REBELS & DESPERADOS is now available in the Amazon Kindle store

My new novel - REBELS & DESPERADOS is now available in the Amazon Kindle store.  This is book two in the series REBEL EMPIRE.

Here's a brief synopsis:

The year is 1888. Young Confederate secret agent and outlaw -“Black” Judah Lee is the most wanted man in all of North America. His alliance with the Métis warrior nation and his daring bank and train robberies in the Disputed Territories of Dakota and Assiniboia have brought him to the attention of the grim and bloodthirsty Mountie - Superintendent Thornton. Lee and his psychotic partner Drake Kensington have barely managed to avoid capture, but the Mounties and Pinkerton’s are closing in! He has fallen into a world populated by gamblers, rebels, renegade Indians, outlaws, murderers, desperados and whores; his crucial mission to aid the Confederacy hangs in the balance as he blazes a trail of blood and murder across the West.

Here's the link to Amazon

http://www.amazon.ca/REBELS-DESPERADOS-REBEL-EMPIRE-ebook/dp/B00FRKG91C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382364366&sr=1-1&keywords=rebels+%26+desperados

Finishing an 18 year Writing Marathon

I just completed a comprehensive re-edit of my eBook GETTYSBURG REDUX in anticipation of re-publishing it simultaneously with the sequel - REBELS AND DESPERADOS. The editing was comprised nearly entirely with the correction of minor grammatical errors, words that had become joined and minor spelling errors.  I also took this opportunity to re-format the dialogue to make it easier to read. Perhaps it would be better to say I polished minor errors as opposed to re-editing.

When I look back at the journey that the publishing of this book represents I often wonder where I found the energy to get the book into a version that could be published. The novel was originally written during the 18 month period from 1994 to 1996.  Unable to secure an agent, editor or publisher the disks sat forgotten in a box in my basement for nearly 14 years.

Originally I thought the writing was the hard part, I was so wrong!

So here are the final steps to publication. In the spring of 2012 I realized that an agent, editor and publisher were no longer required.  Miracle of miracles you can self publish as an eBook. Once I found the box where the novel was stored I realized the book was written and filed by chapter on 48 separate 3 ½ inch floppy disks. The novel was written using Lotus 123 a spreadsheet program, which was the only program that was available to me at that time.  If I had known just how much trouble converting the files from Lotus to a usable Word program would be, I would have used a more suitable program back in 1994.

 Hind sight is easy!

The first hurdle that I encountered was that I didn't have a computer that could read the antiquated floppy disks, and I actually contemplated re-typing the entire book in word, a potentially daunting task considering the book contained approximately 245K words.  Then my son-in-law found me an old refurbished PC that had a drive that would accept 3 ½ inch floppy disks.  Ok, first hurdle resolved.

However, I now needed to find a way to convert from Lotus to Word.  There is a program called CNET which I ultimately used and I was able to convert the chapters into Excel files.  Then I had to convert from Excel to Word, however when the conversion was completed there had been problems with the formatting and instead of clean Words files, everything was corrupted.  The corruption took the form of the addition of lines inserted between the lines of text. Instead of approximately 450 Word pages I had nearly 5 thousand pages.  This meant I needed to sit and manually delete these lines; this took nearly three months of incredibly boring work. During this period the sheer size of the file was so large the file would continually freeze up the PC, OK another computer was required so I upgraded to another recycled Dell which resolved the problem.

Once I had a file that was workable I was able to actually edit the novel again to clean up all of the errors that had developed along the way and to polish the text etc.  Another two months of work ensued.  During this period I was able to secure the talents of the very creative Lan Medina and the cover was designed and drawn.

Finally with a product I was happy with, I set out to publish on Amazon, a reasonably easy task.  However, when I looked at the preview on Amazon I realized there was another serious formatting error.  Somehow through all of the conversions an error occurred which scrambled the text.  Another two months of work was required to correct.

Finally after six months of work and hundreds of hours of boredom I was able to publish on both Amazon and Smashwords.  The 18 year journey was completed and it was so gratifying to finally have it finished.  Previously I had always felt a huge sense of failure because the book was sitting unused in a box gathering dust.

GETTYSBURG REDUX IS AVAILABLE AT ALL EBOOK VENDORS

The sequel - REBELS AND DESPERADOS should be available by the end of 2013.

