Akting Out

Writing is simultaneously the most thrilling and exasperating thing I’ve ever done. I can get so engrossed in whatever’s pouring out of my head that I’m often startled by outside interference; be it a touch on the shoulder or someone calling my name, the latter of which usually takes at least three tries to get my attention. On my best days, I feel like I’ve run a marathon; take Mondays, usually my best day for writing. I sit in the kitchen trying to pound down breakfast, ever aware of the time, and trying to close out this bloody scene before my friend pulls up and we have to head to work. After an hour or so, I pull away from the keyboard, smile, sigh, and prepare to pat myself on the back when….WHADDAYA MEAN I’VE ONLY WRITTEN FOUR HUNDRED WORDS?! IT’S BEEN AN HOUR! WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME?!

Ah, yes. There’s twitter, my Google Reader, and less frequently, Facebook (I’m trying to cut back the habit).

Oh, I know what you’re thinking, I do. But Avery, if you just close those out and focus only on your writing, you’d probably get a lot more done. And it makes sense in theory, doesn’t it? DOESN’T IT?!

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was twelve; my mother was good enough to give me a choice as to whether or not I wanted to be medicated. I declined. Writing with ADHD can be extremely difficult, as the urge to get up and do anything else becomes harder to resist, the longer I sit. On the flip side, it means I’m a fairly accomplished multitasker; I can follow my news feeds, stay up on twitter, and accomplish my daily word count of five hundred words. I once had my goal set at one thousand words a day but found that it was almost impossible to reach; I didn’t like having to lower my goal (and thus my standards), but it forces me to work harder. If I have a great day (usually on the weekends) and write over two thousand words, it means I can coast for a bit.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I absolutely abhor first drafts with every little atom of my being. I despise them. They’re wrong. They are not fit to be used as toilet paper, much less public consumption. Then again, I speak only for my own writing; yours is probably much better. As I continue to write my first novel (and become ever aware of the looming deadline to get this thing out by the end of the year) I’m trying to become more accepting of the idea of revisions, but it’s a process. So I end up frustrated, re-writing the same scene over and over again. The good news is that I’m always satisfied with the final result, but I feel as though I’ve wasted a lot of time arriving at that point. Tessi, the Barefoot Author, put up a really good post about her own dealing with rewrites, and was good enough to share her own work. Glad to know it’s not just me, although she seems to be dealing with it better than I am.

Writing under contract is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. Granted, my publisher is awesome; he puts no pressure on me. All of my deadlines are pretty much self-imposed. But I feel as though if I don’t finish this book, and I don’t keep my word to have it released by the end of the year, then I’ve let him down. He chased me down and gave me everything I wanted in order to sign me as an author. The least I can do is justify the investment.

I confess that Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders is approximately seventy thousand words long—with only two (barely) cohesive chapters. And somehow, I still have to have this thing done by the end of the month—which allows for an end of 2011 release date. So there’s a lot of work to be done and not a lot of time to do it. Anyone wanna trade passions for a minute?!

I’m reading this kick-ass book called First Draft in Thirty Days; I’ll use what I learn from here on the sequel to Atherean Defenders, entitled Heir To Fire. Yes. I just dropped a hint.

So that’s all for now, this is what it’s like on the front lines of the creative process, at least from my utterly insane perspective. Thanks for reading, best of luck in your own endeavors, may the words flow freely and the dreams shine brightly.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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I can do almost nothing without music, least of all, write. Plus, I can’t listen to anything with lyrics because it intrudes on the creative process.
I’ve fielded a few questions as to where I find the music I listen to, as most of what I like comes out of a video game or trailer. So I thought I’d share here, complete with links, my ten favorite tracks for writing. Enjoy!

1). Prelude by Pusher Music-I first heard this in the trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and have been hooked on it ever since. Slow-building and intense, I put this on if I need to write a building scene before a conflict. This music…you just know something epic is going to happen, like there’s gonna be this big battle, and this music sets it up.

2). Heart of Courage by Two Steps From Hell-God, I love this group. I must have at least thirty of their tracks but this is by far my favorite. I first heard it in the trailer for Mass Effect 2, and yes, I admit, I imagine something similar to what’s here when I need to do a scene like this. In fact, a large part of Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders was written to this. A group of reluctant heroes must band together, and work together against something that will destroy them all. It simply has to be done, nothing else matters. I use this music to write scenes like that.

