was good putting a name to a face. He is a writer of Horror, and from what I'm seeing from his list of material...a damn good and creepy writer of Horror.

 

Here he talks about the craft of writing and being an author.

 

## 

 

1. Being an effective author is far more than simply writing a book. It is more than polishing a book to a sharp shine or signing a contract with a publisher. It is more than merely making others aware that your book exists. All of these steps are important, but the process is not this simple unless you are incredibly lucky. It is work, and that work can be time-consuming. As such, be prepared.

 

 

2. Even in doing what we do best, authors—people—possess strengths and weaknesses. Parts of my journey as an author have brought a better understanding of these, for my own case, and methods of addressing them.

 

 

3. The lenses through which a work’s author and its reader perceive can be quite different. It is important to distinguish constructive criticism from destructive criticism. Beware of misleading advice, but be aware that, when utilized properly, constructive criticism can be an author’s valuable tool.

 

 

4. Life isn’t apt to be fair, nor is every person, company, or organization within the world of writing, editing, and publishing. Be aware of who you are dealing with, and read the fine print.

 

 

5. I write dark fiction. For some time, I had no classification for what I wrote. Some of it was horror, but not all of it. I also wrote tales of fantasy, one science fiction story, and some dark borderline-literary stories. “Dark fiction” seems the most accurate description of what I do in general. 

 

 

#

 

About the Author

Tommy B. Smith is a writer of dark fiction and the author of Poisonous and Pieces of Chaos. His work has appeared in numerous publications over the years to include Every Day Fiction, Night to Dawn, Black Petals, Blood Moon Rising, and a variety of other magazines and anthologies. He has previously worked with Morpheus Tales as editor of the magazine's Dark Sorcery and Urban Horror special issues. His presence infests Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife and cats. More information can be found on his website at http://www.tommybsmith.com



 

Social Media Links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authortommybsmith

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/penofchaos
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5765423.Tommy_B_Smith

 

His work

 

 

 

Following the Quake of ’79, a terrible force came to the city of St. Charles. This was the Living Poison. In Lilac Chambers, it may have found the perfect host. As she finds herself changing, becoming increasingly dangerous to everyone around her, it becomes apparent that her state of being is no accident of nature. She is becoming a prime vehicle for the Living Poison’s destructive swath through the streets of St. Charles. Detective Brandt McCullough has seen the Living Poison’s brutality. John Sutterfield, ringmaster of Sutterfield’s Circus of the Fantastic, is discovering its malignancy festering within the very circus he founded. These two are the only ones who might stand in the way of a force greater than anything they have ever known, one which threatens to wash the streets in red and swallow the city into chaos, but the stakes may be higher than either of them can imagine. St. Charles—indeed, the world—may tremble.

Link to Poisonous on Amazon

This book is a collision of ink and paper and an awakening of possibilities. Captured within are fragments of glass, metal, bone, ice, dreams, visions, and lives. Inside its pages, you will read of a lost village and the burning affliction of its people. You will share in an engineer’s unveiling of a hidden conspiracy. You will visit with a child confined to a tiny rectangular world on the brink of dissolution, and you will follow a girl on her trek from a home of crime and poverty across barren fields of ice to where an unspeakable force dwells. These are but a few of the works you will find among this collection of fourteen tales which blends the cosmic, the psychological, the human, and the inhuman in bringing together the essential dark fiction from author Tommy B. Smith’s pen of chaos.
Link to Pieces of Chaos on Amazon


What some people are saying about Smith's work

"His prose is tight and drives the story so the reader keeps flipping the pages."

"...features great writing, edge of your seat drama and the kind of gothic horror you can really sink your teeth into. A huge adrenaline rush for serious horror junkies!"

"...his stories are delightfully twisted, with sharp prose and unexpected turns..."

Melanie Hooyenga - FIVE THINGS LEARNED

Author Melanie (Swiftney) Hooyenga talks about

Five Things Learned Writing Her Trilogy

FLICKER, FRACTURE and FADED

and Her Writing Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've learned a lot about myself as a writer since I wrote my first novel eight years ago.

 

1. I Can't Force Words.

 

But I can insist very strongly that I write at least 100 words. While writing my first novel, I was part of an online group that had to write 100 words a day. 100 words is nothing. It's a paragraph. You can write it in five minutes. Coming up with an excuse for why I can't write for FIVE minutes was nearly impossible, so I would sit my butt down and write. More times than not I wrote more, but even that minimum word count keeps the story moving forward.

