Is it weird that I name my chapters before writing them? I’ll sit at my computer for some time with my headphones on just listening to my Spotify playlist as I find the right emotions a song will give me that I then correlate with the new chapter. I then homage to the song by incorporating either a lyric or the title itself as the chapter. For example, the prologue for Xenochrist is called “I Am Hell” which, if you’re a fan of death metal, is a lyric to Thy Art Is Murder‘s song “Reign of Darkness” or Chapter 5’s title, “Two Princes“, which is a song by Native Daughters. For me music is very much a part of the book, so once it’s finally released I think people will have some fun finding the music inside.
Through my journey of writing this novel I’ve spoken with other writers, especially in length on formatting and who to publish through (self-publishing), and the general consensus has been to not sign exclusively with KDP which seems like the best route for me. I want to get my work out there as far as possible and I’d rather not rely on ever-changing algorithms to keep me relevant.
Maybe I’m overthinking everything; there’s no guarantee this will go anywhere once I publish, and that’s fine too. I’ve spent so many years developing and redeveloping, writing and rewriting I just want to finally have this out already! The original manuscript was actually finished around 2013/2014, but I was embarrassed and didn’t want to put myself out there like that. It wasn’t until I moved here to Mexico that I finally sat down with it and realized the entire thing was 100% shite! I couldn’t believe just how poorly I’d written it, which is why I decided to use the OG as a reference and just completely rewrite it.
There’d been some world-view changes in my life, some growing up, and I desperately needed to rewrite it to better fit me now. I think who I am now is a much better version than the one back then; I’m like a Nathan 2.0 now. I think the me from back then would appreciate it but also groan at having to put in the work years later!
Either way, I’m so excited to be nearly done with this, and I cannot wait to share Xenochrist with all of you. Don’t forget you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where you can see more of me (or at least my thoughts in small doses), just follow the links!
Cheers – NHW
