Sean Cummings's Blog: POLTERBLOG!, page 6

Review: THE COPPER PROMISE by Jen Williams

 

I picked up The Copper Promise not because I follow author Jen Williams on Twitter (and you should too) but because of two things:

Big ass dragon on the cover.
I like stories where there is payback.

I don’t quite know where to begin in this review because there is a hell of a lot going on in the book. We have a trio of characters, two are hired swords and their employer, a certain nobleman named Lord Frith (who has a chip on his shoulder the size of a large asteroid) heading into a very dangerous place where you don’t really come out alive…. and yet they somehow do. And this all happens very quickly so what I think Jen Williams has done nicely (and perhaps one of the reasons I don’t read as much epic fantasy as I should) is to weave the world building and the character’s motivations together by means of action. A hell of a lot of action, real fast. Within the first handful of chapters.

This is a formula I quite like and as a result, I was drawn into a story that is very broad in scope, yet somehow manages to keep the action flowing while maintaining a great deal of reader buy-in to each of the three main characters. And bad guys? Holy crap, does Williams write good bad guys, particularly Fane, who is a dirt bag of the highest order and someone you want killed of ASAP because he’s such a huge prick!

Sebastian is a wonderful grounding character for the over the top Wydrin who basically wants to stab every bad guy she sees in the face with her claws. Oh no, this girl isn’t into swords at all. She’s into daggers which means really nasty close quarter combat. She’s a great character who in another author’s hands might have come off as a bit too over the top. She has her moments of insight and the nature of her relationship with Sebastian is such that you can’t help but want her in your corner no matter what. Where Sebastian is sworn to duty, Wydrin is sworn to raise a little hell. I quite liked that.

Of course when you are on a quest, bad things tend to happen and in this book, we see the trio inadvertently release a great evil, namely the aforementioned big ass dragon. Oh, and her daughters. An unstoppable force that lay waste to everything in their path. They kill people, by the way. Everyone. Big or small, fat or tall, old or young. (The daughters are very complex characters in their own right. Not human, but seemingly titillated by humanity in the same way a child looks through a frost covered window at a train set during the holiday season – just before that same child stomps on all their toys in a violent rage come Boxing Day.)

The stakes are high throughout the book. There are very few moments of down time for our flawed but fascinating heroes. Often they take one step forward and two steps back but as you become immersed in the story, you can see how the characters learn to rely on each other.

The quality of Williams’ writing as fantastic. Her knack for descriptive prose is admirable and she’s the kind of writer I like – one who can paint a picture in a single sentence instead of five paragraphs. (Because some epic fantasy authors love the sound of their own world building they need to give each new locale, person, motive or plot point its own chapter.)

Overall, I highly recommend this book because it’s just plain fun. The reader gets a wild ride through a world that is as original as the characters who live there. A great read. Go get it!

 

Here’s where Jen lives on the Internets

Here’s where you can buy her book!

Review: THE CORMORANT by Chuck Wendig

I just finished the third book in Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black series. This is punk dark fantasy. Period. End of story. Full stop.

Why?

Because every time I read about Miriam Black, I can hear the Sex Pistols and The Exploited jamming together in my head with every turn of the page. In my humble opinion, Ms. Black is the most bad ass, the most kick your teeth in, the most dangerous and unpredictable female protagonist in fantasy books today. If there were vampires, she wouldn’t sleep with them – she’d grab a flamethrower and a 40 ounce bottle of Jack Daniels, chug it back and exterminate them. She will @#$% up your sh*t. Again, period. Full stop. End of story.

