Justin R. Macumber's Blog, page 14

Join the Pilgrimage!

My friend Matthew Wayne Selznick recently began a Kickstarter campaign to fund the publication of his next novel, “Pilgrimage – A New Novel Of The Sovereign Era.” I’m here today to ask you to help me make sure his campaign gets fully funded. I’m not asking because he’s my friend, though he is. I’m also not asking because he’s a really nice and giving person, which he also is. I’m asking because Matt is someone who has given a lot to me, the podcasting community, and the independent writer movement. He’s also a damn talented guy. I greatly enjoyed his first Sovereign Era book, “Brave Men Run,” and I desperately want to read more. But, that won’t happen if we can’t help Matt reach his funding goal of $5000. As of this posting, he’s only a touch under $500 away from it! There are five days left to go, and I know we can do it. So please, in the interest of satiating my need for his work, not to mention restoring my faith in humanity, click on the LINK and send some money his way. There are great incentives on offer, so you can’t lose!

Speaking of which, to put my money (or, rather, my efforts) where my mouth is, I’m also contributing to the incentive package that Matt’s put together. I was inspired by Scott Roche, who offered up some goodies of his own. So, if you help Matt reach his goal, I’m offering up the following:

If you pledge $5 I will send you a zip file containing my ebook short story “Pirates of the Crimson Sand.” Philippa Ballantine, author of “Geist” and “Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel,” said of this story, “With PIRATES OF THE CRIMSON SAND you better learn to hold onto the rigging, as Justin Macumber catapults you into action and adventure. You can practically taste the sand in your mouth and feel the adrenalin in your blood.” It will come in MOBI and EPUB formats so you can read them on whatever device you prefer.

If you pledge $10, not only will you get “Pirates,” but you’ll also get my ebook short story “Dark Running,” which won First Prize at the FenCon V Short Story Contest. It will also come in MOBI and EPUB formats.

Lastly, if you pledge $15 you will get both of those short stories AND you also get my four part short story series “The Ties That Bind: A Tale of the Breaking Dawn” in ebook format. Jeremy Robinson, author of “Pulse” and “SecondWorld” said about this collection, “The Ties That Bind is some of the best sci-fi I’ve read all year and the crew of the Breaking Dawn will have you rooting for their success on every page. Exciting, smart and well written, this is a story that is seriously worth reading.” MOBI and EPUBs for this one as well.

All I need you to do is email me the receipt Amazon will email you upon the funding of the campaign. I’ll respond with the zip file containing your incentive(s) attached. Easy!

And there you have it. I hope that this gives some of you the extra incentive you might have needed to help Matt achieve his goal and write the next Sovereign Era novel. I wouldn’t stand behind him and offer my work if I didn’t believe in him. You should believe in him too. Head over, pledge, and then get ready for some great fiction to come your way.

It’s an outline, not your spouse

You would think that writers, being a sedentary sort of people, wouldn’t get into too many fights, but that isn’t the case. Writing is a dangerous business, and battles are fought constantly over things like first-person narratives versus third-person, past tense and present tense, whether prologues really work, and character-centric plots versus story-centric. But, one of the most brutal battlefields in all of Literaryland is the one between those who outline and those who write by the seat of their pants. The liters of scotch, not to mention blood, that have been spilled over this issue could fill rivers, and it probably won’t end any time soon. But, in the interest of making this blog of mine more interesting and perhaps informative, I will attempt to do what I can to heal the divide. And, if not accomplishing that, perhaps I can at least bring some understanding. So, here I go…

And, for the sake of this discussion, I’m going to go with the shorthand of calling people who outline “plotters,” and people who write without them “pantsers.”

When I first started writing, I was a pantser. It made sense. I mean, writing is about discovery, finding the story and bringing it word by word into the world. So, for me to discover it in much the same way as the eventual reader will discover it seemed only natural. Along the way teachers tried to show me the value of outlines, but the process seemed so boring and technical that I never gave it any thought outside the classroom. That sort of thing might work in the sterile environment of school, but at home I needed more freedom, more room to work my magic. That was how I went on for a long while.

When I tried to turn writing from a hobby into an actual artistic pursuit, though, things started to change. They changed even more when I moved from writing short stories to novels. But, before I get into that, let me detour for just a moment into another aspect of writing, one that isn’t often discussed outside the cloistered confines of author discussion groups.

