Michael McClung's Blog, page 18

Quitting smoking does weird things to your brain.

For example, I have no idea what the hell this is about, but I can't stop laughing.

Another new story

I wanted to do one of those satirical little posts that riff off the Mastercard ads where the punchline is 'blah blah blah... priceless' but then I realized a) that was done to death and  b) meh. So instead I'll just say that I've completed another new short story, proving to myself that the last one was not a fluke and that real progress is being made, creatively, around here.

Also, this:

From clouds in my coffee (on fb)

From clouds in my coffee (on fb)

The long war

Creatively speaking, I've been at war with myself for nearly a decade. My most prolific writing year was 2003, by just about every measure. That was the year I finished my novel. That was the year I wrote half a dozen short stories that I would consider professional or semi-professional level.

That was also the year I stopped writing.

I say I stopped, but what I really mean is, I stopped

Zombie c'est moi

Why I no longer play online social games

"...The game is a Chinese finger trap of the mind: soon you realize that inspiration is free, which, in economics terms, means that the inflated value of single-energy-point actions when "inspired" is not a "bonus" or a "maximum" value — it's the baseline; it's the "minimum". Once you grasp that your character can be made inspired with a little flick of the game's mechanics, you'll never want to

A meditative post on potential

The Big Book of New Short Horror. It is here. It is big. It is new. It is... a book!

Currently available as an ebook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Hardback and trade paperback to come.

Ezra Martin Should Say Sorry, Redux

(This is in reference to the original Ezra Martin post, and Troy Howard's comment thereon.)

Hi Troy,

First, I'd like to commend you for being a good friend to, and advocate for, Ezra. I'll take your relevant comments point by point:

*I suppose you didn't notice the comment Ezra made here on the blog?*

As a matter of fact, I didn't for a good while. More on that below.

*Frankly, he's a bit

Updates

The Thief Who Spat in Luck's Good Eye is now available for free on Barnes & Noble's Nook ereader. It has a 'sales' rank of 29,686
The Big Book of New Short Horror should be available this week in hard cover, trade paperback, kindle and nook
I have this weird rash on three fingers that won't go away
You can read the first paragraph of Villette & Vampires below
I'll be mostly unavailable til the