Happy, happy news! I made my first $1,000 yesterday, from my books 🙂Took me just over three years, but it’s something I love. Celebration time!
As a thank you, As Trees Turned Away will be FREE on Amazon for the next 3 days, starting tomorrow. Here’s a link. Save it, and head over there tomorrow morning for your free copy.
It seems like a long time ago that I sat down on the couch (love seat, actually), pulled up Twenty One Pilots on Youtube, and opened a Google Doc. Even more unfamiliar is that feeling, still vaguely on my mind. For years, I hadn’t written seriously, and hadn’t even dreamt of self-publishing. So, I figured, writing a book would be too hard, too foreign.
Instead, I wrote short stories.
Not all of them made it into As Trees Turned Away, and I don’t remember the background to them all. There are a few not-well-known facts I’d like to point out about the book, before you head off to buy it or grab a free copy 🙂
- “Lanterns” is the first story I wrote. Believe it or not, the song in my headphones was very upbeat, and the sky perfectly clear outside. None of that creepy atmosphere you find in the story itself. First draft “Lanterns” was about half the size it is now, I think.
- If you hadn’t already noticed, every story begins with a letter of the alphabet. “As Trees Turned Away,” “Beginnings,” etc. I could probably still name most of them, this long after, but I won’t try.
- This collection is not my best work. I’ve constantly gotten better through writing, but I don’t want to unpublish the things I did before. Maybe, someday, I’ll change my mind. But for now, unless I’m rewriting something, what’s on Amazon stays there. I mean, musicians get better as they make music, so it seems fair that I leave my earlier work out there, as I improve as well.
- “World of Rows” is half-based on a true event. My dad, my grandpa, and I went out to a creepy house, in the Jefferson County Proving Grounds. It was a real foggy morning, and we had to load a freezer full of meat. I commented how it would be a good place for a creepy story. Add in one cornfield, and I had my tale. That’s probably my favorite in the collection.
- Nope, never mind. My favorite is the 3 stories that combine together, and end with the grand finale, “Zoo Trip.” Once again, based on a half-true story. We took an overnight trip to the zoo, and I said how it would be a great place for a scary tale. My English teacher gave me the idea without for the plot without knowing.
- A perfect example of what makes my short stories different than others is “Ride In Peace.” At the end, you don’t actually see the murder (not a spoiler, you knew there would be one), but you have the image of them riding towards their death, and that suspense hangs over the ending.
- Quote from my dad (one of my editors) regarding this book: “You kill a lot of people.”
I hope you enjoy 🙂 Head back up to that link and click away!
David Kummer 