A book, whether short or long, is the result of several iterations and revisions, editing pass after editing pass. A lot of young writers make the mistake of thinking that the first draft of a book needs to be perfect, so they’ll go over every sentence and paragraph with a fine-toothed comb to make sure it sparkles. The problem with that is sometimes you’ll discover a problem down the line in a later chapter, and to fix it you’ll have to go back a ways and change something. Stories are much like ponds, in that disturbances — even minor ones — will have ripples. So, all those sentences and paragraphs that were shined to a high polish suddenly have to be edited, or perhaps even thrown out entirely. It took me a long time to realize that first drafts, where the story’s clay is at its lumpiest and has to be hammered into shape, doesn’t need to be perfect. The first draft is where you paint with the widest brush, getting the broad strokes of the story worked out. That way any changes that have to be made are far less painful. Then, once that first draft is finished, the editing passes to follow are where the story finally gets cut and polished until it shimmers. Whether people know it or not, the book they read and loved, the book that seemed so perfectly written, was actually a Frankenstein’s monster of cut paragraphs, sutured chapters, and slashed words. If you never noticed, that means the writer (and perhaps their editor if they had one) did their job(s) right.

Now, back to outlines…

It only took a few times of having to completely toss out ten-thousand-plus words because of plot problems before I knew there had to be a better way of writing a novel. The act of discovery is a wonderful thing, and in the heat of pantser writing a new idea can seem like the greatest idea ever conceived of by man, but when a great idea in chapter ten means that the ideas in chapters three and four no longer make sense, that’s not so wonderful. The number of words I had to kill back then would make World War II pale. There had to be a better way. But what?

And that’s when I returned to the idea I’d disregarded so easily in my youth — outlines. But, this wasn’t going to be my dad’s outlines, lists that went from I to A to 1 to a. No no, that would never work. I needed something that had more of the flow of a novel, but not so… novelly. Short, perhaps in bullet points, chapter by chapter, something that would let me see the overall structure of the story so I could fix any plot problems there might be long before the actual writing began. I also needed it to be flexible. I didn’t want to be locked down to anything. Room always had to be made for inspiration. Was such a thing possible? Absolutely. It just took a little while and some trial and error to work out. Here is how I craft outlines, and if you’re a writer who’s been having trouble, this might help you too.

First, realize that an outline isn’t your spouse. You’re not married to it. Outlines are guides, nothing more. A way for you to work out what the story is you want to tell, and in such a way that you can see problems before they materialize and require mass word murder. Outlines can be changed at any point. If it helps, think of them like blueprints. Someone building a house doesn’t just start hammering as the mood hits them, do they? No, they have a set of plans, and they work off those plans so it all fits together. But those plans were worked over and worked over well in advance, with all sorts of erased lines and moved walls. It’s safer, not to mention cheaper, to do it when it’s just pencil marks. Same thing with a story. It’s easier to fix plot holes and add new ideas when you’re dealing with a few thousand words in an outline versus tens of thousands.

Second, don’t be rigid in the structure of your outline. For every plotter I know, there are different ways to outline. They’re like snowflakes — no two are alike. Make it work for you. My outlines look like a few pages of paragraphs, each one numbered and in order. I start with CHAPTER 1 (or PROLOGUE, but don’t get me started on that one), and then I write out a brief, quick sketch of what that chapter should be about. If I have a particular line of dialogue already in mind, I’ll put it in there. Then I move on to CHAPTER 2, CHAPTER 3, and so on, until I have a high-level map of the novel. By the time I’m done with it I’ve worked out the general plot, made sure it made sense (in as much as good fiction can), and that I hit the beats I meant to hit. Then, if I have someone I like to bounce things off of, I’ll have them look at it to make sure I didn’t miss anything. If they say I’m good, then I motor on. If that sort of outline works for you, go for it. If not, chart your own path.

Third, don’t be afraid to be inspired. Just because your outline said that chapter three had go one way doesn’t mean you can’t go another way. If heading in a different direction doesn’t change the overall flow, great. Your outline is preserved. If it does, then go back to the outline and look for where alterations further down the line need to be made. In my experience I rarely make big changes from my outlines. The story I worked out is nearly always the story I end up with. But, I’m often making small changes, little tweaks here and there to add more drama and character moments. And I love doing that. One big complaint or argument that pantsers have against outlining is that it takes all the surprise and sense of discovery out of writing. To them I say, “Feh!” I’m constantly surprised at the things I come up with while writing, the discoveries I make. For example, in my current work-in-progress, chapter five is described as starting with my point of view character being taken into a city and put before one of the book’s antagonists. But, when I sat down to write, it didn’t make sense to jump that character right to the city. There was a good distance he had to get through to be there, so why not create a scene where he is forced into a cramped space and treated like livestock until the city came into things? It wouldn’t necessitate any changes in my outline, and it would let me get some information out in a way that made sense and was natural. My outline was preserved, it still worked, but I still had room to write and be creative.

