The title is somewhat fitting, though not perfectly so. My fresh start is centered around marketing. Discussing marketing extends beyond merely increasing book sales; it encompasses enhancing the books' appearance with professional covers and developing a more attractive website with additional features. Naturally, the books themselves are not to be overlooked. I'm contemplating whether to sell eBooks directly from my website or continue with Amazon. As my (currently unnamed) science fiction novel approaches its final edit, I'm considering releasing it as a trial. While I could offer it at a lower price than Amazon, the question remains whether it would attract buyers. An email campaign is on the horizon, and I aim to be more proactive. Additionally, I plan to grow my Bookbub following. Ultimately, the most crucial aspect is crafting excellent books, which is a source of pride.   

I am almost finished the first draft of the first book of my science fiction series.  I originally called it my trilogy, but I don't want to limit myself.  I may find that I can continue the story past the three books.  I, at least, should have three books published sometime in the future.  Though I am currently editing my first book, I am writing on my second book a little at a time so I can make the transition of book one to book two seamlessly.

I have so many books planned in my head.  I wish that I could put them on paper a lot quicker, but unfortunately, I can't write as fast as some writers.  I do put a lot of work in them, going over them several times to make sure that the characters appear as real as possible and that the storyline, though fictional, will seem believable.

I've always considered characters in story the greatest part of it.  Though the plot is instrumental the characters can make it a good or bad story.  I learned this a long ago from Stephen King's book THE STAND.  The plot was good but similar stories had been done before.  The characters are what brought to life.

One more thing.  Please follow me on BookBub.     Be the first to know when my next book is available, to view my books, and get an alert whenever I have a new release, preorder, or discount!   http://bookbub.com/authors/gary-m-martin  
 

​​     I write in multiple genres.  This is not remarkable, numerous authors do the same thing.  What is different about my writing is that one of my genres is Christian fiction.  Those who write Christian books usually don’t venture very far into other genres.  At least not as far as science fiction and fantasy.  But there are exceptions.
     C.S. Lewis is best known for his Christian writings and his classic series “The Chronicles of Narnia”.  What is not well known is that he gained great acclaim as a science fiction writer for his “Ransom” trilogy.
     In the 1920s Lewis became friends with J.R. Tolkien.  Tolkien was known to have bouts of writer’s block that sometimes lasted for great lengths of time.  Lewis encouraged and prodded him to get through these times.
It has been suggested that I write only Christian stories as if there is something wrong with writing in other genres.  Many times, these same people are the ones who watch zombie movies and whatever Stephen King puts out.  This is fine with me, but it makes them look a little two-faced.
     There are a lot of science fiction, fantasy, and horror authors out there who are atheists, and it shows in their stories.  But my stories are not like that.  Though I do not always mention God in my stories I also do not use God’s name in vain either.
     The world is not black and white.  There are nuances of color everywhere.  Though many people think that the Bible explains everything It doesn’t.  The universe is vast.  There is so much that man has just begun to understand.  Things that I might imagine in my science fiction books are nothing compared to what God has created.  I think that people as a whole make God to be small.  God is bigger than we can imagine.  There are billions and billions of stars and planets out there.  Who knows what else God has created?
​     I'm open to comments, good or bad.

Writing with AI is trending.  It has been a trend for a while.  I understand it’s great for writing articles and such.  I can understand that.  It makes it a lot easier for content writers.  However, there have been some lawsuits come out involving plagiarism.  Apparently, sometimes the AI doesn’t’ realize it’s copying other people’s work.

I don’t have a problem with that.  The thing that bothers me is people writing books using AI’s.  One particular book promotion site has complained that some writer’s are putting out one or two books a month using AI.  The complaint is that the books are getting only one or two reviews with one out of five stars.

The people using AI’s to write their books are lazy and only in it for the money.  I admit I would love to make a lot of money writing books, but I don’t write specifically for the money.  I like the experience of creating something from nothing, of taking a character and breathing life into them.  When I write it is like watching a movie unfold.  I have an idea for the ending, but it’s not set in stone.  It sometime changes.  I don’t know the characters until I create them.  Even when I have an idea of how they should act they sometimes go in a different direction.  My job is to keep the plot and the characters together to create a story that entertains.

