The blog tour: one author tags three others, and they share information about themselves and their work.  In this case, J. Kent Holloway has tagged me.  You can read his blog post here.

1) What am I working on?

I am in the process of pulling together revisions on the final drafts of book #2 and #3 in the Cyrus Cooper series.  The books will be titled Rogue Faction Part 1 and Part 2, respectively.  The project was too big to fit into a single release, so I’ve split it into two parts—both of which will be longer than book #1, Dangerous Minds.

Since I don’t like the idea of leaving book #2 on a cliffhanger, I’m planning to release book #3 soon after #2.  Both parts have already been written.  It’s just a matter of finishing work with beta readers and the editor before I can put the books on virtual shelves.

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I’m excited to announce the release of the first novel in the Cyrus Cooper thriller series: Dangerous Minds!  I was trying to get it posted and available on Amazon.com for June 1st, but I
actually beat the deadline by 2 days.  So while June 1st was the official launch date, those who were watching Amazon closely, noticed that the book arrived slightly ahead of schedule.

Here’s the copy that’s currently displayed with the book on Amazon:

When test subjects participating in secret experiments begin to mysteriously die, Cyrus Cooper, the youngest recruit of the ‘Coalition’—a secret law enforcement organization—is assigned to prevent the program’s lead researcher from being the next victim. But there’s a catch: The seventy-four-year-old neuroscientist, Gertrude Waterford, has flatly refused any type of protective detail. Cyrus goes undercover, taking a position as a personal assistant in order to enter the life of the brash, elderly scientist. When multiple attempts are made on her life, however, not only must Cyrus protect the headstrong lady, but he must also uncover the perpetrator of the attacks before it’s too late. 

His job might’ve been easier if he’d been fully briefed on the nature of Waterford’s research. After working for decades to genetically trigger different paranormal gifts in her patients, she’s made some unusually powerful and extremely dangerous enemies. 

Cyrus Cooper’s efforts take him from high-rise apartments to secret underground research facilities, with stops at forgotten rendition sites and forsaken mental institutions along the way. And as the threats grow in force and number, Cyrus faces a race against time, and a war where all the players on the battlefield are anything but trustworthy. 

PRAISE FOR DANGEROUS MINDS 

“Weaver’s debut is a tense ride through the seamier sides of science, technology, the mind, and the paranormal. Gripping action and intrigue, brilliant escapes, and a whole lot of fun. Cyrus Cooper is a fascinating new hero.” 
—Kane Gilmour, Bestselling Author of Ragnarok and Resurrect 

Xander Weaver delivers a debut thriller with energy, depth, and twists rarely seen from experienced authors. A must-read for any thriller lover. 
—Seeley James, author of BRING IT, and other Pia Sabel thrillers

That includes amazing blurbs from Kane Gilmour and Seeley James.  That was incredible generous of both accomplished authors.  Somehow saying thank you just doesn’t seem like enough, given the level of support I’ve received.
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I’ve made a lot of changes since my last post.  Not the least of which include new titles for the books.  While I liked what I had previously, those titles seemed more pretentious than they did creative.  And while the original titles were good because they were unique, the new ones are more down to earth and simple.  So why did I like the originals so much in the first place?  First of all, they were creative and highly relevant to each novel.  But just as importantly, each title was distinctive and unique.  There wasn’t likely to be another thriller listed on Amazon, B&N, or GoodReads with the same name.  I liked that.

So, practicality won out over creativity.  Plus, with the covers I’ll be using for each book and the subtitle that I’ll be using to tie each book together as part of the same series, it didn’t seem as important to use such distinctive titles.  Who knows… that could change again at some point.  But I’m happy with the new titles, so I’m moving forward.

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The first book I wrote is called Halon-Seven.  I sent my best effort to my editor on August 5th, 2013.  I refer that that as my best effort because, at that point I had read the book several times.  I had already completed 5 full edits on my own.  These included massive editing contributions from my wife, family, and a very good friend.  In an effort to put my best foot forward, I had logged dozens of hours on those 5 edits before ever sending the manuscript to a professional editor.  And did I have to show for all of our collective time and effort?

The edits came back from my editor on January 27th, 2014.  Yeah, he had the manuscript for a really long time— but that’s beside the point and an entirely different story.  What is important is what my editor found… and how much of it it he found.  We’re talking a lot of corrections!  There’s just no point in sugar coating it.  For every bit of effort I put into the edits on my own, and all of the amazing contributions made by friends and family, a mountain of mistakes, typos, and corrections still managed to survive my best efforts to squash them.

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I’ve finished work on the first draft of what I’m calling book #3.  It’s titled, The Beta Praxis.  While something of a unique name, and praxis is a fairly unfamiliar word, it’s quite appropriate considering everything that is happening in the book.  Title’s always kick my ass.  That, and cover art.  The need to reduce the essence of hundreds of pages of story into a few simple images or a single phrase seems to have detrimental effects on my mind.

The Beta Praxis is shorter than my first two books.  This was a primary objective when I started the project.  When I started book #1, I didn’t know if I have enough plot for a short story, a novella, or a novel.  Judging by feedback from my editor, that book is longer than what is generally considered typical for my genre.  Still, the plot warranted it, so I believe it works.  Then when I wrote book #2.  The intent was for it to be shorter than the first book.  I blew it.  Book two was significantly longer.  That’s one of the reasons that it’s still sitting on my desk and awaiting its first revision.

Keep Reading!

I posted about this on Facebook this morning, but I thought it was worthy of a quick site post of its own.  I finished that last chapter of Project Lamplighter last night.  This is my second novel and the prequel to Halon-Seven, which I hope to release by year-end.  Written entirely in my spare time, the first draft of Project Lamplighter was started July 1st, 2013 and finished on October 30th, 3013.  It’s 182,000 words and took me a grand total of 170.23 hours to pen.

While I hope to shorten the overall length of the manuscript as I work on draft #2, there are a few small elements than actually need to be added to an early portion of the book.  So I hope to cut more than I add before all is said and done.

Keep Reading!

As I prepare for the release of Halon-Seven, book #1 of an as of yet un-named series, I’m getting the web site ready for prime-time.  My social profiles have been live and active for a while, so I hope folks have found me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  I’ve been trying to post notes as regarding my progress on books one and two as work through the various pre-release stages.

The good news is that Halon-Seven is getting closer to release.  It’s been with the editor for longer than I anticipated, but that’s not such a big deal since it has left me more time to finish work on the first draft of book #2.  Beta reader feedback has been amazing.  Honestly, nothing short of breathtaking…  I’ve been blown away.  And the initial notes from the editor have been very encouraging.  It’s just taking him longer to get through my book than we originally anticipated.  Other projects keep diverting his attention.  Still, if that’s the downside of having a pro give my manuscript a good going over, it’s worth the extra time.

In the meantime, I can get some work done on book two and get the web site ready for launch.