Beta Readers Wanted.

Over the past few months, I have taken it upon myself to improve my craft. I have been trying things to give my characters depth. Improve the cadence and arc of my stories and make things easier to read. 

The result is that writing is moving much slower. However, my first draft is leaps and bounds ahead of what the finished product of Souldbound Alliance ended up. I suspect that someday I will come back to that and completely rewrite it. But for now, I need some space with that project. 

Following Jerry and Caitlyn (you havn't met them yet) has been a blast. It feels like they are actual people. Which is weird because they came from my imagination. 

The other part that has been fun is trying to make real life make sense using fantasy and Magic. Or meshing old fiction and legends into reality in a way that is believable. 

So far the story is a little over half done and already longer than my first book. I can't wait to get to polishing it and sharing it with everyone else. 

If you're interested in Beta reading, send me a message on Facebook.  It is the story about a Paramedic that wakes up after a head injury to discover that Magic is real and that secret organizations have kept him from seeing it. 

Update

This month there wasn't much to report. I avoided sending out a newsletter and mostly kept to myself. My personal life got a little bit...exciting, stressful, hairy? I'm not sure yet. Soulbound stories has suffered. I havn’t been improving the website. Posting on social media or much of anything for that manner. Instead, I have been playing plumber, electrician, and general contractor. 

I sold the home I have poured my blood, sweat and tears into and moved into a small home on a lake. It has been a stressful adventure, but now that we finally feel like we can take a breath; I have gotten back into writing. 

Soulbound War is currently on hold. I got a fantastic idea that was begging to come out, and I found myself swept away in the fantasy. I would describe it as urban high fantasy. By nature of the subject, it is a little more dark but still family friendly. 

Talk about difficult. Try to portray a world that is dark, fun, and safe for adolescent. But still paint the picture you want to convey. The challenge has slowed my writing speed but added to the fun.  I have also changed up my writing process and included beta readers during the drafting process to identify weak or confusing parts. The goal has been to stretch my abilities and improve my skill. I think it’s working. 

I expect to release a 2nd edition of Soulbound Allies soonish. Maybe get some real cover art and do some serious advertising. 

Hope you all are staying positive and testing negative

A.N. James

See The Wonder

Things have been busy for me. I am finishing a new home and trying to get ready to move. Unfortunately, I could not write as much as I wanted to this last month. Stories and ideas have been thrashing against the sides of my head, begging for me to release them. Subsequently, I wrote about 4000 words in the past two days, in between catching up with emails and trainings for my job. 

What I have been working on is a little different of a story. Revisions for my first book, Soulbound war and an urban fantasy surprise idea that has been urging me to bring it to life. 

The world is an enchanted place full of wonder. Let me explain. Speeding home from work, I came across a small lake that was so still it had a mirror finish. Trees sitting on the side appeared to be rising from the center of the reservoir and descend into the depth of a magical realm. I am still regretting not pulling over and taking a photo. 

Or another day I was driving along the side of a sunflower field. It was evening time. All the heads of the flowers turned down, the petals droopy. They appeared to be an audience of sad blossoms, having heard the terrible news about so many of their friends burning in the forests.

The point is, there is magic in imagination and wonder spread through the world. Sometimes in life a new perspective can turn the boring task of brick laying into the urgent need to build a wall to keep out invaders.  

Never Give Up!

I have been researching and trying to figure this marketing thing out. It has been fun. I have also been writing a lot. In the past week, I have produced around 15,000 words between short stories and Soulbound War. 

Recently I have seen several individuals talk about giving up at one thing or another. Most felt overwhelmed at the complexity or difficulty of a task. Someone asked me if I was going to give up when I mentioned how hard learning all of this had been.

These next words are for anyone thinking about giving up:

Successful people have one thing in common. They never give up, they don’t even consider it as an option. They start a task and it must be finished. 

In my life, I have been accomplishing the impossible for years. The thing that changed it all for me was taking part in an activity for Junior Leadership Training.  The instructor tasked us with constructing a catapult, capable of launching an object fifty feet, with long lashing poles, rope and paper plates. Initial reactions ranged from disbelief to anger. The group of three I was with set out to accomplish our task.

We pull together and actually did it. Using only our hands, we raised a structure that towered over us and was just barely capable of completing the task. 

To me this was the equivalent of building the pyramids of Egypt. If at 14 years old I could build that, I knew as an adult I would be able to accomplish anything. 

There are ways that I break down complex and difficult tasks to keep it from becoming overwhelming. That isn’t what's important. Never giving up. If I truly want something, I will get it and you can too.

Soulbound Alliance Free for the Weekend

This weekend August 14th-16th Soulbound Alliance will be free. Please share this and tell your friends. 

I really want to get this book out there. The feedback that I have gotten has been very positive. It's hard to look at your own work with anything but a critical eye after reading through and editing the manuscript multiple times I feel like I just need space.

