Author: John

Write Every Single Day, No Matter How You Feel!

By John Irvin

This is something I’ve had to learn over the years since going full-time as a writer-author-entrepreneur. There are days when I do not feel like writing a bit or revising a draft or whatever.

Then I remind myself, you’re an author, this is your job. I show up to other jobs even when I’m sick or exhausted, right? Well, my writing is my job, why shouldn’t it get the same priority?

Like while I’m writing this post, I’ve been battling a sinus infection all week. It has slowed me down a little bit, but I’m so happy to say, I’m still a couple days ahead of schedule for my writing.

Always a good feeling to be ahead of schedule! I hate having to rush things at the last minute. I’m also told people can tell when I’m hurrying through my writing.

The way my schedule is today, I managed a few pages of the second draft for Conspiracy, Volume 5 in the Shattered series. I’ve written in my weekly schedule, “Finish first phase of second draft for Conspiracy” set for tomorrow morning.

My second drafts come in two phases, I don’t remember if I’ve shared this before.

Basically, my steps of writing a book goes: first draft, then I enter second draft stage which is split into the ‘mark’ phase and the ‘revision’ phase, then I go through in a personal edit before sending it to the professional editor.

The mark phase is me printing off the first draft and going through with a pen to mark and underline and blot out and yell at myself in written comments.

Yes, I’m funny like that.

Also, tomorrow, I’m ordering the Boxset e-Book cover for the Complete Collection along with the in-print cover art. I’m so excited to share this with you. This means, it’ll be maybe a week or two and the Complete Collection will be published.

That’s a blessing, because it shows just how far ahead I actually am. On my 2019 Plan Schedule, I have “Publish Shattered: Complete Collection” set for 29 October.

So I wanted to share all this to encourage you. Give your dreams and goals your priority. Do not let a head cold or busy day schedule or whatever the power to keep you from reaching those goals!

Kind of like the old Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron song lyric, “Get out of my way, get out of my face or give it your best shot.” You need to defy life’s punches and punch back.

If you feel stuck, make it your priority to find a way to move. It’s up to you, no one else is going to help. Don’t mean to sound all “tough love,” but it is the truth. You need to set your dream in first place.

After all, that’s what you were put on this earth to do. Those desires burning in your heart were put there for a reason.

That’s all I wanted to say and share. Excelsior!

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

Being a Writer of What You Love rather than a What Others Love

By John Irvin

            I couldn’t think of what to write today’s topic on. I was scrolling through Pinterest as I often do, reading and liking quotes or memes, when I came across this quote by Salman Rushdie.

            “Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.”

            This is so true, I thought. The books I’ve already written always came from ideas seeming to pop into my head out of nowhere. I’d like to say, Yes, I choose to write that story.

            But being honest, in the words of another author, often I don’t feel like the creator but rather just a journalist along for the ride. My characters don’t always end up doing what I’ve planned even after the first draft!

            I’ve been questioned by people amongst my circles. Why do you write dark fantasy? Isn’t it evil? Or they say things like, Oh, I can’t stand fiction. How can you write fiction? Isn’t it all fake?

            Yes, it’s fake. Are you happy? I am telling a story that isn’t true about people who don’t exist. But there is a reason beyond our own thoughts for the why I must write this.

            Any writer will tell you, The moment you start writing what other people want you to write is the moment you lose your self. It is your duty to yourself and to the world to write the book that is inside you.

            I find, if I’m unable to write the stories living inside me, there is a ledge I will end up skirting about. This ledge drops into the depths of insanity. I must write what is in me lest I be driven out of my mind from the demands and opinions of others.

            Call it a journey of self-realization if you must. But, you can’t live this life given to you to its utmost unless you know the why you were put here.

            I have no inner struggle towards my fiction.

            So you’re saying you were put on this earth to write about werewolves, you ask. Glad you asked that. I’m not saying that to the T.

            Yes, I write in the dark fantasy because those are the stories with the greatest allure to me. Why? It’s always been that way. Perhaps it is the underlying struggle of good vs. evil that draws me. The realistic issues of humanity hinted at all through the hero’s journey.

            Maybe it’s the naturalistic themes. I am somewhat of a naturalist, I believe God created nature for our enjoyment and benefit and too often times we are drawn up by the cares and worries and endless fast-pace of society to even ponder the marvelous world around us.

