<![CDATA[Aaron Galvin

<![CDATA[Aaron Galvin - Blog]]>Sun, 22 Mar 2026 06:52:27 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The Salted Series - Book Teaser Trailer]]>Wed, 09 Dec 2020 18:49:51 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/the-salted-series-book-teaser-trailerAs the old saying goes: "A picture is worth a thousand words."

What's a video worth?

**Check back on Friday for the official and full-length, live-action book trailer for The Salted Series!

]]><![CDATA[Today's Journey In Fatherhood]]>Mon, 09 Mar 2020 16:57:43 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/todays-journey-in-fatherhoodIt’s picture day at school. Also, you’re wife has some big meeting at work lined up, so it’s all on you this morning, man!

You planned ahead well though, you Super-Dad you. Bags are packed. Outfits picked out. Baby bottles labeled. Jackets and shoes at the front door. Heck, you’ve even got breakfast ready!

. . . but Daughter 1 and Daughter 2 both want braids, which, of course, you don’t know how to do because, you know, it’s not like you’ve had at least one daughter for the last seven years(!?) and never learned how to French braid a little girl’s hair, right?

SMH.

You get the girls around anyway + Daughter 3 in her baby carrier, do last checks while attempting to answer (relevant) questions from the other two, then sound the whistle for Daughters 1 and 2 to head out the door. By the time you lock the front door and turn around, you see that Daughter 2 has managed to secretly take her umbrella. (Note: it’s not raining). Daughter 2 has also placed her backpack not only on the wet cement from the previous night’s sprinkler run-off, but she managed to find the one bit of pooled water in the entire area to soak her bag in while she fiddles with opening her umbrella.

You do your best to forget all of this and just get them to the van. The garage door opens and you discover that your toothpick-skinny wife parked so close to the wall that only she or Jack Skellington could ever hope to enter/exit said van. Also, because your wife is as tall as a Hobbit, you’ll need to patiently wait as you manually back the seat up for a average-sized person to sit in the driver’s seat. But you manage all this, ensure Daughter 1-3 are buckled in, and you get the van started.

Bonus: You now get to listen to the Frozen II soundtrack for the millionth time – (btw, anyone else know of a more narcissistic line in a Disney princess song than ‘You are the one you’ve been waiting for!’ in Elsa’s ‘Show Yourself’?) SMH.

You reach the first stoplight and . . . oops! You forgot Daughter 3’s bottles for the day.

After a brief reroute, you finally reach daycare to drop off Daughters 2 and 3. You make sure Daughter 2 leaves her umbrella in the car, then attempt (and fail) to quickly dry off her backpack. But you get them inside at daycare. The moment Daughter 2 enters her classroom, she promptly drops her jacket and wet bag on the floor.

But just then . . . the skies open and heavenly music plays as your darling Daughter 1 goes to help. Your heart begins to break at the kindness of Daughter 1 as she picks up her sister’s bag and jacket. She goes to hang them on the hook where they belong, then says: “Briar! You can’t just throw your stuff on the floor and leave it there. We’re not at home!”

Annnnnd that’s when you turn around and see another parent who has overheard what just occurred and (seemingly) has their life put together.

But, hey. At least you have the whole work day and week ahead of you, right?

All that to say . . . how’s your Monday starting off? You good?

]]><![CDATA[Mermaids & Selkies like Orange Stickers!]]>Thu, 23 Jan 2020 00:34:35 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/mermaids-selkies-like-orange-stickersWe're inching closer to the Salted serials launch!
Been really excited to see the momentum building + all the emails and reader love for the new covers. Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who's already helped Episode 1 and Episode 2 get their orange sticks as Amazon bestsellers!
I can't wait for you to see what's coming!

]]><![CDATA[Here's Where I Screwed Up (Redux)]]>Wed, 27 Nov 2019 21:32:13 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/heres-where-i-screwed-up-reduxI self-published my debut novel, SALTED, in April 2014.

It was my baby. Developing the overall series arcs, characters, the world-building of a mythology – (selkies! Oh, and merfolk to engage neglected YA male readers!) – that was largely ignored by the mainstream publishing houses and authors, all these things take time. Clearly. I’d been preparing my debut novel for five years by the time I sent it out to over one hundred publishers and--

Rejection. All of them. (Er, the ones who bothered to respond anyway).

So, I turned to self-publishing. Did all the things you’re supposed to do too – hire editors, get a good cover, etc. and--

I royally screwed most of those decisions up. (Hey, and you read about all those glorious mistakes in my 'Here's Where I Screwed Up Posts Pt. 1 and Pt 2')!

Oi.

Still, I didn’t know that I had screwed up at the time. My editor, (the ever-amazing Annetta Ribken, who I will go to the ends of the earth for), warned me about alllll the things -- too many characters . . . this part of the mythology is confusing . . . methinks you probably shouldn’t actually try to use dialects because most readers won’t hear the voices like you hear in your head, you crazy author you . . . did I mention there’s too many characters? There’s too many, Galvin.)

