January 2015 – J.G. Gatewood Blog

I told myself I wasn’t going to care. In fact, I vowed to not even watch the Super Bowl this year. But, let’s be honest, that isn’t going to happen. There is something about football that just drags me in. It doesn’t matter who is playing, if there is a game on, I will be watching it. And this year is no different. As the past two weeks have slowly ticked by, each day has brought me closer to caring, as much as I might try to deny it.

I don’t know what it is that captivates my attention, but when those twenty-two men walk onto the field for the opening kickoff, I am drawn to it like a moth to a bright light. Maybe it is the chess-match taking place between two coaches who expertly move their players into just the right formation, to march them down the field and put six points on the board. Or maybe it is the intensity of the game. Whatever it is, it dates back to my playing days that began when I was in elementary school. The heat of the sun beating down on a mid-September afternoon, the smell of fresh cut grass, the cold, biting at every piece of exposed skin in late November, there is just nothing like it.

I am, of course, a die-hard Denver Broncos fan, so one might be able to see why I am torn between the two teams playing for the championship this year. I still harbor anger and disappointment directed toward the Seattle Seahawks after last year’s humiliating defeat. Some might say it is an easy choice then; root for the other side. But it’s the New England Patriots whom I despise (no offense to any New England fans). I like Tom Brady, he has had an amazing career and can seemingly make stars out of even the most average receivers, but I cannot stand Belichick. There is just something about him I don’t like and I cannot in good conscious root for the Pats because of him.

So when the clock strikes 4:30 (MT) tomorrow afternoon and the ball flies through the air for the first time, I guess I will be rooting for the Seattle Seahawks. Either way, it should be a good game (much better than last year’s lopsided display I hope). Both teams match up quite well, and I think we will be watching the best two teams in football over the last two months, square off in what should ultimately be a close game.

Who are you rooting for and why?

Good news! Book 2 in the Keepers of the Orbs Series is about 95% of the way through the editing process. I will be looking for beta readers in the next week or so.

I started thinking about it today, and I created this blog almost a year ago, and as of yet, I haven’t actually blogged. Sure, I released my short story here, and I also released all of my book reviews, but actual blogging? Nope! So, I decided today I would change my ways, and actually use the tools at my disposal.

I know my fan-base is small, but I still get asked to know more about who I am, how and why I write, my processes, etc. So I am going to use my blog so people can get to know me better.

I have been married for twelve years to my lovely wife Sarah. We have two sons, Branden and Evan, and we live in Parker, Colorado. I met Sarah in High School, in nearby Highlands Ranch. After several on-again, off-again relationships, we finally got married after she graduated from college. I myself, had too much fun partying during my first year of college (haven’t we all made this mistake) and considering I was paying for it myself, I decided college wasn’t right for me. That is until 2009 when I was laid-off from my IT job of ten years. I found it really difficult to find a job with the U.S. in recession and decided to go back to school while I actively searched for a new job.

This period of unemployment made me realize something; I had a story and I wanted to tell it. While I couldn’t rely on this as a steady income (being new and all with no books to sell) I continued my education and my job search. My wife was nothing but supportive (as she remains today).

I wrote the first book in the series—The Unknown Man—in four months. I loved every minute of it and knew this was something I wanted to continue doing. While writing my debut novel, I was in school full-time, continued my job search (with entirely too many interviews) and also was hired by my in-laws to finish their basement. Oh, and did I mention Evan was born during this time too?

Anyway, I finished The Unknown Man and started the query process with agents and publishers. After getting nowhere, I finally landed a job, in a new field, with a chance to re-invent myself. I continued to work on the first book by editing and refining the story.

I decided to self-publish it in 2012 and posted it on Amazon. A couple of points here. Looking back now, it was nowhere near ready for the market. I had no idea what I was doing and I can see now why I wasn’t getting anywhere with an agent/publisher. Given its weak points, I sold a number of copies, and received several reviews (good and bad) to which I am grateful for. These have helped me to refine the story further, and have helped me to become a better writer (I think anyway).

One of the questions I get asked the most often is when is book 2 being released, and why it is taking so long. As you can see above, book 2 is close. As for the second part, let me explain. About the time I started writing book 2 in 2012, I finally found a new job, was still going to school full-time, and we had a very colicky and stubborn infant. Finding time to write became secondary so I could focus on everything else going on. So I put my writing on hold, which was a good thing considering how difficult my classes had become.

In October of 2013, I finally graduated with a BS in Business Finance (with honors, not to brag). I took a couple of months off to just relax and recharge, before I got back to my writing. Although I hadn’t been working on book 2, I was still actively working to improve Book 1. I trimmed it from around 213k words, down to 130k, and I really like the flow of the story now. In 2014, I hit the ground running and began my work on book 2 (and other projects too) although I still had limited time to. I started off by reviewing what I had already written (about 30k words) and I wasn’t at all satisfied with it, so I scrapped it and began fresh.

It took my about ten months, but I finally finished the rough copy of book 2, The Rising Past. After several read-throughs and revisions on my own, I handed it over to my wife to edit. She is an elementary school teacher (for ten years now). Her Bachelors is a double major in Communication and Journalism, and she has a Master’s in Education.

This is just a little background on my first novel. I plan on blogging at least every couple of days, and hope to have more information to release soon.