ARC Readers, Vonnegut, and Accidents
This is a very exciting and, at times, traumatic week for me. First off, my new thriller, Terrestrial, has finally been sent to my ARC readers. It’s my first foray into Science Fiction, as well as my first wide release, so please be gentle. You would think I would be used to this process by now. After all, Terrestrial might be my first sci-fi thriller, but it’s not my first book. In fact, it’s book number six. But if you’re an author, you’ll know what I mean when I say that every time a book goes out to your ARC readers, it’s both the most exhilarating and the most terrifying experience. I mean, here is something that has only existed in your head. You’ve worked extremely hard on it for months at a time, and now it’s out in the world for the first time, and people are going to judge it. That moment can be absolutely terrifying.
But I suppose that is what we do as authors. We put ourselves out there. Our books are imbued with our ideas, imagination, and morals, and we put them out there in the hope that people enjoy them. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I suppose it is similar to being a musician, which I’ve had a lot of experience with. When you perform onstage, you put yourself out there to be judged on your merits. I feel the main difference is that you work on a novel for so long. I came up with the original synopsis for Terrestrial in early 2021, before my first novel had even been published. I had just re-read Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, two of my absolute favorite books, and was inspired to write my own sci-fi story.
It was a long road after that, and the story underwent many changes from the original version. In the beginning, I intended it to be more in the style of Kurt Vonnegut, with a lot of humor woven into it. But, as with many early ideas I’ve had, the more of myself I put into it, the more it evolved. Writing a book is such an intimate process. When you work on a book, you challenge yourself. As you work on it, you allow your own biases and feelings to get wrapped up in the manuscript. All of that makes it weird when the book finally sees the light of day, much less when it ends up in another human being’s hand.
But, in any case, that made for a very exciting start to the week. I can’t wait to hear what people thought of it, but at this stage, I have to be very patient. No need to rush them. So, after that, I was supposed to go to a friend’s house for a cookout and to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Earlier that day, I had been cooking and using a very nice Japanese knife my wife gave me for Christmas. I was in a hurry to clean up so I could leave for the cookout, went to put the guard back on the knife, and slipped, cutting the tip of my left index finger. The bandage from that has made typing downright difficult, which is hilarious. I mean, I have nine other fingers, but without that one finger, I’m incapacitated. It’s amazing how much it throws off your rhythm. I grew up learning proper typing form, which comes in really handy these days. But the wrapped finger really screws that up. Oh well, at least it is healing fast. I’ve already switched down to a Band-Aid instead of a Band-Aid, and I should be good as new in no time.
In any case, I plan to post an update like this on the blog at least once a week to keep you posted on what’s going on with my writing. There are a lot of exciting things coming up this year, and I can’t wait to share them with you. So, stay tuned and stay safe in this crazy world. We’ll talk soon.
– Ryan
