DEAD MEDIUM by Peter John

The deathly silence is about to be broken. She disliked the company of others and death did little to warm her spirit. She had led an independent life and she faced death in much the same way. She was finally alone, finally free from the mindless babble of others, at least that's what she thought. May Elizabeth Trump was the rarest of spirits and she was none too happy about it either. She was a dead medium, a ghost who can speak with the living, and her services were to become in great demand. Flung into the limelight and smothered with unwanted attention, May soon discovers that it is not only ghosts with long awaited messages that have taken an interest in her. Something dark was lurking in the shadows, stalking her. Even the dead are not left to rest in peace. 

Dead Medium: A humorous, character driven story and a unique vision of life after death. Not your average ghost story.

Click here to get Dead Medium for your Kindle!

***

Peter John was born in Bromley Kent, England in 1973. He gained an interest in creative writing at the age of 14 and was published during the 1990s in several poetry anthologies. He has been happily married to Jo since 1996 and currently lives in Sidcup Kent, not so far from the tree.

You can connect with Peter at his website, blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Is Your Novel "Too Long?"

"Wait just a tick," you've just said to yourself. "Didn't he recently write a blog post entitled 'Is Your Novel "Long Enough?"'" Yes, that elaborately-punctuated query is correct. I did, and it is here. But I have been perusing the book blog Book Riot (which is fantastic, by the way) and came across these two posts: "Every Book I Read Needs to be at Least 50 Pages Shorter"and "The Problem with 500-Page Books." These are two readers who, generally speaking, do not like long books. They find them fluffy and meandering. The comments to those posts consisted of those who agreed whole-heartedly and those who felt it was their duty to berate the authors for not having attention spans of steel. Comments from my post "Is Your Novel 'Long Enough'" also came down on both sides of the argument, which is to be expected.

So I'd like to ask those of you who prefer novels over novellas and short stories: How long is too long? Does it depend on the story, or will you simply pass on a book that has too many pages, no matter how good it looks? I have Stephen King's expanded edition of The Stand sitting on my shelf, which comes in at a  doorstop-ian 1150 pages. And I do have to admit, I'm reluctant to begin it. I also notice that the three books that make up The Lord of the Rings are about the same combined length. 

A question for all readers: If an author has a 1000-plus-page tale in the works, do you prefer it to be broken up into three or more books, or would you rather sit down with a tome in your lap? Discuss.

Bad, Amazon Reviewer! BAD!

No! You cannot leave a 1-star review on a book you have not read. I said "no!" Stop it... stop! I had to firmly make this point to a reviewer recently who admitted, in her three-sentence review, that she did not get through the first chapter of a book (not mine) because she encountered the word "anyways." Her unpithy review:

I couldnt even gt through one chapter. Someone please tell this author that "anyways" is not a word. Enough said.

No, gentle reviewer, enough certainly has not been said. Quite the opposite, actually. My pithy response:

I searched my copy for use of the word "anyways" and found only one, in a bit of dialogue. It may not be an official word, but it is slang that is used by teenagers--who are the main characters in this book--so this complaint is a bit ridiculous. If one doesn't approve of the way teenagers speak, perhaps one shouldn't read YA paranormal fantasy.

That should have shut her up, no? No. Her most unpithy reply:

I will stick with the YA authors who leave the usage of slang to dialog, where slang is appropriate. Books like Harry Potter and the Twilight series.

And, after I recovered from an exploded brain, my most excellent, pithier remark:

I suppose I didn't make the first statement in my reply clear enough. The only instance of the word you objected to, "anyways," is in a line of dialogue. I find it odd that you encountered this single use of the word and it stopped you cold, made you put the book down and upset you so much that you decided to leave a three-sentence, one-star review that gives potential readers absolutely no information about the book. Perhaps the forty-eight positive reviews indicate that you should read past the first chapter before deciding that the entire effort deserves only one star. I do not wish to pick on you specifically, but it is reviews like this that make me suspicious of all of a given person's reviews. It is an abuse of the ratings system to review a book you have not read, and it is highly unfair. As I said, I do not wish to pick on you, but I see far too many reviews like this on Amazon. Would you review an album after listening to part of a single song? Would you review a movie after watching the first few minutes? I'm sorry, but unless you can actually make intelligent, informed comments about a book, you have no business reviewing it. If you don't like the writing style and decide not to read further, that is fine. But you cannot, in good conscience, review a book which you have not read.

And that, for those of you who are keeping track, is "enough said." She has yet to reply. How much do you believe one should read before leaving a review? 25%? 50%? 100%?

Addendum: Some people think this is a review left on one of my books and have advised me against interacting with negative reviewers. This is not the case. It is a review I came across on another book. I of course know that it is not wise to respond to negative reviews on one's own work, but in my capacity as a reader who buys books on Amazon, it is fully justifiable to take other reviewers to task when their reviews are pointless and unfair to the author.

Is Your Novel "Long Enough?"

Books of Varying Lengths

As you may know, I've recently released Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure. It collects three novellas (called Sullivan's War: Books I, II and III) which were released individually but make up one story line. Those novellas, usually priced at $2.99 apiece, have been selling fairly well. But The Complete Adventure's sales have been fantastic, selling in twelve days nearly as many copies as Book I, even though Book I's price was reduced to 99 cents near the beginning of the month.

I had suspected that I would see an increase in sales once I released The Complete Adventure, and here's why: I'd read long ago that many readers prefer to read only novels. They do not particularly care for short stories, and novellas? What the hell is a novella? The unimpressive sales of my collection Short Stories seems to support this idea. Even though Short Stories has a good number of positive reviews and I promoted it as heavily (if not more heavily) than Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure, I sold nearly 7 times as many copies of Sullivan's War as Short Stories during July. And remember, Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure was only available for the last twelve days of the month.

Now, I'm one who has always been a champion for short stories. I write them, obviously, and I even wrote a blog post called "Why I Love Short Stories." Another post I wrote as a guest on ME Franco's blog is called "Short Fiction is Dead?" In it, I propose that the eBook revolution will see a reemergence of shorter fiction. One thought is that a short story or novella can be published without the concern of making sure a "book" is of a profitable length. Now that printing costs are not a factor, any length can be a profitable length, assuming the story is sufficiently attractive to readers. Well, the three Sullivan's War novellas have been profitable, as have a few of the short stories I released individually. But my experience these past two weeks with Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure has convinced me that full-length novels are going to be even more profitable. And while profit should not be a writer's sole consideration, it is unavoidable if one wishes, as I do, to make a living at it.

So is your novel long enough? What is long enough? The dividing line between novels and novellas ranges from 40,000 words to 60,000 words or higher. Will readers be "unsatisfied" with a 40,000-word novel? Does the word novella scare some people away? And what can one reasonably charge for short stories, novellas, short novels, long novels? I've been publishing my fiction for less than a year, and I'm still trying to work all of this out. But the sales of Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure have convinced me that, for now at least, I should probably not focus on writing short stories quite as much. Novels are what readers want, and I have about a dozen novels waiting to be written. I just hope I can make them long enough.

