by Kevin Kindle | Aug 28, 2022 | Book
In the near future, we make first contact with aliens. Not because they arrive in spaceships, but because they’ve been here for years—we just didn’t know it.
Mark Phoenix, an old cowboy looking to retire out in the country after losing his business and his marriage, discovers the aliens while working on his friend’s ranch in the Rocky Mountain foothills of Central Alberta.
Fate, however, has other plans for Mark—plans put in motion more than a century earlier—his retirement is not part of the plan!
The aliens, a group of female trade representatives who had crashed on their way to the home world of the Federation, use some alien technology from the crashed ship to restore his youth and virility.
This inadvertently starts a chain reaction as government agencies take an interest in the aliens and those they’ve been in contact with—as does the Federation!
Join Mark and his harem of sexy aliens as they embark on an epic adventure that alters everything we thought we knew about life in the universe—Earth will never be the same.
Not exactly a spaghetti western, but there is spaghetti!
Check out Book 2 of the series!
by Kevin Kindle | Aug 2, 2022 | Resources
I was talking with another new author recently and we got on to the topic of what we use in writing our books. So here’s a breakdown of my writing resources, for anyone curious about the process.
My most important writing resource is my imagination… after all, it creates the stories! Followed second in importance by the patrons that support me, paying as little as $1 for advance access to everything I write, and third is the thousands of beta readers that read the rough second drafts on the free sites and provide invaluable feedback!
Second drafts? Yup, as Terry Pratchett says, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.“
Here’s all the technical nitty gritty…
Being an IT guy, I started off using Microsoft Word, and then Google Docs for writing my book. Then I discovered Scrivener and have never looked back since. It’s just so much better for writing, planning, character development, name generation, compiling and, well, pretty much everything that relates to writing a book! Plus it’s a simple one-time fee!
My main computer is an old iMac, although I also have Windows and Linux computers in my house… hey I’m still an IT guy at heart. The decision to buy an older used iMac was so I could use the original, tried and true Scrivener program, although Literature & Latte do have a Windows version available now that is comparable to the Mac version.
UPDATE: There’s a new player in the writing software realm, it’s called LivingWriter and it’s kind of like a simplified version of Scrivener. It does pretty much everything a writer really needs and it’s cloud-based, which means you can write on any device and, as an editor, it’s awesome as I can literally work through a manuscript with the author on the phone and we can make changes in real-time.
A big bonus is that Scrivener also works on my iPhone and iPad and they all synchronize via Dropbox. Believe it or not, most of my writing is done on my iPhone and iPad, whenever I get a few minutes of free time. I do use the computer for writing as well, but it’s main purpose is editing and compiling. My backups go to iCloud and other cloud storage services.
For grammar checking small snippets, I use GrammarChecker.io, but my primary grammar checker is Pro Writing Aid, because it can work directly with my Scrivener files.
For my Book Covers, I use the MIBL Group, they’re a great team from Ukraine that do quality work for very reasonable prices. Their premium service is MIBLART, they also have GetPremades and their more budget conscious service is GetCovers.com. I originally used another book cover site, they had good quality, but it was just so expensive and now that I’ve experienced GetCovers, the quality actually wasn’t as good.
For stunning book advertisements, I use BookBrush.com. They make it easy to create awesome advertisements for pretty much any social platform or application.
For my website, I host with my publisher, Dawn Patrol Publishing using the Website Builder. I still do lots of WordPress web design using the Divi theme from Elegant Themes, a truly customizable page builder for WordPress.
For all my graphic needs I use 123RF Stock Photography and DepositPhotos for the major graphics and use Gimp to edit them.
If I have to make maps I use Inkarnate.
Hope you find this helpful.
by Kevin Kindle | Aug 1, 2022 | Blog
Effective August 1, 2022, Dawn Patrol Publishing has taken over the hosting business from the former HostingHero.ca and ComputerHero.ca domains.
Kevin Kindle, is still the owner of the business, but the Dawn Patrol Publishing company is a more encompassing vision for the future. He no longer does computer tech support, but he does write and publish novels.
In joining several writer’s guilds and writing groups, he’s learned a few things. Most authors that aren’t already established in the industry have little to no idea on building a web presence and even some of the established authors are missing the key ingredient of having an actual domain name and website in their name! Many rely on social media platforms for their online presence, but they don’t realize that an author website is a very important piece of the puzzle.
Kevin can help you establish your web presence and help you with getting your book out to your readers.
by Kevin Kindle | Sep 1, 2019 | Book
In the near future, we make first contact with aliens. Not because they arrive in spaceships, but because they’ve been here for years—we just didn’t know it.
Mark Phoenix, an old cowboy looking to retire out in the country after losing his business and his marriage, discovers the aliens while working on his friend’s ranch in the Rocky Mountain foothills of Central Alberta.
Fate, however, has other plans for Mark—plans put in motion more than a century earlier—his retirement is not part of the plan!
The aliens, a group of female trade representatives who had crashed on their way to the home world of the Federation, use some alien technology from the crashed ship to restore his youth and virility.
This inadvertently starts a chain reaction as government agencies take an interest in the aliens and those they’ve been in contact with—as does the Federation!
Join Mark and his harem of sexy aliens as they embark on an epic adventure that alters everything we thought we knew about life in the universe—Earth will never be the same.
Not exactly a spaghetti western, but there is spaghetti!
Check out Book 1 of the series!
