Michael Montoure's Blog, page 11

Tomorrow is Leap Day — What Leap Will You Make?

One of the biggest complaints I ever hear writers make — and here I'm even being generous and including people who call themselves writers but never seem to, you know, write anything — is that there's never enough time.

Time is the one commodity that no one's making more of.  It does  slip through our ink-stained little fingers, if we let it — especially if you've got a day job, a spouse, kids, a home to keep clean, errands to run, and a three-hours-a-night television habit.  (Well, maybe not that last one.  If you're guilty of that one, go stand in front of your mirror for me, slap yourself in the face, and scream, "what the fuck are you doing?"  Thanks.)

Well, listen, I can't give you an extra day in your week, but tomorrow, you've got something to think about — an extra day in your year.  It's Leap Day, February 29th. You actually, for once in every four years, have some extra time.

I just wanted to say, let that inspire you.  Think of all the times you've said, "if only I had more time, I'd — "  What?  Drop those short story submissions you keep putting off in the mail?  Drag out that trunk novel and start revising it?  Toss aside your current manuscript, the one you're so bored with by now, and finally get started on that big new project you're really excited about?  Here it is!  More time!  Do it!

In fact, let's stretch this metaphor out a little more — since tomorrow is called "Leap Day," make a real leap.  Don't just do something you've been putting off — do something you've been a little scared to do.

Putting my money where my mouth is — I've been a little scared to contact book-bloggers about Slices.  "Oh, they're probably not interested in short stories, and it's hard to find reviewers who will take self-published books, or who are interested in horror, or — "  Blah, blah, blah, excuse, excuse, excuse.  Anything I'm making that many excuses about I figure I must be scared of, and that means the only way to face it is head-on.

So, I'm going to go out and put together a list of — oh, let's say ten book-bloggers, and drop them a line.  I'll let you know how it goes.

That's the Leap I'm going to make tomorrow.  What's yours?

Meeting My Editor: Greetings From Gallifrey

Last weekend I went down to Los Angeles for the 23rd annual Gallifrey One convention, which, for the uninitiated, is a Doctor Who convention. So, in other words, it's the longest-running convention in the world for the longest-running science-fiction television series of all time.

Doctor Who is probably quite literally my very favorite thing in the entire world. If you enjoy my stories, you have Doctor Who to thank for it — in a very real sense, the mysterious adventures in outer space and the many monsters I watched the Doctor fight when I was a child permanently warped my fragile, delicate little developing mind, and left me with a deep love for the strange and terrifying.

This is only the second time I've been to Gallifrey One, but I'm sure this will be an annual pilgrimage from now on. I'm not sure I could even tell you how amazing it was.  This is an incredibly enthusiastic, friendly, creative, engaged fandom.  And you know how actors and the like in their public appearances always go on about how much they love their fans, and they do this all for them, and thank you so much and blah blah blah and it always comes across so fake?

Not here.  Everyone up on that stage (and there were a ton of guests) seemed to be absolutely genuine when they said that kind of thing.  They love the show, they love being involved in it, they love the fanbase.

Anyway, since this is my writing blog, and not my geeking-out-about-Doctor-Who blog — I don't have one of those, but maybe I should — I'm mainly posting this to tell you I finally got a chance to meet Simon Guerrier, who was the editor of How The Doctor Changed My Life, the Doctor Who anthology that features my story, "Relativity."

Working with Simon had been a real pleasure.  Since that was technically my first professional sale, it was the first time I'd ever really worked with an editor, and the process was surprisingly fun and painless.  His suggestions and line-edits genuinely helped to improve the flow of the story and make the characters seem more authentically British.  He was more than willing to let me push back on the few changes that I thought would change the intent of my story too much.  The version that ended up in print still feels very much like my vision of the story, and that he just helped make that vision clearer.

I'd heard he was going to be at the convention, and was looking forward to meeting him.  No matter what the picture on his Amazon profile may have you believe, he is not, in fact, a raygun-toting space badger. In person, Simon turns out to be a tall, pleasant Londoner, who is disconcertingly younger than I am, dammit.  He promptly mocked my costume, gave me a glass of some rather lovely wine, and then introduced me to L.M. Myles, who also had a story in HTDCML — the story immediately proceeding mine, in point of fact.  (Hi, neighbor!)  He introduced me as "one of his discoveries," which charmed the hell out of me.