Heedless, I stumbled on.

Surprisingly enough, a majority of the review were relatively good. Still, I’m a writer, (i.e. - primed for self-flagellation on the best of days), so I naturally had to read the more critical reviews detailing how and why I should have never considered this profession in the first place. Yes, there were some of those that ripped my baby to shreds. Hey, and fair enough too – I had asked for an honest review and boy howdy did I get some.

And I’m better for it. My writing is better for it.

One of the critical reviews I’ve never forgotten was a two-star review. Not that I remember this particular review because it was two-stars, you understand. Not even for the rightful claims the reviewer made as to their thoughts on the book and/or why certain parts didn’t work for them. What I remember most was the following lines the reviewer included near the end of their critique:

“This is, after all, his debut novel and those are always hard to accomplish, but I'm sure he will refine his craft over time.”

It’s been five years since that review, and the ‘I’m sure he will refine his craft over time’ line has me smiling today.

Because I have refined my craft.

Because I’m continuing to improve, despite the setbacks . . . and my works are stronger for those and all the critiques I’ve received along the way.

My works are also only going to get better. This post will show you why.

***

There’s a few reasons for writing this particular entry today.

Among the most dear to me is that reading the successes and failures of other authors helped to give me the courage of pursuing my writing/publishing dreams. National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo as its more commonly known) is coming to a close soon and I've had another successful year competing against myself. My hope is that posts like these detailing failure after failure (and yes, some of the successes too) will help aspiring writers and self-publishers to keep after their dreams as well.

The more personal reason is to let readers and that amazing critic who gave me more than a bit of hope in addition to their honest insight know that I have not quit on refining my craft, nor will I ever. That my craft has indeed improved, or at least enough to better understand my earlier failings and attempt to remedy them as a thank you to all those who’ve lent me their eyes and feedback.

Finally, there’s the business side of the equation too.

Because this self-publishing game is a business and, based on my journey thus far, it often feels like David vs. a hundred Goliaths out there.

The usual refrain, and one often reiterated to me by my editor is that “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Five years in and I think that I’m beginning to understand the truth in those words too. For instance, did you know most small businesses shut down or quit after five years? It’s because of the slog and the swamps of sadness you’ll find yourself in.

(Don’t be Artax, btw. Be Atreyu.)

Much as it pains me to write, I found myself wandering the swamps of sadness over the last few years in trying to figure out why in the heck the later installments of the Salted series weren’t moving like I thought they should.

Well, I recently made the tough (but necessary) decision to admit defeat. In part, at least. (I’m Atreyu, remember? Never Artax!)

Despite all my efforts to the contrary in 2016, I had again made some more mistakes with my Salted series. Yes, I had new and better covers designed by an artist so talented that I guarantee you’ve seen some of his covers on the traditionally published jackets lining the bestseller shelves at your local bookstore. (His name is M.S. Corley, and he too did everything I asked of him with the 2016 cover designs. Not only that, he improved on my ideas and became a close friend and literal port in the storm during the most difficult chapter of my life.)

And yet . . . despite our combined efforts with the covers . . . a re-ordering of the chapters to address the two-star reviewer and others’ rightful critiques . . . and a marketing push that swelled my debut novel into bestseller ranks higher than any I’d achieved to that point . . . still the sequels weren’t selling as I knew they should be.

How did I know that my books should have been selling better and there was a problem?

Read-through rates.

And this is where you move from the ‘creative side’ into the business/publishing side, aspiring authors. Because you’ll need both skillsets if you hope to make a living out of this writing/publishing dream.

See, I have a different series about the Salem witch trials. Granted, there are differences in the genres (historical/horror fiction vs. epic fantasy for Salted) + Salem’s is a finished trilogy, while the Salted series remains ongoing. But the evidence was overwhelmingly clear when it came to read-through rates.

Anyway, readers (i.e. sales) moving from Book 1 to Book 2 in my Salem’s series was roughly 85%. Then, from Book 2 to finish off the series with Book 3? A whopping 95% read-through to close out the trilogy!

Sure, one could argue those numbers might be skewed by genre and the fact that Salem’s was a finished trilogy, thus requiring less time to read. You could also say there was a built-in audience with the Salem witch trials as a focal point in history. All valid points. Again, though, the difference in read-through rates between the two series were stark. Here’s the Salted series %’s to back that up.

From 2014-2016, the % of readers moving on from Book 1 to Book 2 in the Salted series was 16%. Eesh, right? 16% of readers for Salted vs. the 85% for Salem’s that were moving onto the second book in either series.

It was awful.

So, in 2016, I went back to the drawing board because I continued to believe in the Salted series then, just as I do now.

