Apologies to my readers and followers as it has been too long since I last posted. I have a few articles in edit mode, that for reasons that will be clear, have languished. The life of a writer is chaotic and never predictable.
You just have to learn to go with the flow.
The reason for my absence has been for a positive outcome. The publishing of my psychological suspense thriller novel, Pandemic-19, with the publishing company Good Twin Publishing, has come to fruition. The editing process to get to the point of publishing took considerable time and effort, my focus solely being there and unfortunately leaving my posts to wither in the wind.
No more!
So, here we are and moving forward, I will be devoting more of my energy to posting and sharing about Pandemic-19 and the upcoming projects and books in the works. There are many! Grab a coffee or special drink and let’s dive into it.
Where to start? There are so many places to begin. The title of this blog post can go in a multitude of directions. I will pick one and we can go for a joy ride. That’s an always fun journey, unless you have a backseat driver.
My writing career started a very long time ago. I can go back to elementary school and through high school where the passion for telling a story gave me considerable joy. If we take the actual career piece, where it became a paid profession, that happened right after college.
Graduate school to be precise.
I started out in education and teaching, and taking the short route to explain, I was presented with a great opportunity to take my background and expertise and teach adults. I had always wanted to wind up a college professor, teaching history to absorbing minds, so this diverge from the path, still going straight forward though, was one that would help pay for grad school and get me towards my goal.
I had experience in technology and teaching from college and my youth, and a company was in search of someone who could come in, write all of their documentation, and then train people. For me, it was the best of many worlds. Technical manuals, why they may seem droll and uninteresting, still tell a story. Those stories need to be done well and in such a way that people can not only understand, but even without being trained, they should be able to follow. Anyone who has read a crappy manual or insert knows exactly what I am talking about.
Misspellings, translations that make zero sense. Even a step by step that no matter how many times you follow it, seems to have missed a few important steps to get it right.
I came in and transformed a business to be successful. I was happy about being a cog in the wheel.
That experience put one brick in the foundation of many more to come. My work for that company got me to work with some of the top technology companies and global businesses in the world. My writings, though remaining anonymous, were read by countless people across the globe. I liked that I could help people and give something back. Better documentation and publications to make the world go around.
You might say, well, that’s not novel writing. And you would be absolutely correct.
However, it requires the same discipline as working on a book or novel. The “story” has to flow, even if you are training someone on how to support a mainframe server or utilize a proprietary software application to support thousands of users. Every paragraph and transition must keep the reader on track and engaged, not confused, or you have lost.
Fiction or non-fiction writing is no different in my mind.
I jumped feet first and was busy for some years, enjoying my universe in being able to pay it forward. That’s why I started to teach, and to me this was no different. Just a different way to teach people and enrich their lives in my small little way.
As the time went, the “fun” writing I had loved kept tapping my shoulder. I produced professional work, but my passion for true storytelling had taken a backseat to my career. It kept tapping, asking when I was coming back to the party, and then my first novel crashed my consciousness and I was compelled to sit and produce it. It is my first love for sure, but that’s a different story.
First novel? You mean Pandemic-19 is not your first?
No, it is not.
Pandemic-19 is actually my sixth or so that have been written completely or in various stages of #wip. All told I have a lot finished, partial, or story idea so the count is double digits.
What happened? Why did you not publish any of those?
Life. It happens.
My work took me to some of the largest global organizations in the world. My work expanded beyond writing and training to include helping run projects for cutting-edge technology solutions. I was busy, but the voice would not be quiet.
With pen and paper in hand, literally, I sat at my local café and wrote my first book. Travelled to locations used as its backdrops. Researched painstakingly the details. Notebook after notebook produced my novel. Then I had to type it.
Ouch.
A novice at what to do next, the obvious choice was to try and find an agent. As most know, this process is one of the most agonizing and confounding actions for any writer. The choices for representation are limitless and finding one means nothing.
You still have to write a compelling query letter, hope for a response, and then if you get a positive, send your manuscript. If a failure, check the box next to their name and on down the list. It can take forever to get anything, good or bad. Talk about a mind screw of the largest magnitude.
I languished in limbo. Pick one of Dante’s circles and I hit a few.
The amount of energy expelled was exhausting and I needed a break. My professional writing and work continued to propel my career on a trajectory upward, so I rode the train. Wrote two more complete novels, multiple stories and #wips, and moved on.
Life just overtook everything and I went about it. Can’t knock that.
I continued to write. Put those to the side and relished in them as personal accomplishments. Not many people can say they have written one book let alone a series or a handful. It was a creative endeavor to find a break and relax, all the while watching my career blossom.
I morphed into designing and architecting huge enterprise technology platforms critical to the public and for companies to function. I led multi-million dollar projects across the globe. Made the world a tiny bit better from my contributions. Took on roles in higher education where I was the face of change for technology transformation to take universities and schools of medicine to the 21st Century. Worked at one of the most respected digital media and newspapers organizations in the United States where my leadership and vision helped propel the company in readership and hundreds of millions in revenue. My work made things better, and I helped bring it to light.
A few more roles doing awesome projects and giving some back to the planet, and then the world was faced with COVID, and everything decided to change and a new road sprung up.
COVID and all the craziness that came with it turned on a lightbulb. I got the writing itch again, and really bad. Decided to finally throw both feet in the water and go for it. Developed the plot in my head, and then decided on a novel approach to what I wanted to do.
I shared the work in progress of Pandemic-19 as I wrote it. Did it anonymously under the pseudonym Pandemic-19 on Twitter and posted as chapters to my website under the pseudonym.
Why?
Well, as a writer we love to tell stories. I am no different. The problem is the world of writers who gain professional success is a small field. In some cases, the same faces dominate the space, for good or bad. I won’t judge. I wanted to create some buzz, share my work without any baggage tied to it, and let it stand on its own merits. No famous name clouding whether it was a good story or simply liked because of who I might be if a celebrity.
Even as a draft story in need of work, the reception was exceptional! Global readers, great feedback, and the hit count for who read the entire book was out of this world. The book stood on its own and succeeded beyond my expectations. Inquiries about it and what was next dominated private discussions.
Well, to my happiness, Pandemic-19 found a home and I feel the right one for it.
It’s been a cycle and a journey going from writing my first set of novels to actually publishing my first one. I would not really change it for the world. Things happen when they are right, I feel that deep down. We grow, learn, and as a writer, we become better at our craft through the pitfalls and bumps that we encounter. Perseverance and the drive to do it, that’s what sets a writer apart. I could have given up, thrown in the proverbial towel, and never written another word.
Well, I don’t have that in my blood. It may have taken time, but I kept at it. Even if only for my own satisfaction and enjoyment at that particular moment. I needed to be in the right space again to make the decision to want to be published.
Pandemic-19 put me in that place. I hope you all enjoy it.
Jason McDonald 