Mild Mannered has now been on sale for a little under three months now, and the second on being released in about eight months from today, it's hard not to reflect on the strange, painful journey that has brought me here.
To be honest, the reason I chose to tell Mild Mannered now wasn't simply because I wanted to tell the story. It's because, well, I needed something to do. You see, just like any other budding author, I had a "day job". For reasons that are my own, I will not disclose that employer or what I did for them, but I will say I was reasonably content with the job, though (just like any other budding author) my heart belonged to my craft. After working for this employer for close to eighteen months, I wound up contracting whooping cough of all things, or "the cough of a thousand days" as the emergency room doctor informed me the Japanese call it. I thought that was a neat fact.
What wasn't neat, however, was the persistent cough that decimated my voice to the point I could only speak in gravely whispers. Because my job consisted of phone work, my job literally told me I was "of no use" to them, so they forced me to be on a short-term disability until the condition resolved itself. The problem? There is no cure for whooping cough. Even after the cough subsided, I was still unable to speak for months.
So, there I found myself, sitting around the house, watching shitty movies on Netflix (though it was nice catching up with Breaking Bad and Weeds...thanks Netflix!) and finding myself basically in quarantine (whooping cough is incredibly contagious). My primary care physician, who has been one of the few beacons of light through this ordeal, told me to find something to do to occupy my time. While my work with Examiner.com was filling about an hour a day, that still left far too much during the day in which I found myself left with.
It was then I decided to write the first draft of Mild Mannered.
Admittedly, I've always loved the idea of exploring the everyday lives of superheroes and their interactions with those without powers. With such material like Alan Moore's Watchmen, NBC's Heroes and Chuck, and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the concept has been explored, but never the same way twice. Hence the reason I chose the route I did with my books. With the blueprints in my head, it was time to go to work.
Writing for roughly four or five hours a day, five or six days a week, the first draft of Mild Mannered was done in about two months. It felt good to get it out there finally after incubating for over a decade, and I knew it wasn't going to be the last (even then, I had planned this to be a four-part series). However, after being away from my day job for close to six months, I knew I was going back to work. So, the completed book was left untouched for months.
Apparently, the universe had a different plan for me, and, subsequently, the book.
Even after returning to work the following January of 2013, working severely reduced hours until mid-February, my voice was still fading in and out, causing me to have to miss more work, and being sent home several times in the process. Finally, the higher-ups had had enough, and forced me to take another round of short-term disability to figure out what was wrong with me, and to not return until the problem has fully resolved. As it turns out, the problem is that the previous whooping cough had strained my vocal cords, forcing me to go into vocal rehabilitation to fix it. So, while that took another six months to take care of itself, I took advantage of the situation fully.
Not only was this the Summer that such amazing films like Now You See Me, Pitch Perfect, and This is the End bowed, but it was the inaugural year of the Salt Lake Comic-Con (okay, it was in September, but who cares?). The PR rep for the SLCC saw my articles from Examiner.com, and I was offered a press pass to cover the convention. I humbly accepted the offer, of course. While I went to different panels and events, covering all of them (including a chance to see Stan Lee talk...and yes, it was awesome), I took advantage of my time there, and took in a panel about how to make your living as a writer.
What did I find out? Apparently, it's easier than ever to make it as a self-published author. Thanks to the internet, and sites like CreateSpace and SmashWords, budding authors can finally avoid the hoop-jumping and red tape many publishing companies force first-time authors to go through, and they can finally get their stories out there for the masses themselves.
After meeting many of these authors, and knowing the keys to my fate were with me after all, I found renewed vigor, and a creative wave crashed violently into me. Days after the SLCC, I went home and wrote. And wrote. And wrote! Writing for eight to nine hours during the day, and then another four to six hours at night (depending on how much creative flow was going, how much caffeine was coursing through my veins, or, admittedly, how emotional the scenes made me). The second installment's first draft was completed in just under a month and a half.
Seeing that, in manuscript form, the second installment was nearly double in length what the first installment was, I opted to go back and take a look at Mild Mannered again to see what could be flushed out.
The problem?
Mild Mannered, in that rough draft, was shit. While it was still enjoyable, when comparing it to the second installment, was horrid, and I could not, even with my considerable skill and experience, fix it.
The solution? Rewrite it!
Using the rough draft as a blueprint, I wrote day and night, trying to fix my mistakes (and there were PLENTY of them!). Luckily, since I had technically already written it once, the new Mild Mannered was finished in about three weeks.
By this time, it was mid-October, and I was about to return to work yet again. While my voice wasn't perfect, I was steadily running out of disability, so I really had no choice. No worries, though. Both books' new drafts were completed, and I was ready to begin the marketing effort. Mild Mannered was posted in its entirety on Wattpad, where it generated interest quite quickly, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I had it ready to take live on Amazon.
After blood, sweat, tears, and obscenities were shed, Yelena's amazing cover art for Mild Mannered was done, and the book went live on December 21st, 2013. Okay, so there were SEVERAL remaining editing mistakes were left, and have now been fixed, but the fact that the book has sold one copy, much less as many as it's sold now, is amazing.
It's even more amazing, however, how the universe allows you to bask in one aspect of your life, and royally fucking over another in the same moment.
As I sit here, writing these words, I have now been away from my job for about a month-and-a-half now, forced on a personal leave of absence after contracting a severe upper respiratory infection, and being told my job is no longer available to me. So now, as I struggle to find a day job, watching old episodes of Scrubs and finding myself uncontrollably weeping about every other day (and not just from the show), I fear for my financial future and feel like a failure.
At least, that's what it was up until tonight.
Even in the wake of several people either divisively speaking against self-publishing or spitting hateful barbs towards myself or other authors I respect, I find myself listening to amazing music and a smile with my face.
I'm not a failure.
Sure, Mild Mannered isn't selling as greatly as I had hoped, but guess what? I've sold copies. Plural. More than one. That's something that some authors cannot say right now. Hell, I've sold a copy internationally! This is an amazing feeling!
I have people clamoring for the second installment already, and it doesn't come out until November. I haven't even announced the title of the book yet. That's powerful!
Look, the universe will often only give you the sign once of what you should be doing. After truly thinking about it, I can honestly say that the universe has fortunately given me three chances to finally do what I want to. This is an amazing opportunity, and I'm sure as hell not going to squander it.
I'm not a failure.
I'm not mild mannered.
I'm a fucking superhero.
While I know it's been close to three months since you've heard from me before tonight, mark my words: this is not the last you've heard of Will Cohen.
I'm currently working on the third installment of the Mild Mannered series, as well as some other good stuff, so, please, by all means, stay tuned. I know you won't regret it.
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