Sean Cummings's Blog: POLTERBLOG!, page 10

Here’s what I’m up to this year

(Revisions Face. Every Author Wears This Face When They Are Revising A Project.  There’s Usually Swearing Involved.)

 

It’s 2014 and time to issue a small report on my activities, so here we go:

I’ve had two books released in two consecutive years – that’s a pretty decent accomplishment that wouldn’t have happened without the hard work on the part of my agent Jenny Savill. And she’s working hard again with one project that’s currently on submission – I’d love to tell everyone about the plot, but I can’t … its just too cool.  What I can say is that’s it’s not Young Adult, it’s good old fashioned urban/dark fantasy that doesn’t feature a teen witch and her dorky boyfriend. It’s got a hard as hell to kill  main character – a guy I could write about until the cows come home and it takes place in a port city. That’s all you’re going to get out of me for now – I hope like hell the book sells because I’ve already started on a sequel to it so there’s that.

But fear not, YA fans – I’m just finishing up revisions on a YA project that’s about a thousand miles away from my books POLTERGEEKS and STUDENT BODIES. It’s dark, terrifying at times, bleak and if I do say so myself, probably will raise a few eyebrows if we sell it because it’s … well, it’s different from a hell of a lot of YA these days.

And I’m still writing other stuff. Last year I completed a middle grade project – the first time I’d ever tried something middle grade. There’s a hippie grandmother with wild conspiracy theories, her intrepid albeit sceptical granddaughter, a heck of a lot of missing cats and possible alien abduction. I’ve plotted a second book with the same characters involving Bigfoot and a rogue moose on the loose.  I might even write an experimental first chapter these weekend to see if it brings a smile to my face like the first chapter in the first manuscript

I’m also plugging away at another YA project – this time a contemporary one involving a shoebox filled with letters from the Second World War and a very basic premise: once upon a time, young people saved the world.

I’m also spearheading a monthly writer’s meetup here in Saskatoon. I’m planning day-long writer’s workshops on a quarterly basis this year – I did two last year and they were well attended. I have my old day job of course … one day I hope to make the jump to full-time author. That day ain’t here yet, though.

So there’s lots going on. I hope to report a book sale one of these days and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that.  To everyone who’ve cheered me on over the past couple of years – thanks for everything. I’ve had two trips to the UK thanks to my two books from Strange Chemistry. I met some amazing people. I’ve watched English Premier League football in England – that’s sort of like living the dream for a fan who lives on the cold Canadian prairie. It’s been a hell of a ride and I hope for some authorly success to report in 2014.

Have a great year, all!

Merry Christmas!

I suck at send out Christmas cards to people – I’m usually pretty scatterbrained most days anyway. But this year, I remembered! Anyway, it’s been a hell of a year and I just want to thank everyone I met during my travels, all the bloggers who’ve reviewed my books and finally, everyone who copped up a few bucks for a pair of books about a teenage witch and her dorky best friend. Merry Christmas to all! I hope your holidays rock!

 

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

It’s Been a Pretty Good Year

Christmas is a week and a half away, 2013 is drawing to a close. I thought I’d take some time to offer a shout-out to those people who’ve helped make this a pretty damned fine year, all told.

First off, a big thank you to author, actor and hobbit,  Andy Robb who made my trip to London just that much fun than it already was. Together we participated in three events – notably the Brixton Book Jam. It was hot, humid and even hotter and more humid inside Hootananny, but it was a fun evening. (Andy is, for all intents and purposes, a far better reader of the written word then yours truly. Clearly I should take acting lessons or something.) Here he is entertaining the masses on that crazy hot September evening. (Oh … the better half and I were watching Doc Martin on Netflix about two weeks after our trip and we were all … HEY … HEY LOOK! IT’S ANDY ROBB ON DOC MARTIN!!)

