Week One!

So, it's been a week!

One week since my debut novel released, Missing Among the Stars. I've learned a lot--and I mean a LOT--about this industry as an indie writer. Of course, I am not an expert--I wouldn't even say an intermediate--I'm still learning this process in and out. But I thought it would be good to talk about the reality of writing a book and self-publishing while also having a full time job.

Before I Began Writing

It took me a little over two entire years to write Missing Among the Stars (MATS for short). I started it while in between jobs, looking for a permanent position. I don't like to talk too much about my professional life, but the short of it is I just graduated, and was looking for a new job, and I landed an amazing opportuity. It gave me an unprecedented amount of free time which gave me a lot more free time on my hands.

After a few months working there, I learned I passed the bar exam, and that opened up a lot more job opportunities. But I liked having free time. That's not something a lot of lawyers get. There's a reason that lawyers are considered "workaholics."

At the same time, I moved in with my partner. He is a huge and I mean HUGEEEEE Bioware fan. For those that don't know, Bioware is a video game company that makes Dragon Age games and Mass Effect games. I've always been a gamer, and I've always been a fan of space, so I tried out Mass Effect.

And oh my God.

It stabbed me with its tendrils and poured creativity into me. The characters, the stories, the setting--all of it was so engrossing that I couldn't put down the games. I 100%'ed the entire triology (I can't bring myself to play Andromeda because that means there's no games left for me to play!). I didn't hate the ending like so many people did but I also had a pleasure of getting the DLC filled ending that was fixed loooooong after the controversy that was the original ending.

I've always been into space, and in general, the idea of science fiction. After playing the games I tried to read one of the books. Wasn't for me, unfortunately. But I wanted to read, so I dipped my toe into another novel: Old Man's War. It didn't have the magic that I liked about Mass Effect but for the first time as an adult I enjoyed reading. I used to love it as a kid, but as an adult, being a lawyer and reading for work all day? Sounded awful.

So, I read every main book from John Scalzi in that series. Old Man's War, Ghost Brigades, Last Colony, Human Division, End of All Things (I skipped Zoe's tale but think I will go back for it). Then I moved into other series, Shards of Earth, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Empire of Silence, All Systems Red.

And while I credit all those books as inspirations, I have to give credit mainly to Scalzi for his easy to read, witty and creative storytelling. I also started watching Space Opera shows and movies. But I still hadn't found a book that was my all time favorite book.

So I wrote it

Missing Among the Stars went through a lot of changes. I think it's fun to share this information for trivia purposes for when I make it big (manifesting) that who knows maybe they'll ask as a trivia question on a Tuesday night in a bar in Nevada. Here's some major changes I made from the start of the book to the end product:

• Originally, the title of the novel (which went unchanged for a year and a half!) was "Imprisoned Among the Stars."

• Several characters had their names changed. Ohara was the original name for Falisto, and Boss was the original name for Benjo. I changed them because they were more placeholder-esque names.

• The beginning was very different. I mean very different. The novel, in its final form, opens with Kasey, Tsarena and Falisto traveling to Tyol. Originally, it was Kasey, and two people named Tswuni and Dwayne. They were kind of "redshirts" and killed off quickly. The beta readers did NOT like that.

• Falisto's character was much more standoffish.

• Finally, I added SEVERAL clues for what I plan for the sequel.

The hardest part of writing, without a doubt, is the first draft. Once you get that done, you're golden. It takes the most work to just blah blah blah on a document. One quote to live by: writing is rewriting.

There's so much more to this story, and this article didn't have such a purpose other than just word vomit, I suppose. But yes. I'm so happy its out there. I am so second for book two, tentatively called Revolution Among the Stars.