Sign of the Times

Tomorrow...I'm selling and signing books at a flea market outside of Paw Paw. Reits Flea Market is the place. The weather will be sensational. It's just off of Red Arrow Highway. I rigged a homemade canopy using a tarp and metal poles. It's quite an ugly sight.

Have a great weekend and holiday (just remember what Memorial Day is all about)!

And Now, a Revised Prologue

The prologue...written in first person according to Annie Marshall. Everything else is Jimmy first person. Annie was reluctant to write it because she is not a fan of the writing process. Her best friend is the wordsmith. However, she agreed because Jimmy didn't want her feeling neglected or unappreciated. He gets top billing as the protagonist, but she is crucial to the story. 

Anyway, most of it is the same except for the first two paragraphs. I thought I had a posting of the original prologue, but I can't find it. Here's the prologue as it is now in the third revision:

PROLOGUE

If you’re ever on live T.V., you better watch what you say! Trust me…your life will get all ludicrous if you don’t. My friend Jimmy Miller found this out the hard way. You might remember him. Everyone started calling him Jimmy the Super Powerful. He and I made big news when we thwarted the evil schemes of one out-of-control government-funded corporation from taking over the country and possibly the whole world. We were showered with all kinds of praise. But now…it’s like everything has changed. Just because of one lousy word.

Who am I? Well, I happen to be his best friend. And yes, I’m a girl. You see…neither one of us have had normal childhoods. Back when my mother was arrested and my brother and I had to go live with our grandma, my nana, I was one angry young lady. Okay, I still am. I mean, I’m ashamed of my mom for doing drugs, being sent to prison, and neglecting her children. So, I would run away from my nana, at first. That’s when I met a kid who would change my life forever. We actually already had an encounter at school, and I spilled chocolate milk all over him in the lunchroom. Sneaking into his house, I discovered that this kid was no ordinary boy. He could do things…amazing things that no one else could do.

I was so fascinated by him and his incredible powers. Mainly, though, he was the only kid willing to be my friend. I needed a friend. He didn’t even care if I used to get head lice and he even stood up for me at school one day.

Anyway, you probably are curious about how Jimmy became super powerful. He wasn’t always that way. You know the government? I’m talking about like the President and the Congress over in Washington, D.C. Well, you see, these geniuses gave a ton of money to a corporation called Etyouth, meaning “Eternal Youth.” The money went to fund several research projects to “improve” human life, and the greatest effort went into the engineering of genetically altered food.

Revised excerpts

Okay...I'm going to post the biggest revision to Book 1 of JM the Super Powerful. It's the opening to chapter 1. To read the original opening, click here. 

Chapter 1: Captured by Etyouth

Gone. All of them…gone. My whole family…there was nothing left of them—all except for me. I saw what that beast did to them. Now it prowled after me, sniffing the air, hoping to catch my scent. It stalked me on its hindquarters humanlike, only it possessed fangs and claws, just ripe for the ripping and tearing of human flesh. Like that of my family…and it wasn’t through. That creature wanted more, hungry for me—or anyone else it could find. Looming over fifty feet tall with a dog-like snout, it would show no mercy, so I cowered inside my house, peeking outside the living room window. My house had missed all of its furniture, and I wasn’t sure what happened to it. Keeping my attention on the creature, it had a word carved into its chest in red-jagged lettering. It was a name…a name that read “HTUOYTE.”

As it moved down the street, a girl on a bike came from the other direction. She had light brown or dark blond hair cascading wildly to her shoulders, deep brown eyes, and freckles. The girl looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember who she was. She couldn’t have been much older than I was, but she acted as if she didn’t even see the creature. If it couldn’t find me, it would certainly use her as alternative prey. Wearing a halter-top and shorts with pink and orange stripes, she pedaled past my house, until she finally noticed the beast. Her face became flush as she realized a meager twenty yards separated them. She didn’t even brake, but bounded right off the still rolling bike, and skidded hard on the pavement. Wincing at her left elbow that now sported a nasty wound she remembered her more pressing, life-threatening problem with the creature now rapidly approaching. That thing would kill her for sure, but she just laid there unsure of what to do!

Even though I wanted to stay safe in my house, I couldn’t let her become the next meal for that beast. Risking my own life, I ran out the front door to the sidewalk she laid on, and I said in my high, nasally child voice, “Get up!” I offered my hand, and she took it. Then, I pulled her up onto her feet. “Run to my house!” So, I gestured towards my front door, which I left wide open. Not wanting her to die, I indicated to her to go ahead of me. At first, she stared at me like I was crazy for letting her go first, and the terror in her eyes told me that the creature was closing in right behind me. “Get out of here!” I commanded through my tears, knowing I was making a self-sacrificing choice. She quickly scrambled to the safety of my house, while the beast pounced on me. To this horrific cat, I was a mere mouse. The creature sank its teeth into my body and my bones crunched. Realizing I had been bitten in half, I screamed…

Jimmy Miller updates

After a long process of revising and editing, Book 1 of Jimmy Miller the Super Powerful is now available. It is the third revision. I'm still working on the Library of Congress Number for it, but I want to purchase my own ISBN for that purpose. I know it's not a requirement for the Library of Congress Number, but I'd like to secure one in the name of Etyouth Publishing. The third edition is a CreateSpace ISBN because the price was right. Once I can get enough funds, I will purchase an Etyouth owned ISBN.

Revising and editing had consumed my life. I had no time for anything. In order to make sure Book 1 would have continuity with Book 2, this was a necessary evil. So, I neglected a great deal. This blog, Twitter, and my author Facebook page. Plus, I was in a church musical, so my time just was elsewhere. My apologies to all of you who had no super powerful things to read with your coffee.

I've made some major revisions in some of the chapters in Book 1. Chapter 13 is now titled Taken as opposed to Kidnapped, so no one thinks I have a Robert Louis Stevenson complex. (And no, my coffee drinking habit is not turning me into Mr. Hyde!) Eventually, I'll post some of the big changes. My revision efforts reduced the length of the book by 12 pages and is now only 10.99, but usually Amazon offers deals. However, I did raise the price of the Kindle edition to 2.99. The extended Christmas price is now over. I may discontinue the Nook version, but there are still those out there who have those devices. However, until I do, I will raise the price to 2.99. I'm still working on the development of an ebook for iPad and the Apple crowd. Check out the links along the side panels of this blog.

Book 2, Jimmy Miller the Super Powerful: the Wo-Ha-Li is now my main focus in getting it finished, edited, revised, and tested. I hope to publish by the end of the summer. This is when I hope to purchase an ISBN for Book 1 and Book 2 and release both together.  Well, I anticipate more blogging time. Bye for now.

Be good to yourselves!