Thanks to genre author and zombie writing punk God, Wayne Simmons for reaching out and helping me cobble together a bunch of events for my trip to the UK. He did all this from Cardiff out of the goodness of his heart and I owe him big time. So, Wayne, when you come to Canada, I’ll get you in the shops. Promise! Also, go buy one of his books, people. Chilling, scary-ass books. I promise. Here’s his latest.

Thanks to Liz de Jager & her hubs for being awesome tour guides during our visit to London and for introducing my wife and me to this place called DISHOOM which has Indian food akin to something like a religious experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Liz & Mark de Jager at Dishooooooom!)

Liz has an awesome sounding book coming out in February so, you know, preorder it, yo!

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Thanks to fellow ANA author Katie Dale for hanging out with me and the better half and showing us that she’s prrrrrrrrobably the nicest person in the United Kingdom. Why? Because she is really really really nice and charming and stuff that hasn’t yet been invented here in Canada. Katie writes YA and middle grade stuff. Do buy one or two or more of her books, won’t you? Here’s her latest, so order it today! *STARE*

Thanks to another fellow ANA author, this time it’s Keren David. (I’m like the self appointed president of her Canadian fan club.) She and her hubs had dinner with me and da wife, lovely conversation and damned spot-on insight into what flies and what fries in publishing these days. Keren, by the way, is a damned fine YA author and I’ve devoured all of her books. (Don’t believe me? BAH! I shall evidence that she’s a damned fine writer by posting a linky to the first chapter of her newest book SALVAGE. It hits bookstores in January.)

A big shout-out to blogger Laura Heath (AKA Sister Spooky) who attended a bunch of my events during my trip to London. She’s a seriously devoted blogger and outside of being a really fun person to hang with, I like to think that Laura has a sixth sense for what’s cool in YA these days. Check out her blog, yo! Follow her on Twitter, too!

Thanks to author Chris F. Holm (who writes the brilliant … EFFING BRILLIANT… Collector books. Why the shout out? Because he’s pretty cool, he read a project my agent is now shopping and offered a blurb in support of it. How cool is that? *THE WORLD NEEDS MORE COLLECTOR BOOKS!* I freaking love this series and I will evidence this with a link to a pair of reviews I did for them, here and here. The latest book is THE BIG REAP. Here’s me doing a video review of this third in the series! BUY DESE BOOKS, YO!

Thanks to McNally Robinson Booksellers here in Saskatoonistan for letting me do my little launch of the latest four three other awesome authors. PRAIRIE WRITERS … REPRESENT! Here’s us at the launch! (L to R – Edward Willet AKA E.C. Blake author of MASKS. Yours truly. Derryl Murphy author of WASPS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND and Chadwick Ginther, author of THUNDER ROAD.)

 

Thanks to my agent and social worker, Jenny Savill. I’ve been with her for a little more than three years. I owe her a debt that I can’t even begin to calculate because, quite simply, if she hadn’t taken a chance on a bald writer from a place called Saskatoon, none of the stuff I am writing about today would have happened. Jenny works her frigging ass off for me and for all her authors. She’s an organizer, a cheerleader, a coach …. she’s too many things to list. Most importantly, she makes me a better writer. Actually, she’s the kind of person that you just don’t want to let down, you know? She has that effect on people. We spent a lot of time together during my visit to London in September and yes, she can drink me, my wife and her own hubby under the table so, you know, there’s that.  I’m unbelievably grateful to have Jenny in my corner and anyone who lands her as an agent is a lucky ducky. Period. Follow her on Twitter.

Thanks, as always to my wife Cheryl who puts up with my insane writer eccentricities and who ensures I don’t get lost, never to be seen again when I visit foreign cities.

 

Thanks to Strange Chemistry for publishing a pair of books about a teenage witch and her dorky best friend. Thanks to Ann Rought and T.L. Costa for being awesome at all times, thanks to the bloggers who have reviewed my stuff this year and finally, thanks to you, dear readers, who’ve spent a couple of bucks on some books I wrote. It’s a helluva thing to get published. It’s a genuine pleasure to know that there are people out there who like what you write.

Happy Christmas, all!