            There’s also a romantic side to the genre—I’m somewhat of a hopeless romantic.

            For whatever reason, these are the books that choose me. Do I think of writing non-fiction sometimes? Rarely, but I do. Do I consider writing literary fiction? Depends on what you mean, honestly, that is a genre from a by-gone era. What about children’s fiction, we need more clean children’s fiction? Of course, I’d love to. But so far, none of those books have chosen me.

            It’s okay if you’re not a dark fantasy or paranormal fiction fan. Everyone has their own group, their own flock.

            Just because you know me doesn’t mean you have to love my books. But please, don’t judge them, they are my children.

            If you would like to try out the genre, here’s a link to my Amazon Author Central page: amazon.com/author/irvinnovelist76

            My latest in-print dark fantasy—or gothic fantasy, I go back and forth between those two because they’re so closely related—is Revelation in the Longevity series.

            Whatever you decide, it is your life and your preferment. I love you either way!

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

My Mermaid Seas Trilogy and Where She Came From

By John Irvin

            Ever since I met Princess Ariel, the Little Mermaid, in a book long, long time ago in the days of my childhood, I’ve loved mermaids ever since.

            Something about that wet red hair, I don’t know.

            I’ve read so many books that are either a different telling of the original Hans Christian Anderson lore, or something else all together. Mermaids are a classic.

            Then one night, about five years ago, I dreamed I was hanging with a group of college girls who I’d known during my last years in college. I dreamed we went scuba diving—well, technically, I went scuba diving, they didn’t need the gear—they revealed their true identities as an entire mermaid pod, or school, not sure what a group of merfolk is actually called.

            We were searching an ancient undersea ruin of some temple built eons ago. There was a message in the old language and somehow I knew what it meant. It was a prophecy made in Norse runes about a coming plague ending the world as we knew it.

            I woke up and thought, this should go in a book.

            About a year later, I was hanging with a couple coworker-friends who claimed to be mermaids—or at least, mermaids at heart. I told them about this story idea and they wanted to read it.

            So I set about writing what would become the Mermaid Seas trilogy.

            It took two years almost before the trilogy was finally completed.

            Each book is published—only in e-Book format right now. I’m sorry if that offends or disappoints.

            Book 1 begins with a man by the name of Cameron Weatherall during the War of Northern Aggression and set actually near where I live—a place called Fort Pickens, Florida. Only he’s a Confederate at the opposing Fort McRee.

            He meets his first mermaid and falls head over heels. Naturally. Who wouldn’t?

            Book 2 is set at present day in Charleston, South Carolina. Roger Overstreet is a teacher at a school. Unbeknownst to him, almost his entire teacher group is made of mermaids—or and one merman.

            Book 3 moves us into the fulfilling of the prophecy—over a hundred years in the future from us. Arthur Eden is an author who knows a mermaid personally—she has special connections by some means he doesn’t know. They are working together to save at least a piece of mankind before the fatal disease overtakes the world.

            Oh, also, in my fun times I like to add things that my readers don’t read or find out in the books. Just little things—miniscule connections between stories or characters—I like to have special secrets about back stories too.

            Every once in awhile I like to share these secrets.

            But in my spare time I drew a family tree and how the three main characters for the Trilogy are actually related—also giving dates so you know where we’re at.

            Now, it doesn’t play a role in the actual plot for the Trilogy, but I think it’s pretty cool. It could also help to explain how Arthur ended up knowing Cassandra is a mermaid.

            Here’s a picture of it. If you like family trees, I hope you like this one. Just for you!

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

When the Power Grid Blows Out for a Little While, the Geo-Political Face of North America Makes a Massive Change!

By John Irvin

            It all started when I watched the TV show Revolution—a show, mind you, that should not have been cancelled after the second season! To this day, I wonder why in the worlds they did that to me. Not nice.

            But I digress.

            The idea was sparked—what if we did go through a Black Out, but not one controlled by tiny little microbots in the air. Maybe a solar flare—that’s all it would take to knock out several Power grids.

            Oh, what if when this Black Out happened, a mishap took place at a Nuclear facility and something akin to Chernobyl blew up in Washington, D.C.?

            There would be no head of government to reestablish order fast enough before sections of the country would join together and form their own new nations. Yes, there would still be those clinging to a dead horse and claiming to want to renew the United States.

