Allison M. Dickson's Blog, page 12
October 25, 2013
STRINGS Character Spotlight: Junior
The rest of this week leading up to the release of STRINGS, I will be profiling the main characters people will meet within the pages. Here are the previous spotlights on Nina, Ramón, and the Madam!
If STRINGS has a true villain, it can be none other than Junior, the human spider who creeps along an enormous rope web inside his mansion, snaring his "good girls" and rending their bodies and their sanity to shreds before turning them into his special puppets. But he seems to have a special liking for Nina, for reasons at which we can only guess.
Not much else is known about this freakish hermit, aside from his predilections, but we get a glimpse into the lives of his parents early in the story, immediately before his gruesome birth. Lady Ballas, a kindly woman from a good upbringing, is becoming increasingly concerned about her husband's mental state. Hank, who regularly locks himself into his office to avoid the "filth" outside, is indeed edging closer and closer to full madness, and when he finally snaps for good, Lady goes into labor and gives birth to a severely disfigured child, the last thing she sees as she dies in a state of horror.
Junior is midwifed into the world by a mysterious woman in red named Kali, and one can only presume the upbringing he may have had at the hands of both her and his lunatic of a father. Although it is clear that Junior is the epitome of true evil, people may wonder if he is the warden of his decrepit lair or a prisoner like everyone else.
It would seem, no matter how good or bad a person may be, someone else is always pulling their strings...
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
If STRINGS has a true villain, it can be none other than Junior, the human spider who creeps along an enormous rope web inside his mansion, snaring his "good girls" and rending their bodies and their sanity to shreds before turning them into his special puppets. But he seems to have a special liking for Nina, for reasons at which we can only guess.
Not much else is known about this freakish hermit, aside from his predilections, but we get a glimpse into the lives of his parents early in the story, immediately before his gruesome birth. Lady Ballas, a kindly woman from a good upbringing, is becoming increasingly concerned about her husband's mental state. Hank, who regularly locks himself into his office to avoid the "filth" outside, is indeed edging closer and closer to full madness, and when he finally snaps for good, Lady goes into labor and gives birth to a severely disfigured child, the last thing she sees as she dies in a state of horror.
Junior is midwifed into the world by a mysterious woman in red named Kali, and one can only presume the upbringing he may have had at the hands of both her and his lunatic of a father. Although it is clear that Junior is the epitome of true evil, people may wonder if he is the warden of his decrepit lair or a prisoner like everyone else.
It would seem, no matter how good or bad a person may be, someone else is always pulling their strings...
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
October 24, 2013
STRINGS Character Spotlight: The Madam
The rest of this week leading up to the release of STRINGS, I will be profiling the main characters people will meet within the pages. Click here to read the spotlights on Nina and Ramón. Junior's reveal is on Friday!
Contessa Cassini, who prefers to be addressed only as the Madam, seems an obvious villain from the start. Cruel, cunning, and a sadist in her own right, the girls of the Weeping Willow brothel live in constant fear of her, not only because she will hurt them to enforce her house rules, but because they all live in quiet fear of being sent to the terrifying torturer Hank Ballas upstate. But we soon learn that she is trapped in a vicious web of her own. A family outcast with an unsettling history, she is regularly brutalized by her brother Victor, who relegated her to run the whorehouse to keep her out of the way. She doesn't intend to remain there, however, as the proceeds from her lucrative deals with Ballas serve as seed money to unseat her brother from the top of the family roost and hand control of the all operations to her. Unfortunately, the Madam will no longer be able to count on those deals when events with Ramón and the girl Nina take an unexpected turn.
But even when all seems lost for the Madam, she finds that her keen, steely resourcefulness remains. With countless horrible deeds to answer for and redemption well out of her reach, her ambitions nonetheless begin to evolve. People may ask soon themselves... can a villain can also become a hero?
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
Contessa Cassini, who prefers to be addressed only as the Madam, seems an obvious villain from the start. Cruel, cunning, and a sadist in her own right, the girls of the Weeping Willow brothel live in constant fear of her, not only because she will hurt them to enforce her house rules, but because they all live in quiet fear of being sent to the terrifying torturer Hank Ballas upstate. But we soon learn that she is trapped in a vicious web of her own. A family outcast with an unsettling history, she is regularly brutalized by her brother Victor, who relegated her to run the whorehouse to keep her out of the way. She doesn't intend to remain there, however, as the proceeds from her lucrative deals with Ballas serve as seed money to unseat her brother from the top of the family roost and hand control of the all operations to her. Unfortunately, the Madam will no longer be able to count on those deals when events with Ramón and the girl Nina take an unexpected turn.
