Sometimes time moves way too fast compared to how slow it's moving. I'm very happy that I'm only dealing with self-imposed deadlines at this point, because I've been missing them all.
I had planned on having the Devil's Jukebox ready to go on May 1st.
It's already about a week later.
The good news is that the book cover is done, and I'm so very pleased with it. Thanks to Sam Soto Design.
The problem is that there's work to be done (as in day job), and there's a couple of technical issues with the cover specs. First the file was too large, then the file was off a couple of minute millimetres. We're working on it. That's the hard part. So close - so far. Every change is a day's delay.
Part of me, the young Leo wanting to get out and roar, is just wanting to say "who cares-it's good enough-let's go!" The other part of me, the quiet patient part (who is showing unusual strength), is saying "just wait-you've waited years-a few more days won't hurt. let's just make this look as perfect as we can."
So now I'm shooting for June 1st.
Let's do this thing.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
poetry happens...
and i made some happen just recently.
a small chapbook of poetry - more for me to get a feel of the self-publishing process than to sell hundreds of copies...
poetry is a hard sell.
But - it is here, and available, and ready for readers.
The Typewriter Keeps Me Awake At Night.
you can find it on Amazon, or Createspace.
I'm hoping to create maybe two more of these little word books by the end of the year, and then compile them all next year... maybe...
depends on what's happening on the fiction side of my world -
The Jukebox will be playing soon, but until then - feel free to enjoy the typewriter.
-M
a small chapbook of poetry - more for me to get a feel of the self-publishing process than to sell hundreds of copies...
poetry is a hard sell.
But - it is here, and available, and ready for readers.
The Typewriter Keeps Me Awake At Night.
you can find it on Amazon, or Createspace.
I'm hoping to create maybe two more of these little word books by the end of the year, and then compile them all next year... maybe...
depends on what's happening on the fiction side of my world -
The Jukebox will be playing soon, but until then - feel free to enjoy the typewriter.
-M
Friday, March 21, 2014
commercial rant
I'm sure you've seen it - heard it.
i was watching TV and there was some horrible commercial for a car or a video game or some kind of toothpaste - i don't know. it was annoying.
but the music?
it was fucking Lou Reed's "Perfect Day".
and that killed me.
i didn't know if i should start crying or smash the television.
i did neither. i walked away.
yes, it's a great song.
it's a fanfuckintastic song, but that's the problem.
Now it's going to be attached to that commercial. maybe not for me, but for someone, and i feel bad for that someone.
music is emotional and it can connect us with images, memories, dreams. moments in time, and moments of meaning. a first kiss, a last goodbye, a death, a birth, a reunion.
that's why music can work so well, or go so wrong, in movies and tv shows... i mean - for me - i can't hear "i go crazy" without thinking of some kind of wonderful, and every time i hear the Faces go "ooh la la" i'm back at rushmore. what's Reality Bites without "Add It Up" or Beautiful Girls without Neil Diamond? This shit is important for art, for life, for love - and now all people are going to get is a memory of a commercial.
i understand that people have to sell things, make money, but do they have to kill music in order to do it?
that commercial was geared towards people who either have no appreciation for music or who are too young to know that song. either way, it's not for me.
*end rant*
i was watching TV and there was some horrible commercial for a car or a video game or some kind of toothpaste - i don't know. it was annoying.
but the music?
it was fucking Lou Reed's "Perfect Day".
and that killed me.
i didn't know if i should start crying or smash the television.
i did neither. i walked away.
yes, it's a great song.
it's a fanfuckintastic song, but that's the problem.
Now it's going to be attached to that commercial. maybe not for me, but for someone, and i feel bad for that someone.
music is emotional and it can connect us with images, memories, dreams. moments in time, and moments of meaning. a first kiss, a last goodbye, a death, a birth, a reunion.
that's why music can work so well, or go so wrong, in movies and tv shows... i mean - for me - i can't hear "i go crazy" without thinking of some kind of wonderful, and every time i hear the Faces go "ooh la la" i'm back at rushmore. what's Reality Bites without "Add It Up" or Beautiful Girls without Neil Diamond? This shit is important for art, for life, for love - and now all people are going to get is a memory of a commercial.
i understand that people have to sell things, make money, but do they have to kill music in order to do it?
that commercial was geared towards people who either have no appreciation for music or who are too young to know that song. either way, it's not for me.
*end rant*
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Spring Ahead
Peeking out from under the cover of minute grammatical revisions, and I see it's almost time...
The first proof of The Devil's Jukebox is in my hands... or; in my wife's hands... and I'm revising the book cover art - hopefully with the help of a talented friend... more on this as it develops - but either way, I think I'm on track for an official publication date of May 1st, 2014. I kind of want to hit April 1st, but I think that might be pushing it.
So I've been moving ahead on the pre-publication press.. to no avail. Self-published books still hold a slight stigmata when it comes to getting advance reviews or author's blurbs. I totally understand, but it's a little frustrating.
Still, this is the path I chose. It's done.
I can always add reviews and good-words-said-about-the-book-by-famous-people to the "2nd Edition".
My plan, at the moment, is to just get this out there, have a nice little book party, send some copies to some folks, and then start pushing myself to complete novels 2, 3, and 4...
Maybe one of those will get some official publishing thing done to it. Especially if people get all happy about reading book 1. If you do read it, and like it, feel free to throw a review somewhere where people can see it. If you hate it, you can still review it, but I'll probably be not as appreciative. Unless it's a really constructive "I hate this book because..." sorta thing. Those can be good too.
