A Little Housekeeping

Hello world,

So, I did a little housekeeping today. You see, I started this blog back in 2011. And back then, it was rubbish. The entries were too short, badly written and - frankly - not all that interesting. And when it wasn't one of those three - or all three at the same time - it was an angry rant (at the world or about it).

The kind of rant that might come back to bite you in the rear later. So, I grabbed the biggest axe I could find and everything pre-2016 went. The result....a much neater, more professional and - hopefully interesting archive/blog.

Update:  So why was my early blog such rubbish ? Well, I was young(er), not in the best of places in my head and work was no fun at all. In the years since....well, I moved job, I moved house....and things are not so dark inside anymore.

I was also inexperienced. Writing is like playing a guitar. Playing a guitar hurts your fingertips....until you develop calluses and the pain becomes less. But you only get those if you play through the pain. Writing is like that as well.

When you start, you write rubbish. (This is true for everybody.) And there is only one way to fix it....write, write, write ! Which is the advice that many a person gives starting writers.

And now that we're discussing advice..... I got some from RDA yesterday....He told me to get an agent. The problem is simple...I can't afford one. You see, I figure that agents are as expensive as lawyers. And that a conversation with one would go something like this....

Agent:  Well, I read your book. Its rubbish

Me:  What !?

Agent:  Oh, and that'll be four hundred dollars.

Me:  What !?

Agent: Eight-hundred. Now, get out before I sue you !

So....thanks, but no thanks. And that's all for today.

Edmond Dantes

Met RDA for real

Hi all,

I met Richard Dean Anderson for real today. Well, met is a big word. I bought a ticket and took a photo with him at Dutch Comic Con (in Utrecht). I also pulled a bit of a stunt and gave him my business card and told him that I had ten page plan for season three of Stargate Universe. Which I do.

Of course, I know that Mister Anderson was simply being polite when he took my card, so my expectation are....zip, zero, zilch. But RDA is a really nice guy. Also....earlier in the day, he did a Q and A. It was fun. 👍

The Comic Con was great as well. Got some great stuff.  Oops....almost forgot, what about the actual photo ? Well, it turned out horrible. Mister Anderson is fine. But yours truly was totally starstruck. I look like a dear in headlights, with a face full of Botox.

Anyway,

That's all

Edmond Dantes

(Small) Update

Greetings all,

I am happy to report that I finished correcting the manuscript for Buried Secrets. Then I uploaded the manuscript to Bol.com and designed the cover. I've also written the blurb for Buried Secrets. So... now Buried Secrets is ready and steady to go. And here ends the good news.

The bad news is that it will be a while before Buried Secrets is published. Why ? Well....the proofread for A Guy, Two Girl and a Serial Killer is still underway. Once that is done, I'll still have to correct it. And then - and only then - it'll be launch day. So, I'm afraid patience will be required.

That's all folks,

Edmond Dantes

Status Update

I was planning to start this post with 'Hi World', but as soon as I typed it, I realized that I REALLY need(ed) a better opening. I guess this is it. Anyway, let's to it....

Novels

The proofread of Buried Secrets is done. So now I am (slowly) correcting the manuscript. At the same time, the proofread for A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer is now in progress. And the research for the commercial campaign has also begun. (While I am continuing to safe money for said campaign.) So while there is no visible action, things are happening in the background.

MCU

I haven't really been keeping up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe's TV-show branch. But I've gotten my hands on what I've missed, so that I can use those shows to get through the Christmas Period Gap. (TV series - like, for example NCIS - tend to stop some time before Christmas and don't resume until after New Year's.) Which I guess is a nice Segway into....

TV-Shows

CSI

I watched the Vegas show up to 7x02. But by Season 6, I felt the show had jumped the shark. Season 5 was iffy to me, but I decided to keep it. So my advice: Season 1 through 5, watch. Season 6 till the end....don't bother, move on to CSI Miami.

Which is exactly what I did. I'm planning to watch Miami up to the end of season 4, then move on to the first two season of CSI: NY. As for CSI: Cyber.....I refuse to touch that show with a ten foot pole. And we're walking....

Doctor Who

I'm totally used to the 13th Doctor now. The sex change doesn't matter. (Demons of the Punjab was especially heart wrenching.) So, moving on to.....

Magnum P.I

....the Magnum P.I. reboot. The show is.....well, it's okay. But it is missing that special something. The original show was better, MUCH better, because it knew when and how turn off the gags and adrenaline. And when it did, it was gold.

The new show has not shown that ability yet. And if it wants to be a worthy successor, it's going to have to. So for now, my assessment is......meh, watchable. But nothing special.

And that's it for today.

