It's Been A While

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It's been quite some time since I've had the chance to update this blog. The first book in The Platinum Series: Amethyst is getting closer to being published. It's being edited to thin down the lengthy manuscript highlighting the struggles of the main character, Milican. "Streamlining" the main story into a concise, strong book that I hope will retain the overall "heart" of Milican's adventure and depict his undying love for Vivian. I love his story so much that Amethyst had gotten to be a bloated 1,100+ pages roughly. So instead of eliminating so much content of the plot, I divided it into two separate titles thus creating book #2 Diamond as the follow up in the series. This gave each title a single major conflict that no longer competed against the other as the main goal of the story.

I'm currently working on my query letter to submit to potential publishers and also to literary agents. Realizing this may take a long time, if ever, to find a traditional publisher interested in the series, I have decided to self-publish or release the book as an e-book if necessary later in the year. At some point within this calendar year Amethyst will be available to readers.

I've selected a small "test audience" of various ages, both genders and random backgrounds to read Amethyst gathering their feedback. This will allow me to alter the manuscript if they point out flaws or mistakes in the writing. One such suggestion was that Milican would seek the approval from Vivian's parents especially her father, Thomas. And the father needed a more divisive role when dealing with Milican after major things in his life had dramatically changed thus impacting Thomas' family. Basically Milican would need to regain the confidence of Thomas before continuing his relationship with Vivian. The original story Thomas was too apathetic about his daughter dating someone like Milican and that needed to be addressed so I added more conversations between Milican and Thomas to show more of the father's misgivings about their relationship. This tip from a trust friend who is a English creative writing professor was crucial in building a more realistic story. The father would be more protective against what he would perceive as a dangerous situation for this daughter, grandson and wife. Milican would have to proof himself to be a good choice for Vivian by convincing Thomas that he was still a good person after all that had changed and that he was not a threat to their safety. (Thanks Shaun for that advice.)

That kind of feedback at this stage is priceless. And since I'm writing multiple titles simultaneously, this allows me to customize their interactions making the stories stronger and more life-like. This is a tragic tale of supernatural events that empower Milican to love Vivian like no other man ever could, but its a unbalanced love affair despite the fact that she loves him equally. The fact that he is a supernatural being creating tremendous stress and hardships that they have to deal with on a nightly basis as they journey forward in their lives.

I'm juggling several different stages of the writing, editing, brainstorming, finding a publisher and researching numerous topics directly related to my story, plus thinking and designing my marketing strategy for the series all at once. They all go hand in hand so I don't mind having so many concepts, such as I designed a custom-made piece of jewelry that is important to the story and will be used throughout the series. I've been designing my own logo and/or brand to market my series so its easily recognizable and will hopefully make The Platinum Series standout amongst the crowd of new books in the genre of Sci-Fi, Supernatural, Mythological Creatures Romances.

I've written up to the fourth title so far in the series, Amethyst #1, Diamond #2, Garnet #3, & Sapphire #4. March of 2010 when I started this writing experiment, I had thought of having six books about Milican but the story is progressing so easily and quickly that I have stopped thinking of a set number to end the series. Although the last chapter of the last book has already been written so I know how the series will ultimately end for Milican. I almost don't want to see the final title, Onyx, published because that will mean its over... but I'm a long way from that point.

Fingers crossed that I'll be blogging soon of a released date for The Platinum Series: Amethyst

Thanks for reading Stephanie M. Jandreau

Baby Steps to getting Amethyst Published

Amethyst  the Concept
   This all began as a screenplay for a short film but after doing some extensive research and character development, the story grew into a short story that developed into the novel. I have plans to adapt Amethyst, the book back to a screenplay with hopes for a feature length film.
   Amethyst is just the first book in a growing collection of stories. I’m working on at least four maybe five other books to follow up Amethyst. This will be The Platinum Series & so far the titles are Amethyst, Garnet, Sapphire, Diamond & Onyx with the possibility of Emerald in the mix. I have thought about adding other titles as the story unfolds itself.
   I let the characters tell the story of their lives based on their personalities and experiences. My lead is a young handsome man named Milican, who has a medical condition that restricts his live in severe ways. He finds love but with that will change his world forever taking him down a new potentially dangerous untraveled path.
   This is pivotal point of his young life where is must make some brutal decisions if he is to survive. Follow me on Twitter @StephAmethyst
  Thanks for reading, Stephanie Jandreau

Finished the 'author's edit'

I have finished my personal editing but as we all know we as authors really can't edit our own work. Amethyst still needs the professional touch to give it the polish it deserves. I'm looking into several options at this point. In talks with a self-publisher about going that route.
 
