Coaching for Writers

Lust, Hunger, and Terror in the Canadian Wilderness

2012-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

My latest novel, DEAD OF WINTER, is a historical horror thriller set in Canada during the blizzard season of 1870. The story is based partly on true events and an old Algonquin Indian legend that still haunts the Great Lakes tribes to this day. It’s also a detective mystery and even includes a couple of love triangles, since I am also a fan of romance and steamy sex scenes.

The Victorian mystery takes place near the end of the 19th Century at an isolated fur-trading fort deep in the Ontario wilderness. Inspector Tom Hatcher, a troubled detective from Montreal, recently captured a deranged serial killer, the Cannery Cannibal. Gustav Meraux is Jack-the-the-Ripper meets Hannibal Lecter. Even though the cannibal has been locked away in an asylum, the case still haunts Tom, so he has moved out to the wilderness, bringing his rebellious teenage son with him. At the beginning of the story, Tom has taken a job at Fort Pendleton to solve a case of strange murders by a cannibal more savage than Gustav Meraux. Some predator in the woods surrounding the fort is attacking colonists and spreading a gruesome plague—the victims turn into ravenous cannibals with an unending hunger for human flesh. In Tom’s search for answers, he discovers that the Jesuits know something about this plague. My second main character is Father Xavier, an exorcist from Montreal. The Vatican sends the priest to Ontario to help Tom battle the Devil’s Plague.

While indeed a work of fiction, I wanted this book to feel real and authentic. Throughout the story I interweave several facts I pulled from history books and an interview I did with a descendent from a Canadian Ojibwa tribe. During my research, I came across some unexplained stories that the Ojibwa and Algonquin tribes all around the Great Lakes region, including Ontario, Quebec, Michigan, and Minnesota, feared a supernatural creature that lives in the woods and stalks people every winter. The tribes migrated every year because of this superstition. This legend also spooked the white fur traders, like the men of Hudson’s Bay Company, who lived in isolated forts all across Canada and traded with the Indians (now called First Nations). In my novel, Fort Pendleton is a fictitious fort named after one my characters, a tycoon by the name of Master Avery Pendleton. When the mysterious killings start plaguing the colonists living within his fort, Pendleton hires Tom Hatcher to solve the case. Tom teams up with an Ojibwa tracker and shaman, Anika Moonblood. She doesn’t believe the killer is a man or animal, but something much more terrifying. In the book, everyone in the neighboring Ojibwa tribe is spooked by the stalker in the woods. I studied the customs of the Ojibwa people of that era, as well as shamanism, and put much of what I learned into the book. To authenticate my priest characters, I studied Jesuit history, demonology, and countless cases of real priests performing exorcisms. From the scriptures I gathered on battling demons, I could probably do an exorcism myself, not that I would ever want to.

As I researched Canada’s legendary evil spirit even deeper, I discovered an article about a real isolated fort in Quebec where all the colonists went crazy and turned cannibal. In the late 1700s, a Jesuit priest who visited this fort documented the case in his journal, describing the deranged colonists as possessed by the devil. This is all factual and documented by the Catholic Church. I also did extensive research on the history of frontier life in Canada in the 1800s. During the long winter months, cannibalism became a way of survival for isolated villages that ran out of food. After consuming human flesh, people often turned insane, or what the Jesuits would describe as “possessed.” Sometimes soldiers would arrive at a fort to find that all the colonists dead except one man, who survived by eating the others.

While my novel is definitely a horror thriller, I mix in other genres like the detective mystery and romance. As Inspector Hatcher hunts for a backwoods serial killer, two women residing at the fort fall in love with him. One is his boss’s wife, Lady Willow Pendleton, a spoiled debutant who hates her cheating husband, Avery. The other woman is Anika Moonblood, the native tracker who has been assigned to work with Tom. Theirs is a love-hate relationship, because Tom only sees Anika as a heathen. To make matters more complicated, she is Avery Pendleton’s mistress, albeit against her will. While Tom feels burning desires for both Willow and Anika, getting involved with either has dangerous consequences, for Master Pendleton is not a man to cross.

I had a blast writing DEAD OF WINTER and I hope you enjoy reading it. My imagination was running wild at the time. I also enjoyed seeing the mystery unfold. When I write, I never know how a book is going to play out. I have a general idea that gets me started writing, but most of the time I’m solving the riddle right alongside my detective. I did my best to make DEAD OF WINTER the scariest book that I could write, while igniting not just fear and terror, but all the emotions to offer readers a truly visceral experience. I am grateful that Samhain Horror released my novel and I’m excited to share this story with readers. Enjoy the adventure!

DEAD OF WINTER is now availble in paperback and e-book.

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Brian Moreland writes novels and short stories of horror and supernatural suspense. He lives in Dallas, Texas where he is diligently writing his next horror novel. You can communicate with him online at http://www.brianmoreland.com/ or on Twitter @BrianMoreland.

Radio Interview Geared Toward Writers

2011-10-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday, October 21, I spoke for an hour about writing, publishing, and marketing books on the blogtalk radio show PAGE TURNERS with hosts Nancy Denofio, Meg Collins, and Bennet Pomerantz. I also share details about writing my latest novel DEAD OF WINTER.

To hear the recorded podcast, click on this link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rrradio/2011/10/21/page-turners-with-hosts-meg-collins-and-nancy-duci-denofio

Podcast Interview with Success Tips for Writers

2011-10-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a new audio interview with me and long-time friend, author and handwriting expert Bart Baggett, talking about my writing career, why I write supernatural novels, my latest historical horror novel DEAD OF WINTER, and success secrets of how I overcame many obstacles to getting published. We also talk about graphology (handwriting analysis) and how you make powerful changes just by making a few simple changes to your handwriting. Listen to the 40 minute podcast below.

Author Brian Moreland Interview with Host Bart Baggett by BrianMoreland

A decade ago, Bart Baggett wrote a great self-help book Success Secrets of the Rich and Happy which I had the honor of editing. There's a lot of great information packed within this book. In addition to tools for success and manifesting an extraordinary life, you'll learn how to analyze your handwriting, as well as your friends. Go to Amazon and order your copy today.

If you are interested in learning about how to analyze handwriting, self-improvement, or a career analyzing handwriting for court cases, check out Handwriting University International.

Bart and I at his book release party back in the day. I think we were in our early thirties.

Using Twitter to Market Books & Blogs Part 2

2011-09-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some more tips on how to use Twitter to market your books and blogs and build your audience. This is a continuation from Part 1.

If you're promoting a book or blog, be sure to include the name of your book(s) and website in your Twitter bio that goes beside your photo. You have about 160 characters to write something to introduce yourself. Here's my Twitter bio as an example:

In the website space in "profile settings" I inserted the link to where readers can buy my book: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/dead-winter-p-6507.html . This goes underneath your bio. You want to include your website in your bio, because that gets emailed directly to people every time you follow someone, and it gives people the opportunity to click on your website link right from their email. The designated website space below the bio allows you to post a second link to a blog, Facebook page, or Amazon page of your book.

Now that your bio is set up to best promote your book and website(s), you want to search for people who are most likely to read what you write. There are a number of ways you can search Twitter for readers that fit your demographic. I will cover many of them in this series of blog posts. Today I'm focused on searching for key words in the Twitter search. If there's a certain author in the same genre that you write, then do a search on the author's name. This brings up a list of everyone talking about this author and their books. Those tweeters would be good ones to follow because they have an affinity for your niche. For my genre, I might do a search for a popular horror author or key words like zombies, werewolves, ghosts, vampires, supernatural, or horror novels to find my audience. This will take me to a results page with people talking about horror novels. I scan the tweets on this search list and read not only their tweets, but their bios as well. I look for key words in their bios like: avid reader, love reading, book junkie, love horror, or love Stephen King. These are the booklovers that I choose to connect with.

If I were a cookbook author, I'd search for people talking about recipes. If I were promoting a health book or diet book or a how-to book, I'd search for people tweeting about topics that matched my subject matter. When you follow them, they are now aware that you have a book that matches their interest. You've now introduced yourself, your book title, and your website to a person who has a high-probablity of buying your book. If they follow you back (and many of them do with gratitude and enthusiasm), you can message them with a "thank you for following" and start a dialogue. In social media, selling books is about building relationships with people who share your common interests. The more time you spend getting to know readers and letting them get to know you, the more likely you are going to sell books. What's phenomenal about Twitter is that your fans that you connect with will eventually become your promoters, as well. They will tweet about your books with high praise and spread the word, attracting you more fans and book sales.

I have more Twitter tips to come ... to stay tuned, subscribe to this blog.

My author website: http://www.brianmoreland.com/

Using Twitter to Market Books & Blogs Part I

2011-09-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some tips on how to use Twitter to market your books and blogs and build your audience. For those who are new to Twitter, it's a social media site where you set up a profile and post short messages about what you're doing. These messages are called "tweets." People from all around the world can "follow" you and read every message that you post. Just about every celebrity imaginable now uses Twitter to give their fans a personal connection. Twitter is also great for authors connecting with their readers. This is a goldmine for marketing books and blogs.

Once your profile is set up, search for hundreds to thousands of people who match your reading audience, click on the person's name and follow them by clicking the "follow" button beneath their name. Their descriptions and what they tweet about will tip you off to what they love. Whatever subject or genre you write about, type in key words in the "search space" next to the Twitter logo, then hit return. It will pull up a list of recent tweets from people talking about your topic. Go down the list and follow each profile that you like.

For instance, I write horror fiction. I also blog about writing, publishing, and the adventures of being a professional author. On Twitter, all I have to do is search "horror" or "horror novels" or use the ashtag #horror, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of horror fans out there who say so in their descriptions.

"I'm an avid reader of horror.

"I love skiing, my dog, watching movies, and reading horror."

"Reading novels is the air I breathe. I love mystery, romance, and horror."

When you follow the people who fit your reading audience, they often follow you back. Now they know who you are, and since you blog about a topic they enjoy or you write the types of books they love to read, they will most likely visit your website at least once, and if your blog or book is engaging enough, they become fans.

In one sitting I might follow 20-30 people who are my target market. Often within minutes, I get emails from Twitter showing me who's following me back. I've made a lot of new friends this way. And several times new followers have written to tell me that they just bought my book on Amazon. Thanks to the world of Twitter, it has never been easier to find your fans.

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Brian Moreland is the author of the horror novels Dead of Winter and Shadows in the Mist. He also writes for two blogs.

Official website: http://www.brianmoreland.com/

Book services: http://www.morelandcreative.com/

Follow @BrianMoreland

Farewell, Borders Books; Hello, e-Publishing

2011-08-19T09:20:00.001-07:00

My favorite local book store, Borders, where I used to love to hang out and buy books, has recently closed its doors, as are all the Borders stores across America. Today, I discovered another local independent book store, Legacy Books, which did a lot for the community of authors and book lovers here in Dallas, Texas, also shut its doors forever. Before that, I had witnessed other smaller Mom-&-Pop book stores close, because they couldn't compete with the bigger chains. In the world of books and book sellers, as Bob Dylan once sang, "the times they are a-changin'."

