TGIF And A Story Teaser

My wife suggested I write about my post-publishing nervousness. Between Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, LibraryThing, and this bloody blog (heh, I like the way that sounds), I've been working very hard to get the word out about "Assassin Marked."

To be honest, I have no idea how to explain my nervousness. It could be the persistent itch to get more of my stories out there. Then again, it could be the fear of not doing well; the nagging question, "Will people like it?" One of my biggest fears at the moment is receiving a terrible review on Amazon.

But enough about that. I really don't want to write about my nervousness. Rather, I would like to write about my progress. I spent a bit of time today revising some of the fiction piece I'm working on. It's requiring that I studying the effects of post traumatic stress disorder in children, and the psychological effects of a parent losing his family. A little teaser there.

I've also been hard at work composing a more thorough historical time line for Damian's world in "Assassin Marked." Not for publication really, just notes for myself to help me remain consistent in my story. But I have many little stories springing up revolving around Damian, or the world Damian lives in.

My six-year-old daughter, on the other hand, decided that her pony needed a haircut for the weekend.

TGIF

Inspiration in the Most Unlikely Places

Many writers will share that real life experiences inspire the tales they tell. Many, myself included, scoff (or have scoffed) at such a statement; telling themselves, "My life isn't nearly so interesting." What I have learned, however, is that this is rarely the case. Experiences take place daily, and though they may be mundane to you, they won't be after "enhancing" them.

Just the other day, I took a trip to the local library to find the second book to the Septimus Heap series. I, of course, found Angie Sage's books fairly quickly, and although they had many of her books, the one I wanted was not on the shelf. Naturally, I asked the librarians to see if it was checked out. It wasn't.

I informed the lady at the counter that I had looked and it wasn't there; she responded by telling me to look around, because people don't always put them back in the right place. A little disheartened, I went back to look again (I had already looked around the nearby shelves, duh). After not finding it, I went back to the librarians for help. Instead of helping, they shrugged and said it could be anywhere. I left, rather annoyed by their lack of help.

However, the librarians, were interesting characters, and a version of this scene has already made it into my next story with Damian. I have changed many of the details and spiced it up a bit, but the entire scene is inspired by this short interaction.

Your experience doesn't need to be Hollywood material. Just the smallest interaction, large enough to catch your attention, but not much more than that, can turn into a scene in your book. Take notes, make a voice memo, or just tell someone about it, and you will be able to get it down on paper. Embellishing the experience into an interesting scene is what makes you a writer.

And no ... I still have not found the second book to the Septimus Heap series. 

Assassin Marked Completed

After a late night of last minute editing and fussing with Amazon Direct Publishing, my first short story is published.



Assassin Marked
by Michael C. Sahd et al.
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Assassin Marked tells a story of a man and his lover who work for the mafia in a futuristic setting. I believe it is an interesting read.

Although I have overcome a great hurdle, my nerves are twisting into a ghastly knot, much like a pile of unraveled yarn. The pressure to provide more stories to the public weighs heavy on my mind. The last thing I want to do is provide this one story and then not release anything again till years later.

Assassin Marked, written almost ten years ago, sat edited and for almost a year now (maybe more). I'm really hoping that future stories will come more quickly.

Yet I'm not done with Damian. Already, work has begun on a larger story involving the assassin, and the addition of some new individuals.

Balanced Tipped faces a serious revision, but I'm confident that I will turn it in to my editor, Laura Pruett, very soon. Incidentally, if any of you reading this article are in need of an editor, click on the link I provided. I know of no better editor than she.

Keep checking back here for more information on published works.

Perfectionism and the Fear of Rejection.

I've heard the first step to recovery is admitting that there is a problem.

For many years, I've aspired to join the ranks of the multitude of writers sitting on the shelves of local book stores and libraries. Unfortunately, I am one of those who has difficulties writing continuously, I constantly find myself fixing spelling and grammatical errors as I write. Worse than that, I sometimes revise what I write while I'm still in the process of creation.

"Assassin Marked," sadly, took me over a year to get to the stage it's in now, and all I needed was a cover.

Still, I find myself nervous. What if it doesn't do well? What if nobody is interested?

Well, this week I am going to take the plunge and publish on Amazon. If it doesn't do well, then at least I'll have my name out there.

Musings

A vapid work week has created a holy grail of the weekends. Time seems to be tied up in the trappings of a working-class American's struggle to survive, and trivial pursuits in entertainment. Not a bad life when my marvelous family is stirred into the mixture.

Just this morning, while listening to the radio, I zipped through traffic, driving the same route I drive every Monday through Friday. Of course, I could ramble on about the depressing state of affairs I heard on the radio, plaguing our country at the moment, but if you don't already know, then I wouldn't be so cruel as to burst your bubble. Rather, congratulations on successfully isolating yourself from these affairs.

I must admit that I find it difficult not to complain about all the banal trappings of my professional existence, but that is not why I am here. The true purpose of this blog is to escape the mundane reality of work. To keep my imagination flowing through my fingers like Harold with his purple crayon.

Using Amazon, I will start publishing my stories, and I will be advertising and discussing them here. The first one will be called Assassin Marked, set into a fictional not-too-distant future.

As time passes, my goal is to fill this blog with many published stories and ideas. The blog will not have a definitive goal, but rather, I plan on letting it morph with my ideas as I come to them.

~Michael C. Sahd