Updates. Updates. Updates.

Hi all,

Sorry about the lack of updates here in so long. Way too long. I know. I am very sorry. A lot has been going on and I have been super focused on writing. I am currently taking a few days off, so I wanted to get this update out. Sorry if it's a little sloppy.

Update #1. Last Feb, I had an agent look at two of my novels. She was interested in me as an author, she liked my queries and plots, and we had a lot in common. So, I felt very good about working with her. She quickly reviewed my Viking Novel and my Urban Fantasy novel and suggested two major edits that would polish them to perfection and then make them ready for publishers.  I accepted the challenge and went back to work.

Now, if you follow me here or on FB you know these two books were already on their 5-7th edit/revision/versions. The Urban Fantasy was written a few years ago, and the Viking novel just last year (2011 really). Both had been professionally edited twice and in the case of the Urban Fantasy, massively re-written not long ago. These two books are what I want to begin new series with. So I am trying to find agents for them.

In early 2012, I had an agent suggest I fix some POV shifts in both books and I did that. And thought I was ready, but then had a second agent suggest a new change to both of them. Of course, this was tough to imagine... since it seems I have spent most of the last 12 months editing, but as I said, I was up to the challenge. I could see what this agent was suggesting to me would fix my books, raise them to a whole new level and would be a great learning experience.

And it has been true. Oh, so very true.

Since Feb. I have been editing 5-8 hours a day. Two books. In a three phase plan. I'm currently about to begin the final phase. I'm ready! These two books, over 200,000 words total, are really reading clean, fast and fun.

Update #2. Couple months ago, I was approached by a local movie production company to write a pilot episode of a Viking TV show they wanted to pitch soon. This was an great honor, but I passed on it. Why? Well, mainly because I did not want to muddy up my own Viking book property with their Viking TV show. I just felt it was for the best and had some of my professional friends weight in and they agreed with me.

Update #3. I have been asked to write three short stories for three different anthologies that would be published in 2014. I'm going to start on these stories this summer. I'm very excited about the guidelines of the one. Not going to spoil it. But it is a very cool idea. So hopefully, I will have several shorts out in 2014.

Update #4. While I did make it, for the second year in a row, to the preliminary ballot of the Bram Stoker Awards. I did not make it to the finals. It was a bummer to say the least. BUT I have a short story in an anthology that was Nominated and might win. So, I am still excited about that.

Update #5. On my birthday in Jan. I got a email from Russia. Wishing my Happy B-Day. Neat right? Totally!!! Well, this email was written by a Russian man who has a Fantasy Book club and he wanted to know if I could send him a signed book for the club. He's a fan of mine and really was happy to touch base with me. He explained how bad illiteracy is in parts of Russia and how he is trying to change that by getting people interested in fantasy books. I was touched by all this and decided to send a bunch of books.  Just the other week, like 3-4 months later, I received a new email letting me know the books arrived OK. As a child of the 80s, and the Cold War, this was a great moment for me. Seriously, I know it's cheesy, but I felt I did my part for glasnost.  And now I have a friend in Russia!!!

Update #6. I'm still deciding on how to move forward with the third and final Soul Born Saga book, FLESH ENDED. It was almost ready to go, in the hands of the publisher, but now I think it needs another edit. So it's on hold. Too much editing these days. I need to finish my current job before I can even consider it.

Update #7. I hope to finish my MG book this summer too. After these edits, I am going to finish that book and then start the sequel to the Urban Fantasy one. Hopefully, I will have an agent by then, so I feel a little more secure about my future. :)


Thanks all,

Kevin James Breaux
www.kevinbreaux.com

Award-Winning reads for less than a dollar! Movie company wants me to write!

Hi all,

Been super busy. Just this week, I have had an offer from a small budget movie production company to write a pilot episode for a series... then possibly write the series itself. Also another offer from a small press publisher to publish some of my works. I am currently looking into these.

In the meantime...

I wanted to bring to every ones attention that two of my smaller works: a short story and a novelette are now $.99. 

http://amzn.com/B005TX2H86

Sarah should have left Montgomery County when she had the chance, but now it's too late. She is trapped on the rooftop of her family home which is almost completely submerged by dark flood waters. The air smells of a mixture of sewage and mold and it’s still raining. Alone with only her thoughts Sarah is mad she did not leave town years ago when she was right out of high school, before she became the one things she dreaded most; her mother.

Haunted by the reoccurrence of an eerie thumping sound, Sarah is startled when she discovers a large hairy animal, almost the size of a cow, brushing against the corner of her house. What is it? Where did it come from? What other horrors are hiding in the dark water?

Dark Water: Beaming Smile is my award-winning long fiction. It was in the running for a Bram Stoker Award in 2011. Made it as far as the preliminary ballot. It did rank 3rd in the P&E Readers Poll.

It's a spooky story in the urban fantasy genre. I consider it light horror too. Dark Water: Beaming Smile is one of my better reviewed works, please check it out.

