The Safety of Sunflowers

IT'S ALIVE! The Safety of Sunflowers was a story that popped into my head sometime ago. I sketched out the basics in my notes for The Glacier of Gods and Monsters, but as I continued writing the novel I realized that the story I had plotted out in my head wasn't going to really work with the way that GoGaM was moving. I decided instead to write it separately just to see how it flowed as a stand alone. As I finished it, I was surprised at how well it stood on its own. I passed it onto my beta-readers and received great feedback from them. After a few edits I am happy to now pass the story on to you.

The Safety of Sunflowers is the story of a girl who must come to terms with the tragic hand that life dealt her and the poor decisions pushed upon her by her abusive brother. In terms of the world of the River Sanctuaries, it's also a study in the creation of what Jack might refer to as a Rogue Soul.

For those who have read Waking Up Dead, I hope you'll enjoy this short sojourn into another aspect of the world. For those that have not yet read the novel, know that you can read The Safety of Sunflowers without any knowledge of the greater world setup in the book. The story is now available for $0.99 on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and pretty much any other online retailer. Enjoy it and

On Current and Upcoming Projects

Hello Folks!

            First off, continued thanks to all of you for your support. Waking Up Dead continues to sell better than I had hoped, and the feedback continues to be amazing. I’m excited that all of you have enjoyed reading the story as much as I have telling it.

            Book Two continues to move along at a good solid pace. I’m excited about the turns the story has taken. Our favorite group of dead souls find themselves in ever increasing trouble as Thomas and Cho try to figure out how to continue their job without the leadership they assumed would be there to guide them. Meanwhile the other surviving members of the society try to figure out how to navigate a new realm where the rules they had long mastered no longer seem to apply.

            My current goal is to have it ready for a November release, though I’ll solidify that date as we move closer. I’m writing the last 10-15% of the book now, and want to make sure I get it right. I’ll then do a read through and set of edits myself before I start turning it over to some of my beta readers for feedback. While it’s still a few months away, I can let you know that it does have an official title. Book Two will be known as “The Glacier of Gods and Monsters”.  Those of you who read book one may remember references to the Glacier, and it will play a very important part in the second book, as more of its secrets (and those of Thomas, Brother Coughlin, Jack and the rest) slowly come out into the open.

            One more thing. Those of you who completed book one probably remember the scenes where Jacob and Heather fought a rogue soul in the form of a djinn. Originally I wrote that as a stand alone short story, but I felt it added depth and insight to characters that would play a fairly big role in book two, so I decided to work it into Waking Up Dead itself.

            I mention this because I wrote a second short story, and while its characters may eventually appear elsewhere, it doesn’t lend itself quite as well to being incorporated into the primary series like the earlier one did, so look for it to be released digitally as a stand alone short story in the near future. It’ll be called “The Safety of Sunflowers”, and it’s in revisions now. Once I get final feedback from a few beta readers and do final revisions on it, I’ll let you know how you can get your hands on it.

            Keep reading, and I’ll keep writing! Enjoy!

-Zabe

What are folks saying so far?

So, out of the seventy-plus books out there, these are the reviews I've tracked down. If you spot one in the wild that I've missed, please let me know! For those who haven't read it yet and were curious about what others thought, here's what has been said so far:

"Waking Up Dead is a very unique take on the afterlife. The main character, Thomas, finds himself in this afterlife after a car accident. While coming to grips with his own death, and the impact that it has on the fiancee he left behind, Thomas is offered a "job" in the afterlife. He soon discovers that there are worse things than death.
This book is fun and entertaining with colorful characters and vivid imagery. I highly recommend it!" 

"couldn't put it down.....and when I finished reading it....I wanted more....anxious to see what vol 2 will hold... It is well written and thought provoking."

"The reason I gave this book four stars is because it is much like the great western adventures of the Louis L'amour quality but it has so many very imaginative and interesting ideas that it is almost a genre of its own. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to explore new ideas or read a great adventure tale. Some of the editing wasn't so great but affected the read very little."

