Michael Watson's Blog, page 2

Surprised Me.

Just wanted to share some thoughts about my newest release, Paradise. During the initial setup on Amazon, I needed to choose where to place the book as far as genre. Being a post-apocalyptic/dystopian story it fit under science fiction and fantasy. I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was surprised to see the best book ranking from sales in the science fiction category. As I was writing the story, I was thinking more about the conflicts and adversity the families were having to deal with rather than how to make it a good science fiction story. Actually, I was thinking of it more as a thriller.

I've always liked science fiction, starting at an early age, reading everything in the school library. But when I think science fiction, I visualize space travel, time travel, rocket ships, other worlds, futuristic worlds, and robots/androids.

I just never considered my book to be science fiction. I'm just happy and grateful that people are reading it, and apparently enjoying it. 

Most times, I suppose the genre is pretty straight forward, such as horror, romance, and even science fiction. If not, just write the story you want and let it find it's own place.  

New, Exciting, and Ready

Today, PARADISE  is finally ready to be released. It's taken a lot of work, but it's time. I hope you will take the time to check it out. The print version should be ready in about 3 days according to Amazon. See the book page for description and link. Enjoy. The draft for book two, EXODUS , is about 2/3's of the way done. Check back here for progress reports.
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New Book, Great Review

Paradise: First in the Aftershock Series  I'm very close now. Final proof is in progress. Paradise is the first book in a new post-apocalyptic series. The following is a blurb from the back of the book:

In a region of the country where earthquakes should never have occurred, they struck with a vengeance, catching the people unprepared.

The unexpected disaster brought panic and chaos, leaving countless families homeless, without shelter, food, or water.

As time progressed and their situation became dire, a messenger arrived, spreading news of hope. There was a place, a safe haven, offering everything they needed to survive. Desperate for help, many made their way to the place, once again to be met by the unexpected.

Beware of the helping hand.

Two days ago I received this very gracious review from New York Times best-selling author William Bernhardt:
"Smart, exciting, and apocalyptic. Now I have another reason to be afraid of earthquakes. I had fun reading this and I think you will too."

I hope you have an enjoyable, exciting, and eye-opening reading experience.

Writer's Shack

I had mentioned I would share a few pictures of my newest project. I have converted our garden shed into a writer's shack. I'm not completely done, but it is to a stage where it is functional. In the first picture you can see where I added a real door and window. Picture 2 to the left is the front interior wall, finished with rough cedar that I picked up a few years back at a farm auction. At the peak, I replaced the vent with a stained glass window. In the next picture left is a desk I made out of old deck wood and an old drafting table top, also picked up at an auction. And in the next picture you'll see that I have an essential item, a window A/C. Recently, our temperatures here in Kansas have been above 100 degrees. The view out the window is from the writing table with oak trees and a small pond only a few feet away.

It's not complete, but I'm happy with how it's coming along. It's completely insulated, which was a must with the weather, and it's essentially soundproof too. It still needs to be finished inside and the exterior painted. More pictures to come. 

By the way, the trees adjacent to the shack are peach trees. This year we had trouble with bugs, squirrels, and deer. And the peaches that reached the ground were eaten by the rabbits. At least something enjoyed them.  

Be glad to answer any questions or comments.

'Paradise' Update

I have now uploaded 'Paradise' to Createspace and Amazon for the digital. As you may recall, I thought I was finished one year ago. Then I started working on book #2 in the 'Aftershock Series' while waiting for the results to come in from queries. Unfortunately, there wasn't any interest. I mean, how could there not be any interest in reading a story about devastating earthquakes in Kansas/Oklahoma?

Anyway, I'm glad I held off publishing 'Paradise.' As I was writing book #2 I was making changes to book #1. And, some of the details in the news changed concerning the growing number of earthquakes in the area. At first, it was claimed, by State authorities, that neither fracking nor deep-well waste water disposal were to blame. However, their tune has changed. Fracking is not responsible, but the disposal of the waste water from fracking and oil production is responsible, without argument. Well, there'll always be someone willing to argue. So, I had to tweek my book a little for accuracy sake.

Deranged Doctor Design will be designing my cover. A tentative date of completion is July 14th. Soon thereafter, I should be able to release my book in both print and as an eBook, both through Amazon.

Thanks for following and I hope you'll give it a try.

New Series

Just an update about my new series. I finished the first book, Paradise, some time ago, but have not published it yet. Attempting again to query, so far without any success. I am currently working on the second book. One good thing about not having the first one published yet is that I can still make changes and fine tune it based on the events in the second book, making the two meld together seamlessly. The series is a post-apocalyptic story of 'what if' a major quake was to strike the Midwest, totally unprepared, transforming the landscape into a wasteland. 

For those who are aware, there has been an increasing number of earthquakes (tremors) occurring in the Kansas/Oklahoma area over the last year, presumably due to the disposal of waste water in deep wells by the oil and gas industry. Just a few days ago we had a 4.7 magnitude quake recorded thirty miles from my house. Some communities are reporting damage to buildings and grain elevators.

I have queried to one last publisher. If I receive another negative response, I will probably publish independently, as I have with my other books. However, I don't think I'll publish the first book until I'm further along with the second, making sure of consistencies. I'm at about 36,000 words on the second.

Pitch At OWFI Conference

[image error] Thursday evening through Saturday evening of this last weekend I attended the OWFI Writer's Conference in Oklahoma City. It's one of the best in this part of the country. 

