Guest Post: Alan Wallach - Kieran and the Weird Window

It's sometimes very strange how things evolve. About fifteen years ago, my nine year old grandson , Ian, came to live with us because my son and daughter-in-law were getting divorced and he didn't want to live with either of them.  One day, this nine year old asked me to help him write a book, which I agreed to do. We worked on it for a couple of weeks and finally finished one chapter,  Then, thank heaven, he lost interest. Try collaborating with a nine year old.  Fast forward, fourteen years.  My son was complaining to me that his ten year old, Kieran, refuses to read anything.  On a whim, I dug out this chapter written years earlier, changed the name of the hero to Kieran and wrote a few more chapters.  I sent them to my son who said Kieran read them and wanted more.  So I continued and finished the story, which he read.  I wrote a second book, which to our surprise, he also read.  My son told me that I must have missed my calling. Having gotten my fiction writing chops back which had been rusty, this led to books three and four which are full length books which he read and by this time, my granddaughter, then nine started to read them. The result was a series of four books about Kieran and his Weird Window, which is a portal to another universe. The books are available as downloads and in paperback on www.weirdwindow.com.  Having established a set of characters who have histories and personalities and an environment which violates the laws of physics, but not too much, there is no question that I could write a dozen more of these if there was a demand.  The characters drive the story. In a sense, the writer need only watch what they do in his mind's eye.

Now I am writing full time.  I wrote a novel many years ago and didn't do anything with it.  I have recently self-published it on Smashwords.  I have just released an “adult” unabridged novel, Solomon's Dozen,  about a dirty old man's adventures.  Self publishing on Smashwords is fast, easy and free.  It can get your books out there.  But while the e-books are available, I find that printed books are still more in demand.  Having published the Kieran books in paperback, I can tell you that getting books in print is also relatively simple and not too expensive.  And since you can print small quantities on demand in a  matter of days, there is no reason not to do it. 

If  any of you are interested 
The Kieran Series - Children’s Adventure Series https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/18871 http://www.weirdwindow.com
Corviglia - Murder in the Alps https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/498337
Solomon’s Dozen - Confessions of a Dirty Old Man https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/526244

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About Alan Wallach

Born and raised in Brooklyn. he has a degree in chemistry.  After a tour in the US Air Force as a meteorologist, he went to work for IBM and back to school for graduate study in mathematics.  He has been associated with computers for most of his business life in one form or another. He has been a technical writer, and for almost 15 years wrote a computer column for the Sunday Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield MA. In the early nineties, his Plain English Guide to Your PC was published and and right before the millennium his book, The Year 2000 Hoax was released, which debunked the doomsayers prediction of an economic collapse because of the Y2K bug. 

Alan is an accomplished classical pianist and considers music his first love. He is a basketball nut and still plays often in the early morning hours with a similar minded group of nuts. He and his wife have recently moved from the Berkshires in Massachusetts to New Jersey, in full view of the Manhattan skyline. He has two sons and five grandchildren. He is now a full time writer working on a new novel and continuing his Kieran series of books for young readers. Email him at alanwallach@gmail.com

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