What's causing this change? Online book stores like Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booksamillion.com have changed the way readers buy books. And more and more readers are buying e-books over paperback and hardbacks.

"According to the Association of American Publishers (AARP), sales figures for the first half of 2011...paperback sales dipped nearly 18% and hardback sales fell 23% compared to the same period the previous year."

On the contrary, e-book sales are up 160% from this time a year ago. Every publishing professional I've talked to sees ebooks as the future for books. My own publisher, Samhain Publishing, one of the largest e-book publishers, told me last year their ratio of e-book readers to trade paperback readers was one e-book to two paperbacks. This year it has reversed; they now sell two e-books for every one paperback. And the trend seems to be expanding for e-book sales.

According to a Janaruy 2011 article in Today @ PC World, "Amazon says that, for the first time, it has sold more e-books than paperbacks. Since the start of the year, Amazon has sold 115 Kindle books for every 100 paperbacks. Kindle sales continue to outpace hardcover sales; during the same time period, three times as many Kindle books were sold as were hardcover books."

So the e-book trend is alive and thriving. Just ask some members from the younger generations (readers in their early twenties to teens) who have been raised in a digital world surrounded by electronic gadgets, and you'll discover that a growing percentage of them own some form of e-reader (Kindle, Nook, or Ipad) and enjoy reading e-books.

Does that mean paperbacks and hardbacks are following Borders to extinction?

Hopefully not for a very long time. I still love holding a book in my hand. I love the smell of the paper and the feeling of turning the pages. I also enjoy seeing the book cover on my nightstand, reminding me there's an exciting fictional world to dive into or a
how-to-book that inspires me to learn something new. While trade paperbacks and hardbacks seem safe for the moment (although the high-priced hardbacks could be threatened by the state of the economy), the smaller mass-market paperbacks are the ones in most danger. The paperbacks on the grocery store racks that I used to flip through as a kid are now being phased out, just like the popularity of DVDs pushed VHS out of the market. E-books are doing the same to mass-market paperbacks. Dorchester Publishing/Leisure Books, who is one of the oldest mass-market publishers, took a huge hit because of this trend and had to release many of its established authors, as well as layoff talented members of its publishing staff. Now, most printed books are coming out as the larger trade paperbacks.

Bottom line: Book stores that you can walk into are a dying breed and digital e-books are the next wave for publishing and selling books.

So, if you are an author in today's market, how do you respond to these changes? Well, if I you are with a mid-size to large publishing house, you can relax, as your books are most likely already coming out as both paperback and e-versions simultaneously. Just remember to include e-book readers in your book campaign.

If your publisher doesn't produce e-books, it's time to find a new publishing house that's on the cutting edge. If you are an independtly published author and you don't have a digital version of your book selling on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords, then you better catch up quick, because it won't be long before paperbacks and hardbacks are just a small percentage of the market. And if you're a YA author, publishing your book as an e-book is an aboslute must to tap that expanding teen market. Within the next five years, all your books should be selling in digital formats if you aim to sell books in this ever-changing high-tech world. Because who knows if there will be any brick-and-mortar book stores left by then?

So, with a bittersweet feeling in my heart, I bid farewell to Borders--my old cathedral of books--and goodbye to all the other local Mom-&-Pops that tried to compete with giants like Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, and Amazon. As an author of the twenty-first century, I embrace the popularity of online book stores and e-books, and I admit that I even own my very own Kindle now. But in secret, when the time comes to curl up in bed with a riveting book, I still enoy reading a good, old-fashioned paperback.

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Brian Moreland is an internationally successful author of supernatural novels (DEAD OF WINTER, SHADOWS IN THE MIST) and a number of short stories. He also helps other writers achieve success through consulting and creative services: creative brainstorming, editing, complete book design (interior & cover), ebook formatting, and assistance with authors ready to explore independent publishing.

http://www.morelandcreative.com/
http://www.brianmoreland.com/

My New Book Cover

2011-06-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

"A frightening and chilly romp through a winter wasteland, Dead of Winter will freeze your soul! Sharply written and scary as hell, this one is a must-read for all horror fans. I am in awe of Brian Moreland."

-- Ronald Malfi, author of Snow and Floating Staircase

Well, it's just months away until the release of my next horror novel, DEAD OF WINTER. The official release date for the ebook is October 11, 2011. To read an excerpt of the first three chapters visit my DARK LUCIDITY blog.

"Moreland's novel is a unique blend of historical fiction, thriller, and horror--and it all works flawlessly. Dead of Winter had me breathless. This is one hell of a great read."

--Nate Kenyon, award-winning author of The Reach, Sparrow Rock, and StarCraft Ghost: Spectres

“From lust and greed to duty and piousness, the cast of complex characters in Dead of Winter erupt to life in historical splendor. Drawing on several horror elements, the reader will be swept away on this canoe-ride of excitement, terror, and mystery. Tom Hatcher takes his son, Chris to the isolation of the Ontario North to repair the wounds of their past. When the blizzards bring an evil to the fort that mysteriously turns the inhabitants into vicious cannibals, Tom’s detective skills are insufficient weapons against the menace that lurks beyond the walls of the fort. Grab a warm blanket and throw another log on the fire, and delve into the terror that only winter can snow down on the soul.”

--Aurora Nominee Suzanne Church, author of "Destiny Lives in the Tattoo's Needle" and "The Tear Closet"

Just Landed a New Book Deal

2011-03-24T16:22:00.001-07:00

My previous post promised some big news. Well, I just inked a book deal for my second novel, DEAD OF WINTER. It's been a long journey since I published my first novel, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, five years ago. My World War II supernatural horror novel has done well, publishing first as a trade paperback, then as a mass paperback through Berkley/Penguin, then as a hardback in Austria and Germany under the title Schattenkrieger. Now, it is still selling as an ebook for Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook.

DEAD OF WINTER is a horror novel I started researching and writing back in 2006 and finished the winter of 2009. It sat in limbo for a little over a year before it found a home with Samhain Publishing. I'm thrilled to be working with legendary horror editor Don D'Auria and I'm eager to get my second novel out to all the readers who've been asking, "When's your next book coming out?" Well, now it's very soon. I'll announce the release date as soon as my publisher has set one.

In the mean time, you can read an excerpt of DEAD OF WINTER at my fiction blog DARK LUCIDITY.

The Zen of Writing

2011-03-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

A writer responded to my previous article “Dealing with Distractions.” What happens if the kind of family distractions are not external noises like children playing or romping around but the internal kind that sticks within you and rubs you uncomfortably and you can't seem to shake it off at that moment? You want it out of your system because you know it distracts that peaceful state within that makes you want to write? I'd like to think that professional writers too have internal disturbances -- what do you to not let it get in the way of your writing?

Honestly, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't have something internal pulling at me to do this or do that instead of sit at my computer and write. I have a few approaches in handling these gremlins. First, I meditate and see if all I need to do is quiet the mind for a little bit. If there's something that really has to be done, like pay bills that day or do a task for someone, then I'll take care of business.

I've gotten in the habit of dedicating a block of hours early in the morning to write. I usually get up before everyone in the house. It's too early to call anyone and no one calls me (because I turn off the phone.) So I have peace and quiet in which to work, and I don't feel obligated to talk to anybody or do anything for anyone. It's 100% Me Time.

During my morning hours (5:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.) there's very little to distract me. All the business that I need to take care of that day can be handled after 8:00 or noon, depending how long my writing schedule is that day. If there's still too many nagging thoughts breaking my concentration, I'll go back to meditating or do some yoga. It's all just mental noise anyway, and breathing and stretching quiets things down. The key is training your brain to be a habitual writer, so that when it's time to sit down and write you can focus and get into the zone. If someone can't focus at all, then I would recommend getting coaching from a personal coach trained in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). I'd have them guide me through some closed-eye exercises that help your mind create more resources around being focused and more relaxed when the time comes for you to sit down and write. Productivity is all about getting yourself into a zen state.

http://www.brianmoreland.com/coaching4writers.html

Dealing with Distractions

2011-03-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

A writer who was having too many family distractions asked me, "Have you ever just had to get away somewhere to write?"

Yes, I would say my best writing happens when I take some time off and go on a brief writing sabbatical. Anywhere from a three-day weekend to five days, whatever time I can afford to take off from my business. I have a friend's cabin in the woods I escape to. Or I housesit for people who are traveling. If I can afford to rent a room somewhere, then I'll do that, too. The investment in myself is well worth it. Other places to escape to are the library, coffee shops, a friend's house while they are out. As a writer it is important to create a space of solitude to write. I have lived with roommates and I have lived with a girlfriend and her children. I told them that writing is part of my career, and they have given me space to write in my office without disturbing me. They know that when I leave for a few days to write, it is because getting my book done is important. When there are a lot of family activities going on that make writing difficult during the day and evening, I wait until everyone's asleep and write then, either staying up till 2:00 a.m. or getting up at 5:00 a.m. I prefer mornings, because I'm most creative after waking up. With 3-4 hours of focused writing, I can really move my story along.

What do you do when you get stuck, I mean really stuck and can't seem to push through?

If you are feeling stuck, then the best thing to do is take some kind of action--ask a family member to take over your responsibilities for a few days and get away to write. If you are constantly sacrificing your needs for others, then you run the risk of being a martyr. And this doesn't help anybody. It creates an unspoken tension for everyone in the house. Your needs are just as important as your family's. If you truly are a writer, and publishing novels is your dream, then you making time to write is just as important as everything else you do. Share your goals with your family. Hopefully they will be supportive and give you the space or help to write. Even if not everyone supports your choice to make time for yourself to write, then that's okay. Give yourself time to write anyway. Every writer who has responsibility to other people deals with this challenge. The writers who succeed at finishing books, publishing, and building a career out of writing novels know that sometimes being selfish is okay. Writers have to be somewhat selfish to achieve writing books. Successful writers give blocks of time and attention to their loved ones and blocks of time and attention to their writing. Think of your book as just another child who needs your love and attention.

If you can enroll some help from a family member or friend, I highly recommend you get away from your current situation so you can breathe and get your book written. You will feel much better about yourself, your book, your life, and your career, and you will return to your loved ones feeling renewed and appreciative.
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Brian Moreland is a published author who offers professional coaching to writers. Check out his services at http://www.brianmoreland.com/

New Coaching Services

2011-03-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

Looking for some advice on writing, publishing, or marketing books?

Have you considered talking one-on-one with a professional author and coach?

I've added some new affordable coaching services to writers on my website: http://brianmoreland.com/coaching4writers.html

World Horror Convention 2011

2011-03-13T10:21:00.001-07:00

I just signed up to attend the World Horror Convention in Austin, TX Apr 28-May 1, 2011 http://worldhorrorconvention.com/future-whcs/

http://www.brianmoreland.com/

Twitter: @BrianMoreland

Facebook: Author Brian Moreland

Should You Continue Writing

2011-03-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

A budding writer wrote: Do you think I should continue writing even though my parents don't want me to continue? They are always telling me that I have no future being a writer.

