Amazonian Gnomes

Ok. Loaded my next short up on Amazon tonight. It took me a while to settle on a cover. I kinda like this cover; it's nice and creeptastic. But Fairy Rings should be available in about 24-48 hours on Amazon.com for under a buck.

I am working on my next story as well. In fact, that's what I should be doing right now instead of blogging, but eh. I will get it banged out. Really liking where I am going with this one though. More on that later.

Anyway. Overtime is ending, they cut it shorter than they had expected, so I will have more time to write. That is always bonus.

Making this update short and sweet. But first the cover of Fairy Rings!!!!!!1!

Buy the short, The Sweater! And look for Fairy Rings soon!

Next UP!

Ok. So, it will be July 1 in just a few hours. The first day of a new month brings with it new beginnings. New chances to have a "successful month." I have determined that my month will be successful. We are on OT at the day job. That means that our cash flow is going to be a bit easier at the house.

More importantly I am going to begin hammering out my next novel starting the first. I know that many of you are thinking, "Oh he's going to try that NaNoWriMo stuff (National Novel Writer's Month). Actually, my answer to that is this: while I admire the people who endeavor to smash out a 50,000 word novel in one month, I do not intend to force myself to follow these guidelines for this endeavor. I am going to write as solidly as I can as constantly as I can. If I finish in a month, then GREAT! If it takes two, then that's cool too. If it takes three, I will probably start to seriously question my commitment. Truth of the matter is I will probably finish it must faster than much slower. I have let this idea really stew in my brain for a while now. I think I have it simmered down to its essence and can understand the broad strokes of the whole.

This also means that if I don't answer as much as I normally would then I am probably lost in a crazy Nazi run dystopia filled with sorcerers, cowboys, robots, and steampunk inventors.

Synthesis

For about a month now, I have been working on fleshing out an alternate history world for my next writing forays. I think I have finally settled on a solid formation of history. My world has a solid mix of magic, mayhem, clockwork robots, zombies, and Nazis. Imagine, if you could for a minute, a world where Nazis control the western world, Hitler is an immortal sorcerer, and if starvation doesn't kill you, the zombies just might. Now compound this with tons of real world historical references to the occult and there you have it. A zombie apocalypse full of Nazis, steam punk, and magic.

In other news, the overtime at my day job just kicked in. Hopefully, this will not cut into my writing time too much, especially since this novel idea just congealed. Both of my daughters have swimming lessons this week. I love my life.

Some blogs to check out this week if you have time:

• jakonrath.blogspot.com
• www.smreine.com
• jamiemchenry.blogspot.com
• and for my hockey friends slapcheck421.blogspot.com

That's just a few shout-outs. And as always, Be good, but have fun.

A change of pace - Update

If you know me. You know that I love fantasy. I love everything fantastic. From the shimmering scales of dragons to the pitter patter of gnomish dinosaur riders in New York of the 22nd Century. My mind has never really been well rooted in reality.I finished up my first fantasy novel. In reading back through it, something just doesn't feel right. Now, I may be too critical of the piece due to my relationship with the genre.

My wife/editor and I have talked about things a bit and she and I have agreed that something needs to be done with the novel (possibly file it away under "nevergettingpublished"). I have several short thriller/horror bits that I am putting together right now. One is already up on Amazon.com, and others are soon to follow. Very soon.

Sales of my lone short story are low, but I expect that. I haven't done a ton of advertising about the story. I think I am waiting until I have a few up.

Also, I have started the planning stages on a dystopian steampunk novel. I have mixed feelings about several aspects, so I am still outlining and revising those outlines. There is something about the world or the story that irks me pretty heavily.

On a different note, my fellow writer friend Jamie McHenry recently offered a contest on his blog for an Amazon gift card. I inadvertently won. (btw, I usually don't enter to win contests on the basis that I don't deserve to win) So, I have a few extra bucks to spend on one of my fave sites to shop - Amazon.

I know I will be picking up a few books written by other indie authors. While are out there, you should check out my short story, The Sweater.

The Sweater, a new Short Story

So, my first publishing on Amazon.com. "The Sweater" is a short story in the horror genre. Here is the back cover copy: A young couple, Tom and Anne Settler, live normal, just-making-it lives. Tom's job pays the bills, mostly. When a mysterious entity threatens their way of life, as well as their sanity, will they be able to hold things together? Or will the shadows claim them?


