Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Book of Grand Proportions

A little over a year ago 
I began writing a novel about a guy who is confronted with a world where everyone is like a still photograph. The idea was somewhat erotic at first with him surrounded by attractive woman and trying to control his sexual urges. I'd watched a movie about a person who would day dream this way where everything slows to a crawl and he's walking in a grocery store looking at a woman's breast almost salivating. However as I began (stealing) writing this idea it morphed into a more I Am Legend concept. The movie with Will Smith who is trying to survive in a zombie world where almost all humans have perished. So I down played the sexual element to explore a bigger theme of isolation and determination. But that was just the beginning. I saw an opportunity to touch on other broader themes like peace and government and ethics. 

The first book came quite quickly. My goal was to come in about twelve thousand words. A short book. I intended to keep it short and sweet packed with enough content as a book three to four times it's size. This also kept it manageable so I wouldn't be writing and stopping and getting side tracked with other projects to finally putting it on a shelf.

The title The Devil's Playground comes from the old saying the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So in essence the story is really about men who have gone to extraordinary lengths to make a better world. Despite the damage they cause to people and society all this is acceptable to attain the goal of a more cohesive and peaceful planet earth. So while their intentions come from a good place the actions are explicitly detrimental.

When I finished The Devil's Playground I breathed a sigh of relief and grinned with pride. Yeah! It wasn't long however until I began book 2, The Devil's Numbers. This second book came very much slower. Sometimes a sentence here a sentence there. It was a grind to say the least. But I thought it was necessary to answer many questions that weren't addressed in the first book. 

I've been somewhat hesitant keeping this project close to the vest making sure I dotted my i's and crossed all my t's. This is my first ebook with a price tag attached to it. Making sure it was edited properly was a lesson in patience and perseverance. It's also my most ambitious ebook to date. My graphic designing skills came in handy because I went through a few cover concepts until I decided on what you see before you now.

The official release date is April 14th for The Devil's Playground and April 28th for The Devil's Numbers but it's available for pre-order right now at many online retailer outlets.

Visit https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/raywil, for my personal profile.

Enjoy the teaser