Coming Down the Home Stretch!

That's right...I'm coming down the home stretch on completion of Camadin Station Two - Last Stand!

I'm going to push hard to get the final edits completed by October 20th and get the formatting done shortly thereafter. I have to speak with Sean this week about finalizing the cover. Final tweaking then e-pub and print-on-demand publication by the end of the month! 

Hopefully by this time next week, I'll be debuting the final cover for CS2-LA right here on my blog! 

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Slight change-up in projects following CS2-LA. Instead of moving onto my Young Adult/Steampunk story immediately, I'm going to spend a little time putting together an e-book compilation of The Arizona State Guard Trilogy. This actually takes very little time requiring me to merge the three e-book files and creating a composite cover then going through the e-pub setup on Amazon's KDP. It should only take a couple of weeks.

Work on the new novel should start around December 1st, if all goes well!

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Meanwhile, my current novels are available through my Amazon Author's page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. Feel free to share that with family, friends, and others you may know.

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There's a definite chill in the air here in Stillwater and the leaves are beginning to change! One of my favorite times of the year. 

Stay safe!

Jeffrey

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017 

Running a Little Late!

Well, I really wanted to have Camadin Station Two: Last Stand published already. *sigh* Sadly, I'm running a little late in getting it done.

I could blame my Muse for not being around, but that's not entirely accurate. Muse has gifted me with many ideas of late, only a few of which relate to CS2:LS.

I could blame my cover artist, but he's a busy man with a family, a job, and a life of his own. I can say that the initial draft of the new cover showed me that Sean is on target! I've asked him to do a little tweaking on the cover and should hear back from him real soon!

The bottom line is, I just haven't spent the time working on the new novel as much as I should have. With one project wrapping up at work and another entering a new phase (PHOTOGRAPY!!!), my mind hasn't been on CS2:LS.

The GOOD news is that I'm working on the final read-through of the novel! During the final read-through, I look for typos and grammar errors and spend less time tweaking the story. I'm a couple of chapters in and plan to do some major read-through today!

The next phase on this project will be to format the files for e-publication AND print-on-demand. The e-pub formatting isn't that difficult, but hardcopy formatting can be a pain sometimes. But it is quite doable.

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Meanwhile, my current books are available through my Amazon Author page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. Don't forget to share that page with family, friends, acquaintances, postal workers, mad scientists, and other avid readers.

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Fall is definitely in the air! Enjoy!

Jeffrey

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017 

It's Just About Ready!!!

That's right! Camadin Station Two - Last Stand is almost ready for publication as an e-book AND as a print-on-demand paperback! 

First and Second Edits of the manuscript have been completed. Tomorrow night I begin my final read through, then I will begin formatting both versions of the book. I'm waiting on my cover from Sean but I'm sure he will deliver and that it will be great!

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Meanwhile, my other novels are available through my Amazon Author page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. Take a moment to visit my page and look at the titles there. Remember, if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership, you may check and read my novels on your Kindle (or other e-reader) at no extra cost to you!

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Once Last Stand is published, I have some work to do to assist a friend with publishing his second book. This shouldn't take long then I'll begin work on a new novel. This will require some research into 1902 Arizona which I don't expect to take long. The new novel will be a combination of Young Adult/Steampunk/Dieselpunk. 

Future works beyond that will include a third book in the Camadin Station series AND a non-fiction book examining current events through a historical perspective. That last one will require some serious research and a significant amount of time.

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Summer has gone, Fall is upon us! Soon the Holidays will be here. Be safe, everyone!

Jeffrey

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017 

Getting the Word Out!

Perhaps my least favorite part of being a self-published author has to be advertising. Self-promotion is too much like blowing my own horn...not something I'm really comfortable with. But, if I'm not willing to take the time to talk up my novels, then who will?

Well, my many friends and family have been of enormous help in getting the word out about my books! They've shared my posts on Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and for that, I'm eternally grateful! Thank you all!

In the future, I plan to look into additional advertising venues...but for now, I'll continue to use my current methods while I complete my new novel.

Speaking of the new novel, Camadin Station Two: Last Stand, second edits are coming along quite nicely! I'm about half way through the book and I'm fixing typos, tightening up the storyline, and punching them up a bit. I'm feeling real good about this one as a continuation of and change in direction of the previous novel in this series.

I spoke with Sean about the cover and provided him some fresh ideas. I'm sure he'll come up with a terrific cover for Last Stand. Once we get a finalized version of it, I'll share it here! I think we're on track for a late-September/early-October publication.

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Meanwhile, check out my Amazon Author's page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.

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Summer is almost over and Fall is almost here. Enjoy!

Jeffrey

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017 

Success and the Part-time Novelist

Let's open this post with good news: 

After several months of delays followed by manic periods of intense work...the first edit of Camadin Station: Last Stand is COMPLETE!!! I need to make another pass through it starting tomorrow, get my cover, then format the book for e-book and print formats. Lots of work yet to do but I'm (finally) another step closer to publishing Novel #8! Another success under my belt.

On the topic of success, let's examine what it means...

People can be success in parts of their lives while other parts are less so. For example:
1) Julie and I've been together for more than 35 years and counting. - SUCCESS!
2) We've raised four kids and none of them turned out to be ax murderers. - SUCCESS!
3) I've served the Fire Service in one way or another for more than 40 years. - SUCCESS!
4) As a Fire Service Instructor, I personally trained over 3,500 personnel. - SUCCESS!
5) In my current position, I've managed and/or written 8 fire training manual projects and performed photography for many, many more. - SUCCESS!
6) Julie and I own a nice home. - SUCCESS!
7) I've become a published author of 9 books (e-book and/or print formats). - SUCCESS!

