Happy Release Day for Multiples of Six!

I am very proud to announce that my pseudonymous suspense/thriller, Multiples of Six, is now available through most ebook retailers. It's been a long time coming, as the initial idea for this story began in 2004. Phew!

It's just over 70,000 words and I've had a lot of great feedback on it so far. I hope you'll give it a chance and let me know what you think if you do.

For Nook owners, the book can be found at Barnes & Noble.

For Kindle owners, you can click on the link below:

For all other formats (Sony, Apple, Kobo, PDF, etc), please check out Smashwords.com.

New Feature on My Pseudonymous Blog!

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to give some air time to a new feature I'll be introducing on my other blog (http://andyrane.blogspot.com). The Same Six Questions will feature brief indie author interviews. I've had a great response so far, but the more the merrier, so feel free to contact me about getting involved! the first feature should be up soon! For readers, make sure to keep an eye out and meet an up and coming indie author! Ok, enough of the exclamation points...:)

So Many Projects, So Little Time

I used to complain about not having enough good novel ideas. Now, as I wrap up my second novel (check out the excerpt to Multiples of Six if you haven't already), I can only complain about the opposite. With two novels now recently "finished", I have some choices to make about where to put my energy next. Obviously, the two novels I've finished will still require work, but I am at a point now where I've set them on autopilot for a little bit (one is an exclusive with an agent, the other with beta readers). So, I find myself now with a choice to make. Both completed novels require sequels (one has been plotted out entirely with a couple chapters started, the other I've got the first six chapters plotted and one solid chapter written), but I also have not one, but three other novel ideas in various stages of completion (a YA sci-fi piece at 50,000 words, a paranormal thriller piece at ~10,000 words with another 12 chapters plotted, and a steampunk idea in its infancy). Decisions, decisions!

Writing Will Be a Hobby Until You Treat It Like a Business

Someone recently called my writing a hobby. Luckily for that someone, I love them very much, so I politely explained that writing was my side business, not my hobby. Collecting baseball cards is a hobby. Building little ships inside glass bottles…that’s a hobby. Writing is a form of art, the results of which some people will actually pay for! If you expect to be paid to do what you do, you need to treat it like a business.

Writing What You "Know" Into What You Don't

There are moments out of the past that stick with us for a variety of reasons. Some are happy moments, some not so happy...okay...maybe a lot of them are the not so happy. It's sad that we often can reflect back on 10 unhappy memories quicker than equally happy ones. They've made the kind of mark that joyful moments just don't leave as often. One of the more memorable unhappy childhood moments in my life just spawned the beginnings of an entire book.

The Balancing Act

For my current situation, creating a pseudonym makes perfect sense. It distinguishes my writing between two very different audiences. However, as if finding the time to establish one following hasn’t been hard enough, I’ve now encumbered myself with two!

Two blogs (this one and that one), two Twitter accounts (@samulraney, and @andyraneauthor), a Facebook page, a soon to be active web site, and two email accounts. Yeah, maybe I pushed it a little too far. Perhaps I should have just stuck with an extra page on this blog and a twitter account. But, at the same time, I’m convinced that I’ll need these tools to deal with two completely different readerships.

The real trick right now is finding the time to juggle all of this extraneous social networking while trying to fine tune one novel and develop the story line for the sequel to the other. Oh yeah, and I have to work 40 hours a week as well…and not completely ignore my family. Do I hear someone in need of a Wah!-mbulance? Yeah, maybe a little. What’s funny now, is that I used to dream of having ideas for a novel. Ideas that I could shape into thousands of words. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. Now, the ideas are there, just not the time to dedicate to them. Anyway, I don’t want this to be a whiny blog. Some people would kill to have too many ideas.

Balance is always important, but perhaps even more so now. Things are only going to get crazier if all goes well. If your life is in balance, you’re more likely to take challenges in stride, then stumbling. Here's to not stumbling over the next couple of months!

Allow Myself to Introduce...Myself

Pen name, nom de plume, pseudonym. Call it what you will, but many authors over the years have used one for a variety of reasons. George Eliot, Richard Bachman, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll to name but a few. Some did it to transcend sexual barriers. Some did it to avoid persecution for what they wrote. Today, most authors use it to separate one body of work from another. And, while I don’t have a huge body of work to deal with, I presently have two very distinct genres I’m pursuing. 

