The Vase - Book revised

As the second book I had written, The Vase had already undergone several revisions. It was my first book to be revised with the lessons I learned from a real editor. Meaning not just a Beta reader. The editor was from the now defunct publisher Penumbra Publishing, and the lessons were vital to my future as a novelist. And with five novels under my belt at this point, it was indeed vital.

It's true that Melange - the publisher for my first book, Killer of Killers - advised me on much of what the Penumbra editor taught me. But it was Penumbra that really drilled the lessons home. And from that point on I became a much better novelist - an author who writes novels.

I went back and applied those lessons to Killer of Killers, of course, and Melange was gracious enough to allow me to do that. And since Penumbra folded, I have been going back over The Vase, time and again, revising and revising, improving the prose, and yes, even making better judgment calls on the original edits.

The Vase is being rewritten, not only in the application of the lessons I learned, but with the original intent on how the story unfolds. The editor had his own ideas, and applied them to a small degree to my story line. I made it back into the way I wanted it, with one exception. I had originally intended for Professor Weiss to relay his version of the climactic events in a flashback scene, as if the reader was experiencing the event "live". But the editor wanted the events "told" by the professor after Captain Mathias caught up to him and asked him what happened.

I think that was the better option. And the reason is because the events Weiss relays contain some controversial, or even questionable, occurrences, and when those controversial and/or questionable occurrences are told after the fact, then the reader can use his or her own judgment as to whether those event really happened the way the professor told them to the captain.

Otherwise, the reader will be experiencing the events as did Professor Weiss, and they would be more akin to seeing it as what really happened, and then there would be no questionable aspect involved.

So yeah, the editor did contribute much to that book, not only in teaching me all the current rules for writing a novel, but made the right call for that particular post climax scene.

And as I revise The Vase for the umpteenth time I am greatly improving the prose, making every single paragraph on every single page the best writing as humanly possible. It's truly a work of art at this point. I can't wait to resubmit to publishers when I'm finally done. Multiple publishers had accepted it for publication in its original state. Cant wait to see the results when I submit it now that it's a vastly superior book to what it was then.

New Year - New Hope

Well the new year is here, and with it comes new hope. I have two books with a publisher who doesn't seem to have any inclination of going out of business. That would be Melange Books, the publisher of Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. Melange has treated me well, and the books sell, seemingly well enough, albeit with inconsistency. But what do I expect? Melange is a POD publisher, and that means no bookstore placement. All sales are online, either through the Melange website or Amazon. I think there are other online sites, too. Like Smashwords, and such...

But the new year brings the fact that one of my other publishers will go out of business. Knox Robinson, as I had said in an earlier post, is throwing in the towel. I had placed them as a higher ranked publisher, because I was under the impression they were not a POD publisher and would get their books into bookstores. Alas, that was not to be, because they are folding this month, and that's that. The rights to John Dunn and Second Chance will be reverted to me and with that reversion comes new hope.

And what is that new hope? Another shot at the Big Five. I think an author can truly call his career a success if he makes it to the Big Five. But that takes a connection, I suppose. You look at several of the Big Five books, and many of them suck. Worse than Disney's Star Wars, too. I mean really suck. You ask yourself how is it that the Big Five published these books, when they suck so much. It's an unanswered question.

But whatever. I have three books now that are available to be placed with a new publisher. I can go with my remaining publisher, Melange, but again, I want higher stakes with those books. Melange is good for my Killer books, since they were the first publisher to believe in me. But with The Vase, John Dunn, and Second Chance, I will shoot for the moon. Why not? They are great books, with great stories, and great writing. You never know unless you try.

So while I'm still kickin' I'll keep on trying. Never give up, never surrender. that was a line from Galaxy Quest. That was a great movie, btw. Loved it.

Killer Not For Hire

Book Three in the Killer Series is now in the works. It's a Trent Smith Martial Arts Thriller to be sure. And Melange Books has already agreed to publish it and will be sending a contract as soon as tomorrow. It is slated for publication in September/October of 2018, so that's about a year from now. So that means I have a year to write the book. Good thing I've already started it.