But even when all seems lost for the Madam, she finds that her keen, steely resourcefulness remains. With countless horrible deeds to answer for and redemption well out of her reach, her ambitions nonetheless begin to evolve. People may ask soon themselves... can a villain can also become a hero?
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
Progeny: One Year Later ~ A Guest Post by Patrick C. Greene
One of my favorite people, Patrick C. Greene, graced the world with his amazing book PROGENY a year ago. It is the chilling mix of adventure and horror about of a young boy and his reclusive father who is hiding a secret about the creature living on his rural wooded property. When a group of local hunters show up, all hell breaks loose.
The story has received many well-deserved accolades since its release, and Patrick has some insights into the world of working as a published novelist that he would like to share. If you haven't read his work yet, you really should. You will find several short stories on Amazon in addition to PROGENY.
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October 22nd marks the anniversary of PROGENY's release, a milestone of one year as a published novelist! What does that mean?
Confirmation. To tell the truth, after spending years trying to break through as a screenwriter, I just wasn't that sure I was a decent writer. If it hadn't been for my wife and my publishers at Hobbes End, I might've never given it a shot. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, in learning that people will not only buy my work but also actually like it. I have a tremendous sense of gratitude in regards to my readers that I might never have known as purely a screenwriter.
Inspiration. Tasting a little success only makes me want to try harder in my other efforts; to surpass myself, to make my readers happy, to show other aspiring writers that they can do it too.
Socialization. Writers are a pretty good-hearted crew as it happens; constantly looking out for one another, drawing inspiration from each other's efforts, ready to offer an ear or a shoulder. Creating sympathetic characters seems to make writers sympathetic, and of course, given the emotional highs and lows one must plum to do good work, writers tend to be on the look-out for their fellows, lest they peer too deeply into the abyss perhaps. I am proud to have made so many great friends of so many tremendously talented authors in the past months, all of whom enrich my life and work in myriad ways.
Collaboration. It's not for everybody, but in varying degrees, working with other compatible, (pleeeease note the emphasis!) writers can be a stimulating experience. It gets the competitive juices flowing and provides a more immediate, not to mention professional, level of feedback that you might not otherwise receive. I've been fortunate in the past year to have partnered with the amazing Lisa Marie Brennan on a screenplay, along with numerous up and coming authors for the forthcoming vampire anthology Wrapped in Red from Sekhmet Press, as well as a collection of short stories set in the universe of Armand Rosamilia's Dying Days universe. It's wonderful to be a part of these groups and share the anticipation of having our combined efforts forming in the ether.
Adulation. Now that I'm a big time writer, everybody loves me.
Remuneration. Getting paaaaaiiid, baby! Writing is hard-ass work. Nice to know there are dividends! Fittingly, it should be noted that the acclaim of PROGENY seems to have jump started my screenwriting career. Early in the year, it netted me an actual paid screenwriting job! And it was a good one too; can't wait for a time when I can share more about that. Along those lines, my above-mentioned screenwriting collaboration with Lisa Brennan is moving forward apace, in early stages of pre-production under a motivated producer. And I'm incredibly excited to have my script Twisted Fates gaining ground under the watchful and dedicated eyes of my good friends Amel Figueroa and Brandon Brooks at SaintSinner Entertainment.
Of course, not every project is a success story, and in fact, some are outright busts (my apologies to those who had invested their support and anticipation to The Mourning Portrait and A Shotgun Wedding). No writer has all of their children climb great heights I suppose. But it still hurts to see those babies falter.
Back on the fiction front, there's Wrapped in Red and the Dying Days anthology of course--but I've also completed my second novel. And even though it took way longer that it should have, the extra cooking time seems, by all accounts thus far, to have resulted in a pretty decent soufflé'. You be the judge. I hope you'll be happy. 'Cause this ride's kinda lame without you, my dear Readee McReader!_______________________________________________________________________________
About Patrick C. Greene
Patrick C. Greene - Some dark serendipity plopped a young Patrick Greene in front of a series of ever stranger films-and experiences-in his formative years, leading to a unique viewpoint. His odd interests have led to pursuits in film acting, paranormal investigation, martial arts, quantum physics, bizarre folklore and eastern philosophy. These elements flavor his screenplays and fiction works, often leading to strange and unexpected detours designed to keep viewers and readers on their toes.
