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.

Heart of a Zulu to be submitted again

I was celebrating my opportunity to submit both John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu and The Vase to Big Five publishers recently. The Vase has been submitted to Macmillan and Penguin Random House. And Heart of a Zulu is submitted to Penguin Random House as of last week. But tomorrow I will also submit it to Macmillan. That will be two of my books submitted to two of the five of the Big Five.

Yeah I know my chances are slim. But I am confident in the overall quality of both books. Meaning the writing in both is top notch and the stories are top notch. After ten years of taking novel writing seriously, my writing has evolved to the point that exceeds most novel writers out there at this time. I'm not saying I'm the best writer in the world. But I'm a lot better than many.

So that means the writing is good enough. More than good enough. As for the stories? Let's take a look. Let's start with The Vase. Here is a story with a premise that has never before been used in any kind of story anywhere. In no book, movie or TV show has the premise of a story included ancient recordings. That's because in ancient times, recording was not possible. Well, of course recording was possible in the form of ancient writings. Like the Bible, and the writings of ancient historians. We've all heard of Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, and the like. They "recorded" the ancient events of their times. But they recorded those events in the only way possible back then. In writings.

But I'm talking about recordings as we know recordings today. AUDIO and VIDEO recordings! And I'll say it again. No book, movie, or TV show has featured ancient AUDIO and VIDEO recordings of ancient events ever. Because it wasn't possible to do that back then.

But wait. If the atmospheric conditions were such that electromagnetic phenomena were happening at the time, then audio-video recordings just might have been possible in the grooves of a spinning vase. And once that vase had been fired in a kiln, and became eternal bisque-ware, then those recordings could possibly survive the millennia to this day.

And that's the premise in the story of The Vase! (And it's why the book is called The Vase!) I can't fathom how any editor or publisher couldn't find that concept fascinating. It's why so many publishers offered me contracts when I first proposed the book. At least five publishers were interested in publishing that book. Unfortunately, none of the publishers were Big Five publishers, so no Big Five publisher was aware of it. Back then you needed an agent to submit to a Big Five publisher. Alas...

But I'm not a newbie to publishing anymore. I'm savvy to the ins and outs of publishing and now I have this opportunity to submit to some Big Five publishers. And it's all for the better. I mean after so many years, I've become a better writer, as I was saying. And with another chance to improve the prose that's just what I've done. And of course it makes the chances of being accepted by a Big Five publisher so much greater.

The same thing is true with John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu. Here is another fascinating story, maybe more so because the story is actually TRUE. It's based on the true story of John Dunn and features the real historic events of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. And I know a lot of people are interested in that war. Also, the genre speaks for itself. Readers love historical fiction, and even more people love historical fiction which is based on a true story. And the John Dunn story is underrepresented in books. There have been a couple, but they are out of print and the current supply of books offers next to nothing in the way of the John Dunn story. Thus, the timing of the John Dunn book is just right.

Here's hoping that Macmillan or Penguin Random House will see it that way too. I know the writing and the stories are excellent. I'm hoping the editors of Macmillan or Penguin Random House will agree and I'll have some good news in about three months. That means I should know something by this coming May. Fingers crossed.

Episodes that Pack a Punch

I'm still watching The Walking Dead show when it's new episodes, that is, but I'm not often satisfied with it. My wife and I may watch an entire episode, and then turn to each other with disgust, as absolutely nothing happened in that episode. It didn't further the storyline forward at all, it didn't provide any revelations toward the plot or characters, and it was just a waste of an hour watching the darn show. With The Walking Dead, it happens often, and perhaps it's the result of a show that's in its sixth season. Despite being based on a currently released graphic novel, it must be running out of source material. I guess that sort of thing is inevitable.

I remember a time when the James Bond franchise was doing basically the same plot every ensuing movie. Only recently, with the Daniel Craig version of Bond, the producers have moved away from the formula plot for Bond movies. You know, there's a mad scientist, or a demented billionaire, or an evil organization seeking world domination or even world destruction, and as Bond investigates, he is captured and held prisoner for a time, but then he foils the plot and is reinforced by a cavalry of government agents, and the show concludes with a shoot out in the scale of a major battle.

