Adobe, the potty mouthed Paladin
As is the case with anything worth having, it took a fair amount of effort to get to this point.
Adobe Kroger – Knight Errant is a story that spontaneously occurred to me during an early morning commute back in 2011. While I was half asleep on a back road with little to no artificial light and some power metal trying in vain to shake me out of my stupor, I decided it would be keen to tell the tale of a young female Paladin who cursed like a sailor. Yes, that was quite literally the entirety of the initial premise. The flood gates burst open and I had an outline in my brain before I arrived at the office; on top of that, within two weeks I had over 50,000 words complete, and I was sure I would have the first draft done in no time flat.
Fast forward two solid years and I was finally somewhat satisfied with the completed first draft. It’s astounding what a little patience and persistence can do.
Did I mention patience and persistence? Because that’s what carries you through the next few drafts.
I got a bit carried away in a few spots, so Adobe was very foul mouthed in the first draft. That got toned back. Whole scenes and chapters were consigned to oblivion. I killed many, many darlings despite my continuous “Yeah, buts.” By the time the third draft and polish were done, I had been neck deep in Adobe’s life for almost three and a half years. Adobe had, I thought, become a far stronger character for it and the story had become far more satisfying. It had, at this point, passed the “would I read it on the train” test.
The next year was spent shopping for agents and/or publishers. Patience and persistence became somewhat critical again at this phase, as anyone who has been through it can attest. I spent several weeks planning precision strikes only to those agents actively seeking solicitation, and who expressed interest specifically in young adult urban fantasy with a female protagonist. When possible, I read up on their blogs and interviews and took care to match only to those who I felt would find my book to be a good fit.
Despite all that, after seven months, I had no bites. Some of the agents took the time to tell me that the premise sounded intriguing, and I greatly appreciated that feedback. But after the 14th(!) refusal I decided that maybe it was time I ought to step back and reconsider. One thing that did seem promising was that I received some very positive feedback from some folks who had no reason to spare my feelings.
After some consideration, and relaunching my web cartooning endeavors late in 2015 (after nearly a decade), I decided to self publish. Many of the top selling authors on Amazon were selling circles around the big publishers by going straight to eBook, so why not? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
So here it is. Have a look, you may enjoy it.
:Dan