3). To The Last Man by Jack Wall-Another one from the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack, this track inspires my characters to get the hell out of wherever they are. It’s like “Oh shit, we did what we had to do, but now they know we’re here, and there’s a couple million of them, so let’s get the hell out of here.” Especially the last twenty seconds or so of the track. Sure, my guys will fight their way out, but still, no one’s trying to prove anything. Sorry, couldn’t turn up a link for this one.

4). Hope Always by X-Ray Dogg-Upbeat, positive, happy! The conflict is over, the wounds are being licked, but everyone is grateful to still be alive. I also use this to wake up; puts me in a good mood almost all day. First heard it on the trailer for the new Karate Kid movie.

5). Hell’s Army by Epic Score-This is “Let’s Do This” music. Dark, ominous, with rapid beats, this is what I imagine Universal Warrior: Heir To Fire (the sequel to Atherean Defenders) too. All of the bad guys are together, and there are more of them than there are good guys. They’ve been waiting for this moment to strike, they believe that what they are about to do is the right thing, and this is the last little powwow before they strike.

Quick hits; After the Fall by Two Steps From Hell (slow, calming down, rising from the ashes), Protectors of the Earth by Two Steps From Hell, (uplifting, rousing, the good come together), Turning of the Tide by Future World Music (rousing, building, epic battle seemingly going the wrong way until the good guys spring something the bad guys weren’t ready for), Red Warrior by Audiomachine (quickening, the Chosen One), Time Will Remember Us by Epic Score (slow, peaceful, inspiring, epic battle remembered).

So that’s it; my top tracks for writing. Truthfully, I have more than two hundred tracks organized into four playlists I use for writing, but this is what I listen too more than anything else. Anyone out there have anything they’d recommend, or anything they have to listen too when they’re doing something?

Thanks for reading.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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As fiction writers, some of us find ourselves watching our characters settle their differences, as Eminem once put it, “in the bloodier way”. Some writers have been fortunate enough to go our entire lives without getting into a single fight (their characters always seem happier, too), while others have been in too many. The experiences one has with physical fighting almost always determines how plausible their fight sequences will be, and a poor fight sequence, no matter the medium, can often spoil an otherwise good story.

Alan Baxter, author of RealmShift and MageSign, hopes to make writing fight scenes easier with his companion piece “Write The Fight Right”. In this e-book, Alan, an accomplished martial artist, is good enough to demonstrate the subtle nuances of what makes a good fight while simultaneously warning others of the danger of real-life fighting.

I wish I had this book when I was still a kid, and still thought I was king of the world. Alan’s mastery of fighting is daunting and extremely well-expressed here. Nothing is overlooked, from the importance of descriptive footwork, how to detail character is in trouble, utilizing all five senses, especially the sense of smell. Even writing plausible scenes that involve weapons is included. The detail in each chapter is staggering; Alan simultaneously tells us how to create brutally realistic fight sequences while, on every page, all but screaming at us not to pursue real-life, in-the-street fighting. He’s right.

The book is only about twelve thousand words, but it’s also only $1.99. This is an absolute must-buy for fiction writers who even think they may write a fight sequence. Action and adventure writers will benefit from it as well. At its asking price, you can’t really go wrong.

If you want to learn more about Alan Baxter, or his books, hop on over to his webpage and give him a shout. Purchase Write The Fight Right from Smashwords for only $1.99.

