Book 1 Update
It is time for outside-the-box thinking. After nary a whiff from 40 literary agents, I decided to venture down another avenue. It's all part of my plan to exhaust all ideas while also readying my novel for self-publication. 2 birds, 1 stone. I contacted a company in New York, Write by Night, to help lift 11:34 off the ground. We have a meeting scheduled on Monday, July 22. As I said from Day 1, this novel will be published. It may take a bit of time, but it will happen. And it will be well worth the wait. I promise.
Book 2 Update
I spend hundreds of hours researching topics for the Test of Mettle stories to make them as realistic as possible. Then I sprinkle in a cup of fiction and mix it well like a good little chef.
I completed the Test of Mettle story involving the legendary serial killer, Jack the Ripper. And what a finish it was! It takes place on the night of the "Double Event", when he murdered two victims in two different places an hour apart from one another. The victims were numbers three and four. A demon was sprinkled into this recipe to test the Ripper. It is safe to assume that the Ripper survives the Test of Mettle because his killing days are not over yet; there is still the fifth and final canonical slaying. I hope readers feel surprised by the way the Ripper survives and the way the demon loses the test during the Double Event.
After the conclusion of "The Whitechapel Demon," my second novel now stands at 221 pages / 65,753 words.
I have another Test of Mettle story or 2 waiting in the wings before I begin working on the thrilling third act, which will set the stage for a gripping, hair-raising third novel.
Lights, Camera, Action!
As I work to wrap up the 2nd novel, I am also producing a cinematic trailer for it. While the trailer will not be released until the first novel hits the shelves, I expect it to be the best one yet.
Just for fun, I recently reached out to a few professional studios to inquire about the cost of producing a book trailer. Their prices generally started at $10,000 and went up from there. While this exceeds my current budget, it is always fun to research such things. Until I establish myself in the writing community, for now, I am left to fantasize.
