Jared Sandman

This week (9/24 through 10/1) is Banned Books Week.  Make sure to pick up a copy of something appropriately subversive.  Might I suggest the paperback version of The Shadow Wolves?  Or peruse the Top 100 banned books of the last decade.

I’ve done some housekeeping on the website, rearranging the furniture and whatnot.  I updated the Blogbuster Tour tab with links to all my guest posts.  Also updated The Shop section to include The Shadow Wolves.  The e-book has been on sale for a couple months now, and I just received the first bundle of print copies.  For those of you who pre-ordered the novel, rest assured that your copies will be autographed, packaged and mailed before week’s end.  And thank you for your interest in my work.

Anyone else who wants a signed copy can buy one direct from the site.  Amazon and Barnes & Noble can’t do that for you.  (Of course you can always purchase unsigned copies from those retailers, as well as indie bookstores.)  That goes for all my novels too; I make sure to always keep extra copies on hand so I never run out.

In other news, today Amazon announced the next version of its bestselling Kindle e-book reader.  The cheapest model is presently $79.  Now that the price point is under $100, it’s gonna be a huge seller this holiday season. 

And yesterday Stephen King announced he’s working on a sequel to The Shining, titled Dr. Sleep.  I’m re-reading that classic book at the moment, and I look forward to finding out what Danny Torrance is up to.

Tuesday was Roald Day Day, as is every September 13th.  Had he lived to see the day, it would’ve been his 95th birthday.  I’m a big fan of Dahl’s.  Not necessarily his children’s work (which can be dark at times, no doubt) so much as his short stories.  My favorite is probably “A Lamb to Slaughter,” a nasty little piece about a woman who murders her husband with . . . well, that would ruin the ending.

Years ago I watched a documentary about Dahl’s life.  I can’t remember if it was on PBS or some cable channel; I can’t seem to track it down.  As beloved a figure he was to generations of British and American school kids, his own children found him aloof and emotionally distant.  He was also quite the spy and ladies’ man during WWII, as is recounted in the book The Irregulars.

Earlier this week I came across an articleI wanted to share about Dahl.  He wrote a lot of his work in a small shed behind his house.  The Roald Dahl estate is trying to save that cottage and make it a permanent fixture of their Dahl museum.  The price tag is around $800K, which is pretty steep to move and restore a shed.

Roald Dahl with, I believe, a young Santa Claus

I thought this week’s episode of Doctor Who was brilliant.  I didn’t expect to enjoy it nearly as much as I did, mostly because I’m not a fan of hard sci-fi stories.  But a love story that transcends time and space is an irresistible hook.  And while the ending was completely telegraphed, that was only because it was the right ending.

Last week’s show (“Night Terrors”) was a boring, padded mess.  I expected to like it, since anything with creepy dolls is a winner in my book.  However the pacing was way too slow, as if producers had thirty minutes’ worth of material that they stretched into an hour.

This was the polar opposite problem of “Let’s Kill Hitler”, which felt like a two-parter crammed into one episode.  A fantastic storyline all told, minus the robot assassin controlled by tiny time travelers.  I only wish it had more Hitler.

The most important thing “The Girl Who Waited” did was lay the foundation of the season finale, “The Wedding of River Song.”  Keep in mind the Doctor showed up halfway through “Let’s Kill Hitler” in a tuxedo (one assumes the same he wore at the end of “The Big Bang”).  So obviously as he was dying, he first took a jaunt in the Tardis to marry River like he promised. 

Now the idea that there can only be one Amy in the Tardis at once is the crux of the entire season.  It’s very Highlander; there can only be one.  My guess for the finale is that the Doctor creates a parallel timestream by trying to defeat Madam Kovarian (or some such baddie).  His actions create a paradox (pair o’ Docs?), wherein two Doctors can’t exist simultaneously.  So one of them must die . . . at Lake Silencio, in the season opener.  I suppose the Impossible Astronaut who kills the Doctor is the Doctor.  But the Doctor from the “proper” timestream.  Go back and read the debut entry from this blog:  go on, I’ll wait.  (The first entry, written the day after “The Big Bang” aired.)  This notion goes back to the Doctor trying to assassinate himself, although it looks like the same Doctor rather than a future non-Matt Smith one.  And his purposes are for good rather than evil.

We know the Silence are coming back in the finale, and that Silence will fall when the Question is asked.  What question?  Doctor who?  My guess is that the question is his name.  I’m pretty sure that’s what he whispered into River’s ear as he died, for she does the same when she meets the Tenth Doctor and their roles are reversed. 

We’ll see how many of my predictions come true.  I’ve had some hits and some misses in the past; I look forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day weekend.  I wanted to share this picture, which is the author photo for The Shadow Wolves.  As it’s a werewolf novel, this pic seemed like the logical choice.

And for my winners of the Blogbuster Tour, be assured your prizes are in the mail.  I sent them off this morning, so you should have them in a week or so.

My thanks to everyone who helped make the Blogbuster Tour 2011 a success.  More than two dozen stops in eight weeks, including book reviews, excerpts and interviews, plus guest posts about writing and publishing.