After the Corley cover changes, re-order of the layout, new beginning, etc. I went looking for new readers. Then, after a sufficient amount of time to market, I went back to gauge the read-through rates. Here’s the percentages from those years as well:

% of SALTED FANS MOVING FROM BOOK 1 TO BOOK 2
The original – 2014 – 2016: 16%
The revision – 2017 – 2019: 31%

Improvement, but still nothing in comparison to the Salem’s trilogy percentages, right? Honestly, there was a point where I began to question if the Salted series was just a lame duck. Put it out of its misery, take what you learned and move on to the next story, better and wiser for it.

Again, writer = self-flagellation.

But here’s what I found to be a more interesting piece of the puzzle – in addition to all the continued reader emails, hounding me for the next Salted book, I had another read-through statistic:

% of SALTED READERS MOVING ON FROM BOOK 2 TO BOOK 3
2017-2019: 88%

And another . . .

% of SALTED READERS MOVING ON FROM BOOK 3 TO BOOK 4
2017-2019: 92%

So what the heck is the problem, Galvin? I asked myself, night after night. You have all these reader emails wanting the next book, the read-through % is great from Book 2 to 3 and onward . . . so, what gives?

Clearly, the problem was advancing readers from Book 1 to Book 2.

Yes, I’d improved the numbers somewhat by making alterations in 2016, but I evidently hadn’t taken it far enough. I reached out to more readers, read more of the reviews coming in, continued studying the market (which had changed by a huge margin in a little less than a year) and ultimately realized . . .

“Too many characters . . . this part of the mythology is confusing . . . methinks you probably shouldn’t actually try to use dialects because most readers won’t hear the voices like you do, you crazy author you . . . did I mention there’s too many characters? There’s too many, Galvin.”

Insert lightbulb, right?

Eesh.

I’d also since learned the publishing game was shifting (and continues to do so). Nowadays, if you’re not releasing a new title every sixty days or so (likely less) AND if it doesn’t sell well out of the gates, then you’re fading into obscurity and drowned by a constant deluge of man-chested covers in genres that are so clearly not meant for man-chests to ever belong.

Le sigh.

Also, I don’t write as slow as my favorite author, George R.R. Martin, and my books aren’t nearly as long, but come on, man!

Really? Sixty days or less?

So what’s a small-time, self-publisher to do? You adapt.

Adapt or die.

To quote Dudley Field Malone’s famous lines: “I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.”

Well, I’ve been learning a lot since diving into the publishing pool.

I again reached out to my newsletter subscribers and asked for their feedback. I re-read ALL the reviews, learning what I could from the favorable and the critical alike. Reading through their feedback, as I have done countless times in the time between then and now, even the good ones hinted around all the points my editor, Annetta, had mentioned. The more critical reviews outright listed all the areas where I had erred . . . and again I point this out because it’s where you can learn.

With the added benefits of critical hindsight + all the failures I’d amassed to this point, I (again) went to work this past year on fixing my Salted series. I promised myself that this would be the last effort for the Salted series. Whether it works or I fail again, this revision will be my last go around with the series. You get three strikes in baseball. Why not the same here? Anyway, we’re pushing on to the end now, friends, no matter what the outcome of this newest plan.

So, what’s changed this time around? Why will it be different?

Let’s start from the top . . . right from what intrigues a potential reader to pick up the book in the book in the first place.

***

1) Genre-Friendly Covers

This is Publishing 101, and I failed in it twice in an effort to look different and “stand out” from the crowd. In my first attempt, I went with a gorgeous photo of a seal, hoping to reshape people’s thoughts on how they looked at those beautiful creatures . . . and it failed because potential readers questioned whether it was non-fiction or fiction.

In my second attempt with the Corley covers, I understood the covers needed to scream ‘fantasy’ at first glance. For the first cover, we opted to feature The Nomad, a merman warrior, and then adding in other characters in later installments. Again, I credit these Corley covers to the improvement of sales in the first book and drawing more attention.

In full disclosure, however, I don’t believe the current covers available for sale were the main source of the problem in getting readers to move forward from book 1 to book 2 (more on that in a moment) .

However . . .

One thing I did learn about covers was the vast importance of ‘connecting’ after I switched out the covers to my Salem series. For instance, what’s the one thing that connects us immediately with other people? Not books, you understand. People.

It’s their eyes, the window to the soul.

Roughly a year ago, I tested my theory by switching out the Salem covers.

Admittedly, I still prefer the original covers (featuring the ring of keys).

Readers didn't.

By switching out the covers from objects to instead using those with an actual person’s photo on the cover, (and more specifically choosing photos that I connected with via what I saw in their eyes), I saw my sales improve from book 1 onward..

Thus, I went back to my Salted series with the hope I could find another talented cover artist to help bring my vision to life. (For the record, I would have loved to partner with M.S. Corley again on these newest covers, but my new plan for serialized releases would require a ton of covers and Mr. Corley is quite the busy guy designing the covers for all those #1 traditional publishing bestsellers.)

