Look at it. Want it. Need it.
Out soon!
What have I been up to?
Well that is an interesting discussion. You may not think so, but all authors are self righteous asshole’s who think everyone should read their work. While else would you want to become a writer, than have millions of strangers praise you for the finery of your written work.
None!
What.So.Ever.
But seeing as this is a blog and you have become used to my ramblings, I may as well tell you what I have been up to.
First and foremost, I have received my latest cover for my Fallen Angels series. I will post what it looks like sometime next week or the week after.
It looks amazing!!!!
The best one yet, and I can’t thank Glendon from Street Light Graphics enough. Something weird happened regarding that cover.
I didn’t tell him what happened in the story, I didn’t give him any clues about the book. Just told him to let his imagination run wild and what he came out with was as close to perfection as you can get.
It is almost like the cover was made for the story. I know some writers see their cover first and work the story around it. But this was just done by pure luck. Nothing else, nothing more.
So that is now done and finished.
Secondly, I am going through the editors copy of the latest book in the Fallen Angels series. This may be the final one. I really don’t know how well it will turn out. Because I have done zero marketing for it, I can’t really gauge it’s success.
When I market it later this year, I will be able to tell if it is something that I want to continue writing or not.
If the demand is high for it I may do.
If it dies a horrible death then at least I tried.
It was a fun first series to sink my teeth into, to learn the basics of my craft.
What more can I ask for.
The final and last thing that I am really proud of, is that I have finished my first ever sci-fi book. It was the quickest thing I have ever written and If I am honest, was the most fun. I tried to write to market and make it as fast pace as I could. But some of me got in the book which isn’t always a bad thing.
Now I have to go back and see what I should leave in and what I should take out.
It came out at 67K. That number may go up or down, we shall see.
67K is about right for the type of genre that it is in, but right now like I said it is just a mould of clay the real process begins now.
And…..that’s about it really.
I haven’t posted on here much as all my brain and willpower, are being used to pump out more and more fiction words. So now that am taking a little break, I can give this blog some love and attention.
I say that. But theres editing to be done. Marketing to be done. Dates to be scheduled.
Sigh.
Guess the break will have to wait.
Till next time.
Good Morning.
Good Evening.
Good Night.
I wanted to take a minute, and just tell readers how my first ever series Fallen Angels came to be. Really I honestly can’t quite tell you. Not for certain. I try and recall how it came about, but this idea has been knocking around in my head for so long, that it just seems to have always been there. From as far back as I can remember, I had this need to tell an Angel story. I knew how the first book would end, and how it would start. But apart from that, everything else was just one big blur.
It felt as if I was looking through a window smeared with grease, and didn’t know were it would led if I smashed through it.
Looking back at it now, with the series nearly finished, and taking a critical eye, over the whole thing. I can see where I went wrong with it.
I simply wrote for myself.
It was a story that I needed to tell, that has a lot of me in it. But apart from that, the story as a whole, doesn’t really fit in any genre. It doesn’t fit any category. It was just a story that I always had buried inside of me.
And I am happy that I told it. But judging from the sales of this series or should I say lack of it, it will always be a niche series written by me. But thats okay, because it has taught me so many valuable lessons. On story structure, story development, character development, the whole nine yards.
Now that I can take a step back, I can see the mistakes I made. Where I showed and not told. Where I added to much to the story instead of taking it away. Where the story was too lean, when it needed more meat on its bones. I could go on and on, but after each book was finished, I leaned back in my chair and was happy that I couldn’t improve it any more. I was happy with the finished product, and because of that, I can hold my head high.
Its only after some time has passed, when you grow in skill. Do you realise how lacking the book really is.
But I don’t think that will ever change, if you’re always looking to improve your story telling craft. That’s the only way you can really grow, by reading other peoples works, and reading books on craft. I am loving it, and having a blast at the moment reading everything I can get my hands on relating to the subject. I feel like a video game character, improving daily by the more info I dump into my brain.
I was never afraid of releasing my book. Well I may have been afraid a little bit. But I knew that no matter how much work I put into it, it would never be up to scratch in my eyes. When you have put that much work into something, it will never truly live up to your dreams. But like I said, thats okay.
I can only get better by writing more words. Day in, day out.