With The Walking Dead, there are so many characters that episodes often stray to show what's up with so and so, and even though the audience sees what's up with so and so, nothing happens to further the plot or reveal any answers to any questions.

But with these White Queen and White Princess shows, each show is jam packed with events and twists, and turns, that it's like in one episode  you've got the equivalent of an entire Walking Dead season. That's what I call packing a punch. Wow.

Again, I'll watch an episode of Walking Dead or any other show, and walk away from it as having not even watched it. Nothing happened. No sense of entertainment had been achieved. But these shows about England's War of the Roses, on the other hand, are like an entire season per episode. That's great writing. It's faster paced than Downton Abbey. Which is also quite good. But it's based on real events. And I like that. Like my John Dunn book. It too is based on real events.

And talking about John Dunn, the final galley changes have been submitted, and no more revisions will be forthcoming. I'm hoping that it's because no more are needed. And if that's the case, I'll be a happy camper. Can't wait for July. Because it's in July when the John Dunn book is being released. And July is right around the corner.

Galley Looked Good

The only thing I found in the galley was a space in the word 'presented' in the Glossary and part of the coastline on the map seemed to be erased. The missing coastline was on the upper right corner, and mostly inconsequential. But the space in the word 'presented' was obvious, and even though it's not part of the story itself, still, it should be fixed. It's easy enough to fix.

There's always going to be something I will find that I will consider that I could have written better, but that is something that will never go away. Any book at any stage will have that. It's a pain, I'll admit, especially when it's a book I wrote, but it's just the way it is. I'll be satisfied if those places aren't straight up errors. If it's prose that could be better, that's one thing, but if it's an error, that's the killer.

I finally got Killer of Killers to the point where there are no errors. In Killer Eyes, there aren't any obvious errors, and The Vase will be error free whenever it reaches publication again. There's a couple in Second Chance unfortunately. And at this point, there are no errors in John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu. That is if the space in the word 'presented' is fixed there won't be. We'll see.

John Dunn Galley Received

Great day yesterday. I received the galley of my John Dunn book from my publisher. Which meant I had submitted the final corrections just in time. That's a relief, knowing all the correction needed had been made. Yeah, it was the first thing I checked. Those last minute corrections were made and all errors or revisions have been made and the manuscript is as good as it can get.

So I have the PDF version of the book now, and it looks great. It reads great. I have until tonight to look it over, and while doing so I have to admit a great deal of satisfaction comes over me. It's because I know how much work I put into that book, and knowing others will be able to read it, and appreciate it is something any artist in any field can understand.

So I'm on my lunch break, and I'm going back to that galley and take as much time as I can looking it over. I can't read the whole thing word for word from front to back in one day, but I can skim through it, reading parts here and there, and making sure the formatting is good. And that's what I'll do. I'll get back to the blog tomorrow.

Final Corrections to John Dunn made...

...and the manuscript has been submitted a final time. I think I'm not too late, since Dana had told me the last time I sent in corrections that the manuscript had not been formatted yet. So this time what was the final corrections? I had made it the norm in the writing of my story to use Zulu words mixed in with English, especially when the dialogue was supposed to be spoken in the Zulu language, which in Zulu is called isiZulu, and I do use that word in the story.

However, when referring to the Zulu people or any other native people in the region, I simply use "the Zulu," or the "Swazi", etc. In the Zulu language, the word amaZulu would be used in referring to the Zulu people. But I'm not going that route. As I said, I do use Zulu words often, and I italicize those words, with the exceptions of individual names and the names of places.

But consistency is the issue. If I don't use the 's' on the end of the word Zulu(s) in one dialogue where the language spoken is isiZulu, then I must stay consistent throughout. I discovered the consistency wasn't there, but after using the word search app, I was able to fix that, and now the consistency is there. So I dare say the manuscript is error-free at this point. And it's a good feeling knowing that.