 

2. I Can't Force a Long Writing Session.

 

I've participated in NaNoWriMo three times (talk about forcing words!) and it's taught me that a) I can write 1000 words in 45 minutes when I'm on a roll but it's rare for me to write more than that. On days when it's not coming easily, I've learned to recognize when my body and mind can't handle sitting in front of the computer any longer. When I first started writing I'd force myself to sit there for another hour, but all that happened is I'd end my writing session feeling discouraged—no matter how much I wrote. Now I stop when I'm feeling antsy.

 

3. First Person Present Tense CAN Work.

 

And it's what I love to write. The first two novels I wrote were third person past tense and while it worked, it didn't ROCK. For me, being RIGHT INSIDE my character's head is where I prefer to be.

 

4. Seeing Your Manuscript Turn Into a Book is AMAZING.

 

If you're a writer, I don't need to tell you this, but seeing your book in published form is awesome. Finishing a first draft is a huge accomplishment, then editing, editing, editing.... so when you finally get to that point where others can BUY it, it's like a dream come true. But by the time it's published you're already writing the next one, so that awesomeness continues. It's like a book-bliss cycle!

 

5. The Writing Community Makes It All Worthwhile.

 

Writing is a solitary endeavor, but you can't write in a bubble. When I first started out, I joined Absolute Write and in between learning about the publishing industry and writing in general, I met the people who are my best friends today. Some people have supportive friends and family in their everyday lives, but not all writers are that lucky. Having a community—even if you rarely or never see each other in person—is crucial. Besides, who else will tell the world about your book?

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melanie Hooyenga is the author of the YA trilogy, the Flicker Effect, about a teen who uses sunlight to travel back to yesterday. When not at her day job as a writer/graphic designer, you can find her wrangling her 6-year old Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with her husband Jeremy.

 

 

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

melaniehooyenga@gmail.com
http://www.melaniehoo.com
https://www.facebook.com/MelanieHooyenga
https://twitter.com/MelanieHoo
https://instagram.com/melaniehoo/

 

 

ABOUT HER BOOKS

FLICKER

Biz is a perfectly normal teenager except for one minor detail: she uses sunlight to jump back to yesterday. She takes advantage of flickering by retaking Trig tests, fixing fights with her boyfriend (or reliving the making up), and repeating pretty much anything that could be done better. Trouble is, flickering makes her head explode from the inside. Or feel like it anyway.

 

No one knows about her freakish ability and she’s content to keep it that way. Guys don't stick around because she refuses to let them in, but all that changes when Cameron, her best friend, starts looking oh-so-yummy. Suddenly she's noticing his biceps, his smile, and the cute way his eyes crinkle when he—gah! This is her friend!

 

But the butterflies come to a screeching halt when little girls start disappearing, then take a nosedive when the police link the kidnappings to Cameron's sister, who vanished years earlier. As the police grasp for clues, Biz photographs a strange man lurking in the shadows and realizes that her flickering can help more than just herself.

 

 

FRACTURE

When seventeen-year old Biz wakes up from surgery after helping catch a kidnapper, she thinks she’s lost her ability to flicker—travel back in time eighteen hours—but she soon discovers her ability is stronger than ever. And so are the mind-blowing headaches.

 

But flickering isn’t the only thing giving Biz headaches. Her newly shaved head brings out the bullies, her boyfriend Cameron is getting a little too chummy with a girl from the kidnap support group, and Cameron’s formerly kidnapped sister is having some serious adjustment issues.

 

When her dad’s health takes a turn for the worse, she turns to her neurosurgeon who operated on her. If she tells him the truth, he could figure out why she and her dad flicker and save her before her entire world—and her own health—crumbles. But can Biz trust him with her secret?

 

FADED

Biz didn’t think life could get worse after the tragic events that surrounded her last flicker, but when she accidentally flickers on her eighteenth birthday after doing shots of vodka—she’s forced to face the consequences of her actions in a way she never imagined.

 

When an anonymous email threatens to reveal her secret, Biz must decide if flickering is all it’s cracked up to be, or if she needs to stop. Forever.

Rob E. Boley - Five Things Learned Writing (the first half of) the SCARY TALES Series

Rob E. Boley discusses his five things learned writing 

 

The Scary Tales Series

 

I love writing lil’ tidbits like this because it forces me to do something that surely does not come naturally to me: thinking. See, I’m much more of a do-er than a think-er. I’m the guy in meetings who’s tapping his feet, doodling, checking his email, or slamming his head again and again into the table. Why? Because I don’t want to talk about it; I want to do it. I’d rather sing it than bring it. I’d rather bite than bark. I’d rather walk than talk. I’d rather write than outline.

Which brings me to my first point . . .

1) Solid stories fall together, not apart.

