A Writer's Week #95: Lots To Tell

Okay, where to start? This week has been just fantastic. First off, we capped off our book drive for the Salvation Army. We wound up with a grand total of 114 books! You can see a sampling of them in the picture below. On Monday and Tuesday, volunteers will be packaging the gifts and the books for the families. Distribution day will be Friday, December 20th. I'll update the blog with photos as things we move along.

A big thank you to all those who purchased copies of The Deliverers Series books. Thanks to you I will donate 67 copies. Thank you, too to my wonderful author friends who donated copies of their wonderful books. Here's a list with links to their books. Please support them. Not only did they answer my call for help, but they are very generous with donations to other worthy causes as well!

C. Lee McKenzie  Alligators Overhead               Karen Toz  Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas

Margo Dill  Finding My Place                          Kimberly Sentek  Oh Brother! A Nico and Tugger Tale

Celia Carlile  The Christmas Song

Another big thank you has to go to author Stephanie Robinson who donated a stack of books that she had purchased at her school's book fair. She and co-author Jessica Haight have written a wonderful book, The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow, that will be published by Random House/Dellacourt in the fall of 2015.

Speaking of Stephanie and Jessica, they were nice enough to feature me on their blog this week. On Wednesday they posted a wonderful review of The Deliverers 2: Order of the Crystal Lion. On Friday, they featured a nice interview with me. It was a lot of fun chatting with them about my writing and my plans for the Deliverers Series going forward. There is also a giveaway for you to enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Order of the Crystal Lion.

With all this going on, it was hard fitting in any writing. I don't think I'll begin work on The Deliverers 4 until after Christmas, but I have been busy making final edits to The Deliverers 3: The Golden Dragon of Ang. I should be finished with those sometime today (thank you snow!).

I was also a little surprised when I received an email from illustrator Daniel Vogel. It contained a new conceptual sketch for the cover of The Golden Dragon of Ang. I thought the original concept was fine, but apparently he wasn't satisfied. He ran it by his mother, graphic designer Ana Vogel, and she agreed. So, it was back to the drawing board--literally. He had rendered the original illustration on the computer, and as I said, I liked it. The handdrawn version was head and shoulders better than the first, though. It really blew me away. I quickly gave my approval. The good news is that we should still be on schedule for a completed cover in early January and a publication date sometime in February!

This has turned into quite a long post, but I have one more piece of news. For the next week, the Kindle version of both books in the Deliverers Series will be on sale for just 99 cents on Amazon! Please stop by and purchase a copy of Sharky and the Jewel and Order of the Crystal Lion before this deal goes away! Please share this with your friends, too. Thanks and have a great week!

A Writer's Week #93: Making Progress

This week has been very satisfying for me. First off, my request for book donations from authors that I have been privileged to meet over the last years has been generous to say the least. Thanks to C. Lee McKenzie, Celia Carlisle, Kimberly Sentek, Karen Pokras Toz and Tracey Lynn Best for offering to donate books to the Danbury, CT Salvation Army's Christmas Distribution event. Thanks to you, a bunch of children in need will receive the gift of reading.

After a week, I've got 36 books. I need to reach at least 100 by December 13th. If you would like to help, purchase a copy of one of my Deliverers books on this site, and I will donate another copy to the kids. If you are an author and would like to donate copies of your book, leave a comment on this post or message me on Facebook and we can work out the details.

On the writing front, I've worked out the general arc of the story for The Deliverers 4. It took a while, but I'm pretty satisfied with it. I'm now filling in the details of the story line. It's looking pretty good. Things are picking up. Eric and friends will be getting to the heart of what's threatening the universe. Mix in a little historical fiction elements and I think we'll have an entertaining book!

My brain's telling me it's almost time to start writing chapter one. I'll let things stew in my head until after my

last show on December 1st and then get started. I hope to have the first draft completed by September or October. We'll see. As always, I'll be sure to keep you up to date on my progress.

The illustration for the cover of The Deliverers 3: The Golden Dragon of Ang is looking really good. Daniel Vogel is doing a great job. The cover should be ready by the end of the year.

Appearance Alert:  I will be at the 28th annual Holiday Festival FBO Newtown Youth and Family Services at Edmund Town Hall in Newtown, CT.