Personal Note: I’ve been studying martial arts for more than twenty years, I only recently began training for the art, rather than the violence. Before that, I used to do a lot of fighting. I got hurt a lot, and I hurt a lot of people. As I get older and understand more the consequences of my actions, Alan Baxter’s “Write The Fight Right” was a humbling reality check. Movie and video game fighting is fun, and safe; real-life fighting is as dangerous as it gets. I think I’d almost rather have a gun put at my head then fight again because my survival odds are better. There’s nothing fun or cool about beating someone into unconsciousness and perhaps crippling them for life. This is especially true for martial artists, who are trained to do this very thing. Avoid a fight if you can; screw the name-calling and your ‘rep’. Just walk away. It’s not even about you living to fight another day, it’s about what you live with if you go too far.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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For those of you who haven’t seen “The Matrix” (if you haven’t seen it, seriously, stop reading and go watch the Matrix, right now. I’ll loan it to you if you need a copy.), the title of this blog was inspired by an two scenes from the iconic film; in the first, Neo (Keanu Reeves) visits the Oracle for the first time and meets a child who is telekinetically playing with a spoon like Laffy Taffy. She gives him the spoon, and of course, Neo being new to this and all, can’t do it. The girl tells him not to focus on bending the spoon, which is, of course, impossible. She tells him instead to realize the truth; there is no spoon. It is he who must bend, not the spoon.

A short time later, Neo and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) are standing on top of an elevator in a shaft, about to shoot the last cord holding the elevator in place. If this goes right, the elevator will plummet, and they’ll be rocketed to the roof and land safely. If it goes, wrong, well, there’s really too many things to list, but the end result is, they’re dead.
So just before Neo pulls the trigger and sets the plan into motion, he whispers to himself “There is no spoon.” And pulls the trigger. I won’t spoil what happens, but if you don’t know, really, please stop and go watch this movie.

I field a lot of questions about writing, but the one I hear the most is; how I do I do it right? What if I do it wrong?
That’s the beauty of writing, and every writer’s first step; there is no right or wrong way to do it; you just do it. No, really, it is that simple. There’s no trick, no gimmick, and most importantly, no frakkin shortcut; you just write.
It doesn’t matter is you misspell every single word that you put on paper; the only thing that matters is that you put it on paper. You don’t have to worry about right or wrong at this point; you don’t have to show it to anyone (that comes later). You don’t have to worry about formatting, grammar, or any of that other nonsense that keeps most of us up late at night. You want to write something? Fine, do it. Quit worrying about it and do it.

The best writing in the world comes from what’s purely written, when the author isn’t worried about what it looks like. When you’re just writing with reckless abandon, whatever story you’re trying tell comes through pretty clearly. Yes, you will make two million writing mistakes along the way. At this point, it doesn’t matter. True story; I took part in National Novel Writing Month two years ago and just went crazy. It led to a publishing deal two years later.

There is no right or wrong when it comes to writing. Don’t get hung up on the process and just do it. You may be surprised at what happens.

There is no spoon; it is you that has to bend.

Thanks for reading, and good luck. More to come.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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April 29, 2011
I am very pleased to announce that Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders will be published by JournalStone Publishing, an independent publishing house based in San Mateo, California. The publisher primarily focuses on science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles, and Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders will be one of JournalStone’s first fantasy books.

About Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders
Combining aspects of modern and ancient religion with real-world events, Universal Warrior is set in a fictional world in which mankind ultimately decides its own fate. Part one of a three-part series, Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders chronicles the first battle in the war between Heaven and Hell.

At the beginning of time, when Earth and the Universe were in their infancies, before the Devil, before war and chaos nearly ripped the Universe apart, a dissension between Heaven’s two rulers sparked a conflict that would rage for millennia. Here, at the aftermath of this conflict, referred to as the Great Divide, the story begins.

One morning, four children go playing in the Atherean, Heaven’s largest body of water. Only one comes home alive.

The child’s last words speak of monstrous creatures that have overtaken the water, igniting fear and panic in the Angels, whose need for vengeance clashes with their most sacred commandments. To quell an uprising before it begins, four Angels are dispatched in secret with one objective; bring the responsible party to justice.

But upon entering the water, they will find much more than the Atherean has been taken from them. They will discover the true nature of the unexplored Southern Lands, a realm which will become synonymous with pain and suffering. They will discover secrets that should’ve remained buried and former Angels willing to do whatever it takes to reclaim their homeland.

The war will begin.

JournalStone
JournalStone is an independent publisher specializing in science fiction, horror, and most recently, fantasy. The label has produced the well-received JournalStone: 2010 Warped Words For Twisted Minds, (which the author of Atherean Defenders worked as a contributor on) and Duncan’s Diary: Birth of A Serial Killer. Most recently they released Any Witch Way by Annastaysia Savage. Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders will be among their first titles based in pure fantasy.

