My First Author Signing...

Well, I managed to work through my fear and had a book release party. At the party, I gave a speech and read aloud a chapter from my new novel, Black Earth: End of the Innocence. This was a huge step for me personally, because I absolutely hate public speaking. I think I am okay once I get up in front of everyone and start speaking, but the trepidation that goes with those first few steps to the podium are enough to make me tremble.  I would almost rather be eaten alive by mad clowns...I said almost!

Having said that, I took the next step from the book release party and approached the management team at my local Borders book store and managed to get an author signing set up for November 14th. I am really excited about it but at the same time a little nervous. Selling my books to those that I know is one thing, but trying to sell my books to people I have just barely met that walk into a book store is another thing. I know I will do fine, but it's another leap for me outside of my comfort zone of sitting at the computer and writing stories. Now it's time to go out into the real world and share those stories with the rest of the world.

For those that are interested in coming to the signing, I will be at the Borders Books and Music in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, November 14th from 11am-4pm. I will have copies of my book for sale for $10 each and will be signing them as well. The Borders is easily located across from the Fiesta Mall near the US60. I think it will be a fun time and I am looking forward to seeing you all out there! :)

NanoWrimo 2009

Ah. And we are finally here. My favorite time of the year: National Novel Writing Month.

Every November, fellow adventurous types such as myself participate in a worldwide event known as NanoWrimo - short for National Novel Writing Month. This frantic, coffee induced tradition has been an annual event of mine for the past 4 years and now, in my 5th, I still hold the same excitement I did when I first decided to embark on this remarkable quest.

NanoWrimo, in a nutshell, is a month long contest to write 50,000 words of a novel - from scratch - by the end of November. The rules of editing are tossed out the window and all sense of a social life, of responsibilities and the such, are gone with the wind. All that is required is an overactive imagination and the will power to achieve the 50,000 word total by the 30th.

For the past 4 years I have competed and won this feat of writing. The contest has no monetary reward. The whole thing is based on the honor system and a certificate is given at the end of the month if the goal has been attained. But I find the real prize to be the draft to a new novel in my hands in the span of 30 days, though I have been known to finish in 8.

50,000 words is more than enough to get a novel rolling. Most of my writing during this occasion can be extremely raw, but the best part of all is that I don't have to worry about going back and editing as I go along. I am tasked with completing my own daily goals each day to achieve the rank of NanoWrimo Winner, and it pleases me to be able to look forward to this every year.

For those that are interested in more of NanoWrimo, check out their website at:
http://www.nanowrimo.org

If you want to check out my Nano profile and see how I am faring during the month of November, here is the link:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/84768

Bye-Bye, Baby!

Well, I finally released Black Earth: End of the Innocence this last Saturday. Almost 2 years of hard work, dedication, blood, sweat and tears have gone into the 364 page novel, and now it is available for all to read, criticize, love or hate.

For an author, putting a novel into the world (or really any type of writing) is like putting your baby into a reed basket and sending them down the river to the large village in the distance. You have to let go of something you birthed inside of you, something you cared for and nurtured. A novel is a part of the soul and sharing it with the world really isn't the easiest thing to do...most times.

However, as I pushed the buttons to upload the website updates, announce that the book had been released, and spammed Facebook to let everyone know they can buy it now, I didn't feel a sense of estrangement from my beloved book. Instead, I felt a sense of relief. I felt a sense of confidence.

The release of Black Earth: End of the Innocence is the first time I have felt confident when releasing a piece of writing. I guess I've finally accepted the fact that my writing skills are where I want them to be...for now anyway. I aim to always improve my gift, but at the same time, I think I can confidently say that Black Earth is my very best writing at this point in time.

With that said, I have many more projects on the horizon, some that I am already in the middle of. But Black Earth: End of the Innocence is my baby, and I sent it out into the world. Now I just have to see if the world accepts it, enjoys its company, and decides to pass it along to friends.