Of course, I can't be surprised if a typo pops up somewhere, as they seem to be invisible sometimes, until that time that it's too late to fix, and then they appear, like Indians popping out of holes in the ground to ambush unsuspecting cowboys. I guess that analogy is outdated, or perhaps even not so politically correct, but whatever, my point is made. Onward to publication! Can't wait!

John Dunn Book Edited and Submitted

Well, it's finally completed. Everything. Revisions, edits, submission, everything. Last night I completed the last of the edits that I received from my publisher yesterday and submitted it back to her at 12:15 a.m. Then I went to bed so as not to be a zombie at work today. Which means there's no more work to be done on John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu. And after about four years in the making, it's been a long time coming. Maybe five years. That's a long time. Not that it was all spent on John Dunn. No. I worked on pretty much every book during that time. But for the last year, at least, it was the John Dunn book and Second Chance that had my focus.

Back to writing another book? Not really. I'm getting back into my music right now. I have some music that I composed about fifteen years ago, other than the music to the lyrics posted on this blog, that I want to rearrange and see if I can't get it rerecorded and converted into a digital format. Then one day, maybe get a band to play them. I wonder if there's a "music" agent who finds a band to play your songs, like a literary agent finds a publisher to publish your books.

I don't suppose there is. Sure I Googled "music agents" but from what I learned, music agents are mostly people who find gigs for bands, like clubs or such where they might perform for cash. Or they are managers who do the same thing, but also try to find bands a recording contract. I don't want either of those. What I want is an "agent" to find a recording artist who might be interested in recording the songs I've already written. I'm not much of a performer myself. I would just like to be the composer for some other musicians to perform my songs.

But from what I can gather, there is no such type of "music" agent. Too bad. Still, the band plays on, and so will I...

Dunn Book Being Edited

Well, it is happening. Dana emailed me yesterday and told me she is editing the book right now. She said some heartening words about it and I replied to tell her that. But since it is being edited right now, I can expect it back very soon. As early as today or tomorrow.

I probably did work harder on this book than any other. Too many things had to be accurate and authentic. Meaning I can't have a character in one part of the land and in another part during the same day, especially if it takes four days to get there by horseback or wagon ride. I had to be sure I had the correct time lapses down.

So much research was involved, but that is par for the course in the writing of any book. For my killer books I had to research all kinds of martial arts moves, philosophies, beliefs, and weapons. I had to research biochemistry for Killer of Killers and nuclear medicine for Killer Eyes. I had to research Judaism and Islam for The Vase. I even had to research defensive football schemes for my Second Chance book.

But I think anyone could see why a true story needs the most research. Especially a true story that involves real people and a real historical war. But it's done and it's being edited. I look forward to completion. That will be a day to celebrate. Can't wait.

And Let There Be Editing

It was perfect timing. My publisher, Dana, emailed me this morning, advising me that my John Dunn book was next in line for editing and that she needed the latest version of the manuscript by the end of the day. Well, the good news was that I was right at the wrap up stage of my final read-through and revision. So I was happy to let her know that I would indeed send it by the end of the day, which I just did.

It's been a long time coming. But I was glad for that. There was so much to check on, regarding the time period and all the elements involved with a real life historical story, like Victorian England, and Colonial rule, and the British Empire, et al. And then the African colonies, and the Zulus and John Dunn's relationship with Cetshwayo, and it's all so fascinating!

But it's done. At least my part at this time. Like I said, the timing was perfect. And Dana has it now. I suppose that since she wanted it by the end of today, the editing will begin tomorrow. And going by how things went for my first KRP book, Second Chance, the editing should take less than a week. That means by next Monday or Tuesday, I'll have it back to incorporate whatever editing she might require.

And again, going by the last book, it won't be too much. But this book is a lot bigger than that one. It's almost twice as many words. But it's also mostly a true story. So who knows what changes she'll require. I don't expect too many, since I put in tireless work up to this point. But the ball is rolling, and I think an advanced eBook copy will be available by the end of April.