Literary influences range from Poe to Clive Barker to John Keel to a certain best selling Bangorian. Suspense, irony, and outrageously surreal circumstances test the characters who populate his work, taking them and the reader on a grandly bizarre journey into the furthest realms of darkness. The uneasy notion that reality itself is not only relative but indeed elastic is the hallmark of Greene's writing.
Living in the rural periphery of Asheville North Carolina with his wife, youngest son and an ever-growing army of cats, Greene still trains in martial arts when he's not giving birth to demons via his pen and keyboard. Visit the website : www.PatrickCGreene.com
In addition to his novel PROGENY, and the short story collection DARK DESTINIES, Greene has several film projects in the works, and just finished writing his second novel, THE CRIMSON CALLING, the first in the action-adventure vampire trilogy, The Sanguinarian Council.
October 23, 2013
STRINGS Character Spotlight: Ramón
The rest of this week leading up to the release of STRINGS, I will be profiling the main characters people will meet within the pages. You can read all about Nina here. The Madam and Junior make their appearances Thursday and Friday, respectively.
So many of those in the employ of the Cassini crime family are prisoners of debt or guilt. Ramón Gutierrez, driver for the Weeping Willow brothel, is a little bit of both. A former gambler and thug, Ramón was no stranger to the gritty underworld of organized crime, but he left all that behind (including his son Alejandro) when he sold his soul to Victor Cassini for help staying out of jail.
Ever since then he's been under the thumb of the Willow's ruthless Madam, taking the working girls where they need to go, including to the infamous Ballas house, a place where the girls walk in but have to be carried out. He gives all of them a chance to escape before they go in, but his attempts to change their minds are admittedly half-hearted, and he expects it will be business as usual when Nina refuses and steps into the foreboding mansion. However, things don't end quite the way he thinks. When Ramón returns to find an extra suitcase of money and no Nina, he decides maybe it is he who should escape.
The road to escaping the Cassinis is filled with obstacles, not the least of which are the ghosts of Ramón's past. His son, his wife, his brutish temper, and his addiction. There is no telling how far he will get before the ties binding him to this life yank him back.
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
October 22, 2013
STRINGS Character Spotlight: Nina
The rest of this week leading up to the release of STRINGS, I will be profiling the main characters people will meet within the pages.
The first is a young indentured sex worker named Nina. Originally an Iowa girl, she ran away to New York when she was nineteen and immediately fell into the darker side of life. Stripping at a club for quick cash eventually led to her relationship with Joey, a young mob grunt who pulled her into a lifestyle of drugs and petty crime. When one of their attempts to steal from the powerful Cassini family went wrong, however, Joey got killed and Nina wound up working in the family's brothel, the Weeping Willow, in order to pay off the debt.
At the opening of STRINGS, she is nearing the end of her "sentence" after four years, and the brothel's Madam decides she has plans for Nina that don't involve letting the girl return to her Iowa homestead. There is a special client the Madam has, one who pays top dollar in exchange for letting him do whatever horrific thing he wants to the girls, and once the Madam makes the decision to send Nina to this client, the lives of all parties involved take one hell of a turn.
But while Nina is most certainly a victim of horrible circumstance and is initially the most sympathetic character in the book, there is more to her than that. As people watch her battle to maintain hold of her soul in a real life house of horrors, they will come away wondering... did she succeed?
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
The first is a young indentured sex worker named Nina. Originally an Iowa girl, she ran away to New York when she was nineteen and immediately fell into the darker side of life. Stripping at a club for quick cash eventually led to her relationship with Joey, a young mob grunt who pulled her into a lifestyle of drugs and petty crime. When one of their attempts to steal from the powerful Cassini family went wrong, however, Joey got killed and Nina wound up working in the family's brothel, the Weeping Willow, in order to pay off the debt.
At the opening of STRINGS, she is nearing the end of her "sentence" after four years, and the brothel's Madam decides she has plans for Nina that don't involve letting the girl return to her Iowa homestead. There is a special client the Madam has, one who pays top dollar in exchange for letting him do whatever horrific thing he wants to the girls, and once the Madam makes the decision to send Nina to this client, the lives of all parties involved take one hell of a turn.
But while Nina is most certainly a victim of horrible circumstance and is initially the most sympathetic character in the book, there is more to her than that. As people watch her battle to maintain hold of her soul in a real life house of horrors, they will come away wondering... did she succeed?
STRINGS is available now in print on Amazon and will be available for Kindle and direct purchase from Hobbes End Publishing on October 26th!
October 20, 2013
NaNoWriMo. Two Potential Projects. One Tired Writer.
