2012 has been a strange year for me. Through the end of 2011 and most of the way through this year I was in a deep depression with only occasional moments of normality. During this year my writing income doubled from the previous year, yet in the last month I've seen what I think is a serious long-term decline in my sales. I hope I'm wrong.
I finished Monster yet after I was done I realized the book wasn't at all what I wanted it to be. It needs a lot of work to be a true sequel to Beautiful and I want to do that work and get the book out. The problem is that I wrote almost all of it during that depression, and reading over it puts me back in the mindset I worked so hard to get out of. I don't know if your own emotional problems can create PTSD, but it feels that way. Monster is shelved indefinitely as I work on other things.
I'm at a strange crossroads as a writer. I have a huge amount of material I want to crank out, good ideas that need barely any work to be fully-fleshed out as stories. I've spent long nights working at the nursing home thinking about them on my rounds. Most of them only need the one thing I've had in short supply: time.
Time is the worst part. Yeah, I have it when I get home in the morning, but that's when I'm exhausted in every way. I've written that way before, and in fact I write Living With the Dead that way almost every day. LWtD takes up most of my mental energies any given morning. More writing on top of that is counter-productive.
I started Write The Future in an effort to spend all next year just working on my writing. The campaign is over at midnight tonight and the total contributions stand at just over $1,000. That's no mean feat for a guy sitting on his couch writing about zombies, but it's only about five percent of my goal. That's okay; I honestly didn't think I'd get that far. The project looks like it'll fail in about twelve hours, all the backers will get their money back in the next few weeks.
I'll keep on working and tucking away money here and there. I'll try to save my writing income as much as possible so that someday I'll have a nest egg that will allow me to risk not working. All I need is time to write those books and a bit of luck, and I'll live my dream. Eventually I'll be writing full-time and the stress of this year will be something I can look back on as a learning experience.
Complaining seems pretty dickish at this point. I've had more success than I expected by any measure. Over this year I've reached more readers than I thought possible. I've made new friends and learned a tremendous amount about the art of writing, and it continues. Work is hard and it sucks, but that's how it is all around, right? I've got a roof over my head, the best wife and family anyone could hope for, fuzzy companions at home who are always happy to see me (yes, Jess and I keep Hobbits in the house) and the future has yet to be written.
My readers are the best. You are the best. You've been the most supportive group of people, and I know that while it may take a while, I'll get there eventually. Because of you! That's the truth. I could be sitting here writing the next great classic (I'm totally not) but it wouldn't mean a thing without you guys. I'm thrilled every time I get messages from you, or words of support, or anything really. You all keep me motivated and in total honesty interacting with you on a daily basis has helped calm the emotions that wrecked my productivity so much of this year.
Thank you for all of that. Whether you're a close family member or someone I met on the internet (and there are more of you than I can easily count now, many of you now dear friends), you mean the world to me. Even if I had to give up writing (tragic wheat thresher accident? Choose your own adventure) tomorrow I would still treasure each moment, past and future.
I'm not giving up. I will write and write until my fingers bleed, and I will achieve my dream. I don't make resolutions, but 2013 is going to be my year one way or another. I promise that.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
"Next" and a review of "Cold Days" by Jim Butcher
My initial plan was to begin work on Saint for NaNoWriMo this month, but a few false starts later and an obsessive infatuation with another planned book, Next, pushed me in a different direction. Next is sitting at almost eight thousand words as of this moment, and I'm planning to put it over the 10k mark tonight.
As for Monster, well, the raw first draft is sitting on my hard drive. I'll be honest: I wrote the book during more than a year of depression, personal turmoil, and continuing physical and mental stress. I want to get the book done and published, but every time I sit to edit and revise I start to remember every bad moment and I just can't do it. I may need to let Monster sit for a while as I work on other things and revisit it later. I want it to be a good book. Right now it isn't what I'd like it to be.
And now, a review of Cold Days by Jim Butcher, which I just finished reading a few hours ago.
A warning: SPOILERS. OMG SO MANY SPOILERS. Don't read past here if you haven't read the book or care at all about knowing major plot elements ahead of time. Seriously.
In fact, let me just add a jump right here.
As for Monster, well, the raw first draft is sitting on my hard drive. I'll be honest: I wrote the book during more than a year of depression, personal turmoil, and continuing physical and mental stress. I want to get the book done and published, but every time I sit to edit and revise I start to remember every bad moment and I just can't do it. I may need to let Monster sit for a while as I work on other things and revisit it later. I want it to be a good book. Right now it isn't what I'd like it to be.