Working With JournalStone
When I first announced Atherean Defenders nearly 18 months ago, I was so disillusioned by stories of writers who had been repeatedly rejected by big publishing houses that I had no intention of even pursuing the option. Besides, I’m a relatively unknown author. I didn’t see the point in asking people to give their hard earned money to someone they’d never heard of for something they weren’t even sure they’d like. I figured I knew enough about marketing and self-promotion that I could go it alone.

I met the head of JournalStone about a year ago on Facebook. We shared mutual interests, and he’s from my hometown, so we hit it off. From the outset, I thought he was an excellent writer and strong self-promoter. He pushed his novel harder than I had seen anyone do before or since. I respected his work ethic and passion for the craft. Eventually, we got onto the subject of my own writing, and he asked me to send over the first two chapters of my novel. Reluctantly, I did.

He was so impressed with the writing that he immediately offered to publish the novel. I was hesitant, but interested; my primary concern was retaining creative control over my intellectual property.
Over the next few weeks, he practically bent over backwards to ensure a mutually satisfactory arrangement. The contract was refined at least 10 times, and in the end, he allowed me to retain full creative control, as well as merchandising and rights to distribute through other mediums. I’ve only been in this business for a few years, but I’ve never worked with anyone who was this passionate and driven about the craft. And, so I signed.

So…What Does This Mean?
Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders will be released through JournalStone and be available in softcover, hardcover, and e-formats. While online distribution is planned, no arrangement has been finalized yet to release the novel in actual bookstores.

A second draft of the manuscript is due to be turned over by June 1, 2011. Tentative release for the novel is Christmas 2011.

This also means that those of you reading can be first in line to win some of the limited edition gear we’ll be handing out as we ramp up to the release. This gear includes specially engraved iPod Shuffles, limited edition posters, and the graphic novel Four Before Red Morning, which is a series of short stories revolving around Atherean Defenders’ key characters at pivotal moments in their lives, before the tragedy of Red Morning.

Stay tuned to see how you can get a jump start on this stuff, and keep following for updates!

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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Well, I did a little better than I did last week…

I wanted to try an experiment; every day, when I came home from work, I would write one thousand words a day. It didn’t matter if it was complete and utter crap (cause most of my first drafts are usually just that), it just had to be one thousand words. Following that logic, I would be adding at least five thousand words per week to the story. I could go back and revise anytime I wanted.

Yeah…I was able to do that one day this week.
Three weeks into this little project and you may begin to wonder if I secretly hate the writing process, or I’m just getting burned out. Neither, I say. I’m just lousy at budgeting my time and managing my (surprisingly chaotic) personal life. Things were much more hectic than normal this past week, and it really impacted how much writing I could get done. All said and done, I think I may have added 1.5k words to Atherean Defenders.

So how did the week go?

What Went Right

Progress was made on the final version of Atherean Defenders. The first three chapters, building up to the epic adventure underwater, are just about done. I have made no revisions to Chapter One since posting the excerpt. Slow progress is better than no progress.

I have one definitive offer to publish Atherean Defenders, which means the book would appear in print.

I’ve gotten my weight down to 271lbs, which is down from the 290 I weighed at New Year. My goal is 269lbs by Monday and 220lbs by July.

What Went Wrong

Came up short on the word count. I wanted to accomplish 5k words, only got 1.5k done. I need to get better at managing my time.

Wanted to hit the gym three times this week; made it once. Wanted to train three times a week, only managed once.

Wanted to release a blog for parents on buying video games for their kids, and I haven’t even written it yet.

Lesson learned this week? Get Better At Time Management.

Next Week On Life As I Play It

Wednesday: An Introduction to the ESRB For Parents (For Real This Time!)

Friday: Writer’s Diary 3-4-11

Sunday: An Excerpt From Atherean Defenders; “Brothers”

Goals: Week of 2-28-11

Writing

-Complete at least 3k words on Atherean Defenders

-Release ESRB Blog on time

-Plan weekly writers series “The Road Home”, dealing with freelancing and getting paid to write

Personal

-Spend at least four hours in the gym.

-Spend at least four hours on the heavy bag.

-Lose five ponds

Business

-Order Business Cards

-Resume work on http://universalwarrioronline.com

Day Job

-Sell at least three TV products

So closes another week! Thanks for reading and best of luck in your endeavors!

