Category: Writing

Finishing My First Draft and Starting My Second of my latest book, Secret Supers in Space. What an adventure! Let me tell you about how it all happened.

First, this book is the third in my Secret Supers series. The first is:

Jeremy Gentle fell flat on his face at therapy. That was normal since he had cerebral palsy. But his new superpower wasn’t normal.

Then things got weirder when his best friend, Dan Elanga, got a different superpower. But Dan was still blind.

Kayla Verdera and Aubrey Wilcosky, two girls in their middle-school special ed class, discovered they too had new superpowers. Kayla was mute and needed a walker. Aubrey lost two legs and used crutches. But they were as powerful as the boys.

What should the four friends do? Jeremy knew if the word got out, it’d be a media circus. Then they started fighting crime, as the Secret Supers. Who knew a disability could be a perfect disguise? No one would ever think of disabled kids as superheroes. Then they ran into problems they never expected.

Secret Supers blurb

Then I wrote the second novel:

Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.

Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.

Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?

You can only find out by reading the adventure ‘Villain’s Vacation’.

Cover blurb

And now, I’ll tell you about my WIP, Secret Supers in Space.

We Interrupt This First Draft to Edit Another Book

I began SSS in November 2021 as my novel for Write a Novel in November Month. But instead of writing fifty thousand words, I wrote 3,940. My stats from my tracking spreadsheet as of November 30, 2021.

Why so few? I spent more than half my time editing my non-fiction book, The Gospel Medley.

Why did the Gospel Medley get priority? 1) It was almost done and 2) I’d been working on it for forty years.

Everything Takes Longer Than You Think

“Everything” includes editing my non-fiction book. I didn’t finish that until April 2022. By the end of April, my stats were:

Why did I write so little in 42 hours devoted to the book? Research.

I had to research Space Camp. That included its curriculum, the space simulations it runs, and when they occur during the week. I watched Youtube videos and learned a lot.

You see, as I write the first draft if I have a question I must answer it before I can write anything else. You might say, ‘Just guess and check it later.’ But no–I can’t write something factually wrong. It drives me nuts.

Some might say I’m already nuts.

Why Did It Take Five Months to Write 30,000 Words?

You’re right. It’s odd it took me that long. One excuse is I had several book conventions–ten from March to September. I love them, but each takes up three to four days of my time: preparation, travel, selling, and documentation, where I record my sales.

Here are my final stats:

You ask me, “Andy, what took you one hundred hours to write 30,000 words?” The answer is more research. I studied SpaceX, the Dragon capsule, the International Space Station, the docking procedure, the undocking procedure, the landing procedure, and where the Dragon capsule lands. I studied the map of Florida, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico for hiding places for my villains.

That’s where my time went. Ask me a question and I’ll send you a free book. Or, just click here to get seven free audiobooks.

What’s next? My second draft. Look for another blog post on that.