Yes, definitely continue writing if that's something YOU want to do. What your parents probably want is to make sure you find away to earn steady money so you can support yourself. Writers don't typically make a lot of money at first, so it's good to have a second career that you work while you write. For instance, I make my living as a video editor, editing TV commercials and documentaries. I also coach writers and do brainstorming sessions with them on their books. The novels I've written and published are now bringing in additional money, but I would have starved years ago had I relied solely on my writing to pay the bills. So, you should definitely find another career path that you love that pays you steady paychecks. And, if you really love writing, keep writing, no matter what other people think. My dad didn't understand my desire to be a writer. He didn't see how I could make money at it. But I kept writing because it is my #1 passion. It's my calling. It's why I am here on the planet. So I kept at the writing and now, after much success with selling my books internationally (I just landed my fourth book deal), my dad sees that as a writer you can make good money. Really great money. Eventually. Keep at it. Keep writing for you. It will pay off down the road.

Interview #4 by author Gabrielle Faust

2010-02-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

Gabrielle Faust, a horror author best known for her dark fantasy vampire series ETERNAL VIGILANCE, interviewed me on her Horror and Sci-Fi Entertainment blog. Read the intervew at this link:

http://www.examiner.com/x-23384-Horror-and-SciFi-Entertainment-Examiner~y2009m10d7-Brian-Moreland-takes-us-behind-the-Shadows-in-the-Mist

Radio Interview: Urban Echoes

2010-02-01T14:32:00.000-08:00

You can hear my interview talking talking aobut writing, publishing, and consulting writers at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/voicesandvibes/2009/12/11/author-entrepreneur-mable-cannings-author-brian-moreland

Radio Interview: "Coffee with an Author"

2009-10-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

I just did an interview this morning where I talk about novel writing and my journey as a published author. You can listen to the interview at this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/i-just-finished/2009/10/26/brian-moreland-on-coffee-with-an-author

Designing a Book Cover

2009-10-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

When I self-published my first novel, Shadows in the Mist, back in 2006, I formed my own publishing company and switched from being novel writer to being publisher and art director of a product I was bringing to the market. My novel is a supernatural thriller set during World War II. I was an unknown author at that time. So I decided the cover had to be good enough to compete with all the other novel covers out there grabbing people's attention. I also wanted bookstores and readers to take my self-published book seriously. More than anything I wanted a book I was proud to share with the world, so I invested most of my publishing money into the cover design. The investment paid off. My book not only won a gold medal in an international contest, within one year it got bought by Berkley/Penguin for a small paperback deal and also by a German publisher to be translated in German. For any writer considering self-publishing, my advice is hire the best in the business to design and illustrate the cover. Below you will see the various stages my covers went through from initial sketches to final products.

When I self-published the trade paperback version, I had the great privilege to work with two talented, award-winning artists--cover designer, Kathi Dunn, and illustrator and painter, Les Edwards. Kathi Dunn was awesome to work with as she designed the layout of the cover and offered professional guidance throughout the process. She and her associates not only know how to design an eye-catching cover, they also understand the publishing business and what makes a cover sell books. It was Kathi who recommended that I hire an illustrator to paint a cover that would bring out the story. To see more of her award-winning covers, check out Kathi Dunn's website.

I researched a dozen illustrators, looking at portfolio after portfolio of paintings from some of the best cover artists in the industry. It was easy to find great talent, but I wanted to find an artist who would capture the essence of my story and appeal to the readers of horror and supernatural thrillers. Fortunately, I came across the website of Les Edwards. I was stunned to see that I recognized many of the paintings from books and movie posters that date as far back as my early childhood. He's illustrated countless Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and horror covers for bestselling authors like Clive Barker, Brian Lumley, Graham Masterson, and Anne McCaffery. He has won several awards. And he painted a movie poster to one of my all-time favorite movies, John Carptenter's The Thing. As I studied his portfolio, I was blown away by his use of light and shadow, color, texture, and details. The paintings seemed to magically take on a life of their own. I knew I'd found my illustrator and was thrilled to see Les was still taking on projects. I contacted Les' wonderful wife, Val, we negotiated a deal, and Les got to work reading my novel and sketching a first draft. You can see the evolution below. After reading my novel, Les Edwards sketched out this drawing for me to approve the concept. The pencil drawing alone had given me chills. After seeing so many of his breathtaking paintings, I had faith that Les would turn this pencil sketch into something magical.

My instincts were correct, and still I was blown away by the painting. It was better than I could have imagined. There are so many details and nuances to the piece if you look real closely. I was thrilled and didn't change a thing. Les Edwards had delivered an awesome painting on the first attempt. Next step was to send the illustration to my cover designer, Kathi Dunn.

Once Kathi had the artwork, she designed the front cover first. With a skilled designer's eye, she came up with the title fonts that best portrayed the novel and went with Les' painting. Kathi designed the spine and back months later, because that design stage requires having all the back cover copy finalized. After I received some reviews from authors who read the book, I selected the best quotes to put on the cover. I also wrote up a teaser to the story.

Lastly, we added all the necessary elements that the book selling world requires: category, price, ISBN#, bar code, designer credits, and publisher and author websites. Having an artist as revered as Les Edwards paint Shadows in the Mist's cover was an author's dream come true. To see many samples of his book covers, check out Les Edwards' website.

In 2007, I signed a deal with Berkley/Penguin to re-release Shadows in the Mist as a small paperback. They assigned the book an art director to give the cover a whole new look. Illustrator Eric Williams was hired to paint the cover. He's an award-winning artist who has an impressive body of work. Eric, along with my art director, made the cover even scarier, bringing out the horror elements of the novel. I was ecstatic to see how Eric applied his unique style to my story. He first sketched it by hand.

Eric then painted the final piece in Photoshop. I love his brush strokes and the layers of texture he applied to give the cover a mystical feeling.

After the painting was complete, Berkley's design department added the title accented with black phoenixes to reference the Nazi occult element to the story.

Below was Eric's original design with glowing eyes. I actually prefer this version, but instead the publisher went with the second version directly above. See more of illustrator Eric Williams' amazing art at http://www.ewillustration.com/

Below is the German version of my novel which releases in Austria and Germany through Otherworld Verlag in February, 2010.

And there you have it, the evolution of a novel cover from concept to finished product. Shadows in the Mist is available through all booksellers: Amazon.com, Borders, and Barnes and Noble.

Self-Publishing 101: Obtaining ISBN# and Bar Codes

2009-10-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

When self-publishing a book that you will sell through book stores or online, you'll need to make sure you have two things on the back of your cover: a 13-digit ISBN number and a bar code. In this article I'll explain what these are and how to get them.

An ISBN is the International Standard Book Number that electronically differentiates your book from other products selling at retail stores and online. The 13-digit number identifies the book internationally which allows your book to be sold in the global market. Look on the back of any book, and you'll see this number. It's also embedded in the bar code. The bar code, which you order separate from the ISBN, is also necessary. The ISBN is also printed inside the book on the page that lists the publisher's info and copyright.

How do you obtain and ISBN and bar code?

Each country has an agency that sells the ISBN and bar code. Authors and publishers in the U.S. can order them through R.R. Bowker. Here's the price list. http://isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/isbn-fees.asp

ISBN numbers are sold in blocks of 10 or more. When I originally self-published my novel SHADOWS IN THE MIST, I bought one block of 10 ISBN's for $275. That's enough to publish 10 book titles, but I only needed one, since my publishing company was only putting out one title that year. Bar codes run about $25 each. Any one who has a book can order them. In fact, once you have a block of ISBN's, you can officially call yourself a publisher.

Here is R.R. Bowker's home page: http://www.bowker.com/index.php/home

For more questions about ISBN#'s, here is the F.A.Q. link:

http://www.bowker.com/index.php/supportfaq-isbn

An author friend of mine asked: If I sell my self-published book to a publisher (like you did) does a new publisher just pick up that ISBN?

My answer: Chances are a publisher will treat their version of the book as an entirely different version with new cover and ISBN. The only real benefit of them using your existing ISBN is if they paid you for it and you got your money back. Otherwise, that book and ISBN discontinues and they launch a new version. They might even change the size of the book. Or it might change from soft cover to hard cover. Once you sell your self-pub book it typically gets a complete makeover.

Self-Publishing 101: Print on Demand vs. Offset Printing

2009-09-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

If you're self-publishing a book, you have a few choices of how to get your book printed: vanity publishing, subsidy publishing, off-set printing or Print on Demand (P.O.D.).

Both vanity and subsidy publishers print and bind books at the author's expense and offer packages of services that include editing, cover design, interior design, distribution, and marketing. Authors maintain all rights to the books. They are essentially clients to the publishers and that's how they make their money. The main difference between the vanity and subsidy publishers is vanity publishers will publish most anything and subsidy publishers are more selective.

Self publishing is more for authors who do everything themselves. When I first self-published my novel, that's the approach I took. I formed my own publishing company. I hired my editor, cover designer, illustrator, interior designer, publicist, and set up my book with a P.O.D. printer. I also ordered the ISBN number and bar code, which your book needs in order to sell it in the market place.

As a self-publisher, you will eventually come to that moment where you have to make a decision between offset printing and Print on Demand.

Offset printing is when you hire a book printer to print and bind a large volume of books, usually 2500 or more. Offset produces the highest quality, however it can be expensive, because not only are you paying for the costs of printing and binding, you also have to cover shipping and warehousing, which usually requires renting a pallet in a distributor's warehouse. You can store the books at your house, but boxes of 2500 or more books takes up a lot of room. A friend of mine went this route and spent over $10,000 up front just for printing and binding. Offset printing has a higher financial risk, because you have to sell all these books to recoup your investment.

P.O.D seems to be the more cost-efficient way to go these days. I highly recommend Lightning Source. They are owned by Ingram, the wholesaler that Borders and Barnes and Noble, and most small book stores order through. When I was using them for my first book, LS had an incentive for P.O.D. publishers: any books set up with Lightning Source would go into Ingram's library. This means readers can go to Borders and Barnes and Noble and order books. Most self-publishing companies have difficulty getting their books into the system of book stores. LS gives the self-publisher an extra advantage. LS also puts your book on Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. And you decide the retail price. The setup fee is relatively cheap. I paid $100. And the last I checked the fee for keeping your book stored in the LS library is $12 a year. They keep two digital files of your book in their library: the cover and a PDF of the interior. You have your own account and you can order copies of your book to be printed and shipped to you any time. If someone orders the book off Amazon, Lightning Source sends the book to Amazon, and you don't have to do anything except collect royalty checks that are profits from each Amazon sale.

With P.O.D, instead of ordering 2500 books at once, you can order any number you choose. This is perfect for authors who just want to print 50 or 100 copies to sell to friends and family or for a one-time event. This year I am using Lightning Source to print a memoir that my grandmother wrote. We're going to print about 50 copies and hand them out as Christmas gifts to family members. You can even order just one copy at a time, if that's all you need. Or 5 or 10, however many you need. For my novel, I often ordered 40 books at a time. I'd take them to book signings, and when I sold out, order another 40.

