Tag: vampires

Book, Life, Writing

Update on Novel #3

AJ Niblock

This point in the year is usually when I sit down and assess how my yearly goals are going. One of my goals this year, as you might have guessed, is to finish and publish novel #3 in my YA book series.

So how is it going?

It’s actually off to a great start. At this moment, I’m a little over 50,000 words into the story, and I’m not finished with the second part yet. If you’ve read my other two books, you may have noticed that both were broken into three parts. This book is also sectioned that way.

This story is also going to be the last part of this trilogy. I may come back and write more stories in this world later, but I think I’m going to work on a different project after this. (I’m also going to work on getting published the traditional way. Wish me luck).

I don’t plan to abandon Jamie and her friends forever, but I want to work on something I’ve been brewing for a while now. When I do return to Jamie’s friends, I’m thinking about writing a story from a different character’s point of view. I think the story of Zak and how he became a unicorn hunter at such a young age would be fun. I also want to write about what went down when the two worlds collided. And then there are the Sisters of Rising Magic. (So many options…).

Anyway… back to novel #3… I’m not quite 2/3 of the way done, and this one is tying up many stories and ending with something epic (no spoilers). That being said, this book will probably be a bit longer than the other two. I want to give Jamie and her friends an ending they deserve.

When I wrote the first two books, I wrote the first 2/3 of each book in about the same amount of time it took me to write the last third. Even though I always start my book knowing how I want it to end, I work carefully and slowly on the end to make sure it makes sense how it got there. For me, the last third needs to be solid.

With that in mind, I am rereading the first two thirds right now and making sure details connect the way I want them too, and then I will write the last bit. I’m very excited about the last third (no spoilers… but it’s gonna be good).

If you haven’t read them yet, there is definitely still time before book #3 comes out… Check them out by clicking the titles below:

Unicorns Are Really Vampires

Black Market Unicorns

Happy writing and reading today and every day!

Book, Writing

How My First Book Came to Be…

AJ Niblock

If you didn’t know, I wrote a book! It is available to purchase from Amazon.

Since I’ve finished my book and have started the second one (yippee!), several people have asked me “how” I did it. The snarky part of me wants to say I typed it on a computer and then uploaded it to Amazon, but that’s not what they’re asking. They want to know what my process was.

I am happy to share that with some people, (those who are actually listening and not just being polite).

So, here’s the process for my first book (book two has been a bit different and maybe when it’s done, I’ll write about what changed):

  1. How I started writing a book and why?
    • My book started as one of the short story of the month posts on my blog. Even as I wrote it that month, I knew I wanted to do more with it. It was just screaming for a bigger story. So, I wrote a second story, and then those led to my novel.
    • This is not the first time I’ve started writing a book. I actually have two other books that were started before Unicorns Are Really Vampires. Those two remain unfinished, but who knows, maybe one day….
    • In addition to feeling like I wanted to work on the story some more, my sister invited me to try something called NANOWRIMO (I’m sure many of you are familiar with it). Basically, the idea is that every November is National Novel Writing Month. During that month, if you participate, you are to challenge yourself to write a novel. Most people actually aim for 50,000 words (which is a bit short for a novel). The idea is to get as much writing done as you can in a single month. No editing, just keep pushing forward till you get that word count.
  2. The First Draft
    • I used that initial short story as my idea. And if you are wondering if I had an outline, the answer is no. I am not a planner; I am most definitely a panster. I won NANOWRIMO that year, which means I wrote at least 50,000 words.
    • After that, I put it aside till after the holidays, then I just kept writing a little every day until I felt like it was finished. The first draft was the hardest part but also the most fun. I was building a world, creating characters, and it felt at times that it was writing itself. I enjoyed every painful moment of it (if you have created anything, you know what I mean).
  3. Editing
    • This is the hard part. Spending so many hours creating something and then cutting and changing it is very challenging and almost impossible to do on your own. If you get anything out of my post, this is what I want you to most remember:
      • HIRE AN EDITOR
        • (By this, I mean, pay someone to edit. An unbiased opinion that is not just checking your grammar. My editor told me things about my style, overall pacing, and character development that was immeasurably helpful when I was editing.)
    • Before I sent it to the editor I hired, I did “shop” around. I sent samples to multiple editors and then compared their feedback. I went with the one who was the toughest on me. Hiring someone to edit your entire novel is expensive, and I wanted the most bang for my buck.
    • In total, my book actually went through four rounds of editing.
      • First round: me reading through and making changes. I’m pretty good at editing grammar mistakes and small things.
      • Second round: hired an editor. She suggested a lot of small and big things I didn’t see myself.
      • Third round: following making the changes the editor suggested, I did one more round of editing. (I have a list of things that I look for. For this stage, I used an online editing program called Autocrit.com. It’s only a computer program, but still very valuable as a tool).
      • Fourth round: By this point, I considered the book done. I read it out loud to the living room (my daughter set up a stuffed animal audience for me). I found small things at this point. I call this my final read through. My living room seemed to like it.
  4. Done and Done
    • At this point, all that was left was formatting and creating a book cover. I did both of these things myself. Maybe I’ll write more about this part later; it’s not super exciting.
    • And then I uploaded to Amazon the print edition and kindle version.

And that’s how it was done. All in all, it took me a little over a year and there were a couple of months in there where I didn’t work on it.

Hope this helps for anyone working on their own novel.

Happy reading and writing this month!!!

Book, promotion

Unicorns Are Really Vampires

AJ Niblock

If you haven’t heard, my first book is out now on Amazon!

Reasons to read my book:

  1. It’s not long, so you can check one off your Goodreads yearly challenge quickly.
  2. There are unicorn / vampires in it.
  3. The second book will be out in the fall, so you need to know the first part before you read the second part.
  4. You know you’re curious how a unicorn and a vampire can be the same thing.
  5. There are other amazing creatures in it: fairies, mermaids, harpies, dragons, three-headed dogs, and more!

If that doesn’t convince you, please read the preview below, and as always, happy reading and writing today and every day!

Book, Writing

BOOK RELEASE!!!

AJ Niblock

My book is available for purchase on Amazon. The print edition is out now, and the kindle edition is available for pre-order now. (Will release on Christmas Eve).

This link will take you to the print edition.

Thank you to everyone who has already purchased a copy!!!!

If you aren’t a big reader of fantasy, please share with someone who is. My book is appropriate for middle school and up.

If you read it and like it, please leave me a review on Amazon or on goodreads.

Happy reading and writing this month!!!

Kindle edition