CUSTOMER REVIEW- MR. JABLOWSKI'S TREASURE

It was really nice to receive my first customer review for my short story- MR. JABLOWSKI’S TREASURE. There’s nothing more gratifying than getting feedback from a reader, especially if it’s positive feedback.

Here’s the review that was left on SMASHWORDS:

“John R. Stuart imaginatively explores an early memory treasured from a life once lived—I would like to believe—interwoven in a rich tapestry of soft hue and silky texture with a subtle naivety of innocence spilling through each page.”

MR. JABLOWSKI’S TREASURE is available at the following eBook vendors:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mr-jablowskis-treasure-john-r-stuart/1116057697?ean=2940044608344

http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW00000328907/Stuart-John-R.-Mr.-Jablowski-s-Treasure/1.html

https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/mr.-jablowskis-treasure/id667813706?mt=11

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/books/Mr-Jablowskis-Treasure/hzBvXl5BzUKLRv9OwL48k-

https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/john-r-stuart/mr-jablowski-s-treasure/_/R-400000000000001077109

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/328907

Editing - The Tedious part of the creative writing process

I've just finished the third edit of my new novel- REBELS AND DESPERADOS which represents the second critical stage in my novel’s life.  I suspect there is nothing more tedious and boring in the entire world than this process, however, it is vital to producing a good- enjoyable story. Now I don’t pretend to be a professional editor, however a degree in English Literature from the University of Toronto is a good starting point.

My current process for editing is three fold:

Edit one consists of a fast re-read to insure the story flows, the character details are correct, the timelines are true and it basically makes sense for the reader.

Edit two consist of a detailed examination of the books formatting in word. This is a spell and grammar check as well as a review of the standard formatting. Formatting errors in an eBook will present the reader with a poor reading experience, and may cause trouble when the book is submitted to your eBook publisher. Tedious at its best.

Edit three is a page by page re-read of the entire novel, start to finish. At this point I again check spelling, grammar, and word selection. It’s an opportunity to polish and tweak the story as well. I edit every page twice and this process is a true time eater!

I finished the third stage on July 1^st and then it was time to send it off to my editor for his review. For REBELS AND DESPERADOS I’m very lucky to have a good editor, a friend who was an English teacher at a U.S. college, so the edit will be good!

Once he finishes his review it comes back to me for my re-work based upon his edits. Now I’m of the opinion that a good editor will fix any spelling or grammatical errors, identify story line issues and comment on the quality of the story. He may also decide to critique the way the story is written, basically what style do I write in. Is it suitable etc, etc?

I hope in this situation I will not require significant re-writes. Depending upon what the editor suggests I hope to be ready to correct and publish REBELS AND DESPERADOS by October 2013.

But ultimately I have the final decision as to what the story is and how it’s told. After all I am the writer.

So, where am I going with this? It’s like a lottery to get published.

I have probably read upwards of 1000 works of fiction during my life, but in order to find those 1000 truly worthy reads I've started to read many, many more books. It’s likely in the range of 5-10 thousand books.  Most look of these books have a great cover, look interesting and have promise, but after 50 pages or so I put them down- unfinished. Why?

Well, some are just plain terrible, others are well written but the subject matter is boring, it might be very well written but the subject matter isn't strong enough to keep my attention.  Where am I going with this, well the point I’m making is that there are thousands of stories available, as standard printed books or as eBooks- but they just weren't right for me, and the publishing business is much the same.

It’s like a lottery to get published. At some point every one of the books I've rejected has caught the attention of an agent or publisher.  Someone somewhere thought it was brilliant and spent the time and money to publish it. I suspect on any given day several hundred book proposals will arrive on a publisher’s desk.

Why are some accepted and others rejected? Good question?

When I originally tried to publish GETTYSBURG REDUX the old fashioned way, I sent my book proposal to approximately 100 publishers. Some had the courtesy to send me a reply, must did not. Universally their response was negative! Did this mean my novel was bad, not necessarily, they may have failed to see the potential in my work, or perhaps it wasn't the flavor of the day? They may have seen merit in the story but felt it wasn't commercially viable. Perhaps the subject matter and story-line were not something they were interested in. Maybe they had a bad day or had no interest in alternative fiction; never the less they declined my book proposal.