The quality of P.O.D. has gotten so much better, and Lightning Source is one of the best. I was very pleased with the ink and binding of my novel. The illustrations on the cover and inside came out perfect. Borders and Barnes and Noble carried my book, and managers I spoke with told me they thought the quality stood up to books coming out of NY publishing houses. Lightning Source now has the capability of printing books with color art, such as children's books.

So if you've reached that point where you are deciding between offset and P.O.D., I recommend considering P.O.D. as a fast and inexpensive way to get your book into print. I was completely satisfied with my experience with Lightning Source. Their staff was friendly and the quality of the finished product met my high standards.

Teaser Chapters from My Upcoming Novel

2009-09-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

I just posted a sneak peek from my horror novel DEAD OF WINTER. You can read the first 3 chapters at my fiction blog Dark Lucidity:

http://www.brianmoreland.wordpress.com/

When to Get Advice on Your Manuscript

2009-09-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

A friend from Facebook wrote: I've started to write a book but I'm not sure it's any good. How can I get some professional advice?

If you're a beginning writer, I wouldn't seek professional advice just yet. I would write a full draft and revise it a couple of times before getting feedback from anyone. If you receive too much criticism early on, it might discourage you from finishing the book. I made this mistake early on in my career and abandoned some stories that I should have spent more time with before having a critic point out the flaws. There are usually quite a few flaws in the early stages of a book, and it's better to just get the story down on the page first. You can always make it better when you revise the next several drafts.

Even today, when I start writing a new novel, my first draft is always rough. Some of the characters are still underdeveloped and there are many holes in the plot and questions left unanswered. My short stories and novels all go through several drafts before I let anyone read them.

For the first draft, I write purely from the heart. I write for the joy of creating the story, the characters, and the fictional world in which they live. I'm not concerned yet whether the book is polished or good enough for anyone to read. It's just a rough draft. A blue print to the story. After the first draft is complete, I read through it several times and revise it. The revision stage is where the magic happens. Some chapters I may revise 30 times, adding more details each time and improving the description and dialogue. That's just me, though, because I'm a perfectionist. Other writers can finish a book in fewer drafts. With each revision, I add new chapters and subtract chapters that no longer fit. I change character names and introduce new characters. The novel evolves over the course of several drafts. I continue to add depth to my main characters so they come to life on the page. I also write a synopsis, the outline to my story, where each paragraph represents a summary of each chapter. With my 400-page novel condensed down to 40 pages, I observe the pacing of the story, noticing where it may have gone on too long or places where I need to bridge holes in the plot. I can write for months on a novel before anyone reads a single word of it.

Only after I feel like the story is written to the best of my ability, do I seek feedback from others. I belong to a writer's group who I read chapters to each month and get constructive feedback. I also do focus groups, where I'll print out and bind the entire manuscript and have 5-10 people read it (usually friends and colleagues who are avid readers). I include a questionnaire asking what they liked and didn't like about my book. Then with this new feedback, I go back to revising. Once I have a polished manuscript that I feel absolutely wonderful about, I will submit it to an agent or editor. If self-publishing, then I would I hire an editor and proofreaders to give me professional feedback. The book then goes through a final polishing stage so that it's ready to go to print.

Another point I'd like to make is when I was a beginning writer, I was still learning how to write a novel. I spent some time developing my craft before asking a professional if my book was any good. The most encouraging advice they could probably give at this stage is your writing shows promise, keeping writing, keep fleshing out the story.

For any beginning fiction writers who are writing their first novel, I'd read books on the novel writing process and learn about all the elements of a novel: plot, characterization, dialogue, point of view, theme, pacing, setting, tone, etc. Here are some books I recommend:

How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey

Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Ansen Dibell

The Art And Craft Of Storytelling by Nancy Lamb

On Writing by Stephen King

Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella

Dialogue (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Lewis Turco

Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints by Nancy Kress

Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Orson Scott Card

Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood

Special thanks to Marlon from Facebook for writing me with this question. I'm always looking for blog topics, so if anyone has a question about writing, publishing, or book marketing, contact Author Brian Moreland on Facebook or email Brian@BrianMoreland.com

Interview #3

2009-09-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

I just did an interview for Rae Lori at her blog "A Writer's Dream"

http://raelori.blogspot.com/2009/09/september-spotlight-on-author-brian.html

Approaching Literary Agents

2009-08-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

An aspiring writer asked if I had any hints at approaching an agent.

Yes, I have a few routes I've taken on the path to eventually landing a literary agent.

Plan A: The best way I would approach agents is send them a one-page query letter, synopsis, and the first twenty pages of your manuscript. When I was first trying to publish my novel, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, I submitted to several agents. I offer a sample template of one of my query letters at this link:

http://brianmoreland.com/coachingforwriters/samplequeryletters.html

Essentially, a query letter should briefly describe your book, why you have chosen this particular agency, describe you as a writer, and any publishing accomplishments you have. Or if you have a good marketing platform--like you are a TV personality or have a blog with 5,000 readers. Or if you are an expert in a niche field that relates to your book include that information.

If you are where I started, which was totally unknown with no platform, then your book has to be good enough to grab an agent's interest. So, first write the best damn book you can, and get lots of feedback on it from friends, a writer's group, and even hire a professional editor to clean up the grammar and work out any kinks in the book's structure. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, the book needs to flow nicely and engage the reader. It used to be that you had to mail query letters through snail mail. These days many agencies accept email. If that's the case, take check out the sample query template letter I included at the link above.

Do your research. Not all agents represent the same types of books. Every year Literary Market Place publishes a book (LMP) that lists all current information about agents, their contact info, and details about what types of books they represent. You can also search for agents at Literary Marketplace online.

http://www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp

In my case, I searched for every agency that represented horror fiction. I narrowed several hundred agents down to about twenty. Then I went to each of their websites to gain more insight into what they are looking for. This helped me narrow down the list to around fifteen. I wrote each of them and played the waiting game. Expect anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks for a response. If you haven't heard back in 6 weeks, send a brief, polite email saying you are just following up to see if they received your query letter.

Expect a good number of your submissions to be answered back with rejection letters. Any rejections only mean you've eliminated the agents who are not a good fit for your book and you've narrowed down your search. So what happens if every agent on your list rejects your manuscript? This actually happened to me! First, don't panic. Take a few deep breaths. Once calm, ask yourself this question: "Where's the opportunity?"

Plan B: Another alternative to querying an agent is to go to a writer's convention and pitch your story to one. Every year, agents attend conferences in hopes of finding fresh talent. The Hawaii Writers conference (Every Labor Day weekend) is a perfect venue for this. https://www.hawaiiwriters.org/ They have a set up there that's kind of like speed dating with agents and editors. You sit down with the agent/editor face to face, and you have 15 minutes to pitch your story. If they like the idea, they'll tell you to mail them the manuscript. That's how I got an agent to finally read a copy of SHADOWS IN THE MIST. If you can find a way to afford the trip, I highly recommend the Hawaii Writers Conference. You get to meet other aspiring writers, celebrity authors, attend workshops about writing, publishing, and promoting, and pitch your stories to agents. It's well worth the investment.

Plan C: Enter your manuscript or self-published book into a contest and win an award. This is a long shot, but I've met writers who won awards and landed a book deal afterwards. Self-published books can enter into the Independent Book Publishers Awards (http://www.independentpublisher.com/ipland/LearnMore.php). For unpublished writers, there are countless contests. Just Google writing contests. If you win an award, resubmit to agents and tell them the good news. They may take more interest this time.

So to recap:

1. Write a damn good book or have a unique idea that's marketable

2. Get friends, writers, and hire an editor to provide constructive feedback - polish the manuscript until it's the best you can deliver

3. Read up on how to write a great query letter or book proposal. Feel free to use my sample query letter as a template. http://brianmoreland.com/coachingforwriters/samplequeryletters.html

4. Research literary agencies on the web or in the Literary Market Book and see who's publishing your kind of book

5. Contact them with a query letter. Check their guidelines on their site to see if they prefer email or snail mail submissions

6. Submit to several agents at once, unless one specifically asks you to give them the first chance to look at your work

7. Wait patiently. It may take a few weeks or months for them to get back with you.

8. When you receive rejection letters - and you may get a few - keep having faith - not every agent is right for you. You want to cherry pick the agent that has the most passion for your book. Remember, they are your rep. They are selling your book. You want an agent who's fired up about pitching your story to publishing houses. So be willing to see rejection letters as only a sign that they aren't the right fit for you. It's nothing personal.

9. If the agents provide any constructive feedback, seriously consider it and get second opinions from any writers you know. Your manuscript may need a little tweeking. Some of my earlier manuscripts weren't good enough to be published yet, and some agents gave me so valuable advice on how to improve my manuscript and as a writer.

10. Attend the Hawaii Writers Conference or one closer to home - there's nothing like getting face to face with an agent and getting instant feedback. It might be what saves you from months of waiting in the slush pile. I know people who have signed with agents on the spot. It can be very exciting.

11. Shop for a literary agent for a year or so. Finding the right one takes time. While you wait, keep writing on your next manuscript. Keep churning out manuscripts. An agent may like your writing, but not the story you submitted. They might ask if you have anything else you can read.

12. If after a couple years pass without landing an agent, explore self-publishing. That's the route I took and finally landed my literary agent and first book deal a year after I self-published.

Dream big and make it happen!

New Podcast Interview

2009-08-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

I recently did an interview about publishing and social media marketing. You can listen to it at this link.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Leilimckinleycom/~3/ZTOq9UMyvuI/

New Book Review

2009-08-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Fatally Yours just did a glowing review of my book. You can read it here.

http://www.fatally-yours.com/horror-literature/book-review-shadows-in-the-mist-by-brian-moreland/

Qualities of Successful Writers: Persistence and Tenacity

2009-08-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

What does it take to go from being an aspiring writer to an accomplished writer?

There are two traits every serious writer must cultivate within themselves: persistence and tenacity. It's easy to daydream about being a writer. It's easy to tell people you're thinking about writing a book someday. If someday is not today, then that book may never get written. Being a writer takes sitting down and actually writing. First you must make time to write an important part of your weekly schedule. For instance, I write in the mornings, often before dawn, so that I can start my day with at least a couple of hours writing before I can be pulled away by distractions. Some people I know write well into the night, after the kids are asleep. Whatever works for you, just carve out some time to write.

It may take several drafts to get it right. I probably write and rewrite each of my chapters at least 30 times. I read the chapters to a critique group and get feedback, then I revise my chapters a little more until they are good enough to submit to a literary agent or editor.

Selling your manuscript to a publisher takes even more persistence and tenacity. You have to have a tenacious spirit and a voice inside your head that says, "Never give up. Keep believiing you'll get published." If you receive any rejections, just say "Next!" and move on to the next agent or publisher. Keep searching for ways to publish your book.

