My head is about to explode from the tension and my body is about to collapse from the exhaustion.

Hello! Today I have a guest blogger, Matthew Peterson author of Paraworld Zero (released today!), a science fiction novel for young adults. Thanks Matthew for being a guest, and readers can find more info about Matthew and his books posted below his blog.

Book Summary: Twelve-year-old earthling, Simon Kent, stumbles upon a secret that thrusts him into a bizarre adventure filled with magic, technology and deadly out-of-this-world creatures. He discovers a true friend, confronts his inner demons and becomes the savior to a peculiar race of people, when all he truly wants is to find his way back home.

My head is about to explode from the tension and my body is about to collapse from the exhaustion. You see, my debut novel, Paraworld Zero, is finally here and I have been working like a dog to promote it. I found out rather quickly that writing my book was the easy part. Editing, getting a publisher, promoting... waiting months and months and months and months to finally see it in print was the hard part.

I spent all day Friday on the phone with radio stations (18 radio interviews, back-to-back). I don't think I'd wish that on my worst enemy. The anticipation kept me up all night. What was interesting was that the first interview (at 5:30 AM, I might add) was the best one of the bunch. By the 18th interview, I had already repeated myself many times.

Three topics stood out at me from the interviews: 1. The last Harry Potter book was not the end of fantasy... there is life after Harry, 2. Kids don't read enough, and 3. People really like to hear how I got my ideas.

So I'll first tell my story. I started writing Paraworld Zero in 1990 when I was 14-years-old. A computer crash killed my book after 6 chapters. Over a decade later, someone told me to read Harry Potter, which I did. My jaw dropped, because it was so similar to my book (i.e. orphan boy realizes he can perform magic and goes to a school). So I picked up the old hard copy of my book and went to work. I had to make drastic changes to the book so it wouldn't sound like a Harry Potter knock-off. As every Harry Potter book came out, I screamed when more similarities to my book would spring up (I have red-headed twins, but I couldn't possibly put that in my book).

One of my main character's hair changes color with her mood, and I absolutely refused to change that part when ole J.K. Rowling added Tonks (sp?) to her series. The last movie made me mad when they took liberties with that character. In the book, she changes her hair color at will. In the movie, her hair changes red when she gets mad. Ooooh that made me upset, since that's exactly what happens to my character, and I had written that in 1990. Anyway, I haven't had anybody complain yet, so perhaps I'm just paranoid that people will point their fingers at me.

Anyway, on to the other topic of kids not reading enough. I've been thinking lately how to get my own boys to want to read and what I can do to promote reading in general to young adults. One thing would be to be aware of what's out there. Reviews can be helpful. Talking to teenagers and finding out what they like to read can be valuable. I don't think TV is the compass that can direct me to what teenagers want to read. TV shows come and go. Books tend to be longer lasting.

My own book, Paraworld Zero, combines science fiction with fantasy. Many reviewers have compared it to Harry Potter, Star Wars and Artemis Fowl. It contains action, magic, humor mystery, and a touch of romance. When I was writing it, I based it on what I like to read.

I, like many people now-a-days, have a low attention span. But I also enjoy subtleties in writing. Foreshadowing. Symbolism. Hidden messages. I like that stuff and I put it in my book, but I fear that a lot of younger readers have been "dumbed down" because of the TV. In the past month I've had two stories reviewed and semi-accepted for publication. The reviewers were high school students, I think. What amazed me was that with both stories, I was asked to change certain parts that would ruin the subtle foreshadowing of the story. The whole endings of both stories would lose their punch if I removed the foreshadowing. I wondered to myself if these students realized that those parts were put there deliberately. So now I have a decision to make: Do I "dumb down" my story to get it published now, or do I submit it elsewhere? Such is the life of a writer.

Author Bio:
Matthew Peterson is an award-winning short story writer, second degree black belt in karate, Eagle scout, computer programmer, and former missionary. He lives in Arizona with his wife, five boys and their giant African tortoise.