 

 

http://amzn.com/B0052G2VOU

A WAY TO A MAN'S HEART IS THROUGH HIS STOMACH is a dark ride through a mysteriously failing marriage. Brenda realizes something is up from various clues, but arrives at a shockingly wrong conclusion. When she finally discovers exactly why things between them are falling apart, she decides that the time has come for her husband Tony to get a taste of what she is going through…just a taste…

 

A Way to A Man's Heart is Through his Stomach is a horror short story. For those of you interested, it was originally written years ago for a Valentine's Day horror anthology, but was published as an e-book short instead.


Thanks all,

Kevin James Breaux
www.kevinbreaux.com
 Write Makes Might!

Kevin James Breaux Author Mission Statement

This is my artist's mission statement.

I am a multi-genre author.

I write epic fantasy, historical fiction, horror, urban fantasy, paranormal, thriller, adult, YA, MG and more. Oh, and yes I write erotic too.

I write whatever is asked of me and I do whatever is needed to succeed.

Fix my work? Gladly. Change something to fit the current trends? Sure.

I am an artist and this is my business.

Write Makes Might!

Kevin James Breaux
www.kevinbreaux.com

Awards Season

Hi all,

First off, thanks to all of you who voted for me in the P&E Readers Poll.  My horror short story landed in 3rd place this year. So for those of you counting I have won 4 Top Ten awards, 3 of which were Top Three and one... wait for it... First Place! You can see prior years scores here.

http://critters.org/predpoll/prior/ 

I broke it down for you.

 

The Journal of USS Indianapolis Survivor: Stefanos “Stevie” Georgiou” - Zombie Jesus and Other True Stories Antho. Dark Moon Press - 11/2012
--------- 3rd place Preditors and Editors poll 2012

Dark Water: Beaming Smile - Hellfire Publishing 10/2011
-------- 3rd place Preditors and Editors poll 2011

Soul Born - Dark Quest Books 11/2010
-------- 1st place Preditors and Editors poll 2010

Ending Summer Nights - Lucrezia Magazine 5/2010
------- 9th placed Preditors and Editors poll 2010

Bang! Portugal - Lucrezia Magazine 2/2009
------ 3rd place Preditors and Editors Poll 2009

 

 

Now, I am happy to announce that for the second year in a row, I have reached the Preliminary Ballot of the Bram Stoker Award. This year The Journal of USS Indianapolis Survivor: Stefanos “Stevie” Georgiou” is in the list of horror short stories. I really hope to make it to nominations this year. It's like the Oscars... the true honor is in the nomination, not the win.

 

Here is the Prelim Ballot. Look at all the great authors. I am lucky to be counted among them.

 

http://www.horror.org/blog/?p=3029

 

2013 has been off to a strange and slow start with my father getting ill and going to the hospital and then my wife and mother getting the flu. Sure my parents are in PA, across the country, but somehow everyone got sick at the same time!

 

So, I am just starting my new year it seems. At the moment I have two projects. One is a MG Boys Horror. The other is proofing the galley for FLESH ENDED book three in the Soul Born Saga. I am still searching for a agent, but I have met one that I really enjoy as a person. I hope she signs me, it would be nice to work with her and share the experience of growing my career with her too.

 

Thanks all!

 

Kevin James Breaux

www.kevinbreaux.com

 



P&E Poll is almost over. Please vote!

Hope all is well and the holidays have been kind and nice.

YEP! It's that time of year again. I have a horror short story up for an award and I need your vote.

http://critters.org/predpoll/shortstoryh.shtml

Please go to that link and vote on:

The Journal of USS Indianapolis Survivor: Stefanos “Stevie” Georgiou” - By Kevin James Breaux

You can vote once per email address you own. Remember, when voting you will need to click on the link in the confirmation email they send to you. If you do not, the vote does not count.

How to vote:

 

First click on the dot next to the title of the story I wrote. Then fill in your name and email address and then answer the anti-spam/robot question, which this year shows a cover of a book and you have to fill in the authors name. Then click submit. Wait a few minutes and then check for the confirmation email... make sure it did not go to your spam folder. In that confirmation email is the link to confirm the vote. And DONE. It only takes 2-3 minutes tops. It can be done on your phone or mobile device too.

Thanks so much. In the past, I have done well because of your votes!

 ***If the confirmation email takes longer than an hour to reach you, please try to vote again later.

 Thanks all!

Kevin James Breaux

www.kevinbreaux.com

 

Happy Holidays from Kevin James Breaux

Happy Holidays to all,

Thanks so much for all your support and friendship in 2012. Writing has been a true gift to my life, and with it I have met some great fans and made some cool friends. Each week, when I get emails from people reading my work, I know just how lucky I am.

2013 will be a big year with huge new projects! Can't wait to see you all then!


Thanks!


Kevin James Breaux
www.kevinbreaux.com

Where have I been? Oh yeah... editing.