So you see, outlining doesn’t have to be boring or spirit crushing. Not in the least. In fact, when done right, it can let your writer’s spirit really soar, because you have confidence in the story you’re going to tell before you start telling it, and you know you still have room to fly around and see what else is out there to discover along the way. I’ve found the process to be rewarding and very fulfilling. If you give it a shot, maybe you will too.

Okay, that’s it from me. I hope all that made sense, and that you got something out of it.

Peace…

I edited an anthology!

Yep, I sure did! If you like stories about discovery, or you just want to support me in what I do, here are the details.

EXPLORERS: BEYOND THE HORIZON

EXPLORERS is now available! Yep, after nearly two years it’s finally released into the world. Terry, Eli, and myself are incredibly proud of the collection that we’ve put together, and I hope you will buy a copy and enjoy it along with us. We want to thank the authors for submitting their fine work to us, thank John McCarthy for putting together an amazing print version of the book, and thank Scott Macumber for doing the cover artwork. So many people were involved in the creation of EXPLORERS, and it is because of all those talented people that we’re able to bring this book to you. It was our honor and our privilege.

You can purchase EXPLORERS via the following links:

CreateSpace Trade Paperback

Amazon.com Trade Paperback

Amazon.com Kindle eBook

Barnes & Noble Nook

Smashwords

The Smashwords page has the ebook available in .mobi, Epub, PDF, RTF, LRF, Palm Doc, and Plain Text formats, as well as online reading. Also, please know that the ebooks are DRM free. As soon as the iBookstore version is available I will pass that URL along.

But wait! There’s more! If you buy the print book, you can email the receipt to the Dead Robots’ email address, and we will then send you — FOR FREE — the ebook as well. Now you don’t have to make the heart wrenching and wallet bursting choice of going with one or the other. Buy the print book and get both!

The Dead Robots’ Society Podcast is proud to present EXPLORERS: BEYOND THE HORIZON, a short story anthology featuring characters forever changed by their discovery of lands and worlds beyond their own. Whether it’s by charting new stars, trekking across fantastical realms, sailing new oceans, or traversing the wild and unknown spaces between dimensions, readers will find the unimaginable in the pages of EXPLORERS. Authors contributing work to the anthology are:

J. Daniel Sawyer

Jeff Brackett

Lauren M. Roy

Colum Paget

Vincent Morgan

Ira Nayman

Jocelyn Adams

Court Ellyn

Jesse J. Summerson

Andrew Hawnt

Mark Mellon

Laura Givens

James Ebersole

Kurt H. Hyatt

Daniel Latham

HAYWIRE Audiobook Is Now Available

Hey, everyone, I wanted to let you all know that the audiobook of HAYWIRE has finally been released to Audible.com. The book was narrated by Veronica Giguere, and she did an amazing job bringing my words to life. I’m so excited by this, and I hope you are too. Please come by, give the sample a listen, and then buy yourself a copy. I think it’s worth it, but I’m a little biased.

Movie Review – Prometheus

As some of you may or may not know, I am a co-host on a podcast called The Hollywood Outsider, which is a weekly show all about news and reviews for films, television shows, and DVDs/Blu-Ray releases. I really love doing the show, as movies and TV are passions of mine, and I highly recommend that you check it out to not only hear my thoughts and opinions on the latest in entertainment news, but also those of my three fellow co-hosts, all of them bringing their own unique and humorous perspectives. So please, click on the link and join us.

