A Sneak Peek At The New Cover Design for Endangered Memories

For the past couple of months, I have been chipping away at some new cover designs for the stories in my Expired Reality series. This week I want to show all of you a sneak peek of the rough layout of the new cover for the first book in the series, Endangered Memories. As some of you know, this book has had numerous covers over the years, including:

This time around, I decided to spend a little bit of money on some stock photography and go to town on encapsulating the dark and mysterious nature of my story. Aside from some spine work and some positioning here and there, this is what the gist of the cover is going to look like:

I also have new cover designs in the works for Lost Birth (the second novel in the series), and Picture Perfect. My plan is to officially switching the books to their new covers in the next few weeks.

Anaisha

In today's post, I want to talk a bit about Anaisha - the planet my Expired Reality series takes place on. Anaisha's origins are a mystery, but the manner in which humanity built a civilization upon the planet is not. It is revealed through the Black Earth series (which is a prequel series to the ER series) that Strangeways Silver, owner of SilverTech Industries, 'founded' the planet and claimed it as humanity's next inhabitable world. For years, Mr. Silver sent teams of scientists, architects, builders, and other personnel to begin establishing a major city on the planet. This city is Lysallis.

Lysallis eventually stretched into outlying areas, and after some time the continent of Enera was colonized. During the events of the Black Earth series, Legion and the Dark Army invade Earth and humanity is forced to flee in SilverTech shuttles to Anaisha. The ER series takes place 80 years after this event, and by this time most of Enera is populated and under a government that mimics much of the government in our own United States, with a presidential elect, and a solid judicial system.

Anaisha has a sun much like Earth's, and a blue moon. The planet enjoys a steady pattern of four seasons. Anaisha's atmosphere is filled with an element known as rhodenine - possibly debris from a recently destroyed planet, and the continent of Enera is dotted with wedge-shaped machines called Anaishan Purifiers which were put in place to clear the air of the harmful chemicals that were released while SilverTech Industries colonized Enera.

Enera isn't the only continent on Anaisha though, and as the series unfolds, new areas of the planet will be revealed. So far the Far Lands has been mentioned. This is an area of extreme wilderness where very few venture and even fewer return from.

Fun fact: When I penned the first novel in the Expired Reality series - Endangered Memories - I had originally spelled the name of this planet ANASHA. My intent has always been for the middle 'A' to be pronounced the same way the 'A' is pronounced in the word 'Aim'. But when people started pronouncing it as it's spelled, I realized I needed an 'I' in there to correct things.

New Expired Reality Covers

With my announcement a couple weeks ago regarding my exit from the young adult genre and the pulling of the young adult labels from my Expired Reality series, I've been at work on some new cover designs for the series - simple, colorful, and easy to create as the Expired Reality series continues to grow over the course of the next decade - at least.

Here's the brand new cover I designed for Endangered Memories (book 1 in the series)

The new cover for Lost Birth (book 2 in the series)

And the new cover for Picture Perfect (a novella in the series)

Lost Birth: an Expired Reality novel is Now Available For Your Ereader!

I am more than happy to announce that Lost Birth, the second volume in my Expired Reality series (young adult sci-fi/fantasy) is available in ebook format for only $2.99. In the next month or so I'll be working on having it converted to paperback as well, but for now you can enjoy reading it on almost any Ereader device. And if you haven't read the first book in the series, Endangered Memories, you can grab a copy here. Have a great weekend everyone!

Lost Birth: an Expired Reality novel

The Swallower of Worlds—better known as Legion, a mysterious alien race that was responsible for destroying Earth long ago—has arrived on the planet of Anaisha. At least this is what Carrie Green is led to believe after awakening in an underground structure known as the Complex. Unsure if the information being fed to her is true or not, or why she is being worshiped as a deity by fanatical cult followers of the flame element, Carrie makes it her priority to escape the Complex and the clutches of a madman from her past.

David Corbin, the only man who may be able to save Anaisha from the cold grip of Legion, is on his way to Galtaia Penitentiary as a prisoner, escorted by the maniacal Agent Parks. Housing many of Anaisha’s most dangerous criminals, most of whom David helped put away, the prison, it seems, will become David’s crypt. But as allies and enemies continue to scramble to find the timepiece—an ancient artifact with unknown origins and powers—one person believes David to be the hero he was in the past and seeks to rescue him from his living nightmare to help save Anaisha from its own.

Available through:
Amazon Kindle
Barnes and Noble Nook
Smashwords (for other ereading devices)

Endangered Memories Proof Revision

There's a lot that goes into paperback production of a book. A lot more than most people give self-published authors credit for. There are many factors involved with book design - font, text size, cover design, paper color and quality, cover formatting, etc, etc, etc. If even one little setting is off in your word processing program, or one minor detail isn't caught the hundredth time through, it can leave a nasty scar on an otherwise beautiful creation, not to mention a bad taste in a reader's mouth.

