In The Beginning...

             Detective Adrian Stark is a broken man. His wife and unborn child brutally murdered by an escaped 
             convict. He has packed it in and called it quits. All he wants is to take his settlement money, retire to 
             his secluded Mexican beach retreat and disappear into a bottle. His papers have been processed, his
             desk is packed, he is headed out the door. Then his phone rings. What begins as his final case, a 
             grizzly and bizarre set of murders, quickly degenerates into a dangerous game of cat and mouse that
             threatens the very future of mankind.

So I decided to publish a novel.  Self-publish to be precise.  After all, who needs all that rejection from established publishing houses and agents.  Hours of query letter writing, weeks of waiting, days of angst and all those sleepless nights.  No thanks.  I reasoned that by self-publishing my novel, the only people who can say no to me are me and my readers.  If I can get any.  But that's another issue entirely and we'll get into that later.  For now, we'll begin at the beginning.

I've always wanted to be a writer.  Stemming, I suppose, from my intense enjoyment of reading.  I started writing in my early twenties.  And I sucked.  Really bad.  But like anything, you have to work at it to approach anything nearing decent.  I'm not saying that I'm a good writer now, that is ultimately for the reader to decide, just that it has become a little (just a little) easier and I have become more (hopefully much more) polished over the years.  They say it takes 10,000 hours to master anything.  I passed that number over two decades ago.

My first failed attempt was a novel that was and never will be finished (because it was so awful).  It was during film school that I turned my (talents?  efforts?) attention toward screenplays.  My first screenplay was called THE RECOMBINANT and was co-written with my classmate, Robert Sloan.  We had some success with it in that it was read by several production companies.  One even showed interest, forcing us through several nonsensical and unpaid rewrites until we told them to basically go fuck themselves.

THE RECOMBINANT was my second attempt at writing a novel.  I started adapting it about a dozen years ago, and then simply lost interest. My third attempt at a novel is still a work in progress.  My GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL.  After about a hundred and fifty-pages in, I decided that it is such an undertaking that I will wait until after I retire to attempt to finish it.  That sounds lazy, I know, but a lifelong perspective is the POV I really want, and feel I need, to do it justice.

Since graduating from film school, I have written many screenplays.  One I actually produced and was co-written with another classmate, Tony Jiti Gill.  The title of that success was MURDER-IN-LAW, starring Joe Estevez, Marilyn Adams and Sandy Snyder.  You can visit the IMDB page here: Murder-In-Law IMDB Page if you're so inclined.  I call it a success because it actually got made and was seen by the public.  It is so difficult to make that happen, that I am of the opinion that any time it does happen, it is a success.

I've had other successes as well.  Minor ones.  Winning a Page Award Bronze prize for my screenplay, PEEKER.  Getting representation from a management company based on that.  Actually being paid to write a short film, WHEELS LOCKED.  (That credit can be viewed here on my IMDB page: Stephen A. Carter's IMDB Page.)  Being paid to do re-writes and to ghost write others' screenplays.  And writing the screenplay for THE DOORMAN, which can also be viewed on my IMDB page.  Though I must admit that I had my name removed from the credits because I didn't agree with and appreciate the changes made to it after I had turned it in.  I did, however, keep my credit for cinematographer because it is (if I do say so myself) nicely shot.

If you count success simply as riches and glory, then I have had none.  However, I do not value myself and what I do solely in that way, and I do count all of the above as successes.  I count every one of my completed screenplays a success.  I count the fact that I have lived (and continue to live) my life doing what I love as a success.  The fact that I have been able to make a living and survive as a producer, writer, director, editor and cinematographer in a brutal and some would say soulless industry as a success.  And I count the fact that I consider myself a "writer" to be a success.

Writing is hard.  Anyone who says differently is a fucking liar.  In my experience, (of course this may be different for others,) you have to be somewhat selfish and more than a little self-absorbed, and you live your life perpetually distracted by some thought or another.  You have to be willing to sit alone in a room for hours on end plugging away at a keyboard.  You have to realize that some of the best writing is really done during the rewriting process.  And you must be okay with the fact that no one  other than you may ever read your material.  Most of all, you must write.  Relationships will suffer along with your self-esteem, health and well being.  For much of your life, you live in your mind.  People who don't write don't understand you, your obsession and often your humor.  In the middle of writing you have to force yourself to eat, shower, answer the phone, interact and ultimately step away from the computer.

But back to the topic at hand.

Over the years many of my screenplays, though not all, had some type of horror or sci-fi element to them, (along with action, comedy and of course a love element,) so it was only natural that my first finished novel, (because I will finish this one, I swear,) fall into the sci-fi/action/thriller genre which Germ Line: Revolution does.  Germ Line: Revolution is also an adaptation of my screenplay, GERM LINE.

Once I made the determination to self-publish, and decided on what that project would be, I started doing research.  It's amazing how many self-publishing companies are out there.  Companies like Lulu, Createspace, Smashwords and Xlibris to name just a few.  For a list of the "10 best" you can follow this link: www.allselfpublishing.com.  There you'll find star ratings for each company, plus a couple of pros and cons, some pricing detail and some general information on features.  If you're looking to print hard copies of your book, this is one way to go.  Bear in mind that they are all in business to make money and the more money you make the more money they make, if you make any money at all.  If not, they are the only ones who make money.  Either way it's a win-win for them.  If you make the mistake of contacting any of them before you're actually ready to publish, be prepared to be bombarded with phone calls and email by sales reps wanting to "discuss your book".

I decided this wasn't for me.  To begin with, it's very expensive.  A sample book can run anywhere between $500 and $2500.  Printing costs get cheaper the more books you print but having boxes of expensive, unsold books sitting around in my basement while I decided what to do with them didn't seem very appealing to me.  Besides, in 2011 Amazon announced that they were selling more kindle books than printed books.  I figured I was on to something.  The future of publishing the GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL just may lie with the eBook.

So that's where I'm at.  I am going to finish adapting my screenplay, GERM LINE into an eBook entitled Germ Line: Revolution.  Why did I tag on Revolution?  Because if all goes well this book will be the first of a series.

As of this writing, I have just begun chapter 20.  I am well on my way.  About half way I figure.  Once I get it completely adapted to novel form, I will start the re-write and fleshing out process.

If you'd like to be notified of the launch of Germ Line: Revolution visit the launch page at: Germ Line: Revolution Launch Page

You can also like Germ Line: Revolution on Facebook

Thanks for reading.  Check back often if you will.  In upcoming posts I'll talk a little about the differences in screenplays and novels, post sample chapters, and continue discussing my experiences with the nuts and bolts of self-publishing like creating the cover, and marketing & promotion.

This is my first stab at blogging so please share your thoughts.