I worked so hard on this book. Harder than any other book. Historical Fiction is a genre I love. And now I've finally written a book in that genre. Can't wait to see it in my hands. Here's the cover. My only regret is that I didn't use my own artistic talent to illustrate a cover. Maybe I will one day. In the meantime, this one will have to do. It could be that the mask is symbolic. You know, a white man, being a Zulu. Yeah, it sounds a little too esoteric, but whatever, dude. Just go with it.

John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu
Coming this summer

New Publication Date Revealed

John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu will be published in July. That was the news I received yesterday from my publisher. I will keep everyone who reads this blog advised as the events unfold. As of now, I'll be expected to have the manuscript ready by this week, so that editing may occur. Revisions are supposed to be completed by the end of May. That is revisions suggested at the time of editing. And then in May, I believe advanced Kindle copies will be available for anyone who wants to be a reviewer.

I look forward to all of it. And now more than ever am I glad that I've been spending these last few months going over and over the manuscript, improving the prose, improving the authenticity, and improving every aspect of the story line. That means timelines, travel times, and anything else that has to do with consistency, and all of it equally important.

I hope to send the completed manuscript by this weekend. And then sometime in April, I'll be getting the edited version to revise as per editing suggestions. And you, the readers of this blog will be privy to the entire process. Stay tuned.

The Vase Better Than Ever

Just finished rewriting The Vase, and I must say it's very well written indeed. It's a no brainer every time a writer goes over his writing, the writing will improve. And this last time, after all these years of improving and even perfecting my writing, I have made the writing in The Vase pretty darn good. Even great. I have no problem with sending partials or a full to agents or publishers.

Here's hoping an agent will take an interest, because my last hurdle I would like to clear is the Big Five. I really think The Vase is good enough for the Big Five. It's a completely original story. It's a unique and completely original premise. The characters are characters with whom readers can sympathize, and the events are all realistic, suspenseful, and thrilling. I would think that if any agent or editor were to read The Vase in its entirety, he or she will be excited about it.

Just about every publisher I've sent it to was excited about it. Nearly every publisher I sent it to offered me a contract. I lost count how many publishers that was. I think it was five or six. But I'm glad that last publisher folded to tell you the truth for two main reasons. I got a chance to make the story the way I wanted it to be by rewriting it, instead of how the editor wanted it to be, and because I rewrote it, the writing is better than ever.

So, yeah, I'm sending to some agents now. I chose the agent for Dan Brown first, because of all books or stories out there, The Vase is most like Dan Brown's books like the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. They are not religious books, nor are they books about spirituality, but still a hint of that is in them, and a lot of people who believe in that are intrigued by those stories. The Vase is right up that alley.

So once again, fingers are crossed that an agent can represent it and I can finally break the Big Five. We'll see how that goes. I won't hold my breath, but I am optimistic. That's how confident I am about the story and the writing in The Vase.

Finally Resubmitted John Dunn

Over the last three months I have dedicated most of my time to perfecting the John Dunn manuscript. I think I did a good job of it. I found some typos, but mostly I made corrections in continuity, regarding distances, and time it would take to travel those distances in the 19th century, and using proper wording relevant to the time.

For instance, I had been using the word Bantu for when the indigenous people of the South African region referred to each other, when from different tribes. I used that word because it was the word Donald Morris used in his book The Washing of the Spears. The natives of the area certainly didn't call themselves natives, or blacks, or Africans. Those were the words used by the Europeans or the colonists. Another word the colonists used was Kaffir. But that word was more of a demeaning word. Not as bad as the N word here in America, but still not a complimentary word. And the indigenous people didn't use that word to refer to other indigenous people.

With some research, I learned Bantu came from the word Ntu which meant man in the native African languages, and the prefix Ba was the way the word became plural. (Men.) But with further research I also learned that the South African blacks actually take offense to being called a Bantu. So I decided to go instead with the other word used to refer to the indigenous peoples of South Africa. Nguni. With research I learned that Nguni refers to all the peoples of all the different tribes in South Africa, and it had no negative connotation as did the word Bantu.