 Much like when I am wood working all the flaws that I find stand out to me and it distracts from the overall beauty of the project. Once I give the furniture or decoration time and distance it slowly starts to look beautiful to me. Others who didn't spend time and effort creating the art are much less likely to notice the flaws and appreciate it for what it is. I feel that writing this manuscript has been similar.

Sadly Amazon wiped out all of the reviews that I received. That's okay, I read them all watching it like an obsessed child before they were wiped out by the amazon bot. If you're an author, don't friend anyone that reads your book. Have a page for them to like or a group they can join least the Amazon bot find you. 

I'll share what a few of them said here. 

"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- It was a fun little story"

"⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐-I'm not usually interested in fantasy, but this book is action packed and has enough humor and drama to keep anyone spellbound. It's an easy read and very entertaining for readers of all ages"

Full disclosure the last one was from a family member who only read the book because I was the author. I learned later that they stayed up late to finish because they "Needed to know what happened next." 

I saw some other positive feedback but I wont bore you with the details. Needless to say it has been good for my self esteem. 

If you do read the book and for some reason amazon wont allow your review, feel free to review it on Goodreads. Every little bit helps.  

My confession

I have a confession, I jumped the gun a bit. I wasn't quite as close as I thought I was to publishing. I began to read the story out loud to my kids and found some flow issues. After discussing it with one of my best critics I elected to send it off to an editor for some help/guidance. 

That's where we are currently. Waiting to hear back from the editor. After I get the book back I will need to read it and check it's flow at least one more time before I am ready. Despite being excited to share with you, I also want to bring you a quality product that is fun to read.  

Some good news

I have heard back from one of my beta readers, As far as the plot line and story goes, I got a one thumb up from my oldest son. Despite the slightly apathetic response, Once I made it available to him, he didn't put it down and had a wide range of visual emotion. Already he is asking about the next book. I take that as a good sign.  

As far as the next book goes. Currently I am ten thousand words into Soulbound War. Using what I learned from Soulbound Alliance. I feel it has allowed me to make an even better story this time. I have reread what I have done each day before I start writing, and find myself frustrated there isn't more already on paper. Even though I have an idea about whats going to happen next, I still want to sit back, relax and read the story.  

Timeline

I am hoping to have a better idea on timelines by the middle of August. Things in my personal life should become a little less crazy and i'll know more about what I actually have left to do. 

Writing while working a full time job feels slow going. Since I have started chasing my dreams down and developing what my goals are, I think it might be cool to be an author full time. While I am not ready to quit my day job yet, its something to work towards. In the mean time, let me know if you have any questions.

Here is a sample to get you as excited as me.

Hey, I have spent the past two days not worrying about my book at all.

That's actually a lie, but I have been keeping myself busy trying to get multiple platforms up and running to help get the word out. It honestly feels a little bit on the silly side, trying to sell something that isn't even finished.  To help sell it I am going to include an excerpt that hopefully wont have too many spoilers. 

You're not here to read about me, You want to see whats coming, so here you go!

After coaxing a slow bruise to finish healing he turned his attention outwards. Benjamin looked up and saw the city. 

Big Ben's center had a giant tower that extended to the sky that skewered a floating island. The bottom of the rock shone a brilliant white that to match the sun at noon. Even at night the light continued to shine on the lower city. Despite this the tower remained black, like an empty void.

Above surrounding the tower was a golden palace with white walls. On each corner was an ever-burning fireball. The upper walls of the building and turrets were visible even from here. As a security measure, they remained well lit, even at night. It was rumored that royalty always slept with the light on. 

The floating land was shaped by ancestors that no record existed of. It was speculated that it started as a school of magic with each discipline of magic represented. 

Outside the walls of the palace is where the city nobles lived, dubbed the “pure district.” The streets would be clean to a level that would be considered compulsive, all the way to the edge of the island.  The island was surrounded by a wall, blackened from a battle fought decades ago that no amount of cleaning or repair had lightened. 

Every city in the kingdom he had visited had seen something similar to the pure district. The inability to separate and isolate the upper echelon of their cities always left them feeling sub-par to the upper class of Big Ben.

Benjamin shook his head to clear his thoughts. The goal was to make it to the palace and find information on the princess. It had been years since Benjamin had visited. 

The lower city is where the middle and lower class lived. Smart thieves could get into the upper level if they knew how, but crime up top was relatively low. This meant that it could be costly to gain access unnoticed. It also meant that he may have to bargain with some very unsavory people. He shuddered at the thought.

 While the upper city appeared pristine, the lower city had become more run down. Rather than rehabilitate old areas the people developed outside of the city's defenses. 

The people were now paying the price for convenience. Everything outside the lower wall was destroyed. Smoke rose from still smoldering buildings. From this distance the destroyed buildings appeared to be embers in a dying fire. 

The city's defenses were raised and in the distance retreating to the east, he saw dragons.

 Henry broke the silence. “I have some bad news”

 Benjamin spoke sorrowfully as he finished Henry’s sentence. “we’re too late.”