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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So this is the second of what I hope is an ongoing series that chronicles one week in the life of someone who works a full time job and is trying to bring a book to market. Special thanks to the ridiculously talented Jamie Depree for giving me this idea.

So from here on out, I’ll go into what went right that previous week, what went wrong, and what’s coming up that following week.

What Went Right

My subscription to Writer’s Digest kicked in! I got two issues this week, and this thing is almost impossible to read at work. I’ve missed entire calls because I was knee-deep in advice on story prompts and mind-shopping for all of the things I didn’t know I needed until I saw them. Seriously, if you have the extra fifty bucks to blow (it’s tax time, you can squeeze it out somewhere) sign up for the VIP program. It’s worth every penny.

I got to play Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds on the day it came out! Part of the reason I love living out here is that there is no waiting for a good game, and while I couldn’t snag the special edition, I didn’t have to wait in line for a copy. Capcom got this one right, and Prima created a gorgeous strategy guide to go with it.

My oldest son celebrated his fifteenth birthday on Valentine’s Day! He’s both on the honor and on the verge of being expelled for fighting. Only my son.

I’m working on/through three offers to publish Atherean Defenders. One of from a publisher I know, trust, and have history with, another will pay my way out of the day job at the cost of my rights, and another is a negotiation-in-process to turn Atherean Defenders into a video game. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do, but I have some time to figure it out.

I got an email from a family-owned company asking me to review their products on my blog. I have yet to investigate the offer, but it’s the first one I’ve ever received.

What Went Wrong

So I’m making my lunch the other day, a casual event, one easily taken for granted until one forgets that BIG SHARP KNIVES are involved. No matter what else one may be doing, one must never forget, nor disrespect, the knife. I did both.
So I sit here writing this with my left middle finger while my index finger recovers.

I’ve written more words in this blog than I have all week. I don’t think I’ve even turned on the desktop all week.

I didn’t get into the gym at all this week. I compensated by eating better, but I’m still ten pounds heavier than I intended. Fell way short of the goal this week.

Next Week On Life As I Play It

Wednesday: An Introduction For Parents To The ESRB  (A guide for parents from a parent about buying video games for your kids)

Friday: Writer’s Diary (Summary of the week’s events)

Goals: Week of February 21, 2011

Writing

-Complete Chapter “A Lie Of Omission” for Atherean Defenders

-Make Blogging Deadlines this week

Personal

-Spend at least four hours in the gym

-Train for thirty minutes per night, twice a week

-Lose three pounds

Business

-Resume work on the website

-Continue negotiations on publishing contracts

Day Job

-Sell at least two TV products

-Bring adherence (at-work attendance) up to where it should be

-Miss no time

That’s it for now! See you next week!

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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I got this idea from a few friends of mine. I figure maybe it’s a way to keep my blog updated, share the writing process, and keep me accountable. Plus, right now, I’m a little tired of fictional writing because I hate what’s happening to my characters right now. It has to happen, and they want it to happen, but dammit, I created them and I say I get some time off.

So I feel like I’ve been working on Atherean Defenders for, oh, I dunno, the last half century or so. I accomplish an average of six to seven thousand words per week, and yet the damn thing never seems any closer to ending, which leads me to ask; HOLY CHRIST ALMIGHTY, DOES THIS THING EVER END?!

The new (temporary) hours at work now tie up my mornings but leave my nights wide open, but between the few nights I get to the gym, and other nights I just plain don’t feel like turning the computer on, not a lot gets done. Luckily, my weekend begins at eleven am on Fridays (oh, if only that was permanent, but the good news is when the schedule goes back to normal, it’ll begin at one-thirty), but since I’m responsible for cleaning half the house on weekends, I don’t really feel like doing much by the time that’s done. Sure, I always tell myself that I’ll get started “right after lunch”, but that mentality always gets defeated by “you know what?! It’s the freakin’ weekend, and I ain’t doin shit.”

Saturdays are usually good days; I have the mornings to myself, and this is when I do most of my damage. Same with Sunday mornings. But I slept through most of yesterday and felt a need to take a hiatus from the net, so today, I accomplished a paltry 2.5k words and got started on this.