What do you consider to be a minimum length for a novel? If you prefer novels over novellas or short stories, why? I'd love to hear any thoughts on this topic; just leave a comment below.

Best,

Michael K. Rose

Edit: Please read the followup to this post here.

SHORT STORIES Book Launch Events

Hello, all! I'd like to just take a moment to let you know about a few great events that are taking place to promote the release of my collection Short Stories.

1. There is a Goodreads giveaway going on through July 6. Enter to win one of two print copies available. LINK
2. Alexia Purdy has three Short Stories Collector's Packs (a card signed by yours truly and bookmarks) to give away over on her blog. LINK
3. Dale Herring of The Geekdom of Gore is giving away an ebook copy of Short Stories to whoever writes the best story using a line from Short Stories as a prompt. LINK
4. ME Franco is hosting me for a guest blog post entitled "Short Fiction is Dead?" Check it out here.

Finally, today (Sunday, July 1) is the last day for my Facebook giveaways. Friend me on Facebook and like my author page then keep an eye out on those pages for a chance to win. Full details and links here.

Short Stories has already received 5 glowing reviews on Amazon. If you would like to purchase an eBook version of Short Stories, it is available at the following stores:
Amazon’s U.S. Store: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DWPEUS
Amazon’s U.K. Store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008DWPEUS
B&N's Nook Store: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/short-stories-michael-k-rose/1111753116?ean=2940014585989 

All Other International Amazon Kindle Stores are linked to from here: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

If you would like a signed print copy, order here:
http://www.michaelkrose.com/apps/webstore/products/show/3162997

For a limited time, all signed editions will come with a complimentary Short Stories Collector's Pack which includes a signed card and bookmarks.

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of "Building An Author's Promotional Package," the final and thrilling conclusion! In Part 1, I talked about writing your book description. Part 2 covered images and quotes. Today, I will talk about two more things you should include, one you can include and one that, in my opinion, is not necessary but is a damned great idea (because I thought of it, you see). Onward!

IV: LINKS

Once you've told people all about your great book, shown them how cool the cover looks and shared what others have thought about it, you want to get them to a place where they can buy it or at least stay connected with you. This means links. These are some of the links that you can provide:

1. A link to a static page dedicated to your book. This can be a page on your website (like this one for Short Stories) or a blog post about your book. If you book isn't out yet, you want this to be the go-to page where you will provide links to all the various places people can buy the book once it does come out. If your book is out, link to this page but I would also recommend providing links in your promotional package to the most popular stores.
2. Your blog, if you're not linking to it as mentioned above.
3. If you have other books out, your Amazon profile page.
4. Social media links (your Facebook and Twitter accounts, for example).
5. Your book's Goodreads page.
6. Any other places your book is mentioned/featured/reviewed.

Try not to go overboard on links, or people may not know where to start. I'd keep the number around eight, definitely under ten.

V: A COMPLIMENTARY COPY

The people who are hosting your book announcement on their blog/website are doing you a huge favor. It would be good form to give them a complimentary eBook copy of your book in return. But this is not purely altruistic. There is the possibility they will read the book and like it enough to post a review for you. This will be especially important early on, when your book is new. It is also a good idea to get your complimentary copies out at least a week in advance so they have a chance to read it before the official release.

VI: BOOK EXCERPT (OPTIONAL)

You may, in your promotional package, include a thrilling excerpt of your book. However, this will tend to make the book announcement rather long-looking, and people may skip over it. I would instead recommend that you post an excerpt on your own blog/website and provide a link to it in your promotional package.

VII: SOCIAL MEDIA BLURBS

Okay, this is the damned great idea: social media blurbs. What are those? A little while back, I realized that a lot of people are willing to tweet/announce my book when it comes out. The people who are hosting you on their blog/website are especially willing to do this. So I decided that I would try to make doing so a bit easier for them and, in the process, increase the likelihood that they would do it. A social media blurb is simply a pre-written message advertising or announcing your book. Instead of having to write something and copy and paste the link themselves, your friends and fans can just copy and paste these pre-written blurbs. I recommend making some for Twitter, adhering to the 140-character limit, and some for other social media sites, like Facebook, where you have a bit more room to work with. If your book is already out, you can link to the most popular stores. If not, you can link to the static page for your book. I recommend providing 4-6 for each type of site so they have some variety. Here, for example, are the Twitter blurbs I will provide in my promotional package for Short Stories:

Read SHORT STORIES by Michael K. Rose: “…the purest form of literature…” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Kindle #Nook @MichaelKRose

Michael K. Rose’s SHORT STORIES is “…as rich as a bottle of Montrachet 1978…” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Nook #Kindle @MichaelKRose

Get SHORT STORIES, #SciFi author Michael K. Rose’s new release. “Prepare to be immersed!” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #Nook #Kindle @MichaelKRose

#SciFi author Michael K. Rose’s newest release is available for #Nook, #Kindle & in print. Get it here: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories @MichaelKRose

Michael K. Rose’s SHORT STORIES is “…as tasty as a generous cut of Wagyu beef.” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Kindle #Nook @MichaelKRose

New release by @MichaelKRose, “...an insightful, compelling writer with a talent for nuance and timing.” SHORT STORIES: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

So what elements do we have in common? First, my name and the title of my book. Those are obvious. We also want the link, which you can see is my website page dedicated to Short Stories. Most of them also have a short quote from reviews that I have previously solicited. Finally, I have tried to include two Twitter-specific things: appropriate hashtags (such as #SciFi, #Nook and #Kindle) and my Twitter username so I can see when people post these and thank them.

A social media blurb for Facebook or similar sites could look like this:

Michael K. Rose, author of SULLIVAN'S WAR, releases SHORT STORIES: "If there is an author new to the world of publishing that I would place next to Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe and Isaac Asimov, it has to be Michael K. Rose." Get your copy today! http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

The great thing about the social media blurbs is that you can include them in email announcements about your book and send them to acquaintances. So even if someone isn't hosting you on their blog/website, they can still copy one of these and paste them into their social media account. If your book is not out yet, be sure to ask those you send these to to wait until it is or you may end up confusing a lot of people. Alternatively, you can have some "Coming Soon!" social media blurbs to tweet beforehand, and blurbs like those above for after the release.

This brings an end to "Building An Author's Promotional Package." There are, of course, many things you can do and many different ways you can arrange the elements of your own promo package. I'd love to hear your thoughts/reactions in the comments section below. I'd also like to know if you have any great ideas of your own!

Finally, I would like to again say that Short Stories comes out on June 29, 2012. I am actively looking for bloggers who are willing to post a release announcement for me. If you are interested, please email myriad_spheres@yahoo.com with "BLOG TOUR" in the subject line.

Best Wishes,
Michael K. Rose

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 2

Yesterday, in “Building An Author’s Promotional Package, Part 1,” I talked about writing a description for your book, and a bit about press releases. Today, I would like to talk about the next two elements you should include in your promotional package: images and quotes.

