Son of the Age, Writing
I’m super excited to announce the release of my first novel, Son Of The Age!
It’s taken me three years to get it done and published and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. Just in case you’re not sure what it’s about, here is the description:
Set out on a journey of courage and transformation!
Abandoned by his father and forced to grow up fast, 12-year-old Son makes the brave decision to trek across the land of Aun to be reunited with his mother. As he travels, he finds the road to be a perilous place as he stands against heartless bandits, defends a helpless orphan girl, and encounters the mysterious man from the north. When what little he has is taken from him, he must stand up and fight for himself or never return home. It’s do or die in this powerful coming-of-age tale.
Son of the Age is the story of modern boyhood set in a medieval fantasy world. If you like page-turning storytelling, exciting adventure, and lots of heart, then you’ll love this captivating debut novel from Lee Bezotte.
It’s been such a great experience putting all of the ideas and stories, that have been rolling around my noggin all this time, into a book that others can enjoy and be blessed by. The book has a quality that appeals to young and old readers alike and the early feedback has been wonderful.
Personally, writing this book has been a real healing journey for me as parts of the story were inspired by my own experiences. My prayer is that readers will find encouragement and healing, and enjoy a great coming-of-age fantasy adventure.
To get your copy from Amazon, click here.
If you prefer Apple iBooks, go here.
Everywhere else, click here.
Let me know what you think! I value your feedback!
Writing
Now that my first novel is almost here (it’s currently in the formatting and cover design phase), I thought I’d try to answer a few questions about the writing and publishing process from my experience. I’ve had the privilege of visiting with other aspiring authors and certain questions seem to come up over and over again.
Here are the top 5
How do you come up with ideas to write about?
The main concept for “Son of the Age” came from growing up with an absentee father. I had to learn what it meant to become a man without my dad around and I know that’s true for many other men. So, in this case, the idea came from my own life. “Write what you know” is a mantra often spoken by writers. If you can turn a personal experience into an engaging story, then you’ve got gold because you already know what’s happening inside your character’s head. Think about what you’ve been through, and what you’ve learned, and start there.
How long does it take to write a book?
It really depends. Initially, I had a goal to write 1,000 words a day and be done with the first draft in two months. Unfortunately, 1,000 words felt overwhelming so I skipped a lot of days. It took me almost three years to write the first half of the book because of that. When I lowered my daily word count to 250, I got the second half of the book done in three months! The moral of the story is to set goals that you’re likely to keep and you can probably get it done in less than a year.
How do you keep your thoughts organized?
“Son of the Age” started with a bunch of ideas and a loose thread to follow. I use a writing program called Scrivener. It allowed me to write in a non-linear fashion. I had a folder for each chapter and, when I got an idea, I’d drop it in the appropriate folder. It was like adding clay to a statue a little at a time and, when I was done, I had my statue. Whether it was a work of art or not remains to be seen! If you’re even THINKING about writing, I would highly recommend that you give Scrivener a try. It’s used by professionals everywhere and I wouldn’t try tackling a book without it.
What do you do when you’re stuck?
Sometimes you’re just not sure how to get from point A to point B and sometimes you just don’t feel inspired. That’s when I would go for a walk. Unplugging, stepping away, getting some fresh air, and removing distractions does absolute wonders. When you let your brain relax, it comes up with some amazing solutions to your problems! On many of my walks, I would listen to instrumental music that fit the mood to my story. The experimental/celtic improv CD “From Silence” by Dave Bainbridge and Troy Donockley became the soundtrack to my book and listening to it while I walked unlocked idea after idea for me.
Are you going to self-publish or publish traditionally?
I get asked this one a lot. Initially, I was going to submit to publishers but, when I heard that traditionally published authors have to do their own marketing and promotions just like self-published authors do, I decided that I would rather do all that work for a 70% royalty instead of a measly 15%. I attended a writers workshop recently, taught by a very successful author of 130 books. When I asked him what the advantage of a traditional publishing deal was, he said, “The prestige of saying you’re published by Random House.” I’m OK without that. The other thing I’ve enjoyed about self-publishing is having full creative control. My novel has quite a few personally inspired elements to it and I couldn’t imagine letting a publisher mess with them.
So those are just a few things I learned from my writing journey thus far. I really hope they help. If you have any questions about writing or publishing your own book, feel free to leave it in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Son of the Age, Writing
Hey, friends!
It’s time to make a big announcement! I am wrapping up my first novel!
Those of you who have been with me for a while have probably noticed that my blog posts have been few and far between over the last year or so. That’s because I’ve been spending all of my writing time on this project. It’s a very important project to me because it’s the story of countless people who have grown up without a close relationship with their father. Even though it’s fiction, much of it has been pulled from real life experiences.
So, what’s it about? It’s about a boy named Son who lives in the medieval fantasy country of Aun. When his father abandons him, he goes on a life-changing journey to find his estranged mother. Along the way, he learns the meaning of manhood, sacrifice, and friendship.
Though written for adults, I am very excited about giving it to my children to read since it is full of ideas that will inspire them to have hope and character.
I really hope you’ll come on this journey with me as I take this novel to completion and publication. Feel free to drop your email into the subscription form on the right side of the page, and click that subscribe button. That way you won’t miss any posts as I share excerpts and ideas from the book, as well as the release date.
I would love your feedback!
