Kickstarter

New Incentive- Everyone that backs this Kick Starter will receive a copy of the rough draft for Gold-Lined Storms. Only people that have backed this Kick Starter will receive the draft. It won't include the changes made by the desktop publisher or any photos or art. 

Back Story- 

Back in December I went on a 2 month road trip and wrote a book on my journey. The second draft is complete and and I'm going on a second road trip to finish the final draft and to really get into the mind set of the main character.The adventure starts on Saturday 8/18/2012 and there will be multiple daily updates on my blog with pictures from where I am that day as well as sections from my writing. 

Click here to visit my blog and see some of these updates

You can read the first chapter of the book by clicking here

The Book-

The story is about Joshua Blackwood, a guy that finds out he has schizophrenia so he goes on a road trip to find himself before his condition starts to take away the person he is. As the book progresses the writing style changes as his condition becomes worse.

I have worked very hard to make sure the schizophrenic symptoms are true to reality. This isn't a story where I took someone with a mental illness and gave them an imignary friend to talk to. I've interviewed a psychologist as well as 2 people that suffer from visual schizophrenia. I have also read several books on the subject. One of my of my goals with this book to to help break some of the stigmas that surround mental illness. 

Here's a podcast I just did while on the road. Between the Bubbles did a great interview. We talk a little bit about comics but for the most part we discuss Chasing Gold-Lined Storms. Click Here!

Interview I did with Geeks Unleashed about Gold-Lined Storms. http://geeksunleashed.me/2012/09/06/interview-jesse-grillo/

Here is a link to an interview I did for the book right after my first road trip. http://selfpublishingteam.com/q-a-with-jesse-grillo-diving-into-the-details/

I’m a very method writer so these updates will be really interesting. On the trip where I wrote the first draft, I lived in a forest in Humbolt, California for 4 days, I dressed and pretended I was homeless in Eugene, Oregon for 2 days, I worked on a hippie commune, volunteered at a homeless shelter, interviewed over 20 people, got kicked out of Canada and stayed in a haunted house in Seattle.

These experiences were developed and written into the book so that Joshua Blackwood's adventure is very similar to my own. 

On this next road trip I'll be doing a lot of the same things. I am for sure going to be homeless again for a few days and plan on doing volunteer work along the way. I’ll start clean shaven and will just be bringing the bare necessities. A few pairs of clothing, my laptop, books that relate to what I’m writing and a few notebooks. I don’t want to bring any distractions with me and will be bringing only items that pertain to the story. These will only be things the main character of my book would bring. 

The trip is going to start Saturday, August 18th and the Destinations so far are Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, San Franciso, Santa Rosa, Humbolt, Eugene, Portland. There is no set time frame for the trip but I plan on being gone for at least a month. Most of the time will be spent in Portland because the love interest part of the book happens there. 

Every cent of what I will make through Kick Starter will go into the making of the book. It will cover the costs of my editor, desktop publisher, artist and printing costs. The writing style changes as the book progresses and images, clips of papers, ripped out passages from books, photographs, drawings, and other items are included as Joshua's schizophrenia becomes worse. I'm going to be working with a few artists for the several drawings in the book. I will also have one design the cover with the desktop publisher.

This book is a labor of love and I am so proud of the way it's turning out. I've spent 9 months working on it and 2 out of those 9 months included me living on the road while writing. At the end of this next road trip I will have a completed novel and all that will be left is the work I have to do with my desktop publisher. 

I'm doing the self publishing route and the costs can really ad up. None of these costs include any of the expenses incurred while being on the road for a total of 3 months. I did a Kick Starter a few months ago and I was able to get $1000 to help cover some the costs associated with this book but the fact of the matter is that it will cost much more.

Including the costs involved with paying people involved in making this book, buying 42 research books, and printing expenses I'm looking at over $3,000. Again, this doesn't include any of the money I spent or will be spending for the road trips. 

Because of the changing writing styles I'm going to need to work a lot with an editor. When I say writing style I also mean the structure of the pages. As the book progresses some of the pages get a little... weird. There will be a LOT of time spent with my desk top publisher.

You can see more photos from my first trip by clicking here. All the rewards include shipping costs within the United States. If you want anything shipped outside of the states please ad $5 to help cover this cost. If you can't afford this then don't worry about it, I'll cover that cost. I'm just honored to have people that want to read my work.