The State of the Union (Stuff I'm working on, this has nothing to do with the US).
- Hew J La France
- Jul 9, 2016
- 3 min read
One week ago today, I released my first novel, Straight Arrow Heart, and took a massive step forward on my path to becoming a full-time author (merely a dream right, but who knows what could happen?). With my first book now being on shelves and selling fairly well considering my lack of social-media advertising know-how, I thought perhaps I'd do a quick post updating what few fans I have on what I have going on right now so far as my writing is concerned.
Straight Arrow Heart was actually finished being written back in September of last year. I held off publishing it as long as I did to allow myself to get to a certain point on my second novel, End Turn. Sadly, I didn't have the time I wanted to work on End Turn as much as I would have liked, but as I write this post, I am half-way (more or less) through the third draft of the novel. Once I've completed this step, I'll have a few people read it to check for continuity errors, logical inconsistencies, and overall entertainment value. As of yet, I can't quite say when it'll be out. That's going to depend on how much feedback I get from pre-release readings, and weather or not I'll have a cover artist available. In a reality where everything works out the way I'd like it to (because that's realistic), I'm hoping to have End Turn available sometime in either January or February of 2017.
End Turn is not a sequel to Straight Arrow Heart, but actually the first in a series following a young man named John Becmane. The idea going into writing this character was, he's like James Bond, but the opposite. He doesn't drink, is awful with women, makes pop-culture references instead of witty one-liners, and is engaged in a high-stakes game of the trading card game 'Battle Kaiju' instead of a high-stakes game of poker. I am actually quite pleased with how this one came out, and I think a lot of you will enjoy it. It's got mystery, romance, action, and a poor little nerd who just can't catch a break.
Also currently being worked on is the first draft for my third novel, tentatively titled 'Calagray: Creature from the Deep'. This one isn't a sequel to Straight Arrow Heart or End Turn, but acts as it's own stand-alone novel (that is to say, I don't plan on doing any sequels for it). I'm not working on this one full-throttle yet, but only because of where I am with End Turn. Once I finish the third draft of End Turn, Calagray will get MUCH more attention. Given how early I am in writing this one, I haven't the faintest idea when it'll be out. Ideally, late 2017, but I get the feeling that that's being optimistic.
Lastly, as a free-be, I'm working on a collection of short stories which I'll be posting to Wattpad titled, 'Tales from the Crossroads of Nowhere and Infinity'. This collection is being written as an homage to Rod Serling's 'The Twilight Zone'. Right now, I'm just about done with one story (hopefully to be completed this week). I originally intended to hold off publishing the collection to Wattpad until all stories for it are written, but I've seen some people upload short story anthologies and just... upload more stories as they finish them. Drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter if you wan't the collection all in one burst, or each story as I finish it. Since this is just something I'm doing for fun in my free-time, I don't have a real timetable for getting this done.
And that is where I am with everything I'm working on. I'm hoping to make 'State of the Union' posts at least once a month (or perhaps every-other-month depending on how much does or doesn't get done each month). Hope you enjoyed this post; be on the lookout for others! And if you haven't ordered your copy of Straight Arrow Heart yet, click here and order yours today! Or, click here and read the first three chapters to see if it's something you're interested in.
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