The Walk of Faith

A great deal has happened since my last entry and I hope to catch you all up on the events in the immediate future. Unfortunately, you’ll have to settle for a bridged version for now (you’ll understand why in a moment). This entry is more for loosening up my typing fingers this morning to get ready to write another book for publication which will accompany “Prelude to a Hero”.

We are still in our home by the grace of God and the compassion of a great man, our landlord, Shawn Morely. I hope he doesn’t regret meeting me at this point. I haven’t had work since November 2010 and we are down 3 months in rent. I borrowed some funds and also turned over our tax return to offset the delay’s in rent, but we were always down by at least a month. Actually, it’s only a matter of time before the lights and water and internet, etc. are turned off as well–but Shawn has been making sure we don’t end up under a freeway somewhere. It’s taxing him horribly, which drives me even harder.

Now I know someone out there is going to be shouting ‘go get a job you git’! Oh how I wish I could at times, but let me assure you for right or wrong…I have tried with every breath to get work (even prostitute my skills for pennies) and nothing comes of it. The forces that be have determined that I write these books and focus on them and nothing else. Crazy as it seems and as PAINFUL as it has been, feeling the failure as a father and husband, it’s a circumstance I have been unable to change. The blessing has come as a completely supportive and encouraging wife and family who cheer me on day after day towards the finish line…whatever that may be.

So the stress level is higher than I have ever experienced and the greater challenge has been writing regardless of the circumstances. The results, so long as this doesn’t kill me, has been the best work I’ve ever produced and a stronger relationship with my sweetheart who is now writing side by side with me.

The goal is to create the first book and a couple extra’s and get them self-published immediately upon completion. I have studied and brushed up on my development skills and found multiple avenues to sell Wanted Hero, including a powerful affiliate program for those who like the story. Not only can they buy the books, if they like them they can also sell them and make far more money than they could with Amazon.com or other outlet. We will sell them from every traditional source, but mainly from our own site–the difference being paid in 3 months or 3 days. Being desperate for money to keep this family a float and to get Shawn money ASAP, I’ll be focusing on the later.

The trend in publishing has changed overnight and though people are chittering away about Amanda Hocking, we have always had our own plan and knew what would work back in 2004 with the publication of the eComics. That was before there were eReaders int he first place and we made a living from kids who didn’t even have credit cards! So this s a very exciting prospect.

I met with David Farland. Great man. Very kind and enjoyable to talk with. He took my story and read it. Yeah, the whole thing. He liked it and a couple days later took Kathi and I out to lunch. He said without changing a single thing we were publishable. Just like that. We had the skill at that moment and we both cried. All this hard effort wasn’t in vain. Then he suggested that if we take our skills up a notch, we could have NY Times best Seller quality work. He said his advanced course (which takes years to do) would help us. We didn’t have years. In fact, we don’t have months–the timer is ticking without mercy.

He said he felt we could do the course in a month.

So we went home and loved the children for a day and the following Monday Dave put us to work on the book with a lesson every few days.  It has made us stretch and struggle and redefine our working relationship as well as our communication level as a married couple. The results have been encouraging. Here are a couple snippets from Dave’s emails:

…this looked good.  Didn’t have any passive voice jump out at me.  The action kept me reading.  Good job!

—

I went through WANTED HERO for the first few chapters, looking for patterns of weakness, and didn’t really find much.  It reads well.

—

I think it is very readable and enjoyable.

So his teaching, accompanied by his responses have been encouraging and if we do well, he’s said he would write our cover quote as well. Being HUGE Dave Farland fans (Runelords and Of Mice and Magic) this means a great deal to us.

Since we started this adventure, Kathi and I work from the moment we get up until 1-2am the next morning, writing and editing and preparing for the launch of this series. It’s what I have always wanted to do.  I just didn’t know I would be trying to beat the clock and build a successful business while the world decay’s around me.

-Jaime Buckley