Fortunately for me, I found Dmitry Yakhovsky. Here's the new covers we designed for the opening episodes of the series.

Needless to say, I’ve been loving every second of our partnership as well. These two images above are the first of many Salted covers to come, friends. Can’t wait for you to see all the pretty + your favorite characters and scenes brought to life with the future episodes!

2) The Opening

One of the main problems with my debut novel is that I didn’t understand how best to bring readers into the story via my multiple POVs.

The first go around, I used Lenny to kick off the Selkie storyline because I figured that readers would want to see this new mythology featuring a creature many had never heard of before. The problems there were:

Selkies are a mythological creature not instantly understood/recognized,
I didn’t allow readers to follow one storyline long enough to get them acquainted with the Selkie crew and the realm beneath the waves,
And Lenny isn’t necessarily the most likable of guys.

Fail. Fail. Fail.

The second go around, I moved the new opening to a more familiar setting. I began with the high school storyline, set in Indiana, and featuring Kellen. The problem? Yes, it was a familiar setting, but readers thought the high school plot was a bit cliché to begin a series with, I didn’t really give enough backstory as to why Kellen was such a bully, and oh – did I mention Kellen is a bully and the main antagonist? He’s a bully . . . and the main antagonist. What a great way to start your series, Galvin! Open with the bad guy and make him so dislikable that it’ll turn readers off immediately. Great plan, Einstein!

Fail. Fail. Fail.

And all this time, the answer was right in front of me with fan favorite, Chidi Etienne.

No matter where I go, who I ask, Chidi’s name always comes up with Salted fans. Readers connect with her straightaway because she is kind and humble and strong. She’s also a Silkie, which immerses readers into that fantasy/new mythology side of the story they’ve come to this series to find. Oh, and the stakes are also more dire for her than perhaps any other character because her motive is clear: she just wants to escape her cruel and abusive owner, Henry.

In fact, I believe this opening is so much better as an intro to the series and the world-building that I’ve posted the first chapter for FREE. You can read it by clicking here.

3) The Dialects

Remember Lenny? How he’s somewhat of a grumpy, dislikeable character that I thought would be a great idea to kick things off with? Yeah, I also saddled him with a Boston accent that I tried to “help” readers hear his voice by writing his dialogue phonetically.

Massive fail.

All the warnings signs were there from the outset that this would be an epic fail with a majority of readers. My editors mentioned it. Teachers, agent blogs, and other writers all warned against it. And, not long after the book was released, readers/critics reiterated that Lenny and other character dialects made the story more difficult to read/dive into because the accented words were stumbling blocks.

Heedless, I stumbled on, bound and determined to prove them all wrong and . . .

FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.

So what’s changed with this relaunch?

The accents are gone. (Mostly). There are still a few inflections here and there as gentle reminders, but nothing so drastic as to inhibit readers anymore. Yes, this will likely earn me the ire of some die-hard fans, but, again, this is where I had to put on my business cap and go with what works for the majority to bring new readers in and improve read-through into the overall series.

4) The Story Layout

This . . . this above all was the reason I was failing to shepherd more readers on from Salted to its sequel.

It’s not that the story was bad, (Salted series fans will tell you this series only gets better and stronger for each installment). The issue here was the frequent jumping around between two stories – the Selkie catchers vs. the high school storyline – and, again, not really giving readers enough time (i.e. – chapters) to bond with any one character or story thread.

So, what’s changed?

For starters, the first episode of this relaunch, THE SELKIE CATCHERS, focuses squarely on the Selkie storyline to familiarize readers with the realm beneath the waves. More importantly, it shows why the Selkie catchers make the choices they do once going ashore to help readers understand the stakes.

And the high school storyline? Well, that kicks off in Episode 2 with a whole new storyline that’s not been read by anyone yet. Based on the episode 2 cover, THE MERROW SECRET, Salted fans who’ve read the other books should recognize Sydney on sight. While she’s always been a key piece of the story since the original novel debuted in 2014, Sydney wasn’t featured as a main POV then, or in my 2016 revision.

There’s a reason for that too.

In my initial attempts to cut down the number of characters and POVs, I opted to remove Sydney. In hindsight, that was a failure on my part because by removing Sydney’s POV chapters in 2014, I also pretty much eliminated any hope from the story. And, as my editor often reiterates, “If you’re going to have all this darkness and grim stuff, you need to give the readers some sense of hope, Galvin.”

So, why didn’t your editor insist on keeping that hope back in 2014 or 2016? She did. I just didn’t listen because I'm a big, dumb dummy. (Also, my editor didn’t have any clue as to how big of an impact Sydney would have in the ongoing story because I didn’t share those details with her at the time because I wanted to keep all uber-secretive and allow the story to unfold. Again, I'm a big, dumb dummy.)

All that to say, I’ve been humbled. Repeatedly.