Sean’s Saskatoon Friendship Inn Super Quick Fundraiser

Saskatoon’s Friendship Inn feeds more than 500 people a day and they’re looking for a helping hand with their Fill the Plate Campaign. They’ve got an operating deficit because of the ballooning numbers of meals they’re providing to needy Saskatoonians and the good news is Potash Corporation is matching donations during December up to a maximum of $100,000.00.

Look, hunger exists in every city around the world – and The Friendship Inn does a lot of great work in my city not only at Christmastime, but all 365 days of the year.

Saskatoon has been good to me, so I’m going to give back. Here’s what I’m offering to do – a little online auction.

The highest bidder gets these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh … and these. (They’re audiobooks)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus these three books.

Here’s where you come in … All of my books and the two audiobooks are being auctioned off to the highest bidder. How? By leaving a bid in the comment section of this blog post. Here’s the rules:

When does bidding start?

Bidding opens at Midnight CST December 6, 2013

When does bidding end?

Bidding ends at Midnight CST December 12, 2013

How will I know if I’ve won? 

You can check the comments box to see if yours was the highest bid. But don’t worry, I’ll be contacting the winning bidder with all the information they need to finalize their bid. (Please don’t make any payment to the Saskatoon Friendship Inn until you get an email from yours truly confirming you’re the highest bidder.)

When the winning bidder has been notified, paid their donation to the 2013 Fill the Plate Campaign and emailed me the receipt as proof of payment, I’ll ask for a mailing address and fire off your books. Easy peezy.

How do we know you’re not going to steal the money? 

Seriously?

Okay … so there you go. Let’s see what we can do to support a worthy community agency in Saskatoon – an agency that is vital to the lives of a hell of a lot of people.

PS – it’s -41 Celsius today with the windchill. So, you know, try to put yourself in the shoes of someone less fortunate.

PPS – if you don’t want my books but still want to donate, I recommend it. So here’s the donation form.

Alright … now get ready to bid!!

Day of the Doctor – Post Awesomeness Thoughts

As soon as I heard David Tennant say the 50th anniversary episode was going to be a “seismic shift” in The Doctor’s story, I told my better half … “Moffat’s gotta be bringing back the Time Lords”. (Seriously, ask her. It’s true)

Now, granted, Gallifrey is in a pocket dimension and hidden from the universe, but The Doctor is no longer “the last Time Lord” as of yesterday’s epic program that completely made up for lacklustre season Matt Smith’s Doctor has been experiencing. I’m not sure if it’s the whole “impossible girl” thing or the fact that I’m still ticked off at how a giant weeping angel Statue of Liberty ran amok in NYC leading up to the milked for all its worth “goodbye raggedy man” scene where we said goodbye to Amy Pond from last year, but what a celebration!

I’ve been quite literally bouncing off the walls, hoping like crazy for months now that Moffat would do something spectacular on the 50th Anniversary show and I wasn’t disappointed. The episode leaves a number of lingering questions:

1) Tom Baker – is he a curator or is he the fourth in that episode and if so, how? (Or was it a nod to fans like me – Baker was my Doctor growing up)

2) Gallifrey – where is it? Will we be seeing more Time Lords now? I can’t see how we won’t, frankly

3) Is Capaldi the 12th or the 13th Doctor and if he is the final incarnation, will we be seeing a new doctor emerge or will this one get a 14th, 15th & 16th incarnation.

Lots to think about but I will say this much: When this happened, I actually squealed with glee. It was embarrassing for my wife and son who were watching the episode alongside me.

 

(Click on This … Behold The Awesomeness)

 Bring on Peter Capaldi and let’s get this reboot going, folks! It’s gonna be a long wait, sadly, until next fall when we finally get to see a new Doctor leave his mark on this enduring show that has stood the test of time.

The Best Two Books of 2013

Oh yes, it’s annual list time again! I love doing my annual books ‘o the year blog post because I get to celebrate some amazing authors who, quite frankly, I wish I could write even 1/10 as good as. So here we go, my top two picks in no particular order.