We didn't get to talk much, but I'm glad I was able to thank him in person for having selected my story — to tell him that being able to officially write something for Doctor Who was a life-long dream, and to thank him for helping make it come true.  No matter what else ever happens in my writing career, I will always treasure that little bit of immortality — getting to carve my initials on a story that started before I was born and will continue long after I'm gone.

This Valentine’s Day, Show Your Favorite Author Some Love

…. I don’t necessarily mean me, mind you, unless I actually happen to be your favorite author, in which case bless your little ink-black heart.  But I can guarantee you that no matter who your favorite author is, whether they’re a traditionally-published best-seller or a struggling indie, they’ll greatly appreciate it if you do any of the following things, today or any other day:

Write a review of their book on Amazon. Can’t ignore the 500-pound gorilla in the room — Amazon almost certainly drives the majority of your favorite author’s sales, and the more reviews and ratings a book receives, the more likely Amazon is to promote and recommend that book.  This is probably the number one thing you can do to help get the books you love in front of people’s eyes and into their hands.  If the thought of writing a “book review” is putting you glumly in mind of your school days, don’t stress over it — you don’t have to write an essay or anything, just a few sentences about why you liked the book.
“Tag” their book on Amazon.  If you add the appropriate labels for a book (for example, “thriller,” “ghosts,” “serial killers”, etc.), then that also helps improve the book’s visibility, and makes it that much more likely someone will see the book when they do a search for that kind of fiction.
“Like” their book on Amazon.  Book listings on Amazon now have a little “thumbs-up” button on them, which should be a familiar concept to any of the 250 million or so of you who are on Facebook.  If you’ve got literally five seconds to spare to help an author out today, while this probably doesn’t do nearly as much good as reviewing or tagging — it sure can’t hurt, either.
Add their books to a “Listmania” list on Amazon.  I’ll be honest — I personally don’t pay a whole lot of attention to Listmania lists, but there are definitely people who do, and this is another way you can help an author’s visibility.  Maybe put together a collection of “Best Horror Books for $2.99 or Less,” for example.
Boost their  Social Media signal.  Are you following your favorite writers on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Digg, Tweedle, Bloost, or Splinder?  Of course you are, even though I may have made those last three up.  Anyway, if so, when they have something they’re promoting there — a new book, a reading in your hometown, a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new project — help spread the word.  Retweet their tweets, share their posts, let people know.  If you follow their blog and you think a post is particularly interesting, pass the link around.
Review their books on “social reading” sites.  If you love to read, and you’re not already a member of Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing, you should check them out.  They’re a great way to find new books to read via recommendations from people with similar tastes.
Let them know you like their stuff.  Odds are, your favorite writer has a website, blog, Facebook page, or some other on-line means of contacting them.  So why not, you know, contact them?  Drop them a short note to tell them how much you like their writing.  Unlike the other suggestions on this list, this won’t increase their sales, but feedback is always nice, too.  Send them e-mail, leave a comment on their blog, send them an “@” message on Twitter, show up on their doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and a handgun.

Uhhh — let me look at my notes again, here.  Yeah, no, scratch the “doorstep” one.  But the rest of it’s good.

(If you’d like to show my book, Slices, a little love, here’s a link to it’s Amazon page.  Give it a thumbs-up, a couple tags, or even a review, and I will love you forever, I honestly will.  Happy Valentine’s Day, you lovely people, you.)

This Valentine's Day, Show Your Favorite Author Some Love

…. I don't necessarily mean me, mind you, unless I actually happen to be your favorite author, in which case bless your little ink-black heart.  But I can guarantee you that no matter who your favorite author is, whether they're a traditionally-published best-seller or a struggling indie, they'll greatly appreciate it if you do any of the following things, today or any other day:

