Blog Post 111

Tessera Trilogy blog post 111

Sooley Base word count stands finally at 93 K and page count at 194.

I have been blessed by the constructive criticisms of the Riverside Writers Group for Sooley Base. Additionally several supportive folks have helped with the cover of the novel, and with critical suggestions on helicopters, submarines, and medical protocols. These folks have been extremely helpful, but there have been some other no shows. This relates to the whinery, as a bit of whining is appropriate in all writing.

Several others were approached to review and comment on segments dealing with military maneuver tactics. One even agreed. Neither, however, provided any comments. Writers need to be realistic and realize that sycophants exist and will disappoint you, smiling and suggesting or promising support … but failing in the final analysis. Sad but true!

Another note of interest. DP Tolan had to resize and reshoot the cover several time to achieve the correct file size, vertical/horizontal proportions, and file format before BookBaby.com would finally accept all the bits and pieces. It all came together on Christmas day.

Characters can make or break a novel, but that’s at the main character level. Ancillary, drop in characters can add humor, provoke thought, or just be forgettables. A few characters in Sooley Base were chosen for comic relief, though readers would have to be (I guess) looking for that angle.  Qwen Chiu, Hu Faht,  and several other character names were chosen with tongue in cheek. An author has to have a sense of humor, and see what he/she can sneak by the readers.

Costs of putting together a novel. It helps that both sides of just about every sheet are used; it’s a green thing. I tried to be Green in another way, reusing words that had been used before. Printer cartridges – I refilled one many times. The average number of sheets per cartridge had averaged about 175, but I managed to get to over 800 copies by refilling that one cartridge before it gave up the ghost. And let’s not forget the blog updates; they take time and energy.

As a new marketing concept, patterned after a successful RWG novelist’s approach, a signature block will be designed and included in future emails. It will include links to RWG website (as member), and links to the Golden Gate sales points and Tessera Trilogy blog. It can’t hurt to advertise.

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyuex Noel, Bon Natale, Chuc Mung Yang Sing, Mele Kaliki Maka, Kala Chrisuyena ( my apologies for trying this phonetically).