II: IMAGES

Just as your description can pique a reader’s interest, the cover of your book and any associated images can as well. Always include an image of your book cover in the press package. It draws the eye in a way that a dense paragraph of text can’t. I also like to include an advertising banner, so whoever is helping you spread the word about your book has something eye-catching to put across the top of the page. I’m not going to get into the elements of good or bad cover design; there are many other discussions about that. But here are a couple of my banner ads as an example of what those can look like (my blog displays them too big if I go up a size, so click on them for a better view):

And here are two banners from paranormal thriller writer Micheal Rivers:

 

You can see that you can use an "abstract" type background, like in the Sullivan's War banner, you can put the actual book cover in the banner, as I have done with Short Stories, or you can zoom in on certain elements of book cover, as Micheal Rivers has done. From these examples you can also see that you can condense your book description down into a single line ("Can Rick Sullivan Defeat His Enemies Before He Defeats Himself?" or "Can You Bargain with the Dead?"). That, along with the book title and your name, will pretty much fill the space in your banner ad. But if you have a little extra room, your website or a quote from a reader, as in Sullivan's War banner, are also great things to put in your banner ad. 

In addition to your book cover and a banner ad, you should include a photo of yourself. Typically called a head shot, this will give a face to the words. And make sure it's a good face. The way I see it, there are two main schools when it comes to the head shot: casual and not casual (I don't use the word "formal" because sartorially that means white or black tie, and I don't want you dressing up in a tux or gown for your head shot).

The casual head shot is what most authors will opt for, as we live in a casual society. I have chosen to go with a non-casual head shot:

However, if you decide to do this, make sure it is a real part of your persona. Between the symphony, opera and occasional ballet performances and plays, I end up wearing a coat and tie quite a bit throughout the year. I am comfortable in it. If you feel like you're suffocating when you put on a tie, chances are you're going to look like you're suffocating. Be comfortable, but avoid any clothing that could be seen as objectionable or anything very revealing (unless you write erotica, I suppose).

Even if you do go for casual, try to avoid the common snapshot. Have an actual photo shoot with a friend taking pictures of you, telling you which poses/smile/etc. look the best. You want your photo to look like a professional author's photo (pick up some books around your house to get an idea). You want to exude an air of confidence and professionalism. It's purely subconscious and completely unfair, but if you look untidy, readers might worry that your writing is untidy.

III: QUOTES

This is where you really have to plan ahead. What you want to do is find some authors or readers who really enjoy your work. I was very fortunate in this, as I didn’t have to seek them out. People began leaving glowing reviews on my product pages at Amazon and from there I connected with many of them via Twitter, Facebook and email.

Once you have a list of people who you feel you can count on for a positive review, people who not only like your work but love your work, you will want to have a review copy of your book ready about a month before you release it to the general public. A review copy is simply a draft of the book (these days it's often an eBook) that is not quite finalized but is complete and close enough to being revised and edited that a reader can get a good sense for the work. Send this review copy out to your short list of readers. If they enjoy it, you will hopefully get a nice quote from them to add to your promotional package. Another thing you can do once you have your cover image finalized is create a book entry on Goodreads and list it as "Coming Soon!" You can ask your readers to leave their reviews there as well as at the Amazon and B&N and other stores once the book is for sale. Great quotes, especially from other authors, can interest a reader in your upcoming book as much as a great description can. Another benefit of listing your book on Goodreads in advance is that you can start getting people entering for a book giveaway, if you choose to do that.

Of course, if other authors send you quotes to use in your promotional material, it is only right that you offer to do the same for them. Be very careful, however, that a quid pro quo isn’t established wherein you say nice things about their book simply because they said something nice about yours. However, unless they are truly bad writers (or you are hyper-critical), there should be something you like about the book. Even if their book may not be your cup of tea, look at it from the perspective of its intended audience and try to see what they will like about it.

Tomorrow, I will conclude the "Building An Author's Promotional Package" series with two more elements you should include in your package, one optional element as well as one final element that I think is a rather novel idea. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Read Part 3 here.

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 1

INTRODUCTION

As I get ready to release my new book, Short Stories, (coming on June 29^th!) I’ve decided to put together a promotional package, as I have done in the past. But I realized that I had never given much thought to it. As I pondered the subject, I concluded that there are several things that I think are important to include; these are the things I am going to include in my own promotional package. A lot of this will be common sense for those of us who have done it before, but I hope some new authors out there will get a few ideas to use when they begin promoting their books. Note that this is not a guide on where or how to submit your promotional packages, but briefly, I intend to use mine for the following:

1. To send to those who have agreed to host a book announcement on their blog

2. To post on my own blog

3. To send out to my email contacts

4. To create a Goodreads event

If you want to write up a press release, there are, of course, many places you can post those. Some Google research will be able to tell you more than I can. I’ll address press releases a bit later in the article but the main focus will be on writing your book description.

I: THE DESCRIPTION

The first thing to include in an author’s press package is the most obvious: a description of the book. That’s easy enough, right? Actually, no. It’s notoriously difficult to write an engaging description but it is going to be the most important part of your press package. Based on your description of a book, potential readers will decide to either buy or pass. Just so we’re clear, you want them to buy. So how do you do this? My main point of advice is to use the word “thrilling.” I'm only partly joking about this. Read some book descriptions. Every book ever written is “thrilling.” If it’s not “thrilling,” then it is “heart-warming.” Other words readers like to see are “fast-paced,” “touching,” “provocative” and “engaging.” Of course, only use these words if they actually apply to your novel. Do not try to trick readers with your description. A tricked reader is an unhappy reader, which is something you do not want. It would help to have some friends read the book beforehand and tell you how they would describe it. Find out what key words they use and weave them into your book description.

Here’s my back cover blurb for my upcoming book Short Stories. Give it a read then I will tell you what I’ve tried to do with each part of the description:

The science fiction stories of Michael K. Rose can most accurately be described as eclectic. He is best known for his science fiction adventure series Sullivan’s War and in this collection you will find stories that adhere to the strongest expectations of the genre, such as “Sergeant Riley’s Account,” “Sleep” and “A Random Selection.”

But you will also find stories that, while speculative in nature, owe more to literary fiction than anything else. Works such as “Main & Church,” “Inner Life” and “Pedro X.” explore the psyche as opposed to the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Whatever your tastes, you are bound to discover many favorites amongst these ten stories. The first five have been available previously. The last five are new to this collection.

The first paragraph has done a few things. First, I have described my writings as eclectic. This is code for “there’s something for everybody here!” Next, I mention Sullivan’s War. This does two things. It tells the reader I have a track record as an author and, if the reader has read Sullivan’s War, I have reminded them that I wrote it. They hopefully liked it and will pick up Short Stories based on that. If not, they at least know that it is a science fiction adventure series. I then list three stories that have strong science fiction elements. One of these, "Sleep," is a very popular short story of mine that was released as a stand-alone ebook. So if a potential reader hasn’t read Sullivan’s War, s/he may have read “Sleep” and if they enjoyed it, they can expect more of the same from Short Stories. I also mention “Sergeant Riley’s Account,” another story that is available individually. There’s a chance they've read and liked that one as well.

The second paragraph reinforced the eclectic nature of my writing. If you don’t like sci-fi adventure, there are some “deeper” literary stories here as well. I mention “Inner Life,” which was part of the collection Inner Lives: Three Short Stories. If a reader liked that collection, I entice them with the titles of other similar stories, both of which are new to this collection.