The reality is the process to selling your book to a publisher can take months to years. Self-publishing is faster, but still requires a lot of work, and often a financial investment up front. After I completed writing my manuscript for SHADOWS IN THE MIST, within nine months I was holding the published book in my hands. Once the book enters the publishing process, you work with an editor and proofreaders to make sure it's polished.

When the is book finally selling in bookstores or on Amazon, the author is required to promote the book so people will know it exists, and hopefully, buy a copy. Authors typically do book signings, radio interviews, blog interviews, sit on panels at conventions, speak to groups, and teach workshops, all while writing their next book.

So if you are an aspiring writer, and desire to be a published author promoting your very own books, instill in yourself an tenacious attitude that you will never give up. You will do whatever it takes to get your books written, published, and in the hands of readers. The most successful authors who have become bestsellers all have these two traits: persistence and tenacity.

I offer coaching and consulting to writers. To see my coaching packages visit: http://brianmoreland.com/coachingforwriters/coachingpackages.html:

Overcoming Writer's Block

2009-08-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

Several writers have written me asking how to overcome writer's block.

If you're struggling with writer's block, don't get discouraged. I get stuck many times in the middle of a book and don't feel like writing. I'm not always in the creative flow, but I make myself write anyway. Here are a few ways I get back into the creative flow of writing:

1.) Do anything that's creative. Paint pictures, write poetry, work in Photoshop, make a scrapbook, edit a video. Then go back to writing. When I'm stuck, I paint paintings on canvass. It really activates my creativity. The key is to keep exercising the creative part of your brain.

2). Do freewriting. This is where you spend 15 minutes or more a day writing whatever comes off the top of your head. Ignore punctuation. Just write freely. Allow it to be totally random. You might change subjects many times. You might mix fiction with journalling or vent frustrations. The process trains your brain to tap into the words inside your head and gives them a place to live on your computer screen.

3.) Get your body into flow. Dance or do yoga. This may sound funny, but when you get your body into flow, your mind follows. Meditate and take long, deep breaths. A relaxed mind is more open. An open mind is more imaginative. And you can focus longer when you are in a peaceful state.

4.) Carve out some time in your schedule just for writing. At least 3 to 4 hours. Turn off the phone. Tell your loved ones to honor your space so you can write without distractions. Clean up your work space. A cluttered desk puts the mind in a state of confusion.

5.) Write really early in the morning. When you first wake up, your brain is still in Theta mode, the brainwave pattern that you are in when you have dreams. Some of my best writing happens at 4 or 5 a.m. when I'm still half asleep.

6.) The Glass-of-Water Technique. This is my best technique for overcoming writer's block. Before bed, fill up a glass of water. Hold it up and speak an intention. (Example: My intent is to tap into my creative source and write brilliantly tomorrow). Then drink half the water and set the other half on your nightstand. Go to sleep. When you wake up the next morning drink the rest of the water immediately. Then go straight to your computer and write at least an hour without distraction. This may seem a bit woo-woo, but give it a try. Do this technique for three nights straight. It gets me out of my writer's block every time.

I offer coaching and consulting to writers. To see my coaching packages visit: http://brianmoreland.com/coachingforwriters/coachingpackages.html:

What to Do When Your Muse Is Missing

2009-08-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

An aspiring writer wrote: Dear Mr. Moreland, For the longest time I enjoyed writing short stories. I found it fun. But now it seems as if I can't produce anything. For many months now I have been at a loss for words, nothing seems to come to me. And there is no more energy in my writing. I think maybe I'm starting to give up, but yet the other part of me doesn't want me to. I was wondering if you could give me any advice.

First question I would ask is what's important to you about writing? Are you doing it just for fun? An emotional outlet like a journal or blog? Or are you wanting to publish and be a career author?

List the top 10 reasons why you are driven to write. This will remind you why you chose to become a writer in the first place and give you a greater sense of purpose.

If writing really isn't that important to you, let it go and find another hobby. It takes a lot of discipline to churn out short stories and manuscripts on a regular basis. If, on the other hand, writing is an inner calling, a voice that won't quit, keep looking for ways to motivate yourself. You may just have something brilliant in you that will inspire a lot of people once you sit down and write it.

Your challenge could be that you are locked into one mode of thinking. I use two types of writing modes:

1.) Right Brain Writing - When you are in this mode, you are highly creative and your imagination is very active. It's easy to invent fictional characters, stories, or essays that come from the heart. All emotional writing happens in "Right Brain" mode. In this mode, I can write non-stop for hours. It's the best time to write new chapters and have the most fun.

2.) Left Brain Writing - When I'm not in the creative flow, my mind is typically more left-brained. I do not feel connected to my muse. However, I am very organized and can work on other aspects of my book, like outlining and editing. This is a good time to look at your manuscript from the big picture. When I'm outlining, I catch problems with the story flow that I don't catch when I'm in my creative writing mode.

If you're a published author, "Left-Brain" mode is also a great time to handle the business side of writing. Schedule book signings and market books. Surf the net for book reviewers and blogs that interview authors. Deposit royalty checks in the bank and negotiate movie deals with Hollywood producers. So it's great to be left-brained part of the time. You just don't want to stay in this mode or it's difficult to feel inspired to create anything from your imagination.

Writing is a discipline. If you are a serious writer, you will make time to write something even when it's not flowing so well. Explore training your right brain to be more creative and discover at what time of day you write the best. If writing is truly your calling, never give up.

In the next post I'll offer some tips for overcoming writer's block ...

I offer coaching and consulting to writers. To see my coaching packages visit: http://brianmoreland.com/coachingforwriters/coachingpackages.html:

Descriptive Writing

2009-08-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

My friend DJ from Facebook asked for some tips on being a more descriptive writer.

First, read a lot of books from various authors. When you come across a descriptive passage you really like, read it again, study it. Notice what verbs and adjectives they used. Write that passage in a journal or type it. I've written passages from other books, from Stephen King to Dean Koontz, and that helped put me in the mindset of that author. It impacted my writing.

Learn to write poetry. Even if it's bad poetry. It teaches you about the rhythm of language. I spent some time writing a number of poems, some good, some not so good, but I trained my brain to write more descriptively. When you write flowery poetry for awhile and then go back to writing prose, you'll discover your writing has become naturally more descriptive.

Learn a plethora of new vocabulary. Play some vocabulary games. Challenge yourself to use words you don't normally use. I keep a Thesaurus handy, and when I'm revising a draft, I swap out plain words for more descriptive words.

Learn to use figurative language such as hyperbole, simile, metaphor, symbolism and personification. Knowing these gives you a great foundation for descriptive writing. And for the most part it is better to show than tell. Rather than narrate what's happening from the author's point of view, play the scene out from the character's point of view.

And remember that descriptions are also visual details of what's happening in your scene. I'll often write a first draft that doesn't have a lot of description. Just some basic action and dialogue. But then I'll re-read the chapter over and over, visualizing what's happening, and that's when I add more visual details.

I describe in ways that invoke the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. My goal is for the reader to feel like they are in the scene, experiencing it through multiple senses. For instance, in the war scenes in my novel I described what my character Lt. Jack Chambers is seeing--the battlefield, the fog seeping through the war-torn forest, enemy soldiers charging between the trees. Then I added in some sound effects, like gunshots and explosions, soldiers yelling, the metallic crunch of tank tracks rolling over rubble. Then touch: the heat of the blast scorching the soldier's skin. Then taste: his mouth filling with dust and grit. And smell: the stench of death all around him. When you combine descriptions of all five senses, you create a visceral experience for your readers.

Keep challenging yourself to improve your craft and your descriptions will get better over time.

Publishing Missteps: Three Big Mistakes I'd Like to Do Over

2009-07-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

When I first self-published my novel, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, I made a few missteps that taught me some lessons. First, I waited too long to contact book reviewers like Library Journal, Midwest Book Review, and local newspapers. My book was due to release in September, and I waited until about six weeks prior to contact book reviewers. I learned from reading their guidelines that they require books to be submitted for review SIX MONTHS before the release date. So I launched my book without any reviews to help it off the ground. If you are self-publishing, be thinking six to eight months ahead of your release date. Contact as many reviewers as you can. Here are a couple links for book reviewers.

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/links/othr_rev.htm http://www.geocities.com/ladyjiraff/reviewers.html

Another misstep I made was I came across a marketing company advertising they had a program called "The Bestseller Program." They offered consulting on how to make your book a "Bestseller." I paid a $1,000 for a couple of phone consultations that didn't really offer me much. First thing they told me was they couldn't guarantee my book would become a bestseller, so the program was misleading. Now that I've been in the publishing business awhile, I know that no one can predict if a book by a first-time author is going to be a bestseller. I ended up wasting $1,000 I could have put into advertising or bought a nice suit and some new shoes. So, authors beware of book marketing companies that promise you're book will be a bestseller.

My last misstep was I waited till six months after my book's release to get involved with social media groups such as Redroom and other popular sites like Facebook and Twitter. I wasn't much of a social networker and saw them as a waste of time. After hearing numerous success stories from other people marketing through social media, I finally jumped on the bandwagon. And saw a huge spike in book sales. Now, I've connected with hundreds of book lovers, writers, and book reviewers through social networking and I'm having a blast doing it. Had I known the benefits of social media marketing a year before my book's release, I could have built up some buzz and had readers ready to buy my book the day it released. When I release my next novel, DEAD OF WINTER, I'll be able to email a few thousand people prior to the book launch. Live and learn.

Do What You Love and The Money Will Come ... Eventually

2009-07-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

A student I met online wrote:

Dear Mr. Moreland, I am curious about being a published author and what my chances are at being successful. My teacher says, "Do what you love and the money will come." Would you as a writer agree with that statement and say it is true?

I agree with your teacher, "do what you love and the money will come," eventually. Just know that being an author is a lot more than just writing fiction or non-fiction books. There's a whole business to it. I spend several hours each week focused on marketing, blogging, and writing the next book. It's a job where you do a lot of work up front and the rewards pay off later, in dividends. But I love being an author and that's why I'm willing to do the work.

Most book writers I know, including myself, have a backup career that pays the bills while we write books. Bestselling author James Rollins, for instance, was veterinarian. Stephen King started out as a high school teacher. David Morrell and Gary Braver are writing professors at universities. My "day job" is working as a freelance video editor, editing documentaries and corporate videos. I write in between video projects or early in the morning, (5:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m). If you write enough books, and one or more of them become bestsellers or made into movies, then authors can earn enough to write full time and be paid millions for the books they put out. Just ask Stephanie Meyer of the Twilight series if her royalty checks cover her living expenses. Authors such as Stephen King, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, and Jim Butcher have achieved the ultimate dream of turning their writing into financial success. Not every writer who publishes a book achieves this, but it's certainly possible. I'm willing to guess that every successful author has two things in common: persistence and belief in their writing. They never give up and they keep believing what they are writing adds value to people's lives.