They say that you won’t learn the basics of story craft, unless you have a million words under your belt in fiction. Many writers believe also, thats where you truly start finding your voice.
I don’t know how true or false that may be.
But I have another Sixty-Five hundred thousand words to go, I can’t wait to tackle it one word at a time.
Until next time.
Love and Peace
Y’all
Broken heart, broken mind, broken body…
Being left for dead, Perez must face his greatest challenge yet.
Survival. Simple for most, but not for him.
With Monroe in danger, all seems lost,
As an unknown angel finds himself closer to victory,
A victory that Perez knows will bring about
Many twists and turnns of events that could ruin them all.
Now, it’s up to Perez, broken and shattered, to find the courage and strength to save all that he holds dear, before the takeover.
It’s out!!!!
I am super excited and happy that my third novel in the Fallen Angels series is finally here. It took a little while to get out, but after I had edited the last word, I sat back with a smile on my face knowing that I couldn’t have written it any better. This book for me is my best work yet.
It’s double the size of the last two, and has more action, emotion, and heartache than the other two as well.
You can pick your copy from, Amazon.uk,Amazon.com,Kobo,Barnes&Noble.
Hope you enjoy it,
Until next time
Love and Peace
Y’all
Although at the moment, I write in christian fantasy. I love reading in other genres, and plan on writing in them too. I know other writers frown on writing in more than one genre or sub-genre, and many use pen names when planning to venture into new territory, but I don’t see why they should. Unless you write kids books or young adult, and then are planning to dive into romance, then I get your choice for creating a new pen name.
But if you write space opera, and plan to write an epic fantasy book with sword swinging barbarians and dragons, then I don’t see the harm. People allow themselves to be pigeon holed into an area of their lives, where they are afraid to escape from it. Your die hard fan’s will always read whatever you write, and the majority of your other fans will wait till, you release something more to their liking till they buy from you again.
Whatever the case, life is all about choices.
Now at the moment I am really loving the superhero genre, being a fan of marvel and anime since I could remember, I am a bit surprised and disappointed that my first series wasn’t in that genre. They always say your first book just comes to you, and with my Fallen Angels series it just kind of did. I have always been fascinated with angels, and I think my next post will be where I got the story idea for it and how it formed in my brain.
Thinking about it now, I may have struggled if I decided to write in the superhero genre first. With the explosion of Marvel movies coming out, the genre has become one of the hardest to break into. At the time of writing this, I am on my fifth rough draft of a novel and I am getting better with every word I put on screen or paper. So when the time comes to dive into the superhero series I have planned, I can do it justice.
I have an idea that has been cooking, and ohhhh boy, I can’t wait to get it out to the masses.
If you are a writer reading this, the only way you can become a better writer is by stretching your writing legs. You should strive to improve on your craft, you should strive to surprise and please your readers with each and every piece of work you put out. I think that’s where writers block can come in sometimes, if you have written twenty books in a series you are quite comfortable in that world. Your not challenging yourself, and without challenge you can never grow. That’s why in my personal opinion, you should always go outside your comfort zone.
Thats with everything in life.
Pick up a book you wouldn’t normally.
Write a story long or short that you wouldn’t dream of doing.
Dance naked in the rain.
Anything.
Just try to challenge yourself, that’s where growth happens.
Anyway getting back to my point, I think there was one somewhere in this post.
If you are a fan of the numerous marvel or dc movies that have been coming out in recent years, I adore you to check them out. It may not be your thing when you first start reading them but, like any good story once it captures your attention it will be impossible to put down. Check out the list of books at the end of this post, and drop a comment back here to tell me if you enjoyed it or not. Or leave a comment with any recommendations that you may think that I like, am always on the search for new material to absorb and make me greater.
Series that I have enjoyed so far.
The Meta Superhero Novel Series
Until next time friends.
Love and Peace
Y’all
Hello
The third book in the Fallen Angels series called Takeover will be out soon. (I know, I know. I had planned to get it out in feb, but life kicked me in the balls.) Anyway I love this cover, as you can tell by the picture the story is set in America. I had great fun writing it, and it was one of the fastest books I have ever written.
I think that the cover really delivers how action packed the story is, so I am happy with it.
P.S I am looking for a march release date, but keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming email giving you a firmer date.