But I'm a far cry from completing it. I've got a good start though, and I have a good idea what is going to happen in the story. It's the book I started a year ago. It's the book I was calling Killer on the Payroll. But just recently when I resumed writing it I realized that one of Trent Smith's traits was that he worked for no one. So how could it be that a man who worked for no one could be a killer on someone's payroll? I was thinking at the time that he was being forced to by one way or another. But then, just this past week, I thought no. Trent Smith is not for hire. Not now, not ever. Thus the new title. Killer Not For Hire.

And I thought of it just in time. My publisher, Nancy had just emailed me asking me for the title of the book, so I replied the tentative title was Killer Not For Hire. Of course she advised with a year to go until publication there was still time to change the title if I so choose so that's cool. If I so choose. We'll see. For now, I think it's a good title.

The story will end with Trent becoming the world's greatest killer, but that's kind of anticlimactic. The plot is not to become the world's greatest killer. It's not his goal. But he gets involved with organized crime, not willingly, it was more like as part of his vengeance thing, and it just leads to that, and it happens. But the syndicates want him on their sides. But of course, he's not for hire, thus the title. Once you read the story it's more understandable. Well, I've got to write it first. Time to get busy on that. it should be fun.

Celebrating "Kick Ass Heroines" ... Really?

I have two publishers. Knox Robinson and Melange. Knox Robinson, of course, is the publisher of my two latest novels, Second Chance and Heart of a Zulu, whereas Melange is the publisher of my debut novel Killer of Killers and its sequel Killer Eyes. I appreciate both publishers, because if not for them my stories would never have reached the printed word.

But I happened to notice that Melange is currently featuring something on their website called "Celebrating Kick Ass Heroines". I have blogged so much about that subject, I'm really tired of it by now. Besides, these "kick ass heroines" may not be what the name suggests. Maybe they are not really kicking anyone's ass literally in the stories in which they are featured.

But the term got me to thinking. First let me point out that I have made it abundantly clear that strong female characters exist, and that they are a part of everyday life. I've seen plenty of them in my own real life experiences, many of whom I'm related to, and it's surely true that real life "strong" women have existed throughout history. No question.

But this "celebration" has expressed the "need" for strong female characters in Young Adult Fiction. Really? The "need"? I have been very aware that strong female characters are featured often in Young Adult fiction. Very often. So much so, that perhaps it can be said that strong female characters are featured far more often than strong male characters. At least in Young Adult fiction they are.

I may not be so well read in Young Adult Fiction, but going by the movies that books of the Young Adult genre have become, it sure seems strong female characters are the norm of late. And because of that I think expressing the "need for strong female characters" in Young Adult fiction is a little behind the times, as evidenced by (off the top of my head) Hunger Games, Divergent, Twilight, etc.

Of course there's many more, most of which I'm not familiar with, as I admittedly do not go to the theaters to see these movies, nor do I read those books. But let me make it abundantly clear, as I've already made clear many times, strong female characters do exist and have been fundamental to real life and real history, not just in Young Adult fiction.

The main point of this posting is that I think the celebrators of "strong female characters" should reconsider using the term "Kick Ass". I mean, really? Kick Ass? Have any of these Young Adult authors who want to celebrate strong female characters ever kicked anyone's ass? Ever? Do they want to? I mean do any of these Young Adult fiction authors really want to go kick someone's ass? Do they? Do they really want to see a girl, or a woman of any age get into a physical confrontation that results in coming to blows with another human being? Do they? Have they ever even seen it?

I have. Many times. You see, I'm a teacher in a Middle School, which is right at the Middle Grade/Young Adult level. The kids that I'm around every day from August through June are the target audience of these books that these authors write. And yes, I've seen plenty kids come to blows with each other. And you know what? More often it's the girls coming to blows than the boys.

Now for the lesson you "Young Adult" authors need to learn. It's not a pleasant thing. When these girls fight, they are not "kicking ass." What they are doing is kicking, scratching, pulling each other's hair, and it's a very ugly thing. Let me repeat that. IT'S AN UGLY THING to see young girls fight. So I really hope that these Young Adult stories are not glorifying the concept of "kicking someone's ass!"

As a teacher, of course, it's my responsibility to get them to STOP fighting. Have any of you Young Adult authors ever seen girls fight? Have you ever tried to get girls to stop fighting? It's not easy. You put your own safety at risk. I've seen with my own eyes a girl yank a fistful of hair out of another girl's head. I've seen with my own eyes another girl scratch the skin off another girl's face. I've seen with my own eyes girls tear, scratch, kick, pull, as if they were actually fighting in a combat zone. It's incredible. The viscousness, the brutality, the sheer animalistic, base, instinctive aggression. Did I mention it was downright UGLY? I think I did. I beseech my fellow authors. Do not glorify this.

