And Now for Our Next Character...

Our introduction to the characters in "The Deilverers: Sharky and the Jewel" continues with the major female character. Her name is Kate Endria. She is the daughter of the Lord Mayor of Calendria, and she's obsessed with finding The Deliverers, the heroes of a legend that's been part of her village's folklore for over 300 years.

In the legend, the Deliverers--a mighty warrior and a talking eagle--appear to save the village of Calendria from the immortal pirate Sharky and his band of cutthroats. After having a dream about them, she spends all her time combing the jungle and the beaches around her village for some sign of them.

What she finds are a boy, Eric, and a talking owl, Stig--hardly heroes. Nevertheless, they've been sent to help deliver Calendria from Sharky, and save the entire world from a terrible danger.

Kate is one of my favorite characters, because she was so easy to write. Like Stig, she appeared almost fully formed when she came rushing out of the jungle when she first appears in the book. She is a spirited kid. Like Eric, she's lost a parent--her mother died when she was seven.

That hasn't stopped her, though. She has certain goals--finding the Deliverers, being accepted as her father's heir--that she's determined to fulfill. It doesn't matter that what she sets out to do seems impossible, or has never been done before, she is convinced that she will find a way to achieve it. She is also fanatically devoted to the memory of her ancestor, Calvin Endria, and is trying to answer the question of what happened to him after he mysteriously disappeared.

All these things that she's trying to do tie in to one overriding goal--delivering her village from the clutches of the immortal pirate captain Sharky and his crew. If not for her, Calenndria would never be free.

The Deliverers has a lot of great characters. That's one of its major strengths. Everyone will be able to relate to at least one of them. They each have some growing to do, and develop as the book goes along. It's strange, because it's  not something I set out to consciously do. All the characters and their stories just seemed to mesh naturally.

In our next character study, we'll get to know the shortest character--Hallo Tosis the dwarf.

The Proof Is In the Pudding

Good evening all! I want to apologize for not posting yesterday. I had good intentions, but it just did not work out. Yesterday was my birthday (shameless plug) and I was so busy with the family and phone calls, that I did not get a chance to post.

Today, I actually received a late birthday present. A couple days ago, I wrote that I had received the final files for my book. After reviewing them, I uploaded them to CreateSpace. Today, I received an email telling me that my files were useable, and that I should order my proof copy, which is exactly what I did.

For those of you who don't know, a proof is a test printing of the book. When I receive that, I'll go over it with a fine tooth comb to see if I can spot any printing inconsistencies, such as the cover color not being right, etc. After I give the final approval, my book will be ready to go!

Wow, it's hard to believe it's getting so close. Right now, getting it published is the goal, but then it will be sharing it with as many people as possible. It's really a great story, and I know you and your children will love it. More on this in the days to come! Have a great night!

Eric Scott, Epic Hero, or Just an Everyday Kid?

Today, I'd like to introduce you to the hero of "The Deiverers: Sharky and the Jewel", Eric Scott. Eric's a 12 year old boy who lost his father in a hiking accident. In all other respects, though, he's just your average, everyday kid. He's a little on the scrawny side, pretty intelligent, and he's got a little bit of an attitude problem.

While trying to get his life back to normal, he's visited by a certain white owl. What follows, completely changes his outlook...eventually. Eric's an ordinary person thrown into an extraordinary situation, and forced to sink or swim.

When he has to, he'll discover that he's capable of much more than he thinks. Just how capable, you'll discover when you read the book.

As I wrote the book, Eric became the center that a couple more outgoing characters--namely Kate Endria and Hallo Tosis the dwarf--revolved around. At first, this worried me, because the main character is usually the most dynamic. But I think kids will be able to relate to Eric. He's pretty much like any other 12 year old. He's chosen, not because he's unusual, but because he's steady and reliable. When the chips are down, though, it's Eric who comes up with a plan and becomes a leader. That's a message I think everyone will be able to relate to.

Monday Evening Musings

Today is Monday--already. The weekends go too quickly. It seems like only yesterday that it was Friday. The weekend went well. We had a tag sale and did all right--made some money and cleared some space. On Sunday, my wife Stephanie took me out to dinner as an early birthday present, just the two of us. Unfortunately, my Dolphins found another improbable, embarrassing way to lose, but hey, it's just a game! So all in all, it was a good weekend.

Among the other things I did this weekend was review the book interior that I received on Friday. I caught a few inconsistencies, Why, no matter how many times I check, are there always inconsistencies?! I think I'll have to have a contest once the book is published. Spot something that's incorrect, win a copy of my next book, or something.

So, I sent the interior back.with the changes. Now, I'll just sit back and wait for the final version to come back. Then, I'll send it in to CreateSpace and wait until they send me a proof. Then I'll be able to announce that the book is available! I'm getting excited just writing about it.

This has been a long process--about eight years to write the book, rewrite the book, rewrite it again, polish it up and polish it some more. I'm not a very patient person, but this baby has taught me patience. If I don't sell one copy, it's already been a profitable experience. But hopefully, I'll sell a lot of copies. We'll see what happens when it comes out.

Oh well, not much to update you on today, so I'll keep it short. Please check back here regularly, or subscribe to the feed at the bottom of the homepage. Have a great night and I'll be back with something better tomorrow--promise!

A Writer's Story--The Early Years, Part 2

Hello again. Last week, I shared a little bit about an experience that influenced me as a writer, and alluded that there was a second experience that inspired me to be a writer as well. Perhaps it was less an experience, and more just a general knowledge.

When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I really loved it. So, when I was 10 or 11, I was quite surprised and iintrigued to learn that Mr. Sendak actually lived only a ten minute bike ride away from my house.

Now, naturally I was tempted to pedal my bike up to his house and up his driveway, knock on his door, and introduce myself. I pedaled past there on my own several times. His driveway wasn't that long, and I could see his front door from the road, but I never got up the courage to do it.

An older boy who lived two doors up the street from me worked for Mr. Sendak as a handyman. I thought about asking him to get me in to see him, but I never got up the nerve.

Now in the summer, a couple of my friends and I used to ride our bikes a couple miles to a little market over the New York border (I would never let my children do this, but sadly it's a different world today) to buy baseball cards, candy bars, and soda. This would have been in the mid-70's.

We could go one of two routes. The longer route went right past Mr. Sendak's house. The shorter route followed a horse trail for part of the way, bypassing the stretch of road where he lived. I usually lobbied to go the long route in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the famous writer/illustrator. 

Of course, I never saw him--until one day. We rode our bikes past his house. Nothing. Down the hill and around the bend into New York state...and there he was. He was walking up the road with his dogs, coming home from a walk.

"Hi," I said as I rode by.

"Hello," he said. And that was it.

Not much, but for me, it was everything.

A couple years later, I remember telling my mother that I wanted to write children's books. I remember saying something like, "Maybe I should ask Maurice Sendak for some advice."

My mother, probably with visions of her 13 year old son accosting the poor man on one of his walks, stammered out something about him probably not wanting to be bothered by a teenager asking advice.

That kind of put me off, so I never did try to ask him. It was probably for the best, because I was thinking about stopping him on the street (I'd seen him a couple other times after that encounter). That would not have been cool.

Strangely, the idea of writing to him never occurred to me. Maurice Sendak was too real to me. He was right there, less than a half mile away. You didn't write to people who were so close. But that's also what made the idea that I could be a children's writer so real, too. Maurice Sendak wrote books for children, but he was real to me. I'd seen him walking his dogs on the street.

That made the belief that I could live my dream all the more real to me, too.