On the scale of pantser-to-plotter, I’m almost entirely a pantser, which is to say that I have a general idea where my story will end up, but I have only the vaguest of notions how my characters will get there. There are pros and cons to this approach, but the biggest positive is that my characters continue to surprise me.

I can tell you for sure that the vast majority of the coolest swerves and most riveting developments in The Scary Tales were unplanned. These little moments were spontaneous outgrowths of the characters and their situations, and I had as much fun discovering them as my readers will (hopefully) have reading them.

But these moments don’t always happen. I’ve had many a story die on the vine, and it’s usually because something was missing—either the characters didn’t have a strong enough arc, the tension was too wobbly, or the destination ultimately wasn’t all that interesting. I’m a firm believer that if a story has a solid foundation of characters and conflict, it will fall together, rather than apart.

Fortunately, with The Scary Tales, everything has fallen together wonderfully, and that’s at least partly because of my next point . . .

2) Fairy tales are rich soil for fiction, especially horror.

My Scary Tales series started as a simple Snow White zombie short story, but that story quickly blossomed into a novella, a novel, a trilogy, and ultimately a full-on series. At last part of that growth is because of the rich metaphors and iconic characters associated with the Snow White fairy tale—as well as fairy tales in general.

I’ve read a ton of fairy tales—especially by the Brothers Grimm—since I started working on the series, and these stories are full of compelling characters, horrific acts, tense situations, and depraved twists.  Some of the most fascinating of the original Grimms fairy tales aren’t widely known, such as The Singing Bone or Thousandfurs. So if you’re looking for some dark inspiration, I’d recommend exploring some of the lesser-known of these tales.

They will make you laugh out loud with their absurdity or cringe with their grotesqueness—or possibly both, which hints at my next point . . .

 

3) Everyone brings their own story to your story.

I’ve had some people read That Risen Snow and tell me about how they simply couldn’t put it down because they were so anxious to see what happened next. Others have told me that they thought it was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Still others have told me it was scary as hell. These are all valid interpretations of the material, mind you.

Likewise, I’ve had all manner of response to the characters. Some readers have absolutely hated Merry, one of the seven dwarfs who is plagued by depression and who makes some questionable decisions throughout the novel. Others seemed to sympathize with the little guy and considered him their favorite character. I’m always thrilled when my writing elicits any strong emotion from readers, but I wasn’t expecting their responses to vary so widely. Edmund Wilson summed up this phenomenon with this great quote: "No two persons ever read the same book."

Of course, if you want to provoke any sort of response from your readers, you have to keep them engaged. That happens with tension, which for me is an outgrowth of my next point . . .

4) Imagining terrible things happening to your characters beats the hells out of worrying about terrible things happening to you.

At some point while writing this series, I came to a realization about how writing makes me a happier, healthier person. See, when I was a little kid, I worried about everything. I worried about the penny I swallowed poisoning me. I worried about getting in big trouble for the basement window I broke. I worried about going to the doctor or playing sports or talking to girls.

As I got older, I outgrew a lot of my anxiety but it still remained as my default “negative” emotion. Some people get angry. Some people feel guilty. I worry. After my daughter was born, I was surprised both by how much I loved her—but also by how much I fretted over her. Maybe it’s no coincidence that I started writing fiction after I became a dad. I’ve learned that the writing acts as an outlet for that anxious fidgeting of the mind. Oh, I still spend a good chunk of every day conjuring up awful things that might happen, but these are things that will happen to my characters, not to myself or my loved ones. That benefits me as a person, because I’m not a nervous wreck, and it benefits my readers because it keeps the tension flowing in my stories.

A tense reader keeps turning the pages until they run out of pages, which brings me to my final point . . .

5) Some people really fumping hate cliffhangers.

If I could change any one thing about That Risen Snow, the first book of The Scary Tales series, it would be the abruptness of the ending. I won’t give any spoilers here, except to say that the story ends with a pretty major cliffhanger.

By and large, the book has great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but the few negative reviews mostly concern the cliffhanger ending. Some people like cliffhangers. Others tolerate them if they care enough for the characters. A very vocal minority hates the shit out of cliffhangers and would probably eat your firstborn child if you have the audacity to write a cliffhanger. Seriously.

While I think the first book ends more or less at the best spot in the overarching story, I wish I’d finessed the final scene a little more. The subsequent books all end with some degree of tension, but the endings are more poignant and subtle. Rest assured, Book 9 will not end with a cliffhanger. All will be resolved. And almost no one will live happily ever after . . . 

