I guess I’ve neglected my blog for far too long. And it’s probably best I give it an update for I go on holiday.

Ok first off the bat is the typesetting issues I’ve been having. Last year I created the typeset pdf for Spirit’s Destiny in InDesign. It has been left until the chapters were all proof read, which of course they are now. The actual chapters were typed in Word and then copied and pasted into InDesign. Now InDesign keeps the formatting of the Word file, which is my biggest problem! While typing I’ve gotten into the habit of ‘not’ pressing the indent button when an indent was required. I’ve basically just given it three spaces. This has meant InDesign has simply recognised my indents as spaces, and thus just squished everything together.

So begins the long arduous task of putting line breaks in where required.

I’m up to Chapter 6 out of 14 so I should have this finished this week.

The book is weighing in at around 280 pages – a lot more than I thought it would be. It’s so exhilarating seeing the whole project come together.

On another note, I’ll have my domain name and beginnings of my website sorted this week. After much deliberation, and opinions of my friends,  I’ve decided not to do the site in Flash but create it in Dreamweaver. So now I have to learn how to use this package all over again! 😀

I’m also currently in debate with my business partner on how the book should be marketed. Should we concentrate on the local market, and then gradually expand the customer base outwards? Or should we hammer the online market with every feasible social networking tool available? I’m likely to agree with the latter 😀

On a final note my Bob Doyle ‘Wealth Beyond Reason’ course is going well. I’m enjoying seeing my ducks build up as I listen and read great words of wisdom from some of the masters in personal development.

Ok hopefully I’ll post again before the week is out with a fully typeset novel! It only took 7 years haha!

So on Saturday I had my first meeting with my proofreader – a lovely women called Christine who also teaches English to adults.

During the days leading up to our meeting she was saying how impressed she was with the tale, and was very surprised she was enjoying it (not being a sci-fi fan in the slightest). All that needed correcting were a few minor grammatical errors.  Obviously this sent my spirits soaring!

However on Saturday she told me that one of my Chapters – Chapter 13 disappointed her greatly, to the point where she said it would put her buying the second and third books! Yikes!

Now it should be said that Chapter 13 is my ‘backstory’ chapter, where the majority of the history is explained. And of course, being a story that involved a few time-travel ingredients, a little complication is to be expected. I thought at the time of writing that all should be done to introduce these elements gradually and clearly.

My clear writing, was not that clear it would seem.

Christine said it was far too complicated, confusing, and frankly very hard to follow. She did say however she had a hard time following the film ‘Sliding Doors’ so this could just be down to her. But I feel if I’ve any chance of making this a success I will have to write it in a way that anyone can understand it, not just sci-fi fans.

So here I am, back to the drawing board, slaving over my ‘unlucky’ Chapter 13. Maybe I will write out two versions of it and give it to a few people to garner their opinion.

Also she said illustrating might be a bad idea as she wanted to see the things in her head, not in a picture. I’m still not sure I agree. Japanese comics have a massive following. If I can seep myself into that market, then surely that’s a good thing.