I am truly proud of this story. I have it priced at $0.99. What's not to love? You can pick it up for less than the cost of a soda. Some people have already asked me, "But I don't own a Kindle. How am I supposed to read it?" I present to you Kindle for PC!


What I want all of you to do is this: please tell two people about this short story. It's a buck. It's quick. And it's creepy!


Thank you very much.
Michael

Finished... Finished?

Ok, so as some of you may know. I have finished the rough draft of my first novel. My lovely wife is proofing and editing as I wash out my brain. When she's finished I will give it a go through and let her take a second look. Then I am going to be sending the manuscript to a few very close (very opinionated) beta readers. Then after all of those are returned with suggested edits/criticisms. I will be publishing the work at www.amazon.com as well as the other epub formats.

This comes at an interesting time, the kids' last day of school. The start of the summer schedule in my parenting plan. A time when some book sales could really help out financially as well.

My wife jokingly said last night, "Hey, you don't need to set your alarm to get up early in the morning."
"Actually, I kinda do. I want to get started on the next story. If I want to make a career of this, I need to treat it like a career. Besides, the writing part is fun," I said.
"Oh. Okay."

That exchange is what I want to delve into today. I talk to and read about so many writers who finish their first book and think, "Yay! I have a book." They might even get it published by a nontraditional publishing house (without an agent, that's about all you get these days ). I ask them what they are going to do now. And, invariably, the answer is "take a break." Sure, I am good with that. But I never ask how long. Because I know that answer too. And that answer is a sad one. That answer is "I don't know." But really it means "until the muse strikes me again sometime maybe months later." Now, I am definitely not a full on muse enthusiast. I do believe that there is a place/memory/portion of your brain/thing that comes to authors and thumps them in the head with ideas. However, I also believe that authors have to see the hundreds of story ideas that shoot out in front of them EVERY SINGLE DAY. If you want this to be your life, you can't sit back and let writing happen to you. You have to grab your writing mind/muse by the lapels like a Chicago street thug. Shake it down for any spare change it has. And put fingers to keyboard. In short, if you want to be a writer. Write, damnit.

Alright, off my soap box. The other question that has assaulted my mind is what am I going to write next. Well, I posted earlier on my blog that I have a Young Adult steampunk urban fantasy story brewing in my head. And this is completely true. I am working out the complexities of this fantastic world currently. However, I think my next writing adventure will be a science fiction short story. I am drawing part of the inspiration from my brother. He is a rifleman in the US Army, currently deployed to Afghanistan. When asked what he wants to do after he gets out, he says, "I think I want to learn to pilot. To fly helicopters. Maybe be a rescue pilot or a life-flight pilot." There's something really noble in that. My baby brother who is fighting overseas "so that others who can't don't have to," wants to still help people in a different way, when he is released from that obligation. I think this speaks to the heroic spirit that so greatly typifies much of the speculative fiction genres. My brother is a hero. And he is the inspiration for my short story.

Here is my short writeup:
Master Sergeant Alan Willians, Drop Ship Alpha, United Interstellar Naval Corps, signed up for the Naval Corps hoping to see the galaxy. See the galaxy he has, maybe too much of it. Now, a bit jaded and looking forward to his release from contract, he's planning to start his own business piloting planet jumper ships to transport people to the newly settled planets. Planets that he helped secure for the Interstellar Alliance. Something goes terribly wrong on his next to last mission, however. He will be faced with a choice - give up his dream and save the day, or ignore what he knows.

Intrigued? Follow my blog for more updates.
Are a writer yourself? Tell me what you do when you finish writing a book in the comments below.

A fun new way to write

So, last night I managed to crank as much as I would normally do in two nights of writing. I would have to say that it is entirely thanks to the genius of one person: @MonicaMarieH . She has created this cleaver Twitter hashtag #wordmongering. This is a 30 minute on/30 minute off blitz style of writing. Now, my friend @Pensake is who I really noticed using #wordmongering. I thought I would jump in and see what it was all about. I noticed the first hour to be really refreshing, even though I was writing away on my iPod. For anyone who has never done this, let me tell you that it is sloooooow. But I managed a respectable number.

