Unsuck Your Book

The author of the smash hit Standing The Final Watch, aka the world's oldest teenager, reveals his rocket ride from obscurity to thriving career as a novelist and active membership in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the SFWA. The weather was sunny and warm, the coffee fresh, the dogs quiet for once and the reference book he needed for the day's work lay open to the appropriate page. Life was good. Nothing said Bill was about to do something he hadn't done in thirty years, namely, write fiction. (You thought I was going to say 'pass up a chocolate doughnut,' didn't you?) But that's what happened. (The career, not the doughnut.) When the writing burst ended thirteen months later he had two books of military science fiction, dystopian or post-apocalyptic, whichever you prefer. Like all first drafts they screamed for a great editor or publisher. Eight months later that first novel, Standing The Final Watch, was a huge success. Query letters, literary agents, twitter events, facebook, they're all here as Bill learned about publishing in the 21st Century, headed toward that magical day in August, 2016, when his first novel hit the street. The nuts and bolts of the book launch, advertising, signings and marketing will be detailed in the second part. This book is that story. The only regret he feels is there aren't any talking ducks. That would have been cool.