Black Earth can be found through my official website, in case anyone is curious about adopting a book...

At the Base of the Mountain...

I set my bag down on the ground and take a seat in the dirt, tired from the journey. I have finally reached the base of the mountain, the towering monstrosity that I have been dreading most of my life. I knew this day would come eventually. It was only a matter of time. I knew that in order to reach my dream of becoming a bestselling writer, of walking out God's promises, I would someday have to face this mountain.

I find myself gazing up at the towering Goliath. This large, immovable beast seems to taunt me as I stand in its shadow, telling me that I will never overcome it. I will never overcome the odds of becoming a bestselling author, I will never overcome my family issues or the difficulties of my own existence. If I squint, I can make out a sneer carved into its face. How frightening. How discouraging.

In the shade of this great beast, I find that I have time to ponder where the beginning of this journey started, back when I decided to take a stand in my workplace for what was right. I had the chance to sit down and be quiet, to work peacefully and ignore the things that were wrong within my own environment. To be complacent. But I felt God calling me to something so much greater. My own ethics, my own morals and principles were tested to the limits. The company eventually fired me through unethical means. That seems so long ago.

I guess that would be where the second half of my journey started. The part of my journey where I was called to rely on God for all of my financial needs. Everyone around me asked me if I was going to look for another job and I replied with a nervous no. God made me a promise at the beginning of my employment with that company, a promise stating that would be the last conventional job I would have to work in before my writing career would take off. One thing I have learned in life is that if God makes a promise, we can all count on Him to follow through with it, no matter how long it lingers. No matter how long...

Through the last couple of months, God has supplied every one of our needs. Bills have been paid, the fridge has been full, all with the part time pay that my wife has been bringing in and the generosity of others around us. And yet, God has at the same time been setting us up to make the way for Him to perform a miracle. Unemployment insurance hasn't come through, neither has state aid. We had a couple hundred dollars in our savings account that my wife and I both felt that God wanted us to give to those that have been a great influence in our lives.

At a time like this, some would urge me to cash in my chips and call it a day. To fold would be my next move at the poker table, disappointment etched on my heart for the rest of time. But then I stop and wonder if I am being set up for God to do the miraculous. It reminds me of a Bible passage that was brought to my attention earlier last week, where Gideon (who's army consisted of 32,000) was fighting the Midianite army (which consisted of 135,000), and God asked Gideon to filter out a considerable number of his men so God Himself could get the glory for the battle:

Judges 7:1 So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.3 Therefore, tell the people, 'Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.'" So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. 4 But the LORD told Gideon, "There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not."5 When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the LORD told him, "Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream."6 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream. 7 The LORD told Gideon, "With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home."

Is my own life a reflection of what God did back then? When all of my financial opportunities are cut off at their sources, when all hope looks lost, will I persevere? If I have the faith of a mustard seed, can I really point to this mountain and tell it to move?

I look up at my Goliath again. That sneer is still etched in its face. How can I, a mere human being, a nobody persay, move this mountain out of my way so I can reach my destiny? Let alone have the faith to move this mountain? Rent is due in a couple days and I don't have a dime of it. Our cars are wearing out, everything we have needs an upgrade. And yet God has me in His hands. God is whispering in my ear, reminding me of the promises He made me so long ago. So very long ago. He tells me to stop concentrating on my circumstances and start focusing on Him. He tells me to stop concentrating on what can go wrong or is going wrong and tells me to focus my gaze on the goal He set forth before me.

My goal is on the other side of that mountain.

I begin to build myself a campfire, for the sun is setting and the wind is growing cold. I feel alone here at the base of this mountain, but I know that God is here with me. He has promised me that He will move this mountain out of my way. All I can do until then is be patient and try not to figure out how to move it on my own.

The mountain rumbles, as if it's laughing at me. How peculiar. I wonder if it will still be laughing when God smashes it to pieces before me and paves a new route to my dreams...

