Pre-Order Stage Two of Monarch (Larva)

In two months Monarch: Larva (Caterpillar) will be releasing.  For a limited time only you can pre-order Stage Two for only $0.99.

Much like with the release of Stage One (Egg), the price will go up once the book is available to read.

You can purchase all four stages at once for just $3.99 here.

Maybe you bought Stage One and aren't sold on the whole thing yet.  Hey, I got your back.  For $0.99 more you can continue to test the waters with Stage Two when it releases on May 31, 2012.

Some of you may be wondering, "Are these stages all stand alone, so that if you didn't read Stage One but wanted to read Stage Two you could do so?"

While I would suggest that you read the first stage before reading Stage Two, I suppose you could read just Stage Two and feel partially sated.  It would be a bit like eating only one meal in a day--you could do it, but only a model would tell you that it is a good idea.    

The second part of Monarch is named and patterned after the second stage in the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly: the larva stage, or caterpillar, which more people are probably familiar with.  In that stage, the caterpillar becomes a creature of consumption, mindlessly consuming milkweed.

In the case of the novel, the main character, Ginger Reed, is trying to gather and consume as much information about what might happen on 12/21/2012 as she can.  Because of this, she neglects her duties as mother and wife as she tries to prepare for all the "what if" scenarios that she keeps inundating herself with.

Just like with Stage One, I will be releasing a PREVIEW to all of those who have already purchased.  It will be released shortly before the release date of Stage Two on 5/31/2012.  This will probably happen sometime around Mother's Day on 5/13/2012, roughly two weeks prior to the release date.

So remember, for only $0.99 you can ensure that you get the best price on Stage Two before prices go up, then you--along with those who purchase all four stages of Monarch for just $3.99--will get a preview of Monarch: Larva (Caterpillar) before anyone else will see it.  But only if you pre-order through Amazon.

-aap

Yellow Funk

Sounds like something George Clinton might have written, but no its how I describe spring in Atlanta.  While the pollen is finally clearing after a week and a half, it has certainly been a memorable Yellow Funk this year.

There have been so many similarities this year to a long ago period in my life, and I have found myself reflecting back to those days when I worked at the first coffee shop in Marietta, The Cultured Bean.  Bruce was so far ahead of his time with that.  A classy establishment that would have given the current coffee monopoly a run for the money if it were still around.  Good times.

I too felt cultured by simply being a part of something that was ahead of the wave of coffee enthusiasm that has washed across this country since that time.  It also marked the time that I took a class that changed my life forever:  The Art of Public Speaking.  When I signed up for it, I thought it would just be an easy class to take along with a number of core courses I was taking at the time.  Little did I know that it would stir something within me that would change my view of my own future.

Back in High School I had always dreaded standing up in front of others to do a report or read when asked.  Even to this day it is not my favorite thing to do.  But when I took that class in college something clicked.  I wasn't merely standing in front of others and reading anymore, I was acting.  And the anxiety became a thrill, a rush.  I wanted more.  From that point forward I wanted nothing more than to create characters, to entertain.

First Day of Spring 2012

Now  it's official, Spring is finally here.  However, it has seemed like we here in Georgia skipped Winter altogether.  

I hope some of you took advantage of the chance to snag your digital copy of Monarch for free yesterday.  I may try and find another way to do so in the future, but until then I have let my exclusivity deal with the Amazon KDP program expire.  It brought me a thousand downloads of my first novel, and for that I am grateful.   

I had an opportunity to do something over the weekend that I haven't done in a long, long time - be on a film set.  I've spent so much time writing these past several years that I had almost forgotten how much I have truly missed "the collaboration."   Having worked on both sides of the camera for a number of short films I did several years ago, I didn't get the opportunity to really enjoy what I was doing.  Not that I didn't enjoy it, it was just that I was so busy juggling duties it was hard to take a moment and just appreciate it all while in the middle of it.  

Even though I cannot disclose what it was that I was working on, I can explain the emotional side of what it meant to actually be among the activity that is being a part of a production.  For those who have no idea what it is like to be on a set, it truly is as if you are within a bee hive—people buzzing around, going this way and that, all doing a specific job but focused on a singular goal.  I truly believe that if there were any of a variety of problems somewhere in the world you could send a film crew in to fix it.  

My first artistic love was acting.  I have been so caught up in the writing of Monarch, which I am married to in an artistic way, though I sure wouldn't mind having a few affairs with a film or theater role every now and again.  Nothing would make me happier than to be able to act and write at the same time.  And even though that may not be in the cards for a while, it sure was nice to have that ever-so-brief tryst, just that little taste to see what it could be like.  And Papa likes.  Good times.  Thanks you guys.  I miss all of  you already.

March Update

While it is not officially Spring, it sure is beginning to feel like it here in Atlanta. We've had such a mild winter that I fear we may bypass Spring altogether and jump right into Summer temperatures.

Enough about the weather.  Let's get down to the nuts and bolts of the year, namely the progress of my first novel Monarch.  Some of you may be aware that I have been working on the book for just shy of two years -- since July of 2010 to be precise.  It's been a tumultuous time of ups and downs.  If I were to do it again, would I do things differently?  Umm... I find it better to not dwell on such things, but rather to learn from what has transpired and use that knowledge as I move forward.

The most trying part of being a first-time novelist is getting people to take an interest in what you are trying to accomplish and actually get them to read your work.  That was the whole reason I wanted to broaden my horizons from screenwriting to the writing of novels, because next to no one reads screenplays.  And what is the point of creating something from thin air, which is intended to be read and seen by others, if only a few dozen people ever lay eyes on it? 

Let's just say I've had to attribute most of the work I did in the 2000s to training for novel writing.  I wrote a variety of stories spanning numerous genres during that decade, more than a dozen in total.  There are differences of course in how a novel is written as compared to a screenplay.  Big differences.  I worked to bridge that gap by studying the craft of writing fiction for years and penning numerous short stories all the way up to July of 2010.  The most recent, Psykosis, may actually windup being my follow up to Monarch.