I keep telling myself I’ll get back to it later tonight. Look out your window. That squeal you hear is a pig flying.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the writing process, especially the learning aspect of it. My boss actually caught me one time looking up random words on the internet. That’s how far gone I am. But it’s also an exhausting process. While I’m not sure of my target audience, I’m very sure of the story I want to tell, which is of the very first conflict in the war between Heaven and Hell. Not too long ago, I got the first draft of the story completed, and it clocked in at about 30k words. Now, when I say ‘first draft’, I mean nothing even fit to be used as toilet paper. I accomplished a beginning, middle, and an ending. I know how I want the story to go. Filling in all the details? That’s proven to be the fun part.

I write using a style called the Jigsaw Method (I think I made that up. I don’t recommend it). I think it’s a cross between freewriting and something more traditional, where I assemble the chapters of the story (the frame) and then write various scenes in no particular order that fit into those particular chapters. The good news is that the writing comes out much purer, and I’m more satisfied with the end result; the bad news is that I end up doing a lot of rewriting when an earlier scene affects a later one. Oh, and the research. Never again will I purchase instructional books in the middle of writing a story. It causes too much of a headache. Because I find something that works within the story (hey, I found a piece of the puzzle!) but then I have to write around that piece that I don’t know how I lived without before.

Gragh.

All in all, I’m satisfied with the week’s progress. All of the chapters have at least some content and my characters, one in particular, are really finding their footing. I know I’m nearing the end of this story because I can already imagine the sequel, something I can never do until I approach the end of the first story.

So that’s the entry this week. My goals for next week (GOOD LUCK!!!) are to get the story to 50k words (I’m at 42k right now) and get at least the first three chapters to completion. Right now, only one chapter is ready to go; the only one I haven’t gone back and made any revisions on.

So that’s all for the week. If you’re reading and pursuing something of your own, I’d love to know what you plan to accomplish this week, and how you’re doing it.

Good luck. Thanks for reading.

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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Dear Readers;

Working in sales has taught me a lot, both good and bad. I don’t believe in charging customers or clients for changing their plan or services in the middle of a billing cycle. I do believe in rewarding people when they go above and beyond what you’ve asked of them. I believe a loyal customer will get you further than a suspicious one. I believe that if you’re upfront and honest with people—even if you tell them something they don’t want to hear—then you’ve done both them and yourself a service.

I also believe that money is not the most important thing in the world; time is. No matter the economy, or the circumstances, if you’re willing to work, you’ll always find a way to make money. Time is the one thing you never get back once spent. The ability to spend one’s time as they choose is probably what I value above everything else in life.

I love everything about the writing process; I love the networking, the connecting with like-minded people, I like the way everyone is so quick to lift everyone else, and how no one hoards knowledge. I love the storytelling process, I love delving into research and learning something I can apply to everyday life, I love words filling up the page as music plays in the background, and I love it when people tell me they enjoy my work. I love it when people email and ask when the next installment is coming out.

While I’m appreciative of all of the hype surrounding Atherean Defenders, I also view it as a responsibility. The truth is, very few people have read my work, making me largely untested. While I hope this doesn’t happen, there’s a pretty good possibility that the majority of people who read Atherean Defenders may find it complete and utter garbage (you’ll never know how many times I get up from the computer saying to myself ‘wow, I hope this doesn’t suck.’)

What I honestly hope is that everyone who reads this story enjoys it, has a good time, and most importantly, signs up to see what happens next. But because people are willing to take their time to take a chance on an unknown writer, I don’t think it’s fair to ask for money on the first story.

So my promise to you as a writer is this; as long as Atherean Defenders is self-published, I will never charge anyone anything for it. I hope everyone who reads the story enjoys it, and thank you all for your support thus far.

Sincerely,

Avery K. Tingle
Author, Universal Warrior: Atherean Defenders

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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Lorna Suzuki, an accomplished author whose credits include PBS and a fantasy series recently optioned to become a major motion picture, was good enough to interview me about Universal Warrior, the writing process, and martial arts last week. Here’s a link to the interview.

http://web.me.com/imagobooks/IMAGO_FANTASY_REALM/Blog/Entries/2011/1/18_Avery_K._Tingle_Interview.html

(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC

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