...or as I like to say, "don't Lucas it." What do I mean by that? I mean don't keep messing with things to the point that you destroy something that was originally great.

Let me back up and explain.

As a writer I have made the conscious decision that I'm going to be publishing my work electronically, and that no print copies will be made (though I'm sure family and friend will want--and get--actual books). We're right on the cusp of 2014, and current publishing options are very exciting. Without leaving my house I can write my entire manuscript, have it reviewed and edited, get a cover designed, and publish my work to the largest market in the world: the entire internet. This gives a lot of access and flexibility, and I feel that overall it's a greater positive than it is a negative. Yes, readers have to dig a little more to find really good authors, and yes, authors need to work harder to stand out, but these authors and readers never would have had the chance to connect before this form of publishing began to mature. Now, the ebook world is large, thriving, and growing to the point where print media is looking very much the dinosaur.

Even more interesting to me is the fact that revisions can be made on the fly, to the point where a book can be entirely rejuvenated and republished, all with the click of a button. Realize you left a plot hole in your book? Click-click, new version published. Need to add a prologue to clear up some confusion? Click-click, all fixed. It becomes terribly easy to even go back and retcon your work if you do sequels and/or prequels, making everything nice and neat. Mentioning prequels, however, has to make most people think of the Star Wars prequels that were spit out so many years back (longer than you might think, actually). Prequels and special editions, the two elements that I feel ruined the universe of Star Wars.

As we see in film, we can imagine happening in literature. Fans were made to be upset and stories were altered because it became very easy to use digital manipulation to make up whole new segments of story that didn't originally fit in with the rest of the universe. Huge chunks of plot and character development were roughly grafted onto the side of an otherwise excellent set of films (and if anyone doesn't agree Empire is the best I will cut them). Art happens through adversity, something I fervently believe. Having too much control and too much access can allow a writer to wander down the dark path and begin messing with his work, altering it and distorting it to the point where it becomes a shadow of its former self, and readers become turned off by what they once cherished.

Electronic publishing is a powerful thing. Certainly writers in the past put out new editions of their work as well, but it was different then, going through editors and a publisher. It might not always have been best, but having that filter slowed down the process and allowed for only really necessary changes to be included. Should you leverage the ability to make changes to your book after it's published? Absolutely. Clarify things. Fix grammatical errors. Clean up spelling. Update your cover. Do all these things. But don't fundamentally change you work. Let it stand on its own merits. Give it time to be digested by the public, so that they can come to know it and appreciate it. If you keep messing with it, it will never have the opportunity to gestate, and that's a very important thing for a novel.

They already lie on the news and change it. The world of accurate facts is fading fast. Shouldn't your own work strive to bring back some of that sincerity? I would even say some of the bravery it takes to stand by something and defend it, rather than changing it or sweeping it under a rug. There are schools of thought out there that believe once a work is published, it no longer belongs to the author. I don't know if I fully agree, but I do know there are aspects of that outlook I find truthful, especially when I consider digital publishing. I hope you consider it as well.

A.C. Harrison
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Normal broadcasts will resume next week. For today I want to share a few updates regarding production.

• No real writing all of last week, due to family being in town for an early Christmas. Everyone is out of the house as of today, so back to the grind I go. A break was nice to have, but even over the course of a week you lose a lot of speed and momentum. If writing was my profession I suspect this wouldn't be as jarring a transition.
• "Jupiter Symphony" is still approaching release, but I have not yet started on cover design work, and so it may be delayed into January. I've been going back and forth on the design more than I probably should be, but I take a very professional viewpoint with my work and would like to have a presentable and attractive cover image.
• More troubling, since the latest full edit, I'm considering changing the title of the book. Despite having composed a blog entry on book titles, I'm finding that editing really takes the wind out of your sails when it comes to ideas that seemed really solid earlier. I still like the title, but more work needs to go into certain parts of the book to emphasize it.
• "Unto Persephone" was also on pause, but is now probably only two weeks out from the first manuscript being done. Figure a month more realistically as my focus shifts more towards finishing "Jupiter Symphony."
• "The Long Night" is starting to take shape, and I'm excited to see how it comes together. I'm trying new techniques, adding to my writing toolbox and seeing if it makes things fit together more cleanly than before. The fact that I've been writing prequels has really highlighted how important it is to have meticulous notes on characters, and a timeline is in the works to keep the facts (fictions?) straight.
• I haven't forgotten coupon codes. This blog will still feature coupons for "Jupiter Symphony" once it is published, so everyone can enjoy my first work. I'm much more interested in seeing what everyone thinks of my first foray, so stay tuned for details.

A.C. Harrison
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Family is in town for the holidays. Next blog post will be on December 22.