Write a review of their book on Amazon. Can't ignore the 500-pound gorilla in the room — Amazon almost certainly drives the majority of your favorite author's sales, and the more reviews and ratings a book receives, the more likely Amazon is to promote and recommend that book.  This is probably the number one thing you can do to help get the books you love in front of people's eyes and into their hands.  If the thought of writing a "book review" is putting you glumly in mind of your school days, don't stress over it — you don't have to write an essay or anything, just a few sentences about why you liked the book.
"Tag" their book on Amazon.  If you add the appropriate labels for a book (for example, "thriller," "ghosts," "serial killers", etc.), then that also helps improve the book's visibility, and makes it that much more likely someone will see the book when they do a search for that kind of fiction.
"Like" their book on Amazon.  Book listings on Amazon now have a little "thumbs-up" button on them, which should be a familiar concept to any of the 250 million or so of you who are on Facebook.  If you've got literally five seconds to spare to help an author out today, while this probably doesn't do nearly as much good as reviewing or tagging — it sure can't hurt, either.
Add their books to a "Listmania" list on Amazon.  I'll be honest — I personally don't pay a whole lot of attention to Listmania lists, but there are definitely people who do, and this is another way you can help an author's visibility.  Maybe put together a collection of "Best Horror Books for $2.99 or Less," for example.
Boost their  Social Media signal.  Are you following your favorite writers on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Digg, Tweedle, Bloost, or Splinder?  Of course you are, even though I may have made those last three up.  Anyway, if so, when they have something they're promoting there — a new book, a reading in your hometown, a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new project — help spread the word.  Retweet their tweets, share their posts, let people know.  If you follow their blog and you think a post is particularly interesting, pass the link around.
Review their books on "social reading" sites.  If you love to read, and you're not already a member of Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing, you should check them out.  They're a great way to find new books to read via recommendations from people with similar tastes.
Let them know you like their stuff.  Odds are, your favorite writer has a website, blog, Facebook page, or some other on-line means of contacting them.  So why not, you know, contact them?  Drop them a short note to tell them how much you like their writing.  Unlike the other suggestions on this list, this won't increase their sales, but feedback is always nice, too.  Send them e-mail, leave a comment on their blog, send them an "@" message on Twitter, show up on their doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and a handgun.

Uhhh — let me look at my notes again, here.  Yeah, no, scratch the "doorstep" one.  But the rest of it's good.

(If you'd like to show my book, Slices, a little love, here's a link to it's Amazon page.  Give it a thumbs-up, a couple tags, or even a review, and I will love you forever, I honestly will.  Happy Valentine's Day, you lovely people, you.)

“6 Reasons You Will Never Be A Writer”

You might notice, looking back on things I’ve linked to and posts I’ve written, that I’m a big fan of blunt advice, the kind that grabs you by your shoulders and shakes you up a little.  Tough love, you might call it.  I think any problem is best tackled with a wide-eyed, clear-headed, no-nonsense approach, and I don’t think that you help someone get to that point by talking around the issue and sparing their feelings.

I think this is especially important when we’re talking about writing, because writing is not just about truth, it’s about Truth — capital-T, 48 point gold-embossed type Truth.  Even if we’re writing about spaceships and monsters and vampires with rayguns, if there isn’t real human emotion contained in your fiction, it’s not going to be worth reading.  You can’t bullshit your way through telling a story, not a story that matters, so I don’t think you should bullshit yourself about the process of how you tell those stories, either.

So I appreciate reading any writing advice that makes me sit up and pay attention and say, “Oh, crap, you’re right.” This list of six reasons you’re not going to make it as a writer did just that:

Wondering when you’ll reap the fame and fortune that come with your dream of being a writer? Well, probably never. If:

1. You don’t read

At least, not the right things. You read all the books on writing and polishing and publishing, and all the books that literary critics are praising, but nothing of any real value. You don’t read books that light a fire under you, you don’t read in your genre, you don’t read non-fiction for fun and inspiration.  You don’t have an Audible membership or a library card and you couldn’t name a book that has meant anything to you since you turned 20.

[...] 5. Your Writing Sucks

When you do make the time to write, it’s hard. The words do not come dripping off your pen easily; all the elements in your story don’t come out in the right order; your characters are flat and uninteresting and they speak in cliches; you want to give up.

And that is what Anne Lammot calls your ‘shitty first draft’. It has to be got through in order to get to the second draft, the third, and the polished end result. If you are too scared to suck, too scared to fail then you will never be a writer, because all writing involves putting some truly terrible prose on the page — and excising it later or, like William Faulkner, throw it out entirely and start again.