There is a percussive rhythm to Wendig’s style of writing and in this installment of my favorite train wreck’s misadventures, we see Miriam as a suspected serial killer at the start of the book. She’s being interrogated by the FBI and she’s as defiant as ever. She’s got a story to tell  – so unbelievable at times, you actually have to feel sorry for the pair of agents who are trying to string together some kind of truth to a roller coaster ride that takes the reader all over the Florida Keys, to Miami, to the seediest spots you can think of. And folks, nobody writes seedy better than Wendig. The strength of the series is in Miriam herself, because she’s trying like hell to eke out an existence from book to book. An existence comprised largely of ten and twenty dollar bills, endless cigarettes (a lot of them bummed from others) stolen automobiles, knife and gun violence not to mention hard liquor that can also be used to strip paint off an old house.

And why wouldn’t she be screwed up? When she touches your skin she sees your end. Sometimes you burn to death in an overturned car or rot away from the inside thanks to cancer. Maybe you’re an old man with dementia and you fall down the stairs or maybe someone puts a bullet in the back of your head when you least expect it. This is Miriam’s existence. This is her life, curse, burden .. whatever. I can’t think of any other female lead who faces the kinds of things Miriam faces. She’s a creature of the shadows, really, and in this book, Wendig paints a vivid picture of those kinds of places where the rest of us roll up the windows, lock the car doors and hope like hell we can still make that green light ahead.

The plot is a simple mystery with a supernatural twist. Miriam is drawn to Florida because someone wants to pay her $5K to find out how and when he dies. And when she gets there, when she steps inside her time machine of the macabre, she’s greeted by a killer who knows her name and wants her dead. Someone, it seems, who knows about her unique ability and who sets up an elaborate scheme just to grab her attention. Hi jinks ensue. Really. Bloody. Hi jinks. (Sniff the cordite. Just sniff it!!)

Buckle up dear reader. Have a belt of something that will burn a hole in your stomach. Light up a smoke and prepare yourself because you know what? You’re going to get some of this story on you as you read. Why? Because there are very few authors I’ve read who have absolutely mastered the art of showing and not telling. (Seriously, are you thinking of trying to get published? You should read all of Wendig’s books because he’s going to school you on how it’s done.)

A damned good book by a damned good author. An anti-hero protagonist who could easily kick Randall Flagg in the balls while mashing her fist in the face of the Devil himself. It’s the bad part of town for nearly three hundred pages. Grab a stab vest, won’t you?

Cover Reveal: To Catch a Cat Thief

Hey look! It’s the cover art for my forthcoming middle grade debut, To Catch a Cat Thief!

What’s it about? Have a read below!

Hundreds of cats are missing! Fear not-Penelope Ann Pickersgill and her hippie grandma are on the case!

While her friends go to cool camps, twelve-year-old Penelope has to spend the summer with Grandma Bev, who is convinced that cat-eating aliens are beaming the town’s furry friends aboard their mother ship at night. Lights in the sky point to UFO’s, but Penelope is sure there’s a more logical explanation. With a little help from Sherlock Holmes, she and Grandma Bev set out to find the cats. Will they be able to solve the mystery before all the cats in Thornhill disappear?

 

Why yes, that’s a Dodge Caravan painted up hippie-style!

This is my first book published by a Canadian publisher, so that’s a pretty big deal to me. Rebelight Publishing calls Winnipeg its home ( yes, a place colder than where I live in Saskatoon) and I’m pleased as punch to have this romp of a missing cat mystery published by them. It’s already listed on Amazon, you can pre-order a copy here and here.  It comes out in October (even though Amazon says September 15th). I’ll be doing a launch here in Saskatoon and hopefully getting some copies out into the hands of bloggers for a few reviews before the big day.

So … there you go. Nice to get something fun out to the Interweb on a Monday morning!

 

 

Behold … terrifying professional athlete images in Saskatoon

I was parked across the road from these images at a local sports bar this past weekend. Naturally, I have experienced nightmares for three consecutive nights. Still, there’s probably a terrifying children’s story in this somewhere ….

If You Look North You Can See The Aurora(s)

 

Much has been written about the Hugo Awards, sad puppies, Vox Day and his ilk by smarter people than me, so I’m not going to comment on the politicized hot mess this year’s awards have turned into other than to say it’s been wrecked by a handful of uber-agendized types and it’s no longer about quality SFF, which is a damned shame for authors and readers everywhere.