Fast forward. I have done this for about three hours now and am farther along in my novel than I would have been otherwise. I think there may be a few sections in need of editing, but they are saved on a draft now. Great! This may be the tool that my ADHD driven mind needs to blast away at my writing.

So, if you see any weird tweets from me in the near future gloating about word counts, don't fret. I am not crazy. Just encouraging fellow writers with some good natured ribbing.

Oh, also check out my wife's blog. She's new and going to do some book reviews soon. Send her a comment or a follow or something. Also if you aren't following me. You should be. I am fun.

Gravesight: A not so grave review

I recently dipped into the entertainment budget to get a novella by a new and budding author, Jeremy McNabb. The novella Gravesight was a fun excursion. I let/made my wife read the sample from Amazon.com and she immediately begged me to pay the $.99 to buy the rest of the story. Read my review below.

I really liked the story and the setting. Though the story is short, intentionally so, there is a solid amount of action and intrigue to make you want to turn the page. 

Jeremy McNabb's otherkind seem to be a well thought out alternative to your traditional creatures of modern fantasy. 

The steampunk influences of the story are relatively light. Thus a newbie to the genre of steampunk should be able to follow right along.

On the negative side, I do feel that the story could use a healthy dose of copy editing. Nothing that distracts from the story too much, but there are a few errors.

All in all I would say a great read and a good tease for the yet to be published book seriesGravesight

Crashes Outside Cause Train Wrecks Inside

I know. I know. The title is a bit Daily Planetish. But what I want to talk about today is distractions. In the life of a writer it's so easy to let your mind wander. I mean, seriously, this is a profession born of embracing your imagination, feeding it chocolate, giving it crayons, and then peeling its childlike genius form the walls. However, there is a fine line between embracing your imagination and letting it go wherever it wants.

I often notice that outside distraction is one of the most commonly talked about issues that writers face. This was definitely the case for me last night. Here's the picture. I was sitting complacently writing at my computer and rocking out to some really old fun music. I hear a loud boom from outside. Pulling my headset off, I ask my wife about the sound. She peeks out out the window and says that some guy ran off the road and took out our bushes. He finally stopped when the tree that he clipped blew out his front tire. I run out the front door to check on the drunk motorist and am relieved to learn that he is alive and well. Now, we sort through this fiasco for about 45 minutes. When I come back inside, my incomplete sentence is staring at me from the nearly blank page starting Chapter 18. A full hour of mind clearing later, I have continued on ten whole words. Ugh. My wife makes the subtle and ribbing comment that I haven't been writing very much... Really? At that point, I decided to call it a night for writing.

I share this story to intimate, as many of my writer friends are keenly aware, that outside distractions can cause pretty hefty distractions inside. My question to all of you is this: How do you 'get in the zone' after being distracted? Along the same lines, what kind of distractions can you see right now from your writing desk?

While many authors may be quite content to write bit by bit, I write action oriented fantasy. When I write it's like a movie playing in my head. I just put motion into words. As such, having uninterrupted access to that cinema is crucial to the fluidity of my writing. Especially if writing some big climactic scene (like Chapter 18).

So that's my take. I firmly believe in creating a clear space (at least mentally) in order to write. And in considerate drunk motorists irritate the daylights out of me.

Monday morning Planning

Ok. So I normally spend Monday morning every other week at my computer reviewing what I have done for the past two weeks and working out plans for my writing and world creation for the next two weeks. I spend a considerable amount of time conversing with a co-creator of my fantasy world discussing everything from politics to hair color in our world. The process really helps me to step inside the world and look at things from my characters' eyes. This morning has been one of those mornings.

After a couple of hours of back and forth discussion, I settle in to write until that urge/need is sated. My wife/editor is starting to crack the whip and be a bit more relaxed about my writing taking over my waking moments. Somehow, I think she wants to see me finish this book as much or more than I do.

While my current project is traditional epic fantasy, I have swimming in my head another series that is a bit of a break from that. This other series is YA urban paranormal steampunk. I hope that's not too genre-mashy for any of you. If it's not, I have thought about maybe letting it go into the realm of dystopia too. That too much? Thought so. I told my wife though that this YA is probably going to fly out of my head, since I am being delicate and precise with Bound by Blood. I intend to relax a little more with the rest of Bound by Blood and with my YA series.