Also I'm working on my query letter to send out with my submissions to traditional publishers. This letter has to be perfect to have a chance to be noticed by a publishing house. So as you can tell I'm on the fence about my options. Self- publishing equates to getting my book in the hands of the readers sooner but I have to put the funds upfront, ouch, before I receive any profits from the sell of those books. Transitional publishing equates to a lengthy process of searching for a house to pick my book up to print, the possibilities of advances upfront then additional royalties after the sales.
 
I've given bits & pieces of the manuscript to trusted friends for their feedback and I've started to incorporate their suggestions into the book.

In the meantime I'm writing the follow up book, Garnet with a steady flow of the storyline playing like a movie in my head. The characters are telling me the story and I just have to type it. They live in me, constantly deciding new paths to take so I follow along to enjoy the ride. They fascinate me with their struggle and triumphs.

I can't wait to share them with the world, Stephanie J

I'm forwarding Valerie's Comment

Valerie Jean Thompson Merricks March 28 at 12:42pm Reply • Report

The author is my daughter, Stephanie Merricks Jandreau, born and educated right here in Pittsylvania County Virginia. She and her family have lived in the Boston MA area for about 13 years now. "Amethyst" is her first book in a series of six in the "Platinum Series". I've had the privilege to read the unedited book and she has found an intriguing new twist on becoming a modern day Vampire. You will not find the typical vampire props or story line...no wooden stakes, garlic, werewolves and the etc. She has made it so realistic that you will never know how many vampires walk among us every day.....?

The Debate

  Traditional Publishing or Self-Publishing? The pro's & con's... Traditional route, I may not picked up in a timely manner but the pay off could big substantial. They could love it and give me an advance to put it simply. Have more public announcement of the book through media channels.

  Self- Publish, I pay to have my book published up front but it's costly despite the reasonable payment plans. They, too have media access but I'd be paying for it out of pocket. Ouch, it's steep. I would need to sell 2,00 copies to be considered a best-seller & then 'maybe' just maybe a traditional publisher would be more interested in Amethyst & The Platinum Series as well. 
  
  All of this will be a waiting game hoping to get noticed. But the book needs tons of editing & revisions at this point. I'm doing what I can but I'm not an expert on such things. I'll get The Platinum Series: Amethyst in the hands of the readers as soon as I can. I know you're all anxious to read the story. I've been working on this for almost a complete year, March 28, by brother Patrick's birthday , it will one full year. 
  
 I'm so excited to have the feedback on whether or not my audience responds to my characters, Milican who struggles with life and love and his health. Amelia & Garreth, his parents, Link the best friend, Lily & Vivian as love interests and a large cast of supporting roles of interesting people, more tid bits to come. Thanks, Stephanie =D

