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So…yeah.  It’s been a while, mostly because after I wrote and published The Accidental Hero, I found myself completely devoid of ideas as to what to write next.  I have finally started something now, but I’m not really feeling it yet, so it’s been slow going so far.  I’m only about maybe a quarter of the way into the first chapter.

Aside from that, I wrote a short story to submit to an anthology book, and it was accepted by the publisher.  Just waiting for them to send me the contract now for the rights to it.  It’s not a lot of money, but it’s the first time I’ve had something that’s going to be published by someone other than myself, and the first time I’ve been paid anything for my writing, so I’m really happy about that.  I’ll post more updates when I can.

Aside from that, I put a new hard drive in my system and installed CachyOS Linux on it.  I’ve been using it exclusively for about a week now, and I haven’t had to go back into windows for anything.  The nice thing is, my writing software, Sigil and Page Edit, both have linux native versions.  In fact, there’s native versions, or alternative software that’s just as good or better for pretty much everything I was doing in windows. I got Daz Studio installed and working for my covers, and I can use Gimp instead of Photoshop for the finish work.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be ok doing the print versions in Libre Office instead of MS Word as well.  I opened an existing one in Libre office and it looked fine, so I think I’m good to go with that.  Linux can be a painful process to set up if you’re new to it, because there’s various things you’ll need to look up, but it’s not hard to find answers, and it’s SO much faster and snappier than Windows.

Anyway, that’s it for now.  Until next time… 🙂

Now that my Smashwords account has moved over to Draft2Digital, I spent some time today setting up all my books with Books2Read links, which is basically a one stop shop for all the retail links for each book, both ebook and paperback.  Here’s the link to the main page that lists all the books: https://books2read.com/ap/RJ6LdW/Duane-L-Martin

After a nasty fight with his girlfriend, Eric Kaufman got in his car and headed out for the open road, just to sort of cool off a bit and get his head together. Unfortunately for him, as he was driving down a desolate highway way out in the middle of nowhere, his engine died, his car slowed to a stop, and then they showed up. The last thing he ever expected when he woke up that morning was that he’d be abducted by aliens, but sure enough, that’s exactly what happened.

After an unfortunate and very painful incident on their ship, he suddenly lost consciousness, and then woke up next to his car several hours later. He seemed all right at first, but in the days that followed he began to develop superhuman abilities, which would ultimately lead to him becoming something far more than he ever thought he could be.

Sadly, while becoming a superhero might seem cool to the average person, it does come with a laundry list of problems as well. For example, how do you keep your identity a secret? How do you balance being a publicly recognized superhero during the day with your vigilante activities at night, while still getting enough sleep to handle your day job? How do you dispose of all those cartel members you slaughtered, without anyone ever finding their remains? And most importantly, how do you get the taste of someone else’s blood out of your mouth when you don’t have any mouthwash handy?

These questions and more are all issues that Eric must face as he navigates the topsy-turvy world of being the world’s first and only, real-life superhero.

Links to purchase:

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTMT3DHC (E-Book)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTQ9Q8B2 (Paperback)

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1515384 (E-Book)

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6477522856 (E-Book)

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940167678972 (E-Book)

Everand: https://www.everand.com/search?query=9798223631125 (E-Book)

Gardners: https://www.gardners.com/Search/KeywordAnonymous/eBook?Keyword=9798223631125 (E-Book)

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9798223631125 (E-Book)

Odilo: https://marketplace.odilo.us/opac/?query=9798223631125 (E-Book)

I just finished editing The Accidental Hero.  I added about 3k words during the editing process, so the final version of the book comes in at about 112K words.  I’m really happy with how this book came out, but now I’ve got a lot more work to do, including writing the author’s note, the synopsis (Ugh…), the print version, and the cover.

I did something different with the editing this time.  Instead of reading through the book multiple times, I read through each individual chapter between three to five times, depending on when I felt like it was finished, before I moved on to the next.  I felt like this worked a whole lot better, as my mindset was really in that specific chapter that I was working on, and reading it multiple times in a row allowed me to catch things I might have missed if I’d have taken the whole book approach.

I’m just about to start on the Author’s Note now, and then once I finish that I’ll write up the synopsis.  Later today I’ll probably get started working on the print version, and then the cover comes last, since I need to finish the print version before I make it.

Anyway, that’s it for now.  See ya next time.

So, I finished writing The Accidental Hero today.  Took me about three weeks to write it, and initially it’s come in at around 109K words.  I always beef things up somewhat during editing though, so the final word count will be higher.

What’s funny is, I intended this book to be more humorous, but as I got into the story, it ended up being more serious.  There’s some fun stuff in it for sure, but it’s a lot more serious than I’d originally intended.

Now the oh so boring editing process begins, where I have to read and edit the same damn book multiple times.  Ugh…  At least I already know what I’m doing for the cover, so I got that goin’ for me.

Anyway, that’s it for now.  See ya next time. 🙂

I’ve been plugging away at this book for a while now, and currently I’m on the last half of chapter 12 out of 16 total.  It’s funny how things work.  I abandoned another series book and decided that I would never write another one after writing ten chapters, because it just didn’t feel right.  I’ve attempted to start two other books over the years as well, and abandoned those as well, simply because they didn’t feel right.  Contrast that to Cindy’s Story, and all 22 of the Unseen Things series novels that just flowed out of me like they were meant to be.  That’s what I’m experiencing again now with The Accidental Hero, and there’s really no better feeling in the world as an author.

Also, because I never pre-plan my books, the story adjusts to itself, rather than being forced into some pre-planned plot line.  What do I mean by that?  What I mean is that the characters may have one set of plans in one particular scene, and then a short time later circumstances dictate that they abandon those plans entirely and come up with something new.  The world doesn’t exist as a series of pre-planned events, and neither do my stories.  My stories come to life as I write them, as though I’m simply watching it all unfold rather than creating it as I type.  As an author, there’s no better feeling in the world than to have a story flow through your fingertips, almost like the universe itself was willing it into existence.

Anyway, that’s it for now. 🙂