I have a number of paperbacks to my name and I seem to learn something new each time I go through the process of turning my blood and sweat drenched manuscript into a physical form for my readers to enjoy. I'm by no means an expert - I realize that every time I go through this process - but I seem to be getting the hang of what to watch for before finalizing the physical editions of my fiction.

Just recently I ordered the proof copy of my latest work, Endangered Memories. Surprisingly, it turned out with minimal issues. The cover came out the way I wanted it to - including the spine and back cover w/barcode. The internal components came out pretty good:

Font is big enough ( Times New Roman -11)...

the hyphenation came out good...

the chapter headings are decorative, but not too fancy...


















The only real issue I've come across is the giant space at the bottom of each page, between the page number and the bottom edge of the page.


















This mistake is one I made in a paperback I created years back. In those days, I was so excited just to have my work in print that I refused to go through multiple proof copies to get things down perfect and my books suffered for it.

This time, within minutes I realized my footer size was set at .7" instead of the .5" I meant for it to be at. Although it seems like a minor correction, resetting my footer from .7" to .5" threw off all of my spacing, hyphens and page layout. After fixing everything, I managed to get the page numbers down another line and closed some of that gap at the bottom.

Now that the book is in the process of populating to Amazon, I'm off to get edits done on the second book in the series - Lost Birth - so I can start formatting that. For anyone who's interested, here's a link to the paperback on Amazon - http://tinyurl.com/42w6kye.

As Worlds Collide

When I was twelve years old and first decided I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, I was just beginning work on the characters who would later show up in Endangered Memories, my latest young adult science fiction/fantasy novel. And when I first started the Expired Reality series - which Endangered Memories is pulled from - I pictured the series running at least a dozen books.

I still picture the series running at least a dozen novels, in addition to some shorts stories and novellas I plan on throwing in there every now and then. But when I started my Black Earth series - a sort of prequel to the events that occur in the Expired Reality series - I planned on the series running about four or five books. And then the fifth book would bump up against the first book in the Expired Reality series and the novels would continue down the line.

But something changed the other day. Something happened which was a bit unexpected and I guess all the blame can fall on my characters.

That's right - my characters.

As long as I've been writing, I've come to realize that my characters have a mind of their own. I can do my best to try and kill them, but if they want to live badly enough, they'll find a way to live. The reverse is true as well, and nothing saddens me more than to watch a beloved character die. I'll admit that it does scare me a bit that my characters can have such a mind of their own.

This brings me to my main point of this blog post. The other day I was working on Dark Horizons, the third installment of my Expired Reality series, and a couple characters showed up unexpectedly. Both are from my Black Earth series. Both are unique in that they were able to survive and live through the 100 year gap between the events of Black Earth and the events that serve as the beginning to Endangered Memories.

These characters, for those who have read the books in my Black Earth series, are Griffin and Pearl.

I originally planned on having Pearl show up in the Expired Reality series, but much later down the line - like maybe the fifth or sixth book. But she just strolled on the page while I was writing Dark Horizons and revealed herself to me and some of my other characters. "Hi," she said as she waved to the rest of the cast. "Just dropped by to make my presence known."

Griffin on the other hand wasn't a character I planned on revealing in the Expired Reality series...ever. The scenes I have been working on in Dark Horizons have a young man who paired up with one of the heroes - Veronica Amorou - as she attempts to escape the police. Throughout the scenes I wrote, he's only mentioned as a young man. I had no name for him, figuring I'd come up with one by the time the second draft came along. But it seems my characters got sick and tired of him not having a solid identity and finally pressed him to reveal his name.

"My name is Griffin," he said.

So there you have it. Two worlds, two unique novel series, thrust together, joined with a bond that cannot be broken. All because of my characters. Characters who refuse to die, who refuse to remain in the shadows of the past and strive to remain immortal.

Full Steam Ahead

 

Now that Endangered Memories is out there for all the world to love or hate - and I have a website design that I can take pride in - I can move forward on the many other projects I've had on the burners for a while now, including the sequel to Endangered Memories, and even the third volume in the Black Earth series.

This week starts a very strict daily schedule I put together to make sure I stick to my goals and make progress each and every day. With that implemented, here's a rundown of what I'll be working on the next couple months.

1. My first priority is to format Picture Perfect and Endangered Memories for paperback release. I released them in ebook format first so readers could read them and because the paperback conversion process can take a while.

2. My second priority is getting Lost Birth, the sequel to Endangered Memories, finished. I just got my editor's edits back on it and now I have to sift through those and make some changes of my own before the manuscript will be ready for ebook format. I'm also working with my cover designer, Jelani Parham, on another awesome cover for the series.

3. My next task is to finish Dark Horizons, the third book in the Expired Reality series. I have about half of the manuscript written, but my goal is to hand off the complete draft to my editor in mid-July. That means I have to get my butt in the chair and get to writing!

4. Another item on my list is my email newsletter, The Lysallis Times. When my laptop bit the dust a few weeks ago, it took Microsoft Publisher with it and I don't have another copy. So, I'm going to be using Publisher Pro to put together my newsletter, but I sort of have to start from scratch when it comes to the design process.