The third paragraph reiterates the idea that there is something for everyone here. I exclude no one. Now, obviously, I can’t really be sure you’re going to find many favorites in Short Stories but if hubris is acceptable anywhere, it is in your book description. You are trying to sell the book. Be bold! Be assertive! Readers want to read something by confident writers, writers who have faith in their work. I also mention that half the stories have been available previously. This means that I consider them strong (and popular) enough to include here. The promise of five new stories will hook readers who are already familiar with my other work.

Now, if you are planning to release an “official” press release, you will want to insert some elements at the beginning and end of your book description to fit that format, and may even want to edit the content of your description a bit. I’m far from an expert on this but by way of example, here’s one I did for Sullivan’s War: Book II – A City without Walls

Since author Michael K. Rose released Sergeant Riley’s Account in December of 2011, this introduction to the science fiction series Sullivan’s War has received rave reviews and has been a frequent presence on Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Science Fiction Series” list. The release of Book I in January, entitled All Good Men Serve the Devil, has also made it onto that best sellers list, reaching a rank of #30, and has earned glowing reviews of its own.

Now Mr. Rose is set to release Sullivan’s War: Book II - A City without Walls. In this thrilling new installment, Rick Sullivan must track down the man who’s kidnapped the woman he loves, all while avoiding a ruthless bounty hunter and trying to move forward his ultimate plan: to free his home planet Edaline of its oppressive regime.

Filled with action and suspense from beginning to end, A City without Walls is sure to please not only fans of the Sullivan’s War series but all fans of the science fiction genre.

Don’t miss out on 2012’s hot new science fiction adventure series! Look for Sullivan’s War: Book II - A City without Walls on March 30 at Amazon’s Kindle store and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.

So you can see how I sandwiched the book description between information about the series at the beginning and release information at the end. There are lots of ways to do this and your best bet, whether writing a simple book description or an “official” press release, is to write it and then re-write it several times. Give yourself a few days to play with it and change things around until you are satisfied with the result. It will also be helpful to read through some press releases to get a feel for the language used in them.

If you have any other ideas or advice concerning book descriptions or press releases, leave your comments below! Tomorrow, in Part 2, I’ll talk about the next two elements that I think should be included in An Author’s Promotional Package: images and quotes.

UPDATE: Read Part 2 here.

Speculative Elements in Literary Fiction by Benjamin X. Wretlind

Hello, all! Today I am very pleased and thrilled and excited and... all that good stuff to share with you a guest post by my friend, Benajmin X. Wretlind, a truly masterful writer whose new book, Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, arrives July 1st! I have had the opportunity to pre-read Sketches..., and I can tell you, it is a truly a work of brilliance. If you can't wait that long to get your hands on some Wretlind, I also highly recommend his novel Castles: A Fictional Memoir of a Girl with Scissors, a disturbing glimpse of madness... or is it?

I now turn you over to Ben for his thought-provoking discussion of Speculative Elements in Literary Fiction. This kicks off his blog tour for Sketches from the Spanish Mustang. Keep an eye on his blog so you don't miss out!

***

First, I'd like to thank you Michael for allowing me to write all over your blog.  It's a great place to kick of the Sketches from the Spanish Mustang Blog Tour, and it won't be a surprise to your readers to know that you suggested the first topic: Speculative Elements in Literary Fiction.

I'm going to quote a definition from Wikipedia (the parts that are correct) that I've quoted on my blog before and will likely quote again.  What is literary fiction? 

Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish “serious fiction” which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison to genre fiction and popular fiction (i.e., paraliterature). In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more upon style, psychological depth, and character. This is in contrast to Mainstream commercial fiction, which focuses more on narrative and plot. Literary fiction may also be characterized as lasting fiction — literature which continues to be read and in-demand many decades and perhaps centuries after the author has died.

When I asked a few people what they thought of when they heard the term "literary fiction," the responses I received ranged from “Vladimir Nabokov” to “classics, Dickens, Bronte” to “old stuff.” But it's a term, according to the above definition, that wasn't in common usage until the 1960s. (I'll assume that before then, all stuff was "old stuff.") On top of age, there's a whole book of articles that could be written debunking the notion that literary fiction is just plotless words jotted down for the sake of being fancy.  I won't do that here, but I will say: it's not true.

Literary fiction, in my view, is more a kaleidoscopic of work that includes elements of romance, thriller, horror, science fiction, mystery, the American Western, etc. It is cross-genre. Within that kaleidoscopic of genres, then, it's only natural for us to find the speculative elements.

Here are a few titles I think we can (mostly) agree fit the definition posed above regarding literary fiction: Metamorphosis, War of the Worlds, A Christmas Carol, Wuthering Heights, Gulliver's Travels, Beowulf. Are there speculative elements in each of these?

As kids, we were fascinated by the supernatural, especially as we investigated the world around us. We've all grown up since, but many of us have never grown out of our desire to know more. It's a part of who we are. Think of the strong beliefs which existed in the time of William Shakespeare.  What of the beliefs that existed in around the time of Nathaniel Hawthorne? Charles Dickens? Do you think, just because we listen to music on iPhones, drive hybrid cars or make our own donuts at home these days, that we no longer believe in the supernatural, the paranormal, the speculative?

In a poll conducted by Gallup in 2010, 71% of Americans confess to having had a paranormal experience of some sort. While only 34% believe in the existence of ghosts, 65% believe Ouija boards are dangerous, 41% believe in extrasensory perception and 37% believe that houses can be haunted.  Let me put that in persepective: if there are roughly 300 million people in the United States, about 213 million people confess to having had a paranormal experience of some sort.

Hmmm...

I don't like polls myself, but what I do find interesting is that people generally want to believe there might be more out there. It's this desire to want more which drives people to look for more in movies, television, books.  How many want to believe in sparkly vampires? How many want to think in some distopian future? How many people really think Harry Potter is real?

Combine those desires of what people want with the cross-genre possibility of literary fiction. What you end up with is "lasting fiction" which is peppered with the speculations of a generation.  For me personally, I wrote speculative elements into Sketches from the Spanish Mustang not as a deus ex machina or because I thought they'd be neat, but because they fit the character's personality as much as the story. A Ute who believes in spirits is not uncommon. An immigrant farmer who was brought up in Mexico to believe his grandparents' tales of nahuales is not far-fetched.

What about the claim in that above definition that literary fiction is "principally used to distinguish 'serious fiction'...in comparison to genre fiction and popular fiction?" Well, let me ask you this: would you consider The Road by Cormac McCarthy to be serious fiction? What about Wicked by Gregory Maguire? State of Wonder by Ann Patchett? 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami? All of these are serious works, and yet they are replete with speculative elements.

Speculation (wondering the big "what if") is as natural for humans as it is to love or hate or laugh or run amok in the water sprinklers on a hot day.  That it finds itself in literary fiction is no surprise.  What is surprising is that so many people shun literary fiction because of the label without knowing what's in it, casting it off as "old stuff" without a modern-day focus.