It's that time of year again. In a couple weeks, November will be upon us, and with November comes the breakneck competition with oneself known as NaNoWriMo. This would mark my sixth year of taking the challenge.
Save for last year, I have always managed to pass the 50K threshold. That part is easy. But when it comes to actually finishing projects I start during NaNoWriMo, my success rate hovers somewhere around the not-so-great. Let's do a quick rundown of my attempts:
1. The Kingmaker, political thriller. My attempt at being the next David Baldacci or something. I had such a horrible time writing this one that I made it to 50,020 words and then stopped and never wanted to pick it up again. I didn't think I wanted to do NaNo again and then November rolled around and I decided to try...
2. Archer's Velvet, contemporary fantasy. A modern day acid trip of a tale that was like Alice in Wonderland having a mutant love child with Carl Jung. I had a lot more passion about this project than I did The Kingmaker, but it suffered from being the literary equivalent of formless vomit. It did have its moments that I liked, but not enough for me to feel motivated enough to finish it. Made it a little bit past 50K again, collected my winner's badge, and then put it away.
3. The Stargazers, YA contemporary fantasy. The only completed piece of work that has come out of NaNoWriMo, about a coven of witches from another world who has some kind curse and blah blah blah. I don't know. While I still have a bit of a soft spot for this story, it was pretty convoluted, and it came out of the oven partially baked. I had it up for sale on Amazon for awhile, but I eventually took it down because other readers pretty much agreed and it wasn't selling. Also, the book suffered from not quite knowing what it wanted to be. I was trying for YA but it had too many adult elements. Ultimately, this book was the result of me trying to write to the market rather than the book I actually wanted to write. If I ever learned anything from writing The Stargazers, it's to never, ever write to the market.
4. The Shiva Paradox, science fiction. This is the novel expansion of my short story, The Shiva Apparatus, which appeared in The Endlands Volume 2 and you can now buy individually on Amazon with the preview of Paradox in it. It's a hard sci-fi spacey time travel adventure with a dark twist that I have recently learned unwittingly has echoes of a Doctor Who storyline. I love this story and this universe and I actually DO hope to finish it someday, but it keeps getting overridden by other projects that demand more of my time. I'm not even going to predict when I'll have it done, though. It'll be finished when it's finished.
Last year, I was going to attempt to write a sequel to my vampire spoof Scarlet Letters (which, like The Stargazers, is no longer on sale). But last year, on my birthday, I completed my novel STRINGS (which is set to release on my birthday THIS year), and after everything that book put me through emotionally, I found I could not jump right in to writing comedy. And I was just so tired from the monumental effort of banging out over 80,000 words in the course of that month, I decided to just sit it out last year. Ironically, I could finish a novel in a month, just as long as it wasn't during November.
Now I'm back with a decision to make. I know I want to do NaNoWriMo. I would like to get a project completed or most of the way completed by year's end, but I have two competing ideas. I can either start on the novel expansion of my new short story, "Devil Riders," (I sure do have a thing for turning short stories into novels, don't I?) or I can get a really big jump on the next book in the STRINGS series. On the one hand, the Devil Riders story would be a fun new thing to focus on. On the other, with all the work I'm doing promoting Strings, my head is very much in that universe with these characters. I don't think there will be another time when this book will be as fresh in my mind as it is now, and if I've learned anything about sequels, it's that it's really hard to write a story that picks up right where the other one left off if you let too much time pass. At least it is for me.
I already have one chapter of Strings written, but I have no qualms about "cheating." I think Devil Riders can wait a little bit longer. Given the buzz that's building around Strings as of this moment, I don't think it would be wise to rest on my laurels with getting the next book out.
I guess I've already made my decision, then. See you NaNo-heads at the finish line.
October 15, 2013
Why Traditional Publishing is Still Worth It
I've been playing the indie publishing game for a few years now and if I've found one thing that seems to ring pretty consistently throughout the indie community, it's this cocky proclamation that traditional publishing is dead now that people can assemble and release books on their own. The number of self-published books up for sale outstripped traditionally published books this year, according to Bowker, the company that assigns ISBNs to books. Many in the indie community are proclaiming this as a victory against the gatekeeper forces of traditional publishing that have held the tsunami of wannabe authors at bay for far too long.
Wonder what its sales rank is?