And now, a review of Cold Days by Jim Butcher, which I just finished reading a few hours ago.
A warning: SPOILERS. OMG SO MANY SPOILERS. Don't read past here if you haven't read the book or care at all about knowing major plot elements ahead of time. Seriously.
In fact, let me just add a jump right here.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Saint: A First Look
Many of you know I'm running a campaign on IndieGoGo to fund my writing for next year. That link will take you to it. The goal seems like a bit much, I know, but it really isn't. It's less than I make at my full-time job, but even if you don't use that metric it really isn't an outrageous number. I've seen people run campaigns for $15,000 for a single book. I'm reaching for 20k to complete six additional novels on top of my work on Living With the Dead. When you break it down I'm shooting for about $3,400 per book. That's about par for writing campaigns on IndieGoGo, Kickstarter, and the other crowdfunding platforms.
I should also mention here that I'm planning on adding more perks to the campaign that include print editions of each book. Signed by me! Awww, yeah!
With Monster in the edit/revision stage, I figured it would be a good time to give you some background on my next planned novel, which I'm going to write regardless of my campaign's success. It's called Saint, and it's something I haven't done before: a crime drama.
Without giving too much away, the story centers around a man called Saint O'Brien. Though his first name is Eric, few people call him that due to a personality quirk: the Saint always gives a second chance. But after that he's as ruthless and without mercy as a hurricane.
Saint is a character inspired by several of my favorite bad guys in movies and comics. He's a little Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad, a little Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction. It's safe to say that Agent Graves from 100 Bullets (one of my all-time favorite characters in comics) exists in the Saint in some form, as do the minutemen he lead in the comic.
He's a cleaner, a fixer. He's the one who gets called in to troubleshoot and solve problems when lesser criminals can't manage on their own. The Saint has little to lose and few morals to hold him back. He's a murderer with ice in his blood.
And the idea of the story was to put him in a situation where he is forced to face those remaining moral lines up close and face choices that might make him cross them. Saint is going to be faced-paced and full of thrills, but in building the central character and plot, I began to ask myself just who Eric O'Brien is and how he grew into that man. Originally this novel was going to be a straight thriller, but over the last few months O'Brien has evolved into something much more complex and interesting than a simple anti-hero.
I'm excited to finish Monster and get to work on Saint. This is a new direction for me. I usually write in the realms of science fiction and fantasy. I've got most of this book mapped out in my head, and if the campaign is successful I'll be able to get it written pretty quickly. So if you haven't contributed yet, you should think about doing so. If you haven's shared the link, here it is again. I hope you do that.
Because this guy wants his day in the sun, and I want to give it to him.
I should also mention here that I'm planning on adding more perks to the campaign that include print editions of each book. Signed by me! Awww, yeah!
With Monster in the edit/revision stage, I figured it would be a good time to give you some background on my next planned novel, which I'm going to write regardless of my campaign's success. It's called Saint, and it's something I haven't done before: a crime drama.
Without giving too much away, the story centers around a man called Saint O'Brien. Though his first name is Eric, few people call him that due to a personality quirk: the Saint always gives a second chance. But after that he's as ruthless and without mercy as a hurricane.
Saint is a character inspired by several of my favorite bad guys in movies and comics. He's a little Mike Ehrmantraut from Breaking Bad, a little Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction. It's safe to say that Agent Graves from 100 Bullets (one of my all-time favorite characters in comics) exists in the Saint in some form, as do the minutemen he lead in the comic.
He's a cleaner, a fixer. He's the one who gets called in to troubleshoot and solve problems when lesser criminals can't manage on their own. The Saint has little to lose and few morals to hold him back. He's a murderer with ice in his blood.
And the idea of the story was to put him in a situation where he is forced to face those remaining moral lines up close and face choices that might make him cross them. Saint is going to be faced-paced and full of thrills, but in building the central character and plot, I began to ask myself just who Eric O'Brien is and how he grew into that man. Originally this novel was going to be a straight thriller, but over the last few months O'Brien has evolved into something much more complex and interesting than a simple anti-hero.
I'm excited to finish Monster and get to work on Saint. This is a new direction for me. I usually write in the realms of science fiction and fantasy. I've got most of this book mapped out in my head, and if the campaign is successful I'll be able to get it written pretty quickly. So if you haven't contributed yet, you should think about doing so. If you haven's shared the link, here it is again. I hope you do that.
