My long, strange road to becoming a published novelist (Part IX)

(This entry is the last of my nine-part chain that began as a guest blog on author Gabriella Hewitt's blog and continued on through six others to author Jamieson Wolf’s blog, before ending here. Click here to return to Part VIII.)

I’d have to say that all the time I spent on editing and polishing paid off in the long run. The first drafts of either of the two books I sold (or my later ones) would never have passed muster. It was the endless, painstaking editing that made the difference. (That and critiques by other authors on critiquing web sites, and readers who’d liked some of my short stories and wanted more, that forced me to keep improving my writing.) Remember that, if you ever feel the urge to “leave it to the editor to fix.” Trust me, you’ll never get to the editor unless the manuscript is in reasonably good shape to begin with. It’ll be rejected long before you get that far.

As for my novels, The Mars Imperative (formerly Lichen or Not) was published in June 2007 (available in paperback from Amazon, and in ebook format on Fictionwise.com), and The Tesserene Imperative (formerly Tesserene) just came out this month (October 2007). I’m still editing and polishing Sunrise Destiny, and I finally finished the first draft of My Other Car is a Spaceship in July 2007. (All the editing and promoting of The Mars Imperative took its toll on my writing time in June and July. The 27,000 words I wrote after signing the contracts took me almost as long as the 85,000 words I wrote before then.)

Now that I’ve sold Lichen and Tesserene, it’s time to get back to work on Reunion, the third book in the trilogy (which will eventually be renamed The [something-or-other] Imperative). That is, if I can find some time to write betwixt and between all the promoting I’m doing….

Clearly, the route I took is the not the traditional one for getting published as a novelist. But with the advent of micropublishers, print-on-demand (POD), self-publishing, ebooks, and the like, there are more routes to getting published than just the “find an agent and wait while they try to get a major publisher interested and then wait some more” route, which can take many years, if it ever happens. Any of these routes could be the “right” route for you. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities, but don’t wait for opportunity to knock—seek it out. (And, of course, selling that first—or second—novel isn’t the end of the journey. It’s only the beginning.)

In the end, I may not be the astronaut—or baseball player or pirate—that I wanted to be as a youth, but—almost as good, and much safer—I get to write about them, and indeed have, in various books and short stories. And, I get to share those stories with others. What could be better than that?

My books are available from Amazon.com/Amazon.ca (paperback), Fictionwise.com (ebook), and other retailers. Or visit my web site at http://tesserene.com.

(Now that you’ve read this nine-part blog chain, what do you think of the idea? Leave me a comment and let me know. Also, please spend some time reading the other entries on the other blogs. There are some terrific authors represented in this chain.)

To begin with Part 1 of this story, click here to jump to author Gabriella Hewitt’s blog.

Mark.

Blog chain, Tuesday Oct. 23, 2007

Join me on a journey to find out how I became a published novelist. Each leg of the nine-part 'round-the-world (three times!) odyssey will be hosted on the blog of another published novelist.

Part I of "My long, strange road to becoming a published novelist" begins on the blog of author Gabriella Hewitt (Japan). That blog entry contains a link to Part II, hosted by David Boultbee (Canada), which in turn links to Part III (and back to Part I), hosted by Joyce Anthony (USA), and on to the blogs of Suzanne Kamata (Japan), Karina Fabian (USA), Ron Berry (USA), KS Augustin (Malaysia), Jamieson Wolf (Canada), and then finishing up here, on my very own blog (USA), which includes a link back to the beginning (Part I). All nine segments should go live by 8:00pm EDT on October 23, 2007.

Please join us. This should be fun. And while you read each entry, I hope you'll take a moment to check out the other blogs. These are some terrific writers, in several different genres, whom you may not have encountered before.

Mark.

The Tesserene Imperative is now available!

The Tesserene Imperative, the follow-on to The Mars Imperative, has just been released in ebook format. Currently, it is available on the publisher's website.

Shortly, it will appear on Fictionwise.com. Then, in a few weeks, it will be available in trade paperback format, from Amazon.com and other booksellers.

For more information about either The Tesserene Imperative or The Mars Imperative, please visit my web site at http://tesserene.com.

Mark.