Don’t be afraid to comment and let me know what you guys and gals think.
Hope you lot have a amazing day and speak to you soon.
Love and Peace
Y’all
I have written a lot of words on this blog lately for other writers and people of the art world, and I have not addressed my wonderful readers, so I thought I would do this today.
With the first two books out of the fallen angels series, I would just like to update everyone on what I am planning to do with the series and how long it will be etc etc.
First I want to say, that I have received the draft back from my editor and I am hungrily going through it, so I can get a March release out on the ebooks. Like the other books before it, the paperback, will follow in the weeks following.
The third book for me is where things really start to kick off, in a big way. It’s more action packed, fast pace, and we get introduced to one of my favourite characters I have ever created.
We also finally get to meet the big boss man, who has been hidden in the shadows, in the last two books. The third book, and the rest of the books that follow, are also double the size of the last two.
Out of all the books I have wrote, the third one stands as my favourite. I don’t know why, but the story just seems to grip you by the throat from the start, and not release it’s hold till it’s done telling your its tale.
I have the book covers back from my cover designer, and will be post an image of it in the next few days.
Some little hints, that won’t spoil the story for anyone. The third book is set in America, and there may even be a new love angle, wanting there for one of our characters. Threads that you may have forgotten about, that were mention in Origins, are slowly revealed in this book to.
I wanted to tell everyone the name of the third book, but I think I will wait till the cover release.
The story will be told in five books. I have already mapped out the how the story will go, and I pretty much know the ending of the series. I just don’t know if I will have an open ended last scene, where I can always do back and write another few in the series if demand is high enough, or just close it off completely, in such a way that I can never go back to the story.
I am pretty sure that, that decision, will be made right on the dotted line. (I like it best like that, keeps me on my toes.)
For my first ever series/ books published by me, I must say that I am impressed with the way that the story turned out as a whole. I will write another post as to how the story came about, (I know, I know, I should address it here but this post is more of an update.) The whole story for me felt complete, and looking at the whole package from an outside prospective, I don’t think I could have done a better job.
I am just finishing the first drafts of book four and five, then it will be an uphill battle of editing those as well.
And that it really, the third book should be out in march.
I am looking to release number four sometime in May-June, and the last book I should be dropping sometime in August.
Anyway this blog was only meant to be a quick update, so I will leave it here, and wish you all a good morning, a happy afternoon, or a restful evening.
Love and Peace
Y’all
ReligionWriting a book about angels, I am surprised I have not had the question about my faith pop up yet. Maybe people are to polite to ask, or maybe not everyone as finished reading, the first book yet.
Whatever the case may be, I want to address it here first before the questions come in. And that’s one of the most beautiful things about having a blog, I have a place to share my thoughts without getting interrupted. But anyway onward onto faith.
How would I best describe what I believe in or don’t, that’s really a complicated question, because to me, there are so many things wrong with religion that people ignore. Or choose to brush under the carpet. But I will also be the first to admit that there are many things powerful in having a faith also, and I believe when all else fails, believing in something greater than yourself can help certain people tremendously.
But what about those people that don’t believe in a higher power, what do they do? The question is simple, believe in yourself.
The quote that goes: “The graveyard is the richest place on earth.” Is true on so many leveles because of the ideas and dreams that failed to ever be, or to ever come to fruition. How many Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Nelson Mandela’s, didn’t come into being, because people simply didn’t believe in themselves, or what they could do. Self worth and self belief in my eyes, are one of the major things lacking in our society across the world. It isn’t spoken about in schools and it isn’t spoken about in the media. Because it’s frowned upon so much to believe in yourself as a human being.
Whenever someone shouts out, or rises to the top by proclaiming that he will change the world, or he is the greatest fighter that ever lived, the world stands to attention and gasps. Some even point and whisper about how brash, how boastful, how vain and deluded that person is. But if more people did the same, then it wouldn’t be such a rarity.
Why do we allow so few as a human race, to stand and say the things that we think about at night, or that we would like to believe in, but never do the same thing ourselves.
Maybe it is fear.
Maybe we don’t want to be ridiculed.
Or maybe there is safety in numbers, by staying in the pack. And the moment you step away from the pack, and start to create something for yourself, believe in yourself, is the moment that other people will have to look at themselves, and see their short comings.