So there you go. I replaced all words Bantu with the word Nguni for that reason. Of course I changed a lot of other things, too. Mostly the prose. I made the prose better everywhere, which is a natural result when you reread a manuscript. And the map I illustrated is better than ever. It now has Stanger in there when it didn't before. I only mention Stanger twice in the manuscript, but since the map did have the area represented where Stanger is located, there was no reason not to include it.

So Dana of Knox Robinson, my publisher, will be back on the job tomorrow, as will I at my school, and I look forward to her editing and publishing the book. A lot of people are waiting on it, including some very important people who are authorities on the topic. And I have been fortunate enough to have acquired their endorsements. Can't wait for John Dunn to be published. Should be soon.

John Dunn Book Still In The Works

Just want to let everyone know that the John Dunn book is still in the works. I mentioned in an earlier post that my publisher has fallen behind in their publishing schedule, and I also noted that that was a good thing as far as my John Dunn book is concerned. You never want to rush a publication. Never. I felt Second Chance was rushed a bit, even though it got delayed a couple weeks itself.

But there were a couple minor errors in it and one somewhat major continuity error. It's weird how that happens. I must have read it twenty plus times, and it was edited, as well, but still that one continuity error went unnoticed until after publication and my brother bought and read the book and pointed it out to me. How he could catch it in a single reading and I couldn't after twenty is baffling to me to say the least. Ultimately, it's still a great read, and the one continuity error doesn't ruin the story.

For my John Dunn book, this current delay has proven to be a boon, because I've caught some errors and fixed them, right up to yesterday. I found two misspellings of the mission station Eshowe. Anyone who knows anything about Zululand and the Zulu War knows about Eshowe. But yesterday, I found a place where it was spelled Eschowe. Ouch. Of course I fixed it back to Eshowe, but then I used the "search" app to see if there was anywhere else where I might have spelled it Eschowe, and there was one more place it was misspelled. It's fixed now.

And the usual improvement in prose continues every time you read through it. Needless to say, the writing is tons better at this point. It ranks up there with the finest writing I've ever done, and I think it will hold it's own for all stories concerning the Zulu War and any Historical Fiction book for that matter. It's a true story, after all, and hopefully the editing will begin soon. I'm thinking it will be released early in 2017. Which is right around the corner. Can't wait.

John Dunn Release Delayed

My publisher has sent out notice to all of its authors explaining that due to the growth of the company, the release of their current publications is delayed. And for me and my John Dunn book that's a good thing because I'm finding more to improve, correct, and simply polish up before that book is released. I've made the map better, I've found a couple more typos, and I've improved the continuity.

For example, John travels into Zululand, and there's an incident at the mission at Eshowe. But before that, there's a scene where Catherine went to Pietermaritzburg. So what's wrong with that, you might ask? Well for one thing, Pietermaritzburg is twice as far away from where John and Catherine lived at the time, than Eshowe. I should have the scene at Eshowe take place before the scene at Pietermaritzburg. Clearly John would reach Eshowe before Catherine reaches Pietermaritzburg, especially since he departed before Catherine did.

So it's fixed. A few more things were fixed. It's a near perfect manuscript now. Adding the Mangeni River and Isipezi hill and the town of Stanger were major improvements to the map as well.

I figure to submit the final manuscript by Monday, and then wait for edits to begin before I submit any further improvements. Hopefully, the book can still be released in time for Christmas. Fingers crossed.

Not Errors-but Optional Revisions

My last submission of John Dunn to my publisher for editing was the best, of course, but I'm still improving that MS. But these improvements are not corrected errors. For instance. I italicized the word Egads in Captain Walmsley's exclamation when he responds to John Dunn's informing him that he was moving to Zululand as a Zulu chieftain. I didn't have to italicize it. But since I want the reader to know it's a word being stressed, I chose to italicize it.

Also, I moved the text that labeled two rivers on my Zululand map. Moving the text wasn't correcting any errors, but I think where I placed the text now is better than where I had placed the text before. Again, an optional thing.

Also I deleted a word in another sentence and replaced it with a semicolon. It wasn't an error, but I think it reads better now.