This past week the four of us reviewed the recently released PROMETHEUS, which is Ridley Scott’s latest sci-fi epic and his first return to the universe of the ALIEN franchise since the original ALIEN film back in 1979. Did Sir Ridley Scott reach the heady and horrifying heights of ALIEN, or did the movie crash and burn on reentry? Our review was so long that Aaron Peterson, the creator and primary host of the show, actually broke it down into four pieces, each one focusing on our individual reviews. Here is my take on the film. If you’re interested in the thoughts of my fellow co-hosts — and really, you should be — then please visit the site and give them a listen as well. Now, on to my review…

Book Review – The Wind Through The Keyhole

I am a massive Dark Tower fan, and when I heard King was coming out with a story that would bridge the gap between books 4 and 5 I was overjoyed since there’s a bit of tonal disconnect between them, as well as some missing story. Sadly, while the actual writing in “The Wind Through The Keyhole” is fantastic, it really doesn’t add much to the Dark Tower story. Or, more specifically, to the story of Roland and his ka-tet. “The Wind Through The Keyhole” is almost entirely a flashback to Roland’s youth, a recounting of a mission his father sent him on, and in the middle of that is another tale, this one of another character new to the books. So really, “The Wind Through The Keyhole” is a story within a story, neither of which really adding to the Dark Tower saga other than to layer on a little more flesh to the world. I could also see additional trouble if this was read in the proper order since book 4, “Wizard & Glass,” is itself mostly a flashback to Roland’s youth. To read two such books back to back would probably be a bit maddening.

Ultimately I came away glad that I read it (as I am whenever I read a Stephen King novel), but disappointed in how little it brought to the Dark Tower overall story.

Three stars out of five.

IN THE DEEP DARK wins a contest!

Last month a friend of mine mentioned that a horror author he knew was holding a contest to find the scariest short story. I’d only written one horror short story, but the reception to it had been positive enough that I figured it had a chance, so why not submit and see what happened. The prize, other than the recognition of course, was a $50 Amazon gift card, and for someone like me that’s a real boon. So, I sent it in and waited.

Yesterday the results were announced, and IN THE DEEP DARK won! Edward Lorn, the author and contest creator, said about my story, “Justin’s piece terrified me to no end, both while reading, and long after the final page turned. This is what scares E. Blood and guts and acts of violence during intimate moments, are all well and good, and I enjoy them on a regular basis, but when you can create atmosphere, then you have a winner.” Wow, that’s incredibly nice to hear. And he’s right, in that horror shouldn’t just get to you while you’re reading it. It should stay with you long after you’ve put it down, the words always in the back of your mind and ready to frighten you all over again when you least expect it. Stephen King did it to me with SALEM’S LOT, and William Peter Blatty did it with THE EXORCIST. The fact that I could do that to someone else makes me smile big time.

If you’d like to read this story, head over to Edward’s site and check it out. If it will add extra incentive, keep in mind that I’m planning on using this short story as the prologue to my upcoming horror novel. It’ll take a few tweaks to make it fit, but it works too well not to do that. So, yeah, there you go.

Thanks to Edward for liking my story as much as he did, and to Jeff Brackett for letting me know about the contest in the first place. You’re both gentlemen and scholars.

A quick writing update

Well, it's been about two and a half weeks since HAYWIRE was released, and that first week was straight-up crazy! I spent about two days living on Facebook, with periodic side trips to Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon. So much more exhausting than I thought it would be, but I have to admit to it was also fun. You might be wondering, though, what was the net result of all that work and effort? Did I sell a bajillion copies? The sad answer is no. Not even close. In situations like this there are always two worlds at war with each other, one the real world where I'm a first time novelist with a debut book in a niche genre, and the other is the dream world in my mind where everyone is dying to buy my work and bury it in praise. And, as usual, reality won. I sold what my publisher assures me is the usual amount for someone in my position, but then quietly follows that up with urgings to not quit the day job just yet. Little does he know I already did that years ago.

But, before I get too sad about all the people who haven't learned of my book or who haven't bought a copy, I want to make sure I thank all those who did. I was astonished by all the people who helped me get word out through Facebook posts and retweets, who put the book on their "Reading" or "To Read" lists on Goodreads, who let me come on their podcasts and blogs to promote it, and who went to Amazon and posted a review. I received kind words from people I never expected, such as classmates I haven't seen in years, and co-workers of my wife who don't even know me. The kindness and support that came in, and still comes in, has humbled me nearly beyond words. I am so grateful to you all, and the thanks I feel goes beyond what a blog post can convey. I am deeply in your debt.

If you'd like to see some of the people I'm talking about, I have a Pinterst board devoted to all the people who bought a copy of my book and then went even further by taking a picture of themselves with it. John Mierau was the first person to do it, and all it took was that one to have me begging people carry it on. They did, and now I have this — a constant reminder of the wonderful people who've helped me get one step closer to my dream. You all get a very special thanks.

