Welcome to Litsy!

1. What does it take to get a book published? I‘ve done a presentation on this for many years when I speak at schools and thought it would be fun to share on Litsy. This discusses what I went through to write my first published novel Gidion‘s Hunt. It doesn‘t reflect every writer‘s journey. I‘m posting this in reverse order to make it easier to read from the beginning. Use the hashtag #WritingGidion to view it. #LitsyThread

#WritingGidion 2. Not surprisingly, the most important step involves reading other books…a LOT of other books. It means reading widely within my chosen market and genre, but just as important is reading outside of both. Writers who only read their market/genre typically will only echo what‘s already done and never bring anything new to the shelf.

#WritingGidion 3. Next comes a lot of thinking on what I want to write. Prior to writing Gidion‘s Hunt, I was 40k into a manuscript for an adult urban fantasy that drew on my experience as a 911 dispatcher. My relationship with that book was so toxic that when I walked away from it, I swung a wooden sword at a tree in my yard until the sword was splinters. My wife asked me what I really wanted to write. The answer was a vampire hunter novel.

#WritingGidion 4. Worldbuilding follows, and it‘s a fun time! It‘s creating characters, settings, and rules. I did minimal character building, establishing Gidion would be a third-generation vampire hunter and that he‘d have to keep his hunting secret from his father. Dad quit hunting after Gidion‘s mom died. Funny tidbit, I established the name for Gidion‘s dad before I ever wrote the first page, but Eric goes unnamed until the second book.

#WritingGidion 5. Just because Gidion‘s Hunt is an urban fantasy, that doesn‘t mean I didn‘t need to do research. My most important research involved animal pack structures. I wanted to avoid wolf packs for influence (let the smelly werewolves have that), so I found a different animal for my vampires to mimic: hyenas. In the hyena world, the women rule, and this was why the big bad in the book ended up being a female vampire. (con‘t in comments)

#WritingGidion 6. Additional research involved exploring Richmond, VA, where Gidion‘s story takes place. For example, the opening scene takes place at the city‘s Canal Walk. I photographed the area to choreograph the opening action sequence. I made a mistake, though. My first scouting trip to the Canal Walk was during the day, so I went back at night. Years later, I revisited the Canal Walk at night to take my author headshot. (con‘t in comments)

#WritingGidion 7. A vital step in the writing process is building my music playlist. Gidion‘s Hunt gives shout outs to some of the artists in my playlist for that book, including the White Rabbits,Apocalyptica, and Metric. Metric gets the most clever shout out with my vampire nightclub named “Old World.” The design of the club‘s sign mimics the Underground signs in London. This is a nod to Metric‘s album “Old World Underground, Where are You Now?”

#WritingGidion 8. So with my research, worldbuilding, and music list all assembled, I begin writing. Typically, when I try to write at home, I get distracted, so I go to cafes and/or libraries. For Gidion‘s Hunt, my favorite writing haunt was Ellwood‘s Café, which doesn‘t even exist anymore. I‘m probably still trying to make up the money spent on all the coffee, pastries, coffee, food, and coffee I bought while writing. Did I mention coffee?

#WritingGidion 9. Writer‘s block takes on different forms for writers. For me, it‘s failing to make time to write. The process of writing doesn‘t bring in money. With a wife, kids, & dog, there are times I feel selfish for writing and not working more overtime to bring in money. I become irritable when I‘m not writing, though. My wife has said that even if I‘m not getting published, I need to keep writing so I won‘t drive her crazy.

#WritingGidion 11. So once the book is edited, I take the leap of faith and hand it over to beta readers. A beta reader is someone who reads the polished rough draft and gives the author feedback. For Gidion‘s Hunt, my two beta readers were my wife and one of our best friends Kristi Tuck Austin. They‘re both writers and don‘t let being a friend stop them from being critical.