Do these "Young Adult" authors think that women have to prove that they are strong female characters by running around and beating up other people? Or as their selected term implies, by kicking other people's asses? Is that how people prove how strong they are? By kicking other peoples' asses?

Okay, I already admitted that I didn't read their stories. It could very well be true, that in their stories, their strength comes from strength of will, from strength of character, from strong determination, from unwavering loyalty to an honorable cause, to a strong commitment to a relationship, a friendship or a family. I've used the female characters in the TV show Downton Abbey as a prime example of strong female characters. Every one of the female characters in Downton Abbey, from the Duchess to to the maid, has been a tremendous example of a strong female character.

If you're seen the show, you know them well. Violet, all eighty-plus years old of her, is stronger than anyone else on that show. Then you've got the middle-aged Cora, along with her daughters Mary and Edith, (Sybil, too) the elderly cousin Isabel, and every one of the maids and house servants, from Mrs. Hughes, Anna, Mrs. Patmore, and Daisy. All are portrayed as strong female characters, and not once have any of them lowered themselves to the point to where they had to "kick someone's ass."

Now if the term "kick ass" is just a term used symbolically, that's a different story. I mean you can say "kick ass" but not really mean someone is physically kicking someone's ass. But again, I did not read these stories, so I am not presuming that the characters in these stories actually do go around kicking people's asses. I'm hoping they don't.

I will finish this post by pleading innocence if someone is  going to accuse me of being a hypocrite. My own books feature fighting. But the people who fight in my books are not girls or women. Nor are they "young adults." My Melange-published books, Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes feature the world's greatest martial artist.  He's a full grown man who was a professional fighter, not some young adult who want to "kick someone's ass." He's on a mission of vengeance, and as the title of the book suggests, he kills killers. Only.

So to be clear. This post is about "young adults." Or Middle Grade-aged people. I'm around them all the time. I don't want to see them kicking anyone's ass. Never again. And I'm quite sure you don't either. I'm quite sure no one does.

The Vase in Limbo

Since I've been working so hard on Second Chance and John Dunn, I've been forced to ignore The Vase. My prior publisher for The Vase has long since gone out of business, and I've had hardly any time to find a new publisher. I could choose one of my two current publishers, Melange (Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes) and Knox Robinson (Second Chance and John Dunn) but I like to have different publishers for different books. It's kind of like the old adage which says Don't put all your eggs in one basket, or something like that.

I really want to find a publisher that is at level two of my prior ranking of publishers. You might remember level one is any of the Big Five, level two are those who do print runs and get their books into book stores. Level three are the POD publishers, level four are eBook publishers and level five is the self publishing category.

So level one will forever be denied me because I'll never have an agent. But level two can be just as good. It's just that the list of level two publishers is a very short list. Kensington might be tops on that list, and I would like to get The Vase published by them. We'll see.

Strangely Cogito is also on that level two list, but I found out they were a dishonest publisher. I'll find out how honest Knox Robinson is in the near future. So far, so good on that front.

But I'm improving The Vase before submitting again. I've said many times that manuscripts can be improved almost indefinitely. You just have to do it when you have the time. And now I do have the time. Back to work.

The Vase Novel on Hiatus

Since Penumbra Publishing is no longer going to be a publisher, at my request, they have relinquished all rights to it, and will no longer be selling it. It is still available on Amazon if anyone out there wants to buy it at this time, but my plan is to make it available to either Knox Robinson Publishing, since they are publishing two of my other books, John Dunn and Second Chance, or to Melange Books, which has published my two Killer books.

So that's the story right now. As for the progress on Second Chance, due out this August, my revisions have been undergoing, and are just about completed. That means when Dana, the KRP publisher edits it, it will be a very clean manuscript. She'll be back from vacation at the end of May which will be perfect timing, as my edits will be done by then.

At that's when I'll concentrate on John Dunn. But I'll mention to her that I am making The Vase available to KRP, and depending on interest, I'll be going over that one, once John Dunn is done. Of course, if she is interested, the publication of The Vase won't take place until 2017. So that's where I'm at right now. Stay tuned.

