T.M. Camp's Blog

My son graduated from high school today.

I don’t entirely understand how this…

…became this…

So fast, too fast…

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the support during the launch of my latest book The Cradle. The response has been outstanding and it's wonderful to see reviews starting to come in.

If you ordered a copy of the book before March 15th, 2012, you not only got a wonderful story that you'll treasure for decades and tell all your friends about (ahem) but you're also eligible to win any number of fabulous prizes, including…

A signed copy of my next book "The Red Boy" which will be published later this year. Five winners will be chosen at random.
A Super! Secret! Sweepstakes! to win the ambiguously-described "nifty" prize. Two lucky people will be chosen at random.

In addition, if you bought a copy of the book, Aurohn Press will donate a copy in your name to the library or school of your choice. If you haven't yet sent your library information in, click here to send it along.

And finally, if you ordered a Kindle version of the book . . . well, I don't know who you are. But you're still eligible for the contest, sweepstakes, and library donation. Please confirm your purchase by sending us an e-mail with your mailing address, library info, date of purchase, and a screenshot or photo of the title page of the book on your Kindle or iPhone.

Winners will be announced next week, so get your information in while the gettin's good, y'all.

(Note: The aforementioned "nifty" prizes do not include an actual kitten or trophy.)

It's bit of quiet, a bit of whiskey, and a bit of reading…

How about you?

I’m not writing right now.

This isn’t due to any kind of block, but rather a by-product of being too busy with getting The Cradle ready for publication, beginning edits on The Red Boy, and working through a number of time consuming projects and initiatives at the office.

Not writing is not a good feeling. I’ve gone through periods of low productivity before but still managed to write at least a little bit of something every day. Not writing leaves me a bit shaky, queasy almost. Not writing does odd things to my dreams. Not writing makes me feel disconnected, on the fritz.

It’s not a feeling I particularly enjoy.

The hectic pace has kept me away from most of my friends on Facebook and Twitter as well, which doesn’t help my feeling of disconnection at all. And, obviously, I haven’t been posting very much here as well.

And yet, there’s been some very interesting things happening on Pinterest. I’ve been posting there for a while now but it’s been very interesting to see it gain momentum over the past few months. My wife doesn’t typically jump on whatever Internet bandwagon happens to be passing by (unlike me) but she’s gone deeper than I expected when I sent her the invite. And together we’re doing our best to press back against the overwhelming tide of cupcake photos, quirky nail polish ideas, and hair braid how-to’s.

Or, as one of my colleagues put it: “You guys are the dark side of Pinterest.”

I have to admit, on a site seemingly overrun with babies-in-peapods reposts and virtually identical my-dream-kitchen boards, that sounds like a compliment.

Pinterest has some interesting creative potential as well. I’ve got boards devoted to each of my books — posting my take on the characters, hoping other people might want to contribute their own. I’ve also got a board with little fragments of story that occur to me, hoping that someone will start up a collaboration back and forth through the comments.

Fun stuff. This was the kind of world I was trying to find twenty-five years ago when I sat alone and awake until four o’clock in the morning, looking out my window.*

Not alone anymore.

“The prose is exquisite, as usual if you are at all familiar with Camp’s work. The characterizations are great again.”

It’s been a little over a week now since The Cradle went on sale and the response has been a bit surprising — lots and lots of people have been buying the book and a few reviews are even starting to show up on Amazon and GoodReads.

Overall, this is probably the best launch response I’ve seen so far. And I’m grateful to everyone out there who’s jumped in to show their support.

“I love this book. I cannot put this book down. I want to know more about Jee, and her new adventures in this book. TM weaves a tale like no one else. He lures and captures your imagination with enthralling characters and images that could be straight from the movie screen.”

There’s still a week left to order the book and get the special pricing, as well as a whole slew of special offers and giveaways.

It’s available in hardback, softcover, and Kindle. An ePub version and audiobook are on their way. I was disappointed in my original recording for the audio, so I’ll be spending the weekend re-recording that.

Ordinarily I’d be annoyed by this kind of a setback but the most excellent Michael Levy has graciously given his permission to use two of his compositions as accompaniment to the audio. This delights me to no end. I’ve been a fan of Michael’s music for a while now — he plays ancient music on replica instruments, capturing the spirit of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and beyond. It’s fascinating, remarkable work and I can’t recommend it all highly enough.

His new album Ode to Ancient Rome has just been released, but there’s a lot more where that came from.

————-

* And before anyone gets too smarty-pants with the “Maybe you’d be writing more if you weren’t on Pinterest” comments, you’re probably right to some degree. On the other hand, Pinterest isn’t really something I do during my usual writing times — it happens earlier in the evenings when my wife and I are unwinding after the day (hey, it beats watching television).

I'm not writing right now.

This isn't due to any kind of block, but rather a by-product of being too busy with getting The Cradle ready for publication, beginning edits on The Red Boy, and working through a number of time consuming projects and initiatives at the office.

Not writing is not a good feeling. I've gone through periods of low productivity before but still managed to write at least a little bit of something every day. Not writing leaves me a bit shaky, queasy almost. Not writing does odd things to my dreams. Not writing makes me feel disconnected, on the fritz.

It's not a feeling I particularly enjoy.

The hectic pace has kept me away from most of my friends on Facebook and Twitter as well, which doesn't help my feeling of disconnection at all. And, obviously, I haven't been posting very much here as well.

And yet, there's been some very interesting things happening on Pinterest. I've been posting there for a while now but it's been very interesting to see it gain momentum over the past few months. My wife doesn't typically jump on whatever Internet bandwagon happens to be passing by (unlike me) but she's gone deeper than I expected when I sent her the invite. And together we're doing our best to press back against the overwhelming tide of cupcake photos, quirky nail polish ideas, and hair braid how-to's.