Regards,

Edmond Dantes

Changing Plans (and titles)

(Aka....what's going with my novels)

Hello World,

So, in my last post, I said that I wanted to publish my next novel before 2019. Alas, that is not going to happen. Instead - and with a bit of luck - it will be hitting the internet in early(ish ?) 2019. So, why the delay ? Well....because I want to do it right. And - as much as I hate to admit it - that means patience.

On the bright side, taking the patient approach means that I have time to undo the mess I made with my first novel, which was called Hollywood. Was being operative word. The plan was to name each book after the main location. Alas, Hollywood turned out to be such generic a title that my book ended up lost in the deep recess of the internet.

So my original plan went out the window. (As Ronald D. Moore said, your ideas are your babies. But sometimes - for the good of the story - you have to kill your baby.) Hence, both Hollywood and Bullhorn were retitled.

Another thing I changed about my first novel, was the cover. The old one used a default picture provided by Bol.com. And finally, I neglected to publish my novel in the E-book format. But the greatest mistake I made with my first novel, was the complete lack of a commercial campaign. The patient approach allows me to safe money to properly promote my novel(s) this time around.

So....yeah....it will be a bit longer, but....When it does come around, publishing day will not only see Buried Secrets, but also a new (and improved) re-print of A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer. Both books will be available as paperback and E-book.

That's all for now folks.

Regards,

Edmond Dantes

Still on this mortal coil....

....and moving forward

Hello world,

So....it's been a while since I've blogged or tweeted. The simply truth is that there hasn't been that much to share. Work on book three of the August Smith adventures - which will be titled Cairo - has (finally) begun.

Up until now, it had been frozen solid. If you listen to the same music again and again while you are writing, it will begin to loose its effect. Fortunately, I remembered that I have three season worth of CSI on DVD. The bad news is that Gil Grissom and company are distracting. But at least things have gone from frozen solid to slow.

And why do I only have three seasons of CSI and not all of them ? Well, I guess now would be a good time to talk about the....

ER Effect

ER (aka Emergency Room - created by Michael Crichton) was a great show in the early seasons. I still liked the later seasons, but I do agree with the major criticism of the show. As ER went along, the storylines got bigger, which eroded the realism.

In my humble opinion, CSI also suffered from this. I understand why it happened - the writers were trying to hold onto their viewers - and it is one of the major pitfalls of (television) writing. It doesn't mean that the writers are bad. And it is really hard to avoid. Anyway, it made me bow out of CSI after season four. But I'm digressing, which is my Segway back to...

Bullhorn

The typing is done. I also found somebody to check the text for mistakes. (Typos, missing words, etc.) I've also got tomorrow set for a major planning. (Looking for a photo that I can use for the cover. Setting some deadlines.) I'm also going to work on republishing Hollywood (aka Book one of the August Adventures) as an E-book. Bullhorn will be published as both a traditional book and an E-book. And with that, we move on to...

TV-Season

Finally, tomorrow (24-9) is the start of premiere season. For me, it starts with the latest addition to the NCIS-verse, the reboot of Magnum PI. I really liked version 1.0, so they will have to do really well to make the new version worth my time. (It's been stated that Magnum PI will crossover with Hawaii Five-0, which has been established as being part of the NCIS-verse by means of connections to NCIS Los Angeles and MacGyver.) Still, I'll give it a shot.

As for the end...well, for me that is Supergirl on 14 October. And between that is plenty of action. Alas, Star Trek Discovery is not coming around until 2019. Fortunately, I have a crazy woman in a police phone box to give me my sci-fi fix until then.

And with that, this post comes to end.
Take care.

Edmond Dantes

The Next Phase

Hello world,

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I finished writing my second novel Bullhorn. The bad news is that it will be a while before I will be able to publish it. At the moment, the last chunk is not in my computer yet. So I need to fix that first.

And....wait, second novel, there was a first ?....yep. There was, and here's the proof:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollywood-Edmond-Dantes/dp/940214708X

Alas, I *really* botched the promotion on that. I spent 70 euros on a newspaper advertisement, which got me zero sales. Fortunately, I learned from my mistake. So when I started Bullhorn, I also started saving money for my promotion campaign. Also, I've been working on enhancing my internet footprint, creating both a twitter account and a LinkedIn page.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruben-hilbers-73b603136/
https://twitter.com/Dantes74302

But I still have a lot of research and thinking to do (and typing, don't forget the typing). So...when is Bullhorn coming out ? To be honest, I don't know it. But I am totally determent that waiting until 2019 is not an option. And I'm going to make a hard push for the last quarter of 2018. So stay tuned, folks.

Regards,

Edmond Dantes