Heart of a Zulu and Second Chance better than ever

During this off time, while waiting for the publication of John Dunn - Heart of a Zulu and Second Chance - A Football Story, I've been going over the manuscripts very carefully, finding and correcting errors and typos, improving prose, and perfecting continuity. And why shouldn't I? Now is the time to do it. Especially since I'm an experienced author at this point. I went through the publication process three times already. You don't want to find things in your book that need correcting after it's been published. And I'm making darn sure that doesn't happen my fourth and fifth time around.

Luckily, Melange Books cooperated with me to fix errors in my two Killer books, and the editor at Penumbra was very strict, which reduced the kind of errors you might find in books before it was published. But errors happen anyway, and those pesky typos have a way of popping up even when you were sure they were all gone.

With John Dunn - Heart of a Zulu, since it's such a long book, over 123,000 words, I found some inconsistencies pertaining to time. Meaning in one scene it's nightfall, but in the next scene, it's late afternoon. But it's supposed to be the same day. Clearly, late afternoon does not follow nightfall. And there were other similar problems, but they are fixed now, in addition to the typos that were revealed with a more careful screening.

Another problem I found and solved was the trip from Durban to Ungoye. In that scene, Dunn's servant was going to ride from Durban to Ungoye and back, and he says he'll be back by late afternoon. But he's making that trip on a horse. I asked myself if he could ride a horse from Durban to Ungoye and back in that kind of time? With a little research, I learned that 90 miles separates Durban and Ungoye. And with a little more research, I learned that a horse can travel about 40 miles in one day. Maybe with a fast horse an experienced rider can squeeze and extra five miles in a day's riding. So that means it would take at least two days just to get from Durban to Ungoye, and another two days to get back. So it's a four day round trip - at least. I am very glad I fixed that.

In Second Chance - A Football Story, there's a part where a reporter shows up at the main character's apartment. (Tony Belmont is the MC, btw.) Well, since they had only just met, how the heck did she know where he lived? Well, I fixed that, too. I just put in a prior scene that Tony gives the reporter his business card, which in this case had his home address on it.

So fixing things like that make a book a whole lot better. Some things might be small, like the reporter showing up at Tony Belmont's home, but other things are bigger, like having the proper time frame to allow a round trip between Durban and Ungoye. Your books are going to be all the better for it. And I'm not finished yet. Here's to making my books as best as they can possibly be!

Killer Eyes Release Imminent

Killer Eyes' release is imminent. However, I found the last four typos yesterday, and Nancy, the ever vigilant Melange publisher, said she would get them fixed. I must have found those typos at the last possible minute, because I had received pre-order links last night, and was afraid it might have been too late. But Nancy's on it, and proving herself once again to be the most author friendly publisher in the world.

A publisher concerned for quality, like Nancy, is an author's dream. All Melange Books can be counted on to be error free. And if they're not, you can't blame the publisher. Nancy has proven to me time and again that she will go out of her way to keep her author's happy, and if the author is happy, you can bet the readers will be happy, too.

No readers want to read books that have typos or other errors, and that's where Melange scores big. And that's why Melange is a great publisher. Check them out. If you've already bought my Killer of Killers book, you can get Book Two soon. And check out some of the other titles, too. Knowing what I know about Melange, you won't be disappointed!

Update: It seems a digital release is going to happen on MOBI and Kindle on Halloween, but Nancy is going to confirm all typos are gone before the print version is released. Stay tuned.

Killer Eyes should be out soon

Don't know what the hold up on the release of Killer Eyes is, but it might be that a word needed to be changed on the back cover blurb. I used the word revenge at first, but the word should have been vengeance. I missed that on the opportunity to correct any errors on the full cover design, because I didn't see it as an error. It was only after I was proofreading the manuscript that I changed the blurb inside the book, from revenge to vengeance.

When I sent back the final draft, as in the absolute final draft to be ready for the print release, I indicated I changed everything that needed changing, but I couldn't change the back cover blurb, which still had the word revenge instead of vengeance. Apparently, it's not a one day fix, or a one week fix. It must be a two or three week period to change it. So here we are, about two weeks later, going on three, and still waiting for word on when Killer Eyes will be released.