5. Phew. I'm getting worn just writing these out. The final project on my list for this year is the third book in my Black Earth series, The Dark Lighthouse. (The title is tentative). The manuscript for this hasn't even been started yet, but my goal is to hand it off to my editor by the end of August, right before the baby is born. Can I pull it off? Sure can, but it's going to take a lot of hard work.

So, there you have it. In between all of this, I'm working on some new merchandise to post in my Zazzle store, running two blogs side by side - including a new one that details my family's walk of faith, and playing through the Xenosaga series on my PS2. A writer/gamer geek's work is never done.

Endangered Memories Ebook Edition Now Available!

It's Tuesday, and that means the release of the ebook edition of Endangered Memories, the first volume in my Expired Reality series! It's available for only 99 cents on your Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, etc, and will be available in paperback through Createspace very soon.

To celebrate the release, those of you who follow this blog can grab a free copy of Endangered Memories today in whatever ebook format suites your fancy. Just head to Smashwords via this link - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65576 - and enter code - MK55C - during checkout to get your free copy. This code is valid for today only, so grab the book while you can.

On top of the free copy of Endangered Memories, I'm also revealing my new website facelift today. Head over to - www.davidnalderman.com - and let me know what you think!

And so, without further ado, here is Endangered Memories, the first novel in the Expired Reality series....

When ex-hero David Corbin receives an unexpected wedding invitation from the girl he once loved, he sets out on a journey to South Ryshard to crash the event and proclaim his true feelings to her. With help from his close friend, Veronica, and a girl named Kimberly, David battles his way through crooked agents, a crazed farmer and a demon hybrid to reach the wedding on time. Only when he runs into Turquoise, a mysterious woman on her own mission to stop the wedding and procure an enchanted timepiece, does he realize that the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

Carrie Green is days away from marrying Jerad Montlier, one of the richest men in the world. Lacking any memory of her past, and displaying a peculiar spiral birthmark on her shoulder blade, Carrie is spun into further confusion when a diary with her name on it falls into her possession. Reading the entries inside sparks a recollection of her past and reveals the horrifying trap that’s been set.

As heroes’ paths collide, the beginning of the end launches in this epic first volume of the Expired Reality series.

Endangered Memories Sample

Well, it's Friday. Made it to the end of the week without too many issues. Got the cover design for Endangered Memories done. Finishing up a new website layout today. Just getting everything ready for the official ebook release on June 14th.

With that, I decided to post a sample of Endangered Memories today to give all of you something to read this weekend.

Enjoy!








Endangered Memories
an Expired Reality novel
Copyright 2011 David N. Alderman

Chapter 1
Chaos

Tuesday, November 10, 1998

The icy wind rushed against Kimberly Sebastien’s face, sweeping through her long blonde hair as she bounded through the vacant dirt field. The blue crescent moon lit up the ground just enough for her to see her way across the damp surface. The chilly air induced a burning sensation in the mark on her right cheek, causing it to sting more than when she received it only an hour ago.

The cell phone jostled in her hand, the blue screen illuminating her beaten face. The time on it read 6:34 p.m. She hit the redial button on the keypad, her heart wishing that this time someone would pick up on the other end. Holding the phone to her ear, she heard a steady busy signal, just as she had the last three attempts. This can’t be happening. She closed the phone and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans, glancing behind her briefly to make sure the monster wasn’t closing in on her. No one. Well, no one she could see anyway. That didn’t mean he—it—wasn’t there.

She scanned the tops of the giant trees in front of her, making out a small orange spire glowing on top of the roof of the stalus beyond. The stalus—a building designated by the government for weddings and funerals—was the only building she could hide in for miles, and she hoped it would, by some miracle, be open. Her body relentlessly quarreled with her, scolding her for pushing so hard, pleading with her to stop and rest. But she couldn’t rest, not yet, not when her life was at stake.

Plowing through the trees, thick leaves that hung from crooked branches slapped Kimberly, each one a stranger’s hand reaching out to snatch her and carry her off somewhere dark and dangerous, somewhere she would never be able to escape. She fought through them and stumbled into a parking lot, her knees meeting the asphalt with a flash of pain.

Kimberly stood to her feet, ignoring the pain swelling through her kneecaps, and pressed on across the lot, finally slamming herself into the glass doors of the building. Inhaling a deep breath, she grabbed the door handle. Locked. Panic seized her as she tried the next door and the next, all of them locked as well. She pounded madly on the glass. “Help! Somebody, help me! Open up!” Her voice came out hoarse, and she suddenly realized that wasting her breath would do no good if nobody was in there to hear her pleas.

She turned and leaned her back up against the door, clutching the burning cramp in her side. Gazing into the distance, she saw nothing but the trees reaching into the wind. Her heart throbbed, threatening to leap out of her chest while she fearfully waited for something to lunge at her. Don’t be scared, she thought. Keep moving! Get away from him! A gust of frosty air slipped through her white sweater, chilling the sweaty mess that spread itself under her tattered clothes. The chills warned her to run.

