It took two weeks to complete a ten year journey

This was the view from the spot where the revisions on "A Consequence of Sin" were completed.
“I wrote the manuscript and then put it aside. For my fiftieth birthday my wife said it was time to do something with it.”
So she decided we should go on a two week retreat where I could focus on my revisions and get my book ready for the next step in the journey.
We loaded up our trailer and headed to Soledad Canyon, near the small town of Acton near Los Angeles. Cellphone coverage was minimal, distractions were far away and I was banished to my chair - with the view I showed you above - to power through a re-write of Archie Cavendish's first adventure. Now we are just a few weeks away from publishing and seeing a lifetime's aspiration come to be. And then: More work! Introducing Archie Cavendish to the reading public and hoping they will come to enjoy his company as much as I have done.
“Sharing the journey.”
Most authors give interviews or write retrospectives after they have achieved a modicum of success. They look back and share their tales of trials and tribulation, the bad reviews, the good reviews, the experiences that shaped them into mature authors.
My blog will be a little bit different - I will be sharing the journey from, as Franklin Roosevelt would say "the bottom up." Instead of a retrospective years from now when, hopefully, readers will eagerly anticipate a "James novel for Christmas" I am going to share the journey from the start and you will get to see what goes well, what goes poorly, and share the triumphs and the setbacks. Hopefully aspiring novelists can learn from my experiences, whether its in the writing or revising of the work, the proofing and publication of it, or the marketing and promoting of the books. Bear witness as I self-consciously try to join the millenial generation who "build their brand" in this complicated age of social media and influencers.
Get Inspired
Whether you are someone that picks up my books or not, if you take away nothing else from this blog, or this page, or this brand, is the lesson that if there's something you want to do - do it. If you want to write a book, get busy writing it. If you have a manuscript gathering dust: "Maybe now you should do something with it."
Luckily for me, I have my wife to give me those nudges. For many people, you have to find that positive push inside yourselves - maybe some of you will find it here.
For me, there is the plan to publish, market and promote "A Consequence of Sin." I am also working on Archie Cavendish's next adventure, and a mystery with different characters. Because whatever happens with ACOS, I have more stories to tell.
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