Free Short Stories

With the coming release of my new novel, Black Earth: End of the Innocence, I am releasing three free short stories through the official website, www.davidnalderman.com. Each story intersects with the others to tell of the events leading up to the novel. Enjoy!

Accidents Will Happen
Nathan Pierce is just trying to get his driver's license on a typical Saturday morning. But what started out as an inconvenience quickly turns into a tragedy when a hasty traffic move irreparably changes the future forever.

Hidden Agenda
Daisy Pierce is enjoying a delicious latte in the local cafe when a strange man yells her name out and starts chasing her and her friend, Stacey. Now she's on the run, not sure where to go or what the stranger wants with her.










When Destinies Collide
Tiffany Williams needs to get her newborn baby to a hospital. But when her drunk, abusive husband gets in the way, how far will she actually go to save her child and herself?

Black Earth Cover Design

Well, here it is folks. A sneak peek at what I've been up to in regards to the cover design for Black Earth: End of the Innocence. It needs a bit of cleanup, especially the seam in the middle of the sky, but this will be the general layout of the front cover of the book.

I want to thank my wife and my good friend Jelani Parham for their assistance with some of the items in the design. The silhouette of the oak tree was actually a picture that my wife took when we were driving around in California and I took a nap on the side of the road. She caught a picture of the silhouette when the sun was rising at just the right location and time. She also got a nice picture of a starry night when we were out camping with her family and I used that picture for the stars behind the title. Then it was Jelani with his expertise who was able to pull the tree from the picture and slap it on an invisible background so I could use it for the cover. He also added some glow to that piece of clipart I am using for the comet. The font for the BLACK EARTH title was found through dafont.com, a website that specializes in free fonts. The majority of the cover is being created in a program called Art Explosion Publisher Pro by Nova Developement.

All in all, I like the cover immensely. It really portrays the symbolism of the novel, the end of the innocence. The oak tree was an idea inspired by the cover art to Switchfoot's Nothing is Sound album, whose song, The Shadow Proves the Sunshine is briefly mentioned in the Black Earth short story, Hidden Agenda. A poster with the album cover art is seen in the first half of Black Earth: End of the Innocence.

What Genre?

Just recently I sat down with a good friend of mine. We talked about our Sci Fi interests, swapped marketing strategies and discussed the status of our projects. In the midst of it all we got on the topic of what genre my upcoming novel, Black Earth: End of the Innocence, is going to be. That was a tough question.

Personally, I'd like to think of myself as a mainstream author with Christian ideals. My Expired Reality series never mentions God or Jesus or anything about Christianity, but does have underlying ideals like redemption, forgiveness and mercy. Not to mention the age old battle between good and evil.

Black Earth is more open about the Christian themes that are presented in it: standing up for your faith, questioning God when things go wrong, trusting in God when all seems hopeless. Black Earth is, however, a much darker novel than what has been presented in the Expired Reality series so far.

So what genre would it fall under?

I don't have plans to market Black Earth:EOTI as a Christian novel. I think it would entertain the mainstream crowd more so and so I don't want to pigeonhole the book into a corner that the mainstream crowds wouldn't go near with a ten-foot pole.

I don't have plans, either, to strictly market my book as science fiction/fantasy. I think it would get lost in that genre among all the hundreds and thousands of other sci fi/fantasy stories that get created every year. I want something unique, something that is specific but has a niche that I can tell others about when I am asked what genre my novel is.

My friend mentioned that my work might fit into a the dark fantasy category. So, last night I did some research and found that he may be right. Dark fantasy can include stories about dark supernatural creatures and deals with darker themes than a normal fantasy novel. This would definitely describe some of Black Earth. I have demons and witches and supernatural beings who are all in a war to save/destroy the Earth. The fights with the demons and some of the material in the story could borderline horror, but doesn't extract the same type of feelings that a Friday the 13th movie would.