She peered through the glass at the dark lobby inside. She could see the desk where the receptionist who handled the wedding and funeral parties sat during operating hours. Stacks of flyers covered the counter, accompanied by mysterious shadows that seemed to dance around as if a party was going on in the desk owner’s absence.

Kimberly had nowhere else to go. Only orchards and farms stood between her and the city. The closest house was too far to run to, unless she wanted to backtrack, which was impossible without risking running into him.
Turning back toward the lot, she pulled out her cell phone and hit redial. Her heart skipped a beat with the brief silence that ensued, but then the busy signal droned in her ear and she sighed loudly, despair covering her like a dark blanket.

She shoved the phone back in her pocket and watched with fright as the tree branches shook vigorously in the distance. Her eyes narrowed, trying to make out the figure stumbling through the barrage of giant leaves. A face peered out, red eyes glowing in the night.

Kimberly’s voice caught in her throat.

Swinging around, she tugged at the handle again. This time the door swung open, almost knocking her off balance. A bit confused, she passed into the stalus, not stopping to ask herself questions. She pulled the door shut and turned the latch, locking it. She swung back around toward the desk to try and make out what little she could from the light that shone in from the parking lot lamps.

The large round government seal hung on the wall in the foyer. The symbol of the Enera Government—three triangles overlapping each other at different points—was etched into the stone slab surrounded by the words “SECURITY, EFFICIENCY and CONFIDENCE.” The first time she had seen the seal was when her parents died and she had been forced to come to a stalus for the funeral.

She shook the thought away and peered to the left and right of the desk, where double doors stood tall and erect—doorways to other dark places. Farther to the left and right, hallways swarmed in shadows. I should be able to hide in the main sanctuary until daylight. She approached the left set of double doors and made her way through them.

She couldn’t see anything in the sanctuary except for the red glowing EXIT signs and the doors they perched above on each side of the room. Kimberly stepped forward and bumped her leg on something hard. Reaching down, she felt the glossed wood of a bench. She knelt down and crawled underneath, creeping through the sanctuary until she figured she was in the center of the room. Lying still, her back to the floor, she closed her eyes.

The quiet stillness invited her mind to wander. Thoughts flew at her at lightning speed: Where is he? Why did this have to happen to me? I can’t believe he’s dead! It’s all a dream, just a nightmare. Tears broke from her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as her gut convulsed with torment. She wanted her family back. She wanted this man—this creature—to stop chasing her. Events rushed through her mind: the man with the dark eyes at her doorstep; the chunk of cold crystal her uncle gave her from the freezer; her uncle being broken like a toothpick in the jaws of a giant.

The vision of her uncle’s face blurred into view each time she remembered him begging her to “take this and keep it safe.” He handed her that piece of crystal, wanting her to flee with it. But the man with the dark eyes had just as quickly slapped her to the floor, knocking the crystal from her hands, taking it for himself.
Kimberly remembered getting to her feet and running from the house, the man yelling for her to come back. His face couldn’t be placed exactly, just dark and round, with an evil, hollow gaze peering out from under his bald head. He had an uncanny familiarity about him, something that seemed to have escaped from the nightmares Kimberly had when she was younger.

Only a miracle can save me now.

Her thoughts diminished and fatigue kicked in. She slipped in and out of consciousness. It was hours to daybreak, and there was no way for him to get into the stalus without her hearing him first. At least that’s what she told herself. She needed to drown everything out long enough to regain her strength for her journey to the city in the morning.

A clicking sound echoed through the sanctuary, waking her senses. Her eyes shot open as a door creaked slowly and then thudded shut. She knew it was him by the dark presence she suddenly felt seeping into the room. Kimberly held her breath. His squeaky footsteps passed the aisle she hid in. She followed that sound to the other side of the room and then back near the door he entered the sanctuary through.

She quietly bent her arms and legs, rolling onto her stomach, and shuffled out from under the bench. Moving to her knees, she glanced up at the red EXIT sign over the hallway door. That was her only escape, and there had to be only a few rows of benches in the space between.

The footsteps stopped and silence thickened. Her heart thrashed in her chest like a caged animal. She took a few quick breaths and sprung up, rushing for the door. She maneuvered and stumbled around the benches, relying on all of her instincts to get her through the maze of wood and darkness. Her body plowed into the door, and she grabbed the cold metal handle to open it.

“Kimberly.”

She turned around slowly and found herself staring at two glowing red wedges that seemed to float in the air. Her voice caught in her throat again, like she was trying to vomit up an apple. Her nails clawed frantically at the surface behind her, scraping against the hard wood, peeling away part of her fingertips.

“Kimberly Sebastien.” The man’s raspy voice released a foul smell into her nostrils as he came under the red light, the crimson eyes matching the EXIT sign’s glow. The repugnant scent turned her stomach in knots.

“Wh…wh…wh…,” her lips quivered. She turned her face to the side, attempting to avoid the stench that permeated the air between them.

“Your sssoul, Kimberly. That issss what I want.”