I do salute Nancy, the publisher over there at Melange, for many reasons. She is most definitely an author friendly publisher, much like when you have a principal at a school who is a teacher friendly principal. Being a teacher, I've been fortunate to have mostly teacher friendly principals, but every once in a while you get a principal who doesn't realize that teachers are on the front lines, so to speak, and forget that a teacher's job is way more difficult than any job in administration or at the district office.

Which is curious that the administrative and district office jobs get a much greater paycheck. It's backwards. But that's the way the world is today. It's backward. Or upside down. There's no other way to put it. When will things get put straight? Who knows? I'm just waiting for Killer Eyes to be released. Will keep you posted.

Killer Eyes Ready to be Published

Killer Eyes is on its way to publication! I sent the absolute final draft last night. Nancy, the publisher at Melange, was so wise to give me a final shot at fixing all inconsistencies, and it paid off. I found a place in the beginning that wasn't consistent with a place in the end. Had the book been published, that inconsistency would have been permanent.

I'm referring to POV. It's something I was sure had been fixed completely. A person's POV in the beginning should be the same at the end, and it is now, thanks to that last read-through. And there was one more thing. Main character Trent Smith is more about vengeance than revenge. On the back cover blurb I had failed to notice the word revenge was used. (I had written it that way when I first composed the blurb.) But when I edited the interior blurb, I realized the word vengeance was the right word to use. But I didn't change the back cover version of that blurb. I didn't have access to that file, so I couldn't change it.

I did advise Nancy, and she said it will be taken care of, and then sent off to the printer. So it's a day for celebration for me. Another book is finished and in the process of publication. Even though I don't drink, I'll break out the champagne. I'll have a glass for each book published. Which is three for now. But more to come. And very soon.

Final Check on Killer Eyes

I'm doing one last check through Killer Eyes, and then it will be released. That was the wise decision by Melange Books, with which I completely agree. I wanted a couple things done since reading the print proof, and then Nancy suggested I go through it one last time, with emphasis on the word 'last.'

And I did fix a couple more things in there. I will probably finish the last read through by tonight or tomorrow, after which I will send the document back to Nancy, which is when she will release the book. And then I'll be the author of three published books.

And sometime coming up, probably within the next three or four months, which will go by quickly, like they always do, I'll be working with an editor for my John Dunn book. That should be exciting. It's a much longer manuscript, and it's a new publisher, with new editors, and maybe they have a new format, or different procedures, seeing as how they are a print run publisher.

I'm looking forward to having my book in a bookstore for once. One development is that the KRP publisher, Dana, sent out a message to all the KRP authors asking their opinion about the discontinuation of publishing hardcover copies. I voted to keep them, because when a publisher has hardcover copies, that conveys the image of an upper echelon publisher. I happen to know book collectors, and collectors prefer hardcover copies.

Plus, I was looking forward to have a hardcover copy of my John Dunn book. So here's to hoping KRP keeps the hardcover copies, at least as an option. Stay tuned.

Killer of Killers Moves Up in Amazon Sales Ranking

The sales ranking of Killer of Killers on Amazon Kindle has moved up. It's been pretty static recently at around the 1,700,000 range, but when I checked today, it had shot up to the 225,000 range. I suppose some sales must have taken place last night. That's nice to know. It's happened before. I think the highest ranking it's ever had was in the 100,000 range. I don't think it's ever broken the five digit range ranking.

But since it's not a Big Six publication, I don't think it will. Plus, the promotional efforts on the publisher's part are minimal, as far as I know. I think the publisher, Melange, focuses mostly on promoting their Romance line. That means for thrillers, like KOK, it's only getting exposure on their website. And that means only people who frequent their website will see it. Or people who I tell about it. Which isn't that many people. I should be more active in that regard.

What I'm looking forward to is that first review to be posted on Amazon.com. I see other books have reviews, and some books have tons of reviews. Who are the readers reviewing those books? Maybe those reviews are bought and paid for. Or those authors either have a lot of friends or awfully big families. I'm told reviews, particularly positive ones, help sales. Some people say they don't go by reviews when they want to buy a book. It's more about are they interested in the subject matter.

Well, the subject matter of Killer of Killers is martial arts. I believe a lot of people are interested in martial arts. The main character, Trent Smith, happens to be the world's greatest martial artist. But he's not a secret agent, and he's not a policeman. He's not a movie star and he's not an MMA fighter. But he does have an agenda. It's justice, and it's what drives the story. Trent Smith is a great hero, and he's featured in a great story. Check it out. You'll see.