It's bullshit, of course. Chevrolet will make more cars than Ferrari this year, but that doesn't necessarily mean Chevrolet makes a better car. Okay, maybe not the best analogy for a few reasons, but it holds up well enough for my point. First off, like Chevys, there are a LOT of self-published books out there. Like Chevys, most of them are unremarkable (Cavalier) or downright terrible (Lumina) and people will never notice most of them unless they're shiny Corvettes. But unlike Chevy who sells in the millions, the vast majority of self-published books will not sell more than a few copies. And by "a few" I mean probably no more than a hundred. In many other cases, it won't be more than a couple dozen. Or even, like, ten. Self-publish a book tomorrow (all on your own and without any major investment in a book packaging service, like most people who self-publish) and see for yourself. Once you run through all the family and friends who will kick in a buck toward your authorly dreams, it's pretty much done selling in any significant quantity unless you put in a LOT of work and money toward promoting and packaging...all things a traditional publisher was designed to do.
I know a lot of people have complaints about the publishing industry and I do not mean to say that it's without flaws. But cutting through a lot of needless rehashing about the pros and cons of either system, I can say this: there is no way I could have done all the work that's been put into gearing up for the release of STRINGS on my own. The first week of promoting that Hobbes End has done dwarfs pretty much everything I have done for myself (or have been able to do for myself) in the three years I've been self-publishing. All I have been able to do, for the most part, is give my work away in order to gain some attention in the marketplace, just so I can then cash in that validation for credits at the big kids table. That's all I ever hoped to accomplish with an indie career, and I guess that's worked.
But now I'm getting actual interviews and publicity with a huge range of websites that the publisher has arranged for me. They have bought ads (print and web) and started two giveaways (first one had over 600 entries and we're shooting for 1000 with this current one here). Many dozens of reviewers right now have ARCs of my book in their hands. Media spots are currently being booked. SEO is happening! So much more is coming down the pipeline over the next couple weeks too. And if I have an idea for my own promotional stuff, I have the full support and backing of a business that has made its number one job selling books. And they understand that to sell books, they have to make an investment and take risks, and their promotions all go toward making sure that risk pays off. They have sales goals and projections and figures and all sorts of thinky-planny things I have never even considered before doing this myself.
As of this writing, after two weeks since the announcement, there have probably been more print books of STRINGS pre-ordered than I have sold of my short stories over the course of an entire month, likely even two. I didn't anticipate selling a ton of print copies, so this just thrills me to no end. On several days, it has been my highest ranking title on Amazon. And this is just the beginning. I'm finding that with a publisher behind me, I feel a lot more motivated to find new ways to sell my book that I haven't considered before. It's energizing me in a whole other way. I look forward to traveling around to various events to sell this thing to death.
All of this has SO been worth a cut of my royalties. I've been a small fish toiling for three years in a very small pond, and while my work on the indie side of things has greatly prepared me for a lot of what's happening now, and it has given me an industriousness and knowledge about selling books that I think my publisher appreciates, it's ultimately the traditional side of things that is bringing my book to a MUCH wider audience of readers. That is what it's designed to do.
I wouldn't have the money or the time to do all of this on my own while still trying to write books. I just wouldn't, and few people do. This is why, again and again, I have said that it's best not to shun one side of the industry for the other. Publish and produce your own work, yes. It's great for cultivating an audience. It prepares you, at least a little bit, for the rigors of dealing with the public and how they might accept your work. But let's stop lying to ourselves that traditional publishing is irrelevant. Weed out the bad publishers who don't invest in their authors or treat them right, absolutely. But as a principle, if you want to REALLY sell books to a lot of people, it's a team effort. Play both sides of the field and reap the benefits.
Wonder what its sales rank is?
It's bullshit, of course. Chevrolet will make more cars than Ferrari this year, but that doesn't necessarily mean Chevrolet makes a better car. Okay, maybe not the best analogy for a few reasons, but it holds up well enough for my point. First off, like Chevys, there are a LOT of self-published books out there. Like Chevys, most of them are unremarkable (Cavalier) or downright terrible (Lumina) and people will never notice most of them unless they're shiny Corvettes. But unlike Chevy who sells in the millions, the vast majority of self-published books will not sell more than a few copies. And by "a few" I mean probably no more than a hundred. In many other cases, it won't be more than a couple dozen. Or even, like, ten. Self-publish a book tomorrow (all on your own and without any major investment in a book packaging service, like most people who self-publish) and see for yourself. Once you run through all the family and friends who will kick in a buck toward your authorly dreams, it's pretty much done selling in any significant quantity unless you put in a LOT of work and money toward promoting and packaging...all things a traditional publisher was designed to do.
