Fingers to keys

   Durning the time waiting for my edited to comeback I completed the first part of my novella series and completed MFLI: The Husband short story.  But that was last year and only the begining of our jonery to become a successful writer. The guides and books say in order to be a successful as a self-publish/Indy writer you need first and foremost a presence.

   Social media is the means to an ends for getting your work out there. I have since set up a facebook page, twitter, goodreads, wattpad, and other forums to build intrest in my work. The guides also say you have to build a network of other authors and work together to achieve your common goals. It is funny how many people that you already know that are working on a book or have release books.

    I have three Jeremy Kester @ www.jeremykester.com, C.W. Walker http://theruinsofeden.com/, Ophelia Julien http://www.opheliajulien.com/ all have books for sale on amazon, right now. My good friends Odin http://odinsmusings.blogspot.com/ and Tony Smith are working on novels as we speak. In my  time working on my books I've inspired others to finally work or their own.

    The next phases are have quality cover art and a good editor. Now I'm on a budget (no budget) and admittedly cheeped out on both. Luckily I have a bit of talent with the pencil and Photoshop and cranked out a decent cover for each project I plan on releasing this year. For editing I was fortunate enough to have a family member who has dedicated her life to education and has a knack for catching grammatical errors.

    The latter two phases of the process have a wait time. So what do you do?

    Put fingers to keys that's what. It is said in many of the guides that a indy writer should release a book or novella at least once every six months. That means realistically while one book is being edited, the writer should be working on the book and when the first book has been released  the next book should be in line for editing and so on and so forth.

   Is this doable for a person with a wife, a kid, and a full-time job?

   I honestly don't know. With the right amount of sacrifice, I believe so. The end goal of course is to cut the full time job out of the equation and make writing the full-time job.

It's been a bit since of given a sample of one of my works.

From The Violet Eclipse- A time in shadow part 1

The crowd surged wildly as the four gladiators enter the jungle morphed battlefield. The group felt the pressure of the damping collars greatly lessen granting Kritis and Durane access to more of their physical strength, Meida access to her shadow power and natural speed and Ambrii more access to her magical talents.

Kritis scanned the high grass and trees in front of them. “I counted ten riders, Durane?”

“Same, in this high grass they will attempt to divide and conquer.”

“Then I shall remove the grass” Ambrii started the incantations to summon the fire elements.

"Let this battle begin.” The High Chancellor professed with the sound of horns playing.

Ambrii whispered the words to the spell in her elven tongue. Before her a swirling glyph of orange red light appeared a foot away from her face. From the opposite side of the arena several arrows streaked toward the gladiators from the shadows of trees and high grass.

Durane moved with haste deflecting many of the arrows with his massive shield. Kritis slashes the remaining arrows out of the air with the quick motions of Firous. Meida rolled clear and in the same motion and threw three knives in the general direction the arrows originated. There was a thud and a groan of pain from amongst the tall grass.

“As Kasan Muria Udindas Firios Belin Toranos!” Ambrii chanted the final words.

Ambrii extended her staff out just past the protection of Kritis and Durane. As she did, she pressed her gathered power forward and through the swirling glyph. The circle of orange red light erupted into a massive wave of roaring flame. The flame raged across the battlefield consuming all in its path.

The crowd cheered loudly and nearly all rose to their feet as the heat wave slammed into them. And just as suddenly as it appeared, the flame winked out leaving behind scarred land and charred trees. Standing amongst the barren ruins of the battlefield, six of the mounted shifters remained.

“Nicely done, Ambrii. OK, Durane, Meida, I believe it is our turn.” Kritis took a defensive stance.

His sword held low and comfortable, the flat of the blade parallel to his body. The point of the blade aimed towards the dirt. Durane stood close by with his large round shield pressed forward. His spear, which would have been a full size spear in the hands of a man, He held low with the point aimed high. Meida took a position in Durane’s shadow and nearly vanished from sight.