​I read this book years ago, long before the movies started coming out.  I thought it was great and was excited when the movie came out in 2002 starring Matt Damon.  I thought Mr. Damon did a fantastic job.  The movie stuck very close to the book, but of course the book goes into a lot more detail as expected.
I found an original hardcopy of the book at a used bookstore.  I thought I would enjoy reading it again.  I was right.  Mr. Ludlum has a great way with words.  His descriptions are easy to see with the mind’s eye and his delineation of characters are right on.
I would recommend this book even if you’ve already seen the movies.
Robert Ludlum wrote the Bourne trilogy.  They are: “The Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, and the Bourne Ultimatum.  There are other Jason Bourne books but they are written by Eric Van Lustbader.

​This is the first time I’ve read anything from this author.  I’m probably one of the few who hasn’t read any of his books considering he is an international bestselling author with over 70 million books in print.  That’s nearly twice as many as I have.  (Yeah, I wish).
 
Myron Bolitar overhears some young girls in his basement talking about drinking at a party.  He is concerned about them driving and drinking.  He insists the girls promise him that if they have been drinking or in some kind of bind and don’t want to call their parents, they can call him no matter the time.  He promises not to tell their parents.
It is several nights later when Myron gets a call at two in the morning.  When he picks up the girl, she asks that he drive her to a friend’s house and not to tell her parents.  Myron is a little suspicious, but he made a promise.
The girl is soon declared missing.  Weeks earlier another girl disappeared.
Myron feels responsible for the girl and sets out to find her.  Leads take him in several directions with several suspects.  The question is: what happened to the two girls.  Did they run away or were they kidnapped?
 
I thought the story was very suspenseful with some good twists.  It was worth reading.

Goodreads is an extensive reading site owned by Amazon.  It is a great place for writers both self-published and established bestsellers.  The site offers multiple promotional options in advertising and book giveaways.  I have used book giveaways before with success.  Recently I entered a giveaway that I had been reluctant to try.  The giveaway cost $119.  The giveaway started on July 1st and ended on July 31st.  During that time people would click on the book to enter the contest.  When they did the book would be added to their “to read” on their book list.  One hundred entrants would win an eBook of my book “The Entity”.

A giveaway of one hundred eBooks for that price is not a great deal.  On my most recent giveaway, I paid $75 to FREEBOOKSEY, a promotional site, and got over 1400 downloads.  The reason I went with the Goodreads giveaway was for the reviews.  Goodreads encourages all the winners to give a review of the book.  Since this is a site for readers with multiple book clubs I expected to get quite a bit of reviews.  Not a hundred.  I figured some would still refuse to give a review or even a rating.  I figured I would get at least fifty percent, but I would accept twenty-five percent.  So, what did I get?  After three months I have gotten 3 reviews/ratings.  A big disappointment.
​
I would not recommend this giveaway to anyone.  To me, it is a rip-off.  Amazon is charging way too much for this.  I did get some sales from the giveaway.  Unfortunately, I didn’t make enough to justify the cost.

​     I just finished on writing by Stephen King.  I have wanted to read it for some time but never got around to it.  Until someone bought it for me.
     It you’re not familiar with the book, Mr. King wrote it in 1999 and it was published in the year 2000.
     The first part of the book is a memoir.  It speaks about his early years and what led him to where he is today.  Like many people he had to struggle to finally make it up the ladder.  He got plenty of rejection slips and made mistakes along the way.  But he kept his focus moving from short story to novelist.  I found this section interesting, but I liked the second section of the book better.
     Like the name of the book, the second part of the book was titled on writing.  In this section he talked about the craft of writing.  He spoke plainly, going into detail about what he thought worked and didn’t work.  He told of other successful authors, of how their styles differed.  He disagreed with some of the writer’s norms, but I don’t want to reveal too much of the good stuff.  I think you should read it for yourself.
     Overall, I thought it was a great book and not as stuffy as some of the other“how to” books.