I know a lot of people have complaints about the publishing industry and I do not mean to say that it's without flaws. But cutting through a lot of needless rehashing about the pros and cons of either system, I can say this: there is no way I could have done all the work that's been put into gearing up for the release of STRINGS on my own. The first week of promoting that Hobbes End has done dwarfs pretty much everything I have done for myself (or have been able to do for myself) in the three years I've been self-publishing. All I have been able to do, for the most part, is give my work away in order to gain some attention in the marketplace, just so I can then cash in that validation for credits at the big kids table. That's all I ever hoped to accomplish with an indie career, and I guess that's worked.
But now I'm getting actual interviews and publicity with a huge range of websites that the publisher has arranged for me. They have bought ads (print and web) and started two giveaways (first one had over 600 entries and we're shooting for 1000 with this current one here). Many dozens of reviewers right now have ARCs of my book in their hands. Media spots are currently being booked. SEO is happening! So much more is coming down the pipeline over the next couple weeks too. And if I have an idea for my own promotional stuff, I have the full support and backing of a business that has made its number one job selling books. And they understand that to sell books, they have to make an investment and take risks, and their promotions all go toward making sure that risk pays off. They have sales goals and projections and figures and all sorts of thinky-planny things I have never even considered before doing this myself.
As of this writing, after two weeks since the announcement, there have probably been more print books of STRINGS pre-ordered than I have sold of my short stories over the course of an entire month, likely even two. I didn't anticipate selling a ton of print copies, so this just thrills me to no end. On several days, it has been my highest ranking title on Amazon. And this is just the beginning. I'm finding that with a publisher behind me, I feel a lot more motivated to find new ways to sell my book that I haven't considered before. It's energizing me in a whole other way. I look forward to traveling around to various events to sell this thing to death.
All of this has SO been worth a cut of my royalties. I've been a small fish toiling for three years in a very small pond, and while my work on the indie side of things has greatly prepared me for a lot of what's happening now, and it has given me an industriousness and knowledge about selling books that I think my publisher appreciates, it's ultimately the traditional side of things that is bringing my book to a MUCH wider audience of readers. That is what it's designed to do.
I wouldn't have the money or the time to do all of this on my own while still trying to write books. I just wouldn't, and few people do. This is why, again and again, I have said that it's best not to shun one side of the industry for the other. Publish and produce your own work, yes. It's great for cultivating an audience. It prepares you, at least a little bit, for the rigors of dealing with the public and how they might accept your work. But let's stop lying to ourselves that traditional publishing is irrelevant. Weed out the bad publishers who don't invest in their authors or treat them right, absolutely. But as a principle, if you want to REALLY sell books to a lot of people, it's a team effort. Play both sides of the field and reap the benefits.
October 7, 2013
Guest Post: Ian Thomas Healy on Broadening the Universe
The story of how Deep Six came to be isn’t nearly as interesting as how Just Cause originally came about, but it does have a certain cachet all its own. Deep Six was the second book I wrote for the Just Cause Universe. I had originally started right in on The Archmage after completing Just Cause, but after a year of submissions for Just Cause and over 140 rejections, I decided that maybe I needed to take the JCU in a different direction. I’d done NaNoWriMo twice, resulting in The Milkman, which you can buy, and Propane Jockeys, which you can’t. I felt like I was becoming a better writer, and so I decided to do my own version of NaNoWriMo, which I called the Hundred Day Novel. I felt that 50,000 words was too short for any serious novel, but 80,000 was reasonable. I decided a daily writing goal of 800 words and a hundred days would suffice for such a challenge. Over the summer of 2006, I did just that, and thus Deep Six was born.
Following the usual round of beta reads and revision, I sent around Deep Six, and this time I actually got a couple of nibbles. Most prevalent was one agent who requested a revise-and-resend. I did, and the agent came back with a new request: Remove the superpowers and make it a straight thriller. I politely declined and there I was, with no prospects yet again. I had written Jackrabbit in 2006 and was about to embark upon Pariah’s Moon in 2007 when I heard about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest for the first time. With nothing to lose, I took what I felt was my best completed project, Deep Six, and entered it.
It made the first round cuts and wound up as only one of four science fiction novels in the Top 100 Semifinalists. That was freakin’ exciting, let me tell you. Suddenly I felt like maybe I really did have something there, and I began to approach new ideas in the Just Cause Universe. My tales didn’t all have to be about the primary team of Just Cause. I’d created a lot of other organizations, some of which are mentioned in Just Cause itself like the New Guard, the Lucky Seven, and Divine Right. Why couldn’t some of them be featured in JCU novels? Or some of the other things I’d created like Deep Six or the Institute for Parahuman Medicine and Research in Paris? ABNA helped to rekindle my interest in the universe I’d created, and even though I didn’t make it to the finals, I can credit it with helping the development of the JCU.