THE BLUE BLAZES by Chuck Wendig

Mookie Pearl. Remember that name because this guy is a serious bad ass of epic proportions. A walking, talking side of beef who works as a mob enforcer – but there’s a lot of seriously bad stuff happening with his daughter who might or might not be plotting a coup to take over all the gangs in the underworld. Throw in some seriously dark preternatural creepiness mixed in with the seedy underbelly of the city and a drug that lets you see things the way they really are, well, you’ve got some seriously game changing dark fiction.

I loved this book and raved about it to anyone who would listen. Wendig’s style of writing is gritty as hell (ptooey! sand in my teeth) and the pacing makes this book unputdownable. Mookie is badder than Sandman Slim in his first adventure and you won’t want to miss the surprise twists and turns as Wendig hits it out of the ball park. Go get it!!

 

 

 

 

THE BIG REAP by Chris F. Holm

Sam Thornton. Soul collector. He’s a little bit doomed and a whole lotta damned in this third installment. He’s tough as nails … damned near indestructible depending on whose body he’s occupying at the time. This is an exceptional urban fantasy series that is unlike anything you’ll find on bookstore shelves. Poor Sam has been tasked with finding and collecting some MOST EVIL BAD NOT VERY NICE NASTY ASS former collectors who’d somehow managed to break their bonds.

 

What makes this book the very best of the series is the fact that we truly get to see what the cost of making a deal with the Devil to saved a loved one. And Holm doesn’t hold back because there is no cosmic pay it forward at work here – Sam is truly damned for what he did to save his wife – there’s nothing he can do about it. Blistering pacing woven together seamlessly with a backstory that tears the heart, THE BIG REAP is everything that I love about Urban Fantasy & so much more. Go get it. Read it and know that you’ve got a truly special series that I hope doesn’t end any time soon.

 

 

 

 

My Hope for the 12th Doctor

… Is that he remembers how to kick ass like the 3rd Doctor:

 

Self-Publishing: Who Is Making The Money?

 

This story in The Guardian caught my attention: 391,000 books were self-published in the United States last year.

Holy, suffering, jumping, dying Moses!

That’s a staggering number of titles – I won’t go into the quality of the books. Most people in the industry agree that most self-published titles lack the kind of editing, style and quality of writing that you see with traditionally published books. But I have to ask: if, say, 300,000 books wind up being self-published each year, and a good portion via Kindle Direct Publishing, for example, who is making the money?

While self-published books receive a higher royalty, the vast, vast majority might make a couple of hundred bucks. A book’s success is wholly dependent on the author’s brand and the ability to market those books. Just as in traditional publishing, social media is the primary source of book marketing because it’s basically cost-free. A book’s success will likely depend on an author’s social media currency, and good on those authors who capitalize on it for profit. (Though my Twitter feed is spammed continually be self-pubbed authors trying to flog their stuff. Twitter seems to be the marketing tool of choice next to blog tours & giveaways.) But here’s the thing: is it not in Amazon’s best interest to flood the market with self pubbed titles? I mean, they own the market – Amazon makes money whether one Kindle Direct Publishing title sells or whether a hundred thousand sell.

Very simply, the math is in Amazon’s favor – or really any self publishing venue online. If they own the marketplace, then it makes sense to get as many titles listed in your online bookstore as humanly possible regardless of their quality or content and then skim pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters off each one that sells. KA-CHING!  (And don’t even get me started on the Kindle Direct Published titles that are *free* Those free titles skew the Amazon rankings, don’t you know.)

Look … the fact is that most traditionally published authors don’t earn out their advance on royalties.  There’s no advance on royalties with self-publishing, but I think writers need to be aware of just how many copies they’re going to likely sell before they decide to self-publishing with Amazon or anyone else.

