Latest News and Developments

It has been a while since I last updated my blog or live journal and for the most part, there hasn't been much news other than the release of my lastest collection of short stories, "Symphony of Seasons" under Wordclay Publishing. I did surpass my 8th anniversary as a writer on Halloween, 2011 and went to a few costume parties but all in all, I have been feeling frustrated with my writing lately. I have been thinking and chatting about this proposed novel, "Silent Uproar" for years now but have been unable to put any solid material down that meets my own standards of good solid fiction and horror. I have a firm idea of where I want to take the story only I am unable to set the tone and mood of it and feel the oppening of the novel may be asking to much of the reader.

Ultimately, I know I should hardly give a damn if I take risks with my work--I took risks making a mentally challenged tweenager a main character and heroine in a novel about vampires. (Long before "Twilight" ever came out.)

What I would like to do is begin a novel with a lucid, vivid dream sequence... something from the main character's imagination to establish what her hopes, dreams, and fantasies are... and to give the reader a glimpse of her mind and how she sees things. But when I submitted a test excerpt of 11 or so pages, the response was not at all what I expected and it seems as though no-one "got it". So naturally I am frustrated. I don't want to cheapen things by explaining that its a dream... and I don't want to set up the scene when it should be obvious that its a dream.

Maybe my test audience was a bunch of morons, I don't know. But I hate to think that I have to dumb down my ambitions. I have always sought to challenge my readers--make them think, feel, and experience the story as best as possible. If they are truly lost or dumbfounded, than I have failed to reach them.

The frustration seems to be to strike a balance between presenting something novel and different with something familiar yet smart. It is a delicate balance I am finding. The simplest answer would be to just tell the damn story as I see it in my mind and write for no one but myself... and hope someone else besides me "gets it". But that is the hugest risk of all if no-one else but me "gets it" and my novel never gets picked up or read.

Literary Housekeeping

Now that "Dark Returns: Tales of East River" has been officially released and published with Wordclay Publishing, I have been going over some of my earlier works and re-evaluating my publishing relationships with Trafford and Publish America. I have been a bit disappointed over the years with Trafford and Publish America with the lack of interest in my books and the raw deal I get with royalties. Although Trafford has provided the most services in my early career, and I have sold the most copies of my books through them, I have actually seen the least return on my investments through them percentage-wise. Also, two of my books through Trafford were neglected for I don't know how long from their online bookstore--preventing anyone interested in the follow-up to "Dancing with the Moon" from purchasing Book Two of the series. "Two Past Twilight", though it got good reviews, failed to sell a single copy! The same can be said for my award-winning "While the Wolves Cry"! Mainly because Trafford did nor post these books in their online bookstore when they underwent new management.

I also find Trafford has become too cost-prohibitive for me to do any real marketting with. I never quite understood why I needed to shell out hundreds of dollars to buy a single page ad in some catalog or to have my book featured on a table in some book fair. Shouldn't they do this for their own good as well? Don't they have a stake in selling the very books they publish? Why is it all on my shoulders? I thought there was a partnership here. But in the end, I write the book, pay them to publish it, pay them to promote it, pay them to market it, and in return I see pennies on the dollar in royalties?

With Publish America, though they have produced quality paperbacks, they have done the least for me. No websites for the books, "The Audition" or "Chasing Shadows: Tales of East River". Though I didn't have to pay them anything, they will not publish any future books until I chalk up some serious book sales. The only way I am enabled to do this is to pay them to market the books or promote them. Or... I buy my own books at more than cost plus shipping because they don't allow me to buy my own books unless it is through a representative as opposed to online.... As far as royalties go, I see pennies on the dollar for books that sell at almost twice what they should be sold at competitively. I think the biggest royalty check I ever recieved from Publish America was for $5.19. The biggest check from Trafford that I had recieved was for $344.00 or something like that because they realized I had overpaid them for a book order I placed.

Although I have yet to see any sales from my Wordclay books, I have had no hassles with seeing my books offered on their online bookstore. I have had no costs to me at all and the books published are high quality and exactly what I wanted for my books. Each book gets a webpage, and I cannot complain with the costs of book promotion. I just wish I had money for these options. I am hoping that as word of my books spread out and reach people, my books with Wordclay start to sell. I think they are reasonably priced and I am guarenteed a fair deal with royalties. I set the price of the books and give myself ample royalties to make it worth doing business with this company.

