Jeff Strand's Blog, page 64
July 5, 2015
R.I.P. Day Job
When I was a kid, I thought that everybody who was a writer was a full-time writer. If you wrote books, that’s entirely how you made your living…and, oooohhhh, what a sweet, sweet deal that would be!
In the ’90s, I discovered GEnie (basically, the internet without pictures) and got to interact with real writers for the first time. This is when I found that many of them, including authors whose book I’d just bought that week at my local bookstore, also had day jobs. What a bunch of bulls**t, right? And soon (well, not THAT soon) I, too, would experience the phenomena of selling a book for considerably less than truckloads of gold.
So I’ve worked for the same very large corporation for eighteen (!) years. I’ve talked about it a lot on podcast interviews and at conventions, but almost never here on my blog or on social media. Partly because 1) It is not a job filled with non-stop excitement and wacky anecdotes, and 2) I occasionally write books like Facial, where it feels like a wise idea to keep the day job and writing life in two very separate compartments.
Meanwhile, my writing career has had a gradual-but-consistent ascent. Almost every year better than the last, but no big “Yes!!! This changes everything!!!” moment. The idea of “Oh, what glorious things I could accomplish if I had my forty hours a week back!” comes up a lot, but day jobs provide neat things like reliable income. When you have a novel, let’s call it Wolf Hunt, where you never got either half of your advance even though the contract is signed and the manuscript has been delivered and edited and it’s a mass market paperback due out in four months but you’re hearing that the publisher’s horror line is on the verge of crashing and burning and then suddenly your editor gets laid off, it’s easy to think, “Wow, I’m glad I wasn’t counting on that money to pay the rent!”
But, finally, after those eighteen years, I have quit my day job. My last day is Friday.
Why did I do it? The answer I’d like to give is, “I got a massive book deal and I’m rich, rich, rich! Hahahahaha! Writhe in jealousy, peasants! Dance for my amusement!”
The actual answer is: dumbasses in upper management.
This is a good thing. When your writing career is going well, but you’re hesitant to make the scary leap to full-time, what you want most in the world is a shift in the corporate structure that leaves you at the mercy of a couple of dumbasses who make sweeping dumbass changes. Then you can say, “Bite me!” and quit.
(Or you can, y’know, just think it. No need to cause a scene.)
So that’s the deal. Full-time writer in a week. What does this mean for future books, except that there will be more of them? Watch for more updates throughout the week…
June 28, 2015
June 26, 2015
Welcome to Gleefully Macabre!
Welcome to my website! Whether you were brought here by interest in my work or a Google search gone terribly wrong, I encourage you to hang around and start clicking away!
The hardcover limited edition of Wolf Hunt 2 is now available for pre-order! Get it from Dark Regions Press or the paperback edition from Amazon. Or get it for your Kindle!
My new novel, Kumquat, is now available! Get the Kindle edition or the print edition from Amazon!
My new young adult comedy, I Have A Bad Feeling About This, is now available at the brick-and-mortar bookstore or online retailer of your choice! Being a young adult is not a requirement to read the book.
(P.S.: People who leave reviews on Amazon deserve great big hugs!)
Friend me on Facebook ! Follow me on Twitter ! Like my Facebook Fan Page! Friend me on Goodreads!
LibCon Tomorrow!
Saturday, June 27. Orlando, Florida. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. It’s LibCon!!!
Books! Authors! Panel discussions for readers and writers! Happy smiling people! More books! Free, free, free!
C’mon out. For all the details, click HERE.
June 8, 2015
KUMQUAT – Freeeeeeee!!!
From now until Thursday, June 11th, the Kindle edition of Kumquat is free! So if you’ve been wanting to read it, but you don’t really want to pay for it, yet you’re also not the kind of thieving scoundrel miscreant who would download it from a file sharing site, this is your chance!
Just click HERE.
Tell your friends!
Tell your friends to tell their friends!
June 4, 2015
Newsletter Redux!