Hi all,

Sorry I have not posted in a while. I was reading, reviewing, editing, re-reading and re-editing like a mad man. Write Makes Might! And right now I am on R&R after a long year.

WOW. It has been one hell of a couple months. Since this summer I finished writing a huge novel and edited it. Then I re-edited two other novels. So yes, in the span of Oct.-Dec. I edited three novels. Any of my writer buddies reading this knows exactly what kind of stress plus mental and physical pain that can bring. And it was broughten. LOL. *cry* My poor back, it's seriously ruined.

Flashback! This summer a very kind agent explained to me an issue with my writing that I was unaware of. To top it off, this issue is probably the reason I have not found an agent in my 10+ years of searching. Once she pointed the problem out it was like a giant slap in the face wake up call. I saw it. I was blind before, but I saw it. I realized at that point that all my books had the same issue, even the ones in print.

After a small panic and some punch dancing in my office. I made a plan to fix my two unpublished novels and then resubmit them to the two agents who were waiting to read them. I also made a plan to fix up the last book in the Soul Born Saga... yet only slightly.

Yep, since this summer I finished FLESH ENDED, which was 180,000 words long and then edited the entire novel. I did all that work while keeping in mind that I wanted to still match up with Soul Born and Blood Divided. So I tried to keep the style similar, regardless of having grown as an author. Before sending it to my two test readers, I applied the fixes the agent told me about.... but only slightly. In this case I felt I needed to keep some of the mistakes so the book would blend in with the previous two, which I know have lots of mistakes. It's a sad state of affairs... sigh. Think of it like painting your living room a light shade of (pick a color). You are down to the last wall and run out. But then you find out the paint you were using was cheap and will not last very long. So do you buy the cheap paint and finish your project or buy the new better paint that will not entirely match right? It's a hard decision. I tried to find a happy middle and do a little of both.

So where did I start?

Well, you can go back in this blog and see how much I was writing this summer. I tracked some of it here. You can see the crazy word counts I was reaching... and then...

There was a crazy, mind-numbing two weeks back in Oct... I think Oct... its all a blur and my memory of the past couple months is spotty... I spent two weeks, editing my Urban Fantasy novel like the end of the world was coming. I fixed it up. I sent it to my editor. She suggested fixes to the main issue the agent pointed out, and she also did a whole new line edit. Then I went for a sprint to the finish and edited the entire book again. Working 10-12 hours a day... It was insane! I can't remember exactly how many days it took, but I did it. With the book done (in better shape than ever) I handed it over to the agent waiting for it and finally took a breath. FYI- I have not heard back yet. That agent has been SUPER busy. I respect that. I can wait.

At this point I finished my work on Flesh Ended... and found out that another agent wanted to see my Norse Myth-Horror-Dark Fantasy-Thriller-Alternative History-Horror book. Wait, did I say horror twice? :) I am very proud of this book.

This agent, like the other one, was super nice. She requested the full, but told me where it was in line with her other requests. This gave me a month to fix it up, and whammo I was off to the races again. I spent much of Nov. reading and editing. Again, I edited the book and sent it off to my editor up in Portland. She was kind enough to review all my fixes to the main problem and suggest more line edits to streamline the book, actually dropping it down about 3,000 words to 114,000.  So after her review, I was back to editing. I spent 10 days. From 8-12 hours a day editing it and was able to hand it into the agent on the exact day I promised. That was last week....

All and all I can say this (breathe)... I have never worked this hard in my life. The last six months, wow. Especially the last three months, crazy. ESPECIALLY the month of Nov. Total insanity!

But I proved my point. I can flip a switch when needed. Become the bionic author-man, work at my craft until my eyes blur and my spine hurts so bad I am in tears. I have true dedication and a new mastery of my craft and it feels good.

To put things into perspective: Two books written. Three books, nearly 400,000 words edited. One short story written, edited and placed. 2012 is almost done and I am chasing an award.

After I was done last week I decided to just stop. I needed a break. I spent the last seven days in a sorta zombie-like state. This week I have been getting back to normal. Working on some house projects. Remembering its Christmas...

I say this all the time on FB and Twitter. Hard work must pay off, or dreams will die. I Google hard work quotes all the time. I see/KNOW that through history the people who have worked the hardest have reached their goals. So I keep telling myself 2013 will be my year. I have learned so much in 2012. I have made strides and advances in my career. I can see the steps I have made forward. I am closer to reaching my goal of landing an agent.

So what are my plans for now. Rest. I can't remember a time in the last year that I took a week off from writing and editing. Yes, I type that after just taking a week off, but I plan to finish out Dec. resting.

2013 goals: Agent. Two books written and edited. Two short stories written, edited and placed.

I know I can do it. I already proved it in 2012. All I need now is an agent to back me up. Join Team BREAUX. Go for the Gold together.


Thanks all,

Kevin James Breaux
www.kevinbreaux.com