Trailer: JERUSALEM'S UNDEAD

Friend and novelist Eric Wilson, signed with Thomas Nelson, launches a new supernatural thriller trilogy this fall -- JERUSALEM'S UNDEAD, the first vampire series from a major Christian publishing house. Volume One, Field of Blood, hits stores in October.

Eric describes the series on his ShoutLife profile: "Field of Blood and the Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy is suspense seeded in biblical history, a mix of The Historian and Interview With a Vampire -- or, in Christian terms, The Screwtape Letters and This Present Darkness."

Check out the trailer(s):

JERUSALEM'S UNDEAD: FIELD OF BLOOD


SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR FOR CHRISTIAN RETAILERS


Updates at JerusalemsUndead.com and WilsonWriter.com.

Computer on death watch

If you wonder why it's been so long between updates, our regular computer has become practically unusable. We pulled the old computer out of the closet -- not only is it much slower, but it's on dial-up. (It takes HOURS to do simple tasks online, even checking email.)

We've been to the Apple store a couple of times, and are zeroing in on a choice for our next computer. God willing, we'll be rejoining the Twenty-First Century soon.

Win a MONK galley!

TV writer/producer and novelist Lee Goldberg is giving away two signed galleys of his upcoming Monk tie-in original novel, Mr. Monk Goes to Germany. Check out the details at his blog, A Writer's Life.

Buy Monk books and DVDs at the StudioWell store

Related links:
Q&A: LEE GOLDBERG (Monk, Diagnosis Murder)
MONK hits 100
Official MONK on DVD
MONK back for season seven in July
Mystery TV Themes: MONK

Progress report ...

Okay, I just finished my rough draft of my first cozy mystery for Heartsong Presents Mysteries. It's just over 62,000 words (the assignment is 62,000-63,000 words, because they have such a specific trade size for these books). I've actually been editing as I go, otherwise the manuscript would have been much bigger.

So I made a printout, burned a copy on CD, and put it all in a box. In two or three weeks, I can come back with fresh eyes and start finessing it -- trimming some parts, expanding others, making sure all the moving parts work correctly. After that draft, I'll start sharing it with my early readers, who will poke holes in it, helping me see any structural or continuity problems. (You'd be surprised the things an author can miss because he or she is too close to the work.)

Then another revision or two (or five) and off to my editor.

During this whole process, by the way, I'll be working on other things: outlining books #2 and #3 for this particular series; working on a pitch for another series entirely; and writing some short mysteries. I also plan to have the rough draft of #2 written by the time I get #1 back for revisions. (I've got to have all three done by February, so it's important to pace myself.)

Here's a tip: Your editorial deadline is NOT when you need to have your first draft finished. You have to build in time for two, three, four revisions before you send it to your editor.

So that's my plan.

Amazon Boycott

The Authors Guild is calling on a boycott of Amazon today. As explained by the folks at Marcher Lord Press:

On May 1, please consider not purchasing from Amazon. Here's why.

Amazon is trying to put a squeeze on competitors in the print-on-demand (POD) industry. They're saying any POD book not published through their POD company (BookSurge) cannot be sold on Amazon. I'm planning to use one of their main competitors, LightningSource, to print Marcher Lord Press books--and I need them to be sold through Amazon--so this directly affects me. And you.

Here's an article about the United States Authors' Guild and others calling for this one-day boycott. If you were thinking of purchasing something from Amazon on the 1st, please consider holding off until the 2nd. Thank you! Let's help send the message that they can't step on the little guy.