            So, is it perceivable there could erupt North American War thanks to this backlash? Possibly.

            I wrote a short fake-history of such an event, set it as if I were writing from the future—around a hundred years from now. Basically something I could imagine my niece and nephew would read when they were eighty years old. Or perhaps, they were even the ones to write the textbook for their grandkids.

            I didn’t think I would write books on this short historical narrative. I even told several friends who wrote it that I didn’t plan on it, it was just something done for fun.

            Then—like most ideas, it grew into a five-volume short series.

            The Shattered series.

            Volumes 1 through 4 have been published in E-Book format and Volume 5 will be undergoing the second draft in about a week—after I’ve finished the second draft for Longevity, Book 2: Independence. The publication for Volume 5, Conspiracy, is planned for mid-October.

            Volume 1, Collapse, covers the beginning phase of during which the Black Out happens, the communities unite afterward, then the power comes back on and what is left of the military attempts to regain control. The Locke Republic is born at Montgomery, Alabama—changing the name to Liberty City.

            Volume 2, Revolt, is about a team of leaders who bring order back to the streets of Atlanta then begin work on a plan to bring Georgia, Florida, the eastern part of Tennessee, and the Carolinas into a new union called the Southern Federation. Over in the west, the nation of Texas reins in their independence.

            Volume 3, Anarchy, portrays two of the only survivors from the U.S. Government, who attempt to “restore the United States” to her “rightful glory.” They have plenty of rebels and “traitors” to deal with. Then a surprise event happens, stalling their plans.

            Volume 4, Spark, is about what it sounds like. The beginning of the North American War starts with a bang. Liberty City is attacked and the President of the Locke Republic kidnapped. After 14 years of peace, you’d think everything would be okay, but no. This is not to be.

            And I will wait till I’ve published Volume 5 to really discuss what will happen. But, being the last volume—the final chapter—I bet you can guess what it’s about.

            This is my third series and I’m so excited it is finally coming to a close. It’s bittersweet for sure. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to a few friends, but then there is this sense of closure and satisfaction.

            Being able to say I’ve finished a whole series is something I’m told not everybody is able to do. The fact I have several various series open right now gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I can say I’ve closed one already. It gives me confidence I’ll be able to finish the others.

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

The Idea of Magic Killing Technology and Introducing a New World History

By John Irvin

            I don’t know about you, but I love history. I’m also passionate about fantasy and mythology. The allure for these three fields is quite diverse. Being a fantasy writer, I wondered how cool it would be if I were to create a new timeline where Magic governed the laws of the universe.

            Would Technology work? Would they take turns? Were they molded together like in some steam punk?

            Those of you who’ve kept up with me know that my top three book series are the American Family Portrait Series by Jack Cavanaugh (A Historical Fiction Chronological series), the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (An Urban Fantasy series), and the Bright Empires series by Stephen Lawhead (An Parallel Universes series).

            So, basically these three influenced me in some way.

            But it was the Kate Daniels series giving me more ideas. Although in her story, Magic and Tech take turns ruling the world.

            What if I had a team travel back in time to say 1815 in hopes of starting a new colony uncorrupted by the greed and immorality of modern society? Why this specific year? It was a joke—or dream, depends on your point of view—I’d made with a friend several years ago.

            We thought it would be amazing to do just that. 1815 was a year shortly after the War of 1812 and the next major war was the Texas War for Independence which didn’t start for another few decades. It was a peaceful year between wars, we figured that would be great.

            Then my brain took this spark of an idea and thought, let’s add Magic to this.

            Not only that, Magic kills Technology, creating a whole new timeline—alternate timelines or parallel universe influenced by Bright Empires series here.

            Then I wondered if I should make it a chronological series like in the American Family Portrait series. I decided against that as I’ve already got a few other series based on such a theme.

            So…how were my main characters going to live through this new history for so many centuries?

            Easy…they’re Immortals. Okay, how did they become Immortals and what all does this entail?

            These are literally the conversations I was having with my Muse.

            Eventually, Magic’s Time Split series was born.

            As of this month, the first two books have been published. Book 1, Hidden Lake’s Light, is on Kindle and Nook for free! At least, I received the emails from Kindle confirming this. If it’s not free on Kindle yet, please wait a bit, they should be following through with their word soon.