Now …. what do I believe in?
What religion do I partake in?
None if I am honest with you. I believe in love, life, and happiness. And I know that sounds hippyish and it may very well be. But to me, I believe in the universe, and the marvel that it is. How can you not be amazed by the stars, by black holes, by moons and asteroids traveling at speeds that boggle the mind. If you look even closer to home, watch any animal documentary, and be wowed over by mother nature herself. Look at your smartphone, which is probably by your side. Could you imagine something like that twenty years ago.
I can talk to someone and see their face at the same time in CHINA!!!
Life to me is so amazing, so harsh, so unpredictable, that man …. How could you not love it.
So to me, my faith, my beliefs, are in the wonderful world around us and what it holds. To the universe and how mysterious it is.
How could I believe in anything else apart from that.
So until next time, friends.
As always.
Love and Peace.
Y’all
Out on the 20th of this month, will be the second instalment of my Fallen Angels series. It is available on Kobo, Barnes&Noble, Ibooks, and Amazon for pre-order. If you like dark fantasy, action, and angels you will love this series. It also has a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure. If it sounds like your thing, give the first book in the series a try.
Below is the first scene, of the second book.
From the depths of a pocket, a sound began to emerge. It started off slow and faint, but just as a ticking time bomb had the power to silence a room, so did this sound.
In a wild panic, Hugo looked at Jabor. They exchanged looks, neither wanting to meet the other’s eye. They both knew what the sound meant, but admitting that to the other would show signs of fear. The faint ring seemed to turn into a deafening gong. Each stroke of the gong grew louder and louder; the sound found every space, hole, nook, and cranny. It spread its vibrations like tentacles in the darkness, eliminating the silence with sound.
“Let it go to voicemail, my friend,” Jabor said.
“And have to call him back?” asked Hugo in a panicked voice.
“By the gods, you do not want him calling back, a second time. I don’t think he ever has for anyone. Pick it up, like a Band-Aid. The pain only lasts for a second.”
“That all depends on who’s experiencing the pain,” Hugo remarked. “Hello?”
There was no answer on the line, only the faintest of crackles.
“Hello?” Hugo enquired one more time.
“Is it done?” was the only reply he got from the other end of the line.
There was a long pause, as Hugo tried to force his brain to work. He felt as if time had slowed down, as a million things rushed through his head.
What should he say?
What was he meant to say?
The truth or lie?
How best should he play this, so the repercussions fell as far away from him as possible? He needed to think; he needed to turn this into a victory.
His throat and mouth were dry, but his hands were sweaty and moist. Weird, he thought; it normally should be the other way around.
He shot a glance at Jabor, who stared back at him, emotionless.
“Those two imbeciles who were sent ahead completely botched the operation. I have never seen such incompetence in all my life. They found the location where they were keeping him, but failed to secure or dispose of him. We arrived a little too late to save them. But we saw the party in question taking him away. We were just about to track them, before you called.”
Again, silence. This time it was worse, because there would be an outcome. On one side of the coin held light, hope and a future; they might be chastised, but it wouldn’t amount to much and they would survive. The other side of the coin held utter darkness. The pit of trouble they would find themselves in would be a bottomless one. No way out, no light to give them hope.
“I see,” said the voice on the other end.
“Yes, everything should be resolved sooner rather than later. As I said, we are now tracking them, so it shouldn’t take long to have this matter resolved,” said Hugo in a rushed voice.
The phone almost slipped out of his hand. He caught it in time, hurriedly placing it to his ear.
“I see.”
“You can count on us, sir,” Hugo assured the voice.
“Can I?” came the reply.
“Yes.”
Flip, flip, flip. Ever turning, the coin spun and spun. Hugo could feel his heart pounding. His throat was so dry, it felt like a riverbed that had become cracked and caked in dust from the heat. He didn’t think he could utter another word. He didn’t think he could hold onto the phone any longer.
The coin landed.
“Good, then make it so,” said the voice from the darkness before hanging up.
Being an indie author or traditional author, or a mix of both called a hybrid author has never been better. We as writers have been gifted with so many gifts that, if it was back 10-20 years ago, many of us wouldn’t be writing. I know I wouldn’t. Just the amount of information that is at our hands, from making research easier, so we sound like we know what we are talking about, to just finding affordable and reliable editors and proof readers online, that can help to improve the work that we do.