But I am Atreyu . . . not Artax.

5) THE (LENGTHY) TIME IN BETWEEN NEW RELEASES

Again, no shocker here, but I’m a George R.R. Martin fan. Until he’s ready to release the sixth book in his Song of Ice & Fire series, (more commonly known as Game of Thrones for you TV fans), I will wait and wait and wait some more . . . but I would totally read any little bits of the story he doles out in the meantime.

And while I’m not the type who needs a refresher – (I loathe watching/reading recaps) – I understand that I’m in the minority there. When you’re plate-spinning a lot of story threads and characters, lengthy delays in between releases don’t really help your cause. Not to mention that you run the risk of people forgetting your story is even out there to begin with.

Another common refrain I’ve heard from potential readers is ‘Whew. Those are long books! I just don’t have the time to sit down and read that much all at once.’

Enter Aaron’s newest plan: serialization.

Starting on January 24, 2020, the Salted series will be released as episodic novellas, beginning with . . .

What this serialization of the series means is that there will be five novella episodes per full-length season, (i.e. book). After all five episodes have been published, I’ll compile the five episodes into an omnibus version of the full book and release it as well.

Admittedly, this news will likely be received as a bit of a mixed bag. Some readers prefer to binge-read all at once, others (like me) enjoy the weekly teases so long as the story keeps coming. I know these things because I surveyed my readers and received a mixed answer in response to which they would prefer.

Learning those reader preferences, here’s why I believe the pros of this decision to move to a serialized format with this relaunch of the Salted series outweighed the cons:

The shorter works will not be as daunting to new readers (especially the series’ main focus, young adult readers).
By releasing an episode every two weeks, it will keep the series top of mind for readers (and the Amazon algorithms) while also affording me a steadier stream of new releases to engage with my readers rather than the annual (and sometimes longer) gaps in between releases.
Rather than a year long wait in between new releases, binge-readers will now only have to wait a couple of months to get the newest full book (i.e. season).

And here’s the best news of all for binge-readers and serial-readers alike – once Episode 1: THE SELKIE CATCHERS launches on January 24, 2020, there will be a steady stream of releases all the way until this series is finished.

I’ll be rapid-releasing one new episode per week for the first season, then moving to a new episode every two weeks thereafter . . . and again, this steady stream of new content will keep coming allllll the way until the Salted series is finished with no more lengthy waiting times in between. ;)

***

So there you have it, my friends.

All the ways I screwed up . . . and my newest plan of attack to haul Selkies, Merrows, Nomads, Orcs, and more into the limelight.

I hope you’re excited as I am for what’s about to unfold.

If you have any questions about the new releases, or maybe you just want to say hey, feel free to drop me a line at authorgalvin@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you and learn what you think about the new covers and plan for the Salted series.

Again, you can read the first new and exclusive chapter of Episode 1: THE SELKIE CATCHERS for FREE on my website. Just the link to be redirected to another page and you’ll be swimming in the realm beneath the waves alongside Chidi Etienne.

Hope you enjoy! And thanks again for sticking with me!

]]><![CDATA[Aaron Galvin & The 4:00 a.m. 'Intruder']]>Thu, 30 Aug 2018 17:00:09 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/aaron-galvin-the-400-am-intruder*The following is a true story.

SCENE: It’s 4:00 a.m. Karen wakes Aaron. Whispers… “I heard something downstairs…”

In two seconds, Aaron is out of bed and through the bedroom door, stepping into the pitch-black hallway. He peers down the darkened stairwell. He waits…listening for the ‘supposed’ intruder his wife heard…

Nothing… No noise at all.

Aaron quietly descends the steps like the ninja he was always meant to—

“LET IT GOOOOO! LET IT GO! I AM ONE WITH THE WIND AND SKYYYYYYY—“

Aaron stumbles on a motion-sensored/singing Elsa doll that his youngest daughter, Briar, conveniently left on the steps like a ‘Home Alone’ burglar trap. Aaron slips and falls, the clanged sound of his body knocking against the metal stairway railing echoing throughout the house.

And throughout it all, Elsa keeps singing… “LET IT GO! LET IT GOOOOO! YOU’LL NEVER SEE ME CRYYYYY!”

Aaron stops himself from falling down any further steps. Cursing the movie Frozen, Elsa, and especially THAT song, he grabs the Elsa doll and...

Karen turns on the overhead hallway lights without warning, blinding Aaron. Through her cackling, she asks: “What are you doing down there?”

Aaron ignores her, his mind filled with violent thoughts of breaking this God-forsaken Elsa doll in half, if only because that might stop the incessant singing.

“LET IT GOOOOO! LET IT GO! I AM ONE WITH THE WIND AND SKYYYYYYY—“

From upstairs, (and over Karen’s continued cackling), Aaron hears his eldest daughter tiredly ask: “What are you guys doing down there? Why are you playing with that doll for?”