Here in Canada, we have our own excellent award for the SFF community – The Auroras. And really, aside from having exceptionally good drive thru coffee from a vendor named after a dead hockey player, Canada also produces some world-class SFF. Here’s a blurb from the award website:

The Prix Aurora Awards are given out annually to honour the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy literary works, artwork, and fan activities from the previous year. The event is organized by Canvention, and the awards are given out by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). Canvention alternates between eastern and western Canadian conventions where they host the Aurora awards ceremony and the society’s annual general meeting.

Awards for Canadian SF and fantasy were first given out at Halcon 2 in 1980 and were first called the Aurora Awards in1990 at Con-Version 7 in Calgary. Voting for the awards is open to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Hey look: here’s a list of past winners! (Seriously, who DOESN’T love Tanya Huff or Robert J. Sawyer or Edward Willett? (who lives two hours down the road from me))

This year’s slate of eligible books includes authors ranging from Peter Watts  to Julie Czerneda to Edward Willett once again and even yours truly. There’s YA, Short Fiction, Graphic Novels, Poetry, Artists, Fan Publication … the list goes on. All it takes to vote is a valid membership with the CSFFA (which costs like, ten bucks – a bargain!) and of course, you have to be a Canadian or a Permanent Resident.

There’s only ten days left to nominate eligible works to this year’s awards – April 25th is the deadline day. So do have a look at the website and the authors whose exceptional books and stories are all deserving of recognition. We have amazing authors north of the 49th parallel and I hope you check out their stuff.

I Think Bruce Willis Might Be a Time Traveler

I cannot rule out that this MIGHT be Bruce Willis. Anyone with other stills from old movies where Bruce Willis shows up should share the links. The world must know.

On Authors Kickstarting & General Online Angst

Author Stacey Jay, whose books I have never read and who I’ve never met before cancelled her Kickstarter and wrote a blog post about it. A really well written blog post, in my opinion, that, according to her, angered the writer/blogger/reader community. In a nutshell, a lot of people didn’t like that she “included money to pay basic living expenses (mortgage, groceries, gas) for the three months it would take to write the book”.

It really did ruffle some feathers. It’s been talked at length about on Twitter. The words “online bullying” have come up. Again.

My two cents:

I like what Chuck Wendig said in his posting yesterday – “Where does that money go? Once it reaches the intended recipients, I mean. I’m going to take a wild guess here and say it goes toward paying their bills. Meaning, I’m helping to fund their lives, if in a small way.”

That’s really quite true when you think about it. Crowd funding doesn’t require a financial audit done by accountants so really, I think that unless Kickstarter requires KPMG to start looking into the financials of every pitched project, some of the money people kick in will go toward paying the bills. Who knows, maybe even the lion’s share.

You see, for authors who haven’t made it yet, $$$ = freedom to write. Say it with me now.

Every author I know wants to be successful but were you to ask them what success looks like, it’s basically, “to make enough to pay my bills.”

Dear God, can I relate to that.

At the time of this writing it is 5:00 AM Central Standard Time where I live. I’ve been up since 3:00 AM writing a novel. I’ve been doing that now since 2007 because I can’t afford to quit my day job. A day job I need to pay the bills. And, agree or disagree, it does have an impact on the quality of my writing. (Yes, yes … I know … it’s not your fault that I have to work full time and write and yes, I know that I’m a lot better off than a hell of a lot of authors.)

Still,  I know that I could be a better writer if I simply had more time to write, but I don’t. I have a mortgage and bills, just like other people. And I’m not physically starving in the sense that I’m living on Ichiban noodles – my day job allows my to buy sirloin. But I know I could write better if I were able to make enough money off the five books I have written and managed to get published. (And the sixth, which I self-published).