Full Cover Designs-Front and Back

With the imminent release of Killer Eyes, I thought I'd post in advance the full cover designs of both Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes. I like them well enough, and hopefully prospective buyers will, also. Here's Killer of Killers:

And here's Killer Eyes:

 

Buy your copies on the Melange website or at Amazon.com. Let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see in Book Three.

Killer Eyes Final Edits Print Ready

This is a big day for me because I finally turned in my Print Ready edits for Killer Eyes, which is the file from which Melange will print the first book. The PDF copy, which had already been sent to me, had too many errors, (12) and then, after correcting the errors, Nancy, the Melange publisher, was wise enough to resend the file in a word doc that I could edit to fix anything that we missed before. And sure enough, there were four more errors. I fixed them, of course, as well as fixed an inconsistency that might have been criticized by reviewers had I not fixed it.

But it's all good now. I sent it, finally satisfied that all errors were fixed, all inconsistencies were taken care of, and all imperfect paragraphs were now perfected. I am so impressed with Killer Eyes, that I'm considering submitting it to those places that award books as the best this or the best that. You know, the "winner of the best fiction of the year" type of thing. The first book, Killer of Killers, is pretty darn good, too. I still consider it my my favorite book of all time, but truth be told, Killer Eyes is even better.

So, I can't wait to get Killer Eyes as a printed book. I think the process is I'm supposed to read it, and then I'll have one more chance to see if there's anything wrong. I don't expect to find anything, but you never know. Once that's been taken care of, then Killer Eyes will be officially released. Can't wait.

Publisher Steps Up

Melange stepped up, and I can be satisfied now with the new cover design for Killer of Killers. The Killer Eyes design went back to that first background fire, which I liked from the beginning, and both covers are finally good to go. Here they are:



Finally, the final Final Design for KOK

The image to the left is the new design for Killer of Killers. Not all the issues were resolved. The skull's nose hole still looks deformed, the city skyline could be better, and the title text should be bold-faced, but the bottom line is that the silhouetted figure, from the waist up, at least, is taken from my "doctored" image. It looks like Trent Smith would look, meaning the figure is muscular and heroic looking. Just as he's described in the book. So for that reason, I can be satisfied.

And the Final Design for Killer Eyes

As for the Killer Eyes cover design to the right, it's been good from the get go. Now I can get back to work on Book Three. Killer on the Payroll.

Killer Eyes Copy Proof Sent-Still no Final Cover

I received the copy proof of Killer Eyes, and it was mostly commas here and there that needed to be inserted. I revised a sentence or two, but for the most part it was a very quick process. I didn't read it in its entirety, but for the first time I don't think I had to. It was COPY proofed after all, so it should be ready for publication now.

Which brings me to the unfortunate fact that the cover design is still not finalized. When my new cover design artist was assigned and came up with the radically different design, I liked it and even was excited about it. The silhouette of the martial artist was a welcome sight, and although I believed it needed tweaking, I thought it could be done with little effort and in no more than a day.

But that was near three weeks ago. After some initial tweaks that did improve the design, I thought we were headed in the right direction, and all would be final quickly enough. Here we are three weeks later, and still neither Killer Eyes nor the new design for Killer of Killers is completed.

It all seemed to hit a snag when I wanted the silhouetted figure on the KOK cover to be more like what the main character, Trent Smith looked like. Eager to see it, I went ahead and did it myself, as I have chronicled here on the blog. But it seems that the artist can't make it happen. She told me they are not allowed to use the author's design, (my improved design) for whatever reason, and as a result the design is still not finished.

I brought this up to Nancy, the Melange publisher, when I sent the final copy proof, and she deferred to the person in charge of the Cover Design department, but still no word back to me. I'm left in Limbo it seems about that. My contract does give Melange until August to release the book, but August is a week away. So we'll see what happens.

Cover Designs Not Satisfactory

The latest word on the cover designs for Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes is this: they are not satisfactory. Not to me. And I sure hope that matters to Melange.

It turned out that for some reasons that I really don't understand, they cannot use my doctored image, the one I posted with the caption "KOK Final Cover 2." I don't want to get into the reasons why they said that. But whatever, they said they can't.

