So did I write the first chapter of From the Deep today? Of course not!

But for good reason...and I did write today. I realized that I had yet to write a synopsis for my last novel, Antarktos Rising, which is being read by my agent. I typically send a synopsis with my manuscripts to him and was kicking myself for leaving one out this time. So I whipped one together today. It's probably the longest synopsis I've ever written (9 pages) but it's a complex story and has a lot of important details that, if left out, would make everything sound confusing...or dumb.

GOOD NEWS. The Didymus Conitngency has been nominated by POD-DY MOUTH (the most popular POD reviewer) as one of the top POD books in 2005. There are 5 all together and the winner will be announced on March 22. Judging is by agents and editors. If I win I'll be sure to post about it. If I don't, I'll be sure to never mention it and pretend I never told you. Either way, it's nice to be recognized in the top 5...and if you know anything about POD books...that's a lot of books to be picked from!

-- Jeremy
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com

While having my novel translated into multiple languages is wonderful and fun, I now know that all the paperwork involved in getting paid from overseas publishers was designed to make authors feel very very stupid. I attempted filling out forms from Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain, the UK, etc and had questions on each an every one of them. The time spent on these forms took more mental capacity than an entire week of writing! Sheesh.

On to better subjects. The POD book...wait, I haven't even given the title have I? Here it is: POD People - How I Beat The Pint-On-Demand Stigma And How You Can Too. Kind of a long subtitle but it looks good on the cover. All that to say, the first ARC is on it's way to me. I'm sure that there will be some slight modifications to make, but the books should be good to go by the first week of March! The book is being printed via POD because it seems hypocritical to pursue a traditional publisher for a book about POD publishing. My agent agreed, so POD it is.

I intend to write the first chapter of FROM THE DEEP on Wednesday. Stay tuned to see if that actually happens.

-- Jeremy
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com

After days of nail biting, hair pulling and general mulling about, I have decided on a name for the new novel. It's vague...which is on purpose (the original title gave away too much and I like keeping secrets). So here it is: FROM THE DEEP.

I told you it was vague. But I made a mock book cover and it looks and reads easy on the cover. So it will do for now, or until a publisher takes it and at that point they'll probably change the title (it happens). I also finally have names for all my major characters.

Atticus Young - A father and hero of the story.
Giona Young - Daughter of Atticus and the motivation behind Atticus' actions (she's in danger).
Trevor Manfred - Good guy or bad guy? You don't know...or won't know...but I do...err, will.
And of course whatever is FROM THE DEEP (say that dramatically like a radio announcer...catchy eh?) But what it is will be kept under wraps completely. Not even on the back cover will it say. Why? Because when you find out, or figure it out, you're gonna say, "Holy crap!" That's the plan anyway.

I have yet to start writing the book but hope to start next monday. I now have about 100 pages of research printed on various topics like research vessels, scuba diving, the Gulf of Maine (this is our lacation in the story), our mystery creature (which, by the way has NEVER appeared in a work of fiction!) and other assorted topics.

This story should be great fun, and that's nice for me because I'll finish it faster that way.

I'm willing to take guesses on what the creature is. I'm will to bet no one can come up with it...but I'm also willing to bet you've all heard of it. I would guess about 90% of the world knows about this creature, if not more. Before I start laughing like Dr. Evil, I'll say goodnight.

-- Jeremy
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com

I am almost finished with the new POD book, which is great because the deluge of POD related e-mails continues! The book should help answer most of the questions I recieve daily and as a result, will save me tons of time (because I respond to every e-mail I get...in detail.)

Good news on the new novel. While I haven't yet decided on a title the story is starting to become ingrained in my psychi. This is good because it's really the way I write. For the next few weeks the story will start to develop in my mind. I'll see it like I'm watching a movie. Key scenes, even dialogue will become memorized (this has already happened with the opening scene.) Every waking hour that I'm not doing something that requires my full attention, I'm now day dreaming the story. This happens especially while driving, which is terrible because I sometimes am seeing more of the story than the actual road, yet somehow am still able to drive. I was driving tonight (an 1.5 hour drive) and realized I had been daydreaming the story. I then tried to remember any of the driving I had just done, even seconds before, and had no recolection. It's probably a very dangerous habit. I also tend to fall asleep while day dreaming and find the story is again the first thing on my mind in the morning. This will happen for throughout the whole process of writing the novel and this one is so cool that I'm really looking forward to seeing how this world comes together.

Once the POD book is put together and is published, which won't take long, I can give my full attnetion to the new novel and I'll be off on a literary sprint. I'm determined to finish the novel before the new child is born. At my best, with full time hours, I can write a novel in a month, but right now I have 3 hours a day at best. I'm hoping for a three month stretch, but it could extend to four given the random nature of our current lives.

-- Jeremy
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com

Ahhh...Saturdays. While I will be working on writing most of today, I'm starting the day off right with Pizza and Godzilla. I'm currently watching Godzilla vs. Gigan. It's wonderfully campy and makes me feel like a kid again. As a child I watched Creature Double Feature every Saturday morning until it went off the air. Few things get my imagination brewing like a Godzill flick. That's probably why my coolection is almost complete. I'm just missing one or two. My Gamera collection is coming along nicely as well.

Other interesting news (at least to me) is the addition of a Kronosaur (or Kronosuarus) tooth to my fossil collection. Kronosaurs were the largest marine reptiles that grew up to 55 feet long and had 13 foot heads. They wouldn't even have to chew you or me. But fear not, they died out with the dinosuars. It's second in my collection only to the Megalodon tooth.

As for writing news. I am still plotting the new novel and it's going well, but I've also been writing a short book on the POD (Print-on-demand) world. I'll reveal the title when it's about to be realeased. I'm being paranoid about the title, becasue I love it. I should be done writing the book in about a week and then I hope to release, via POD, on lulu.com about a week later. The reason for this book is simply because I recieve a barrage of e-mails almost daily asking for my advice about how to make a POD book successful. This book will sum up everything I know and will save me tremendous time (because I typically respond to all e-mails in detail).

-- Jeremy
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com