It's another brisk morning here in Northern Michigan. There is snow in our forecast, and the temperature is around 15 degrees.
Yesterday after church service, I decided to put the first novel in my Pandemic Dawn Series on sale to bring new readers to the series. So I made the Kindle version of the book available on Amazon for .99 cents. Of course, it is free if you sign up for Amazon Prime or something.
Since its original publishing in 2010, I have received a great response to the book and the series. I have been very pleased and excited with each addition to the series.
Currently, there are four novels in the series, with a fifth novel coming in 2021. Pretty impressive considering Pandemic Dawn began as an online short story.
No, going into the fifth novel, the series has grown. With over 100 characters, a few will have their backstory in a book, and a couple will have a spin-off book or two.
I love the story, and a lot of the characters have come to life for me. I look forward every time I sit to write about them.
Tanner and Virgil are a couple who make their first appearance in Book IV: Before the Sun Sets. At first, I wrote them into a group of survivors traveling together and found their way to Pete's house, eventually making their way to the apartment complex's safety.
As I wrote them, their relationship was somewhat unique and stood out to me. Virgil was a mentally strong young man who had survived using his head and making the right decisions, while she was a neurotic mess who was crippled by her anxiety and PTSD.
He protected her, kept her safe, and she relied on him.
What I didn't write too much about was the "why" for her state. I found myself wondering about it. Sometimes, when I create a secondary character, I don't develop too much background, especially if I don't need it to tell the story.
As I wrote them, questions arose, and I felt these secondary characters had more to tell and reveal. As I developed a background for them, what led up to their meeting, why they chose to travel together, how they became a couple, and finally, how they ended up in this group of survivors, I knew they needed a book of their own.
I developed a story arc for their book and began working on it. Then, I had to stop writing it because I have to finish Losing Dani Strumm. I will return to them one day, perhaps after Pandemic Dawn Book V?
Until then, I will keep making notes, writing information down, and working on the story arc. I think it will be a great book!
Another book I am working on is a spin-off for Makayla Atkins. She developed into a solid character through the Pandemic Dawn Series.
She was another surprise to me. I never intended for her to stand out so much. She was written as a secondary character to help progress Miles and Dorothy's storyline. Through that process, she matured and became a storyline of her own.
I love her backstory and how she has to explore everything with childlike interest. She takes the reader along with her in her discoveries, and it draws the reader into the story.
Her spin-off will be a journey to discover her past and who murdered her family. Although tech is involved, and it takes place in the post-apocalyptic future of the world, I think I will write this as more of a mystery. I prefer to write about the characters and their interactions within an event rather than about the event itself.
My series Pandemic Dawn takes place in a zombie-filled, gang-infested post-apocalyptic world. However, I write more about the characters and how they live their lives than the event that brought them together.
In Makayla's spin-off book, I'll do the same. It's the same world, but she is on a journey of mystery and discovery.
I can hardly wait to write it!
I sometimes wish I had more time to dedicate to writing.
So my focus right now is on Losing Dani Strumm.
Losing Dani Strumm is my science fiction novel about a young astronaut who gets her dream-come-true job in space exploration, placing instrumental satellites in orbit around an unexplored earth-like planet that is only in range once every 70 years. During this procedure, she crashed on the world and must survive until the rescue arrives, which is two months away.
The book is more than 80% complete, and then it's off to the editor!
I'll keep everyone up to date with the progress!
Until then, pick up a copy of Pandemic Dawn Book I
It's only .99¢ on Kindle right now!
Or if you are looking for any of the novels in paperback here are some links, including signed copies!
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