I think all the kerfuffle over this issue has less to do with people wanting to express a point of view that their money shouldn’t have to pay for the writer’s living expenses and more to do – way more to do – with the troubling nature by which we communicate via social media these days, the need for everybody to *be heard*. I suspect, though I have no proof, but I suspect that were one to put all the people who kicked up a stink about this in a situation where they were face to face with the author, behavior would be far different. That’s the thing about communicating online – people rarely conduct themselves with one another the way they would were they face to face with someone they disagreed with.

I support the author very much in this case. I don’t think I would have launched a campaign identical to hers, but I certainly know what she’s going through. And I’m really sick to @#$% death of online angst where readers/bloggers are at loggerheads with authors. Dear sweet baby Jesus, but we’re all supposed to be on the same team aren’t we? Authors write because they love to tell stories. Readers read because they love to read stories. Bloggers blog because they love to talk about the stories they’ve read and the authors who wrote them.

So why are we having these online dramas?

I have no idea.

I just wish it would stop but, human nature being the fickle thing that it is, I suspect it won’t. There really is no force on earth quite like social media outrage is there?

I feel bad that Stacey Jay is going through this. I feel worse that this is even being talked about at all.

(Full disclosure – I’m on Patreon – I haven’t received a penny for my proposed project.)

I’ve got GROOVY book news!

 

I’m pleased to announce that my new alter ego for children’s and middle grade, Charlie McAlbert (website forthcoming) has a book coming out this fall thanks to the good folks at Rebelight Publishing! (Yes, I’m finally being published by a CANADIAN PUBLISHER!)

The working title is A CURIOUS CASE OF MISSING CATS and here’s what it’s about:

THE. CATS. ARE. MISSING!

Fear not! Penelope Ann Pickersgill and her grandmother are on the case … assuming that Grandma Bev can coax Penelope out of the spare bedroom and into her psychedelic minivan.

Did I mention that Penelope’s granny is from the 1960’s?

Sure there’s macrobiotic food, and yes, the soundtrack from Woodstock is playing on Grandma Bev’s CD player. Yep, the house smells like incense & the Groovy Gals (a trio of hippy seniors with a penchant for civil disobedience) want to bring down City Hall. 

But … there are strange lights in the sky. Grandma Bev is certain there’s a UFO cat-abduction conspiracy afoot. Penelope, being the sensible one, thinks all the evidence points to a faceless corporation that produces GMO’s and one very angry farmer. If only she can convince her granny.

WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CATS?

It’s  a mad romp to uncover a mystery amid a backdrop of colorful characters and one larger than life pensioner determined to save her granddaughter’s summer.

So, pretty cool eh?

A shout out to award winning author Edward Willett for nudging me toward submitting the project. Thanks, Ed! (PS – order his books. Order E.C. Blake’s books while yer at it because that’s Edward Willett, too!)

Onward, 2015!

 

The Last Post – 2014 Sucked. There, I said it.

(I basically wore this face all year)

Dear baby Jesus, please let 2015 be better than 2014 because this has been my hardest year as a writer.

2014 had Strange Chemistry Books going bye-bye back on June 20th leaving all their authors left to muddle through a shit show on an intergalactic scale. I had a project I’d just pitched to them a week before, too – oh well – it’s six months after and I’m still waiting to get my rights back for Poltergeeks and Student Bodies.

Will there be a third book? Right now, I’d like to say yes but I still need the old rights back before I decide to survey the lay of the land. In truth, I’d like to get the pair of books out as reprints with another publisher but I’m not against self-publishing them instead. More to follow on that front, yo.

I became a bona-fide hybrid author in 2014, self-publishing all my back list on Amazon and Smashwords. It’s brings me in a couple of hundred bucks a month in cash money so let’s just say that self-publishing your old stuff generates enough for a car payment. I can’t say anything  bad about the experience other than it’s a huge learning curve and discoverability is the biggest BIGGEST challenge because Amazon is so damned flooded with self-published books. And it makes me wonder what a guy has to do to get noticed? I’m thinking a YouTube show with me in my underpants smoking a cigar and talking books. Call it “Old Fat Bald Guy Book Reviews” – cue the Masterpiece Theater theme in the background.