What is your favorite genre to write or read? I eagerly await your comments below.

On Red Bull and Late Nights

Or: Turning calamity into calm sanity.

As a writer, I have noticed that writing seems to be the last thing that I do every day. On many days it seems almost an afterthought. Looking back at the day though, I can notice many times when I am not sitting at the keyboard, but my characters and plots are steadily flowing through my mind. Driving to the store, walking next door to check on the dogs and family, and various other activities allow me time to have little heart to heart talks with my main characters. Although I am not penning out their exploits, I am busy every waking moment molding and shaping their worlds. It's those times that I cannot write that I use to plan.

HOWEVER, it seems the writing time comes terribly late or stressed for time quite often. Well, on behalf of writers everywhere I would like to thank the wonderful people at Red Bull N.A., Inc, Santa Monica, CA for the glorious invention of Red Bull. Today, my foot started it's quarterly swelling and throbbing for no reason bout. While the pain is intense and often sleep depriving, I usually sit in bed in a drowsy, agony filled confusion. But thanks to Red Bull, I can turn my sleeplessness into additional writing time. And because of the magical powers that this magical drink has over the space-time continuum, I can write in hyper speed. Which brings me to another  glorious invention: editing. But that's a topic for far in the future. I am sure that you all will get to read more about that later.

Another, useful tool for being productive on these sleepless nights, is the proper choice of working music. While I love film scores for writing to (especially any by Danny Elfman, John Williams, Hans Zimmer, or Alexandre Desplat), I really find that I get pumping and churning out tons of material listening to house, trance, or dance music. Daft Punk is great for getting my heart and my fingers racing. Do any of you have a favorite working soundtrack? Sound off in the comments section!

If you are a writer, feel free to comment and fill me in on your beverage of choice while writing. If you aren't a writer, chime in too. Let me know what gets you focused on getting things done.

Fear and Motivation

I love getting right in the middle of a chapter and blasting out tons of brilliant work and then seeing lightning right outside the window. If only I wrote horror stories, I would say that those moments perfectly precipitate the precise emotion that I shoot for.

However, I am working on an epic fantasy. So, terror is not my goal. Not really. But I have decided that my main antagonist should have just the right amount of creepy sprinkled in. As for characterization, here is an excerpt from my book due out this summer.

Aportus was usually grateful for the soft leather pads at the bottoms of his servant shoes. They allowed him to come and go silently while fulfilling his master's demands. At this particular time, he experienced an unfortunate byproduct of that trained silence. Obedient to the end, however, he simply smoothed his black jerkin and inspected sleeves closely as he patiently waited. He dared not make a noise. His master was known to sometimes ignore a waiting servant for over a candle-mark while he worked through some issue or another.

Lesser servants would attempt to politely clear their throats or even speak their presence, but not Aportus. He would never dream of insulting his master so. That is why he had outlived many of his master's servants. Not that he didn't have ambition. Quite the contrary. He was perhaps the most ambitious of all of the servants in the house. Maybe even the world. Aportus knew the secrets of being the best servant possible. All of his lessons boiled down to one simple maxim: know your master better than you know yourself.

And Aportus knew his master. He knew that his master was a creature of extreme habit. He knew that his master was ludicrously powerful. He knew every taste that his master craved and every smell that he loved. He could tell his master's mood before his master moved or said anything. He had known for some time that his master may one day rule the known world. He knew that to interrupt even his master's thoughts was worthy of death. But what he did not know was what his master looked like.

He had never seen his master's face. Or his hands. Or any other part of his master's flesh. During every encounter with him, Aportus only saw him in shadow and only covered head to toe with black silks or black leather.

Aportus had almost always considered himself to be the very best servant that anyone could find in all the empires of the world. His lot had not always been as spectacular as it was now. Shortly after his tutelage finished, he was forced to settle for a house of an almost unacceptably low station. The matriarch was petty and spiteful. The patriarch was a slovenly ingrate. Even their children learned to complain before they learned to walk. They considered him one of the common slaves of the home, even though he was technically free to come and go as he desired. When he was paid, it was usually much less than the pittance they had agreed upon. For years this went on. Aportus hated his life. Then, everything changed. His future master had come to his chambers in the dead of night and offered him wealth beyond measure for his servitude. Aportus quickly agreed. Anything would be better than the insulting conditions that he was forced to endure day in and day out. And so, he laughed to himself as he packed his things, listening to the death cries of his former employers.

