Musings Of Two Creative Minds

With the holidays over and all audio recording projects edited and out there, Helen and I have finally had time to settle down and work on rewriting the first book in our Para-Earths series “The Bridge”. As you know from previous entries, the last ‘edited’ files that we published got corrupted without our knowledge, so when I found out I took it down from all sites (which is why you cannot find it now). But rest assured work has begun and some ‘technical’ changes are being made to the new edition which will be released next year 2023. Originally I planned on re-releasing it this year as a special 10th anniversary edition, only to discover that while I put a 2012 copyright year in the original version, it never actually reached Amazon or any of the other outlets until 2013.  So to keep with calling it the 10th Anniversary edition, we all have to wait a little longer.

However, I’m not actually bothered by this delay. Because reworking the book, I’m discovering a lot of things I’d forgotten that were in the book itself.    

Yes, I know that sounds hard to believe, but when you’ve gotten a couple of other books under your belt, plus you’ve been providing voices for other books, some details kind of fall into the dark corners of your memory. So I’m actually kind of grateful for the opportunity to see the story with fresh eyes after so much time has passed. This time I’m trying to look at the book from a reader’s perspective, instead of as one of the authors and really see some of the errors that were made the first time around, in addition to the corruptions of the file itself.

I think most writers look back on their earlier work (especially when it’s part of an ongoing series) with a mix of pride as well as thoughts like, “Ooo… I could’ve done a better job on that section…” or “Gee, that idea was good at the time but I wound up fleshing it out so much more in later years…” And that’s where Helen and I are at, especially me since I did the majority of the actual writing at the time. Simply put, the more you write, the more your style matures and that’s something you will be seeing in this 10th Anniversary edition.

Mind you, we’re not rewriting every single word or scene. But we will be making adjustments and possibly making certain areas ‘cleaner’ for you the readers. It will also make things easier for me and Helen when we start the audio recording part of the project.  

Yes, you read that right, we’re going to be releasing an Audible version of “The Bridge” as part of the 10th Anniversary release.

And for those who are Audible fans, yes this means that the rest of the Para-Earths Series will also be getting turned into Audiobooks as well. How soon? That depends on a couple of factors. The first being: getting Helen used to the microphone and software to the point she feels more satisfied with her voice performances. I think she’s pretty good, but like any artist, she’s her own worst critic. Secondly, I’m also considering enlisting the help of a few other vocal talents to help fill some of the character slots. While I have and impressive repertoire of  voices I can do (at last count I made a list of over 100 voices, and the list is still growing), and Helen is slowly coming on board, there are limits to what we can do really effectively on our own.

But getting back to the topic of  “The Bridge”, being reminded of all that had taken place in this first story, I’m discovering new pathways to take the upcoming books in the series. You see, part of the reason things have slowed down on “The Door” so much is, I keep finding myself hitting pockets of writer’s block that I haven’t been able to fully get around. And now I think part of the reason for all that writer’s block has been a part of my brain has been telling me I need to go back to the original source material to find the correct path forward. 

So this ‘rewrite’ is actually serving more than one purpose, and I feel much more at ease with the whole thing. I don’t see it as much as ‘correcting mistakes’, but a chance to polish the book that made brought the entire series to life, as well as finding how to keep the series growing and be consistent.

That’s all for now. So until next time, take care, stay safe, and keep writing and recording my friends.