 "Fast paced with lots of action. Very intriguing storyline, unlike any I've read in the past. I can't wait to read the next installment to the series!" 

"I started this book not knowing that it was going to give me laughter, love, excitement and adventure. It is such a refreshing change to read about the "after life" from a totally different perspective. Seeing the After world thru Thomas's eyes has been a very interesting journey, feeling the loss of his fiance, the moment when he found out he still has to WORK...it is very entertaining and certainly kept my interest ; I am eagerly awaiting Volume 2 to carry on his adventures and see how he gets his self out of this spot he is in. I highly recommend it! Read it before you judge it!!"

"What if those difficult moral decisions that most of us try try to avoid don't go away just because we die? In this novel by first time author, Zabe Truesdell, the decision becomes mandatory. You finally have to decide, or eternity is going to be more difficult than life ever had a chance to be. So what will it be? Just worry about yourself or finally grab a chance to help? Because in this idea of the afterlife, the dead need as much help from each other as they did in life."

So there you go! Like I said, if I missed any reviews, please let me know! Positive or negative, I like seeing feedback from folks who have read it!

Signatures and Results

I'll be honest.

I'm pretty confident in my writing ability. I've been telling stories in one form or fashion for most of my life, and have written a variety of things ranging from college news papers articles to poetry to screenplays for corporate training films. I've got a degree in Radio-Television-Film that includes an emphasis on screenwriting, and I've been lucky enough to see and do things that most people would never consider doing, which gives me a unique perspective for storytelling.

But I've never published a book. I'm a complete unknown when it comes to writing in a near endless sea of complete unknowns who also have their own books to sell. I expect in the long run I'll do well enough at it, but in the short term I really didn't expect much. In all of the research I did leading up to this, first books should come with extremely low expectations. Many people sell only a small handful, if any at all. Other more successful books cap out at twenty or thirty copies sold in total.

When you've got a larger library of books to choose from you have a better shot at getting your stories read, but early on, expect little to no traction in getting sales. That was my expectations coming into this. Today I sat down and started tallying what I've done from the various outlets I've had to see how I've faired here just under a couple of months into my first release.

Well over seventy of you have purchased a book from me. Many more have advised me they are planning to pick it up in the very near future. That is far better results than I could have hoped for when I planning the book's release in January. So far the feedback I've received has been very positive. Reviews from folks who have no reason to just 'make me feel good' have been glowing. I even had a coworker I've only met a few times come up to me and tell me they were eagerly awaiting Book Two!

I can't thank those of you who have given me a chance enough for the time you've spent in the River Sanctuaries world. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to finally do something I've wanted to do my entire life.

And to those of you who made it out to my first Book Signing, a special thanks to you as well! I believe I signed somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-five books Saturday, and had some great conversations with some incredible folks. I look forward to doing more of these in the future!

I do ask one last favor from those of you who have the books. Give me feedback. If you have time and haven't done so yet, jump on Amazon, B&N, iTunes, GoodReads or any other similar spot and give the book a rating where you can. If you have any feedback you don't want to share through a review, please feel free to email me at ZabeTheWriter@gmail.com or reply to this blog post. I'm hard at work on book two now, so if there were things you really liked, things you really hated, or questions you really wanted to see get answers then now's a good time to let me know.

Speaking of Book 2, I can tell you it's coming along very well. The stakes continue to raise as the events at the end of Book 1 spell out serious consequences for everyone. Look for more information on that soon!

-Zabe

Updates, Marketing, and Live Appearance in Athens

It's been an amazingly busy month in the real world, which means I've not had as much chance as I'd like to towards pushing the book. That being said, the end of the month is coming together quite nicely. I was featured this week on the Kindle Boards' Book Discovery Day post, and I've been interviewed by Fantascize.com, who run the popular Fantasy and Sci-Fi Rock My World Facebook page. Let us hope this attention leads to a few more sales. 

