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The Road to Magic Arrives

The Road to Magic Arrives – It was a long struggle. Let me lay out step-by-step how I wrote and published my first fantasy.

The Road to Magic Arrives – Writing

The Road to Magic Arrives
Magic Arrives Back Cover

I track all my writing of all my books in a spreadsheet. Thus, I know the date I started and the date I ended my first draft.

Start date: April 3, 2023

That’s three years ago! No wonder it felt like forever.

However, this is the beginning of the planning document. I wrote down all my ideas as ‘vignettes’ and then I organized them as an outline.

The REAL first draft was: April 19, 2023

I had to organize six plot threads, one per chapter, for 54 chapters. Whew!

When did I finish? April 2, 2025 with 111,345 words!

The Road to Magic Arrives – Editing

My First Fantasy Book 
The Road to Magic Arrives

I rediscovered the Book Progress app in Word Press and I decided to use it to report on the progress of my first fantasy book, with the working title, Magic Arrives. The app asked me about my writing method and I decided the Snowflake method is the closest to my process. I work on multiple parts at a time. Here’s the overall structure:

  • Story StructureDone! April 19, 2023
  • CharactersDone! April 2, 2025
  • Scene ListDone! April 2, 2025
  • First DraftDone! April 2, 2025
  • EditingContent editing done January 26, 2026 (Line edit) – Dori Harrell
  • Proofing – Done! March 31, 2026 (copy edit) – Dori Harrell
  • Format edit – Done! ebook, paperback, hardback April 8, 2026 – Rik Hall
  • Cover and content assembled on Amazon – done April 26, 2026 – Illustrator Sean Flanagan

Publishing on Amazon

Pinky the Dragon
The Road to Magic Arrives
ARC Copy

The process looks like:

  1. Upload your book contents in pdf format.
  2. Upload your paperback or hardback cover spread (they’re different)
  3. Review uploaded book for errors.
  4. Schedule publication date. May 17th for Magic Arrives. The book is on pre-sale before that. Buy it here on Amazon:

For the ebook, the process is:

  1. Upload your ebook contents in eps format.
  2. Upload your front cover for the ebook icon
  3. Review uploaded ebook for errors.
  4. Schedule publication date. May 17th for Magic Arrives. The book is on pre-sale before that. Buy it here on Amazon:

The Road to Magic Arrives – Story Structure, the Series

My First Fantasy Book

So far I’m 100% complete on the Story Structure phase. I’ve captured my plot for this book, and the next two books in the triology.

Have a preview of the spines of the trilogy here.

  1. Magic Arrives
  2. Magic Wars
  3. Magic Rules

Your Part

First, join my newsletter. I’ll give away free copies and discounts to my subscribers. Click here to join.

Next, beg, borrow, or buy a copy of Magic Arrives and read it.

Finally, leave a review! Here, on Amazon or here on Goodreads.

Leave a comment for me here.

Here are the covers:

2026 Future Predictions
My First Fantasy Book
Front and back Cover of Magic Arrives
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Do You Want to Be Special?

Do You Want to Be Special? In this post I’ll give you three ways you can be special–at least to me.

Do You Want to Be Special? Your First Way

Life After Life Chronicles March Fourth Fun Videos
Do You Want to Be Special
Enjoy all four novels in audiobook, paperback, or Kindle format!

Your first way is to be special is to simply simply subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here. Over 1,700 people already subscribe and they’re all special to me.

“What’s in it for me?” you may ask. I would, if I were you.

I give away free books with every issue. This is important if you love books These are my books (Zombie Turkeys, and others, and the books of other authors.

Another way to get free books from me is to click here. I give away eight free books of mine with every newsletter. But you’ve got to join first. Plus, I tell you about events, I give you free short stories, and more. The newsletter comes out twice a month, but you can reduce that to monthly or even bimonthly.

Do You Want to Be Special? – The Second Way

2026 Future Predictions
The Secret Supers Series So Far

This way leads you closer to my heart. How?

“The way to an author’s heart is through reviews.”

That’s right. Read one of my free books you picked up and leave a review on Amazon (click!) and/or Goodreads (clickity!)

It doesn’t have to be long. One sentence works fine. It doesn’t have to be a good review (look at my one and two star reviews). It’s just that you care enough to tell me what you think.

That’s why I think you’re special.

Do You Want to Be Special? The Third Way

My First Fantasy Book

This way makes you most special to me. Less than four thousand people in the world are in this category. But you can be.