– 6 Reasons You Will Never Be A Writer

That first point hit home for me especially hard.  I’ve known for years that I wasn’t really reading as much as I should be if I wanted to write well.  Fortunately, that’s really turned itself around — since I first got my Kindle, less than a year ago, I’ve probably read more novels than I’d read in the last three or four years combined.

The rest of the list was definitely worth checking out, too, and contains some great quotes from famous writers.  You should go read it.

"6 Reasons You Will Never Be A Writer"

You might notice, looking back on things I've linked to and posts I've written, that I'm a big fan of blunt advice, the kind that grabs you by your shoulders and shakes you up a little.  Tough love, you might call it.  I think any problem is best tackled with a wide-eyed, clear-headed, no-nonsense approach, and I don't think that you help someone get to that point by talking around the issue and sparing their feelings.

I think this is especially important when we're talking about writing, because writing is not just about truth, it's about Truth — capital-T, 48 point gold-embossed type Truth.  Even if we're writing about spaceships and monsters and vampires with rayguns, if there isn't real human emotion contained in your fiction, it's not going to be worth reading.  You can't bullshit your way through telling a story, not a story that matters, so I don't think you should bullshit yourself about the process of how you tell those stories, either.

So I appreciate reading any writing advice that makes me sit up and pay attention and say, "Oh, crap, you're right." This list of six reasons you're not going to make it as a writer did just that:

Wondering when you'll reap the fame and fortune that come with your dream of being a writer? Well, probably never. If:

1. You don't read

At least, not the right things. You read all the books on writing and polishing and publishing, and all the books that literary critics are praising, but nothing of any real value. You don't read books that light a fire under you, you don't read in your genre, you don't read non-fiction for fun and inspiration.  You don't have an Audible membership or a library card and you couldn't name a book that has meant anything to you since you turned 20.

[...] 5. Your Writing Sucks

When you do make the time to write, it's hard. The words do not come dripping off your pen easily; all the elements in your story don't come out in the right order; your characters are flat and uninteresting and they speak in cliches; you want to give up.

And that is what Anne Lammot calls your 'shitty first draft'. It has to be got through in order to get to the second draft, the third, and the polished end result. If you are too scared to suck, too scared to fail then you will never be a writer, because all writing involves putting some truly terrible prose on the page — and excising it later or, like William Faulkner, throw it out entirely and start again.

– 6 Reasons You Will Never Be A Writer

That first point hit home for me especially hard.  I've known for years that I wasn't really reading as much as I should be if I wanted to write well.  Fortunately, that's really turned itself around — since I first got my Kindle, less than a year ago, I've probably read more novels than I'd read in the last three or four years combined.

The rest of the list was definitely worth checking out, too, and contains some great quotes from famous writers.  You should go read it.

"25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore"

Ever since I was little, I wanted to work in a bookstore — or better still, own my own bookstore.  They were always magical places to me, used bookstores especially, all those books with all their histories, lined up and quietly gathering dust and patiently waiting to be taken home and loved.

The older I get, the less likely it is that it will happen someday, I suppose.  (Even putting aside the question of how much longer we're going to have "bookstores.")

But, well, living vicariously is what being a reader is all about — and this charming little list of lessons learned gave me a chance to do just that, and gave me a smile and a warm glow:

1.  People are getting rid of bookshelves.  Treat the money you budgeted for shelving as found money.  Go to garage sales and cruise the curbs.

2.  While you're drafting that business plan, cut your projected profits in half.  People are getting rid of bookshelves.

[....] 18.  People use whatever is close at hand for bookmarks–toothpicks, photographs, kleenex, and the very ocassional fifty dollar bill, which will keep you leafing through books way beyond the point where it's pr0ductive.

[....] 21.  A surprising number of people will think you've read every book in the store and will keep pulling out volumes and asking you what this one is about.  These are the people who leave without buying a book, so it's time to have some fun.  Make up plots.

– 25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore

This Post Censored By SOPA (H.R.3261)

NOTICE

(This post has been removed from this site by order of the United States government for linking to copyright-infringing material.)

Naaah, not really, of course. Our government would never do anything like that.

No, if SOPA passes, they'd never be cracking down on individual posts. Instead, if they found a post, a comment, anything that contained such a link — well, they'd just kick bloodletters.com off the Internet entirely.