Book 2, I think, is about a band on tour. With some dead things.... not zombies, but perhaps a couple of demons, and definitely ghosts. Not Scooby-Doo ghosts, but dead people ghosts. maybe vengeful spirits. Definitely a band, driving, music, and some frustrated romancing. Maybe with the dead things. This is going to be completed from the 50,000 word thing i wrote for NaNoWriMo last November.
Book 3 is about halfway done, so this might become book 2... we'll see. This one has dead things, possibly a vampire creature, and a lot of alcohol. I don't want to say much more about it, but it was inspired by a trip I took back home to Vancouver.
Book 4 is only in my head at this point, but I like the idea of it. Might be a little on the YA side, if I can keep my cigarette and cocktail references to a minimum... all I know for sure is that it if all goes well it'll be described as a Hawaiian Gothic. Maybe I'll skip the YA and go straight for the Tiki Bar.
More soon!
The first proof of The Devil's Jukebox is in my hands... or; in my wife's hands... and I'm revising the book cover art - hopefully with the help of a talented friend... more on this as it develops - but either way, I think I'm on track for an official publication date of May 1st, 2014. I kind of want to hit April 1st, but I think that might be pushing it.
So I've been moving ahead on the pre-publication press.. to no avail. Self-published books still hold a slight stigmata when it comes to getting advance reviews or author's blurbs. I totally understand, but it's a little frustrating.
Still, this is the path I chose. It's done.
I can always add reviews and good-words-said-about-the-book-by-famous-people to the "2nd Edition".
My plan, at the moment, is to just get this out there, have a nice little book party, send some copies to some folks, and then start pushing myself to complete novels 2, 3, and 4...
Maybe one of those will get some official publishing thing done to it. Especially if people get all happy about reading book 1. If you do read it, and like it, feel free to throw a review somewhere where people can see it. If you hate it, you can still review it, but I'll probably be not as appreciative. Unless it's a really constructive "I hate this book because..." sorta thing. Those can be good too.
Book 2, I think, is about a band on tour. With some dead things.... not zombies, but perhaps a couple of demons, and definitely ghosts. Not Scooby-Doo ghosts, but dead people ghosts. maybe vengeful spirits. Definitely a band, driving, music, and some frustrated romancing. Maybe with the dead things. This is going to be completed from the 50,000 word thing i wrote for NaNoWriMo last November.
Book 3 is about halfway done, so this might become book 2... we'll see. This one has dead things, possibly a vampire creature, and a lot of alcohol. I don't want to say much more about it, but it was inspired by a trip I took back home to Vancouver.
Book 4 is only in my head at this point, but I like the idea of it. Might be a little on the YA side, if I can keep my cigarette and cocktail references to a minimum... all I know for sure is that it if all goes well it'll be described as a Hawaiian Gothic. Maybe I'll skip the YA and go straight for the Tiki Bar.
More soon!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Updating For A New Year
Here we are in the 2014.
The Devil's Jukebox is still floating around unpublished - maybe i need to wait for another book. After novel 2 or 3, maybe i can get #1 out there.
So - that's what i've been doing.... not sure which one will be #2 or #3, but i'm halfway (maybe) through one, and working on cleaning up and restructuring another.
one i've been working on since i finished The Devil's Jukebox, the other i wrote in one month - for NaNoWriMo 2014.
I did it - 50,000 words in one month - and it almost makes sense.
Draft Zero of a novel to be. Currently titled "Sometimes Always" - but that may be changing....
The Devil's Jukebox is still floating around unpublished - maybe i need to wait for another book. After novel 2 or 3, maybe i can get #1 out there.
So - that's what i've been doing.... not sure which one will be #2 or #3, but i'm halfway (maybe) through one, and working on cleaning up and restructuring another.
one i've been working on since i finished The Devil's Jukebox, the other i wrote in one month - for NaNoWriMo 2014.
I did it - 50,000 words in one month - and it almost makes sense.
Draft Zero of a novel to be. Currently titled "Sometimes Always" - but that may be changing....
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
rejection update
just a little update from me to the vast emptiness here.
i am a few rejections further into my quest for publication, and though i am not (as of yet) disheartened, i am unsure if the rejections are coming in based on the brief portions of my manuscript or from a less than spectacular query letter / synopsis.
i'm still plugging away though - in a sea of No, i'm searching for a Yes. There should be one out there, right?
in the meantime, i've been assuaging my woes with creative fancy rum cocktails for enjoyment in our new backyard tiki hut... rejections are so much better when combined with a variation on a Mai Tai or Painkiller.
a dash of bitters, garnished with a broken typewriter.
i am a few rejections further into my quest for publication, and though i am not (as of yet) disheartened, i am unsure if the rejections are coming in based on the brief portions of my manuscript or from a less than spectacular query letter / synopsis.
i'm still plugging away though - in a sea of No, i'm searching for a Yes. There should be one out there, right?
in the meantime, i've been assuaging my woes with creative fancy rum cocktails for enjoyment in our new backyard tiki hut... rejections are so much better when combined with a variation on a Mai Tai or Painkiller.
a dash of bitters, garnished with a broken typewriter.
Monday, March 11, 2013
The First Rejection
it's official - i am now a rejected author. not dejected... yet. i know that most of my submissions will be rejected without any notice - if i don't hear back in 4 weeks it's a no thank you. but - i actually got a polite decline. It's all part of it, right?
Dear Author,
Dear Author,
Many thanks for your email regarding your manuscript, which I am declining with my regrets.
Given the demands of running a boutique agency and continuing to best represent our current clients, we must make difficult decisions every day regarding what new projects we can sign. I appreciate your thinking of "this agency", and wish you the best of luck in your search for representation.
Best,
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