I will be discussing Sins of Omission and signing books at two bookstores and at Jacksonville Book Fest during late February. See the schedule here. I hope to see you there!
Posts By James H Lewis
Q&A with Deborah Kalb
Deborah Kalb, the host of Book Q&As, featured an interview with me on Friday concerning my novel, Sins of Omission. I hope you’ll find it of interest.
Great reviews, first draft of prequel complete
My first novel, Sins of Omission, is enjoying uniformly positive reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. I’ve had sales in three countries outside the US. I’m pleased with the way this is going.
Meanwhile, I finished the first draft of my “prequel” to Sins, tentatively titled Breaking News. This story picks up my reporter/protagonist, Alan Rudberg, in 2008 as he’s covering the presidential and Oregon senatorial campaigns. An anonymous source mails him photocopies of bid documents and an invoice suggesting an eastern Oregon politician is soliciting kickbacks in return for business with his county. Those who’ve read Sins know that the ensuing investigation marks a major turning point in Rudberg’s career.
Although I began plotting the book in September, the actual draft was written as part of National Novel Writing Month, a 30-day period during which established and aspiring novelists throughout the world bang out a 50,000-page draft.
As anyone who’s been through this before knows, the first draft is the easy part of the process, provided you have a working outline. The hard work lies in the editing. This involves more than just grammar- and spell-checking. Plot elements may change, scenes will shift, and entire chapters are rewritten from scratch. Parts of Sins went through five rewrites.
All this is to say that you won’t be seeing Breaking News until early spring at the earliest.
Meanwhile, enjoy reading Sins and — please — when you’ve finished it, leave a review on Amazon.
Thanks.
Interview
I’ve published an interview on how and why Sins of Omission came about. Florida readers will be particularly interested. Don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list at the bottom of this page. You will be notified of any promotions regarding the book, including a forthcoming period in which the ebook version is available for FREE.
“Sins of Omission” published
My debut novel, Sins of Omission, has just been published. The novel is based on my experience as a young broadcast journalist in North Florida in the late 60s and early 70s. You can read about it on my home page.
By signing up for my mailing list at the bottom of any page, I will alert you to special promotions, including a period in which I’ll offer FREE DOWNLOADS to my followers.
My editor, Lourdes Venard, returned the edited copy to me in late August. I incorporated her edits, then included suggestions from friends and beta-readers Rodney L. Hurst, Sr., Vic DiGenti, and Cheryl Head–all authors in their own “write.”
The protagonist, Adam Rudberg, is an Oregon journalist at the start of the novel. In the ensuing pages, he undergoes a transformation in his life, marriage, and career. I am working on a “prequel” during National Novel Writing Month in November, and you will see Alan work in a new role in subsequent novels.
I hope you get a chance to enjoy it. BE SURE TO SIGN UP at the bottom of the page, and I’ll let you know when you can receive a FREE copy.