It's Offical

  At 12:34 pm on March 2, 2011  'THE END' was typed on Amethyst. I complete the first full draft of Amethyst. Sure I'll still have to do some revisions and edits but the core of the story is in written. The last piece fell into place just as all the others have, seamlessly and spontaneously. I'd been worrying over how & where the end the book would happen when it dawned on me that I'd written past it already. I went back and re-read the first run, tweaked it and ended it in a different place & in totally new way altogether.
  I'm extremely impressed that I can say that I have written my first book, of course I realize that it's not finished by any means but I can say that the vast majority of it definitely is. I still have some hiccups in the flow of the read so I'll need to add some transitional scenes to accommodate for that. 
  All the characters are firmly in place ready to play their roles. Is the world ready for the story of Amethyst? A world based in medical reality that dips severely into the world of the supernatural.   
  I'll introduce Milican as my charismatic lead man. He is a handsome brilliant collage student studying to be a chemist with a debilitating blood disorder is his driving force that wreaks havoc on his entire life. Thus, his personal schedule and consequently on his all of his relationships. He's curious risk-taking scientist willing to put himself in harm's way to find the answers to his never-ending questions about his disorder. 
  Next up is Milican's brawny best friend Link, who's the kind of guy we all wish we had as our closed friend, always ready to help lend a hand, & easy on the eyes, too. Whenever Milican needs help or advice he can always trust & rely on Link to be there.
  Enter Vivian, a sultry part-time librarian assistant with aspirations of being a professional dancer who falls for our charming Milican. They have a steamy romance that's doesn't go along smoothly. Things are repeatedly interrupted by his diseases causing hardships in their love affair. Giving way to a cast of additional characters who come to play signification roles in Milican's world. We have Lily, the shy 'I wanna fit it ' girl with a bit of attitude and then there's the sexy foreign Goth chick 'I'll try anything once' kind of girl, Natasha.
   Some craziness at a medical lab where Milican finds a job that adds more suspense and action to the wild world his dwells within.
  I hope to find a publisher willing to take a chance on an unknown author with a compelling new story of love, tragedy and some science fiction/ fantasy for good measure. I hope it appeals to a wide range of readers from those whose loves Anne Rice, to Charlaine Harris to Becca Fitzpatrick & JK Rowling, are we picking up on a trend. Supernatural & Romance & Oops, almost gave it a way. Sorry you'll have to Amethyst to find out what Milican is. Titles that may be associated with my book, let's see, Hush, Hush, The House of Night, & The Vampire Diaries.Warning it is more graphic than the PG Twilight Series and maybe a dash hotter than The Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood books so there you have it. That will be determined by how it is edited in the end.
Thanks for reading, Stephanie M. Jandreau

  The lead man in Amethyst was named Merrick in earlier postings but I've since changed it to Milican. Zackariah Milican Merricks will be his full name in the books of The Platinum Series including Amethyst. I felt that I had to change it now due the popularity of Anne Rice's book entitled 'Merrick'. And since they are both are vampire books/stories, I didn't want to deal with any controversy therein.
  I had originally chosen Merrick as a version of my maiden name of Merricks so I simply switched it back to a surname replaced the 's' at the end. It sounds better that way anyhow, in my opinion. The name Milican is also a family name it was my Great-Grandfather's first name. I wanted to give my lead character an easily distinguishable name and one that had sentimental meaning to me and my family. My Grandmother was so pleased to hear that I was using her Father's name as the lead in my book. I have since added other family members as important characters throughout the book. Like an alias name Milican will use is my late Grandfather Archie Lee Thompson but I changed it to Archie Harrison Lee. Harrison is also a name ancestor. My family who will read will undoubtedly find hidden gems like this all over the book.
   I wanted to pay respect to my family who made me who I am by honoring them with roles in my books. So they're always the 'good guys'.

My Writing Style

   This is a fictional book and all the characters are based on at least two or more real people & their personalities. I was once told a piece of wonderful advice by a friend/photographer, 'If you write from the truth then you'll never be wrong'. Thank you Carrigan.
  Another terrific nugget of advice given to me by my generous editor, S. Reece, 'Don't worry about the grammar or the structure that's what an editor is for. You are the only who can be creative and get the story out of your head.' I'm paraphrasing since she told me that over a year ago now. What I take from that is, don't get hung up on the formalities of writing, just write and you'll enjoy it more. And that's what I've done, I do enjoy writing, the story tells itself based on the strong character development I spent a great deal of time working on.
  Once I knew my characters, who they are, what they do, how they think & talk...all of those play a role in their decision making progress & thus guides the story. I let them tell me how to write it within the boundaries I have set.
  Also I've discovered that my writing style is called 'Mosaic', I write the pieces as they come to me not in chronological order. So I do have to go back and add some transitional scenes to bridge the gaps but that's easy. That's how was able the write 350 pages of the second book in the series, Garnet, before I've even finished first book, Amethyst.

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Amethyst Website

http://twitter.com/#!/StephAmethystI had forgotten all about this website I create some time ago but I'll try to keep it updated as well.