For the Amazon gift card giveaways, I put all the names into a hat and drew at random.  Anyone who commented either on my website or any of the host sites was elegible.  While I contacted the three winners who were chosen, I haven’t heard back from all of them.  In addition, I pulled a separate name for the Twitter drawing.  If you signed up to follow me (@JaredSandman) at any time during the tour, you were eligible.  And for the webmasters who graciously took part in the blog tour, I held another raffle and e-mailed the winner.

If I don’t hear from all the winners within the next few days, I’ll be forced to draw alternate names.  So if you receive a message from me with the subject line YOU’RE A WINNER, I promise it’s not spam. 

Now that the tour has concluded, my attention turns from promotion back to writing.  I know what my next book project will be and have done foundational research over the past month for it.  I’ll spend September plotting out the novel from start to finish, then I’ll commence work in earnest at the start of October.  I can’t tell you about the project quite yet (I’m a bit superstitious that way), but I’ll be sure to drop clues and teasers over the next several months.

And with this the Blogbuster Tour comes to an end.  I’ll have a full wrap-up of events on Friday, but today I have an interview for you.

Neal Hock has proofed three of my novels.  Not only is he good at his job, he’s very affordable.  When my first book came out a year ago, I couldn’t find any trustworthy proofreaders who weren’t out to gouge college students and who were easy on the wallet.  Since that time a few have cropped up, and I expect a cottage industry to blossom for indie writers in the near future.  I had a few questions for him, and Neal was kind enough to indulge me.

Tell us about Hock’s Editing Services.  What assistance do you provide authors?

Currently, Hock’s Editing Services provides freelance proofreading, copyediting, and concept editing for authors, websites, and businesses.  Hock’s Editing Services was created over a year ago to address what I saw as a need in the self-publishing market.  The biggest criticism of self-pubbed authors I would come across was that quality was missing, especially with regards to editing.  In my opinion, there is nothing worse than an author being slammed for technical issues, such as typos and punctuation, that can be addressed.  It’s important to have a second set of trained eyes to go over a manuscript in order to catch mistakes that the author may have missed.  I had a natural skill set and a passion for quality writing, so I stepped up to provide assistance in dispelling the notion that self-published authors lacked quality.

What in your background prepared you for such an undertaking?

I have bachelor of science in computer engineering.  My studies helped me hone my focus on details and technical issues.  I’ve had a voracious appetite for books my entire life, so I’ve spent a lot of time soaking in both good and bad writing.  It also helps that I’ve spent countless hours working with authors and studying grammar-related issues during the past couple of years.

Do you work in specific genres, or are you open to all works?  Which genres do you prefer and why?

I’m pretty much open to all genres.  I’ve worked with science fiction, horror, thriller, adventure, fantasy, and even romance.  If I had to pick a preference, I guess I’d choose horror or thriller, simply because that’s where my love as a reader lies.

Take us through your process from when you receive a manuscript to when you deliver the proofed version.  How long does that generally take?

I usually make three passes through a manuscript.  The first pass is a detailed reading.  During this reading, I scour the manuscript for typos, grammar, and punctuation issues.  The second pass is a much quicker pass to catch anything I may have missed the first time through.  The final pass is made using a checklist that I created to make sure I’ve checked for common mistakes.  After I return a manuscript to an author, I’ll gladly answer any questions, even if it’s months later.  The length of time for the entire process from receipt of manuscript to its return is typically around ten days, although it really varies from manuscript to manuscript.

Which writers have you worked with in the past, and how do you navigate each author’s individual style choices?

I’ve worked with a wide variety of authors and small publishers, including Scott Nicholson, Jenna Anderson, Christa Polkinhorn, Jeff Bennington, Crossroad Press, and R.E. McDermott.  Every author has his/her personal preferences, and identifying these preferences is my first order of business before I start proofreading or editing.  I’ll send the author a few questions to get a feel of his/her personal preferences about some common issues, and then as I read the manuscript I’ll query the author about any issues that raise questions.

How do authors contact you if they’re interested in having their books proofread?  How much do you charge?

Authors can stop by my website, http://www.hockseditingservices.com, or e-mail me at hockseditingservices(at)live(dot)com.  I respond to e-mail inquiries within twenty-four hours.  My current rate for proofreading is $3.00 per 1,000 words.

Thanks for your time, Neal.

Welcome to the final week of the Blogbuster Tour 2011.  Today I have an excerpt from my second novel, The Wild Hunt, up on Castle Macabre.

And come back Wednesday for the final day of the tour, when I’ll be featured over at Indie Books Blog.

Today’s special weekend installment is a short piece I wrote about writers and procrastination.  You can catch it over at Rainy of the Dark.

Next week the Blogbuster Tour concludes, so be sure to come back and catch the last couple things I have up my sleeve.

Read an excerpt from my second novel, The Wild Hunt, now on The True Book Addict.  Many thanks to Michelle for hosting me.  And check out her latest blog, Castle Macabre, which specializes in horror fiction.

Our next stop will be on Saturday instead of Friday.  Look for it at Rainy of the Dark.

Check out Buy Zombie for a short piece I wrote about different types of zombies.  Thanks to Stuart for hosting me on his site.

On Wednesday I’ll have an excerpt from The Wild Hunt up on The True Book Addict.  Be sure to stop by then.