New Assignment

Hi all. Long time, no see. Sorry about skipping the last Writer's Week. The truth is, the past week was very rewarding and productive. I met with  illustrator Dan Vogel to review the progress on the cover for The Deliverers 3: The Golden Dragon of Ang. It's coming along great and will be complete by Christmas. I'll share it with you when it's all done.

This weekend, I had a book signing at the Barn gallery in New Fairfield. It was a beautiful day. I saw a number of old friends and made a couple new ones. To be honest, the turnout was less than I had hoped. For a while I was disappointed, but after a lot of thought and some prayer, I decided to take a big step.

You might say that I took a new Assignment from the Gatekeeper. The Gatekeeper is the guy in my books that gives different missions--Assignments--to Eric and the other Deliverers. For a little over a year now, I've toyed with thoughts of how I could use my books to help others. I say toyed with because I kept running up against a, "I can't give stuff away, I have to make money" roadblock in my head.

This weekend changed all that. I now realize that the most important thing is that I write books and that I share them with as many kids as possible. Not only that, but I should be looking to get books to kids that don't have many--or in some cases, any.

With that in mind, I will be donating books to the Salvation Army to be distributed to children in need. I'm going to start in my own backyard and hopefully expand over time. My local Salvation Army collects new toys for children whose parents can't afford presents at Christmas. There are about 500 families that have registered this year. Not all of these families have children of reading age, but most of them do.

I am hoping to donate books, my books and those of any children's authors who would like to donate, to as many of these families as possible. I will pay  for a bunch myself using money that I've made from previous shows this month. From now on, when I sell a Deliverers book face to face or on this website, I will donate a second Deliverers book to the Salvation Army.

That's my mission and my Assignment this holiday season. I've posted it at the top of my blog, along with a donation button. If you would like to donate some cash to the cause, please do. The Deliverers 1 costs about $4 and the Deliverers 2 costs about $5 to produce, if you need a donation guideline. All funds donated (after Paypal's small processing fee) will go towards the purchase of books for kids in need. If you'd like a great book in the bargain, then go to my Store, buy a copy of book 1 or book 2 (or both), and I'll deliver a second copy to the Salvation Army. I'll personalize it with a book plate that tells the recipient it was donated by whomever you name.

I'm going to start small, but hopefully this will grow over time. I'd love to be able to offer a range of titles. If you are a children's author, please consider donating 5, 10, 25, however many copies you can. I promise they will find good homes. Email me at gregslomba@hotmail.com and we can work out the details. Thanks!

A Writer's Week #47: The Kindness of Strangers

Well, it's been yet another busy week here at The Deliverers Publishing Headquarters. So many things have been going on, where to start? I attended another show this week--Ladies Day Out in Danbury, CT. It was a great success for all involved. My wife and children helped me out by gift wrapping copies of The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel. We had a great time and it was fun hanging out with the other vendors. 

The biggest thrill of the day, however, did not result from the sale of any books. I've mentioned before that I am donating 50 cents of each online purchase and $1.00 of each in person purchase of The Deliverers until the end of the year to the Salvation Army. At the show we were gift wrapping books and asking for a donation to the Salvation Army. A woman walked up to our table, and started writing out a check. Then, she dropped it into our tip jar. When we got home and opened the jar, we found she'd written a check for $50 to the Salvation Army. So, than you so much Janice Lelsey Moore for your generous donation! All in all, I've collected $94.50 for the Salvation Army. Please help support the cause by buying The Deliverers for the children in your lives. It's a great book that they will love.

All right, enough with the sales pitch. The Deliverers 2: Order of the Crystal Lion is shaping up. I've spent the last week making some tweaks. It's mostly ready. There are still a couple things I found that I need to fix. I've sent advance copies of the manuscript out to a few children and adults for a test read. I hope they like it. 

I also was able to reach an agreement with Mother Goose Toys in Litchfield, CT to stock copies of The Deliverers. Thank you Susan, Stephanie and I had a great time visiting with you. So, now there are three spots in Connecticut where you can pick up a copy of the book: Mother Goose Toys in Litchfield; The Barn Gallery in New Fairfield; and Byrd's Books in Bethel. I think I'm going to concentrate on increasing the number of stores stocking my books in the coming year. It's an aspect that I've neglected up to now.

