I always enjoy learning how things are made. In fact, it makes me crazy when I can't figure out how something is made and I have to Google it just so I can sleep. I am, by nature I suppose, a chronic thing maker. So it is only natural for me to be curious (my wife says psychotic) about how things are made.

So, I am sharing how a book is written. I have no earthly idea how normal people do it. I have very little experience with normal anything. What I am sharing is how I did it. It was actually really fun. So fun that I have repeated the process.

All you need is ambition … and a lot of spiral notebooks, and a lot of pens, and a lot of coffee, and a lot of determination. Other than that it just takes time. Oh, and some research.

I suppose an out of control imagination is a handy thing for the process as well.

Truly the hardest part is writing the first page. At least it was for me. Maybe that's because I rewrote it about fifty times. Maybe normal people start with their first page, but I might as well skip it and come back later. The truth is, this whole series started with a scenario that has yet to be written.

Yep, I'm that kind of special. The aforementioned scenario will show up in Book 4 in the Falcon series. Yes, that one will be released a year from now. Please stay tuned by the way.

My, but I have digressed. I write the first draft longhand because I write much faster than I type. With the book Blood Trail of the Falcon, I wrote the second draft longhand as well. There were probably some really good reasons in my mind, but I was mostly afraid to let my wife see it in the raw form. I was uncertain if it was readable as a story, and I didn't want to get my feelings torpedoed.

When I let my dear wife read it, she laughed and cried at all the right places. That appeased my insecurities a bit. It also won her the privilege of deciphering my glyphs and typing the whole mess into the computer. It was much easier to edit on the computer.

Once it was in digital form, the serious editing began. It started with rewriting the whole thing all the way through a couple of times. Then there was the copy editor's highlights and notes that pointed out all the ways I was illiterate. Then I tackled all the spots I was not satisfied with. After that there was more editing. And that cycle could have gone on indefinitely. It was kind of a long process, but very satisfying in the end.

I have included a photo of those spiral notebooks. The pile of pens was a shameless theatrical cheap trick. In truth I probably used up over a dozen Pilot pens.

As for the coffee … I would have had the same amount if I was fishing or doing anything else.