With all of that said, an area I'd like to improve is in the sales of my books. Yes, I've made money from my novels and how-to book but not enough to qualify as a financial success. And that is something I intend to work on!

What would I consider financial success as an author? Well, I'm enough of a realist to know that I'll never reach Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, or William W. Johnstone levels of sales. So what would be more realistic?

I'd like to make sufficient sales that it would bring in a steady stream of supplemental income. I don't want WEALTH...just comfort. I remember when I met G. Harry Stine back in the early 1990s. He invited me to his home in Phoenix. He and his wife lived in a modest house in a nice upper middle class neighborhood. It was not a mansion by any means; just a quaint ranch-style house with three bedrooms (one of which I'm sure was his office), a two car garage, and modest yards. Their home was much like my parent's (or my own 2-story), comfortable, lived-in, with no airs of wealth.

So with that in mind, I intend to shoot for that level of success. How? Well, I've done my "message" books. Now it's time to work on more commercial projects. And perhaps it's time to look for a publisher as I prepare to roll out the more commercial projects. We'll just have to see. I'm still new at this!

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Meanwhile, my current books are available through my Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. Remember Kindle Unlimited subscribers can download my e-books as part of their subscription!

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border (e-book: $4.99 / paperback: $7.99)

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror (e-book: $4.99 / paperback: $8.99)

Arizona State Guard: Freedom’s Forge (e-book: $4.99 / (paperback: $9.99)

Chaos on Terra-Prime (e-book: $4.99 / paperback: $8.99)

Foothold on Terra-Bravo (e-book: $4.99 / paperback: $8.99)

Crisis on Terra-Bravo (e-book: $4.99 / paperback: $9.99)

The Terra-Bravo Saga Volume 1 – (e-book ONLY: $3.99)

Camadin Station One: Death Haunts the Stars (e-book: $4.99 / paperback: $8.99)

Honing Your Instructional Skills - (e-book ONLY: $0.99)

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Please keep the people affected by the wildfires in the West and the hurricanes and flooding in Texas and Florida in your thoughts and prayers!

Stay safe and be good to one another!

Jeffrey 

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017 

A Student of History and a Novelist Sit Down Together...

I am an unabashed student of history. Many of the college courses I've taken are in history. I love reading books about historical people and events. 

As a student of history, I (like many others with the same bent) have learned that things happen in cycles. What has happened before will (eventually) happen again. Or as Commander Ace Hunter says in the movie Megaforce: "It's all on the wheel, old chap. It ALL comes around!"

Republics come and republics go. They tend to last about 200 years, then elected officials learn that they can buy votes with the public coffers (bread and circuses in Rome; phones and handouts in the modern world). An old story goes that Benjamin Franklin, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, was supposedly asked what sort of government the delegates had created. His reply was said to be, "A republic, if you can keep it." Whether the story was true or apocryphal, there is truth in the answer given.

The United States of America is a constitutional federal republic...NOT a democracy as so many believe! A federation of states, with a republican form of government with the division of powers between the levels of government (federal, state, county, etc.) codified in a constitution. Many people also forget that the 13 States (Colonies) formed the federal government...NOT the other way around!

Having witnessed the last 45 years (plus) our country's history and weighing it against the history I've learned, I recognized a familiar pattern emerging. So, a few years back, the student of history in me sat down with the budding novelist in me and created the common theme at the core of six of my novels. Six novels grew out of this theme.

The Terra-Bravo Saga and the Arizona State Guard novels share a common event...a Second American Civil War! But, one significantly different than the previous one. First, it begins as a cold war between those separated by political beliefs. Second, it eventually escalates into a hot war. Third, an outside threat uses the fact that this civil war sidelines the U.S. on the world stage to increase its hold around the glove then invades America.

The Terra-Bravo Saga trilogy addresses this new civil war in a science fiction setting employing the concept of parallel worlds. The Arizona State Guard trilogy deals with the civil war in more action/adventure genre approach.

I've had readers ask me if I'm a fortune teller, reading the future in tea leaves or a crystal ball? My answer is, "No, I'm just a student of history. It's all on the wheel, old chap. It ALL comes around!" Is it what I wish for? HELL NO! I'm utterly distressed by what is happening in our country today. One day, they'll stop attacking statues and begin burning books. My stories go against their beliefs and will be prime examples of what might be burned someday.

The novelist in me is both horrified and expectant about this. Horrified that Americans will burn books and expectant that they'll have to purchase my books before they can burn them!

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My novels are (still) available in e-book and paperback formats through my Amazon Author page at: www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.

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My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. 

Jeffrey

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017 

And the Adventure Continues!

It was a sad day for me today as I learned of the passing of one of my favorite comedians...Jerry Lewis! My prayers go out to his family, friends, and fans around the world. Thank you for all the laughter, Jerry!

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I've made some good progress on the first edit of Camadin Station Two: Last Stand the past couple of days. About 2/3 of the way through at this point. Hope to finish the first edit by the end of August. After I complete that, I'll make one more pass through it, create one file for e-book format and one for print-on-demand paperback format. This week I need to check with Sean to see how the cover is coming along. If all goes well, hopefully I'll be ready to publish both formats by the end of September.

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Meanwhile, my current books are available through my Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. 

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Be careful looking at the eclipse tomorrow!

Jeffrey

Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2017