1975-2006

I started writing in Junior High.  I wrote a series of science fiction stories in comic book form. My cousin wrote his own science fiction comics and over the summer, we would get together and write crossovers.  I also started writing poetry in Junior High and all through my high school years, I considered myself a poet.  The only school activity I was involved in, besides a very brief foray into JV football, was on the staff of the Student Arts Magazine.  Part of that was because I worked full time all through my high school years.  After High School, I went to college and dropped out after a year and a half.

In my twenties, I began writing novels, though I never finished them.  They were mostly fan fiction.  I imagined that I had taken over the duties of Edgar Rice Burroughs, so I wrote sequels to John Carter, Tarzan, Pellucidar, and Carson of Venus.  I also crafted two new stories. I reasoned that if ERB were still alive, he’d come up with something new too.  The first was a fantasy about a reality just beyond our world reached through random doorways—kind of an edgier The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  The other was Amathar—a story about a man transported to another world, with all the Burroughsian elements modernized.

Princess of Amathar

I met and married my wife, and soon, had a baby on the way and I realized I needed to do something with my life. I had a baby daughter, bought a house, and started back to college all in the same week.  After graduating, I became a teacher, and that and two children occupied all my time, though I wrote a few bits of flash fiction here and there—notably some little stories about a robot girlfriend.  After several years, I decided to get back to writing for real, so I dusted off Amathar and began working on it.  Over about five years, writing off and on, I finally finished the draft and went through many revisions.  I printed up four copies for fellow teachers to help revise and edit.  When I was done, I sent Princess of Amathar off to publishers.  After many, many rejection letters, I put it in a drawer and never thought about it.

One day, I was talking with a colleague and mentioned my story.  He suggested I publish it through Lulu, just for myself and friends.  So, in 2006, that’s exactly what I did.

Hello all,

Hope your September is going well.  I just wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going.  I am exactly at the halfway point of post-edit rewrite for The Destroyer Returns.  Thanks to my patrons, I was able not only to get a professional editor and cover, but also to hire a cartographer to do a world map for the story.  I’ve only seen the preliminary work on the map so far, but I think it’s going to be awesome.  As soon as everything is done, I’ll announce the release date, and of course, eligible patrons will receive their reward copies.

Thanks everyone,

Wes.

Hello Everyone,

As we sail through September, things are on the move.  In conjunction (sort of) with the upcoming Astrid Maxxim and the Great Water Project, I have been doing a new revision of all the other books in the series.  Today, I have uploaded a revised Astrid Maxxim and the Electric Racecar Challenge.  It should be live for Kindle in 72 hours (by the 14th).  It may be a week or so for the other outlets.  If you have this book already, you should be able to download the updated version.  If you haven’t read it, give it a try.  It’s just 99 cents in any ebook format.

Speaking of Astrid Maxxim and the Great Water Project, it has just gone off to the editor.  I have an actual editor now, thanks to my brilliant supporters on Patreon.  If you would like to support my writing efforts, well, buy one of my books.  If you wish, you can also support me at Patreon.com/wesleyallison.

And finally, speaking of said editor, The Destroyer Returns has just arrived for me to get on the rewriting.  So, look for this title coming soon.

As for new writing, I’m working on two projects.  I won’t give away which ones they are yet, but in both cases, they have been sitting in my files, partially done, for years.

Have a great Autumn everyone.

Wes.