Writing/editing update for August

Writing/editing this novel has been the biggest challenge ever for me. I feel like I'm learning so much, though. How to use words other than "was," how to make a plot central and focused, etc.

I've written books before this one, but they were practice and I don't plan on releasing them, but The Unraveler is the first I want to actually turn a profit on. The history of this book is long. I remember telling my friends about the idea of it while camping, many years ago. I didn’t have the skill to write it, then. What it turned into is crazy weird and fun. It’s basically if the Halloween season got blended into a novel. BTW, the attached picture is a creature from my novel (which I drew).

Each full edit feels like I've turned it into a whole new book. Just this last edit has had me cut 10,000 words and adding a new chapter. I plan on having a new draft done by my birthday, and I hope to be completely finished editing it by Christmas. So many people have helped me with feedback. Friends, one complete stranger I met online (she writes fantastic novels, btw). I’m so thankful. It’s weird to think about, but the first person to ever read my novel died a year ago.

I'm also working on other writing projects. I’m working on other novels, mostly in planning/experimental stages. A book about an anonymous Internet threat, a book about a famous punk rock band with supernatural elements (titled: Pixelic), and then the sequels to The Unraveler. I’ll likely be focused on sequels until the series is done, but my plans for other novels need the time to simmer, anyway.

I’ve done some short story writing, too. I had been thinking about Batman’s waterfall that he drives into to park the Batmobile. In modern times, there’d be no way for Batman to escape surveillance. So, I’m working on a story about how fly-over imaging tech would catch superheroes. I also wrotethis Harry Potter fan fic. I felt a little lame writing fan fiction, but the idea screamed at me to write it. I thought about the idea for months and months, and I couldn’t ignore it. It’s set before the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out! It’s got a ton of views from Reddit. I also recently posted a poem that I wrote a few years back. It’s about the feeling of being so emotionally dumbfounded that you can barely stand up. I should also mention that I’ve been writing monthly posts on four different blogs. Oxyborb.com is about nerd culture, Harrisonaye.com is about writing.

Art is life, man.