And so he found himself standing patiently and silently waiting to learn the orders that his master would have for him. He would wait like this for as long as his master deemed necessary. He did not wait because his master paid him precisely on time as arranged. Nor did he wait because the amount that he was paid made him in fact more wealthy than most lords and ladies of the land. Not even out of fear did he wait. No, he waited because he respected his master, and to respect one's master meant that you simply did what was asked of you no matter how difficult.

“Ah, I see you are here. Good,” his master said, not even turning to face Aportus. “I would like for you to prepare and deliver a message for me. I want every member of our little council to arrive at the circle of stones at Pecua in precisely three weeks. We have much to discuss. Be sure to impress upon them the importance of punctuality for this meeting. I do so hate having to wait.”

Aportus nodded. He turned and took several steps toward the door.

“Oh, and have someone come and clean this mess.”

Aportus turned and noticed the speckles of glass glinting on the floor where the master's mirror had been.

“Yes sir.”

“I would hate for anyone to get... hurt.”

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Planning and Numbers

I have to rant for just a minute or two. I am in the middle of writing my first complete novel. After quite a bit of deliberation on the subject (and life in general), I decided to epub the book on Amazon, B&N, and the other digital media outlets. I read some blogs of authors who are adamantly against this practice citing that their epub sales make up less than 1% of their total sales margins. Now, let's look at the facts for a second or three. Each and every person that I have seen this argument from is looking at a couple of VERY skewed numbers.

1.) Their books are released in print form first. Then several months later the digital format hits the downloads. What? I can't fathom this. This isn't even a post about the fact that traditional (legacy if you must) publishing puts most new books out several months beyond their completion date. At times they even leave the contract nebulous for months after the "hand shake deal" is struck. But, back on topic, if the book is released in print first and the epub is only an afterthought, you can't really compare the total sales numbers accurately. There is too much separation of product.

2.) The more gaping flaw in this logic, is the fact that I have yet to see a single person post that their digitals sold 1% of their total sales volume that didn't have their book priced obscenely high. Come on, $9.98 for an epub, when the paper version is $9.99?!!?!!?! Really?

Let's look at the numbers on this one. You sell 100 books at $10. That's $1000 in sales which amounts to $150 in royalties for the average contract. Then you sell 1 ebook at $10, making you guessed it $1.50. Now, let's put the numbers in the right perspective. Sell that same 100 books at $10. There you go $150. Put the digital book at a much MUCH more reasonable price, say $2.99 or $3.99. Let's use $2.99 for this example. If you posted it yourself you get 70% of that... SO about $2. Sell the same amount dollar wise and you get 3.33 sales for the $10 sale OR $7 royalty. With the same 1% of total sales dollars, you end up with an extra meal at a fast food restaurant. HOWEVER, if Wal-Mart has taught us anything at all, it's that when you LOWER price, you increase total sales exponentially. You might not make quite as much per item, but your number of sales will vastly overpower that. But why settle for 15% when you can get 70% on your own.

I know my numbers are skewed some, but there is SOLID statistical data compiled by others JA Konrath for one. I know everyone cites him, but there are dozens of others.

It's not guaranteed, but the numbers just make WAY more sense to keep my digital rights and run with it. Especially since my wife has worked as a proofer/editor before.

But on a different and more personal note, my kids are awesome! My little boy hit a double today and ended up scoring. He also fielded a ball hit near him. (He plays Tball, so these things are great victories.) My youngest child is adorable, so much so that in fact an old man randomly stopped and interrupted his own conversation to tell her and my grandmother that she is absolutely beautiful. Creepy and sweet at the same time. My stepdaughter and son are both showing that they are growing into quite the young adults. At times, I know what my mother meant by the phrase, "I hope you have children just like you one day." Part compliment and part prophetic curse. Well, not so much a compliment, but oh well. My wife is amazing. She astounds me every day with her ability to clarify what I am trying to say to myself. In my writing and my life. I am very happy with where my life is and is leading. Times are tough. We struggle. But we push ahead.

