New Website Design Revealed

Well, it's been under wraps for a couple months now, but I've finally finished my new website overhaul. This will be the last time I change the theme of my website. There really wasn't anything too wrong with the way it was, but I felt the need to change it to something that's easier on the eyes and easier to navigate.

The site is pretty simple at the moment, with just info on me, my novel, and a few flash fiction pieces. I am going to be adding many more stories in the upcoming months, along with samples and info on my soon-to-be released novel, and updates on projects including my dive into podcasting.

Check it out if you get a chance and let me know what you think! http://www.davidnalderman.com

Time For My Best

I've noticed a recurring theme that's been cropping up in my life over the last week, either in sermons I've heard being preached or conversations I've had with other people. It's a theme that's really encompassed by a question: Am I doing my very best?

Have you ever had someone ask you to do something and you tell them you'll do your very best? I'm wondering how many times we actually mean those words when we say them. When we say we'll do our very best, what are we using as a scale to determine what our very best is? Are we just comparing our efforts to someone else's best? Someone else's worst? Maybe we're considering our best to be anything above average, barely walking the fence between the extraordinary and what's needed to get by.

Over the past couple days, I've taken a very serious look at my writing career and I've asked myself if I've come even close to where I wanted to be when I started doing this full time a year ago. Now I know that we all make goals and sometimes it's just not possible or even probable to reach those goals in the time we specify for ourselves, but at the same time, some progress needs to be made. On top of progress, we should be able to look back and say confidently and honestly that we gave it our very best shot.

If I look back at the last year, I can honestly say I've done a decent job. I am right around the corner from releasing the second novel in my Black Earth series, I'm about to roll out a brand new, made-from-scratch, website design, and I have many more projects in the pipeline to reach some new markets I've never tapped before.

But can I say I gave the last year my very best? I'm not sure how to answer that. The last few months I've felt inspired to start on some new projects, both writing and marketing related, but I haven't really dived into any of them. Why? Procrastination is probably one reason. The other might be because I've been pocketing large quantities of my potential and putting the average on display.

See, when I worked a "9-5" job a year ago, I was putting out 32 hours there, then I was coming home and working another 5-6 hours on writing projects. On top of that, I was being a husband, a friend, and was very careful to make sure that the rest of my life continued to stay within balanced means.

Now I work maybe eight hours a day and call it a great, productive day and then go on with my life. I know some people like to tell me not to be too hard on myself, but I really think it's time to take a serious look at this. If I was able to put out so much effort while I worked a 'real' job, then why am I not able to put out at least the equivalent now?

One important thing I have learned being self-employed is that I am my motivation. I don't have bosses peering over my shoulder to make sure I'm staying on task. I don't have a time card that I have to punch every time I walk into my office and sit down at my desk. I set my own hours, I control the projects I work on, and I determine how much effort I'm going to put in each day. It's up to me.

I want to do my very best. I gave 110% of myself to employers that didn't even appreciate me, so why wouldn't I give at least that to the tasks that God has given me to do? It's an important question, one that I think everyone should be asking themselves.

As for me, I've asked the question and my answer is that it's time for me to turn things up a notch. No more procrastination. No more wallowing in discouragement, allowing the naysayers and circumstances to determine how far I'm going to take all of this. Writing is my life. It's my passion. And it deserves to get all of me. This isn't to say I'm going to burn myself out, but it does mean that I'm going to take things a little more seriously, finish the projects that have been on the back burner for so long now, and take control of this writing career.

Photo Credit - storymary

Crash

I doubt there is anything more frustrating in this world then when a computer crashes and you lose everything. This happened to me on Wednesday afternoon, when I tried to repair the Windows installation that was on my laptop and something caused my computer to go haywire, forcing me to reformat the hard drive without being able to recover any of my files.

The silver lining is that I've always been a stickler for backing things up. I have jump drives, Zip disks, CDs and numerous backups on other computers for all of my writing, web design and marketing content, so when my computer crashed, it wasn't an utter loss. It did allow me to see the holes in my backup processes though. I lost the latest version of my web design software, some of my music, a vital image editing program, all because I didn't have them backed up. I also lost all of my internet bookmarks.

Luckily, I have a resourceful side that comes out during these times of distress. The music I lost is still on my MP3 player, so I think I can salvage that easily enough. There is a copy of the photo editing program on my wife's computer, so that's won't be too hard to restore onto mine. The web design software was graciously replaced by the company I purchased it from, once I explained my harrowing situation to them.

The only thing that I wasn't able to replace was the bookmarks. Over a year and a half of internet bookmarks ranging from marketing sites to book reviewers. For future reference, my wife pointed me to Google Bookmarks, which apparently can be opened on any computer - if you have a Google account - since the bookmarks are stored with Google.