Just buy a book.

These two are .99: Zombie Turkeys and Secret Supers.

These are $2.99: Zombie Detective, My Undead Mother-in-law, and Oops.

Villain’s Vacation and Secret Supers in Space are also $2.99

All these prices go up by a dollar on March 1st.

Paranormal Privateers is $5.99

Then there’s my Christian Bible help books: The Gospel Medley, and Revelation Devotional for $6.99.

Have a preview of the spines of the trilogy above.

My First Fantasy Book Magic Arrives – Characters

2026 Future Predictions
Do You Want
Front and back Cover of Magic Arrives

I just made progress on Magic Arrives! So far I’m 100% complete on the Characters phase. I’ve got about 71 characters so far, including magical dragons, talking dogs, gorillas, and intelligent dolls.

Magic Arrives Progress – Scene List

Pinky the Dragon
Do You Want
ARC Copy

I just made progress on Magic Arrives! So far I’m 100% complete on the Scene List phase. That’s 100 out of 100 scenes.

Progress – First Draft Words

Do You Want

I’m done with the first draft of Magic Arrives! I’m 100% complete. That’s roughly 112,00 words out of my goal of 100,000. Oops. Overshot.

Line editing – done

I’m done with the self-edit. I sent it to my editor, Dori Harrell. She did the line editing. I’m went through that and approved the changes. Now Dori is doing the final proofing.

I created the front cover, back cover and spine with my illustrator, Sean “Fuzzy” Flanagan.

Then there’s the small matter of uploading it to Amazon and publishing it there. Finally, I order paperback copies so you can get your copy here, directly from me, as less than Amazon.

Get Your Free Books By Clicking Here!

Let me know if I make you feel special here.

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My First Fantasy Book Magic Arrives Progress Update

My First Fantasy Book Magic Arrives – I just made progress on Magic Arrives! Read how I’m writing it and get a free book below. I give a complete status update for you below.

How to Get a Free Book From Me

Life After Life Chronicles March Fourth Fun Videos
Enjoy all four novels in audiobook, paperback, or Kindle format!

One way is to simply give me ideas for my fantasy book, Magic Arrives. Should I have dragons? Elves? Trolls? Dwarves? (Or dwarrows, for those in the know.) Click here to give me a piece of your mind. If I use your idea, I’ll give you your choice of my books.

Another way to get free books from me is to click here. I give away eight free books of mine with every newsletter. But you’ve got to join first. Plus, I tell you about events, I give you free short stories, and more. The newsletter comes out twice a month, but you can reduce that to monthly or even bimonthly.

My First Fantasy Book Magic Arrives – The Snowflake Method

My First Fantasy Book

I rediscovered the Book Progress app in Word Press and I decided to use it to report on the progress of my first fantasy book, with the working title, Magic Arrives. The app asked me about my writing method and I decided the Snowflake method is the closest to my process. I work on multiple parts at a time. Here’s the overall structure:

  • Story StructureDone!
  • CharactersDone!
  • Scene ListDone!
  • First DraftDone!
  • EditingIn progress
  • Proofing – To do

My First Fantasy Book Magic Arrives – Story Structure

My First Fantasy Book

So far I’m 100% complete on the Story Structure phase. I’ve captured my plot for this book, and the next two books in the triology.

Have a preview of the spines of the trilogy here.

My First Fantasy Book Magic Arrives – Characters

I just made progress on Magic Arrives! So far I’m 100% complete on the Characters phase. I’ve got about 71 characters so far, including magical dragons, talking dogs, gorillas, and intelligent dolls.

Magic Arrives Progress – Scene List

I just made progress on Magic Arrives! So far I’m 6% complete on the Scene List phase. That’s 6 out of 100 scenes.

Progress – First Draft Words

I’m done with the first draft of Magic Arrives! I’m 100% complete. That’s roughly 112,00 words out of my goal of 100,000. Oops. Overshot.

What remains to be done

I’m done with the self-edit. I sent it to my editor, Dori Harrell. She did the line editing. I’m going through that NOW. Then Dori will do the final proofing.

I’ll created the front cover, back cover and spine with my illustrator, Sean “Fuzzy” Flanagan.

Here are the covers:

2026 Future Predictions
My First Fantasy Book
Front and back Cover of Magic Arrives

Then there’s the small matter of uploading it to Amazon and publishing it there. Finally, I order paperback copies so you can get your copy here, directly from me, as less than Amazon.

Get Your Free Books By Clicking Here!