 

Author Bio:

Rob E. Boley grew up in Enon, Ohio, a little town with a big Indian mound. He later earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

 

He’s the author of The Scary Tales series of dark fantasy novels featuring mash-ups of classic fairy tale characters and horror monsters. His fiction has appeared in several markets, including A cappella Zoo, Pseudopod, Clackamas Literary Review, and Best New Werewolf Tales. His stories have won Best in Show in the Sinclair Community College Creative Writing Contest and the Dayton Daily News/Antioch Writers’ Workshop Short Story Contest.

He lives with his daughter in Dayton, where he works for his alma mater. Each morning and most nights, he enjoys making blank pages darker. You can get to know him better by visiting his website at www.robboley.com.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.robboley.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/robboley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobBoleyAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4097555.Rob_E_Boley

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rob-E.-Boley/e/B00FSM1AD6

 

Book Links:

 

That Risen Snow: A Scary Tale of Snow White & Zombies

Available in paperback and ebook.

Ebook currently on sale for free!

·  Amazon.com

·  BN.com

·  Google Play

·  Kobo

·  iTunes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Wicked Apple: A Scary Tale of Snow White & Even More Zombies

Available in paperback and ebook.

 

·  Amazon.com

·  BN.com

·  Google Play

·  Kobo

·  iTunes

 

A Scary Tales Box Set (Books 1-4)

There’s no better time to get caught up on The Scary Tales! This special box set contains the first four books of The Scary Tales series. That’s four complete novels for only $7.99!

 

·  Amazon.com

·  BN.com

·  Google Play

·  Kobo

·  iTunes

Aaron Rocheleau KAJA STAR - Five Things Learned Writing

Aaron Rocheleau discusses

five things learned writing

 

KAJA STAR

No Place Like Home

 

 

 

On the day Titus Markava plans to propose, he is horrified to discover that the love of his life is actually a shape-shifting alien man.  Before he can recover from the unfortunate news, he is quite literally thrown from Earth onto a completely different world in a completely different solar system.

 

It is a world where a person might conduct himself almost as well as he conducts electricity.  It is a world on the brink of an interplanetary conflict.  It is a world of dinosoids, insectavores, and even a cyborg or two.  It is a world with CNN… just not quite the same CNN we’re used to.

 

Yet even though it is a world where entire planets can be traversed instantly by portals called gates, Titus can’t find even one to take him back home.

 

#

 

1. If you have a good idea, use it sooner rather than later.  As I was writing Kaja Star I would get a great idea and write it down to use later in the story, but I get kept getting ideas faster than I was putting them into the book.  It made more sense to put say, all thirty awesome things into the book rather than use only two of them in between filler and not have room for any more.

2. Network. The old saying, ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’ is true.  I knew I needed an editor, but I didn’t know who to work with.  I asked a fellow author for some help and he recommended some awesome editors I would have never found if I hadn’t asked.

3. Marketing is hard work.  Down below you’re going to run into links for my website and social media stuff.  You’ll see that I write things, develop new illustrations, and sometimes I even interview chickens on Youtube.  The point is that all this stuff takes up time that I could be using to finish my next book.  People are fickle.  If I don’t give them something to remember me by then they’re going to go back to doing something other than getting my book to read.

4. You can’t please everybody.  You are selling a product that you want as many people to buy and enjoy as possible, but not everybody is the same.  Some people will never buy your book.  Don’t take it personally.

5. Fight choreography is fun to watch, not fun to read.  I put way too much detail into fight scenes at first.  I didn’t want them to feel anti-climactic yet when I would go back and read them later, I immediately become lost and bored.  Some things are just more exciting on the big screen.  Tightening the action description made the parts more exciting.

 

#

 

About the Author
Aaron Rocheleau lives in West Michigan with his family.  He writes stories, because exciting adventures are way more fun than call centers and insurance.  His stories are fast paced and fun (gotta be able to compete with those newfangled video games, and movies).  When he's not writing, he's taking swims in Lake Michigan, playing those newfangled video games, and geocaching, which is like treasure hunting, only safer. His house is perpetually surrounded by free range attack chickens that viciously consume everything in their path. Chickens are nature’s zombies.

 

Social Media:

Website: www.spazsticstories.com
Facebook 

Youtube Channel 

Twitter @ SpazsticAaron

 

Book Links:

Amazon

B&N

iBooks

Smashwords

 

 

What people are saying about KAJA STAR

 

"A new, unique tale with action, comedy and drama. One could make the comparisons to Star Wars and Avatar: The Last Airbender, but this is one hundred percent unique."

 

"If you are a SciFi fanatic, a teenager at home with nothing to do, or even an older person at work (when on break or nothing else to do of course), I would recommend this book to you."

 

"...found this book very imaginative with lots of action and great descriptions of the characters and surroundings."

 

 

 

Smiley Optimus