Because this guy wants his day in the sun, and I want to give it to him.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Six Books For $10
Just going to keep this short and to the point: what the post title says is correct. I'm running an IndieGoGo campaign from now until December 31st at 11:59 PM, and the lowest level of backing will net you all six of the new books I'll write in 2013 for less than the cost of two lattes from Starbucks.
I'm trying to reach $20,000. If I hit that goal, the campaign will be successful and I'll spend 2013 at home working on books and nothing else. No full-time job. If we don't reach that goal, everyone's money is automatically refunded and I don't get a dime. But, then, I won't have the freedom to write all six of those books. I'll still work on them as much as I can, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to do any of them, much less all six.
There are other perks that cost more on the campaign, which can be found right HERE, but the one I think would appeal to most people is the cheapest one. Six books--eBooks--for ten dollars. If that sounds like a great deal to you, and it should, then head over and help support my work. If you can't afford to, then please share and encourage any friends you have that might enjoy.
Thanks,
Josh
I'm trying to reach $20,000. If I hit that goal, the campaign will be successful and I'll spend 2013 at home working on books and nothing else. No full-time job. If we don't reach that goal, everyone's money is automatically refunded and I don't get a dime. But, then, I won't have the freedom to write all six of those books. I'll still work on them as much as I can, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to do any of them, much less all six.
There are other perks that cost more on the campaign, which can be found right HERE, but the one I think would appeal to most people is the cheapest one. Six books--eBooks--for ten dollars. If that sounds like a great deal to you, and it should, then head over and help support my work. If you can't afford to, then please share and encourage any friends you have that might enjoy.
Thanks,
Josh
Monday, October 8, 2012
Telling Stories: Cancer, Comedy, And Going There
I'm not just a writer, I'm also a comedy nerd. I love language and telling stories as things alone, but to me comedy is a perfect example of blending language and storytelling into an experience that creates a reaction. What I try to do with words on a page, comedians do with their tone of voice, body language, and a dozen other little things.
I've been trying to work all afternoon and evening and have little to show for it. A little while ago I took a break to listen to a stand-up routine I bought from my favorite comedian of all time, Louis CK. It isn't his performance. It's an audio track by a friend of his, fellow comedian Tig Notaro.
Louis posted this tweet not long after watching Tig's set:
in 27 years doing this, I've seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo.
Sixty seconds before the set, Tig told Louis that she had cancer, was probably going to die, and had lost her mother not long before. "I'm going to go up there and talk about it," she said. "It's probably going to be a mess."
I listened. It wasn't.
She took to the stage and did something really unique. By bluntly confronting the tragedy in her life, not complaining but seeking an honesty with her audience I've never heard of much less seen, Tig Notaro gave what was probably the performance of her life. Louis called it masterful, and it was. She made me laugh when I didn't want to even through tears.
She walked up to the curtain between life and death, threw it open for those of us who have never really faced that kind of tragedy, and taught us something about grace and humor in the worst possible situation.
Her ability to keep the audience with her through the whole thing was nothing short of miraculous. The talent Tig displayed in taking something like cancer, the death of a loved one, and other awful experiences (all true, at that) and making us laugh at it--amazing. Really, truly amazing.
I'm fascinated in the mechanics of comedy. That's part of why I love Louis so much; he's a comedian's comedian. He understands the deeper currents of confronting people's fears and doubts and pointing out the absurdity in our own shame. Comedy is about dealing with fear and anxiety. The best comedians can make you look hard at yourself by using themselves as a mirror.
The trick is making us laugh at what we see. Louis does this well. Tig Notaro did it in her set better than anyone. Period.
She did it with humility and raw emotion, and I want more than anything to give her a hug. To tell her how much I hope she does well. To thank her for an experience I can't get out of my head.
But I can't. So I wrote this. It's a sad imitation and she'll probably never read it, but if I can convince even one person out there to buy the special and hear what I heard, felt what I felt, I'll have done at least some small good.
The link is here. I can't be clear enough that you should click on it.
I've been trying to work all afternoon and evening and have little to show for it. A little while ago I took a break to listen to a stand-up routine I bought from my favorite comedian of all time, Louis CK. It isn't his performance. It's an audio track by a friend of his, fellow comedian Tig Notaro.
Louis posted this tweet not long after watching Tig's set:
in 27 years doing this, I've seen a handful of truly great, masterful standup sets. One was Tig Notaro last night at Largo.
Sixty seconds before the set, Tig told Louis that she had cancer, was probably going to die, and had lost her mother not long before. "I'm going to go up there and talk about it," she said. "It's probably going to be a mess."