Artist Daniel Vogel sent me a mock up of the cover for The Deliverers 2: Order of the Crystal Lion yesterday. It's looking really good. We had to work out the background and the overall color. I think we figured it out, I just have to see how it actually looks before I'm sure. I hope to be able to unveil the cover sometime before Christmas. Exciting stuff!

The audio book version of The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel is nearing completion. My hope is that it will be available in the middle of December. It really sounds terrific. I used my Kindle Fire to play a bunch of videos at the show including the book trailer, my YouTube interviews, and two sample chapters from the audio book. I received a lot of great feedback on the audio chapters. I'll let you know the minute it's available.

I also got a lot of work done on the plot outline for The Deliverers 3. I had hoped to begin writing, but there are still some plot points that I nneed to get settled before I begin. It won't be too much longer, though--either next week or the week after. I'll let you know how things are going next week.

A Writer's Week #45: Heading Into the Holidays With a Thankful Heart

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is now less than a week away, and we'll soon be (if we haven't been already) launched into the holiday season. I don't know where the year has gone, but I do know that I have a whole lot to be thankful for--a healthy, happy family; good friends; a good job that I enjoy; and lots of good news on the writing front.

With that in mind, I've decided to give 50 cents for every copy of The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel sold online between now and the end of the year to the Salvation Army. I will also donate $1.00 for every copy of the book that I sell in person. So far, I'll be donating $6 at the end of the year. I'd love to be able to donate at least $50. The Deliverers makes a great gift for the young readers in your life, so pick up a copy or two and help support a great organization at the same time.

Production continues on the audio book version of Sharky and the Jewel. Narrator Jimm Singer says recording could be finished by the end of this weekend, then I'll be giving the whole book a final listen. After I give my approval, ACX will prep it for release on Audible.com, Amazon.com, and iTunes. If all goes according to plan, it could be out as early as the first week in December. I'll keep you updated.

The editing of The Deliverers 2: Order of the Crystal Lion is moving along. I've edited 195 of 265 pages. Once I get done with the first editing pass, I'll go back and make the bigger changes--fixing or deleting scenes that don't work, and any other large changes that I think may be needed. So far, I've identified only two or three areas that need to be shored up, which is great. I was worried there would be more. We'll see how the last 70 pages go.

Artwork for The Deliverers 2 is progressing as well. Daniel Vogel has sent me a rough layout of the cover, and is working on a drawing of the crystal lion. I think the cover concept is good, and I'm looking forward to a final rough with some color.

All this means that I'm on track for an end of February, beginning of March release. I'll be off work for the last week of November, so I'm looking forward to being able to devote a lot of time to these projects. I'll let you know how I'm getting on next week. Until then, may you and your family and friends have a happy, safe Thanksgiving!

Getting That Christmas Feeling

The Christmas feeling has been slow in coming this year. Since our freak snowstorm on October 29th, the weather has been more like early October than Christmas. Time goes so fast that it doesn't seem that it can possibly be December again already.

But for me it takes more than the weather to get that Christmas feeling. I get it when I help others. Today, I got it. Every year, a group of us from work help out at the Salvation Army. They run a toy drive for underprivelaged families. We collect toys at work, then go down to the Salvation Army to get them bagged up by family. We distribute them about a week before Christmas. Today was Distribution Day. Mothers and/or fathers come down to pick up the toys and a gift card for a local supermarket. Sometimes, they bring along their children.

It's such a great feeling to know that, in some small way, you're helping to give something so special to families and kids. It's as great a feeling as seeing a child enjoying my book. When I see the gratitude in a parent's eyes, because they'll be able to give their child a merry Christmas, it reminds me of how lucky and blessed I've been in my life. The grousing and complaining I do at times seems so petty compared to the challenges that these families face every day. So many people need a helping hand.

I urge you all to take a few hours or a day out of your busy schedule at this time of year to help out a charitable organization in your community. If possible, get your kids involved, so that they don't take what they've got for granted. Because helping others is truly what Christmas means. And in this day and age, it's so easy to forget that.

Peace.