***

SKETCHES FROM THE SPANISH MUSTANG

In Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, a haunting, heart-warming and often brutally direct exploration of the lives of seven people in the mining town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, a woman must come to grips with the failings that cost the lives of her husband and child. Bestselling author Michael K. Rose says: "Mr. Wretlind has penned a tale of such emotional and literary depth it will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned." 

With a pencil, a sketchbook and a keen eye for the details of the soul, the woman's lines and smudges, curves and tone reveal the stories behind her subjects. Life emerges on the page — vengeance, salvation, love and death. The artist's subjects fight for survival, only to be saved in the sketches of a woman with a gift . . . and a curse.

International Book Award winner Gregory G. Allen calls the book a "unique journey that rips away the outer layers of people allowing us to stare into their souls where humanity is universal: no matter the genre of writing."

Sketches from the Spanish Mustang will be available at all major online retailers for $14.95 on July 1st, 2012.  It will also be presented in an electronic format (e.g. Kindle, nook) for $5.95.

BIOGRAPHY

Benjamin X. Wretlind, the author of Castles: A Fictional Memoir of a Girl with Scissors and Sketches from the Spanish Mustang, has been called "a Pulitzer-caliber writer" with "a unique American voice." Aside from novels, he has been published in many magazines throughout the past 10 years.

NEW RELEASE: Reign of Blood by Alexia Purdy

Reign of Blood is a Young Adult Urban Fantasy/Horror novel with a dark and edgy paranormal theme that will appeal to the YA and crossover YA audience. Ever since Alexia Purdy released her debut novel Ever Shade: A Dark Faerie Tale in February of 2012, it has received rave reviews and has been a frequent presence on Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Mythology” list.

Reign of Blood begins an new series that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. A viral epidemic has wiped out most of humanity and April, one of the last humans left alive, has become a vicious vampire hunter. Despite her desire to live as normal a life as possible, she finds herself on a mission to save her family from the clutches of the unknown. Her world is infested with wild vampires but she soon discovers that something else lurks in the city, something that wants her blood even more.

Alexia says “I’m very excited about Reign of Blood; it’s a suspenseful thriller with a touch of horror to keep you on the edge of your seat and definitely begging for more.”

Praise for Reign of Blood:

     “Alexia has created an end of world scenario right out of your nightmares, filling this new world with a multitude of mutations and action that will have you willingly falling deeply into the story.”
     - Author J.T. Lewis
     “WICKED AWESOME!!!!! Reign of Blood will BLOW YOU AWAY!!!!”- Amy Conley
     “...such a page turner…..This is a fascinating read for all ages!”- Bella (Paranormal Book Club)
     “Another masterpiece from Ms. Purdy.” - Jacquie Talento

Reign of Blood is now available in e-book format via Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble's Nook Store and Smashwords.com. A print edition is coming soon.

For more information on Reign of Blood please visit the author’s websites:
http://alexiapurdy.blogspot.com
http://www.alexiapurdy.com

Alexia Purdy resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and is the author of Ever Shade: A Dark Faerie Tale, a contributor to the Dark Light Anthology with Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing. She is also the author of the poetic collection Whispers of Dreams. To receive a review copy of Reign of Blood, arrange an interview, guest blog, or event, please contact Alexia Purdy at alexeea@yahoo.com

April Writing Update

I haven't done a writing update since January. Why? The honest answer is that I forgot. I've been quite busy writing, editing and formatting for eBook release my Sullivan's War novellas, as well as marketing, giving interviews and making connections with readers and other writers. It's been a busy year so far!

And here I am, six months--more or less--since I became a published author. It's been a fun and exciting ride, to be sure. My work has received an overwhelmingly positive response. As I write this I have over forty 4- and 5-star reviews on Amazon and I have been very happy with sales.

Earlier this month I finished Sullivan's War: Book III - Edaline's Dawn, and sent it out to my beta readers. This wraps up a project that I began working on last November. It has occupied my writing time almost completely, with only an occasional foray into short stories to pull me from the world of Rick Sullivan. I knew the basic story line, of course, but a few surprising things have happened to Sullivan and friends along the way. I have also decided that Sullivan's War is not the end of the story. The current plot will, of course, be wrapped up with Book III. But there will be an element from Sullivan's War left unresolved, something to look forward to in Sullivan's Wrath, which I hope to have out in time for Christmas. Sullivan's Wrath will not be a serial as Sullivan's War has been but will be a complete novel, released in one volume. But before you get too excited, there are other things happening before that!

First, of course, Sullivan's War: Book III comes out around the middle of May. Then, the complete Sullivan's War story line will see release in June or July as both an eBook and in print. Yes, those of you who have asked me for autographs will finally have something for me to autograph! I am currently working with a wonderful artist to design a custom cover for it. Finally, my science fiction novel Chrysopteron will be released in September (possibly sooner, depending on how lazy I feel like being).

So, as you can see, I have lots of projects in the works. At the beginning of the year I committed myself to writing and publishing three full novels (which will be Sullivan's War, Chrysopteron and Sullivan's Wrath) and so far I am on schedule to do that. I also plan on releasing three novels next year, including at least one more Rick Sullivan novel. There are also two short story projects that I'd like to put out, hopefully one this year, one next year. They are Inner Lives: Volume II and a collection called Visitors.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates! You can also send me an email asking to be put on my contact list to be informed of new releases or other important news. I don't send these out very often so I won't be inundating you with spam. Contact me at: myriad_spheres@yahoo.com

Thanks to all of you for your continued support and encouragement!

Wishing You All the Best,
Michael K. Rose

My Twitter Manifesto (with Jokes)

or A Public Declaration of Intent Regarding My Use of the Social Networking Site Twitter.

Article I. On Following

To paraphrase Mr. Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady: I'm willing to follow you, I'm wanting to follow you, I'm waiting to follow you. That is, assuming the following criteria are met:

1. You have followed me and continue to follow me. To be blunt, I despise those who go through and follow hundreds of people a day to get follow backs, only to unfollow them the next day and repeat the vile process.
2. You are a real person. I can't tell you how many lonely, attractive women wanting to "chat" or "fuck" have followed me. I should only be so lucky! These immediately get reported for spam and will have no help from me in building a list of schmucks to exploit. I also report for spam any account whose tweets consist of unexplained links to websites with an .ru suffix.
3. You are a real person who posts things relevant to my interests. If you are a writer, I will follow you. Period. Post as many links as you like to your books, your blog posts, etc. These are the things I want to see! However, if you're just trying to shill accounting/home business/advertising services on me, look elsewhere. As no one I've ever known has said, "That dog don't hunt."

Providing you meet the above criteria, I would love to be your Twitter friend. If, for some reason, you are eligible for my Follow but I haven't followed you, let me know! Contrary to what I've written in "The Cult of Michael" Handbook ($29.99 + shipping and handling) I am not perfect. I miss things. Also, believe it or not, Twitter isn't perfect either! I know! Sometimes it decides that I shouldn't be following certain people. I might think otherwise, but it doesn't really want to give me a say in the matter, so there you go.