She closed her eyes as he moved in closer. She could feel the sensation of his breath floating across her skin. His hand touched her cheek, turning her wound cold and sending vibrations through her whole face. The wound stung and then burned like fire. She let out a yelp, and the hand retracted for a moment. She started shuffling across the wall toward the front of the sanctuary.

“Go where you want. You can’t essscape me. I am everywhere and in everything.” He moved in front of her, like an ethereal arrow, so quick. The red eyes dangled in front of her like demonic puppets suspended by shadowed strings.

She felt tears crawling into her eyes. “What do you want with me? Why can’t you leave me alone?” The tears broke out and she cupped her hands over her mouth, terror engulfing her. “Why can’t you leave me alone? You killed my uncle. You killed my uncle! What more do you want with me?”

“I need you. I need your sssoul, your ssspirit. Then I will leave. Then you can rest in peace, without the nightmares, within the darkness.”

She shook her head and fell to her knees, her face covered in a moist film. She had a boding feeling that she wasn’t going to make it out of the building alive. The doors to escape seemed so far away. This is where I’m going to die.

He reached his hand out to her again, the silence in the stalus falling on her like a ton of bricks, allowing her to experience the dreadful sound of her sobbing. The thought of her life ending here, in this place, was violent and yet comforting to her. She could be with her uncle soon…

“Stop!”

The man retracted his reach and spun around. Kimberly looked up through her blurry vision at two silhouettes in the open doorway at the back of the room. One was tall with the chiseled build of a man. The other had the thin, hourglass shape of a woman.

“You?” the evil stranger squealed.

They stepped into the stalus and allowed the doors to shut behind them, darkness swallowing everyone in the room.

“Let her go,” a female voice demanded.

Kimberly wiped the tears from her eyes and slowly started to her feet, her mind racing to figure out who these people were. Probably Anaishan Sentries. If that’s the case, they’re no match for whatever he is.

The man grabbed Kimberly from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck. His fingers moved across her throat, and she felt the cold tip of his long, sharp fingernails begin to etch their way through the tender surface of her skin.

“Show yourssselves!”

Kimberly’s neck burned, and her body drooped in his arms like a sack of manure.

The two strangers said nothing, yet their shuffling movements could be heard throughout the room.

Kimberly, a female voice whispered in her mind. We are here to help you. When he releases you, leave this stalus and go to the city of Lysallis. Wait for us there. We will catch up with you. Her eyes struggled to stay open as she tried to put together the words floating through her thoughts.

The dark man’s fingernails pressed harder into her neck, carving through the skin. She felt a small amount of blood trickle down.

“I told you two to show yourssselves. I will ssspill her blood all over thisss place!”

“Not tonight!” the female shouted. A strong force slammed into Kimberly and the dark stranger, knocking them back to the floor. Kimberly rolled to her side, her strength rapidly coming back to her, allowing her to scramble to her feet. The creature reached out and tried to grab her, but only managed to rip the bottom edge of her sweater as she escaped from his clutch and reached the exit. She grabbed the handle and swung the door open to the dark hallway.

“Go, Kimberly. We will meet again.” The confidence in the male’s voice filled her with ease. She darted out into the hallway.

Kimberly made her way to the front doors of the stalus and retreated outside. She stood in the lot for a moment, taking deep breaths and staring at the line of trees, picturing the field that stretched behind them. Across that field stood the housing community she had escaped from. I can’t go back. There’s nothing left for me there. The only place to go now was Lysallis and hope these strangers were true to their word. Doesn’t really matter. As long as they’re keeping him occupied, I have a chance to escape.

She cautiously made her way around the stalus and headed into the orchards that stood between her and the city.

***Check out more of Endangered Memories in ebook format June 14th. Paperback coming soon.***

Official Cover for Endangered Memories

Just thought I'd drop in and give everyone a glimpse of the official cover for Endangered Memories.

Endangered Memories Cover Art Sneak Peek

I've been off the radar for a while now, but I'm back with some goodies in regards to Endangered Memories. I'm happy to announce the cover art is finished - thanks to my good friend Jelani Akin Parham, the back cover copy is finished, most of the formatting for ebook editions is finished, and now I'll be spending the next few days getting the website ready for the book's release the beginning of next week. My official release date is Tuesday, June 14th, and on that day I'll be giving away ebook copies of Endangered Memories so stay tuned to the blog for more details on that.

The first piece of cover art I want to give everyone a glimpse of is Carrie Green, one of the main characters of the book -

I am more than happy with the job he did with her character design. I wanted to give the cover a young adult feel but nothing too juvenile. I think his artwork captures the balance between the two perfectly.

Next in line is the background, which Jelani did as well -

The city is South Ryshard, where Carrie is living at the beginning of the book. I almost cried when I saw how beautiful the cityscape was and the coloring he implemented in the scenery.

The third element that comes into play with the cover design is the font. I spent many hours trying to find the right fit for the book. When I self-published Picture Perfect, I ended up changing the cover font later because it didn't fit the feel of the book. I'm happy to say I found the perfect fit for Endangered Memories though. The font is called Chocolate Box and you can grab it for free at dafont.com.

