Beta Reader Mania!

I haven’t posted in a while, so I figured I’d catch you all up on what I’ve been up to over the last month or so.  In no particular order, here are some of the things I have accomplished:

• Received my 100^th rating and review of the Evolution Trilogy on Goodreads.  Thank you to everyone who has bought and rated my books, but not the negative reviews, I hate you!!  Just kidding, I appreciate all feedback, even the negative, because it helps me understand my readers and how to improve as a writer (just be gentle, please, I’m fragile :)  Sales of the trilogy are now over 800 although I think I’ve given away more books than I’ve sold! 
• Completed the first beta draft of my new YA dystopian novel.  I am so proud of my new book and hope I can find an agent soon!  Please, please, pretty please agents, I would love to be your client.  I’m a hard worker, a quick learner, work well with people…I feel like I’m in a job interview so I’ll stop now.  Anyway, I’ll wash your car, babysit your child, buy your coffee, whatever it takes (but I’m not desperate I swear).
• Received feedback on my new novel from my beta readers.  Thank you to all my beta readers, you are amazing and have a wonderful eye for detail and I can honestly say that after revising, editing and rewriting based on your comments, my novel is significantly better.  I think you’ve just earned yourselves a spot in the acknowledgements, wink, wink.  I just wanted to share some of my favorite beta reader comments because they put a huge smile on my face:

-“I’m excited for the next book and this one isn’t even out yet!” -Alexandria

-“HOLY CRAP!  I literally JUST finished and I’m kind of on that crazy after-you-finish-an-epic-book high!” –Kerri

-“OH MY GOD!!!  What a lovely story David!  I am in LOVE with it!” –Nicole

-“Awesome job.  Can’t wait till the book is going to come out.  Let me know when so I can demand all my friends to read it.”  –Kay

-“I was heartbroken and cried my eyes out, but that’s one of the things I love.  If an author can make me feel that much emotion through their characters then in my book that makes them so much better.”  –Kay again

-“The action was absolutely amazing, and it kept me on my toes the entire time!  Overall it was kinda sorta FREAKING AWESOME!” –Kerri again

-“I love this book!  I am already dying to know what happens next!” –Christina

-“Wonderful story!” –Laurie

Thanks again to all my readers, beta readers, friends and family for all of the support you’ve given me so far.  Undoubtedly I’ll need your help again soon as I try to realize my dream of becoming a full time writer. 

Behind every writer there’s an army of heroes!

The Bright Side of Life

I met an elderly woman at the pool yesterday.  My wife was swimming laps and I was reading Inheritance by Christopher Paolini.  The lady commented that it was a very big book I was reading—and it was.  I don’t usually feel too chatty when I’m reading (or writing for that matter), but for some reason I felt like talking to her.  Something about her told me that she had a story to tell, one that was real, unlike the world of dragons and magicians that I was in the middle of.  My wife could tell you that I generally prefer fictional stories—which is why I read and write YA and children’s fiction—but today I was happy to listen to this lady’s story.

She was at the pool because her seven-year-old grandson was swimming.  I could see him in the pool, splashing around, climbing out, jumping back in, asking for his grandma to “Watch me!  Watch me!”  And she did, with a lot of happiness and a hint of sadness in her expression.  The happiness was for him; I later found out the sadness was for him too. 

For some reason she felt compelled to tell me that her grandson lived with her—that she looked after him.  I didn’t want to pry, so I only commented about how active he was, but she plowed on anyway.  “His mom died,” the lady said.  “His father—my son—is an alcoholic.  So I look after him.”  She was a bit misty-eyed as she said it, but I didn’t think it was because of her loss, or her struggles, but because of the boy’s. 

She was a kind old woman, patient and loving, protective of her grandson—watchful.  Tragedy had struck, yes, and that boy had a hard life—she had a hard life.  But when I saw her face light up as she talked about what her grandson was learning in school and the different things they would do together, I saw a strength inside of her that was simply majestic. 

Perhaps this lady dipped into the realm of negativity sometimes, slipping into darkness and depression—I don’t know.  But I felt like overall she was able to focus on the bright side of life, the side where no matter what the hardships are you’re able to focus on the good in your life.

I want to live on the bright side of life.  I want the books I write to help my readers live on the bright side of life.  If I can brighten one person’s day today through my writing, or even just talking to them, then I can be satisfied when I close my eyes to sleep.

Here’s to the bright side.

What Makes Someone a Writer?

I’ve done quite a few interviews lately, and one question that keeps coming up is When did I first consider myself to be a writer?  I’ve heard a lot of different perspectives on that very question.  I read somewhere that you have to write a million words before you can really call yourself a writer.  I’m sure over my lifetime I’ve written well over a million words—through papers for school, essays, and now business reports at work—but the person that made this bold statement meant one million words while writing novels.  Hmm, by that measure I don’t quite stack up yet.  In fact, I’m only half a writer at the moment, perhaps all plot and no character development, or maybe all idea and no flow.  I dunno.  It might just mean I do everything half as well as I should.  If they had trading cards for authors, here’s what my stats would look like on the back of my card:

Angel Evolution- 72,000

Demon Evolution- 65,000

Archangel Evolution- 69,000

Unpublished YA Paranormal- 91,000

4 Unpublished Children’s Books- 151,000

Unpublished YA Dystopian- 88,000

TOTAL WORDS- 536,000

I suppose 536,000 words isn’t too bad for 16 months, but at the same time, it’s scary to think that I’ve spent all that time and effort and I’m still only half a writer.  I’m at least a year away from hitting the one million words mark.  But I don’t think being a writer is based on word count.

Or is being a writer based on how many books you sell?  Some magic number—a thousand books?  Or perhaps it takes a million books—a NY Times bestseller.  I’m hoping to hit a thousand books sold soon, but as for the NY Times thing, not likely, at least not in the near future.  Perhaps I’ll save that for next year ;).  But I don’t think being a writer is based on book sales either. 

It might just be a state of mind, like I think I’m a writer so I am.  You know, a Zen thing.  All meditation and no perspiration.  But I think it’s more than that, too.

So do I measure up?  I hit the Zen writing theory—I definitely want to be a writer.  But I miss on word count and book sales, at least at this point in my short career.

And yet I consider myself to be a writer.  In fact, I started thinking of myself as a writer before I even finished my first book.  For me it was simply desire plus effort.  If I wanted to be a writer, and I put in the effort to be one (ie writing every single day, no matter what), then I could call myself a writer. 

I hope one day to write my millionth word, find my name on a best seller list (even if it’s most books sold in some obscure place with a population of 65 people), but in the meantime, I’m still a writer, and I’ll keep on writing. 

As always, happy reading!