The cover art I have for my first book Origins, is so beautiful that without the help of the internet and my team at streetlightgraphics, I would have never got it done. I can’t help but do a little dance every time, I see my book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. I wrote that book a while ago, and it still hasn’t sunk in yet, that my fingers created a work of art that people from Brazil to Canada can enjoy.
I have read a lot of books and memoirs by guys that, wrote before the pre computer age, and it still amazes me at how skilled you had to be, just to put words to paper. You either wrote by hand or used a typewriter. The amount of mistakes you could make, must have been minimal or you would have had to write the whole thing out again, and again till you got it right.
I think that’s why you had so many masters of the craft back then. When you are putting in thousands upon thousands of hours, into your craft without the distraction of the internet or Facebook, you get a single determined focus that is hard to replicated today. (I still wouldn’t want to go through what they did, I love youtube to much.)
I feel blessed to live in this time, and be able to use all the tools that are available at my disposal to create what I want to create. Without any restrictions what so ever.
You as the author, have the power to choose your own cover, write what you want to write about, be it superhero books to erotica and release it in whatever stores that you want to release it in. We have absolute power in deciding our fates and the fates of the people we write about.
How can you not love that! If you are either a writer or a reader.
But there are some writers that are now complaining, about how hard it is to produce. I just don’t understand the logic behind it. If you mean that the kindle gold rush (shudder) is over, than this business was never for you in the first place.
Between 2010-2013, no writer could do no wrong because the lack of content that there was. You had new devices like the nook and kindle, but not a lot of data to fill them. So any homemade cover with a shitty blurb and no editing in sight, could be an ebook best seller. And with amazon in those early days, basically just giving away money to authors, like they were lap dancers made of gold, everyone was loving it.
But that could only last so long. Now after five years in, shit done changed. And only the cream rises to the top. There are a lot of blogs that tell you how to get their much better than mine, and like I said before, I want this blog to be for the readers. But the only word I will use to describe it all, is be professional.
You have to be professional, if you want to succeed in anything that you do.
And I am truly happy that it’s got to this point because, it makes the reading experience better for the customer. It only gives them the best stories to spend their hard earned cash and time on.
But regardless of all this, I still don’t think we have seen how big ebooks will become.
This only dawned on me when I released my new book and asked friends and family to download it. Many didn’t know that you could download the kindle app for free, on any smartphone or computer and use it. I still think we are only at the tip of the iceberg, and in the next five to ten years things are going to explode.
The younger generation will led the way in this, but man, I believe things have not yet even gotten started, on how big this whole thing will be.
Before starting this journey, there was never a doubt in my mind that I could write a book, or that I would make it as a full time author.
None.
Not one.
The reason is because, I have seen how so many other people have done it, and if they can do it, then I can do it to. I have read books, where I stopped 5% of the way in and thought really …. this is what you put out?
Success and luck isn’t something that only happens to the very few, you create it out of hard work and a lot of sacrifice. Writing is one art that you can get good at, by just practising over and over every day. I write every day because by doing that, it makes me better than the rest.
This isn’t like being good at a sport where if you don’t have a physical advantage, then you have no chance. Art is so subjective, that there will always be a fan base for whatever you do.
If you just practice that beloved art enough then you will make gains in it.
Stephen king has a saying that there are bad writers, competent writers, good writers and great writers. And that whatever category you fall into, you cannot become any better. But I believe that bad writers can become competent writers, it just takes time to practise and learn your craft till you are one.
Can you go from competent to good or great? I have my own thoughts on that, but I think thats another discussion for another day.
The one thing I know is this.
I don’t care if it takes me, 10, 30 or 100 books. I will have enough work out there that I can’t be ignored. And I can make a difference to the people’s lives that are in my life. All it means is that I have to grind it out, till I see the results.
One book at a time.
Origins is now free everywhere. Download it, love it, hate it, scream at it. If it invokes any emotion in you at all, I am winning in my eyes.
The worst piece of art, is the art that just makes you go MEH!
Anyway until next time folks.
Love and peace
Y’all
Dominique Mondesir 