Some Info On The Novel and The COVER!

Ok, so I fretted and fretted over the book yesterday. I knew it’d be big but didn’t realize it’d be THIS big. Part of it is the form factor I chose. It was put it in my head that it’d be neat to have all the books have the same form factor as the other books, well, most of the other books. I like that idea so I stuck with it. Well, it betrayed me on this book and fattened it up. Such is life.

A Shadow Over Ever is 666 pages and is $20.

So, the thought is that I will release A SHADOW OVER EVER as it stands, as one volume, for $20. I will get some for the show on the 10th to sell and beyond that leave it at that. Then in October, I think, I will release the novel in bite sized chunks so people can ease into the whole thing. It will be four volumes to make that whole since there are four parts. Maybe that will change but we will see. I need to take some time to think about it first. So there’s the plan. Such as it is. Hope to see some of you on Aug. 10th for the release, even if you aren’t interested in the new book or any of the rest.

https://www.facebook.com/events/233371616781885/

http://www.meepsheep.com

Winding Up a Busy Season…

Phew, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind since the publication of The Meep Sheep a few months ago and I am still going strong. The thing that wears you out with the book process is the promotion, as I have said before, but it’s also some of the most fun you have. Getting the book out to people lets you gauge interest, lets you fire people up about the book, and lets you feel the satisfaction of selling something you made. It really reminds you how special writing (or any art, really) is. Man they are rough though. It’s lots of work to get out there, to talk up your book, and to tell people, over and over and over again what your book is. Me, I always go for the soft sell because, heck, if someone is interested in the book, then they will come to me, if not then I certainly don’t want to bully them into looking at something they are not into. Seems silly and I hate when people do that to me.

I have done a lot of shows during this ‘season’ and the last big one is coming up this weekend in Detroit. It’s The People’s Arts Festival and is a fantastic art festival near downtown Detroit. I did it with my girlfriend last year and we had a blast and I really moved a lot of books, which was great, as was meeting the other artists and seeing the amazing art on display. This year we go with a new book, a lot of new art and hopefully a little more wisdom on how to set up effectively. After this weekend though I go into the downward portion of the shows. I am hoping to get into a writer’s show I did last year that will happen in October and am going to be putting together the second  annual Halloween show that some friends and I did last year. Other than that it’s promoting the books online, looking for an agent for my Meepies, and seeing what lies ahead.

It really has been a busy Spring and Summer and I could use the break but will definitely miss meeting all the awesome people out there. For now though, we still have some time. Hope to see some of you on the trail before the journey ends.

c

Have You Seen Me?

straydog – a review

If there is something good you can say about a book written with young adults in mind it is to say that they got their audience right and played to them directly, treating them as the young adults that they are. Too often the YA market is filled with pandering morality tales or books that are written in order to cash in on whatever trend is going at the time. Trend writing will make you money but it’s a hell of a shallow way to make a living.

I have been a fan of writer Kathe Koja since I read her first novel Cipher as a teenager. I had been home sick and my mom brought the paperback home to me from the drugstore, thinking it might be something I would like. It turns out I didn’t like it but loved it and was in love with this woman from Detroit’s stark style and dark themes. In many ways she is one of the many literary parents I have, and she was a big influence on my earlier writing. I had stopped following her writing when she moved from dark fiction to young adult fiction, feeling as if I had been abandoned and let down by the loss of such a talented writer.

For a few years now though I have been following Ms. Koja’’s blog and felt it was time to give her newer books a chance. She is such a talent, with such a strong voice I owed her newer work a chance.

straydog is a heartbreaking story of a girl deep in the trenches of her teen years that is struggling against the crushing river of the norm at her high school and who feels she must hide her uniqueness. She is a budding writer and has a teacher that champions and encourages her. When the girl begins work on a raw piece about a dog that has come in at the animal shelter where she volunteers, her teacher insists that the girl enter a prestigious contest. The girl starts working on the piece more and more but as she does the story takes on a new meaning as the dog that has become her protagonist starts to steal her heart. A rage filled, frightened collie that has been abandoned and abused for far too long and so she lays wounded and watching from the back of the shelter. The girl knows that if she cannot tame the dog that it will be put down but isn’t sure how to do it until a new friend, another outcast who just transferred to the school, gives her hope that together they can save the dog.