If you are still reading, check out my book, Bound by Blood, it should be out on Amazon.com in late summer. In the mean time, leave a comment below.

Momentum is Key

Ok. So I have a few new chapters down in my book. I hope this weekend proves very fruitful I am thinking if I can really get some good momentum I can be as deep as a fourth or maybe even a third of the way into my book by Monday. The next few chapter should fly by. I love writing action scenes. They flow pretty quickly for me.

On a side note. I had an interesting night last night. Here is my recap. I think this is mostly the way that it happened. Yeah. That's it, this IS the way it happened.

I was writing, my mind deep in the euphoria of scene creation, when my name cut through the soft Celtic melodies of Lisa Cannon.

 "Michael." I heard. Ripping off my headphones I came to my wife's call. "Something is getting into the trash. I think it might be a possum."

"Let me go check it out, honey. You stay here in safety."

And so I went retrieving my trusty axe from beside the back door. Pulling open the thick back door, I peered into the night. A small movement caught my eye from the top of the trash can. I rattled the door to get the attention of whatever it was.

It looked up and met my stare, eye to eye. The ferocious beast stood upright. It grew as it stood: two, three, finally four feet tall fully upright. It's razor sharp talons glinted in the little bit of moonlight. It snarled and launched itself across the wooden porch at me.

My reactions were too quick to be surprised by such a tactic. My axe handle served to parry the beast's yellowed teeth away before they could find their mark. Following through with the grace of a championship figure skater, I smote the beast. I felled the hell-spawned creature by one blow from my mighty axe. And so, I stood victorious over the vile beast.

At least that's how I remember it.

Anyway. That's enough stalling, back to my novel.

Time to Revisit my Outline

I have finished Chapter 3 and started Chapter 4 of my upcoming novel, Bound by Blood. I just sat back down and plotted a large part of the rest of the story. This has given me a pretty strong idea of the rest of the book and the point of views that I want to pursue. I am loving the process of writing. I have been taking some time to really get to know the industry of writing as well.

My main protagonist has been a little flat, so he and I had to spend some time together over the past couple of days. I think that he, and perhaps I, have come to a better understanding of who he is and should be. It turns out that the most fleshed out character in the story has completed her part of the story by Chapter 4 except perhaps a brief return later. But she's just so much fun to write.

Lately, I have been battling the standard fears that most new writers go through. Unfortunately, I have this deep seated need for personal validation. I read through my rough draft so far and am finding some so-so wording and occasional repetitiveness. Perhaps, that's to be expected. What it sets up in my mind is the idea that I am a terrible writer. Because of this, I have been considering posting something here so see what people say about it. Not sure I have enough of a following to warrant that. Let's check, um... followers 0. So nope. But if you happen to read this and want me to post up a bit, leave a comment and I will see what I can dig up.

Either way, I will have something to post up here pretty soon. I hope to be finished with my rough draft by the end of the month. Then spend the next bit editing and looking for cover art. Marketing is a different kind of beast though. I am still working on marketing strategies. The typical Blogs, Tweets, and Facebook stuff will only get me so far without people already knowing me. If you have suggestions, chime in.

Swimming in the Idea Pool

Here I am, my first blog post. So, I have learned that part of my writing process is sharing my writing process and ideas with others. This, of course, is a slightly hairy prospect for a new writer. It seems to be a knife-edged path between sharing too much, spoiling plots, and writing virtually nothing at all. Hopefully, I can balance that path well.

My current writing projects are twofold. I have an epic fantasy series and a YA modern steampunk fantasy.

The first in my epic fantasy series will be Bound By Blood. A displaced half-elf, joined by a possessed bard and a grief stricken barbarian, set out to save the world from destruction at the hands of an ancient demon worshiping cult. It has been fun writing so far. I hope to have it on Amazon Kindle and other eBookstores by summer 2011.

The first in my YA modern steampunk fantasy is currently unnamed. I hope for a winter release in eBook form. The story? Oh yeah: One boy's boring science fair is interrupted by his aunt and uncle, a mad scientist and a sorcerer of a secret arcane order. They spirit him away in their steam-powered clockwork teleportation device to a new life filled with secret societies, shadow ninjas, and a war that's been raging behind the scenes for over two hundred years.

Tell me what you think below.