Okay, now that the HAYWIRE talk is out of the way, let's move on to my other projects…

I talked with my editor over at Crescent Moon Press yesterday, and she informed me that I should be getting her edits for A MINOR MAGIC next week. I look forward to seeing their notes and diving back into that world. I haven't touched or read the story since they bought it, so plunging back into it will be a lot of fun. Once I start on that process I'll put a progress widget on the right side of my home page like I did with HAYWIRE. That way you can keep track of it without me constantly posting.

On Wednesday I finished the first draft of my horror novel STILL WATER. To be honest, I don't know how much I've talked about it here on my blog, but a quick and dirty synopsis would be — In the small West Virginia town of Stillwater, coal mining has long been a way of life, but when an ancient evil that has slept in the mountains for millenia is awoken, the entire world could be plunged into an unending nightmare of pain and darkness and death. Now that the first draft is complete I'm going to put it away and let it rest while I work on other things (such as the aforementioned edits of A MINOR MAGIC). I really like STILL WATER and think it's a solid horror story, but the proof will be in what eventual readers think, so here's hoping they like it as much as I do.

I'm also trying to get more of my short stories up and available for sale on Amazon, so if you're interested in those you can head over there and take a look. We're also close to finishing the EXPLORERS anthology that my Dead Robots' Society podcast has been working on for about a year. I'll be glad to have that launched and into the world.

And that's it! I think that's brings us up to speed. If you've bought a copy of HAYWIRE, I thank you. If you haven't, then why not? It's good! Trust me!

Peace…

HAYWIRE has been let loose upon the world!

Well, it's March 13th, and you know what that means! No, I'm not talking about when St Felix III began his reign as Catholic Pope, or that today is when Mongolia declared their independence from China in 1921. No, I mean that today is the day HAYWIRE becomes available for purchase. I hope that all of you are ready and eager to buy your copy, because I'm more than ready for you to get it. Now, the first question is of course, "How do I get it?" Great question! First, and probably most importantly for a good number of people, it's available on Amazon via the following links:

Kindle $4.99_____. Print $9.99______.

It is also available from Barnes & Noble for the Nook. I don't have a cute picture to serve as a link, but you can click HERE and head straight to it.

If those aren't to your liking, it's also available from Smashwords in a wide variety of formats, among them PDF, EPUB, Palm Doc, RTF, and HTML. You can go HERE to see those if you're interested.

Soon it will also be available in print from Barnes & Noble, as well as in ebook format for iBooks, Sony, and the Kobo. When those come available, I will let you know immediately.

Now, some people have asked me, "What about signed copies of the print book?" That's another great question! As of right now I don't have any copies on hand to sign and send out. When I do, I'll let you know. Until then, though, you are free to mail me your copy with a self-addressed stamped envelope, and I'd be happy to sign it and mail it back to you, or you can order it and send it directly to me, along with an email to let me know to expect it. Either way, reach out to me and I'll pass an address along to send it to. Or you could make a trip to Balticon, run me down in the hallway or on a panel, and I'd be happy to sign it and have a chat. Your choice.

Let me end this by saying thank you. If you're reading this, then it means you're at least somewhat interested in buying my book and reading it. For that, I thank you. Writing is something I've wanted to make a career of my entire life, and with your support I get closer to living my dream. I hope that you order the book, love it, order copies for your friends and family, and then you review it on Amazon or where ever you bought it to help bring more people on board. I also hope you pass this post along to everyone you know, and so on, and so on. Thanks for everything, and check back soon for more news.

w00t!

Would you like a taste of HAYWIRE?

I want you to buy my book. I do. I can't lie. I'd love for you buy it. But, more than that, I want you to buy it and ENJOY it. If you buy it and end up hating it, I might have gotten some of your money, but I've lost a reader, and at the end of the day it's you guys who will help me establish a career that thrives. So, to make sure that you know what you're getting in for before you actually plunk down your hard earned cash, I want to offer you a sample of the book. Right-Click HERE or on the small book cover above to download a PDF of the first three chapters of the novel, complete and unchanged from the full book. If you read it and you like it, then I encourage you to purchase the novel on March 13th in print or the ebook format of your choice. If, sadly, you don't like it, at least you'll have saved some money and time, and maybe the next novel that will be coming out later this year, A MINOR MAGIC, will be more to your liking.

Thanks for reading this post, for your time, and for your consideration. It means a lot.