I'll be spending most of today putting all of these elements together into a coherent cover design. This Friday I will be posting a sample of Endangered Memories to get everyone geared up for the release next week! And next Tuesday I will officially release the first novel in a series that has been near and dear to my heart since my youth.

Going Nuclear

Today I start the formatting stage for Endangered Memories. Seeing how the paperback version takes significantly longer to create because of proof ordering, mailing times, and the process scrutinizing the book for formatting errors, I've made the decision to release the ebook version of the novel first, hopefully in the later part of next week.

With the formatting stage for the ebook version upon me, there comes with it a process called "nuking the manuscript." I first read about this approach in the Smashwords Style Guide, and have employed it with every ebook I format. Essentially nuking a manuscript is the process of copying your entire novel out of Microsoft Word, pasting it in Notepad, and then recopying it back into a fresh Microsoft Word file. This is to strip the manuscript of all formatting blunders and/or corruption that Word might have in it.

The big pain that goes along with nuking a manuscript is that I have to go back in and redo all of my formatting, including italics, bold, spacing and the like. It's a bit of a tedious process, but it really pays off in the end because it almost guarantees the file will turn out error-free when published on the Kindle, Nook or Smashwords.

There's no better way to spend a Friday afternoon than to bomb a manuscript. Fun stuff!

R.I.P. Dell Inspiron 1501

If any of you have been wondering where I've been for the last week or so, wonder no more. My laptop - the main computer I do most of my work on - took its last breathe and completely died on me. Blown video card from what I'm told. I've had the computer for 3-4 years now, and when I purchased it, it was a refurbished model to begin with. But, she's been a good computer and will always remain in my memory.

Luckily - and most importantly - the hard drive was able to be salvaged. Most of last week was spent getting my email and files back up and running on an old Compaq Presario R3000 that friends of mine gave me. The system works great for what I need to get done, and I am more than grateful for their generosity.

With that frustratingly horrible ordeal behind me, I'm off to try and have a productive week. The cover art for Endangered Memories is guaranteed to be finished by this Saturday. I've gotten a beta read of the book back from one of my biggest fans and received a slew of positive comments about it. I also finished reading the book to my wife and am now working through the final edits. I'll be spending most of the later half of the week and the weekend working on the formatting for the ebook version which I hope - and will be striving very hard - to release sometime late next week. Paperback will be released shortly thereafter.

Well, I have a load of work to do, so I'm off to do it. Just wanted to say I'm back and I hope to see you all on the other side of a productive and hopeful week.

An Introduction to David Corbin

With the debut of Endangered Memories, the first novel in my upcoming young adult series, less than a month away, I wanted to take an opportunity to introduce some of the characters of my series. Weeks ago I introduced Carrie Green, and this week I'd like to introduce everyone to the main protagonist of the series, David Corbin.

David Corbin, once shy and a bit of an introvert, became a reluctant hero of sorts in the later years of junior high. When his sister, Cybil, was abducted by the criminal mastermind, Mr. Big, David flew into action, saving his sister and stopping Big's attempt to murder a crowd of people.

That single event put David and Mr. Big at odds against each other for the rest of their lives.

With the taste of heroism still fresh on his tongue, David devoted his adolescent life to putting a stop to Mr. Big's criminal actions. With the help of some of his classmates -  Carrie Green, Veronica Amorou and Veronica's brother, Sean - David managed to continually foil Mr. Big's nefarious plans, eventually putting the crime boss away for good in the Galtaia Penitentiary years later.

During his escapades, David quickly and easily fell in love with Carrie Green. Despite the fact that Carrie fell for him in return, the two neglected to tell each other how they felt for fear of the consequences that would result. When David finally did decide to reveal his feelings for her during the shut down of the government initiated program known as The LZR Project, she fled without explanation to South Ryshard, not to be seen again.

At the beginning of Endangered Memories, David is in a somewhat tumultuous relationship with Amber Setterson. Ties with his sister are strained, his finances are in dire straits, and he wonders if life will ever be the same as it once was before Mr. Big was locked up and Carrie ran. A strange wedding invitation from Carrie changes all that though, awakening David's feelings for her and pulling him back into the adventures he thought he left behind.

Look for more of David in Endangered Memories this coming June. You can also check out my introduction to Carrie Green at http://abrokenreality.blogspot.com/2011/05/introduction-to-carrie-green.html.

What Is Going On?!

As hard as I've tried over the last week to get back on track with my projects, I have failed miserably. Most of last week - and even the week before - was taken up with personal matters, and my half-hearted attempt this last weekend to catch up with my writing and self-publishing agenda didn't pan out so well. Distractions just keep coming and I keep giving in to them, disappearing off the map to take care of things that aren't going to move me forward in my writing career.

No more. I have cordoned off this week to get myself back in the game and back in line with my projects and all of their deadlines.Here are a few updates -

As I write this, my good friend, Jelani Parham, is sketching out the cover design for Endangered Memories - the first book in my upcoming young adult series - which I still plan on releasing in June. I have seen his initial sketches and I dropped my jaw on the table I was so impressed. He has truly captured the heart of my story in his illustrations and I cannot wait to reveal more to all of you in the next week or so.