I listened. It wasn't.
She took to the stage and did something really unique. By bluntly confronting the tragedy in her life, not complaining but seeking an honesty with her audience I've never heard of much less seen, Tig Notaro gave what was probably the performance of her life. Louis called it masterful, and it was. She made me laugh when I didn't want to even through tears.
She walked up to the curtain between life and death, threw it open for those of us who have never really faced that kind of tragedy, and taught us something about grace and humor in the worst possible situation.
Her ability to keep the audience with her through the whole thing was nothing short of miraculous. The talent Tig displayed in taking something like cancer, the death of a loved one, and other awful experiences (all true, at that) and making us laugh at it--amazing. Really, truly amazing.
I'm fascinated in the mechanics of comedy. That's part of why I love Louis so much; he's a comedian's comedian. He understands the deeper currents of confronting people's fears and doubts and pointing out the absurdity in our own shame. Comedy is about dealing with fear and anxiety. The best comedians can make you look hard at yourself by using themselves as a mirror.
The trick is making us laugh at what we see. Louis does this well. Tig Notaro did it in her set better than anyone. Period.
She did it with humility and raw emotion, and I want more than anything to give her a hug. To tell her how much I hope she does well. To thank her for an experience I can't get out of my head.
But I can't. So I wrote this. It's a sad imitation and she'll probably never read it, but if I can convince even one person out there to buy the special and hear what I heard, felt what I felt, I'll have done at least some small good.
The link is here. I can't be clear enough that you should click on it.
Monday, October 1, 2012
The Author I Am (Advice and Evidence for Indie Writers)
For a good while now I've been trying to steer clear of writing too much about writing. It's a little self-centered and frankly I don't know that many people are interested in hearing about my job. I don't expect you to come home from the factory or the nursing home (I work at one of those for my day job) and write a long series of posts about it. I don't think I should either.
Occasionally, though, I get the itch to update anyone who is interested on what's happening with me and my career and to share my experiences. The things that work and don't might be useful to you if you're an indie writer or are thinking of becoming one. Maybe not, but this is my disclaimer: nothing I say is presented as gospel. Also, nothing I say is intended to be bragging on my part. I'm just as surprised as anyone that I've sold book one.
But first, a little about who I am.
I am not a structured image. I don't do PR and have gimmicks and stuff like that. This is the only joshuaguess.com you'll find; infrequently updated and just a sort of informal blog. Not that I don't intend to build a "real" website at some point, but that's just not a priority for me. I like interacting with my fans who so often become my friends via social media. A professional website might be pretty and all that jazz, but I much prefer joking around with readers on Facebook and Twitter. It's more personal, faster, and much easier.
There are a lot of paths for authors to take. I suggest trying out whatever methods suit you. I don't have the resources to quit my job and take up writing full-time, so there's no media blitz from me. I don't have a lot of time to write as it is. I'm not spending any of it trying to write regular stuff on my blog solely to appear cute or to gain attention.
You might be able to do that. The Bloggess is a great example of that kind of writer. She's as honest and straightforward as it's possible for a human to be. She's a brilliant writer that used her platform and considerable talent to make a name for herself. Then she wrote a book that sold like hotcakes. Which is a lot, because hotcakes are fucking delicious. Jenny (that's her real name) does one or two regular features on her blog and they work well. I think that's because she developed them organically over time.
She does her own PR, and it's as darkly funny and brutally filthy as the rest of her work. I love it. She comes across as genuine in every way, and that's a huge part of why people love her.
That's not easy to do. Some authors tend toward self-aggrandizement, talking about their work incessantly. Those are the ones who have photo shoots with lots of, uh, cleverly posed pictures. They're the ones who have silly gimmicks on their web pages that are written in a way or from a perspective specifically designed to create an impression about what kind of person they are. Maybe it's a "rant" section to create the idea the writer is a tough customer that tells it like it is. It might be the author writing a blog post or review from the perspective of a fictional character once a week. There are a lot of them. And for those people that may work.
As a reader, that turns me off. So I don't use them as a writer. But, hey, whatever tickles your pickle.
To me, being genuine is the most important thing. I may tone down what I say and not get into details of my points of view, but by and large what you see is what you get. I think authenticity is vital to the reader. You might read something I've written and think I'm a huge dick afterward, but you'll know for sure that you come to that opinion honestly. I don't put on a show to try and lure you in.
What does all this mean? Nothing, except that your image is a part of how your reader perceives you. It isn't just your writing. I only want you to think about that going forward.
