Cue fireworks...Cue fanfare...

I have finished the third and my final draft of Terminal Velocity! WOO!

This may not be as exciting to you, but this means that I send it off to Faith (my editor) and once she finishes I run a spell check and it's done. From there I format it and it goes to print, and then I have my launch event on Dec. 14. It's all going perfectly on schedule, folks.

You probably won't be able to make it to the book signing on the 14th. That's a-okay, because I will have a camera set up if I do a talk. If I don't do a talk, you will be able to buy the book online in hardcover for the same price as at the bookstore.

I'm very happy about this and will keep blogging with more exciting events and adventures in this book's life. If you haven't already bought Double Life, it's worth it to read it just because the second book is going to be even better. You can get your copy here.

Also, for some reason my blog's readership shot up over the past couple days. I'll keep watching that.

Dawson

Just To Let You Know

Hey everyone. Today is going to be a bit different. I don't present many of my opinions on the world around me, but it has come to my attention that this is nothing to be "in the closet" about.

I am, as very few of you know, a Christian, born again, bona fide. Yes, I believe that Christianity is the one and only way to eternal life and the one and only answer to life's questions. But I can still be tolerant.

Society has twisted the meaning of the word "tolerant". It really means that you disagree with a person, but you don't cut the person loose because of it. You tolerate them.

What tolerance has come to mean in today's society is that essentially, everyone is right. If you believe in Islam, then great--that's the truth for you. If you're a Buddhist, then that's the truth for you. But that's not what real tolerance is. It's trying to make everyone feel right and everyone happy by saying there is no one way.

So then when Christianity makes a singular truth claim that Christianity is the only way (which I believe to be true), we are not tolerated, which is the opposite of what should be. Everyone should be able to live with everyone else no matter if they make an exclusive truth claim. You must learn to agree to disagree. For example, I don't believe that homosexuality is right, but that doesn't mean I discriminate against them. I don't believe in their lifestyle, but by being actually tolerant in the real definition of the word, we can get along.

I promise--my next blog post won't be trying to convert you. If you want to talk about that, send me an email. But please, hear me out and don't explode with angry comments on this blog.

I just wanted to let everyone know where I stand on things.

Dawson

The Publishing Insiders interview

Hey, everyone. Yesterday I did a long-awaited BTR interview on The Publishing Insiders. It was a great interview and they really enjoyed having me.


I have already been asked by the producer to do an interview in their newsletter, which has 5,000+ readers. This will be an AWESOME promotional opportunity for both Double Life and Terminal Velocity.

Thanks for all your support and keep the comments coming!

Dawson

Why I Don't Outline

Many a person spends all their time they wanted to spend writing their novel planning to write their novel. They outline and they scribble and they make notes and they create detailed character charts. That's definitely what you'll see me doing on a day of writing.

What you will see me doing on a day of writing is simply that: writing.

Because I don't like outlines. They never work for me. When I outlined my third book, Sequence (which rests in peace in my junk drawer), I thought it was going to be better because I outlined it. I had a whole bunch of details and bubble charts and graphs ready for my use.

But what happened? The novel turned out boring and truncated and hollow. I already knew what was going to happen, so the life was sucked out of me. There were no surprises. The characters were already there. They had already developed and I just had to tell the audience how, and I didn't like that. But I decided to be faithful and I plodded through the novel's 51,000 words with misery.

I decided that that outline was the worst thing ever and I gave it a ride in a trash truck.

But why was it so terrible? Why did that outline, which I spent a month and a half toiling over to make sure I had a good plan for the story, just kind of...die? I think it had to do with me being constrained and, effectively, my characters were stuck in a box. They had the limits of the outline and the chains of their character sheets wrapped around them, so I ended up with something hollow and devoid of life and joy.

I wondered if I had lost my touch, so when I set off to write the sequel to Double Life, I expected it to be really slow. And it did start that way. I began the novel mid-January and wanted to finish by mid-February.

Then, about halfway through, I stopped. I didn't want to do this anymore. I wasn't going to handle more of this dull sludge.

But fast forward to March--I remembered how I wrote my other novels, how they had felt so free and so good. I remembered that these characters were people and not furniture, and I decided to take off the imaginary pressures of stupid outlines.

I wrote the second half of Terminal Velocity in two caffeine-driven days.

So if you ask me if I outline, I will say no. Characters grow by themselves and subplots happen naturally and spontaneously. Build your plot on your characters, not vice versa, and you will find that you have a new freedom and color to your writing than you ever had before.

That's just my two cents. You can comment with your ideas and opinions on outlining.

Dawson

Terminal Velocity, Coming Soon!

I am stoked, needless to say. Why? Because Terminal Velocity comes out in three months and four weeks!

I know it feels like forever from now, but let's get the buzz a-buzzing, because it's sooner than you think!

Waldenbooks of Anderson will be the place to be on December 14. They've agreed to let me have that spot (this is the good thing about reserving space early). I might contact another bookstore or two to see if they'd like to do a midnight release, which would be even more fun than just a regular book launch event.

If you don't live anywhere near Anderson or its surrounding cities, I hate you. That's not true, but I will film my introduction and the Q&A period and place that on YouTube for you to see.

There will be contests and videos and interviews galore in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned to this blog for the goings on. Terminal Velocity is almost done and it's a reason for excitement.

Dawson

Press Release for Terminal Velocty

Hey everyone. Here's the press release I released via PRLog.com (a great website for any author--use and abuse it!). Sorry I haven't been able to post in a while. I've been about the busiest person I know for the past month.

Tomorrow I'm calling the local Waldenbooks to see if I could get a midnight release of Terminal Velocity there. That'd be really cool. There's a central stagelike area in the section of the mall where Waldenbooks is located, so it'll be a great place to have a speech and open the box!

Anyway--on with the press release most awesome!

Dawson Vosburg, Teen Author, To Release Exciting Sequel

Dawson Vosburg, the teenage author of the young-adult science-fiction novel Double Life, will release its sequel soon. Dawson says that this will be a much more exciting novel and the public will enjoy it even more than its predecessor.

Aug 08, 2009 – Dawson Vosburg published his first novel, Double Life, at age fourteen. Now, he's preparing for the release of its sequel, Terminal Velocity (December 14, 2009).

Terminal Velocity picks up right where Double Life left off, when the trio of thirteen-year-

olds, Josiah Jones, Denise Black, and KC McCaite, returns to the BLUE Agency. They thought the world was safe after they put a great dent in the RED Agency.

But things are more complicated than they appear. The RED Agency is back, and there is a mysterious third party who continues to interfere with the BLUE Agency's plans. The novel is a twist-filled adventure with surprises at every corner.

"Terminal Velocity is, in general, a better and more exciting novel than Double Life," Vosburg says. "More action, more excitement, and more emotion fill the pages of Terminal Velocity."

On writing the second book, Vosburg says, "It was even more exciting to keep developing these characters and throwing wrenches in the works."

The novel will be released on December 14, 2009.

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You can check it out at http://www.prlog.org/10304875-dawson-vosburg-teen-author-to-release-exciting-sequel.html .

Thanks for reading!

Dawson