Lost Birth - the second volume in my young adult series - is in the middle of being professionally edited. I plan to release the final product in July sometime.

I am getting back into writing Dark Horizons - the third book in my upcoming series - and hope to have the initial draft finished in the next few weeks. I am setting a personal goal of 7,000 words per day, which I plan to meet at any cost.

For those of you signed up with my email newsletter, I apologize that it's been months since I sent one out, but my goal is to have another issue out the door by the end of this month. If you want to sign up for my free email newsletter, head to http://www.davidnalderman.com/contact.htm.

On another note, I know that some of you started following this blog because I used to post about the incredible journey of faith that my wife and I have been on since I was fired from my job as a data entry specialist almost two years ago. I haven't posted much about that in this blog because I know a good portion of my crowd now comes to read about writing or self-publishing. So I've decided to create an entirely separate blog where I will be detailing much of what has been going on over the last couple years. The blog will be very personal and candid and something I hope to turn into a non-fiction book sometime in the future. For those who want to follow, you can check it out at  - http://www.ofdreamsandfaith.blogspot.com. I haven't posted anything there yet, but I do plan to by next week.

Now, sorry to shut the door in your face, but I have to get back to work.;)

An Introduction to Carrie Green

With the first three novels in my upcoming young adult series, Expired Reality, debuting this summer, I figured I'd start introducing everyone to some of the characters from the series. Some of these characters have been near and dear to my heart since I was twelve, when I just started writing fiction. Some of them are inspired by people who were great friends of mine and some of them came from the deepest nooks of my imagination.

I'll start out the introductions with Carrie Green, one of the main characters of my series, and one of my favorite.

Childhood friend of Veronica Amorou, and the on again, off again object of David Corbin's affection,Carrie is a strong-willed advocate of environmental soundness, and non-violent means of stopping crime. In junior high, she voluntarily recruited herself to join David in his epic quest to stop the criminals of Anaisha, helping form the heroic group known as the Lazerblades, which Veronica and Veronica's brother, Sean, ultimately joined as well.

During the adventures Carrie shared with her friends, she quickly developed feelings for David Corbin. However, any time she attempted to reveal those feelings toward him, unfortunate circumstances would play out. Over the years, Carrie learned to confide about her love for David in Veronica, and to hold out patiently for the day that her and David would be able to be together as a couple.

Taking on the task of saving the world, Carrie always had issues juggling her adventurous feats, schoolwork, and the turbulent relationship with her mother. Carrie’s mother became increasingly persistent in voicing her desires for Carrie to make something of her life - something more than running around the world with David and her friends to do what the police were fully capable of doing. Her mother's hatred for David came out in constant tongue lashings and violent argumentative explosions.

As soon as high school was over with, and most of the major criminals of the world were stopped, Carrie found herself  in a final fiery dispute with her mother about the direction her life was going. This, along with David's poor timing in finally telling her that he loved her, prompted Carrie to vanish without a word of where she was going. All that was left behind was a note telling her friends she needed some time to herself.

At the beginning of Endangered Memories, the first book in the Expired Reality series, Carrie is living in South Ryshard, about to marry Jerad Montlier, one of the richest men in Anaisha. The only problem is Carrie has no memory of her past, and when a mysterious diary crosses her path, she's forced to dig up the memories she thought lost forever and battle against those who wish she'd never remember.

Look for more of Carrie in Endangered Memories this coming June. I also have a post I wrote detailing how I came about creating Carrie's wedding dress for the book. You can check it out here - http://abrokenreality.blogspot.com/2011/02/carrie-greens-wedding-dress.html.

Approaching The Finish Line

I posted last week about my progress on Lost Birth, the second volume in my upcoming young adult sci-fi/fantasy series, and I am very near to approaching the completion of this draft so I can send it off to my editor. My editor just handed me her edits on the first volume in the series, Endangered Memories, so things are right on track for a summer release of the first three volumes in this series.

Because of how close I am to finishing Lost Birth - and the fact that I am going on vacation toward the end of this week - my posts are getting put on the back burner until I return toward the end of next week. I really wanted to do a writing prompt today, but I ended up working a twelve hour day on my revisions on Saturday, so I wasn't able to write up anything new.

Writing prompts will be back starting Monday, April 25th, as will the rest of my posts on self-publishing and writing. When I return from my vacation, I will be starting work on the third volume in my young adult series, and I'll also be working on the next email newsletter issue. Click here to sign up for it.

Some great things are coming down the line! Hope to see you all on the other side. For now, I'm crawling back into my writing cave to finish this up...

A Bit Of Catch Up

Usually on Fridays I try to post about my fiction and/or my writing process. Today though I don't have much to post because I've been trying to complete my latest project, Lost Birth. Lost Birth is the second volume in my upcoming young adult sci-fi/fantasy series, and I'm already behind on the deadline I set to give it to my editor. So, I've been pushing hard the last couple days to reach my new deadline of April 13th.

