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Happy Throwback Thursday!  Here's a pic of my soon to be released novel "Apocalypse of Eden" one year ago.  That's right, I wrote two novels last year!

Witness the birth of "Apocalypse of Eden"

This is not how "The Love Makers" novel began, however.  It began as a screenplay that I wrote 10 years ago, and I literally wrote over the script to adapt into a novel.  I actually began writing "The Apocalypse of Eden" last January, then took a break in June for a few months when I had to kill off one of my darlings in the 2nd draft.  (That was a traumatic cut for me.)  I also needed a break because I had begun to experience nightmares from writing about demon monsters taking over Earth.  I finished it in October.  So, technically "The Love Makers" is my first novel to be published, but I didn't finish writing it until December 2013, two months after finishing "Apocalypse of Eden".  Confused yet?  So am I.  It's all a blur to me now.

Anyway, I thought it would be easier and quicker to write "The Love Makers" since it had already been written as a screenplay.  After all, I had all the characters fleshed out as well as an intricately developed plot, shouldn't have taken more than 4-6 weeks, right?  Boy, was I wrong!  It took 6 months!  A screenplay is so different from a novel, it's just action and dialogue with minimal setting descriptions.  I found it difficult to add exposition, characters' inner thoughts, and detailed descriptions of the settings of all the scenes.  It was like filling in the blanks.  

I have 2 other screenplays to adapt into novels later this year.  I am hoping it will be an easier transition.  I'm thinking of using the screenplays as more of an outline rather than a "paint-by-numbers" canvas, filling in as I go along.  Nope!  I will start with a BLANK PAGE next time, using the screenplays like a treasure map.

In the meantime, I am trying to find a really good editor for the "Apocalypse of Eden" novel.  Do you know of one who would do it for less than 100 bucks?  'Cause I am officially over-budget!  Then, I will probably self-publish again.  Or maybe I'll land a good publishing deal?  Not sure what the future holds.  Fun stuff!  Stay tuned....