Here are some examples of successful authors that had trouble getting published:

Margaret Mitchell- GONE WITH THE WIND was rejected by dozens of publishers

J.K Rowling - HARRY POTTER

Louis L’Amour received approx. 200 rejections before his first work was published

C.S Lewis is reputed to have received in the range of 800 rejection letters

Agents and publishers get it wrong all the time. There are many successful authors, with millions of sales- and I won’t list any of them here, but these are books I found to be unreadable. They Just didn't meet my needs as a reader.

So getting a book published by a large publisher is akin to winning the lottery, the chances are significantly stacked against a new and unknown author.

Just keep trying - I know I will!

MR. JABLOWSKI’S TREASURE

I started this blog with the intention of chronicling my journey as a writer. Therefore it seems appropriate to report that I have just published a new short story.

MR. JABLOWSKI’S TREASURE

Available now as an eBook on Sony and KOBO, and via SMASHWORDS and soon to be available at other retailers.

https://ebookstore.sony.com/search?keyword=mr.+jablowski%27s+treasure

http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=MR.+JABLOWSKI%27S+TREASURE

Originally written as an entry for the Toronto Star short story contest many years ago, I didn't enter the story as it was too long to meet their requirements! When I edited it down to meet their word count I felt I had lost some of the important flavor of the tale and it simply wasn't good enough at the reduced version. I was going to enter the story for the 2013 contest, but discovered that as an employee of the Toronto Public Library I was not eligible, as the Library is a sponsor of the contest.

Here’s a brief synopsis and I’ve included a sample to whet your interests. If you decide to purchase and you enjoyed the story please let me know!

A young boy in 1966 is given too much freedom and while he works hard to escape the summertime blues, the bullies and boredom, he makes an amazing discovery. This discovery unfortunately leads to tragic consequences.

SAMPLE:

The passage of the subway train made a dull thundering sound as it squeezed down the tunnel from the Warden Ave. station into the final stop at Kennedy. My head snapped up, awoken from the sleep of the tired commuter. The black walls of the tunnel were in sharp contrast to the bright piercing signal lights that lined the dark dirty walls. My chin sank back down to my chest and I forced my eyes open, returning to the land of the living. It was a pressure induced, begrudging sleep, and I looked to each side to see if I had insulted either of the two fat women that I was sandwiched between, my head resting on one of their broad shoulders while I was in the embrace of the subway snooze, but both were still snoring away.

Then I saw Old Man Jablowski sitting directly across the car. I involuntarily gasped, but the train squealed, traversing a tight curve and my gasp was lost in the train’s scream. There he was, as large as life itself, a newspaper clasped in his large hairy hands. I closed my eyes, as if this would make him disappear, yet there he remained when I looked again. But it wasn’t Old Man Jablowski, just a look-alike! He wore the same dull gray fedora pushed back revealing his white hair and the checkered sports coat worn by all tired old men.

The white light of the station platform flooded the train as the subway train pulled to a shuddering stop. The Jablowski clone folded his paper carefully and slipped away into the crowd as commuters filed out of the subway car. Swallowed up, as if he he had never been there to awaken the memory of the real Mr. Jablowski. But he had been there, just long enough to dredge up those painful memories that I had prayed would stay buried forever!

I hadn’t thought about that old man for decades, thirty years to be precise; not since that long hot summer in 1966 when I was ten years old. Of course the reality was that I hadn’t given any thought to that entire summer, not since the day I walked back into the crisp, cool halls of the Crescent Road public school the day after Labor Day to begin grade five and let that summer slide away into oblivion! In the summer of 66 my parents let me run wild. I was old enough to be considered responsible and careful enough not to get caught. My father and mother trusted me and in the end that was just a little too much. After all they knew everyone in the neighborhood, if not by name then by face. It was a time when people expected the best from each other and from life and more often than not they were not disappointed. Our street was just like all the streets in our little world. Post Second World War Two bungalows laid out in neat geometric squares. Every house had a car parked in the driveway and although they weren’t new they were well kept. It was not quite the world portrayed in TV shows like “Leave it to Beaver” and the “Nelsons”, but close to it, an age of innocence.

TO ‘E’ OR NOT TO ‘E

TO ‘E’ OR NOT TO ‘E’

Now as a writer I’m about to make a confession. I am a horrible speller, not a very desirable trait in a person that has aspirations to be a writer. Ever since I can remember starting to read and write, nearly 55 years ago spelling has been a profound challenge for me. For many years a good dictionary was one of my best friends, so the creation of spell check is a true blessing!

