Hello, Posse!
I have been hard at work on part six of the Into the West Saga Serial, Into the West: Last Showdown. This one has been a very interesting challenge. I knew this book was going to go a bit darker, but I have been having to pull my characters back as they keep taking the story much too dark. I may need to write a murder mystery after this serial to get out some of these story ideas that keep trying to creep into this book.
I plan to finish the new opening chapter today, then make sure it blends well into the rest of the book that is already written. After that, I just need to write the actual "last showdown" and the cliffhanger chapter. When that is finished, it will be ready for editing.
I was thinking about this today, I have often set my book release dates to coincide with the birthday's of my family members and I put special messages in the book for them. I realized today, I have never released a book on my own birthday. So, that is the plan!
My birthday is September 19th, which falls on a Sunday this year. My hope is to publish on Friday the 17th and do a bunch of special things for the release that will all end on the 19th. It also happens to be National Talk Like a Pirate Day in the US so there should be a few fun things we can think of to do to celebrate.
I really love these opening chapters where I get to take a character that has given a very strong impression in a previous book (rarely a good one), then write about why they actually are the way they are. When a reader learns their motives behind their actions, it can often completely change their perspective of them. One reason I like doing this, is because I have often found this to be true in life too.
I will give you a bit of a sneak peek, My opening chapter is going to be about Sheriff Jones from Missouri. If you remember, he is the man who gave Blackjack the scar on his face. While I do not expect people to actually start liking Sheriff Jones after reading his backstory, I think it will make at least a few people sympathize with the struggle he has with his own personal demons. Some people are mean because they are born that way, while others become mean because that is what they had to do to survive.
I will be working on a few things coming up in the next few months. I am hoping for a Christmas contest to go with the release of part seven, the final book in the Into the West Saga Serial. So much to do and so little time to do it. I should get busy!
I'm off to write on the book. Keep watching my blogs and social media for updates and be sure to join my mailing list so you never miss out on something good. I never spam you, in fact with my hosting plan, I can only send three emails a month to you. You can quit at anytime! What have you got to lose?
Have a great day, Posse!
Stephen