And today, I decided to make Bantu plural instead of Bantus. Since the Bantu in my book refer to themselves as Bantu, singular and plural, I decided to go with the narrative mention of the word to match the way it's used in the dialogue. It's not an error being corrected, I think, it's just optional, and I chose the best option.

But that's it so far. Is it enough for me to send another revised MS, even though those above revisions are very minor? And very, very minor, they are. That remains to be seen. I suppose if I make any more revisions, come Monday, or Sunday night, I will send the latest MS on Monday, like I've been doing. And why not? It's not like I'm sending three per day. It's only one per week.

So yeah. Every Monday, I'll just keep sending the improved MS every Monday until, either it's published, or until I've got no more improvements to make. Either one is logical, of course. And at the rate I'm revising at this point, this next Monday may actually be the last revised file.

And then I do believe the edits will begin, since the proposed release date is November 8th. I suspect it will bet pushed back some, like Second Chance was. If it does, that's okay. We'll see.

Final Revisions Submitted

It's been about a month since Dana, my publisher at KRP wanted my John Dunn manuscript for editing to begin. Sure I sent it, but that didn't mean I was going to stop improving it. I learned long ago...revise, revise, revise...until it is actually published. Keep improving the ms while you can. And until edits begin, that's just what I aimed to do.

And it's a good thing. I corrected the whiskey vs whisky thing. I also learned Dunn was full Scottish not just half Scottish. I found a few typos, and spelling errors. And this past weekend I learned that the son of Henry Francis Fynn was not an adult when he accompanied his father to see King Mpande. (He saw Cetshwayo instead.) But the son, whose name is the same as the father's was only ten at the time. So I changed that part of my manuscript from his "adult" son to his "young" son. I suppose I could say his "adolescent" son, which would be more accurate than just his young son, but it's still accurate to say young son.

And the way I made this correction was by going over the ms again. There's a part where Captain Walmsley is toasting Fynn, and he pours two glasses of brandy. But I thought maybe he should pour three glasses, which is what prompted me to go on the Internet to see how old the son was. I searched for his birthdate, which was November of 1846. So that meant in January of 1857, which was when this scene took place, he was only ten years old. So no brandy for him

I also found out just where the Mangeni River is and put that and Isipezi Hill on the map I illustrated for the book. My map, so far as I know, is the only map of the region that has this river labeled. It's also the only map that has Cetshwayo's Mangweni kraal on it, and his original Ondini kraal. No other maps or books that I know of even make the distinction between the two separate Ondini kraals. (One of which is also called Ulundi.)

Things like this are important. Especially when it's real life people. There's going to be a lot of readers out there who will expect the writer to get this stuff right. And you've got to get it right the first time. I've learned that over and over again. So the truck keeps rolling.

Edits Haven't Started

Edits for my John Dunn book haven't started yet, but that doesn't mean I haven't been taking every opportunity to make the writing better. I blogged about a couple things I've made better already, and twice now I've sent an improved version for editing.

I decided rather than sending every version at the time of improvement, I will send the revised version every Monday. That way I won't inundate my publisher with a new manuscript every day. I figure once a week is not too often. And besides, everyday would be too much work for me, too.

But weekly improvements until the editing begins sounds reasonable. At least it does to me. I don't know why anyone would have a problem with that. I've already learned to make the manuscript better while you can. You do it before it's published. And for my John Dunn book that means now. I have less than a month before John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu is due to be released. So that's enough time if I use the time well. It's so close to being ready, I believe it's going to be a great book.

And even at the point of editing, I'll still get another chance to make it better. That's what editing is all about. Dana let me know when she was getting ready to start the editing for Second Chance. I'm counting on her doing the same for John Dunn. Hopefully, it will be on a Tuesday, the day after I send the next improved version. We'll see.