I researched some more, wanting to see if we could add something else to that dark fantasy genre and come up with a more specific description of my book. I thought about calling it dark Christian fantasy, but that's almost sounds contradictory in title. And that would also be pigeonholing me to the Christian crowds, veering me away from the mainstream outlet that I am heading for.

Then I found another genre, almost a subgenre of dark fantasy: urban dark fantasy. Urban fantasy contains stories with supernatural context that take place in real-world, contemporary urban settings. That would describe my novel as well.

So....urban dark fantasy? That sounds about right. We'll see though.

Drather's Story

Finally received my proof copy of Drather's Story in the mail the other day. I am quiet pleased with the quality of the book, however, after reading a few sections of it to check for errors, I realized that it would be in my best interest to do one more edit on it before making it available for sale to the public. Might be another couple weeks until it's ready, but it will be worth the wait! :D

This is my first attempt at self-publishing a novella, so I was a little surprised with how thin the book was when I got it (48 pages), but its small size makes it very convenient to carry around in a backpack or even a planner. I am definitely going to be putting together more stories in the future that take advantage of this unique layout.

The Next Chapter

Last week was the end….the end of a struggle, the end of a fight that was so hard fought that I am still worn out and recovering from the effects. For months, I tried to improve on the environment that I was working in and was ultimately let go of in the worst way possible. An attack on my integrity, on my ethics, was the name of the game and instead of stooping to a level that I might have felt so inclined to, I ended the day happy that I had done things on my own terms…I didn’t give in, I didn’t quit, I didn’t give up.

Yet, with every end, there has to be a beginning to something, and the end of working for said company is the beginning of the next chapter in my life. This next chapter, of what will easily become a ten volume memoir, is the one that I have been waiting my whole life for and promises to be the most exciting.

See, I’ve wanted to write since I was twelve. And back in the day, I was told that if I wanted to make a living off my writing, then I better hope I’m good, else I won’t make much money to support myself off it. My dreams trampled, I gave up. Years later, I picked up the passion again, only this time I wasn’t exactly writing things I should have been writing. So I took my material at the time and dumped it in a cylinder trash can and lit it all on fire. A prayer left my lips, one that told God that if He ever wanted me to write again, He would have to give me the material and the passion Himself.

Years from that point, my passion returned, but only after I had made a decision that I was going to move to Seattle to attend Bible College. Now I had a dilemma…follow my spiritual calling or follow my artistic calling. I became so anxiety ridden from trying to pick that I drove myself practically insane…until a fellow camp counselor that summer turned to me and told me that God sometimes wants us to pick a path and he’ll bless the one that we have chosen.

I sighed with relief and picked writing.

Since then, I’ve heard many promises from God regarding my choice, ones that I sometimes wonder may have been my own wishful thinking they seem so incredibly impossible. But we deal with a God that doesn’t know what impossible is. We deal with a God that keeps His word and won’t lead us astray. I deal with a God that has carried me this far and won’t let go when the dawn is about to break, even if sometimes I feel too weak to hold on.

As my adventure continues into this next chapter, I hope and pray that I have the strength and determination to keep going. The fog has lifted, and now I can see the shore, but there’s still a long way to go and I’m still tired and worn out from the previous battles.

Taking the Promised Land is no small task…for us, anyway. For God…well, that’s a different story altogether.

What Happened to Quality Entertainment?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Some of the movies I’ve seen lately and some of the reasons why I walk out, shaking my head. I remember an age where quality movies fell into the theatres with abandon. There were original storylines, Grade-A actors/actresses, award-winning dialogue. Those were the good old days. Hollywood writers seemed to take their jobs more seriously, directors were trying to push the envelope to bring new avenues to the theatre-watching public. It was a good time, and I feel very strongly that those times have been buried underneath the rubble of quick-made films amidst crappy plots.