As some of my contracts expire in a few years or so, I will seek to re-issue my books either with Wordclay or with another publisher more suited to my needs to expand my readership at the least expense to me.

Now Available - "Dark Returns: Tales of East River

http://www.wordclay.com/BookStore/BookStoreBookDetails.aspx?bookid=62723

As of November 30th, 2010, I am the proud publisher of books!!!

And this latest one is a doosie! At least 625 pages of horror, drama, teenagers kicking butt and taking names, twisty plots, bravery, evil, and non-sparkly vampire goodness.

Available now in time for the holiday shopping for all your horror novels needs!

If you liked "Dancing with the Moon", "Chasing Shadows: Tales of East River", or any of my other novels, you will definitely like "Dark Returns: Tales of East River".

At $25.50, it is a good deal... less than the price of one of those Harry Potter hardcover novels. And now that you've seen all the Harry Potter movies, my book is at least as entertaining!

Check out "Dark Returns" and look me up on Facebook for excerpts and info.

David Conlin McLeod

Update on Recent and Upcoming Projects

Well loyal fans...
I am nearly done with "Dark Returns: Tales of East River" and should have it published and ready for purchase at www.wordclay.com by October 31st. Once published, I'll post some juicy excerpts on the blog for you to whet your appetite.

Let's see... I am also in the stages of putting down some work on an upcoming novel entitled "Silent Uproar" that I have been talking about and thinking about for some time now. I am hoping to really plow into this project and have something done by Christmas or so. I think I can do it because most of the story is pretty much worked out in my head. The typing is what's next.

I also plan to do a little more promotional work online for all my books and look at expanding my options and being more visible as a writer. I am hoping to wake up some of my fan base and expose them to vampire novels that are non-sparkly and non-Twihard.

100th Post

One of the downsides of writing sequels is how to cover back story and established character histories without dragging out the current story. I am 256 pages into my 10th book and as I am going along, I am essentially continuing a story that has spanned 4 books--well to be more exact, I am telling the story of two characters trying to resolve a very profound loose end.
The problem is, can a reader who picks up this book understand and grasp what the devil is going on without having to pick up all the other books in the series? My answer is, "Why would you pick up only one book in a series?" That would be like picking up "Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows" without picking up or at least skimming the other six books.

But somehow, in each book of a series, there is enough back story in each to clue the reader into the overall story arc. But if you miss a book in a series, you lose something.

You can't watch "Return of the Jedi" without first watching "The Empire Strikes Back" otherwise you'll be scratching your head as to why on Earth Luke Skywalker would even care about saving Darth Vader's soul.

But for those silly or backward enough to pick up the last book of a series first, how does one give enough background story to keep a reader informed of what's going on?

10 books into my humble career and I am still tackling that issue.

The next topic I'm posting on is in regards to book 11. I am working on a stand alone novel entitled "Silent Uproar". I might have mentioned this story in previous posts but I will refresh your memories. The premise is that a young Deaf girl's parents are mysteriously murdered in a midnight home invasion. A psychic detective takes the case and comes to an abrupt dead end until this Deaf girl starts have nightmares, visions, flashbacks, and odd visits. Now she must somehow convince this detective she has clues as to her parents' killer.

Light of Redemption - Update

Just letting you folks know... Book Three of the Dragon's Tear Chronicle has now been officially published (again... shhhh) and is now in the print shop at www.wordclay.com !! I fixed the errors and editted it and did my best to tweak every aspect of the book as I could. Heck, I even managed to trim a little of the retail price! $25.00 for a 530+ page softcover ain't so bad is it? Glossy cool cover, trade paperback style....

This book is pretty much everything you'd come to expect from me I hope. Depth, rich character development, hard driving action, hidden depths, twists and turns... and so much more.

I hope to God my die-hard fans who have waited years for this book, come out to buy this book and are not disappointed. I poured everything into it like I did all my previous works. I hope it matches and exceeds expectations.

If, for some odd reason you are reading this and have not yet purchased "Dancing with the Moon", "While the Wolves Cry", or "Chasing Shadows: Tales of East River"... I sincerely hope you seriously consider it and get caught up in the coolness of this series. Check these books out at www.trafford.com or www.amazon.com or www.publishamerica.com If you have to, Google search me and you'll find all sorts of sites for my works. David Conlin McLeod is the name... and just plug in the titles that interest you and in no time flat, I'll be right there with you joining in the adventure.