I also know a lot of writers who build a solid career around being a writer, like public speaking, publishing blogs, teaching seminars, teaching at universities, technical writing, copy writing, script writing, editing manuscripts, proofreading, journalism, writing magazine articles, etc. There are countless ways you can make money as a writer. All you have to do is find your niche--what you love to write most--and see if there is a career you can build around that.

So, again I say, if you love writing, if you have a strong enough passion to put in all the hours it takes to be successful, then definitely follow your dream. You don't have to be a celebrity author to make a steady living in this business. Just keep believing and keep writing. And keep your "day job" until those royalty checks finally start arriving in the mail.

Special thanks to Tyler K. from Facebook. I love receiving questions from aspiring writers and posting answers here on my blog. If you have a question about writing, publishing, or marketing, feel free to email Brian@BrianMoreland.com. I receive a lot of these, so I'll get to it as quick as I can. Brian

Interview #2

2009-06-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

I just did an interview with LiteralRemains.com. You can read it at

http://www.literalremains.com/?p=1214

Writing Conflict and Great Fight Scenes

2009-05-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

One of my friends on Facebook recently asked: How do you get the mechanics of fight scenes into stories, and construct them well enough to keep people interested, and the scene exciting?

First you have to build conflict. And conflict always starts light and builds over multiple scenes. For instance, in SHADOWS IN THE MIST, my main character Lt. Jack Chambers has an antagonist named Lt. Fallon. They have a bad history, so I use their past falling out to create some immediate tension. From the moment they get assigned to work on the same mission, they don't like each other. I create tension in their dialogue as they take a few verbal jabs at one another. Every scene that follows, Chambers and Fallon argue more and more. Later their hatred builds to the point that they're slugging each other. All this builds up to them battling in a climatic scene with weapons. So, the key is your protagonist (hero) must always have an antagonist (villain) who oppose one another. No matter how much they dislike each other from the beginning, start building conflict slowly, light to heavy.

Another thing is your protagonist and antagonist have to have a reason they hate each other that's believable. A common reason is two men are in love with the same woman or are competing for the same job or are on opposite sides of a war. They are enemies competing for the same prize. The opposing characters can be between two women (as in the movie BRIDE WARS) and also between a man and a woman (ROMANCING THE STONE or FOOL'S GOLD). The tension builds as they go from bickering at one another scene after scene until it builds into a heated screaming match. This also builds sexual tension, which is why the man and woman end up tearing each other's clothes off. That's the formula for a great romance novel. They dislike each other from the start, have opposite viewpoints, bicker, argue, fight, have passionate sex, and then fall in love.

The next time you read a book or watch a movie, notice how the conflict builds over time. Notice by the time two people are screaming at each other or fighting with fists or weapons, you the viewer are ready for that action, because it's been building in every scene prior. When you build conflict scene by scene in your novel, then the actual fight scene happens naturally. Your characters will take over the story and let you know when they're ready to duke it out.

In answer to your second question, the way to keep your reader interested is you create believable characters that are human and passionate about opposite ideals. The protagonist and antagonist are so headstrong that they'll do whatever it takes to get their way, and they are righteous about their viewpoint. Watch the movie DOUBT. It's classic conflict that builds into a brilliant verbal match between Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. When two of my characters get into a fight, I always ask myself, what's the worst thing that could happen that could come out of this? What would be the worst outcome for each character in the fight? And that's usually the way I write it.

Thanks to Elizabeth H. from Syracuse for inquiring. For those reading this, look me up on Facebook and add me as a friend. Search for "Author Brian Moreland." I also have a group on Facebook called "Coaching for Writers."

On Writing Horror and Suspense

2009-05-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

One of my new friends on Facebook recently wrote me asking for advice on writing horror. She wrote:

I see you're a horror writer. Do you have any advice for me, when writing particular scenes for horror? As far as gore/suspense, descriptions/emotions, etc...

Writing horror/suspense: When writing horror, don't hold back. Tap into your deepest, darkest imagination and write whatever your imagination gives you. Avoid censoring yourself. I've written some pretty twisted scenes and thought: I can't let anybody read this. The violence is just too brutal. But then people would read it and say they loved the scene.

I enjoy writing and reading fiction that originates from truth. When I say “truth” I mean that the scene was written from the writer’s heart. There’s a great distinction between stories written from an idea and those written from an author’s heart. The way to tell the difference is a story written from a writer’s heart evokes feelings in you when you read it. So in the case of writing horror, which explores darker themes, the genre attracts readers who want the writer to give us everything he or she has within her. As you type words across your computer screen, unleash whatever's clawing to get out. At the core of good protagonists and evil villains is a darkness driven by fear. Readers of horror can relate to fear, because we all have inner demons that we battle from time to time.

Suspense is putting a character into a situation where the reader knows danger is present. Example: a cop enters a house where a serial killer is hiding. All the lights are out. The cop finds a mutilated body, and it’s his partner. The dead man’s face has been skinned off. We might already know the killer likes to peal off the faces of his victims and wear them as masks. Now the cop has tracked down the killer to his lair. Every second the cop is exploring that house, we're on the edge of our seats, wondering when the killer is going to leap out of the shadows. We can ratchet up the suspense as our hero discovers a basement where shelves are lined with mannequin heads, each one draped with shrivled skin masks staring at our hero with hollow eyes and twisted grimaces. The more we learn how dangerous the killer is, the more suspenseful the scene gets.

Describing violence and gore: As far as gore goes, that's a matter of taste. Horror includes a whole spectrum from psychological horror (with very little gore) to splatter punk (graphic gore and violence - Brian Keene's zombie novels are great examples). So write gore according to your taste. Extremely gory novels attract a certain group of readers and tend to repel others. So, again, write horror the way you love to read it.

Writing descriptions: If you're writing suspense, keep descriptions to a minimum so you can keep the action driving at a fast pace. I describe settings in short paragraphs, then I start the action or dialogue. I generally interweave descriptions with the action. In SHADOWS IN THE MIST, I have a platoon take refuge in an abandoned Catholic church that's suffered a lot of war damage. I don't describe the church all at once. I give a brief description when the soldiers first reach the church. Then I describe a little more and a little more, as the soldiers explore the church with their flashlights. At some point the reader puts it all together and sees the big picture. When describing a setting, feed the reader a little at a time, so the setting becomes its own mystery--a place full of wonderful discoveries and hidden darkness.

We don't have to describe every detail. I like to allow the reader's imagination to fill in the gaps. Buildings like churches, castles, mansions, hospitals create their own image. If it's a minor scene, I'll just say my character entered a Catholic church. I describe more the action happening within the scene rather than paint the setting. When you allow the reader to use his imagination, in a sense you and the reader are co-creating the scene together in the reader's mind.

Writing emotions: Your ultimate goal is to evoke emotions in your readers and have them fall in love with your characters. But you can't contrive emotions or the scene will feel flat or trite. I first create characters that I, myself, fall in love with and care about. Then whatever happens to them evokes emotions in me. When I write dramatic scenes or scary scenes or action scenes where my protagonist is running for his life, I have to feel what's happening. I drum up those feelings of anger, fear, sadness, love, lust, and then write what my character is feeling. This happens naturally when I get into the story and I'm in tune with my character. The love scenes between my leading man and lady are by far the most fun to write. :) Again, don't hold anything back. Write about people you love and then write whatever you're feeling as they face conflicts with antagonists who will do everything in their power to stop the protagonists from achieving what they most desire.

I wish to thank Elizabeth H. from Syracuse, NY, for enquiring. I hope this helps.

Interview #1

2009-04-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

I just did an interview with Bookgasm.com. You can read it at

http://www.bookgasm.com/interviews/qa-brian-moreland/

Dream Big and Make It Happen

2009-01-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

Working your dream job takes courage, commitment, and tenacity. When that dream doesn't earn you money right away, it’s easy to get discouraged. You might question whether following this career is worth the effort. It seems like a huge mountain to climb. And there are no immediate rewards in sight. I say start climbing anyway. Just go for it. There are rewards at every level. Start doing what you love now and the money will one day follow.

Since beginning my path as a novelist, I faced a lot of hurdles. It took eighteen years before I began earning money as a fiction author. I could have been successful much earlier, but several times I gave up on myself. I took advice from people who only looked at the practical side of life. They didn’t strive beyond their comfort zones. They didn't see the point of me writing manuscript after manuscript and not getting paid for all the hours I spent typing at a computer, alone by myself. So those people became voices in my head that slowly, over time sapped my passion to continue. I quit climbing the mountain to my dream. I focused on working other jobs that actually paid a salary. I was making money, but inside a part of me felt empty, and it was only when I got back into writing in my mid thirties and pursuing my real dream--being a published author--that I was happy again. My dream stood before me like a giant mountain, so daunting I feared I could never reach the summit, but I started climbing anyway.

I had the fortune of meeting bestselling author Robert Crais at a book signing. He had just landed a huge Hollywood movie deal for his novel Hostage which stars Bruce Willis. I told Robert Crais that I was writing a novel and I wanted to be sitting where he was one day. He looked up from autographing a book and told me, “Then I’ll give you some advice. Never give up.” Those words stuck with me. I have since rephrased the motto to: “Never give up. Keep taking steps until you reach your goal. No matter what, stay persistent.” We can spend our whole lives making excuses, or we can start taking action now and just make it happen.

So I had a dream fueled by plenty of desire, but I still needed direction. I first listed my values. I asked myself, “What do I want most? What’s most important to me about my dream career?” I listed my values in simple words like: achievement, fun, seeing my books on bookstore shelves, sharing my writing with readers, receiving advances and royalty checks, hanging out with other writers, writing a bestselling novel, etc. And then I listed those values in order of importance. Prioritizing your values is key, because it causes your mind to focus on what’s most important to you. You feel an emotional boost. It empowers you and stokes your inner fire. Then as you begin taking steps toward doing what you love, you take the most important steps first.

Once I had my values listed, I had a new sense of purpose. A vision I could work toward. It was like filling my engine with rocket fuel. I was ready to blast off to a career that was more aligned with my truth. I posted my values on a wall so I’d see them every day. Then I wrote out specific goals, and chunked them down into small daily “action steps” I could accomplish easily. I continued writing, pushing myself daily, weekly, monthly to complete my manuscript. I read books on my craft and took classes so I could get better at it. I read books about other people’s success stories so I could believe that I could accomplish my goals, too. And I read about the publishing business. As a writer seeking to publish my novel with a major NY publisher, I needed a literary agent. I submitted query letters to countless agents over the span of ten years and received only rejection letters. At the time I felt like a failure, but I wasn’t. “Rejection,” as I later learned, is just a guiding post. Rejection guided me away from the wrong paths—the wrong people to do business with. In my vision, my literary agent was passionate about representing me and my books. Rejection is where a lot of people give up. I say, “Never give up. Keep taking steps until you reach your goal. No matter what, stay persistent.”