Making Something Out of Nothing

I took a step back in time this weekend. My wife and I took my son over to the Jersey Shore, with the intent of walking around Belmar. Our recent move puts us within an easy hour drive of the shore and my wife was excited to be so close (used to be about two hours, depending on where we were headed). The day was sunny, breezy, and warm enough that a light coat sufficed. We glanced at a map and headed out. It's not an area we're afraid of getting lost in, and we figured it would be a fairly straight shot to the boardwalk...or we'd see a sign...or something. So, when it became clear that we'd missed a turn somewhere, we decided to go to Asbury Park instead.

Return From the Wrong Side

Hark, I return. And, like someone who knows they’ve been caught speeding and just doesn’t have a good excuse, or the time to make one up, I offer nothing to explain my time away. But, the exciting part is that I’ve been productive in the last four months; I finished my latest novel.

Don't Look Back...The Past Might Get You

I've been reminiscing a lot lately. I guess it's a bit strange to say that as I'm sure we all spend a good amount of time looking back. They say you shouldn't spend too much time looking backward, or you'll never move forward. But, sometimes, you can't help but look back and wonder how you got from point A to point B, and whether or not you should have done something differently.

Ugh!

No good excuses for not posting lately. I've really been busy lately trying to be more writerly. I've been busting my buns to keep up with NaNoWriMo, but I'm already two days behind. Once you get behind, it's a hard thing to overcome.

November is National Novel Writing Month!

So, you want to write a novel, but you don't want it to take 5 years of year life? Have I got the solution for you! In just 30 days, you too can have a novel (albeit a 50,000 word novel, but who's counting). Crazy? Perhaps. But, it can be a lot of fun too.

Writing a Novel is Like Moving a House

You wouldn’t think there’s a clear correlation between writing a novel and moving house, but when you’re a writer, you tend to draw similarities between everything in life and writing.

Deus ex Machina

Sometimes, when we ask for a higher power to step into our life, like a life preserver tossed from stage left, we're left to tread water. Sometimes, no matter how much we ask, that little orange flotation device never appears and we're left to drown. And then sometimes, just when we've given in and stopped asking, like a god out of the machine, a submarine surfaces beneath us, just as we were going under for the last time.

Thoughts From the Wrong Side

My apologies for the distance between posts. I've been struggling to find blog time lately. Between packing for the move (T-minus 10 days...and counting [in German accent]), writing my novel, sneaking a page or two from several books I'm reading, working, playing with my son, and more packing, it's been a struggle just to breathe. Anyway, I've got a couple of thoughts to share.

A Matter of Perspective

As a storyteller, I can spin a yarn about myself in any given conversation with little trouble. However, when it comes to writing, I've recently been locked into a third person perspective. And, you know what? It's all right.

Characterization: Add a Touch of Grey

I'm sure all of us at one time or another has wished for things to be simple. A or B. Yes or no. Black or white. We get caught up in the grey so often that we often seek some monochromatic stability. Well, that's all well and good for the real world, but this is fiction we're talking about, and no one wants to read about a world of absolutes.

Top 5 Writing Fears to Overcome

We all have fears about writing. Some of us stop in our tracks because of them. If you're going to be a successful writer, you've got to overcome your fears, plain and simple.

Great, Kid. Don’t Get Cocky.

It’s a classic line from a classic movie. Luke Skywalker (you know, from a little movie called Star Wars?) has just bagged his first enemy bogey and is just a giddy little Jedi wannabe before Han Solo turns around and tells him where he can stick his can of happy powder. It’s good to give yourself a little pat on the back every now and then, just don’t lose sight of the big picture.

Bad Dialogue! No Cookie!

Ah yes, we’ve been here before. That moment where the exposition has ended and it’s the characters’ time to open their mouths and carry the story. This is where the story takes off. This is where the characters reveal themselves. This is where the reader falls asleep, or worse, closes the book. “He had me up until the characters started speaking…then the invisible wall was removed and I could see the author plain as day.”