Yeah, it’s an old photo, but you get the idea. Sitting at a desk, slaving over a keyboard. These days though, it’s not slaving. I enjoy what I do- writing is great fun and a challenge.
So today I have a question for my readers (you).
I’m juggling some balls at the moment- a few projects that have begun are collaborations. You all will see those sooner than another independent work from me. The collaborations are very exciting, and should turn out well. They’ve been in process since last August and will continue into the foreseeable future.
But in the meantime, I’ve thought of some material that’s just me.
Long time readers will know that I used Amazon’s CreateSpace to develop the original Valley Trilogy, my military sci-fi stuff. Unfortunately, CreateSpace no longer does author services such as the all-too-crucial copyediting, formatting, e-book conversion, etc. This is the stuff that makes for a quality book reading experience as opposed to a typo-ridden and poorly formatted mess. Which is what you’d get if I tried to publish a book without any outside help. Fortunately, another avenue has come along for getting my books out there- big thanks to the person who has stepped up to steer me in the right direction.
Self-publishing can be a dizzying rabbit hole. A simple search will reveal dozens of options. There is a confusing array of businesses that are quite willing to take your money for various parts of the book-making process. One can easily spend 10k USD to produce a novel. Thanks, but no thanks. 3k is about right, 10k is ridiculous. This is why losing CreateSpace was bad- for all their faults, they were all costs up front, one-stop shopping. I had a very good experience with them until they abruptly closed their doors.
So here is the question I have for my readers.
I’ve got some decent ideas for a novel and they come down to two options. Devils or time travel. Yes, I understand that neither subject is exactly original, but I think I can crank out a pretty good yarn using one or the other pretext. And it’s not a matter of one or the other, both books will probably get written. It’s a question of priorities.
So which should I do first- devils or time travel?
Would like to get some feedback from you all.
Cheers, Jason L.
The Interstellar Valley 
Devils for me. Love to see where the brain goes on that topic.
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I think I’ve got a pretty cool concept for this. I usually get ideas while driving up to the VA.
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Jason, I’m a sucker for time travel stories so it gets my vote – yes, it’s been done before but there’s an awful lot of time to go back to. Hope that makes sense!
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Ayjay, it seems to be a neck and neck race between the two options. Maybe I’ll have to flip a coin- it’s how I’ve made any number of important life decisions.
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I just seem to be drawn to the time travel stuff, particularly when it has a military slant (if, indeed, that’s what you had in mind). As an example, I am a big fan of your pal John Birmingham (it’s through him that I originally got on to your work) and have loved all of his books except the ‘Dave’ series which I just sort of disengaged from after the second book.
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I have a plan in place with the time travel book- the concept is much more fleshed out than my devils idea. I will drop this hint- both will have somewhat of a military angle. Funny that you mention the Dave- my dad’s interests are a mirror image to your own. He adores the Hooper books. Me? If Birmingham has written it, I’ve liked it. I think the only book of his I haven’t read is “Leviathan,” and it’s on my short list.
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Time travel for me.
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