I’m not sure exactly when the quality of movies dropped, but the more I think about it, the more it wrenches my heart. I used to be excited to go to the theater, excited to see what was going to happen to our heroes next, excited to see what new plot twists had been devised to keep us on the edge of our seats. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are still some great movies being made, they are just few and far between. There are movies that had the time and money and talent spent on them and they came through in the end, inspiring me, stirring emotions in me…doing what a good story should do. Watchmen, The Dark Knight, Quantum of Solace, V for Vendetta, Speed Racer are all great ones that come to mind from the last couple years. These are good movies to say the least.

I don’t feel I can even go to the movies at night anymore because I can’t possibly justify spending $10 on a ticket, especially in this economy, for something my gut instinct is telling me is going to be a waste of time and money. What happened to the starlit evenings where we went out to a nice dinner with our better halves and relaxed with a late-night movie afterward? Those times are slipping away my friends and have turned into grabbing a Starbucks and seeing a bargain movie at 8 in the morning. Not that there's anything wrong with looking for a good bargain, but there used to be movies that I would turn around and spend $10 on and not bat an eye at because I was that confident that it was going to be a decent investment of time and money.

I have to say it: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should never have been made. Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg should have left the three Indiana Jones films intact in my innocent childhood memory and let it be. Instead, Hollywood had to resurrect a legend from the graveyard of great icons and make a movie that is so blatantly outrageous with its storyline, dialogue and acting that it almost puts the whole franchise to shame. I think Hollywood needs to learn where to stop, especially when you’re talking about making sequels to a movie franchise that ended in the 80’s.

More recently, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince disappointed me on an epic scale. I’ll preface this by saying that the Harry Potter films, for the most part, usually do a good job of entertaining me. I have not read the books, nor do I have any interest in reading them, so I can't compare the movie to the original stories. This recent one though did nothing but inspire a snooze fest and an incredible urge to watch the Lord of the Rings movies again just to fulfill my fantasy movie desires. Throughout the whole film, Harry is referred to as the 'Chosen One', the only one who can defeat ‘You Know Who’. He is hinted at as the 'Chosen One' throughout the series before this point, yet Half-Blood Prince doesn’t really do anything with this partially interesting fact. Instead, I’m stuck in a theater for 2 ½ hours watching a fantasy-style soap opera filled with rivers of teen-angst and hormones gone wild as each of the characters vies for the others’ affection. The magic and mayhem of the films before it is gone, replaced with love potions and lots of teenage drama. Hints of a darker side to the series are exposed through flashbacks/memories, but they are few and far between, though I feel they were the better parts of the movie. Only in the last half hour do we get some sense of grand evil, but in preparation for the next movie. Harry has no final battle, there is no real confrontation with the band of villains that are seen minimally during the movie, doing close to nothing the whole time. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s sitting through a slow movie to get no real payoff by the time the credits roll. Give me something!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was another movie I had the opportunity to see recently, and even though I watched the original and thought it was a dud, I decided to give the 2nd movie a chance and was pleasantly surprised with it as a whole. The story, for one, was a big improvement on the first. However, Hollywood thought it pressing to include more adult humor, risqué scenes and constant profanity. And when I say adult humor, I’m not referring to the kind of over-kid’s-heads innuendo that Shrek uses. No, the adult humor found in Transformers was a good deal of male sexual humor. Fabulous, Hollywood, absolutely fabulous. You make a movie based on a kids – KIDS – cartoon and decide to take the humor level in the direction of Superbad standards. This is an example of where writers sometimes get the balance all wrong, trying to cater to ALL audiences, yet using an avenue that has been near and dear to kids’ hearts for years.

The list goes on and on. I’m not trying to bash the film industry, but I really do wish writers and producers and directors would try to think outside the box, but do it with the same techniques that have worked in the past. Be creative, be original. How many times am I going to go see a movie, come out and say how good it is, only to have the person walking beside me tell me that the original was just as good. The original? You mean, that was a remake? A REMAKE?! How utterly disappointing. Improving on something that has been done before can be considered original if it's done right, but copying an old idea and not doing anything to further it is a travesty. Originality, people. It can go a long way.