John Dunn Submitted for Editing

Here's the latest news on the publishing front. Last Monday, my publisher, Dana, (and also my editor, at least for Second Chance she was my editor,) emailed me, requesting I send the revised manuscript of John Dunn; Heart of a Zulu for editing. Well, I wasn't quite finished with the revisions. I had been busy revising Second Chance over the summer, putting only intermittent time into the revisions for John Dunn. And it's as I should have, because the release date for Second Chance preceded that of John Dunn. But the John manuscript is a lot longer than the manuscript of Second Chance, and therefore takes a lot longer to revise. In addition to that, the fact that John Dunn is historical fiction based on a true story, it needed a lot more checking for accuracy regarding dates, distances, and characters, both real and fictitious. There was more effort involved in that one.

Which is one reason why I think it's my best book ever. Well, I still hold Killer of Killers as my sentimental favorite. But the John Dunn book should make a splash in sales if for no other reason than there are a lot of Zulu War enthusiasts out there, and the book deals with the Zulu War in no small way. In fact the latter half of the book is almost all about the Zulu War. Four of the six major battles of the war are depicted in the story. Fortunately, my story follows more than just the John Dunn character, as other characters who were in the battles are featured. John Dunn did fight in one of the major battles of the Zulu War. The Battle at Gingindlovu, in which he contributed in a big way.

So I look forward to the edits Dana, or whoever it is this time, will suggest. I was pleased overall with the edits for Second Chance, so no reason to think I won't be for John Dunn. Can't wait.

Great Endorsements, but Can't Post an AIS

I tried to post the attachment of the AIS to Second Chance here on the blog, but it wouldn't let me. It turned out that only photos or images can do that. It's more than an image. It has a lot of text on it, as well as the image of the book's cover. Too bad, too. Because I finally taught myself how to put the image on there. You have to insert a "text box" onto the document, and then you insert the photo or image. No sweat, really. I wish I can show everyone. It's a publisher's way of introducing their books to bookstores so the bookstore can decide if they want to stock it in their store.

I like my Knox Robinson Covers. Not only are they top notch cover designs, but they include the endorsements on the covers, which I think is very important. As Dana says, if those endorsements are to appear on a book's cover, it's vital that they are from nationally recognized authors who are published by well known houses. And you can't be more well known than the Big Six. (But now that Random House and Penguin have merged, they're more recently known as the Big Five.)

And the authors I have endorsing me are published by Random House, Hachette, and MacMillan. Those are three of the five.The other two are Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster. So, yeah.

Here's Second Chance, a Football Story. It's got the endorsement of two nationally recognized authors: Carl Deuker and John Coy. Carl Deuker is a great sports author who has written several great sports books, including Gym Candy, as listed in his quote there at the top of my book's cover. But he also wrote Payback Time, Runner, Heart of a Champion, and Night Hoops. Several more great titles are to his credit.

I must credit John Coy, however, as being the first great American sports author to support me. John Coy has also written several great sports books. Including Crackback, Box Out, Top of the Order, and Strong to the Hoop.

Both of these great authors seem to have a great range of sports understanding, meaning they don't just write about football. They have also written books about baseball and basketball. As for me? I'll stick to football, thank you. That's my sport. Will I write any more books about football?  I just might. I love the game, as I've explained very clearly in a recent post. So never say never.

Which brings me to my John Dunn book. I love history, too. I love learning about great empires. Like the Roman Empire and the British Empire. And the John Dunn book covers an episode in the history of the British Empire. It's actually also an episode in the history of South Africa.

Here's the cover to the left, and you can see that the endorsement of the great Ian Knight is now on there. Talk about nationally recognized. Well, Ian Knight's recognition goes way beyond that. His recognition is global. This great man is the world's foremost authority on all things Zulu and the Anglo-Zulu War. He's written several books on the subjects. I was remiss not to have read them. But I'm correcting that huge flaw right now. I've purchased and am now reading the book that is credited to him on the cover of my book. Zulu Rising; The Epic Story of iSandlwana and Rorke's Drift. And I'm glad I am. I have found some new information in that book, and I've emailed Mr. Knight asking him if I should use it in my book, which is being edited right now.

So times are great for this small time author. Small time I may be, but with the endorsements I've received for both of my Knox Robinson Books, I couldn't be better supported. Here's to hoping readers and book buyers will also give me support. Fingers crossed.

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.