That's the advice part. Now for the evidence.
Totally separate from all of the above is the pure numbers of how I'm doing at this point in my writing career. Some people are appalled at anyone divulging the amount of money they make. I told you all months ago that in 2011 I made just over $6000 in royalties, all from my eBooks. A lot of my fans, friends, and family were stunned by that number. Put it in one lump sum like that and it seems like a lot of money to make for someone typing on his couch while watching Hoarders.
And you know what? That's exactly the right reaction. I still don't quite believe it myself. I chalk it up to a ludicrously supportive fan base, some dedication on my part, and metric tons of sheer luck.
Which makes the next bit a little strange: At the end of November, I will get a check from Amazon that will bring my total income for 2012 to just shy of $11,000. I have no idea what October will bring in sales, and as I'll be getting paid the October royalties at the end of December I'm not even going to guess.
For a bit of clarity I beat last year's royalties by the end of June. Halfway through the year and I'd made as much as the entire previous year. I attribute this, again, to my (growing) fan base, my dedication, GIGATONS of luck, and the addition of Kindle Select into the mix.
There's a lot of back and forth about Select and I'm not rehashing it here. Google arguments about the program if you're interested. As for me, my audience has grown tremendously over the last ten and a half months of being in the program. I've given away somewhere near twenty thousand books in that time. I've had higher sales each month in comparison to 2011. I've grown my fanbase organically--that is, by word of mouth and through getting books out there to eReaders--instead of through ads or blog posts or reviews or guest spots on so-and-so's website. I'm not nay-saying those things, by all means do them if you feel the need. But they take up time I just don't have.
I am absolutely floored by the growth in my income this year. Most of it has been eaten by medical bills from when I had my appendix removed as well as a dozen other nibbling costs over that time. But the point is, I had the money to cover them. Select had a lot to do with the jump in my income. Every bit of analysis I can do on my numbers supports that. Might not work for you, but it's worth keeping tabs on.
In short, the things that work for me: engaging my fans directly, which I can fortunately still do as I'm not some big name with millions of fans. I tend to just be myself, which does turn some people off but creates surprisingly fierce loyalty among the remainder. I've made some good friends that way, and people see me as more than a carefully-crafted image or just some faceless neutral voice saying, "I wrote this book. Reading it would not be unpleasant for you, fellow human."
I'm a person to them, which is good given I actually am a person. I'm certainly not a complex computer program sent from the future to slowly gain your love and trust as a public figure only to make the inevitable slide into a cyborg apocalypse that much easier. Perish the thought. I don't know what you're talking about. Who said cyborgs? Not this infiltration unit, that's for sure.
And I think I'll end here. Like my grandma always says, "Leave them asking for more...information on whether or not you're an agent of Skynet."
Occasionally, though, I get the itch to update anyone who is interested on what's happening with me and my career and to share my experiences. The things that work and don't might be useful to you if you're an indie writer or are thinking of becoming one. Maybe not, but this is my disclaimer: nothing I say is presented as gospel. Also, nothing I say is intended to be bragging on my part. I'm just as surprised as anyone that I've sold book one.
But first, a little about who I am.
I am not a structured image. I don't do PR and have gimmicks and stuff like that. This is the only joshuaguess.com you'll find; infrequently updated and just a sort of informal blog. Not that I don't intend to build a "real" website at some point, but that's just not a priority for me. I like interacting with my fans who so often become my friends via social media. A professional website might be pretty and all that jazz, but I much prefer joking around with readers on Facebook and Twitter. It's more personal, faster, and much easier.
There are a lot of paths for authors to take. I suggest trying out whatever methods suit you. I don't have the resources to quit my job and take up writing full-time, so there's no media blitz from me. I don't have a lot of time to write as it is. I'm not spending any of it trying to write regular stuff on my blog solely to appear cute or to gain attention.
You might be able to do that. The Bloggess is a great example of that kind of writer. She's as honest and straightforward as it's possible for a human to be. She's a brilliant writer that used her platform and considerable talent to make a name for herself. Then she wrote a book that sold like hotcakes. Which is a lot, because hotcakes are fucking delicious. Jenny (that's her real name) does one or two regular features on her blog and they work well. I think that's because she developed them organically over time.
She does her own PR, and it's as darkly funny and brutally filthy as the rest of her work. I love it. She comes across as genuine in every way, and that's a huge part of why people love her.