Where am I going with this post? Well, when I started my second novel I had several titles in mind and as the book progressed one title just seemed perfect.

REBELS AND DESPERADOES

Short, simple, descriptive and it really summed up the story line well. Now when I had the cover produced and I showed it to friends, family and acquaintances - their first reaction wasn't wow, great cover, it was - hey you spelled DESPERADOES wrong!!!  Virtually everyone that saw it thought it should be spelled without the E, as DESPERADO.

OK, I’m not stupid and I checked several online dictionaries, pulled out my old book version. In every case it was correct to spell DESPERADOES with an E or without the E, it’s sort of a tomato- tomatoes sort of word, and either spelling was perfectly acceptable. I even went as far as asking my father Captain Stuart (a walking dictionary) if my spelling choice was correct, and after a long discussion - he agreed DESPERADOES was an acceptable version of the plural of desperado.

So to further delve into this challenging word I posed this question to the WRITERS HANGOUT GROUP on Linkedin. Several members responded and concurred that either was correct, however one Spanish writer pointed out that the word desperado is of Spanish origin and in Spanish the plural is spelled without the E.

But the most pertinent comment was that it didn't matter what was correct, it’s what’s perceived to be correct.  There cannot be a spelling error on the cover, no matter what!

So what it comes down to in the end is that it rally doesn't matter what I believe is the correct spelling, or what I prefer. What’s crucial is what do potential readers think is correct. If they see the book’s cover and immediately say, hmm - is that a spelling mistake, then - yes it’s a spelling mistake. It doesn't matter in any way shape or fashion that I know it’s correct, if they see it as a spelling error, that it’s an error.

Therefore, the title will be:   REBELS AND DESPERADOS

I’d be remiss if I didn't credit the bard- William Shakespeare for inspiring the title of this blog post.

But: ‘Would a desperado without the E be just as desperate?’

  Sorry, but I just couldn't resist!

REBELS AND DESPERADOS - MILESTONE ACHIEVED

REBEL EMPIRE- BOOK TWO- MILESTONE ACHIEVED

I started writing this blog to chronicle my journey as a writer and at the time of the first post on May 29- I had already completed my first rough draft of the second novel in the series REBEL EMPIRE -entitled REBELS AND DESPERADOS which is the sequel to GETTYSBURG REDUX. So today I completed my first re-read and edit of the novel and I consider this one of the first true milestones in this new writer’s journey. So, a milestone achieved, and I must admit I really like this story a lot. I felt I had much more creative freedom with this novel than I did with the first book. In this case there was little or no historical baggage to handle, I used just a few actual historical characters and had free reign to let the creative juices flow.

There was a great deal of trepidation and anxiety in my mind when I sat down on Jan 1, 2013 to begin the sequel, after all I had completed GETTYSBURG REDUX in 1996 and a period of nearly 17 years had passed where I had not written a single word of fiction. Could I do it again, was there a second novel rambling around in my poor old brain? All very valid questions, but fueled with a few great ideas and a new lap top PC, many thanks to the family for the Christmas gift and building on that kernel of an idea which had floated around in my mind for years I started to write. I must admit that this novel basically wrote itself and while I had set an ambitious goal of 200 pages and a completion date of mid July, I was incredibly pleased to be finished the first draft by May 9^th, way ahead of my own schedule!.  Like I said the novel basically wrote itself, and while I had a reasonably firm idea of where the first half of the story would go, the second half took off and went to unexpected exciting places.

So now the first true rough draft is completed. My goal is now to take a second look at the formatting to seek any strange formatting problems, and then do a final second detailed edit.  Once that is complete, hopefully by the middle of July it will then go to my editor.  With a little luck the proposed publishing date is mid September. Fingers crossed.

One of the challenges for a writer that takes the independent course and self publishes is the task of getting a cover, a decent cover.  For REBELS AND DESPERADOS I had a good idea of what I wanted as a cover and I produced a mock up image using excel. However, I knew it was nowhere good enough to be used as a finished cover.  This is where my talented son-in-law Pato Lahman took my primitive attempts and ideas and worked some magic.

Here are the two covers he produced.

Cover 1- wanted poster cover

Cover 2, flag only

I prefer cover 1 with the wanted poster, so I’d love to hear your opinion, please let me know which one is better.