Aaron is livid. For the love of all things holy and sacred, he cannot find Elsa’s ‘OFF’ switch…

“LET IT GO! LET IT GOOOO! YOU’LL NEVER SEE ME CRYYYYY!”

…and so he throws the doll across the room, onto the couch, where it FINALLY goes quiet with nothing to trigger its motion sensor.

Aaron ascends the stairwell. He’s about to turn off the hallway light when he sees Briar standing in her crib… Aaron growls. “Lay down, Briar. Go to sleep.”

Briar grins back at him. Then, in the softest, sweetest voice imaginable, she whispers. “Let it go…let it go…”

**On a related note, if anyone is looking to install an overly expensive alarm system in their home, I highly recommend you instead look into Disney’s motion-activated, singing Elsa doll. It’ll literally wake up *everyone* in your house if an intruder tries breaking in.

]]><![CDATA[Have You Seen This Man?]]>Mon, 16 Apr 2018 20:39:45 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/have-you-seen-this-man

Thirteen schools. Ten Days. One Rascal.
So that about sums up my big Indiana school tour, I guess, huh?
Except nope...not even close.
Anytime you visit a school to give an author talk, you're bound to come away with tons of fun new stories. If you're lucky, you learn as much from the students as they learn from you.
This trip back to my home state was no exception....and I've got stories to share.

Side Note: How awesome is that sketch? Shout out to the wickedly talented Frank W. of Carmel Middle School for capturing my likeness in the span of twenty minutes. I love it!

Twerking with Miley Cyrus

To be clear: I've never actually twerked with Miley Cyrus.
(One student asked if I had...and they were seriously curious.)
The Miley/twerking example is one I use in my presentation to teach students that I can put a character in their mind without telling them anything at all about said character. For example, I use this sentence:
"So today, I was like, watching TV...I totally saw Miley twerking it out! Like, I...about...died!"
I have a student read the above example, then remind students I didn't tell them anything at all about the character speaking, and ask for ideas of whether they think said character is a guy or a girl, how old they are, etc.
Almost every student says teenage girl.
I ask why they think so...and these were some of the responses I received.

School 1
Aaron: Why do you think that character is a girl?
Student 1: Because guys don't twerk.
From across the room, another student chimes in, completely deadpan.
Student 2: Some guys do...

***

School 2
Aaron: Why do you think that character is a girl?
Male student: Duh? Because guys don't like Miley Cyrus....
Another male student: NOBODY LIKES MILEY CYRUS!

My Favorite Note

One of the things I love most about visiting schools is taking a minute to peruse their libraries. I don't know/never met the student who posted the below featured quote, but, whoever you are, I like your style. ;)

The Married Life, Bro

Another point in my presentation is when I talk about how I came up with the idea behind Salem's Vengeance. I tell the students how my wife wanted to go on a trip to IKEA, so naturally, we went on a trip to IKEA because 'Happy wife. Happy life.'
To which I received the following responses and ALL from male, middle school students.

"Totally..."
*Aaron snorts because this kid speaks with the utter certainty of a man who's been married long enough to know the claim is valid.*

At another school, a few male students decided to boo the mantra of 'Happy wife. Happy life.' To which Aaron replied: "Booing it doesn't make it less true, gentlemen."

Whatever It Takes

Every tour, festival or book club visit I do, I'm lucky to meet tons of new people. There are always a few that you click with right away. You feel like you've known each other for years.
The Universe "clicks," if you will.
Brilliant, Kind. Honest. Fill in ALL the superlatives you can imagine. That's what this woman is to me.
Who is she?
My friend, my editor, my family -- this is Annetta Ribken Graney.
Her guiding hand has touched every single one of my stories. For all the characters, all the plot twists, all the words -- she read them first, then shaped them, whipped their arcs into shape, and wrung every last bit of emotion out of me possible to make them worthy.
We've discussed meeting in person for the last four years and what that glorious moment would be like. I had zero clue she would drive six hours just to surprise me.
But this photo is proof that we finally made it happen.
She's made every one of my stories better than they were, and coined phrases that I wish I were smart enough to imagine. Then she did it again when describing this day we finally met in person:

"One of the best hugs of my life. Sometimes there's a moment in your life that is so special, so amazing, so...profound, there are no words."

Couldn't have said it better myself. Love you, Boss Lady!

We Got That Harry Potter Love

I mean...you know I'm a conflicted Gryffindor/Slytherin. Shout out to the Rossville and Carmel Middle Schools libraries for rocking these awesome Harry Potter signs.

