The Homestretch

It's the Hap-happiest time of the year.  Just before midnight last evening I uploaded the first half of the final stage of Monarch (Monarch:Butterfly). The conclusion of Monarch, the final piece of my four-part eBook series, will be made available on 12/08/2012.  It will coincide with the release of the Limited Paperback Edition of Monarch.  

I have been looking forward to this day for a very long time.  When I first wrote about this particular day back in July of 2010 it was just a day like any other.  I had my extensive outline, my first round of research completed and had this rapidly swirling concept of time in mind - this vortex or cipher, if you will - around the day 12/21/2012.  It was my quintessential opening day, the one I chose to introduce the world to my main character Ginger Reed.       

If you haven't met her, you're missing out.  A casual observer might come to the conclusion that she's an attractive soccer mom who lives in the suburbs with her wonderful family.  That observer would be correct, because that is the very image that Ginger has tried to maintain.  However, her fears over what might happen on 12/21/2012 will take her to the edge of sanity.

You should know that I wrote this story for one single reason: I had to.  I had to write it because I wanted there to be something out there about 12/21/2012 that I would actually want to read myself.  This book contains all the aspects I like in the books I currently choose to read: Mystery, Drama, Psychological, Apocalypse and Fantasy.

Mystery - If I don't have questions, then I'm not interested.

Drama - As a former actor I needed emotions to make my point, and without emotional motivations for every action a story can lose focus.

Psychological - If I'm not actively thinking about more than the physical surroundings my characters are involved with, what is the point?  "Smithers, massage my brain," Mr. Burns (The Simpsons)

Apocalypse - If I was going to write a 700 page novel about the lead up to 12/21/2012, it had to have the Apocalypse.  I cannot even tell you how much fun I had developing Stage Three.

Fantasy - I am a big fan of fantasy.  Tolkien and King were two of my greatest influences for this book.  The book Ginger feels she has to finish reading prior to 12/21/2012, Cipher, was a screenplay I wrote back in 1999.  That screenplay was a slow-cooked apocalyptic fantasy with a Middle Earth feel.

I could go on and on about influences and genres that this story touches on, and that motivated me to write it in the first place.  That is for another day.  Today is about entering that 42-day cipher surrounding 12/21/2012, as if we have been pulled into the gravitational stranglehold of the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Ginger Reed is feeling the pull of time, are you?

Finish the journey on 12/08/2012 via eBook or with your Limited Paperback Edition.

-aap

Final Update - Monarch: Butterfly (Part One)

**Important Info Regarding the Release of Stage Four**

After doing some research into Amazon's Create Space, I have decided to release a paperback version of Monarch on 12/8/2012.  Because of this decision Monarch: Butterfly shall be released in two parts.  It will work very much like the split-release of Stage Three.  In September, Chrysalis was released on the 21st missing only the 46-page final chapter.  I released the final chapter on October 1st.  This was done in earnest for my original readers in order to compensate for the seven-week update delay to their version of Monarch through Amazon.

On 11/10/12 the first part of Monarch: Butterfly will be released.

The Conclusion of Stage Four and all of Monarch shall be released on 12/8, with thirteen days remaining until 12/21/2012.  Part One and Part Two of Stage IV are each approximately 100 pages in length. There will be two weeks for you to finish before the world finds out what, if anything, will happen on that much maligned day.  

I am utilizing the four weeks between 11/10 and 12/8 to polish the entirety of Monarch for the Final First Edition.  It will be a 700-page sprint to the finish.  That will be my last dealing with Monarch, unless I decide to do a second edition at some point in the future.  May the holidays be a joyous time for everyone, especially for those who have taken the bumpy ride along with the Reed family.  I cannot thank you enough for doing so.

Remaining eBook (Updates) Release Dates:

Monarch: Butterfly (Part One) will be released on 11/10/12.  On 12/8 Monarch:Butterfly (Part Two) and Monarch: Butterfly (w/ both parts) will be released.  The Final First Edition of Monarch will also release on 12/8.  

The Limited First Edition Paperback Release Date for Monarch is 12/08/2012

At the very back of the eBook version of Monarch, which will be updated next week Saturday, you will find a coupon code for the Smashwords version of the eBook.  This will enable anyone who purchases the eBook to begin reading the conclusion of Monarch in December.  The coupon will expire on 12/20.  Those who already own Monarch will also receive this new code, should you need to use it, when you use the current code on 11/10 to begin reading the Monarch: Butterfly (Part One) update.

*The paperback version of the book will be available for a limited time only.

I'm not sure when the cutoff day will be just yet.  It will run from 12/8 to either 12/21, 1/1, or  2/1 (Ginger's Birthday). It is a limited release because I have no idea how the book will feel or look in a reader's hand.  If I am not pleased with how it comes out, I will cut off print sales on the 21st.  At 700 pages with illustrations the proper size of the book is my greatest concern.

Whatever the books look and feel like, each one printed is sure to be a collector's edition.  It was never my intent to release it as a paper bound book.  I had been thinking about an eBook only release ever since I started writing back in 2010.

Over the past year, numerous people told me they would read it once it came out in print.  It was frustrating for me to hear this over and over again.  An eBook seemed cost effective and the Green thing to do.  Plus, I was self-publishing, and an eBook was the only way I had even considered releasing Monarch without a traditional publisher.  Print is permanent and it can cost a pretty penny to publish it that way.  The extent of my resources - limited.  

It turns out that it is now just as cost effective to self-publish in print as it is to eBook.  While it is not as environmentally friendly, I do understand the relationship people have with a physical book.  My main character has a serious relationship with the book she is reading, and it is in print. Many of the books I read are in print.  The paperback First Edition of Monarch will be available on 12/8 through Amazon, and only through Amazon.

It's been an adventurous ride over the past 2 1/2 years.  I can't wait to hear your feedback, and to talk about the whole process at greater length on the  other side of publication.

 -aap