More reader reviews for The Mars Imperative

Just in the last few days, a couple of readers have posted brief reviews of The Mars Imperative on Amazon.com, as follows:

The Mars Imperative is a great adventure. I loved it when McKie found a type of life form waiting for discovery. The lichen provides the missing link necessary to reestablish an atmosphere that may support life on Mars. Mark mixed some nice intrigue, drama, and romance along with a touch of Hollywood fame. Well done! I'm proud to have an autographed copy of this wonderful book.
— E.S. Thurman

I enjoyed the book very much. It was a fast paced book that was also an enjoyable read. I enjoy sci-fi that doesn't talk down to me that is explained in such a way that I feel like I'm always in the loop as I'm reading!

Mr. Chapman is going to be a voice to be heard in this genre!
— Author Erin Gordon

Thanks, E.S., and Erin, for such kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the book so much.

Mark.

I'll be appearing in Sci-Fi Octoberfest 2007

Author Gabriella Hewitt has graciously asked me to participate in her Sci Fi Octoberfest 2007 blog. Throughout the month of October, you'll find interviews of myself and seven other authors and bloggers, including Susan Grant, David Boultbee, Christine d'Abo, Heather Holland, Liz Kreger, Bev Katz Rosenbaum, and Angela Sci Fi Chick, along with some guest blogs. (The interviewees represent an intriguing mix of sci-fi, romance, and YA fiction.)

Please join us and learn my deepest, darkest secrets, such as if I were a Star Trek character, which would I be, and why? Or what three things would I take with me right before being evacuated from a doomed planet? These and other immensely intriguing questions await you at Sci Fi Octoberfest 2007, where I'll also be talking about my first novel, The Mars Imperative, and my upcoming second novel from the same series, The Tesserene Imperative.

Mark.

And another great review of The Mars Imperative

Here's another great review of The Mars Imperative, from Michael Southard, editor of Tower of Light fantasy magazine:

The characters seem alive and three-dimensional from the very beginning, which is what kept me reading despite the slow start. James and his friends Lim and Kim are very likable and often just plain fun to read about. In one passage, Lim playfully refers to the group as an exclusive club called the “Im-Crowd,” since all of their names end with “im” (Jim, Lim, Kim). Then, at times when they're lucky enough get together, they continue to joke about it and play on words with the prefix “im.”

The author doesn't disappoint when it comes to the science, either. His descriptions of space elevators, space travel, the conditions on Mars, and the possibilities of extraterrestrial microbial life are exquisite and well researched.

Personally, I was delighted that James didn't stumble upon an ancient Martian city hidden deep beneath the surface. .... What James does find might be more realistic in light of current theory, and might have almost as far-reaching an impact on humanity.

The Mars Imperative is a serious science fiction with excellent character work and dialogue, and a thrilling adventure into the not-so-distant future. It's easy to read and will keep the reader enthralled to the very end.

Mark.

The Tesserene Imperative is almost here!

I finally received the edits for The Tesserene Imperative last night. There turned out to be relatively few of them. I was able to go through the entire 287-page (102,600 word) ms in about four hours today. Most of the edits had to do with punctuation. There was very little rewriting needed, which was great, considering that this was actually my first novel (written a year before The Mars Imperative), even if it is being published second.

Given that there were only a handful of items that needed to go back to the editor for consideration, it shouldn't take long for the publisher to release the PDF file ebook version. Then other ebook formats and the printed book will follow. The printed book may or may not be out this month, but the ebooks certainly should be. We have the ISBN and the cover has been ready for two months.

Mark.

"Parting Shot" now available on Amazon

My science fiction/golfing short story, Parting Shot, is now available on Amazon.

The story involves an aging golfer--a former phenom, a hotshot who pretty much wasted his career partying. Now, on the downslope of his career, he has one last chance at redemption.

I know this doesn't sound much like SF&F, but trust me, it is. The possible redemption is as a result of an extraordinary (supernatural, perhaps) event. There are no wizards or aliens or high-tech gizmos. It's a character study of a man and a golf tournament (the US Open). The story is told partly from the POV of the lead character and partly by the TV golf announcers.

If golf bores you, you wouldn't like the story. But if you have even a passing interest in the game, and like SF&F, you might enjoy it. And it's only 49 cents. (Did I mention how inexpensive the story is?)

Here are a couple of short excerpts from the middle of the story, to give you a feel for the story and the writing style:
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After his latest par, a buzz insinuated itself into Gomez’s cocoon of introspection. Startled out of his reverie, he glanced at his caddy, who pointed at the scoreboard nearby. The leader, Steve Hawks, had just hit in the water and double-bogeyed. His score stood at even par for the tournament. Right behind him came Jay Collins, at one over par. Two other players lurked another stroke back, followed at three over par by four men, including…Tom Gomez?