The Man Behind The (Salted) Minecraft Videos

Meet Gabe everybody, the Minecraft wizard himself!
I met this genius of a young man on my author visit tour in 2014. We've stayed in touch ever since.
In fact, Gabe might just be the biggest Salted fan I know. He was one of the students who helped create the Salted series study guide for other students, and then, for the past year or so, he's been the one creating all the Salted Minecraft videos...and they rock!
If you haven't watched and subscribed to Gabe's Salted Minecraft videos on YouTube, you're missing out.
Check out his latest update featuring Crayfish Cavern. (Hint: I especially like seeing the introduction to the cavern from Garrett's POV around the 4:40 marker!)

The #1 Student Question On My Indiana Tour

After every session I have with students, we open it up for a little Q&A. I've done this so many times now that most of the questions are usually of the same variety:
'How do you start a story?"
"What do you do about writer's block?"
"Are you Iron Man?"
But there's always one...oh, there's always one that shows up early on in my tour and then is repeatedly asked at a few other schools as well. But never have I had the same question asked at every...single...school.
Until now.
That singular question?
"Dude, do you play Fortnite?"
The answer: No...or at least not yet. But apparently I need to play it because ALL the students are doing so. Just to double-check, (as if getting this question at thirteen differnet schools didn't suffice), I decided to ask my ten-year-old nephew about it when I saw him.
He followed me around the house talking for at least an hour about legendary weapons, various strategies, etc.
All that to say...kudos to the marketing team behind Fortnite. You're literally killing it.

Rolling Out The Red Carpet

Gotta say, I've been fortunate to visit many amazing schools and had some fantastic welcomes...but the schools this tour really took it to a whole new level.
Getting your name on the ticker-tape sign of a couple schools? Check.

Front page stories? Hamilton Heights and Kankakee Valley made it happen.

Best food? Try Bub's Burgers in Carmel, Indiana and see if you can take down their Big Ugly Burger and get your picture on the wall. (I couldn't...but just you wait, Bub's. I'm gonna get that picture on the wall sooner or later!)

Getting signed copies to reward your student readers? Belzer did!

Honestly, I could go on and on. Whether creating bulletin boards, posters, AND even an alma mater backdrop for Ball State Cardinal photo ops -- thank you to all the librarians, teachers, and students who went above and beyond to make this guy feel like a genuine rockstar and welcome me into your schools! I had a blast and can't wait to see you all again on a future tour! Until next time!

]]><![CDATA[Ebook Sale -- 100 SF/F Books For $0.99 Each]]>Sat, 03 Mar 2018 16:49:46 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/ebook-sale-100-sff-books-for-099-each

Hey all! There's a great ebook sale this weekend -- 100 SF/F books for 99c each! Check it out and get some great reads!
http://pattyjansen.com/promo/

]]><![CDATA[How Do You Start A Story?]]>Tue, 30 Jan 2018 16:47:09 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/how-do-you-start-a-storyWas on the Twitter machine today, trying to catch up with all my favorite writer news that I've missed in the past week, and I saw the following questions asked of fellow YA fantasy author, Arthur Slade.

(Click on the above image to find out Arthur's awesome answer to Jesse's questions. Also, be sure to give Arthur a Twitter follow and check out his books! He rocks!)
Since Arthur was kind enough to open the conversation to other authors' advice, I thought it'd be fun to tackle Jesse's questions too. Oh, and also because I'm nowhere near as good/succinct as Arthur on Twitter.
Let's dive in, shall we?

Okay, Jesse's class, so you're trying to figure out how to start a story, right?
First things first -- gotta get in your zone.
This can involve anything from working out, finding your favorite song/soundtrack, etc. The point is -- find whatever it is that helps get you in the mindset to create.
Me? I like to think about whatever it is I'm planning to write about while the coffee's brewing. Then, I go find a piece of instrumental music that fits the mood of my upcoming story-to-be. Your process will likely be different because every writer has their own way of hitting their groove. Doesn't matter what it is. Just find what works for you.
Okay, done with step one? You're in your groove? Ready to write? Sweet. Let's roll!

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -- Lao Tzu

The above quote holds true for writing too.
Beginnings are hard and I find that just typing that first sentence is usually the most difficult. So what do I recommend you do if/when you're having trouble getting your story started?
Don't start at the beginning.
Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but hear me out.
Think about a favorite trip or vacation you went on with your family or friends. If I asked you to tell me about it, would you start with 'Well, first we packed up this, this, and this. And then we got in the car and..."
No. You wouldn't...because that stuff's boring.
You'd likely lead off somewhere in the middle of your trip, say maybe the destination, and then you'd hit me with the highlights and the things you enjoyed the most, right?
So do that with your story.
You already have an idea, scene, etc. in mind for what you want to write about. Do that first rather than worry about how it should all start. Write the part of the story that you're most excited about even if it's the ending.
The point of writing the parts you're already excited about is that it gets words on the page (i.e. - visual progress) and won't leave you feeling like you haven't accomplished anything. In my school visits,
I often give the example that I look at this as kinda like working a maze-- it's easier to start at the end and work your way back because you already know the way. Because when you jump to the middle or end or whatever point in your story that excites you, you can then ask yourself 'Okay, so how did my character(s) get here? What events need to happen for me to lead them to this part of the story?"
I also find that you'll discover things about your character (and maybe even be taken down a new direction) when writing the scenes you already know that you want included.
"But I've done all this already, Galvin!" I hear you saying. "I've written most of my story and I'm still stuck on how to figure out my opening paragraph!"
Okay, try this then...

