Michell Plested's Blog, page 5

Dalhousie Night Market

The holiday market season is on and I will be attending my first one (as a vendor) for the year this coming weekend (Friday November 22 – Saturday November 23). I will be bringing all of my books (with the sole exception of my newest – Jack Kane & the Kaiser – which doesn’t release until later this month), my Scout/zombie badges and, of course, my wit and charm (such as they are). Come by and see me. Buy a book or two or well, however many you’d like.

Jack Kane and the Kaiser is in Final Edits

Huzzah! JR Murdock and I have been waiting a while for this and we are currently hard at work on performing the final edits. If the stars align, it will be available very soon. If they don’t, the book won’t be released until some time in January. Either way, it’s very exciting! And one of the best parts for us is the cover. It’s amazing AND Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty will be getting a brand new cover to match. I cannot wait to get this into your hands. Stay tuned!

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It Can Be Discouraging

I’ve been in a bit of hermit mode the last year. I’ve been busy editing and not a whole lot else. When I took the time to reflect on why that might be, I had to go all the way back to the Fall of 2017. That was when my mother was diagnosed with dementia and I was named her Power of Attorney. If you don’t know what that means, let’s just say both her life and mine changed completely. She became my dependent and I got the unenviable job of being responsible for her affairs. I took some time away from writing to get those affairs in order (including settling my mom in a safe place to live). Once […]

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Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles

You might think being a superhero would be cool but Mik Murdoch knows it isn’t all fun and adventure. Being the self-appointed hero of Cranberry Flats, he has had his fair share of problems to deal with. Like keeping his secret identity hidden – a tough thing to do in a small town. When his father starts asking about his nightly activities, Mik realizes that his alter-ego and his days as a hero may be at risk. But how to stop the questions? It takes an old friend, who unexpectedly comes to town, to distract people. Only, that friend disappears shortly after, putting the entire town on edge. Mik battles fear, suspicion and mobs to find the lost and save […]

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Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles is now available!

The long wait is over. Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles is now available, both in print form and electronically. Well…that isn’t entirely true. It is mostly available electronically. Apparently our friends at Amazon aren’t sure that Evil Alter Ego Press actually owns the rights to publish the book. It seems that a history of publishing the previous three books in the series isn’t enough. Hopefully that will remedy itself soon. For now, here are the links that work for purchasing the book: Print version: https://amzn.to/2n6qipX eBook version (all formats): https://books2read.com/u/mqDqq6

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Cover Reveal: Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles

Here you go, my friends. The cover for Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles. I’m so excited to share it with you.

Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles is Coming

Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles will be released and available for sale everywhere this September. MM:IT is the fourth book in the Mik Murdoch series and, if my editors aren’t fibbing, the best one so far. When I began working on it, I decided I wanted to spend more time with some of the characters I’ve already introduced. I wanted to get to know them better and give you the chance to as well. And, of course, I wanted Mik to continue his journey of growth as a person and as a hero. I think I managed to do both. Even better, I had a lot of fun doing it. MM:IT has Mik wondering just how much his father knows about […]

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Good Edits Take Time

I am hot and cold on editing. There are times when I absolutely LOVE the process and others when I would prefer to do anything but. Regardless of how I feel about them, I have recognized the need to really think about what my editor is asking for. I find if I don’t, I might completely miss their point and either: (a) write something that doesn’t fit the story, (b) write something I’ve already written so it appears more than once in the story, (c) delete some of the stuff that was good, replacing it with bad/worse writing. In full disclosure, I have done all of those things at one point or another when I tried to rush my edits. […]

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Self Awareness is Important to a Writer

I had never considered how important self awareness might be to my writing until just recently. During a brainstorming session for a new book my thoughts turned to the character dynamics that would really make for a compelling story. I was mixing and matching character traits, genders, background stories and the like when I started to think about my own time growing up. I had a thought. My own self-image was probably miles away from how people actually perceived me. I’m not quite sure why that revelation took me so long to get to. After all, I see young people today who clearly have a different idea of who they are than my initial impressions of them. Is it possible […]

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Mik Murdoch 4 Gaining Momentum

Mik Murdoch is starting to pick up momentum. I’ve sent the second major editing pass to the editor AND it finally has an honest-to-goodness title. That title will be, Mik Murdoch: Identity Troubles. I knew what the book was about before I started writing it; kind of important, I’m sure you’ll agree. But, because it addresses a number of themes and ideas, the title was a tough one to nail down. I’m convinced we have the best title now (some of the earlier iterations were rather long). The book has a July release date so a proper title (other than Mik Murdoch 4) is important. It’s also very helpful for the cover artist to be able to put a finished […]

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