I eventually self-published my first novel, just to get it out there on the market. More important, to make being an author more real for me. Being your own publisher can be a very time-consuming venture. It was also a huge financial investment. It’s not necessarily the path for all writers, because it requires a business sense and entrepreneurial spirit. It’s also a very high risk of ever seeing a profit. If you don’t mind taking risks and hard work, then I recommend self-publishing as an alternative to getting a book to the market. For me, self-publishing is how I jump-started my career.

Within nine months my novel went from polished manuscript to a soft-cover book I could hold in my hands. Through great marketing efforts in tandem with a publicist I hired, the book sold relatively well. I began to do book signings and realized I had achieved one of my goals: to be like Robert Crais, the author autographing books. It was an awesome feeling.

When you pursue your dream 100%, there can be wonderful surprises that happen along the way. My WWII novel Shadows in the Mist hit number one on Amazon.com’s Bestselling Mystery and Thrillers list, stayed there a couple hours, beating out Dan Brown’s DaVinci Code. That was very surreal, let me tell you, and a victory I would have never experienced had I given up.

Self-publishing turned out to be a great way to launch my career, but it was always just a path toward my bigger dream of landing a book deal with a major NY publisher. I continued to pursue literary agents and eventually found an agent who catapulted my career to the next level. She sold Shadows in the Mist to Berkley/Penguin in New York for a mass paperback deal, as well as to a publisher in Germany. In 2010, a German version of my novel (titled SCHATTEN IM NEBEL) will release in Europe. Within two years of self-publishing I became an international author. What was once a passionate hobby has finally become a career I take seriously. When you focus on your dream daily, you get there little by little. In fact, that has become a mantra in my head: “Little by little, little by little, little by little …”

We all have a calling. A life purpose. A reason we came onto this planet. What brings you joy? What do you dream of doing as your career? We can spend our days living mundane lives or we can do what gives us joy. My calling is novel writing and inspiring others to pursue their dreams. Life can be so joyful when you are doing what you love.

So if you're pursuing a dream that isn't paying you the big bucks just yet, keep going for it. Even if it’s just a hobby on the side. You may not see the top of the mountain right now, but keep climbing, one step at a time. Little by little. Focus a few hours each week on your dream career. Commit your weekends to it. You can accomplish anything with time and persistence. And when you reach the summit you can just smile to yourself and say, "I went for it, and I made it happen, and now I can do anything." Whatever your dream is, start taking steps toward it now and make it happen.

I also coach writers to be successful, and I'm available for one-on-one personal coaching. Contact me at Brian@BrianMoreland.com. On Facebook look up “Author Brian Moreland” and feel free to join my two groups, “Horror Shadows in the Mist” and “Coaching for Writers.”

Publishing SHADOWS IN THE MIST - Part 2

2008-07-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

After doing a goal-reaching exercise on being a published author, I began to list out my top ten values for my career. What was most important? At the top of the list were "launching a successful writing career," "seeing my book in print," and "sharing SHADOWS IN THE MIST with the world." While I was submitting manuscripts to agents, achieving these goals was completely out of my control. I had already spent years playing the waiting game with agents and was ready to waste any more time. So I made a key business decision: self publish.

In short, I formed my own publishing company Blue Morpho Publishing. I shifted my focus from seeing my novel as a manuscript to seeing it as a product to design and release to the market. This was an easy transition for me, because I've always been an entrepreneur by heart. I studied business in high school and college. I was already operating my own successful business as a freelance film/video editor. I was so excited to be taking over the destiny of my book, that I jumped right in. I got some financial backing. I hired an editor, Karl Monger, to give my manuscript a professional polish. I was determined to have a cover that I was not only proud of, but it had to compete for attention of millions of other books out on the market. The cover is where I focused most of my budget. I hired Kathy Dunn to design the cover and Les Edwards to illustrate it. Here's the evolution from sketch to finished cover.

There's a whole lot more that I did to prepare my book for the market that's too detailed for a blog post. If you are a writer and interested in learning more about the business side of self-publishing, email me at Brian@BrianMoreland.com for a free copy of my ebook PUBLISHING FROM MANUSCRIPT TO BOOKSHELF.

Most traditional publishers take anywhere from eighteen months to two years to release a book, from the day I decided to self-publishing, nine months later I was holding a bound copy in my hands. I'll never forget the feeling. Finally, after eighteen years, I had a bound novel with cover art and even a bar code on the back. It was ready to go to market. I originally released SHADOWS IN THE MIST in September, 2006. By October, it was on display at Barnes and Noble where I did two book signings. The goal-setting exercise I did paid off.

During its first year of publication, Shadows in the Mist received some great reviews.

"Equal parts horror story and spine-jangling thriller. An adventure not to be missed!"

—James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Map of Bones and Black Order

"Fast paced and tension ratcheting, Brian Moreland's SHADOWS IN THE MIST is a page-turner sure to satisfy even the most fickle thriller junkie! This one definitely won't be collecting dust on your nightstand!"

—Deborah LeBlanc, Author of Morbid Curiosity and A House Divided

“Shadows in the Mist is chilling horrorfest, written by a bright new talent in the horror genre. But more than that, this novel is a terrific page-turner that combines the best aspects of mystery, dark suspense, and the historical thriller. Well written. Well researched. And a gripping, haunting read from the opening pages in a creepy Nazi-occupied castle to the grand guignol of the last pages."

—Gary Braver, Bestselling Author of Flashback and Skin Deep

"Shadows in the Mist is one of the best books that I've read this year."

—Horror Bob, HorrorReview.com

“Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers meets Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code meets F. Paul Wilson's The Keep. With Shadows in the Mist, Brian Moreland weaves together the best elements of military, supernatural and religious conspiracy genres, staking out a new territory all his own.”

—T.L. Hines, author of Waking Lazarus

Self-publishing offered me the chance to do several book signings and a radio show and meet some incredible people along the way.

While I was I having some initial success promoting my book on my own, it was a lot of work, and I didn't get much novel writing done for about six months after I launched the book. I was wearing too many other hats--publisher, marketer, event planner. But I was having an absolute blast and finally experiencing what I had dreamed of doing eighteen years ago in college. I owe a lot of the book's success to my publicist Leann Garms. Here we are at my book release party at Barnes and Noble in Dallas, Texas.

In 2007 I had a key turning point. I entered my book into an international contest called the Independent Publisher Awards. Shadows in the Mist won a gold medal for best horror novel. Here I am in New York posing with author Riley Weston. Her novel Before I Go won a gold medal for the best novel overall. This is several months since my book launch, so my hair's a little longer.

The award helped my agent land a book deal with a major New York publisher, Berkley/Penguin. In less than one year after my book's release, and within two years of me deciding to self-publish, Berkley bought the rights to release Shadows in the Mist again in small paperback. Landing a book deal with a major publisher was my goal from the beginning. And now it's happening, with the book due to release nationwide in just a couple of weeks, on September 2nd, 2008. Check out the new cover.

That's my story of how I went from a discouraged writer to a self-published author to finally a traditional published author. I have no idea where my career will take me from here. Hopefully people will buy Shadows in the Mist and launch it to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. That, of course, is out of my control. Or is it? I believe we have the power to make our dreams happen. It just takes a lot of persistence, patience, and being believing the old saying "If you can conceive it, you can achieve it."

Publishing SHADOWS IN THE MIST - Part 1

2008-07-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Publishing my first novel has been a long and winding road that spans eighteen years. If you read my previous posts then you know that I began my writing career in college with a little horror novel called THE DEGBA DYNASTY (later renamed SKINNERS) that never sold, and that my second novel, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, began as a short screenplay I wrote for a screenwriting class. Back then I had stars in my eyes about how my career as a novelist would play out. I thought for sure by the time I was thirty, I was destined to be the next Stephen King or Dean Koontz, with half a dozen bestselling novels, my books made into movies, and millions in the bank. It's great to have dreams. They just sometimes take longer to manifest than we wish.

Well, I'm thirty-nine now, approaching forty real soon. And my dreams and persistence are what have gotten me where I'm at today, on the verge of releasing my first novel in small paperback through my publisher Berkley/Penguin. I actually self-published this book as a large trade paperback in 2006 under my own company, Blue Morpho Publishing. Here is the original cover painted by award-winning artist Les Edwards.

I'd love to have more books to share at this stage in my life, but I hit a few road bumps along my path that included a brief marriage, sudden divorce, a few bouts of depression, focusing on my video editing career, starting up several side businesses, and doing a lot of soul searching. With the intention of finding myself, I backpacked for three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Five times I ventured down to Costa Rica to do yoga and meditate in the rain forest. I also attended a number of retreats in Hawaii, searching for my purpose. A frequent question I continually asked myself was "Am I destined to be a career author or am I just kidding myself? If my passion for writing is my true gift to the planet, how can I be successful at it? How can I get my books published?"

During my eighteen years of writing and dreaming, I never gave up my vision of being a published novelist. The flames of passion have always been burning. They just ranged from cindering coals to volcanic eruptions of creativity at different stages of my adult life. But I never gave up.

I shared in a previous post, that I failed to sell my first novel, SKINNERS. I spent years submitting it to New York literary agents and received dozens of rejections without anyone ever reading my manuscript. Then I spent four and a half years researching and writing SHADOWS IN THE MIST. Again, I invested two years and a lot of promotional materials to get an agent. I sent out half a dozen query letters then played the waiting game for several months. I even went to the Maui Writers conference and pitched my story to an agent. She read a portion of the book then declined, saying she was already representing a WWII horror author. Why she just didn't say this up front instead of making me wait for her response, I don't know. Bottom line is in 2005 I hit my breaking point. I was on the verge of doing something I never thought I would do--quit this silly dream of being a novelist.

I took some time off from writing and publishing to get centered. Get to the core of why I'm here on the planet. And what kept coming up was I'm here to be a writer. A storyteller. A novelist. Writing is my innate talent. It's my gift and I need to share it, even if it takes years until my words reach the world. Even if I never get rich from it or achieve the fame and glory of Stephen King, writing is still my destiny. And I believe if we follow our inner calling, we will live a life that brings us the most joy. So that's what drives me.

Here is a mission statement that I wrote to keep me motivated.

MY MISSION:

I am writing exciting stories that invigorate my soul.
I am publishing novels that entertain millions of readers.
My books are made into blockbuster movies.
I am enjoying a prosperous career as a writer.

So now I had my life purpose and mission, I needed some direction. I needed someone to bounce off ideas and talk about where I was stuck. I started working with Life Coaches. I believe that hiring a personal coach is key to success. All successful athletes have a coach to keep them focused and motivated. There's so much that can distract us or weigh us down. It's easy to lose focus on what's most important. A life coach helps you prioritize the activities in your life that really matter and keep you focused on achieving your goals. I so believe in this that I trained to become a life coach myself, as well as a career coach for writers. If anyone is interested in personal coaching, email me at Brian@BrianMoreland.com.

So, here it was September 2005 and I'm down on my luck. I've got my life purpose--write novels for pleasure and profit and share my stories with the world--but no direction and very little gas left in the tank. During my coaching training, where I learned Nuero-Linguistic Programming (NLP), I used to practice techniques with my friend Mary-Helen. We did a goal reaching exercise where you write down in the present tense exactly what you want to achieve as if it's already happening, exactly the way you want it to happen, and then read it out loud to a partner with as much positive emotion as you can muster. I did this for my goal of seeing my novel SHADOWS IN THE MIST in print and selling in book stores.