This "little" computer mishap hasn't slowed down my progress on Black Earth: The Broken Daisy though. I wasn't about to let that happen. I am still on track to have the book released the beginning of Fall.

Photo Credit - mandyxclear

Time To Read

I'm happy to report that I'm finally far enough along with the edits to my latest novel, Black Earth: The Broken Daisy, that I'm able to start reading it aloud to my wife tonight.

This next stage in my novel process is one I started incorporating with my last novel. Reading my book out loud helps me catch typos, wrong wording, and ill-conceived sentences that get overlooked when I read a manuscript through silently. I tend to read fairly fast, meaning my eyes glance over mistakes that I can easily catch when I read the story out loud.

I think while I read it aloud to my wife, I'm also going to test out the recording capabilities of my laptop microphone and the free recording program, Audacity, to get me prepared for podcasting, which I intend to start diving into once this novel is finished and out the door.

Once I've read it aloud and made the proper corrections to the book, I'll do one last glance over, and then move on to formatting. Almost there...

God's Timing

Some say God is never late.

I think it's important to note that God is never late - in His own timing. As with a lot of things, our timing and/or perception of things isn't always matched up with God's.

Case in point. We ran late on rent. First time we've run late on a bill in the last year. I've blogged many times about the incredible journey God has had us on over the last year. And in these blogs, I've noted that we haven't run late on a single bill. For us to run late on rent this month made me question a few things.

So my wife and I went to people we trust, people who have been by our side on this journey since the beginning, and we asked the hard questions. Would God let rent slide to tell us this leg of the journey is over and that it may be time for me to go look for 'real' work? If God is late, does that mean He has abandoned us in some respect? Did we miss something we should have done over the last month to make sure rent was paid on time?

Asking questions is hard. Asking questions of God can sometimes seem impossible, because aside from the Bible, there really is no black and white cheat sheet that gives you the answers. There are wise people around us, but they aren't always going to "feel led by God" to give us particular advice.

Talking out these questions - and answering these questions - led me to the answers I needed. My wife and I are right where we need to be.

We were at a friend's house Friday night and I remember saying something to my wife about how I wouldn't be surprised if God let us run late on rent so we could ask and answer these questions. When we returned home that evening, we had a notice on our door from the apartment complex telling us we had to pay rent in five days or they would start the eviction process.

It was ten minutes later that my wife suddenly remembered the stack of savings bonds she had been holding onto for the last year. They were gifted to her in her childhood and her mother had given the collection of them to her around the time I was fired and said she thought we may be able to use them.

We paid rent  - and all of the late fees - the next morning.

New Author Pics

My photographer wife and I went out Saturday morning to Phoenix and a few other locals to get some new author pictures of me. It's been long overdue. I think she took some great shots, and I can't wait to see all of the finished pics once she's done doing her edits.:)

Here's a few of my favorites so far -

 

Photographs by Michal C. Alderman

He Fails Us Not

I figured today would be a great day to share a song I've had in my favorites list for the last week. It's called "Fail Us Not" from the band 1000 Generations. It's a song that simply talks about God never failing us, but I think it sums up nicely where I'm at today and what today represents to me.

Today is a day that represents the end of the beginning. A landmark. Today marks exactly one year to the date that I was wrongfully fired from my last job. I've spoken of the circumstances surrounding the event multiple times through this blog. The fact that it's been a year and I'm still standing is a reason to celebrate.

Today marks one full year that my wife and I have been completely and utterly relying on God to bring through provision and finances. Despite our incredible financial situation - God has provided $1700 of bills each month with only $1080 in income - He has been faithful. We haven't run late on a single bill - or credit card minimum - since day one of this journey. I like to illustrate our situation by saying it feels like crossing from one ledge to another over a massive chasm. We've been mid-air this whole time, with nothing under us but God.

No safety nets.

No escape hatch.

No Plan B.

I don't want anyone to be mistaken. We didn't embark on this journey in blind faith. We were called to this walk and because of that, God has never forsaken us. Not once. Not ever.Nor will He.

Finances aren't the only miracles we've seen. We've seen healthy boundaries erect between us and certain family members. We've been given the strength and the grace to say goodbye to certain friends that just weren't healthy for us. We've even seen some people who were against this journey in the beginning who have looked at our testimony now and just been left in wonder. Just lately my editor went in for a double mastectomy along with having some of her lymph nodes removed because of breast cancer. But when they ran the tests on the lymph nodes, they found no cancer in the nodes themselves, even though earlier they had run a PET scan and found there to be hot spots in those same nodes that were removed.

I have been amazed on more than one occasion on this walk.

