If you've been following what I say on the internet closely, then you may noticed that every once in a while I've mentioned a "Secret Project" that I've been working on. Well, Stage I of my "Secret Project" is complete, so I feel like it is finally time to reveal to the world what it is that has consumed so much of my free time over the last few months.

So, here it is. My "Secret Project" is to write a novel.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Oh, another jerk who says he's going to write a book, but will never get around to it. What's Stage I? Coming up with a title?"

Nope. Stage I is writing it. That's write (pun), I've already written a novel. I've been working on it in my spare time for months, and I finally finished it tonight. Stage II is editing, and Stage III is publication. This entire process has been fun and exhilarating. And more than anything else, finishing this first full version of it is...hard to explain. I'm one step closer to fulfilling a dream I've had since high school, and failed at doing several times before (when I gave up after writing four or five pages each time).

So, going forward, I need to edit this and keep editing until it's as close to perfect as possible. I have a few friends whom I trust and respect the opinions of, and I'm going to have them read through it, both to find potential mistakes (I may be a good writer, but that doesn't mean my writing is typo free), and to judge the quality of the work. This is a novel after all. It's supposed to be entertaining.

So, some more info about what I've done. It's a science fiction novel, and the targeted audience is, well, people like me. You know, young-ish guys. Not to say other people can't enjoy it (well, maybe they can't, I can't judge it objectively since it came forth from my mind).

In terms of length, with the current formatting it's about 161 pages, but that's with the default page size on my text editor, which I'm pretty sure is not what the eventual formatting will be in the final book (I assume (ie, hope) that with smaller pages the page count will be higher). That doesn't mean that I think a novel has to meet some arbitrary length to be worth reading. If my math is correct, there are over 68,000 words in the novel. For a point of reference, JK Rowling's first novel, Harry Potter 1, has about 77,000 words in it. She was the first author I could think of to compare my work to (not that I think it'll be even a fraction as successful as the Harry Potter books).

So, that's about all I can say for now. I wish I could say more, but I'm super paranoid about people stealing my ideas, even though I'm sure most of the people here on GB are trustworthy. I just don't feel like taking the risk that someone might take my ideas and use them for some stupid fan-fiction or something, and then claim I stole the ideas from them if/when my book gets published.

I'm very excited about this. I can't adequately say in words how excited I really am. This is my chance to make a name for myself! My chance to get my ideas out to the masses in the printed form! I do expect that getting it published won't be easy, partly because I don't know the first thing about getting a book published. If anyone reading this does know something about it, I'd appreciate any advice you can give. And, of course, I will keep you fine men and women at GB up to date on the latest happenings. Hopefully if/when I do get it published I can put out some concrete details here, and maybe even give out a few free copies in some sort of contest or something. I don't know. BUT I'M SO EXCITED!

In other news, Mass Effect 3 is out, but I won't have a chance to play it until spring vacation, which is not next week, it's the week after. Yakuza Dead Souls is out next week, and I'm looking forward to playing that one too. Hopefully I'll have time to play those and edit my book over vacation.

So, comments? Anyone else out there ever publish anything? Any other aspiring authors? I'd love to hear from all of you.

Edit: I know some people are suggesting self publication through ebooks, but I'd rather not go that route because I want there to be printed copies of my book before the eventual day when paper books are no longer a thing. And thanks to everyone for the advice about literary agents.

Edit Part II: I just realized I forgot to put in an image of Nolan North. Please forgive me, Mr. North.