Happy Halloween-Killer of Killers!

So Happy Halloween, and Happy Halloween especially to anyone who happens to be a fan of Killer of Killers, my debut novel, which has been reloaded and is better than ever.

Just take a look at that cover. Does it inspire the spirit of Halloween? I think it does. Even though it's not really a Halloween book, (there are no monsters, like vampires, zombies, or werewolves,) but it sure would be a great book for Halloween.

Because, for one thing, there is a lot of action, and yes, a lot of violence. And killing. But not gratuitous. Nothing gratuitous at all. It's a martial arts thriller is what it is. It's about the world's greatest martial artist. But he doesn't run around in a martial arts costume. He doesn't ever wear his black belt. Well, in flashbacks he does. But during the course of the story, he can't even find it. Someone sneaks into his residence and steals it. Why? Well, you've got to read the story.

Killer of Killers is a great Halloween book, because it's a great book, period. Buy a copy today, and find out for yourself. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you thought about it.

Final Reload and Promotion

I expect the final reload of Killer of Killers to be happening any time, and when it does, I will go full speed ahead with trying to promote it. Sales have been decent without much promotional effort, but I want to get going on that. I will start contacting my local newspaper for one thing. I remember a few years ago a neighbor of mine who self-published a short novel romance had her picture in the local newspaper. I hadn't even known she was a writer, but there she was on the front page with a feature article on her self-published book.

So, why not? If she can do it, I suppose I can, too. I'll be a little shy about having my picture in the paper, though. Maybe I can just have them put the cover of the book on there. I suppose that might work. Maybe even better. SInce it's kind of a Halloween type cover, it would be appropriately timed. I'll let you know how that goes. Stay tuned.

POV

So this POV thing is best handled when you first write the story and I sure will keep that in mind the next time I write a story. As it is, after fixing all POVs in Killer of Killers, I still have to fix them in The Vase, and then Killer Eyes, and of course John Dunn.

But there is something I must say. Editors have told me that the reader will get "confused" if the POV shifts from one character to another. And you know what? I disagree. I'm not saying that these editors are wrong in their belief of the basic POV rule, which is to keep the POV with a single character in each scene of a book, but I just don't think that readers will get confused about it if it is written in a way that makes it obvious.

When I read my own writing, for instance, and the POV shifts from one character to another, it's clear to me whose POV it is. I don't think a reader will get "confused." Unless said reader is some very low IQ type of person, and I don't think that would be the case. Because anyone who is smart enough to read a book at that level is more than likely smart enough to understand that this is character B's POV now, and not character A's.

But that doesn't mean it's the correct way to write. One of the ways I used to write was as if I was watching a movie. I would write the book in the way a movie unfolded. I learned that that is not the right way to write. An editor told me that it's okay for movies to have POV switches in scenes, but it's not okay to have that happen in books. Why? Well, back to the reader getting "confused" I suppose. And, again, I just don't think readers are that dumb. I mean, they don't get confused when they're watching the movie.

Nevertheless, I will most definitely follow this rule from now on, because it really will be simpler to just do it "right" the first time, instead of putting in the extra effort to make it right in revisions. That's all.

Useful Tool for Revisions

I have learned that the "Find" feature on the word.doc program is a very useful tool when revising. You can find where words are that you want to change in a flash. Or you can find where those pesky double spaces are, or where words are used too much or too close together. Phrases, too. I figured it out recently, and wished I had known about it long before.

And when it comes to revisions, the countless times I revised Killer of Killers and The Vase might have been much fewer, had I known about it long before.

Another thing I wish I knew about long before was this POV thing. Fortunately, KOK was not too hard to fix, but there are major issues with doing it in The Vase. For instance, the mc Muhsin is not supposed to have seen the visions, but then if it's from his POV, then how can I describe the visions for the reader? Well, change the POV at that point, or make him see them, if only for a glimpse, maybe. We'll see about that. I'm still figuring it out.

But regardless, KOK is a finished work. The latest reload should be today, and it's as perfect as any book can get. Yes, and that means POVs included.

Revising Always Happening

I've talked about revising so much that I'm tired of it. But you better not get tired of revising. Not if you want to be a writer. Or remain a writer. Because revising is something that is always happening. Even after a book is published. It's just that there comes a time when you have to stop. You just can't keep reloading a published book over and over again. Killer of Killers was reloaded. This latest time will be the third time. And the last time. But it's a pretty clean book as a result. Very clean, I should say.

Now it's back to The Vase, and I wish I knew these POV rules when I wrote it. Cleaning up the POV or head-hopping issues in KOK was not so hard. But in The Vase, it's going to be a lot harder. The main character, Muhsin Muhabi didn't see the projections the first three times they happened, but the POV was with him. And correcting it in the way it needs to be corrected will not be easy. I mean look at it this way: how can you describe a scene that your POV character doesn't see? And if I make it so that he does see it, it changes a very important element in the story.

The whole point of that element is that Muhsin did not SEE the projections at first. Now I have to make it so that he DOES see them, so that I can describe them. But then that changes too much. So much that it ruins the point of the story. It will be a very difficult thing to fix. But we'll see how it goes.

Rainy Days

Well, it's raining over here in California, and rainy days are good days to write. That is, after I get home from work. In a Middle School, rainy days aren't so desirable. The kids get all wet, and muddy and bring that into your classroom. It's as if they prefer to be a mess than to be clean and dry.

But, anyway, I have a lot to write. Not only finishing revisions and edits, but I've got to start outlining the third installment to the Killer of Killers line. It will probably be the last one. Still, you never know. One good thing about that story is that it could probably have an endless series attached to it. I'm not sure exactly where it will end up. We'll just have to see.

KOK Not a Halloween Book

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and it's a week away. The cover of my book, Killer of Killers, makes it look like a Halloween type of book, but it's really not. A martial arts thriller may or may not qualify as a Halloween book, but it's not a scary book, meaning its genre is not horror.

It's an action/thriller, and there are no costumed characters in there. Unless you consider the black suits costumes. We've seen black suits before, in movies, anyway. Men in Black and The Matrix come to mind off the top of my head, but there are likely more. No, Trent Smith, the main character does not wear a black suit. He's a blue jeans type of guy. The black suits are worn by the "Eternals" as they're called in the book. Also known as "Soriah Specials," these guys are like immortal supermen, and they would be the "villains" of the story.

But some of them, the elite ones, wear gray sports coats. Those are the guys within Soriah's inner circle. And Trent is at odds with the lot of them. You'll have to read the story to see for yourself. You'll be glad you did. There are no boring moments, I can promise you that.