Article II. On Mentions and Retweets

I love it when people mention me or retweet me. It makes me all tingly inside. So if you do one of these things, do so knowing that I am grateful for your support. I will do my very best to thank you and retweet something of yours in return but it is not always possible. Sometimes, it is just a matter of me not having the time and by the time I do have the time, assuming I haven't lost track of the time, I won't remember the time you took the time to help me out. It happens. Sometimes. So, if you have been sending out a stream of tweets saying how wonderful I am only to be met with cold, disdainful silence, I apologize. I really do try and if you don't hear back from me it means nothing other than I am busy and/or lazy.

Article III. On Self-Promotion

I do a fair bit of self-promotion (get the exciting SciFi/Horror short story Sleep for only 99 cents!) but I try not to be obnoxious about it. I balance tweets about my books with tweets about books by other writers and links to useful blog posts (like this one). So, I am not one of those who will huff and click the unfollow button if you are spreading the good word about your latest masterpiece every five minutes. I have found many wonderful books via such shameless self-aggrandizement. Not that you're doing that. No, I'm sure your book tweets and humble and self-deprecating. But if they aren't, I don't mind! I love supporting Indie authors and if you follow me on Twitter, that's what I'll be doing! Get used to it. Run, jump, shout and scream about your book. I might just join in the revelry with a retweet or two. If such enthusiastic drum-beating about how great my writer friends and I are bothers you, you probably don't want to follow. But if you want to read some great books (like Sullivan's War: Book I) then I'm your man. If you want me to retweet something, let me know! Tweets are sometimes easy to miss, so send me a DM if there's something in particular you want me to share. As I said, I love supporting fellow Indie writers and if I end up reading and liking your book, watch out, because the world is going to hear about it.

Article IV. On Friendship

I have met many people on Twitter that I now consider friends. It is a great forum for self-promotion, sure, but friendship is an even greater thing than that. I am very liberal in who I will consider a friend and if you share some of my interests, there's a good chance I'll consider you one. I love joking with people and chatting about books, science fiction, classical music and nerd stuff in general. Feel free to chat me up any time!

You can Follow me on Twitter by going here:
https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelKRose

I look forward to engaging with you!

Best,
Michael

Teri Heyer is "Talking About Reviews"

Writer Teri Heyer wrote a great blog post about reviews. Check it out here. I wanted to share her post because she pretty much sums up how I feel on the issue as well. I particularly agree with her on the point regarding 5-star reviews. I hate reading those comments that imply that the reviewer must be a friend/family member of the author. It seems some people are just unable to accept the fact that pretty much any work of art will have some who love it and some who hate it. I've heard people rail against Beethoven, for crying out loud!

If you're a writer, this blog post is definitely a worthwhile read. Go have a look and leave your own thoughts in the comments section.

NEW RELEASE: Verliege by Micheal Rivers

     Micheal Rivers has just released his new paranormal thriller, Verliege! I'd just like to say a quick personal word, then I'll let Micheal's official bio and and an excerpt from the novel do the rest. I am currently reading Verliege and it is an absolutely absorbing and, at times, terrifying adventure. At every turn the unexpected may happen and there is enough of a psychological element to leave the reader wondering who--or what--is behind it all. I hope the tantalizing excerpt that follows the biography leaves you wanting for more!

Author Biography

     Micheal Rivers, author of paranormal thrillers, announces his new release Verliege. The novel is based on a haunted castle in Verliege, Germany. Murder, mystery, and intrigue will keep you spellbound as you journey through the castle in search of the secret of the nine.
     Rivers is the author of three previous books, The Black Witch, Moonlight on the Nantahala, and Ghosts of the North Carolina Shores. His books can be purchased at Amazon.com.
     Micheal, an American author, was born in Ahoskie, North Carolina in 1953. He served his country during the Viet Nam war in the USMC. Later, his travels provided over thirty years of investigating and collecting stories of the paranormal. His genres include horror and thriller with an element of paranormal in all of his novels. The Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers of Western North Carolina was founded by him and he is the lead investigator. Micheal currently resides in the mountains of North Carolina along with the love of his life and his Boxer he fondly calls Dee Dee.


Micheal Rivers' books may be found at http://amzn.to/uHpPD6
Visit his website here: http://michealrivers.com/


Please enjoy the following excerpt from Verliege:

     Near the center of the cemetery the mausoleum beckoned them to draw closer. From their position they could not see the front of the mausoleum. Two sides could be clearly seen, appearing unusually clean. Emery did not approach the mausoleum immediately. He stood squinting in the morning sun, trying hard to find a reason why the stone structure had not aged over the years.
     He had learned early in his career not to advance too quickly upon a scene that did not feel right. Raising his camera to his eye, he adjusted the long-distance lens to bring the mausoleum closer. Something was wrong. The stone was too perfect in every way. He could not find a single flaw.
     Weis spoke softly. “We may find something of interest within the tomb.”
     Emery spoke without taking his eye off of the mausoleum. “I think we should skirt around it and approach it from the front. It doesn’t feel right to me. Take a look through your camera and tell me what you see.”
     Weis raised his camera and inspected the walls of the mausoleum carefully. “I don’t see anything unusual.”
     Emery laughed lightly. “Look again. The stonework has not aged a day. There are no cracks or signs of erosion as there should be.”
     Weis looked once more, realizing Emery had been correct in his observations. Carefully they walked in a large circle to enable them to see the front of the mausoleum. Standing a safe distance away, they saw that one of the doors was partially open, allowing them to see the darkness of the interior.
     Stepping slowly forward toward the open door, each man prepared himself for a possible intruder. Emery approached the open door at an angle to help protect himself. Time slowed to a crawl. Reaching for the door to open it farther, Emery’s fingers had barely reached the handle when it slammed shut violently.
     They both jumped back away from the door, and Weis fell over a broken headstone behind him. A loud moan echoed through the air around them.
     Weis gained his feet, shaking his head. “I am not going in there. Whatever it is, I’m happy to leave it in there.”
     Emery grinned. “Sorry, Weis, but I have to see what the moaning is about.” He reached forward and jerked the door open with a vengeance. Shining his light inside, he found the mausoleum empty except for the neatly stacked burial coffins. Emery turned, questioning what he was seeing. “There is nobody there, Weis. I guess the moan was the rusty hinges and a little imagination.”
     Weis disagreed. “The door was shut before we heard the moan. Do you think you can tell me who shut the door? I think not. It is too heavy to close on its own. I’m leaving.”
     Emery watched as Weis started to walk away. The incident had shaken him badly. Weis was glad he had taken pictures of the open door before it had slammed shut. It was hard for him to shake the feeling that there was someone close behind them as they made their way back across the bridge. Turning back toward the cemetery when he was at the foot of the bridge, he glimpsed a large black shadow disappearing into the trees.

***

Get your copy of Verliege here: http://www.amazon.com/Verliege-ebook/dp/B007QOB0V6/

Why Do You Write? Part II

Here is Part II of "Why Do You Write?," with insights from six more writers. Part I can be found here. Based on the responses I've received, there is a disturbing trend on display: writers and insane and if they didn't write, they'd go out of their gourds. So the lesson is this: be nice to writers and buy their books. Right? RIGHT?!