So I got the artist's latest effort, and it was not satisfactory. I told her as much and explained in great detail what it was that I didn't like, what it was that I wanted, and what it was she needed to do. I even gave her some options.

For one, if she can't fix that skull nose hole as well as I did, then get another skull image to use. And for two, if she can't make that martial artist silhouette look the way I made it look in KOK Final Cover 2, then find another martial artist image to use, but this time not a guy who's so skinny.

I explained that Trent Smith, the main character in Killer of Killers is a muscular guy. Like I made him look in KOK Final Cover 2. He looks like a football player, as he's described in the book. The design I got from the Melange artist looks like a middle school boy, like he's only twelve or thirteen years old. That just won't do. Even the final design for Killer Eyes turned out to be subpar. It didn't have the same background fire that the original one had, and that was a shame. It turned out to be something I could not approve.

So right now, I'm not too optimistic. Don't know exactly what I'm going to do about it. Maybe see what the next effort looks like, and then, if I'm still not satisfied, just tell them to forget that design altogether and start over from scratch. Meaning come up with something completely different.

I think the artists were under the impression that Trent Smith was a skinny martial artist, like, say, Bruce Lee, or Jet Li, or those kind of guys. Apparently, they never read the book. But I've explained it to them now, so hopefully it will be more like he's supposed to look. Like in KOK Final Design 2. I said to copy it. Exactly. Or find a new image. We'll see.

Doctored the Cover Design Myself

I haven't heard from the Melange artist yet, so, being an artist myself, I took the liberty to doctor up that silhouetted figure in that Killer of  Killers design. And I must say, the figure looks a lot more heroic now. He's more muscular, and the facial profile is much more what I envisioned Trent Smith to look like. Here it is.

Design with more buffed image

You can tell the difference, by comparing  this one with the one I posted yesterday. Of course my computer tools are probably way inferior, and I couldn't get a clean edge on the silhouette, so hopefully the Melange artist can clean that up. Also extend that city skyline across the bottom. And that skull nose hole. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile I'm still wrapping up the final edits. I'm including some formal kendo moves with the sword fights that take place to make it authentic. One of the things people said about Killer of Killers was that my use of real Ju Jitsu moves made it authentic. So I'm trying to keep that going in Killer Eyes, and with all the swordfights int here, I figure to use at least some of the kendo moves. It should be wrapped up by tomorrow.

If you like old cover, buy now!

I expect the new cover designs for Killer of Killers and Killer Eyes to be finalized this week, and Nancy, the Melange publisher has said she will use the new cover for Killer of Killers, which means if anyone out there prefers the old cover, then now is the time to buy it. I'm not sure exactly when the old cover will no longer be available, but it's probably only a matter of two or three days.

So again, if you prefer the old cover, or if you are a collector of things like books with original covers that are no longer available, (which makes them more valuable to other collectors,) then now is the time to buy it. I've already noticed a spike in sales. Nothing that compares to James Patterson, but there's been a spike nonetheless. Maybe collectors have already taken note. If so, that's good, because after this week, I suspect Killer of Killers' old cover will be history.

KRP Wants Photo, Bio, Jacket Copy

So, like my other publishers, Knox Robinson wants a photo of me, a short biography, and the text for the back of the book jacket, also known as Jacket Copy. I wrote the bio and the jacket copy last night, but I have to get a photo that has a resolution of 300 dpi. They also want some author's endorsement of the book so they can put that in there. (I've seen them on their other books, and it's a good idea.)

DPI is dots per inch, I believe, and that makes the image high resolution so that it can be copied and placed on their website and on the jacket of the book, too.

For the endorsement, I was thinking of contacting a man named Ian Knight, because he's probably the leading authority on the Zulu War, and he even wrote a short piece on John Dunn, which I credit in my book as one of my sources. But he's a strict historian, and my John Dunn book is historical fiction, so I'm not sure he'd be interested in reading it. I would only hope that he would say something nice, but again, being a strict historian, maybe he's the wrong guy to ask. I did put some fictional things in there, so yeah, maybe I should find some historical fiction writers instead.

Nevertheless, things are rolling since I received the contract with the publisher's signature on it, and I said before how important that was to me. I can't wait to see how my KRP books differ from my Melange and Penumbra books. I look forward to hardbound editions for one thing. Can't wait.