I'm also two weeks aways from my first public appearance as an author at the East Texas Book Exchange in Athens, Tx. I'll be there from 10am until at least 2pm signing books, answering questions, and enjoying some tasty refreshments. I invite you to join me there as well if you're anywhere close to the area. 

It's been a good weekend for Book 2. Several more chapters are on paper, and I've had some great ideas for moving forward. As a TV show of my younger days would say, "I love it when a plan comes together". 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks!

Month One and Signing Event to Come

So, we're closing in on a month since Waking Up Dead went live. It's been an interesting learning curve so far. Most of what I've learned I already knew intellectually from research and discussions with other writers, but like so much of life, there is a huge difference between knowing something and experiencing it!

I'm honestly still surprised at how many people don't actually know I've got a book out. I feel sometimes like I talk about it too much (a feeling I know many other writers have mentioned), yet I still find that a large percentage of folks who personally know me have no idea. It's odd, but it reinforces one of the lessons I'd long heard about: Getting knowledge of your first book out is often just as tricky as getting your first book out.

I also understand I missed a handful of typos in Book One. Not surprising, I suppose, given how many edits I did, but as soon as I get the details of that I'll update those. Those of you with digital versions will get the updates. Those of you with physical editions will have collector's items :)

Once that is done, I plan to put a handful of targeted ads out. My budget's not that large, but I know it takes money to make money, and the more folks who know about Book One, the bigger audience I will have for Book Two. If you run a blog that does book reviews, btw, and are interested in reviewing Waking Up Dead, feel free to contact me for a review copy.

Book Two is slowly but steadily moving along. I've gotten over 45,000 words written in the current draft. Book One finished at just under 80,000 words, so I'm over the halfway point if I stay around the same size. Of course, once I get it written there will be many revisions, I'm sure, before I am willing to let it out into the wild, but know it's coming and I'll try not to make you wait too long for it ;)

Speaking of waiting! Many of you have told me you wanted to attend my previously mentioned book signing. I'm happy to announce the wait for that is not much longer. On Saturday March 8th I'll be in Athens, Tx. at the East Texas Book Exchange, which is located at  408 N. Prairieville St.

Exact time is still TBD, but I'll be there for several hours. If you're in the area, please come by and say hello.

Thanks as always to all of you who have helped support me in this endeavor. Keep spreading the word and leaving reviews, and feel free to contact me with any questions or comments!

-Zabe

Week One on the Racks

Thank you all for a great week one. It's proved quite an interesting ride. Many of you now have copies of the book, which is great! Many more of you have told me you still plan to grab it which is awesome as well! I'm humbled at the support all of you have offered.

Looks like I'll be doing a book signing in Athens around the first of March. Hopefully we can get the word out to many people by then and get a great turn out. I'm working on a few other means of getting this thing pushed out there as well.

In that same note, I could really use your assistance. If you've read the book, please review it on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, iTunes and/or anywhere else it's for sale. The more reviews we can get the more we can get people to take a look at it.

Also, drop me a note (or post on here! Blogs are for feedback!) with your thoughts on it. What worked? What would you like to see expanded on? I'm hard at work on book two, so feedback is always encouraged!

One last question for the day. For those of you who've read it, what would you classify it as? I can explain the book well but when people ask what to classify it as I find there doesn't seem a perfect fit. Amazon originally put it in "Children's --> Religion --> Eastern" of all things, which obviously doesn't really work. While there are many Eastern religion (along with a wide variety of other theological/mythological) aspects in it, I wouldn't really classify it as such, and it certainly isn't a Children's book. I've settled for now on "Fantasy --> Paranormal" and "SciFi --> Adventure". Not sure if those are the best places, but it's the best I've been able to come up with myself. Thoughts?

Thanks to you all!!!!!

             Zabe