Kickstarter for 5 short stories in the Brymlight world is live and on its way! Reward tiers to fit everyone’s pocketbook and reading style – yes, we have ebook *and* printed versions. Higher tiers add some fun art options. Premium tiers are there for someone interested in more unique experiences, like story dedication and livestreams.
Both Chris from LoreSmyth and I will be monitoring the comments and fielding questions throughout the campaign – come join the fun!
In all my excitement about my story Forgotten Memories in the “Hunting Ghosts: Thrilling Tales of Paranormal Investigation,” (Now available in paperback!!!) I began to realize just how long I have been interested in the paranormal. I remember begging my mom to buy me a book about ghosts – yes, back then it was books, no Internet…
There was one picture in that book that to this day still gives me the heebeejeebees: the floating brick at Borley Rectory. Enjoy.
The cover to “Hunting Ghosts: Thrilling Tales of Paranormal Investigation” in which my story Forgotten Memories appears has been posted. Ok – now I am getting excited.
Forgotten Memories is one of several stories I wrote as world building for “The West Wind.” It is Weird West tale set in Johnson City, one of the main locations featured in the book, with Rachel and Clarence West playing walk-on parts. Unlike the book, however, I get to have some fun with the paranormal – ghost hunting obviously. The story centers around “Joe” who wakes up in the Marbury Sanitarium with no recollection of his past or how he arrived there. As the story unfolds, he begins to suspect that his circumstance is somehow related to a recent horrific riverboat accident. His journey of self (re)discovery nearly becomes a descent into madness as he struggles to uncover the truth about his past.
Here is the cover! More info over at the Facebook page of “Hunting Ghosts: Thrilling Tales of Paranormal Investigation.”
Ummm. Well. Not so well.
I’ve heard much about the fear and incapacitation caused by a blank page. I am suffering the opposite. The sight of a full page of my prose sends me running the other direction. I keep finding plenty of other things to do… such as…
I was flattered to be asked by David Mark Brown to beta read his latest work “The Austin Job.” If you are a follower you recall that I had read and reviewed his first work: “Fistful of Reefer.” This next installment brings back some “love to hate” characters from the first book and a few “easter egg” references for readers of Fistful to discover. David continues to develop his narrative skills as he begins to explore the “punk” side of the v1.0 Xpunk genres. Ever present are the over-the-top characters and action that I enjoyed from his first work. Expected release date of “The Austin Job” is on or about December 24.
In the meantime… back to not doing what I should be doing…
Finally, a topic about which I am almost qualified to dispense advice. Being still a new writer and all.
Slight detour…
I just returned with my family from Great Lakes Games, a four day annual invitational event for about 100 friends and family to get together and play boardgames. Boardgames and board game design is another of my frequently exercised hobbies (see “Other Publishing Credits”). This was the ninth year and we have attended all but the first. The timing is such that several of the folks in attendance have just returned from the Spiel in Essen… meaning lots of shiny new games unavailable yet here in the US. It also means getting together a number of game designer friends who are regulars. Exciting and notable this year was the placement of Hawaii by Greg Daigle on the FairPlay Essen scouting report – one of the more reliable predictors for commercial success of a game and pretty remarkable for an American designer. I am extremely happy for Greg – he has worked very hard at his craft and deserves the success and recognition for his work.
So what does this have to do with writing? Well not a whole lot really, but over the weekend I had a number of folks asking whether I had any games in the works. I always have games in the works, like stacks of half finished designs, however this time around they have all taken a back seat to this new writing thing. Several folks were surprised, several others shared their interests or desire to also write. The next question was how did I get myself up and going…
1) Preparation – I attended Michael Stackpole’s “21 Days to a Novel” seminar at Gen Con 2010. In an hour, he was able to explain in simple terms a number of writing exercises that would help prepare and construct a novel. Subsequently I found “The Secrets” podcast available at Stackpole’s site and iTunes. I listened to and enjoyed these podcasts. A portion of this podcast covers the 21 days process with examples. There is also an eBook available at his site and on Amazon.
2) Technique – Hands down the best source of information is the Writing Excuses podcast. Short, fun, and very educational. This should be recommended listening for anyone learning to write! Start at the beginning because they are that good.
3) Technology – I spent a great deal of time trying different writing applications. YWriter was the best application I found for the Windows platform. But hands down the program I prefer is Scrivener. I suffered through the Beta version of the application on Windows long enough to discover its true potential. Finally broke down and bought a Mac, the native platform for Scrivener. Haven’t looked back.
4) Encouragement – Wherever you get it, however you get it, it comes in handy. Give NaNoWriMo a try (adequate preparation is necessary to succeed), take a couple of Continuing Education classes at nearby community college, find a writer’s group, enlist your friends and family.
Enjoy! And best of luck.
Not exactly steampunk, but certainly western…
I got turned onto Brown’s “Fistful of Reefer” by the author himself having bumped into him in the Wild West Steampunk Saloon on S.W.A.G. We kicked a couple of comments back and forth and he let on that he just released a novel in eBook format. Intrigued, I downloaded a copy and gave it a shot. Sorry to say, I had relatively low expectations. Enough time looking at print-and-play boardgames and unpublished prototypes has left me a little jaded towards anything that has not come from a major publisher.
Well partner, I happy to say I was wrong. Brown has spun a fun action adventure tale with interesting, believable and diverse characters. I won’t belabor a full synopsis, but suffice to say it is a story about friendship, good guys, bad guys, lost races, orphans, contraband, hypocrisy, forgiveness and redemption set against a backdrop of a Saturday morning western. The only thing missing is the Morricone soundtrack.
Reeferpunk? Sure, why not. I think the “*punk” breed of fiction lends itself to an ever expanding definition led by imaginative authors finding new ways to mashup the traditional with the unusual. This is what indie press should be about, authors taking chances and pushing the boundaries. Sure, there were some technical editing errors here, but the story was interesting enough that I really stopped caring and just focused on enjoying.
I am looking forward to David’s next effort and wish him all the best in his corner of the punk mashup genres.
¡Viva la Revolución!
I have added a page called “Writer’s Shelf” – I am posting a list of books, with commentary, that I have on my writer’s shelf. I don’t have a lot so expect only a few updates to this page.
D.W. Beyer 