**********
Deep Six releases worldwide in print and ebook formats on November 29, 2013. Preorders are available at Local Hero Press.
Follow Ian on Twitter
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Ian's Website
Watch the book trailer!
Ian Thomas Healy is a prolific writer who dabbles in many different speculative genres. He’s a nine-time participant and winner of National Novel Writing Month where he’s tackled such diverse subjects as sentient alien farts, competitive forklift racing, a religion-powered rabbit-themed superhero, cyberpunk mercenaries, cowboy elves, and an unlikely combination of vampires with minor league hockey. He is also the creator of the Writing Better Action Through Cinematic Techniques workshop, which helps writers to improve their action scenes.Ian also created the longest-running superhero webcomic done in LEGO, The Adventures of the S-Team, which ran from 2006-2012.
When not writing, which is rare, he enjoys watching hockey, reading comic books (and serious books, too), and living in the great state of Colorado, which he shares with his wife, children, house-pets, and approximately five million other people.
October 1, 2013
Formal Announcement for my upcoming novel, STRINGS!
It has been a long time coming, but the time has finally arrived. My debut novel, STRINGS, is set to release on October 26th, 2013! Read about it below!
Allison M. Dickson presents a chilling tale of entrapment and greed.
Do you have freedom?
Do you have control?
After four years of turning tricks in a mob-run New York brothel to pay off a debt, Nina is ready to go back to a quiet life in Iowa. Just one more client and the whole nightmare will be behind her, but this last trick turns into a battle for her soul. Meanwhile, the brothel’s sadistic Madam has been hiding away money in order to move up in her family’s organization, and she only wants the half million dollars the reclusive millionaire pays for the girls. But her driver Ramón has other ideas, making off with the money left behind when Nina’s last trick goes unexpectedly awry. The theft comes at a great cost to the Madam, setting off a horrific chain of events that changes them all. The hooker. The driver. The Madam. All of them on a collision course to a place where only madness holds sway.
Who is pulling your Strings?
Pre-Order and Purchase Links Coming Soon!
Hobbes End Website
Watch the Trailer!
I realized, as I sat down to write this, that I began writing STRINGS a year ago today, this day of the official announcement, and I finished the first draft a year ago on the very day it will be published. The universe seems to be in perfect alignment right now, as this was not actually intended to be my debut release. That originally belonged to my dystopian book, THE LAST SUPPER, but we decided to put that off until spring of 2014 in order to make room for this book, which is the ultimate Halloween tale and is certain to add to the chill of your autumn nights.
From the moment I began this project, the certainty that it would see the light of day never left me, but right now I feel like I need to pinch myself because I can't believe we're so close to the release. I will update this spot soon as purchase links become available. For right now, just mark your calendars for October 26th!
--Allison
Allison M. Dickson presents a chilling tale of entrapment and greed.
Do you have freedom?
Do you have control?
After four years of turning tricks in a mob-run New York brothel to pay off a debt, Nina is ready to go back to a quiet life in Iowa. Just one more client and the whole nightmare will be behind her, but this last trick turns into a battle for her soul. Meanwhile, the brothel’s sadistic Madam has been hiding away money in order to move up in her family’s organization, and she only wants the half million dollars the reclusive millionaire pays for the girls. But her driver Ramón has other ideas, making off with the money left behind when Nina’s last trick goes unexpectedly awry. The theft comes at a great cost to the Madam, setting off a horrific chain of events that changes them all. The hooker. The driver. The Madam. All of them on a collision course to a place where only madness holds sway.
Who is pulling your Strings?
Pre-Order and Purchase Links Coming Soon!
Hobbes End Website
Watch the Trailer!
I realized, as I sat down to write this, that I began writing STRINGS a year ago today, this day of the official announcement, and I finished the first draft a year ago on the very day it will be published. The universe seems to be in perfect alignment right now, as this was not actually intended to be my debut release. That originally belonged to my dystopian book, THE LAST SUPPER, but we decided to put that off until spring of 2014 in order to make room for this book, which is the ultimate Halloween tale and is certain to add to the chill of your autumn nights.
From the moment I began this project, the certainty that it would see the light of day never left me, but right now I feel like I need to pinch myself because I can't believe we're so close to the release. I will update this spot soon as purchase links become available. For right now, just mark your calendars for October 26th!