Questions, questions, and more questions....

One of the things that always helps me develop my story and figure out the beginning (or back cover synopsis) is to ask myself questions that I want/hope readers will ask. I write up as many questions as I can think of...and then I go back and start answering them. I do this because questions are what pull us into the story. The key is in the subtlety.
For examples of how good authors hide questions in their work to pull us in and engage us with their stories, let's look at the beginning lines for some of my favorite popular Young Adult and Middle Grade books and see if you can spot the questions they've hidden in just those few opening lines.

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.

What happened to Prim? Who is Prim? Why isn’t she there? Where is she/could she have gone?

****
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE by C.S. Lewis
Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids.

What’s the ‘something’ that happened to them?

****
THE HOBBIT by J.R.R Tolkien
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

What’s a hobbit? Is it an animal, a creature, a person, what? Why does it live in a hole? How big of a hole?

****
I try and hide questions like the opening lines of my own books as well. For example, here are the first sentences from each of my starter books:

THE GRAVE OF LAINEY GRACE by Aaron Galvin
“Think they’ll come tonight, Doyle?”
Who’s ‘they’? Why would (or wouldn’t) they come tonight?

SALEM'S VENGEANCE by Aaron Galvin
My freedom comes with the moonlight.

Why does her freedom come with the moonlight? Is she a prisoner? A werewolf, vampire, etc.?

And, just to prove how difficult beginnings can be and how your writing will improve the more you work at it, here's the opening line from my debut novel.

SALTED by Aaron Galvin
Kellen Winstel strode out of the Tiber High School administration office.

Not very good, huh? Why? Because there's not really any questions packed into that sentence to pull you in. Sure, I could argue it still has questions like ‘Why was he in office? Was he in trouble or not?’. I could also give you a (lame) excuse that technically, this chapter was meant to be the third in the book, but that this Kellen chapter became the opening because I screwed up with my debut novel.
The original first sentence of the books was from a different character’s perspective and it was:
Lenny Dolan never asked for a Salted life.

And there are questions packed into that one sentence, right? Questions like:
What is a Salted life/what does it entail? Why wouldn’t Lenny want a Salted life?

All that to say, beginnings are tough and it's okay to know that you likely won't get it right the first time. Nobody starts off knowing how to nail the opening paragraph straight from the word go. Just keep practicing, keep writing, and asking questions until you've written the opening that would make you want to settle in and keep reading to find out the answers.

Happy writing.

]]><![CDATA[Vengeance Trilogy & Salted Series Box Sets]]>Wed, 24 Jan 2018 07:07:10 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/ask-and-ye-shall-receiveJudging from the emails I've received, box sets/bundles are all the rage these days.
Aaron wonders if people still say 'all the rage' anymore...no? Oh well. Get off my lawn, you whipper snappers!
Anywho, methought box sets/bundling were a grand idea, so I finally got around to putting them together for my two series....

Oh, yeah.
Two box sets of YA goodness (and plenty of darkness too), from yours truly are now available. For a limited time, save up to 30% by purchasing the box sets rather than buying the books individually. Purchase links are listed below. Happy reading!

SALTED SERIES

This box set includes Salted books 1-3 and over 1100 pages of action, adventure, and fantasy. Dive into this dark world of dangerous merfolk and Selkie slave catchers today and discover why life isn't better under the sea.

Amazon (US): http://a.co/gCuAjGE
Barnes & Noble: goo.gl/aMDk6a
Kobo: goo.gl/Xx4tvF

Amazon (UK): http://amzn.eu/1NURVxe
Amazon (Canada): http://a.co/duEHocr
Amazon (Australia): goo.gl/4FMPFV

SALEM’S VENGEANCE TRILOGY

Now available as a completed series, Aaron Galvin’s bestselling Vengeance trilogy has been hailed by reviewers as an “eye-opening look into a frightful time in history” that will make you question everything you thought you knew about the Salem witch trials. Get the Vengeance trilogy today and uncover what happened after the Salem trials ended.

Amazon (US): http://a.co/9ZHjmCc
Barnes & Noble: goo.gl/wA5oWt
Kobo: goo.gl/HPRcFA

Amazon (UK): http://amzn.eu/0R2lrjt
Amazon (Canada): http://a.co/dxnznOs
Amazon (Australia): goo.gl/xfzeWK

]]><![CDATA[New Year, New Opportunity]]>Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:53:58 GMThttp://www.aarongalvin.com/blog/new-year-new-opportunity"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."
-- Brad Paisley
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