What the hell? Fifth place? How did that happen?

Gomez chuckled to himself, accentuating the wrinkles around his mouth and the crows feet that seemed carved by geologic process.

Figures. I scratch and claw and fight for victories and keep falling short. The one time I tune out the world and say ‘to hell with it,’ I play well. So now what?

More of the same, I guess.

He tried to ignore the leaderboard, but that was like a drunk trying not to notice the bottle of whiskey on the table. It simply tugged at his mind until he was forced to look. Now suddenly in contention, Gomez became distracted by his internal tug-of-war. He hooked his approach shot to the fourteenth green and bogeyed the hole. That dropped him to four strokes behind, and back to ninth place, with four holes to go.

Too many strokes to make up and too many men ahead of me. His shoulders slumped and he let out a deep sigh. That does it, then. Once again, I’ve managed to screw up royally.

…………

Gomez’s career, his reputation—hell, his life—rode on this one shot. A ridiculously tough shot at that. The green sloped away from the bunker and slightly to the left. If he hit the shot too hard, it would roll forever. If not hard enough, it wouldn’t clear the rough separating the bunker from the green—assuming he even got it out of the bunker

Gomez wriggled his feet down into the sand for balance and waggled his club to loosen the tension in his arms.

Focus on the shot, not the consequences. Hit the ball. Follow through. Execute. You can do this.

He swung smoothly and hit the ball perfectly, just as he’d done thousands of times in practice over the years, spraying sand everywhere. The ball flew high and right at the pin. If it didn’t go in, it would land close.

The gallery roared. From that, Gomez knew he’d hit a great shot. I did it. Damn, I did it. I didn’t choke.

The ball landed softly on the green, four feet from the pin and spun toward it. Gomez hopped out of the bunker to watch the roll. The gallery held its collective breath and went silent.

Go, baby, go!

Three feet, two feet, one foot, it was going right at the cup, picking up speed. The crowd roared. This was history in the making.

It’s in! It’s in! It’s—

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Mark.

Another great review of The Mars Imperative

The reviews keep coming in for The Mars Imperative, and every single one of them complimentary. Here's the latest. It's pretty long, so I extracted the best parts to quote here. If you want to read the full review, use the link below.

[T]his is a professional work of fiction that sets high standards, far better than many novels I've read recently. [It] reminded me at the start of a Heinlein juvi and at the end more like an Alan Dean Foster novel.

I have no idea if the science aspect is believable or not but it sure felt believable; more importantly, the science aspect added to the story instead of detracting, a heck of an accomplishment. [T]he book was particularly appealing when it focused on the main character.

[I]n the final analysis … this is a 'new world' story handled with grace and style…. I give it four out of five stars. Count me in for book 2. I also plan to buy another copy for my Dad.

Paul Taylor (IncrementalGuy) from The Motley Fool web site "Science Fiction and Fantasy Books" discussion group.

Thanks, Paul!

Yet another great review of The Mars Imperative

Here's another terrific reader review for The Mars Imperative:

I really enjoyed the science and engineering aspects regarding space elevators. After having read so much about them in other SciFi novels, I always intended to educate myself about the science and engineering that must be involved, but never did. I'm taking TMI as my primer into space elevator technology.

What I liked best about the book was the dialogue. MTC wrote great, both internal dialogue and conversational dialogue. Through his dialogue he developed several strong characters which I look forward to following into his next books. The plot was strong and like all good SciFi, believably takes today's issues and projects them into space. And perhaps best of all, it had its funny parts, lots of them actually, which just made it all the much more fun to read. Good humor must be extremely difficult to write because I so rarely see it, especially in SciFi. […] I'm ready for all of the other Planetary Imperatives.

By the way, I plan to take advantage of the Fair Use Doctrine and use excerpts from the book to teach my 9th grade Biology class about symbiotic relationships and organic molecules. I'm always looking for ways to introduce popular fiction into my teaching. The average reading grade level of my high school students is 3rd grade, so I'm constantly using fiction to teach science content in a way that will get them more interested in reading. I'll also put a check-out sleeve on the back cover so they can check out the book to read. I know it'll just get lost or stolen anyway, so at least you'll sell more books to me that way!

Sara Burns (GeoGoddess) from The Motley Fool web site "All Things Sci-Fi" discussion group.