--Allison
September 25, 2013
I'm Starting a Publishing Imprint! Help Design My Logo! Win a Prize!
So this was unexpected. All of it. One minute I'm working on getting the print version of my upcoming COLT COLTRANE AND THE LOTUS KILLER together and I realize... I really should have a publishing imprint in order to make this whole thing more efficient. I'm not exactly looking to get into bookstores, but I need ISBNs (on the cheap) and I would like to have wider distribution should these books actually sell well, and that's not possible if you go with the designated free CreateSpace ISBNs.
While I still want to namely be a writer and not a publisher, I can't deny that it's hard to work for the long haul in the indie market without having an imprint. As money comes in and you start hiring people to do work for you, it's just a good idea to compartmentalize everything under a single masthead that isn't your name.
Enter my new imprint: Pseudonym Press! (website pending.)
This thing is at its earliest stage of development. I want to have a logo first. I put together a rudimentary one yesterday and posted it on Facebook to get some feedback from my astute peers. See examples below. Well, suddenly suggestions started turning into some drawn examples, and I realized that I had an opportunity on my hands. Thus was born the Pseudonym Press Logo Contest!
If you can take my basic concept below and make something awesome out of it, your drawing will be entered into the contest, where people will vote on their favorite. Votes will be used to help influence me, but final word on choice still lies with me. Whoever I pick will win a free signed copy of their choice of my upcoming novels, STRINGS (from Hobbes End Publishing) or COLT COLTRANE AND THE LOTUS KILLER (the first official release under the Pseudonym Press name). The STRINGS cover will be released from the publisher very soon, and I will add it here when it's available. You will also receive credit for logo design on the Pseudonym website when it's up and running.
Below is what I've designed for so far, but here are the basics of what I'm looking for:
Something clean, minimalist, sexy, thrilling, and a little dangerous looking. Black, white, and red for the color palette. You can take what I've created and add to it or you can take your own liberties. Surprise me. Some of the entries so far have blown me away.
I should say that this whole thing has been borne of the generosity and kindness of others. I never would have thought to hold such a contest if it hadn't been for my amazing artistic friends stepping up and putting pen to paper (virtually) when I said I needed some suggestions. I'm just opening up the field a little more for those who might want to participate and help this little imprint of mine make an impact with the best logo ever!
You can email your entries (300dpi jpg images are preferred) to allison@allisonmdickson.com. I'm going to let this run until 10/15/2013, after which I will post all entries here and let people vote on them. Spread the word! Win a book! Become a cornerstone contributor of a budding publishing empire!
--Allison
While I still want to namely be a writer and not a publisher, I can't deny that it's hard to work for the long haul in the indie market without having an imprint. As money comes in and you start hiring people to do work for you, it's just a good idea to compartmentalize everything under a single masthead that isn't your name.
Enter my new imprint: Pseudonym Press! (website pending.)
This thing is at its earliest stage of development. I want to have a logo first. I put together a rudimentary one yesterday and posted it on Facebook to get some feedback from my astute peers. See examples below. Well, suddenly suggestions started turning into some drawn examples, and I realized that I had an opportunity on my hands. Thus was born the Pseudonym Press Logo Contest!
If you can take my basic concept below and make something awesome out of it, your drawing will be entered into the contest, where people will vote on their favorite. Votes will be used to help influence me, but final word on choice still lies with me. Whoever I pick will win a free signed copy of their choice of my upcoming novels, STRINGS (from Hobbes End Publishing) or COLT COLTRANE AND THE LOTUS KILLER (the first official release under the Pseudonym Press name). The STRINGS cover will be released from the publisher very soon, and I will add it here when it's available. You will also receive credit for logo design on the Pseudonym website when it's up and running.
Below is what I've designed for so far, but here are the basics of what I'm looking for:
Something clean, minimalist, sexy, thrilling, and a little dangerous looking. Black, white, and red for the color palette. You can take what I've created and add to it or you can take your own liberties. Surprise me. Some of the entries so far have blown me away.
I should say that this whole thing has been borne of the generosity and kindness of others. I never would have thought to hold such a contest if it hadn't been for my amazing artistic friends stepping up and putting pen to paper (virtually) when I said I needed some suggestions. I'm just opening up the field a little more for those who might want to participate and help this little imprint of mine make an impact with the best logo ever!
You can email your entries (300dpi jpg images are preferred) to allison@allisonmdickson.com. I'm going to let this run until 10/15/2013, after which I will post all entries here and let people vote on them. Spread the word! Win a book! Become a cornerstone contributor of a budding publishing empire!
--Allison