     Lately, I've had a lot of people ask why I write. This is usually preceded by, "I think you're a psycho!" Or, "You definitely have an imagination." Or, "Did your parents keep you locked up as a kid?" I just smile and indulge them. They usually walk away shaking their heads. Guess I'm not a very good salesman. So, let's try it: "You definitely have an imagination. Why do you write?" I always say, "Because I have to." "I don't get it," they say. "Nobody has to do anything." I point out that we have to breath and eat and sleep and...you get it, and like those life sustaining functions, I have to write. "Oh...so it's like an urge. Like a sex thing." Then they smile. "Not really." Though I would like it to be. Let's put it like this: If I DON'T write, I go psycho. If I DON'T write, I grow stagnant. If I DON'T write, I would rather be locked up and the key thrown away. It's just something I must do, something that consumes me, something that MAKES me. "You're just saying this to be cute," they say. "You really just want to be rich and famous." I wouldn't mind, no, but really, it's just a matter of necessity. If I didn't make a penny, If I didn't have a single reader, If no one would publish my musings, I would still do it. Everyday. Always. Plus...it's fun. And it buys me a taco or two every once in a while.
     - Richard C. Hale, Author of Near Death

     I think, fundamentally, writers write because we're driven to it. There are so very many stories, worlds, and ideas to explore that can only be expelled by the catharsis of words on the page. For me, it's like a passion, or possibly an obsession. Also, the voices in my head get grumpy if I don't let them out.
     - Eugie Foster, Nebula Award-Winning Author of Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast

     I write because I've tried not writing and it just didn't work. Whilst I love getting my stories published and I do want to be successful and create something memorable, those aren't the reasons why I do it, they're just by-products. I write for me. Because my life feels better for it. And I know that if I were told I would never have anything published ever again, I would carry on regardless because the stories will still be there in me, whether there's someone to read them or not.
     - J.C. Piech

     Writing allows me to empty out all those strange and annoying voices rattling around in my head on a daily basis. Seriously, it’s a creative avenue to write about all of the inspirations that surround us, whether it’s people, places or interesting tidbits of information. There are millions of stories out there just waiting to be written. I choose to write about crime, suspense, and mystery, but it’s so much more involved. Writing challenges me as much as it rewards me – I love that! I can hear the most innocuous story and think about all of the ways to make it more entertaining, oh and course, with a murder to two. I write because it is something that is a part of me and cannot imagine my daily life without it.
     - Jennifer Chase, Author of Dark Mind

     For as long as I can remember, my brain has always entertained me with stories. To be honest, I was perfectly happy keeping those stories to myself. When I shared some of my ideas with others, they challenged me to write a book. Once I got going, the story literally poured out. It was frustrating because my brain is not especially organized and shows me things out of order and I didn’t always know how things were going to work out; but during that process I discovered something else. It was…fun. I brought these characters to life. I created a world that I could share with others. All those times I lost myself in a book, and now I could do that for someone else. What an amazing thing. I realized that writing is a gift, and I shouldn’t waste it. Why do I write? Because I absolutely love it; writing is the greatest adventure of all. There are no limits; no boundaries. I can travel through time, meet supernatural beings, go to far off places, meet new people all of my own creation. How cool is that?
     - M.E. Franco, Author of Where Will You Run?

     Why do I write? Because if I don't, the voices get too loud inside my head! :) Slightly more seriously, for a long time I ran a tabletop roleplaying game for some friends. It was a hobby that let me be creative, and come up with new stories and worlds every week for them to explore and interact with. We stopped playing a long time ago, but my mind didn't stop coming up with new ideas. Writing is a way for me to express those ideas, and get them out of my mind. Admittedly that just gives my mind space to come up with even more ideas, but I'm sure I'll survive ;)
     - Jason G. Anderson, Author of Gears of Wonderland

Reflections on Writing and "Buy Indie Month"

     "We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the universe." - Jerome K. Jerome

     Instantly enamored of Benjamin X. Wretlind's "Buy Indie Month" idea, I've been dutifully buying an Indie book every day for this month of  February. Ben gave his own reflections on why he is doing this, why "dulce et decorum est." Now, unlike those ominous lines from Horace, I don't see any need for one to die on behalf of an Indie writer. But the lines from Jerome, above, more aptly summon the spirit of the thing.

     Read it again: "We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the universe." This sums up, for me, not only the motivation behind a project such as "Buy Indie Month" but also what should be, in my mind, the driving force behind a person's life. Selfishness, ultimately, isn't selfish if--and this is a big if--one's effort on behalf of oneself contributes to the betterment of society.

     For example, a writer is inherently selfish. He wants people to buy and read his books. He believes that he has a story or a message that is so important that everyone who reads it will benefit from it in some way and be glad for the opportunity. The writer believes that he is privy to some truth that has thus far escaped the cumulative knowledge of human civilization. This is not only selfish but highly egotistical as well. But this is acceptable in a writer. The writer provides entertainment, he makes people think, he delivers messages, he makes connections between disparate ideas and those connections are what drive forward the great endeavor that we call "the arts." The writer is both a prophet and a historian, he sees the future, he reflects on the past, he makes sense of this grand adventure that we call life. I would even go so far as to say that the writer--not only the fiction writer, but the historical writer, the political writer, the journalist--is the most important member of any society. Before a speech is made, a writer wrote it. Before a song is sung, a writer wrote it. Before a film or television show is produced, a writer wrote it. And, indeed, before we can truly understand current events, before we can know what has happened in the world beyond the trivial business of facts, a writer has sat down, examined those facts and put them into a framework that makes sense of them.

     The writer does all this selfishly, but look at the benefit to society. And the "Buy Indie Month" idea supports this, it supports not only Indie writers, but supports the continued health of our society as well. As Indie writers, Mr. Wretlind and I, along with Jeff Currie and others, recognize that there are many voices being lost to the cacophony of voices that make up the literary world. Some of those voices speak loudly and stridently and everyone listens. This is good. In most cases, those people have, through the strength of their writing, earned that consideration. But there are also many voices that seem to speak loudly only because they never stop speaking at all. And then there are the voices that are given megaphones--via media, publishing companies, etc--without having earned it. I think here of reality television stars whose ghost-written "books" top the bestseller lists.

     But what those loud and persistent voices should think about in their selfishness is "what does my voice contribute to society? How am I helping to 'mold the universe?'" Should a writer--any creative person, in fact--be held to a higher standard than those who do not engage in any acts of creativity? Should we be responsible for the works that we leave to posterity or is it only about the immediate concern, is it only about the money? Should our selfish desire to be heard above the din leave nothing of value beyond our own gratification?

     I say "no." I say that we should support the voices who truly have something to say. I also believe that we should support the small voices, the voices who haven't yet been heard. We should encourage those voices to speak loudly and clearly in the hopes that even one of them might become the voice of a generation, that one of them might be a voice that will change the world, a voice that will mold the universe in a way that will be to the benefit of all.

     For this reason, we should--we must--support Indie writers.

The Story Behind Sullivan's War

UPDATE: Sullivan's War: Book II is now available!