This is a bad model for authors but you can’t disagree, it’s a hell of a business approach and one that is reflective of the mind-numbing level of change in the publishing industry. I also think it’s unsustainable and might possibly face a self-published author backlash in a few year’s time because the truth hasn’t yet sunken in for those with dreams of becoming the next self-publishing phenomenon. I think what you’re writing is important too, if you want to make a few bucks out of the self-publishing gig. Romance and literature make up the lion’s share of self-published books according to the article – sadly, what’s missing are the sales figures.

If we had those numbers, I think authors might go into self-publishing with realistic expectations.

Canada’s Reaction to Alice Munro’s Nobel Prize in Literature

Damn it … where are my tap shoes??

 

 

Canada Doesn’t Give A Damn About Its Veterans

 

I’ve just learned the Government of Canada is closing the Veteran’s Affairs office in Saskatoon. It’s part of a cost cutting regime our federal Conservatives have been embarking on for the past year or so as they try to reign in the deficit. And really, this closure has nothing to do with former Canadian Army, Navy and Air Force personnel – it has to do with the civilians working at the Veteran’s Affairs office here in town. It’s about eliminating federal public service jobs because they eat up a large chunk of the budget. We’re just caught in the line of fire, that’s all.

I suppose I could be very shrill and sanctimonious – I could say government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was very quick to put our military personnel in harm’s way as part of an aggressive foreign policy that had nothing to do with international peacekeeping and everything to do with supporting U.S. foreign policy via “the war on terror”. But I won’t. There’s lots of special interest groups and opposition political parties that are trying to score points. It’s what they do.

And you know, I’ve never really had mind blowingly amazing  service anytime I darkened the doors of the Veteran’s Affairs office here in Saskatoon. Everything is behind thick panes of glass – you know, security glass. You walk into a waiting room with some tables and generic semi-comfy office chairs. There’s copies of the Royal Canadian Legion’s magazine and of course lots of pamphlets on the wide variety of programs and services available to veterans. But every time I paid a visit, I didn’t really feel that welcome – how could I or anyone? All the civil servants who are supposed to guide vets through the labyrinth of complex federal regulations deliberately written in vague bureaucratic language that you need a lawyer to decipher speak in that very same language – a language, ironically, that veterans don’t speak.

I don’t blame the public servants working there, of course – bureaucrats and the Ministry decided to turn Veteran’s Affairs offices into the unwelcoming places they are. I guess all the locked doors and security glass, the talking through a tiny window in the glass to a civil servant exists because the powers that be are afraid veterans are going to go postal. That we’re going to suddenly become violent because we aren’t getting the help we need because of what Canada asked us to do on its behalf.

There’s a lot of symbolism in thick panes of security glass.

I have a regular non-civil service job. I get that our government has to cut back on its payroll to balance the books. I know that most Canadians support these cuts because none of us has any kind of benefit package including a pension and annual sick days that comes within ten miles of what civil servants receive. There’s an old saying in Canada: everyone hates the public service and everyone wants to work for them.

But, there are some things that shouldn’t be cut. Veterans programs and services need to be at the top of that list because it is about a bargain the country struck with volunteers who signed up to serve. We (military personnel) will serve our nation faithfully. We will lay down our lives if necessary to protect you. And you (Canada), when the time comes … you must take care of us because of what we did.

It doesn’t matter if the service person is a veteran of combat in Afghanistan or a recently retired administrative clerk who has spent twenty years filing military paperwork on a safe Canadian military base somewhere: We served our country. You didn’t.

All in the name of government restraint, I suppose. We’re told that we can access many of the services online now, but that ain’t service. Military personnel know all about service – we know more than any public servant, elected politician or Canadian civilian can ever possibly conceive.

It is so exhausting. So unbelievably soul destroying to know that the country you volunteered to serve, protect and possibly lay down your life for, doesn’t give a damn.

I’m not surprised by the closure of the Saskatoon office. But let’s be honest for once – all of us. If Canada truly cared about about its veterans, better services would exist. Our national leaders would be held to account.

And there wouldn’t be thick protective glass in the waiting room of Veteran’s Affairs offices across the country.

We’re so tired, Canada.