To be continued on the next post . . .

A Brief History of Fiction Writing - Part 2

2008-07-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Spring semester of my sophomore year at U.T. I changed majors from finance to Radio/TV/Film. I knew I wanted to be a novelist first and foremost, but at that time (1989) there was no major for it, other than an English major.

I've always been a huge movie buff, so I studied film and screenwriting. I believe this helped my fiction writing, because I learned to write in scenes, and like movies, my novels are very scene-driven. I don't spend a lot of time with description or author monologues about philosophy. My characters play out scenes like actors; they do something to move the story forward, then I cut to the next scene. I like to keep the scene moving with dialogue. Being a film/video editor for the past fifteen years has helped me develop this concept of telling a story with dramatic scenes and intercutting them so they have a more powerful effect. I love cliffhangers and end my scenes with cliffhangers as much as I can to build suspense.

I also studied Creative Writing: Fiction, and learned how to structure and write short stories. My professor gave me some great feedback and I learned more that writing fiction is about crafting a story. It doesn't all get written perfectly in the first draft. I write many drafts, often thirty or more before I feel like a story or chapter is complete. I equate it to painting a picture. I'll write an initial scene from a place of inspiration. Write from the heart first and then let my logical mind work with it. I write it as I feel it in the moment, and that's my rough sketch of the scene. Then like adding details to a painting, I go back over the scene several times and add visual details, sound effects, tighten the action, and refine the dialogue to so it's efficient and powerful. Even though I write supernatural and horror, realism is very important to me. I don't like campy horror movies or books. I like horror that explores beyond the boundaries of what's seemingly possible and makes it feel real. I keep asking myself, "Does this ring true? Would the character really do this or say that? Can I make this scene even more riveting, more scary? Can I up the stakes? When writing suspense I often ask what's the very worst thing that could happen to this person? Then I put that into the scene.

Next, I'll talk about how my first novel, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, came about. Stay tuned.

A Brief History of Fiction Writing - Part 1

2008-07-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

I discovered writing in college. At age 19, I decided to write a novel just for the fun of it. I also thought it would make me a millionaire quickly. Little did I know that becoming wealthy through writing novels was going to be a long and winding road.

So here I was attending the University of Texas at Austin Fall Semester, 1987. A Business Finance Major destined to be a banker or President of my own company. I didn't even know I had a creative side. Well, Christmas break of my Freshman year I had three weeks off and was staying with my parents, who then lived in Dallas. (That's where I grew up, by the way, in a little suburb called DeSoto).

While the Christmas season was in full swing, I brainstormed on becoming a novelist. Not to put out great literature, but because I thought it would be a profitable business venture. Back then I was a reader of mostly spine-tingling horror: Stephen King, John Saul, Robert R. McCammon and Dean Koontz. Stephen King was constantly on the bestseller list and every book he wrote became a movie. I wanted his success. I also read Dean Koontz's Watchers and Phantoms and I was a hooked Koontz fan for years. John Saul and Robert R. McCammon were also major influences. I loved reading mystery combined with fast-paced action and edge-of-your-seat suspense. I also loved stories that included monsters or ghosts. I enjoy the adrenaline of being scared or wondering what's making that strange noise in the basement. Just love it!

Anyway, I used to visit book stores and stare at all the cool book covers. Especially the small paperbacks. The artwork always captured my imagination and told me their own stories before even opening the book. I loved opening a paperback and smelling the pages. It was some kind of strange fetish I had, I guess, but it seemed like every time I was at a bookstore, I would flip the pages near my nose and inhale the words written there. Maybe that's how I became an author. I just inhaled the wisdom and creativity of those who came before me. Reading Marvel comic books also influenced my imagination.

So, back to my first horror novel at Christmas break. I started writing it in a spiral notebook. I came up with seven characters--all of them college students like me. The girls were hot and the guys were cool. I gave the book a really bad title called The Degba Dynasty. It was about seven college kids who spend Spring Break at a remote cabin in the Colorado wilderness. While hiking, they come across, of all things, an ancient pyramid in the Rockies that somehow no one has ever discovered. It was hidden in a thick forest where "man was never meant to go." At that time, I thought the concept could work. Now, after hiking near Boulder, and visiting towns like Aspen and Vale, I know there's no place in Colorado that man has never set foot. There are hikers and mountain bikers everywhere. Reality didn't matter back then. I was writing a horror novel for the sheer fun of it. I didn't need to get bogged down with whether or not the story was plausible.

Between Christmas and January of 1987, I defined my characters and outlined the plot. I returned to school for the Spring Semester and was pumped to write out the novel. We didn't have personal computers back then. But the university had a computer lab. I was there when it opened at 8:00 a.m. and they had to kick me out every night at 10:00 p.m. I discovered something about myself. I had a passion for writing fiction, and especially writing novels. I had never even written a short story. I just delved into my first novel and never looked back. I often describe writing a novel as visiting another dimension or a dream world. The fictional people around me seem so so real, so alive. I can see, touch, and hear everything around me. That's why I can stay in writing mode for six to twelve hours, only taking breaks to use the bathroom and maybe eat a little something.

Okay, I digress. The Degba Dynasty turned out to be a fun little story I wrote in about three months. It was violent, scary, and had some great sex scenes. I was a hormonal nineteen-year-old and didn't have a girlfriend, so I was living vicariously through my characters. I was also influenced by movies like Friday the 13th and Halloween. The basic premise was the seven college kids are out hiking and come across this undiscovered pyramid. It's buried underground except for the apex which juts out of the earth a couple stories high. They explore the pyramid's tunnels and discover some strange things in there (I'd rather not tell in case I decide to revisit this story and publish it later). Turns out there's a small town nearby with a bunch of hicks whose main role is to make sure no one ever finds the pyramid and leaks out that it exists. The backwoods hicks turn out to be alien half-breeds who can shape shift into seven-foot-tall creatures, something like werewolves, but with some alien features. I wrote this shortly after the movie Aliens came out. Both Alien movies blew me away and changed the way I looked at the horror genre forever. I was also blown away by one of my all-time favorites The Howling. So, I guess movies, even more than books, influenced my story telling. In fact, I'm often told that as people are reading my novels, they feel like their watching a movie in their heads.

Back to The Degba Dynasty. Once the college kids get caught exploring the pyramid and learn its true reason for being here, their lives become in jeopardy as the town of alien half-breed monstrosities wreak havoc on them. Then the book just becomes an act of survival.

My first version was a slight 120 pages, but I was proud of finishing a first draft of The Degba Dynasty. So proud that I paid thirty bucks to have it bound together with a solid black hardcover. I wanted to hold it in my hands and feel it as a book. Smell the pages. My mom and dad still have it sitting on their book shelf. Within four months I wasn't just a writer playing around with starting a novel. I had completed a whole manuscript. My story had a beginning, middle, and cataclysmic ending. It had romance, humor, scary scenes, tragedy, and incredible acts of heroism. It was horror, adventure, Sci-Fi, and mystery all rolled into to one book. Like I said, I was reading a lot of King and Koontz during that time.

After my real Spring Break was over and I got back to school, I wrote the second draft. By this point I was skipping all my classes and just writing all day long and into the night. My grades suffered that semester. All my finance and accounting professors wondered why my seat was always empty. Who had time to study? I was off in Colorado fighting aliens and saving the planet. I was also having the best time of my life. What more could a lonely, introverted guy ask for? My characters became my closest friends. A bit sad maybe, but I was a small-town kid trying to find myself at a university of thousands of students. I had grown up thinking that money and power were the pathways to happiness, but through my renaissance period my Freshman year, I was discovering that creative self-expression was the pathway. At least for me.

Well, I revised and edited my manuscript all the way until May. I was also reading a great writing book, How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey. I started learning the structure of a novel, as well as improving plot, characterization, and dialogue. I remember that May, the last day of school was approaching. I finished my second draft and the book was even better than before. I had added new characters and scenes and gave more history to the town and why they were hiding among us and protecting this pyramid.

I saved my entire manuscript on one floppy drive that I treated like it was plated with gold. Then tragedy struck. One day I go into the computer lab, slip the floppy into the computer for another writing session, and the computer blips and the screen reads: "Do you want to format this disk?" I didn't know what format meant, so I hit "yes." It deleted my entire manuscript. My only digital copy. Six months of typing--gone. I was crushed. A night of heavy eating of pizza followed. I couldn't believe I had lost my entire novel. Back then I was very new to computers. It was the late eighties and computers were mostly IBM, green letters on black screens, with a single floppy drive. I didn't know about backing up files. I just knew how to boot up and start typing then save to my floppy. So it was a hard lesson about computers and formatting disks, but it turned out to be a godsend. Did I give up? No. A true writer keeps writing, no matter what. Persistence, persistence, persistence.

I had the whole story in my head. I knew the characters by heart, how they talked, their attitudes, beliefs, likes and dislikes. So I went back to page one and started typing. What happened after that amazed me. The story began to flow out easily and differently than before. I was coming up with new scenes that were richer. The plot went off into new, exciting directions. And new characters began to emerge. New villains that were even more sinister. And the title changed from The Degba Dynasty to Skinners. After writing two drafts, the third came out even faster. Just a few months after deleting my manuscript, I had rewritten the entire book and had it saved on multiple floppies. A savvy novelist was born.

Through the process of writing my first novel in college, I developed a belief in myself that I was not only a committed novelist, but destined to one day hold a paperback of my book in my hands, hold the book to my nose, and smell the pages.

The Adventure Begins!

2008-07-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hi, and welcome to my blog. In the past couple of years, I've begun to see some successes from self-publishing my first novel, SHADOWS IN THE MIST, to landing two book deals, one here in the U.S. with Berkley/Penguin and one in Germany. SHADOWS IN THE MIST is being translated into German. It is also finding readership in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. Three years ago I was losing all hope in ever seeing my manuscripts in bookstores. I now have a literary agent, an editor, and publicist. I've seen both sides of publishing, as a self-publisher and working with a traditional publisher. My second novel DEAD OF WINTER is coming along great, and I'm finally realizing my dream to be a working published author.

The dream began back in college twenty years ago. (I turn 40 November 28th.) Amazing how time flies. Hitting my midlife crisis at age 35 really pushed me to finally get myself to complete my first book and just get it out there, even if I had to do it myself. And I did. I believe that any writer can complete a manuscript and get their work published. You just have to push past all the internal and external obstacles and keep going for it. Keep believing in yourself. As a published author and success coach to writers, my mission with my blog is to inspire others to keep following your dream.

My intent is to reach readers and writers alike. And to inspire people to read, write, and go after their own dreams. I'll do my best to keep you entertained as I share advice based on my experiences in the exciting world of book publishing. Thanks so much for visiting. More entries to come very soon.