The Red - Now In Print!

If you're interested in getting a real, printed copy of The Red, they're now available for purchase.  The Kindle version is definitely much cheaper, as the printing cost doesn't come into play.  However, there are many folks out there who don't have a Kindle or compatible device running the Kindle application.  And some people just prefer to have an actual book - I know that I do.  While I love being able to download and read books on my Kindle, there is something about the paper pages that will never go out of style.

If you don't think this is awesome, then I don't know what your problem is.

Nasa's Curiosity rover will soon making it's landing on the red planet.  Hopefully, this is will be a roaring success and not a fiery failure; as NASA has had it's share of both where the Mars missions are concerned.  On August 5th, 2012 at at 10:31 PM PDT, you can watch the landing live, just check out the link, above.

I love planetary exploration something fierce.  In honor of humans putting their time, attention, and brainpower into something worthwhile instead of just figuring out better ways to kill each other, I'm going to offer copies of The Red (which takes place on that same rocky globe) for free all day on August 5th.

Free Kindle Book!

There's a special going on over at The Red's page on Amazon.  For the rest of they day, you can download the book to your kindle device for free.  That's right - por gratis.

Amazon doesn't allow many of these promotions to run, and to be honest, I'm not sure how much of a fan I am of the free promotion.  I like the idea of getting my work to as many people as possible, I just see the risk of devaluing what I've put a lot of time and effort into - and that concerns me.  The regular Kindle price is only like $3.00, which is pretty dang low. 

Still, I want people to read what I've written if they feel inclined to do so.  At a price of $0.00, there's really nothing to lose from giving it a shot if you feel like it's your cup of tea.  If you want to take advantage of the promotion, I welcome you to.  Please understand that it's for a very limited time, though.  After you've read the book, feel free to leave some constructive feedback for other readers.  I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

New Cover Art!

Sage words tell us, "You should never judge a book by its cover."

Fact:  Absolutely no one heeds this advice.

Let me be honest.  The previous cover art for The Red was pretty bad.  When the book initially released for Kindle, I knew I needed something better.  Especially if the book came out in a print edition.  I felt like I had a story I could be proud of and I needed a cover that represented this to readers.

After working with Kyna Tek, I'm proud to show you the new cover piece for the book:

You can check out more of Kyna's work at his website, www.kyteki.com.  His portfolio is very diverse; I'm a big fan.  He read the novel and came up with this depiction of Thom, which I absolutely love.  I can't imagine a better way to represent the novel.

For those of you who purchased the novel earlier and have the old cover art on your Kindle (or compatible device) I'm working with Amazon to get an update to you.  More on that to come - rest assured I'll find a way to update your version of the book.

Very soon, a print edition will also be available.  I'll announce details on that once everything is finalized.

Mundane Update

I did a soft launch of a new site today.  It's still not totally completed, but I wanted to clear all the old pages out and start deploying the new ones.  I have a feeling it will be a work in progress for a long time to come.

Also, I submitted a short story to The New Yorker.  I haven't got a rejection letter from them yet, and I feel like every writer should have at least one in their collection.  It's important to be well rounded.

Book Review - The Dig by Michael Seimsen

I first heard about this book when "Gabe" from Penny-Arcade gave it a quick review on their site.  I've been reading PA for about a decade.  Even though their site isn't dedicated to books, those guys have a lot of the same nerdy sensibilities I do - it's why I like their work so much - so I gave the book a shot.  Plus, it was like three bucks for the Kindle version. 

Totally worth it.

If you're looking for novels you can discuss over cigars and brandy and that'll look great shelved next to a bunch of other boring-as-crap classics, then this probably isn't for you.  If you read because you love a good story, then pick up/download this bad boy.  From start to finish, Michael Siemsen keeps up a quick pace in this story, moving us from one scene to the next in an almost cinematic way; a style that has become very popular in our movie-going age. 

Matthew, our main character immediately comes across as likeable, but, somewhat damaged, which creates an automatic connection with the reader and gives him some depth right off the bat.  We follow him along a trek from North Carolina to Kenya, where he has been contracted to use his psychokinetic abilities to investigate a mysterious artifact uncovered at an archeological dig site.

The central characters are certainly fleshed out well enough for me to believe them, and to get me firmly in their corner throughout the story (no spoilers here).  Siemsen walks a fine line with the illustration of his central antagonist, making sure that while we have no doubt who the bad guy is, that he doesn't turn into a mustache-twirling caricature, which can be the Achilles heel of many fast-paced stories.

Gabe made a comparison between The Dig and some of Michael Chrichton's work.  I can't verify that as I haven't read much of Chrichton's stuff, but he meant it as a complement.  If you read Chrichton, that comparison may make sense to you.  On the other hand, in the review section on Amazon, I saw some accusations about the story being derivative of The Dead Zone (due to the psychokinetic thing).  I can guarantee you that's not the case at all.  Many stories share similar elements - it's unavoidable.  What matters is the storytelling, and Seimsen's work stands on its own.

In conclusion:  Good stuff.  Seimsen has most definitely set us up for a series here, and I'd like to see where he takes this. 

Wow

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA15689

When I see this kind of thing, I'm floored. Not only is it amazing to see such clear images of a completely different planet, but to think about the staggering amount of work that went into building the Rovers, getting them to the surface of Mars without crashing and burning, and then operating them for years past their predicted lifespan...  Wow.

To put that in perspective - most people can't make it across town without GPS.  Just sayin.

Note: Don't Rush the Query

That's pretty much what I did last time, and I paid for it in the long run.  I was in such a hurry to get my manuscript out to agents and publishers that I rushed through the process of writing the query.  I felt like just because I had come up with a few different versions of query letter, that I had explored the best possibilities and arrived at the best result.

Surprise - I was wrong.

It's hard to imagine the scope of your competition in getting a reader to select your query letter and ask for more pages.  Let's put it this way, an agent who is gainfully employed can receive up to eighty queries a day.  A day.  And some of these folks don't have staff to help them wade through the slush pile.  Another way to get a good visual on it is this exercise:  Go to Amazon, get into the books section, and start searching for terms that describe your story.  Next, be amazed at the thousands upon thousands of books already out there.

The point isn't to discourage - quite the opposite.  Looking at all the works already out there, and understanding the sheer volume of queries and agent receives are ways to show the importance of making your story shine.  Why is it unique?  Why is it interesting?  How do you tell your story differently?  These are all things a query should highlight.

With that first letter, I didn't get any bites from the first fifteen agents I submitted to.  I knew something had to be wrong.  Now that a few weeks had passed after my 'final' draft of the letter, it was easier to spot the flaws.  I spent too many words trying to summarize the story, point for point, rather than finding interesting ways to get the reader invested in the story.  I kept in lines that I really liked, but that didn't work well with the rest of the text.  In short, I realized that I could've done much better.

So, I went back and retooled the letter.  With better perspective on my side, I produced a new draft of the letter and sent it out.  Within a week I had my first bite, and several more followed.  But, I couldn't help but think, who would've been interested had they not received that first, flawed query letter?

I'm trying to keep that lesson in mind, as I work - and try not to rush - through the query letter on my new novel.  It's difficult, I mean, it takes a long time to finish the draft of a novel when it's not your full-time job.  After typing "End" on the story, it's an exciting moment, and it's hard to temper that feeling with patience.  But, if I learned anything on my last go-round, it's that every bit of copy that gets submitted has to be tight.  If that takes some extra time, so be it.