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Don’t Make My Mistakes: How I Wrote My First Novel

How I Wrote My First Novel in 2016

How I wrote my first novel: I Began with Nanomo in November 2015

In October 2015, I got word I HAD to retire from Caterpillar–or be laid off. What a perfect opportunity to pursue my writing career! But I was certain I would fail, at first. I accepted that. Here is the story of how I wrote my first novel, what went right and what went wrong.

How I wrote my first novel, by Andy Zach
Author Andy Zach

We ate a fried turkey, as a test of our new turkey fryer that month. “Say, wouldn’t it be funny if the turkey came back to life?” I remarked as we ate. “A Zombie Turkey,” my wife Julie commented. “Wow! What a great title for a book! That’s what I’ll write about in Nanomo. Link to Andy Zach’s page on Nanomo If you’re not familiar with Nanomo, follow the link to the site and read all about this wonderful organization.

I Succeeded at Failing

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Resources, Links, and Reviews by Andy Zach

Resources

Here you get useful resources and links to the key books that I used in self-publishing. You also get great reviews great books.  Finally, you also get links to zombie and fantasy web sites I have found useful and links to other fantasy authors.

Resources and Reviews by Andy Zach on Self-publishing and Writing

Dan Poynter’s Self Publishing Manual Vol 2

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Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual Vol. 2

How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle

How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon's Kindle-An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook 2016 Edition by [Crosbie, Martin] Resources
How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle. An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook 2016 Edition by [Crosbie, Martin]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bullies, Bastards, & Bitches: Write Fiction Bad Boys

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B, B, & B Cover

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Useful Book for Writers, June 3, 2017
By Andy Zach
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This review is from: Bullies, Bastards And Bitches: How To Write The Bad Guys Of Fiction (Paperback)
As a fantasy author, I learned a lot about writing villains. I was in the middle of writing my sequel, “My Undead Mother-in-law” and it ended up much better (according to early readers; it’s not out until July 2017).

Besides villains, Ms. Morrell also covers dark heroes, anti-heroes, sympathetic villains, likable bad guys, neutral characters and truly wicked ones. She has a chapter on psychopaths and sociopaths, too, providing definitions and examples of each. She goes further, giving resources the reader can pursue to understand the psychology of criminals.

Indeed, the many examples she cites of heroes, lovable bad guys, and villains from contemporary culture, fiction, and movies, are probably the best feature of the book. I recommend this book for anyone interested in writing or learning to write.
 

 

 

 

 

Other Fantasy book reviews by Andy Zach

 

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