This young adult series is a much bigger undertaking than I originally thought it would be. Originally self-published back in 2007, the first couple books in my young adult series were given great praise over the storyline and characters, but great criticism over the grammar and editing. This was my primary reason for wanting to revise the books. But revisions have turned into rewrites and the project is taking a bit longer than I expected.

That's okay though. I'd rather create something of quality and get it out in due time than rush a project out the door and regret it. My editor should be giving me back her edits to the first volume in the series, Endangered Memories, in the next couple weeks. And after I hand Lost Birth off to her, I will start work on the third volume in the series, Crystal City. I only have a draft of that one done - it's not a complete novel yet - but I am still aiming for a summer release for all three titles.

Meanwhile, in between writing sessions, I've been trying to stay caught up with blog posts and marketing efforts. I'm in the middle of writing a guest post for The Inner Bean on what I've learned from reviews. I'm also still on the hunt for those willing to read and review the books I have already released. As a self-published author, each review I get - regardless of the criticism - is like finding a little gold coin. And it seems sometimes they are about as hard to come by.

Amidst all the writing and marketing, I'm also getting jazzed about the coming baby. My wife and I find out this Monday if we are having a boy or a girl. I am hoping for a little girl. Team Eden all the way!

Okay, enough blogging. I have to get back to work. I'll be back on Monday with the weekly writing prompt as always. :)

Lockdown

I planned on writing a post on something related to my fiction today, like one of my character profiles or a nice article on world building, but sadly, it's not going to happen. I've been on a self-initiated lockdown the last couple days, pounding the pavement and scrambling to get two major projects out the door: the edits to Endangered Memories so I can pass the manuscript off to my editor, and the formatting to Picture Perfect so I can release it in ebook format next week.

So far, I'm right on track, though the edits to Endangered Memories are taking so much longer than I thought. When I end up having to go through 500 side comments in the Microsoft Word document, then I know I have my work cut out for me. It doesn't help that I am horrible with creating realistic project deadlines, but I'll admit I'm getting better as the year progresses.

Anyway, I'll be resuming my regular posting schedule on Monday with another writing prompt. Hope everyone has a great weekend. And I hope you're all looking forward to the Picture Perfect release next week. By the way, when it does release, it will be available for free through Smashwords for a limited time, so make sure to take advantage of that when it comes around. ;)

Carrie Green's Wedding Dress

For weeks now I've been going through rewrites to an old novel I self-published years ago and am in the works of resurrecting from the ashes. As much as I love writing about other planets, forming intriguing plot lines, and creating chaos in my fictional worlds, I think the thing I love the most about writing fiction is character design. And with character design comes wardrobe design.

In the final chapters of my upcoming novel, Endangered Memories, one of my main characters, Carrie Green, is about to marry Jerad Montlier, one of the richest men in Anaisha. The novel's climax comes in around these scenes because my novel's protagonist, David Corbin, spends the majority of the novel trying to get to this wedding to stop it, both for love and to supposedly save the world. I know. Crazy!

When I originally wrote these scenes I didn't really give a whole lot of detail or attention to the wedding. I threw Carrie in a white dress, picked random colors for the reception tablecloths and called it a day. This time around, I'm being a bit more generous, giving some more meat to the bones of the story.

In each of my Expired Reality novels, novellas and short stories, I make sure that at least one object, one room, one character's clothing, has some reference to the colors black and red. I'm not sure what my obsession is with black and red, but those two colors make an unbeatable, gothic type combo and I thought it would be neat to incorporate the color scheme into Carrie's wedding dress.

Googling black and red wedding dresses, I was barraged by some interesting picks. Let's take a peak at them and see what I come up with. By the way, I don't take credit for any of these images, I'm simply using them as inspiration for creating my own wedding dress.

The thing I like about this first dress is the smoky look on the bottom. Kind of adds a mystic, fantasy element to the wedding, but the rest of the dress is too cluttered for me. 

Though this dress is more maroon and black than red and black, I kind of like the style with the alternating panels in the skirt.

I really like the flowing style of this dress and the fact that it seems to open in the skirt like a cape.Superhero style all the way!

What I like most about this dress is the design in the back, where it looks like the dress splits to reveal another layer. I also like the floral design in the front.

This dress is kind of neat with the red floral design in the bottom of the skirt (looks almost like flames), and the pattern in the bodice. The location of that red flower doesn't really cut it though.Weird.

Of all the images I searched, this one gave me the most inspiration for my wedding dress design...

What I like about this dress is the way it stays thin at the waist instead of blossoming out. I also like how the skirt acts as a shell of sorts to another layer underneath. I took this idea and decided to make the layer underneath black, with the shell being red. I like the style of the bodice - very elegant for a ritzy wedding - and I added my own black floral print going from the left waist up to the right breast, covering a good portion of the bodice. Carrie will have to do without the belt though.

Phew. Never thought I'd be designing a wedding dress in my lifetime, let alone planning someone else's wedding. Guess there's a first time for everything. LOL!