DEAD HEMISPHERE is my third book, but none other has challenged me like this one. Ok, I essentially wrote close to a thousand pages this time - enough for part I and II - but still, making the leap from non-fiction to full-fledged story-telling is something else entirely. I won't go into all the ins and outs of plot and character development here, nor will I dive into aspects like story arcs and topical research into all manner of things, just to ensure everything makes sense and there is at least a minimum of depth (I can only hope I have achieved that). Writing fiction has been immensely entertaining; a real pleasure, actually. The characters accompanied me throughout the process and there were nights where that little notebook next to my bed worked overtime as ideas flowed while I was sleeplessly staring at the ceiling. Writing fiction is kind of like having your own head cinema. You control the plot, you control the characters, their emotions, triumphs and tribulations. It's a free all access pass to a wonderful world that is limited only by your imagination. You wake up in the morning and ask yourself "What should I do to character X today?" and you go to bed at night, thinking about your cast waiting in limbo, suspended somewhere in that realm of thought until you type the next lines and set them free to move on in whatever direction you have in mind for them. So much for the pleasure...
The pain, as many indie-authors will attest - is when you have all these great ideas dying to burst forth onto the pile of blank pages....only for your day-job to hold you back for weeks on end. The pain, as many of you co-writers will have experienced already - is also in the rewrites, rewrites, rewrites...because what made sense in your head when you put it on paper the first time, makes absolutely none when you read it weeks down the road. For most of us this means reading your own book until you can virtually recite its contents. In other words, you had your wish, your story has been realized, but now you have to read it over and over again, at least if you don't want to look like a Schmuck when its finally released. The pain is also actually releasing it: You write your heart out and put your soul into a book, only to stand before the mountain that is self-publishing. I had done it twice before, but competing with the fiction market, and the horror genre to boot, is a whole different dimension of hurt. The fact that you are reading these lines means I have done something right along the way, so I thank you for visiting and the encouragement your readership brings.
I am about to embark on the next pain and pleasure cruise...part III of Dead Hemisphere, optimistically scheduled for release later this year. In the meantime I have two movie projects and a new media channel, not to mention the usual deployments (something has to keep the lights on for now), so let's see how it goes. Meanwhile I encourage you to pick up a copy of Dead Hemisphere and give it a whirl. And if you like it even just a little, this old indie author would appreciate your review on Amazon. And if you don't....well, as my mother used to say: "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all." ;-) Thanks again and happy reading. To once again use the grandfather of zombies George A. Romero's quote: "Stay Scared!"
