#Special Offer. Get a book for Free.

To celebrate the release of my new novel 'A Matter of Integrity', I have decided to make my Science Fiction novel #'Alien World' available for free to anyone who wants it. Just go to Smashwords and download it in various formats. 
Special Offer: Alien World Free from Smashwords   https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/345117

 It is also available for free from the Apple iBookstore.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/alien-world/id686796490?mt=11

My new Crime novel: A Matter of Integrity

#A Matter of Integrity has been released. I published it with Smashwords.
Here is the blurb:

‘A Matter of Integrity’ is a crime novel featuring PI Lews Canon. He is not your average hard-eyed PI. He doesn’t wear sunglasses or a hat, instead he wears a baseball cap; he doesn’t smoke or cuss, and he doesn’t carry a gun. His office is in a run-down building with no Air Conditioning and his twenty-year old car is ready to quit any day. He has an alcohol problem he doesn’t want to admit and he has the ability to get himself into trouble more often than not. The funds are low and he needs a case desperately to pay the bills. His sidekick isn’t some sexy beautiful woman, either. In Canon’s own words, “She’s built like a fridge and scares even me sometimes.” However, she is loyal to him and keeps him in line. There is much friendly bantering going on between Canon and Nelda throughout the novel. Even though the novel is written a bit tongue-and-cheek and with some humor, there is plenty of serious stuff happening. When Canon finally gets a case, he’s beginning to wonder if it was such a smart idea to take on his new client. The case gets more and more complicated and involves several of his other clients. It becomes quite personal, and Canon has to commit a violent act to save himself and the woman he loves.

Available from Smashwords:  

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/432389

Also available from Apple iBookstore:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-matter-of-integrity/id869721766?mt=11

A Matter of Integrity

I was going to publish my new crime novel ‘A Matter of Integrity’ today. Yesterday I converted it to the eBook format and loaded it onto my Sony Reader. As I began reading it I discovered 3 errors in the first few pages. Nothing huge but irritating. One major blunder was using the same sentence (or nearly the same sentence) twice on the same page. So now I’ve decided to read the novel again with a critical eye. This proves again how important it is to put some time distance between you and your new creation.

Now it depends how fast I am with reading the book until I can publish. I want to make sure it is error-free. Everything else is done. When I wrote the novel I followed Mark Coker’s (Smashwords) tips on formatting since I’m planning to publish with Smashwords again.

I also uploaded the book onto my wife’s Reader. She will read it with a watchful eye. If she finds any errors she will make a note and tell me. She is a critical reader. I have to compete with Ludlum, Nora Roberts, George R. R. Martin, Ken Follett, Clive Cussler, Steve Berry, and other famous writers. Not an easy task, but I’m up for it ☺.

I am happy to announce that I have designed the cover. After many different designs I came up with this one:

If you haven’t guessed it yet, yes, that’s me holding a gun. It’s just a toy gun but who will know? I found similar pictures on the internet, but they have to be purchased. So I figured I can produce one myself. For the design of the cover I used the PAINT program on my computer. It’s not that difficult. Okay, I don’t have a half naked woman on the cover, but this is not that kind of a novel. No nudity or sex in this one, just a few murders and other fun stuff. ☻.

‘A Matter of Integrity’ will be available soon from Smashwords and other outlets. (I just had to get that in here). Come back and find out when.

#Editing...when is it done?

On one of the forums I visit they talked about editing and people wondered if you can over-edit. I guess you can, but there comes a point when you have to say that you need to move on.

Right now I’m busy with editing my latest novel ‘A Matter of Integrity’. Since I’ll be publishing it myself I am the editor. I want to make certain all the errors have been fixed. I’ve read the story now five times. The first time I looked for inconsistencies and other errors. I fixed those. I also fixed obvious mistakes, like spelling errors and using the wrong words. The second time I looked for more mistakes. I also ran it through the Spelling and Grammar program of my Word processor. I don’t rely on that one too much, because it is itself riddled with errors. It will suggest using ‘I’ instead of ‘me’ for instance, and there are other suggestions that are simply wrong. I only use it as a tool to help me find obvious errors.

I am always amazed that I can still find blunders in my manuscript after reading it several times. The fourth time I read it, I did quite a bit of rewriting, like awkward sentences and bad dialog. I added and changed dialog. After I was nearly done with the story I changed the name of one of the characters. I used Spell check to change the name throughout the whole manuscript. Now when I read it for the fifth time, I actually found on two occasions where the original name of that character popped up. I never noticed that in the first four readings. Our minds are wonderful but also deceptive. They will automatically insert words that aren’t there, just like a computer program. However, this time I didn’t find many errors

It is important to read a manuscript without too many interruptions. The ideal way is to read it in one session without too many breaks. The only problem with that is that our minds and our eyes get tired. We will overlook even glaring errors. Another problem I found this time, I read a sentence and I think: Didn’t I use this same sentence somewhere else in the novel? So I went back and searched for it, only to discover that I remember reading this sentence from a previous reading.

It would be nice to have someone else read the manuscript, someone who may also be a writer, but not all of us have that luxury to have someone who is actually interested. Most writers are busy with their own works. They have no time to read and correct somebody else’s book. Unless they do it for a living. But I don’t want to spend the money to hire somebody like that. I guess if one uses a publisher, then that service is free, but it still doesn’t guarantee a book free of errors. Even professional editors are human and prone to overlook the same things I do. And they don’t want to rewrite another writer’s novels. I’ve been reading my older published books and I was in a way alarmed when I found so many errors. I wish I could edit all of my books and republish them, but I’m not really interested in that. I’ve spent enough time with those stories when I wrote and edited them.  Now I want to write new things, experience new adventures through my characters.

 So when is the editing done? That is up to the individual writer, but eventually one has to make a decision and say: “I’m done.”

I believe I’m almost done. Perhaps one more reading, but it will for sure be the last one, because on this fifth reading I found few errors, just minor stuff, and I know I’m close. Then comes the formatting, the blurbs, and the personal stuff at the end of the book. After that comes the hard job of finding an attractive and fitting cover picture.