So where are we now in this incredible adventure? What's next? I can't really say. Not because it's a big secret, but because I honestly don't know. I feel like I'm in a waiting place, a limbo - like God is finishing up preparations on whatever it is He's about to roll out. Or maybe there's still a few lessons I need to learn before moving on to the next level.

After receiving counsel from those close to us, I know for a fact that we are still on the right path. That's becoming more and more obvious to me. And if we're on the right path, and if God did make the promises we believe He made so long ago, then it means we will inevitably end up where God promised we'd end up.

The trick is to keep holding on. To look with faith to the destination we have had on our hearts, even though our circumstances hold no indication that we're anywhere near reaching our dreams. But a walk of faith is just that, right? Walking in the unseen, not the seen. If I were to use the circumstances around me as any indication of what God has in store for us, I'd be sorely mistaken. Our cars are falling apart, our finances are slim to none, and we're just a bit worn out from this journey.

But I know that my God is faithful and He will come through when the timing is right. When the timing is perfect.

I have a strange feeling He might just bring about the breakthrough we need when I'm least expecting it...

Trash The Dress!

Months ago, our good friend and acclaimed photographer, Rhiannon Teaters, approached my wife and I and said she wanted to do a photo shoot of us for our five year wedding anniversary. I thought it was a great gesture and agreed to it. My wife - well, she got this crazy idea into her head: Trash the Dress. She approached me with the idea of trashing the wedding garb we wore on our special day five years ago and getting some great photography out of it.

At first I was wondering where she would get such a ridiculous idea. I have been known to be crazy at frequent intervals, but even I found it a bit odd to be considering destroying a wedding outfit that usually gets passed down to your children. Then I saw pictures she found online of other couples that have done the same thing. I was enamored by poses of other couples sitting in muddy swamps, jumping into lakes, loitering in downtown alleys, splashing each other with paint - just a few ways they found to destroy their sacred wedding icons.

I agreed. I figured it would be fun, even though I wasn't all that keen on leaping in a lake in a suit and tie. So last Friday, Rhiannon went out with us and captured some stunning pictures - first of us in our clothes before they became irreparably damaged. Then she took some shots of us squirting each other with paint. That was a ton of fun! After that, my wife and I changed into another set of clothes and headed out for round two. Apparently my mother-in-law didn't want her wedding dress anymore either and decided to donate it to the cause. More fodder.

We traveled up to Goldfield Ghost Town and took some pictures in front of the old church, saloon, and even some on the railroad tracks. Then we meadered out to Canyon Lake where we nabbed some awesome shots of us wading in the swampy lake, fully clothed in wedding attire. Those pics, as well as the ghost town pics, are still being worked on, but I'll post a few of them up as soon as they come through. :)

It was a fun experience, one we'll never forget, and Rhiannon grabbed some great photography out of it. 

What a great way to celebrate a five year landmark!

You can check out more of Rhiannon's photography at www.rawcanvasphotography.com

A Novel Ebook Price

After doing some research, I decided to drop the ebook price of my latest novel, Black Earth: End of the Innocence, from $7 to $2.99. I've come to notice recently that $2.99 seems to be a pretty popular price for ebooks nowadays, especially ebooks from authors who haven't become 'famous' yet.

This new price is for all ebook versions, including Nook, Kindle, and Sony Reader. It's the perfect price to score the first book in my Black Earth series before the sequel comes out this Fall. :)

Everything's Coming Together...

It's been a doozy of a month so far. My editor and close family friend was just released from the hospital yesterday after having a double mastectomy. She's doing remarkably well! :) Before she went into the hospital, she managed to finish editing the second book in my Black Earth series, The Broken Daisy. How she found the strength and determination to do that is beyond me, but she did it! Now the fate of the book is entirely back in my hands.

So for the next couple weeks, that's what I'll be busy with. Going through her edits, doing the last of my own, formatting the manuscript, finishing the cover design, writing the back cover copy, and then ordering a proof copy to see how everything turns out. Self-publishing can take a lot of work sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. The feeling of accomplishment once that paperback is in my hands is a feeling I cherish every time I self-publish a novel. 
 
Aside from the novel, I am also finishing up work on my new website design. I plan to reveal it sometime next week. You can take a peek at the current one here. I am also going to be lowering the price of the ebook edition of Black Earth: End of the Innocence, so an announcement will be made about that in the coming week. Once those things are out of the way, it will free me up to start work on some audio projects and maybe some more short stories.

Things are starting to come together now, I just have to keep at it, stay focused, and not get detoured along the way. Makes for a busy end of the summer, but what better way to start the fall then with a number of projects finished and out the door?

Photo Credit - Bludgeoner86