Yikes, I almost completely forgot to squeeze in my weekly posting on my site. Not sure if it's because I was so active on my Twitter this week, or because I've been consumed with editing, but I only remembered at 9:30. But I digress...

The first end to end edit of my book by someone other than myself was just completed and the reaction has been very positive, which is more than I could ask for in my first attempt at a full length novel. I'm still tracking to have the work published this month (what?!), but with family coming into town soon, it's going to be a close one.

However, because I've been back in editing mode, I've been grappling with the difficult question that I think most writers face: how do you know when your book is done? Not the actual ending, but the editing. The changes. The revisions and rewrites. Should I spend another month changing this character? What if I abandon that plot point and replace it with this? How about I change all my characters? What if I make the ending seem as if it was all a dream, influenced by water laced with LSD by the Illuminati?

Stop.

This is where my laziness and vanity is helpful. Even though I want to do a good job and I hate making mistakes (especially ones other people get to see), I realize that no book, electronic or otherwise, is perfect. It's very easy to say this about other writers, but when it comes to our own work, we tend to forget that part and obsess over tiny details that ultimately do not impact the enjoyment of our books. I believe the key lies in finding that healthy mix between thoroughness and obsession, between wanting to do the best job possible and stirring the soup just because it's there. At a certain point you have to realize the changes that are being made are detrimental and it's time to stop touching the keyboard.

Where is that point, though? I know I haven't found it yet. This is my first swing at this outside of academia, and the magnitude of the job and the desired outcome are both intimidating. Just as with writing, though, experience will play a factor. My second book has been much easier to write, and I believe it will be easier to edit as well. Not because I will have made less mistakes or overlooked things less frequently, but because I'll have a system and a groove, and I'll be better and finding that tipping point.

No book is perfect. That is truth. I have stone tile throughout my house. Each one is different. They have texture and granularity. They have specs of grout caught in tiny grooves that can't come out. They are not perfectly square. They are beautiful, each one reminding me of something else in this wild universe. Let your book be the same. Care about it, work on it, but know that the flaws lend themselves to individuality. Work to find that balance. If you're tired and frustrated and feel like your book is getting worse, you should smile, because you're at the end.

A.C. Harrison
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To divert from my usual entry on writing, I wanted to share my thoughts on time: it's passage, and what it entails for us all. This was triggered by the rather untimely death of actor Paul Walker, who died this November 30, 2013, doing what he loved, which was sharing his love for motorsports.

Now I didn't know Paul personally, nor could I even claim to know what kind of individual he was. By all accounts he was a very humble and respected individual, not just in Hollywood, but also in the motorsports community. I am not discounting the feelings that must be going through the hearts and minds of actors that knew him, but the fact that an entirely different community, one that has no obligation to express sympathies in this instance, feels the need to share publicly that Paul was a good person says a lot to me.

Paul was 40 years old. He was not young. He was not old. He simply was, and then he wasn't. Killed riding as a passenger in a high powered supercar, being driven by someone who has experiencing on race tracks. It's not something which the mind easily wraps around. But people die everyday in cars, so why is this one significant?

To explain that, I should point out that one of my passions, one of my great loves in life, is driving, modifying, and enjoying Japanese sports cars. I have a third generation Toyota Supra twin turbo in my garage, and another frame with a roll cage on the side of the house that's patiently waiting for me to find time to finish her. It's safe to say that as a boy growing up, I was sucked into the culture portrayed in films such as The Fast and the Furious, which to this day I can quote line for line at the drop of a hat.

The movie series itself has its share of faults and triumphs. The first one smacks of adolescence, but when I watched it I was adolescent, and so I love it. Other films in the series were actually quite good action movies, with great stunts and plenty of eye candy. I think it's foolish for people to tear into a film that's not trying to be Shakespeare, not trying to be anything other than what it is. The films were sincere and pure, and spoke to me as a car crazed half-man. That sincerity is something that I think is greatly lacking from many artists and authors. I write cyberpunk/gritty sci-fi because it's what I love and what I know, and I don't pretend to be any kind of Gibson or Stephenson. I don't have the time for that.

Time is, ultimately, what this is all about. In time we lose people. Some of these people will have had an impact on your life, especially when growing up. Family and pets will be gone before you realize it. Other figures, people you have never met, will also die, sometimes before we expect it, sometimes in ways we couldn't imagine. It would be easy to feel that Paul was a victim to time, snatched away before he got his fill, but Paul died after spending his time doing what he loved, knowing what was important to him and chasing after it. Yes, he died too young, but we should all be as lucky to experience so much before our flash of existence is gone.

A.C. Harrison
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