I also self-published a new book,  THE NORTH.  I made it free for a couple of weeks to see if that will garner any reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. I’m convinced the key to discoverability on Amazon is reviews. What I did learn is that by making the book free, there was NO bump in sales to my other books. Draw your own conclusions with that.

I’ve had a bit of writer’s block this year. I think brought on because of constant worry about getting rights back, my career as an author and working my tail off getting stuff onto Amazon and Smashwords. So a bit of a break from that in 2015 I hope as I’ve been writing like mad over the last month and I’ve got a few new ideas brewing away.

2014 did show me that I have some amazing, wonderful and supportive friends in publishing, though. Every single author from Strange Chemistry has been a class act despite losing out on forthcoming books and the associated trauma of a publishing house shutting its doors. We have been in constant contact with each other since June.

Strange Chemistry published books by the following authors. These are fantastic, amazing, talented people wholly deserving of your support. Do order one of their books, won’t you?

Rosie Best

Gwenda Bond

M. G. Buehrlen

Cassandra Rose Clarke

T. L. Costa

Eliza Crewe

Kim Curran

Amalie Howard

Jonathan L Howard

Danielle Jensen

Ingrid Jonach

Laura Lam

Rachel Neumeier

Lisa O’Kane

Bryony Pearce

Sarah Raughley

A E Rought

Christian Schoon

Julianna Scott

Martha Wells

On the plus side of things, I’m still plugging along. I do have forthcoming book news … it’s kind of fun and happy. Just say the word “psychedelic” and keep saying it until I announce. A small ray of light in an otherwise crummy year. And yesterday I got some other super pre-advance preliminary forthcoming book news on a project that is very near and dear to me. I have to do a bunch of emailing today. More to come on that front, too.

I also have a core group of wickedly talented authors in my writer’s group,  Saskatoon Writer’s Meetup. I would be freaking lost without them. They’re just brilliant people, so a shout-out to:

Nicole, Courteny, Pearce, Cynthia, Jenna, Elizabeth, Jen, David, Anita and Rachel Astor (who is a bestselling author so go buy her books.)

Well, there you have it. Some good news at the end of a downer of a year. I’m fortunate to have great friends, and amazing wife who supports me as I muddle through the ups and downs of being a published author. I still haven’t written that breakthrough novel yet. So … come on 2015. I hope to hell it’s a great year for you and yours.

Happy New Year!

 

Self-Publishing Confession: Why I Changed the Cover Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My new book THE NORTH has only been out now for just shy of two months but the sales haven’t been as strong as I’d hoped. (About 500 copies vs more than 1200 for my still selling very strongly MARSHALL CONRAD in the same time frame).

The few reviews I’ve received have all suggested that readers liked the story very much (although some aren’t crazy there are to be two more books), so I was scratching my head at the low sales.

Yep, zombie books are a crowded market and that’s definitely one of the main reasons impacting the sluggish sales of my novel, but I wasn’t convinced that was the only factor. I decided to spend some time looking at competing titles (and there are a HELL of a lot of them) and I realized the top selling ones or rather, the most consistent selling ones have far more interesting cover art than the cover for my book. And don’t get me wrong: the cover I had made up depicted the bleakness of the world I’d created extremely well buuuuut … it is dark and kind of flat in comparison with the other better selling books out there.

So I decided, to hell with it: I’m the publisher, I’m going to get a new cover done. While the stock image isn’t exactly a scene from the novel, the image is still kind of bleak. The bright yellow contrasts the black font very well and I think it’s eye-catching. I spent the last couple of days uploading the cover art on Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords and creating a print cover for Create Space. It’s all done now and I guess we’ll just have to see if the new cover has greater impact. It might, it might not. Who knows?

Lesson learned though: book covers need color even if your book is bleak as hell. Might work, might not. We shall see.