I had a newsletter for many years, then I kind of let it fade away, and now I’m BRINGING IT BACK!!!
It’ll be monthly, starting July 1st. Over the next four weeks I’ll be making a prettier sign-up form and giving you a better idea of what to expect, but for now, you can sign up at the following URL:
June 2, 2015
The World’s Most Amazing Cat
Wow, this cat (owned by Jody Roberts) not only knows how to use a Kindle, but made an excellent reading selection.
Some conspiracy theorists may think that this picture was posed. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I just swiped it from Facebook. But even if this cat DIDN’T actually turn on the Kindle and select my book, at least it’s lying there next to it, and that’s more than most felines do for my career. So let us hail this genius miracle cat and have an extra spoonful of Friskies on his or her behalf.
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! Erik Smith just posted the following photographic evidence of his own amazing cat. This cat has THREE of my books, but is that the expression of a cat who is ENJOYING them? I’m not convinced that it is.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! This is getting out of control. Now Kristin Dearborn’s dog is proving that other species can be just as incredible. All this time I assumed that humans were my core demographic, but now I wonder…
June 1, 2015
A Musical???
Last night I came up with the idea for a musical (a dark circus-themed comedy), and I wrote the lyrics to the first song. I also came up with ideas for the next three songs.
No, it doesn’t flow very well in the first draft, and I only have the vaguest idea of the actual, y’know, MUSIC, but still…musical!!!
Q: Hey! Who the hell said you could work on a musical? You’re supposed to be writing a book!
A: I worked on it after a productive day on the current novel.
Q: But you could have spent that time working on an Andrew Mayhem novel! You SUCK!
A: I’ll write what I want! Hahahahahahahaha!!!
But, no, I’m not dropping everything to write a two-act musical extravaganza. It’s purely a fun side project. For now…
May 31, 2015
A Few Upcoming Appearances…
If you’re hoping to avoid me, here are some places not to be over the next couple of months…
June 5-7, 2015. FUMPFEST. Wheeling, Illinois. A three-day comedy music festival! No, I did not become a comedy musician, but, dammit, I’m going to be there anyway. (I’ll be sitting behind a table, selling books throughout the weekend, and there’ll be a screening of “Chomp.”) The Arrogant Worms are the featured act, so you’d have to be craaaaaaaaaazy to miss this.
June 12-14, 2015. INNOVATIVE FILM FESTIVAL. Tampa, Florida. Three full days of movies! “Gave Up The Ghost” will screen at 3:20 PM on Saturday (followed by me doing a Q&A) and “Chomp” will screen at 1:15 PM on Sunday. Follow the link for the complete schedule.
June 27, 2015. LIBCON. Orlando, Florida. A whole bunch of authors will be taking over the Orlando Public Library from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. C’mon up to my table and say “Hi.” I promise not to do a hard-sell on any of my books. I’ll also be on a panel about “Modern Monsters.”
July 16-19, 2015. NECON. Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The most fun weekend of the year! I’ll be co-hosting the infamous Necon Roast with Nicholas Kaufmann. Who will be this year’s victim? Could it be YOU?
May 26, 2015
Anything But Zombies Review
From a Detroit Metro Times review of the new anthology Anything But Zombies…
“This book is clearly for fans of B-horror. It won’t be easy for readers to fill in many of the stories’ narrative gaps without a solid foundation in shlocky scarefests. Too often, these tales lose their coherence, victims of the authors’ overflowing enthusiasm. Jeff Strand’s “The Sentient Cherry Cola That Tried to Destroy the World” demonstrates both extremes: For the initiated, Strand’s playful perversion of tropes will be an adroit send-up of classic monster movies. For the other nine out of 10 readers, the strongly referential humor and broad thematic strokes will fail to register, potentially leaving them with the impression that the story simply isn’t fleshed out enough.”
Fortunately YOU are the one out of ten! Congratulations! Check out Anything But Zombies right HERE!