On January 20, I released Sullivan's War: Book I - All Good Men Serve the Devil. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to give you the story behind the development of this series.

It all began with a single scene, all dialogue, between one Sergeant Leonard Riley and Colonel Geary. It wasn't really meant to be a story at all but rather a vignette. It was, I suppose, nothing more than a writing exercise. But at some point, around two years ago, I went back to that vignette, which I had entitled Sergeant Riley's Account, and added narrative to the dialogue. Now it was a character study. But there was still a story there that needed telling. What happens to Riley after his debriefing with Geary? What is the outcome of this lie that he's being asked to tell?

By the time it was finished, Segeant Riley's Account was a novelette and came in at around 10,000 words. It was the longest complete story that I had ever written. I felt pretty good about it and planned to submit it to some of the science fiction magazines. But then I went to see a movie. That movie was called Avatar. Alien planet? Check. Technologically primitive yet intelligent species? Check. Soldier who defies command to try and protect that species? Check.

I was upset. No, I was angry. I knew that I couldn’t submit this story for publication on the heels of the massive success of that movie. Never mind that the story and theme are completely different, but the idea, I felt, would be seen as too similar. Anyone who read it would think, I know where he got that. It would be rejected on the basis of that alone.

So it sat. It underwent revision. It sat some more. I wrote several other short stories that made the rounds of the scifi mags. But my work, for whatever reason, did not attract the attention of publishers. Was I simply a lousy writer? Was it just a result of circumstance? I wasn't sure. But I had received very encouraging responses from some editors so I decided that my work at least deserved a chance to be seen by the public. I decided to try my hand at self-publishing.

By this time, summer of 2011, I'd had a novel I’d been working on for a couple of years called Chrysopteron. I was--and still am--in love with that project and am intentionally taking my time with it. But I went back to Sergeant Riley’s Account and had another look. This Edaline rebellion still captured my interest. Maybe, for the first major work I would publish, I could write about that. I decided to publish a few short stories first so I could understand the process and those stories, one collection called Inner Lives and a stand-alone short called Sleep, were well-received and have earned all 4- and 5-star reviews. I decided that this self-publishing business was something that I'd like to have a serious go at.

By this time I had written several stories (most of them as of yet unpublished) that took place in a universe I called the Myriad Spheres Universe, hence the name of this blog. These stories take place about 500 years in the future and humanity has discovered hyperspace travel. Hyperspace, however, is not instantaneous. It can take anywhere from three weeks to over five months to travel from one planet to another. A governing body, called the Stellar Assembly, rules over many of these planets.

One of these Myriad Spheres stories was about a high-profile politician who is murdered on Earth. Somehow, that tied in to this idea of Edaline trying to get into the Stellar Assembly. Then I wrote about a bounty hunter after a wanted criminal. Was he the same man who had murdered the assemblyman? (Note: the bounty hunter story line will be introduced in Sullivan's War: Book II)

All these different stories began to weave themselves together and I began to see the tale they were all leading me to. I would not write a story about the Edaline rebellion, or even the events that take place around the time of the rebellion. The novel (now trilogy) would be set about 12 years after the rebellion and would be the story of a man from Edaline who is trying to prevent the planet from entering the Stellar Assembly and, further, wants to begin a new rebellion against that planet’s oppressive government.

I wrote an outline and looked at Sergeant Riley’s Account again. Could I incorporate this story into it, to somehow give my protagonist, now named Rick Sullivan, further motivation? No. Sergeant Riley’s… was too fully formed; it had its own story to tell and was too long to be an in-book prologue. But with this wonderful ebook platform there was no reason it could not be released on its own and still serve as a prologue.

Sergeant Riley's Account does not directly impact the Sullivan’s War trilogy but it will, I think, enrich a reader’s understanding of the universe in which Sullivan’s War takes place. The short story Sleep also takes place in this Myriad Spheres universe. I hope it is a world that readers find engaging, as I have a few other stories planned that also take place within it.

So, Sullivan's War will be my first major undertaking as a writer. I hope you all decide to follow along with Frank Allen and Rick Sullivan on this journey they have begun in All Good Men Serve the Devil.

Please click the following links for more information:

Sullivan's War: Book I - All Good Men Serve the Devil
Sullivan's War: Book II - A City without Walls
Sullivan's War: Prologue - Sergeant Riley's Account
Sleep - A scifi/psychological horror short story that takes place in the Myriad Spheres Universe
Inner Lives: Three Short Stories - Three tales of literary speculative fiction

The Future of Books

Claude Bouchard wrote a blog entry pointing out that in his household the unread print books are piling up because he and his wife prefer to read on their ereaders. However, this preference has had an additional consequence besides just the move from print books to ebooks: he is reading fewer mainstream authors. The reason is simple. If it costs the same, or nearly the same, to buy an ebook from the big publishers as it does to buy one of their print books, a reader will find that purchase difficult to justify. There are, however, many indie authors who are charging a fraction of that price for their ebooks.

I think that, eventually, this discrepancy will right itself. As ereaders become more and more mainstream and print sales drop off, the publishers will have no choice other than to lower the prices of their ebooks. I think a price around $5 is fair and will become standard. So what will this mean for printed books? Will they become obsolete?

For practical considerations, yes. I believe that in 15 to 20 years very few print books will be read. By that time anyone born now or within the last decade will have grown up with the technology and anyone born before that will have adopted it. Especially as those readers age they will find the ease with which an ereader can be held in arthritic hands and with which the font size can be increased to be very attractive. So yes, books will become obsolete. But they will not disappear.

I think that physical books will always hold an appeal for humans. Just as candles and fireplaces have not become obsolete with the advent of electric lights and home heating systems, we will not want to abandon them altogether. There is something about a book that is a part of our cultural DNA. Ever since the invention of the alphabet, the book (or scroll or clay tablet) has been a symbol. It has been a symbol of knowledge. And the look, the feel, the smell of a book, simply cannot be replicated by ereaders. Books will become not less valuable with the ereader revolution, but more. Books will no longer be thought of as cheap commodities to be sold by the thousands, but rather as collectibles. A $5.99 paperback will no longer be produced. For that price, the ebook will be preferred. But writers and publishers will continue to produce attractive, hard backed editions for an author's biggest fans, a treasure to display on the shelf and admire the way one does a cherished objet d'art. It will be something a reader can have signed, not with electronic pixels but with the author's own hand.

I think that if you consider how we already treat books you will agree. There is a reason those great faux leather-bound tomes of Dickens and Austen and Twain still make an appearance each Christmas, their gold-trimmed pages hinting at the literary treasure inside. We like them. We like to have those books on our shelves, we like to look at them, to show them off. Paperbacks, not so much. Those are designed to be read, then passed on to a friend, a used book store, a bus station bench. The ereader will not replace books, but rather just the disposable commodity aspect of books. Read it, lend the file to a friend, delete it when you're done. But if you love that book, if you find yourself thinking about it once it is finished and seeking out other work by that author, then perhaps you might consider owning a handsome print copy. And they will always exist. Books are a part of human culture and that will not change, at least not for a very, very long time.