Or, as one of my colleagues put it: "You guys are the dark side of Pinterest."

I have to admit, on a site seemingly overrun with babies-in-peapods reposts and virtually identical my-dream-kitchen boards, that sounds like a compliment.

Pinterest has some interesting creative potential as well. I've got boards devoted to each of my books — posting my take on the characters, hoping other people might want to contribute their own. I've also got a board with little fragments of story that occur to me, hoping that someone will start up a collaboration back and forth through the comments.

Fun stuff. This was the kind of world I was trying to find twenty-five years ago when I sat alone and awake until four o'clock in the morning, looking out my window.*

Not alone anymore.

"The prose is exquisite, as usual if you are at all familiar with Camp's work. The characterizations are great again."

It's been a little over a week now since The Cradle went on sale and the response has been a bit surprising — lots and lots of people have been buying the book and a few reviews are even starting to show up on Amazon and GoodReads.

Overall, this is probably the best launch response I've seen so far. And I'm grateful to everyone out there who's jumped in to show their support.

"I love this book. I cannot put this book down. I want to know more about Jee, and her new adventures in this book. TM weaves a tale like no one else. He lures and captures your imagination with enthralling characters and images that could be straight from the movie screen."

There's still a week left to order the book and get the special pricing, as well as a whole slew of special offers and giveaways.

It's available in hardback, softcover, and Kindle. An ePub version and audiobook are on their way. I was disappointed in my original recording for the audio, so I'll be spending the weekend re-recording that.

Ordinarily I'd be annoyed by this kind of a setback but the most excellent Michael Levy has graciously given his permission to use two of his compositions as accompaniment to the audio. This delights me to no end. I've been a fan of Michael's music for a while now — he plays ancient music on replica instruments, capturing the spirit of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and beyond. It's fascinating, remarkable work and I can't recommend it all highly enough.

His new album Ode to Ancient Rome has just been released, but there's a lot more where that came from.

————-

* And before anyone gets too smarty-pants with the "Maybe you'd be writing more if you weren't on Pinterest" comments, you're probably right to some degree. On the other hand, Pinterest isn't really something I do during my usual writing times — it happens earlier in the evenings when my wife and I are unwinding after the day (hey, it beats watching television).

At long last, The Cradle is finally here! Picking up where Assam and Darjeeling left off, you can now read the next chapter in Jee's ongoing adventures.

The Cradle is available in softcover, hardcover, and Kindle editions. To celebrate the launch, we're offering all kinds of special pricing and goodies…

Enter to Win

From now until March 15, 2012, every purchase made through this site enters you in a drawing to win a signed copy of T.M. Camp's next book "The Red Boy" which will be published later this year. Five winners will be chosen at random.

Super Secret Sweepstakes!

In addition, every order placed between now and March 15th, 2012, will be entered into a Super! Secret! Sweepstakes! Two lucky winners will be chosen at random to receive a surprise gift along with their purchase. Trust me, it's awesome.

Support Your Local Library

Buy any of T.M. Camp's books between now and March 15th and Aurohn Press will donate a copy to your local library (or school library) in your name.

Buy Now and Save

For a limited time you can order The Cradle at 10% off the cover price. In addition, if you order copies of Assam & Darjeeling and Matters of Mortology you can save up to 25% off!

Click here to learn more or buy your copy today!
The fine print: The aforementioned sweepstakes and special pricing are only good through March 15th, 2012. Shipping and handling rates are for US customers only. International shipments may require additional costs.

After a busy, stressful month or so at the office and a full court press to get The Cradle ready, I was all set last week to write a longish sort of post to catch up and get back on a normal schedule again. I'd been walking around with a perpetual static in head, an AM radio buzz of stress and irritation.

And then the Fates nudged everything back into proper perspective.

On Friday morning the call came that my wife's aunt had passed away unexpectedly in the night. She went to bed on Thursday night and when her husband woke up the next morning, she was just . . . gone.

Claudia was a good lady. She took care of her husband and her three boys, doted on her four-year-old grandson. She had a wry sense of humor, a powerful bullshit meter, and a hearty laugh.

The sudden shock of her passing is still there for her family, eclipsing everything in life. The gods only know when the sun will shine again for them.

On Facebook, my wife had this to say…

"Cherish the people you love. Give them a hug and a kiss today. Sit with them for a while and just be together. Call your mom and tell her you love her. It matters."

Amen.

We're back. It looks like yesterday's SOPA/PIPA protest got some attention and, hopefully, made enough waves to get the right people thinking in the right way. For once.

At the very least, it gave me a chance to play in the #FactsWithoutWikipedia game for a while, producing gems such as these…

In a few minutes, you won't be able to read this website.

Like so many others, I'm joining the blackout on January 18th to protest the SOPA/PIPA legislation being considered by the US Congress.

If you don't know what SOPA or PIPA are, let me summarize: SOPA and PIPA are ill-conceived, poorly drafted legislation created by people who readily admit their ignorance of the very technologies they are attempting to control.

Better yet, watch this…

No matter your politics, faith, ethnicity, or social class, you care about this.

I know you do because you are on the Internet right now.

You look at websites. You read blogs. You watch videos. You connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter. You read the news. You listen to music and read books. You do research. You buy stuff.

This legislation has the likely potential to dramatically, negatively impact how all of those things function. It has the potential to ruin everything that makes the Internet what it is.

This isn't hysteria, this isn't some crackpot fringe conspiracy theory.



Get the facts, take a look at who stands in opposition. And don't forget to contact your representatives to make sure your voice is heard.