That's not easy to do. Some authors tend toward self-aggrandizement, talking about their work incessantly. Those are the ones who have photo shoots with lots of, uh, cleverly posed pictures. They're the ones who have silly gimmicks on their web pages that are written in a way or from a perspective specifically designed to create an impression about what kind of person they are. Maybe it's a "rant" section to create the idea the writer is a tough customer that tells it like it is. It might be the author writing a blog post or review from the perspective of a fictional character once a week. There are a lot of them. And for those people that may work.
As a reader, that turns me off. So I don't use them as a writer. But, hey, whatever tickles your pickle.
To me, being genuine is the most important thing. I may tone down what I say and not get into details of my points of view, but by and large what you see is what you get. I think authenticity is vital to the reader. You might read something I've written and think I'm a huge dick afterward, but you'll know for sure that you come to that opinion honestly. I don't put on a show to try and lure you in.
What does all this mean? Nothing, except that your image is a part of how your reader perceives you. It isn't just your writing. I only want you to think about that going forward.
That's the advice part. Now for the evidence.
Totally separate from all of the above is the pure numbers of how I'm doing at this point in my writing career. Some people are appalled at anyone divulging the amount of money they make. I told you all months ago that in 2011 I made just over $6000 in royalties, all from my eBooks. A lot of my fans, friends, and family were stunned by that number. Put it in one lump sum like that and it seems like a lot of money to make for someone typing on his couch while watching Hoarders.
And you know what? That's exactly the right reaction. I still don't quite believe it myself. I chalk it up to a ludicrously supportive fan base, some dedication on my part, and metric tons of sheer luck.
Which makes the next bit a little strange: At the end of November, I will get a check from Amazon that will bring my total income for 2012 to just shy of $11,000. I have no idea what October will bring in sales, and as I'll be getting paid the October royalties at the end of December I'm not even going to guess.
For a bit of clarity I beat last year's royalties by the end of June. Halfway through the year and I'd made as much as the entire previous year. I attribute this, again, to my (growing) fan base, my dedication, GIGATONS of luck, and the addition of Kindle Select into the mix.
There's a lot of back and forth about Select and I'm not rehashing it here. Google arguments about the program if you're interested. As for me, my audience has grown tremendously over the last ten and a half months of being in the program. I've given away somewhere near twenty thousand books in that time. I've had higher sales each month in comparison to 2011. I've grown my fanbase organically--that is, by word of mouth and through getting books out there to eReaders--instead of through ads or blog posts or reviews or guest spots on so-and-so's website. I'm not nay-saying those things, by all means do them if you feel the need. But they take up time I just don't have.
I am absolutely floored by the growth in my income this year. Most of it has been eaten by medical bills from when I had my appendix removed as well as a dozen other nibbling costs over that time. But the point is, I had the money to cover them. Select had a lot to do with the jump in my income. Every bit of analysis I can do on my numbers supports that. Might not work for you, but it's worth keeping tabs on.
In short, the things that work for me: engaging my fans directly, which I can fortunately still do as I'm not some big name with millions of fans. I tend to just be myself, which does turn some people off but creates surprisingly fierce loyalty among the remainder. I've made some good friends that way, and people see me as more than a carefully-crafted image or just some faceless neutral voice saying, "I wrote this book. Reading it would not be unpleasant for you, fellow human."
I'm a person to them, which is good given I actually am a person. I'm certainly not a complex computer program sent from the future to slowly gain your love and trust as a public figure only to make the inevitable slide into a cyborg apocalypse that much easier. Perish the thought. I don't know what you're talking about. Who said cyborgs? Not this infiltration unit, that's for sure.
And I think I'll end here. Like my grandma always says, "Leave them asking for more...information on whether or not you're an agent of Skynet."
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Lots of Free Books (and the release of Book Five!)
Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to the Living With the Dead family:
This New Disease, book five.
As I'm sure some of my regular readers have guessed, I'm doing another big giveaway to celebrate the release of my new book. While This New Disease will still cost $3.99, you can get the first four books absolutely free starting on the morning of Sunday, September 9th. That's right! Starting tomorrow and through Thursday you can get all four individual volumes of LWtD free on the Kindle store, as well as Year One, which collects books one and two and contains a lot of bonus material.
So, please, share this post and let your friends know. Take the free books, buy the fifth one if you like, and enjoy!
Links!
With Spring Comes The Fall, book one.
The Bitter Seasons, book two.
Year One, which collects book one and two, plus has a TON of bonus material, including five short stories, a behind the scenes look at LWtD, and a whole novella set in the LWtD universe. It's a deal. Especially because it's free.
The Hungry Land, book three.
The Wild Country, book four.
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