            Book 2, When Kingdoms Arise, is also out on Kindle and Nook for $2.99.

            I’ll let you in on a secret that’s no longer a secret because it is announced within the pages of Book 1…Book 2 is available for free somewhere else. Yes, that place is my website! If you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll receive Book 2, When Kingdoms Arise, for FREE! Who doesn’t love free stuff?

            The road ahead has a journey on it. Magic’s Time Split will be continued in eight more novellas! Yes, it is a 10 volume series. I’m going to be writing it along side my Longevity series. Both are planned for completion in 2021.

            Well, that’s unless Magic does break out and we are thrust into a Fantastic Apocalypse and I’m given supernatural powers. Because if so, I’ll be too busy battling the forces of evil or creating new realms to write these books—just a warning for you.

            I hope your Hump day goes well and I’ll talk to you on Friday!

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com

I Was Born To Create Worlds

By John Irvin

            I am presently working on the second draft for Book 2, Independence, in my Longevity series. So, as you can expect, it is on my mind a lot these days. I want to talk a little about this gem of my heart.

            Longevity, a gothic fantasy series that sprang from one little comment made at the supper table.

            Yes, as a writer, sometimes you have no idea where a story will come from—it can hit you from anywhere, the point is to make sure you’re watching and ready.

            It was one evening meal during my Sophomore year in college, I was complaining about feeling old and tired. A friend made the remark, “You’re nine-hundred years old.”

            I was born near the end of 1989—nine hundred years from then would be 1109 AD. So my writer’s brain—at the time, I didn’t see myself as a professional writer, I was pursuing a medical degree at the time for goodness sake’s! But my mind began exploring the reason behind the why. Why was I nine-hundred years old?

            At the time I was beginning to be attracted to the dark/gothic fantasy genre—with the werewolves, vampires, etc.

            Studying the werewolves, I dreamed how thrilling it would be to have the ability to shift change into such a powerful form. But, most werewolves are humans who turn into actual wolves. Most are murderous and nothing but malevolent beasts.

            In my mind, I wanted to be a good saviour-like monster who protected humans from the abominable vampires.

I did not see a regular wolf—whether huge or normal size—but rather a humanoid beast with a wolf’s head. Covered by wolf hair and fur, but walking like a man—a powerful Beast with heightened senses…this part is probably stemmed from my childhood passion for super heroes.

            So a Man-Wolf.

            Then, two years later, I wrote this brief bullet-point autobiography of all the main events in my life from 1109 up to the present.

            After graduating college, I filed that away, making jokes about being a werewolf and even letting a few friends read the autobiography. Some remarked I should turn it into a book.

            Who would read a werewolf autobiography of over 900 years now?

            How could I make that intriguing?

            Naturally, my brain continued exploring while I was busy focusing on other stories.

            In 2014-2015, I wrote the first edition—a 512 page novel. I wish I hadn’t published it. I wished I’d been patient and tweaked it or set it aside to stew for a couple years. But two years ago, I cancelled the publication when it dawned on me, this story would be much better as a series.

            Last year, I wrote the first draft of Longevity, Book 1: Revelation and after a journey, I published that book on July 27, 2019. I’m much more proud of this work than all the rest. But I see the journey to where I’m at and it impresses me.

            I’m even more excited as it was the first in-print novel I’ve ever had in Hardcover format! The Paperback came out a week or so ago and the Ebook was published around the same time as the Hardcover.

            If you’d like to order a copy, here’s the Amazon page—sadly, it’s taking time for the paperwork to go through for them to sell the Ebook, but that’s out on Barnes & Noble’s Nook.

            Amazon: Hardcover&Paperback!

            Nook: Longevity, Book 1: Revelation.

            I just wanted to share that for today’s blog. Can you blame me for being a little proud?

If you enjoyed this post, you should sign up for my newsletter! I don’t spam and you can unsuscribe at any time. I only send out emails on Fridays. Sign up here: SIGN UP!

I’m also a Patreon artist–the cool thing about Patreon is it allows people to support artists by monthly pledges which allow the artists to have more time to work on their own passions. Here is my account: PATREON.COM. If you’d like to support me, I would be eternally grateful!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Or email me at john@johnirvinauthor.com