What I love about straydog is how raw the book is. This is not polished writing. This is not cookie-cutter writing. This is emotional writing that is true to both itself, its audience, and its characters. A pretty rare feat, to be sure. Koja captures the voice of a young teen perfectly, both the brilliance and the selfishness – the angst and the joy. These are choppy waters for some parents, who don’t like to admit what they were once like, but this makes for a gripping story. I could guess what was going to happen in the book but that is also part of the story’s power – that you see how the trick is done yet it still amazes you.

straydog is a pretty great book and one which young adults wanting to read something true, and mature, yet about them would do well to read it. For me, I can happily say that, while her subjects are not as dark as her early work was, the talent and brilliance is burning brightly, and the transition to YA fiction seems pretty seamless. Bravo.

c

MEEP SHEEP – First Proof In Hand

    So here is me holding the first proof of The Meep Sheep in hand and it’s a dream come true. I have been dreaming of Meep Sheep and this world for the better part of a decade and to have the book in hand, even the first proof of it, is pretty amazing. This is only the first of what should be two proofs, but this is a huge step forward. Next up is the final copy edit for the book, a couple interior tweaks, and then it’s done, done, done.

I owe so much, to so many people, and I can never repay any of them but hopefully, once they have read the book, that will be a small way to pay them back.

c

It Has Begun, This Book Layout…

    So as of Sunday The Meep Sheep is being laid out, thanks to my girlfriend. She is a wiz with In Design so she is handling the layout of this book as she did the last one and so far so good. I drive her nutty about stuff (really, I drive everyone nuts so she’s not special there) but in the end she marathoned the thing through and got it laid out. Much work to do but chug, chug, chug the little train is pushing forward. The book looks like it will be around 250 pages, which is CRRRRAZY but pretty fun. I am super stoked for all of you to experience it.

I love this book.

More news as we  move forward.

c

PS – booked for Flint Comix Con, which is April 17th here in Flint. Official info when I have it.

And the Title of the New Book Is…

We have come to it, the announcement of the title of the new book. Not necessarily a big deal but, for me, it’s another big step forward. Another piece of the puzzle to reveal.

It’s funny because usually I know when I start working on something what it will be called but with the two most recent collections I haven’t quite known. I mean, I had ideas, heck, if you look at the ideas for a title on this one you’ll find over a dozen, which I may post later, as they are all sorta interesting. I liked them all, for one reason or another, but they didn’t fit. You see, you have to have something that sums up the book, teases the books contents if you will, and which sticks in people’s minds.

So, I went through a lot of title ideas. The easiest thing in the world to do is to take a title from one of the stories in the book (oooooh, it’s another collection!) an use that, which, is sort of what I did, but you have to make sure that THAT title is a fair representation of the book. Say, if you have a romance and call it Killer Stud, it may sound like a thriller or horror story. So it’s dicey.

SO, with all that in mind, I give to you, the title of the new book -

The Meep Sheep

I worried over that as a title but in the end, it’s the clearest and most appealing. The book will be a collection of fairy tales set in one place and following several characters. I really, really love this book and cannot wait to show you the cover but…that will come next month. For now, you have a name. I will post the description from the back of the book another time, but soon.

And if you can’t wait,  check out THIS BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS, my most recent book. It’s only ten bucks!

https://www.createspace.com/3386414

thanks, see you soon

c

Big Things Brewing and Bloo Moos – Mooing!

In July of 2009 I released my second book – This Beautiful Darkness( https://www.createspace.com/3386414) – and was thrilled by how well the book turned out and have been excited by the response the book has gotten. I consider that book the perfect representation of where I am at as a writer but, as with all things, it does not fully show all of the things I have been up to over the years. Over the past few years, inspired by my own weirdness, and by the people in my life, I started writing stories that were far from the dark realms most people are used to me creating. These stories were of a place called the Kingdom of Man and were about a Queen, a singer, and a reporter and the adventures they have. The stories were also about the animals in this land, some of which you have seen images of or seen mention of in passing. Since the publication of This Beautiful Darkness I have had a plan in mind and that plan is coming to fruition now.

In May of 2010 I plan to release my next book, the as yet untitled collection of these ‘other’ stories. There is darkness in this place too, but more than that, there is hope, happiness, and the wonder of discovering the magic within us all. These stories are, for lack of a better term, fairy tales, and they are some of the best things I have written. I am deeply in love with these stories and hope you will feel the same when you see them. So, I have a lot of work to do in order to get the book done and out by May but believe me, it will be worth it.

Keep watching…’cause the good is getting better by the day.

Thanks

c

This Beautiful Darkness…

If you are interested in checking my short story collection This Beautiful Darkness out you can find it on my own Create Space site  for ten dollars -

https://www.createspace.com/3386414

You can find the book through Amazon.com as well, where you can download an e-book.

(thanks to David K. Ewen for having me on his show tonight! -

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ewenprime)

This Beautiful Darkness – now for Kindle!

Well, here you go, another option to read the new book, this time in the DIGISPHERE!

WOOO!

So if you have one of those new-fangled Kindles you can get yourself a copy of my short story collection for five bucks.

See for yourself -

This Beautiful Darkness