Wait a minute, you might be saying, practically every website that exists probably has at least one link somewhere to copyrighted material that shouldn't be there …. They can't be serious, can they?

Serious like a heart attack, kids. This is a stupid, dangerous bill — well, two bills, really, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House — and they'll have tremendous consequences that could shut down websites you use every day.

You probably already know about this. Major sites are doing their best to get the word out. Some sites, like Google, are blacking out their logo, like I've done above; other sites, like Wikipedia, are shutting down for the day entirely in protest.

So why am I taking your time to point all this out again? Just so you keep thinking about it. We can't stay silent on this. The bill is dying as we speak, but we've got to keep the pressure up to make sure it stays dead.

So. If you haven't done it yet, go visit americancensorship.org or Google's "End Piracy, Not Liberty" page and sign their petitions.

Not convinced that signing an online petition will do any good? Yeah, me either. Here's a convenient way to contact your representative in Congress:

house.gov: Write Your Representative

Here's a slightly less convenient way to contact your Senator:

Senators of the 112th Congress

I just wrote to Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, and Jay Inslee, and here's what I told them:

As a voter in your district, I want to urge you to vote "no" on the STOP ONLINE PIRACY/PROTECT IP Act on Jan. 24th.

I understand that online piracy is a problem, but this bill is not the way to attack it. Forcing American social networks, blogs and search engines to censor the Internet only hurts the wrong people, and would have an insurmountable chilling effect on free speech and innovation. The Internet, as it exists, has created millions of jobs and created an inprecedented resource for information and communication, and deserves your protection, not only for the sake of everyone using it today, but for generations to come.

Thank you for your consideration.

Go, do it now. (If you're trapped at home in the snow today, like me, you really have no excuse not to.) You're welcome to use my words above, but we're more likely to be taken seriously with something other than form letters, so please consider writing your own. Thanks.

If You Collect Creepy Books, Then You Need The "Detritus" Anthology

It's here, it's here! "Detritus," the anthology I sold a story to a couple of months ago, has just been released, and man, it looks good.  My story, "Heroes and Villains," looks like it's in great company:

The impulse to collect springs from deep within the human psyche Squirrels gather acorns, rats collect shiny things, but only humans assign meaning to the objects they collect. Detritus is a collection of stories about the impulse to collect, preserve, and display gone horribly wrong. [...] Each of the stories, whether about a collection that is world changing or intensely personal, is sure to linger in readers' thoughts and make them consider the possibility that malice and evil just might lurk in their own hoard of stuff.

– The Detritus Anthology is Here!!! Happy Friday the 13th | Omnium Gatherum.

If you'd like to add this book to your collection, the electronic edition is available now at Amazon, and the print version is available directly from the publisher, Omnium Gatherum.  Just scroll down to the big, shiny, candy-like button.

More Reviews for "Slices!"

Remember that book giveaway I did at Goodreads back in October?  The main reason that writers do those — I mean, the main reason aside from our inherently generous and giving natures, of course — in in the hopes that some of the people who receive your book might review it on the site.

So I've been sitting back and patiently hoping for reviews ever since.  (Well, as patiently as I ever do anything, anyway.)  I'd kind of assumed that when someone reviewed my book, I'd automatically get an email letting me know.

Well, either my assumption was wrong, or the notification ended up buried in my email somewhere, because when I looked at the Goodreads page for "Slices" today, I was surprised and delighted to see that there are in fact already reviews on it!

Check them out!  Great comments like:

I do not like short stories, but I liked these short stories. I do not like spooky stories, but I liked these scary stories. What does that mean? You have a new fan.

And:

[...] I was pleasantly surprised by how varied, and interesting, each of the stories in this anthology truly were. Montoure uses familiar tropes such as vampires and ghosts, and yet twists them into a very different re-telling of the usual stories told again and again in our current culture.

And even:

An interesting collection of horror stories. Some were great, others not so much.

Hmmm.  Well, maybe not that last one.  Heh.

It's great that this book is starting to get out there and find readers, and so much fun to see how people are reacting to it.  Very, very gratifying.

(Hey, if you don't have a copy yet, and you're the kind of person who likes writing reviews — contact me.  I'm happy to give away free e-book editions to people who will promise they'll post an honest review on Amazon.  Thanks!)