There were some excellent sessions including 'Does sex belong in thrillers?' and 'Mind trips-writing the psychological thriller' by Andrew Kaufman, 'It's a golden age, especially for dark fiction' by Richard Thomas, 'How to hook your reader on page one' by Les Edgerton, and 'Revising like a professional' by Maria V. Snyder, to new a few.

We all had a chance to pitch our books to agents and publishers. I had an especially good pitch session with Michelle Johnson (seen above), founder of Inklings Literary Agency. Even after listening to pitches all afternoon, she still had the energy to listen intently to mine, followed by a few minutes of Q&A. Nerves can be a huge factor when pitching. Going in you may know what you want to say, forgetting the key elements once you sit down across from the person you're pitching to. Michelle made it easy to talk to her and I'm very grateful. I was asked to send a synopsis and the full manuscript to her attention. This was a first for me, so it made my day.

I recommend that if you can make it to a writer's conference-GO! It's amazing how the creative juices are stimulated, even when your new idea has nothing to do with the session your in. And equally important are the other writers you have a chance to share with and learn from.   

Source of Quakes

As I reported in the previous blog entry, the midwest has seen an increase in earthquakes in recent years. In Kansas, zero earthquakes were reported in 2012, 32 in 2013 and 124 in 2014.

There has been a great deal of interest in finding out the why for the increase. Many blamed the fracking process from the oil and gas industry, a process which involves injecting fluid at pressure to open fractures to increase production. There has been some confusion. Fracking is not the problem, but the process does create the wastewater which is then injected into deep wells for disposal. It has been concluded that the injection process is the problem.
On February 4th, the Associated Press reported that one of these injection wells has been ordered shut down by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. The order followed a 4.1 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in that area. The well was the second to be shut down since 2013.
As was reported by the USGS in the documentary "Secrets of the Earth - Man-made Earthquakes," increase in injection activities directly coincides with increases in earthquakes in northern Oklahoma.
It will be interesting to see if the decrease of injection will affect the number and magnitude of earthquakes.
The novel I'm currently working on takes the situation to the next level, what would the result be if the number of earthquakes and their magnitudes continued to increase. 
To repeat a headline printed in the Wichita Eagle, "Scientists: No direct fracking-quakes link." However, a geophysicist with the Kansas Geological Survey stated that it could be to blame in South

Earthquakes On The Rise

The Midwest has seen an increase in earthquakes in recent years. In 2012, there were zero earthquakes reported in Kansas, followed by thirty-two in 2013 and 124 in 2014.

Recently, I watched an episode on the Weather Channel titled “Secrets of the Earth – Man-Made Earthquakes,” which was produced in 2014. One of the primary subjects of the documentary was the rise in the number of earthquakes in northern Oklahoma, with special emphasis on the town of Prague. It was stated that twelve quakes with a magnitude greater than 3.0 were reported in 2008. In 2009, the number had grown to more than fifty and by 2010 the number had reached into the thousands.

Both northern Oklahoma and south central Kansas quakes share a common link, waste water injection into deep disposal wells up to a mile in depth. The salty water is a resulting product of a process called fracking, which involves introducing  a fluid at high pressure to fracture the rock formation in order to increase oil and gas production. Once the waste water is placed into the injection wells, it becomes a lubricant, reducing friction and aiding in the release of stress in communicated faults.

Increase in the oil and gas production activities in recent years coincides directly with the increase in earthquakes, a conclusion stated in the documentary by the United States Geological Survey. Magnitudes of up to 5.8 have been recorded in Oklahoma and 4.3 in Kansas, enough to cause structural damage to buildings.

The question arises, what will be next if the trend continues? As the number of quakes increases, so does the statistical likelihood of high magnitude quakes occurring, which could lead to damage of all types, from buildings to the infrastructure. And the Midwest isn’t the only place increases have been seen.

I am currently creating a post-apocalyptic tale of what the new world could be like if the trend continues. The anticipated release will be this Spring. Updates will be posted as that day approaches.

Just as a note of interest, earlier this week the headlines in the Wichita Eagle read “Scientists: No direct fracking-quakes link.”       

Making A Book Trailer

I was contacted recently by Martin Peltz (@martinpeltz) about writing an article for his blog based on my experience with making a book trailer for my new book. I have included that article here for you. I am by no means an expert. Novice is more appropriate, but I hope you gain some insight into the process.

You Can Make A Book Trailer and Why You Would Want To

            First, let me explain why I felt I needed a book trailer for my newest book, Wilderness Justice. I had a good experience at my last book signing at a local library by showing the book trailer as an introduction to my talk. It served as a good prompt for questions. The other reason to make a book trailer is the possibility that it could aid book sales through social media sites.    

            I was happy with the trailer for my previous book, Treasure of the Anasazi. I had paid a very reasonable price to have it made, but it had been loaded directly to YouTube, without direct access. This time I wanted more control and I liked the challenge of seeing if I could do it.

            I went online to learn what software was available as freeware or low cost. I wasn’t finding what I wanted, then I discovered that my laptop had come with Windows Movie Maker by Microsoft. When I opened it, there was not a tutorial as I had expected. There was a help section, but it provided only minimal help. Through trial and error I muddled my way through the process. I must admit that using this method, I did learn a great deal about what to do and what not to do. There is an order to follow that helps during the process of producing your trailer. Before starting, you might look at trailers you like and count the number of frames used and check the length of the trailer. This will give you an idea of how many frames you’ll need to fill. Most frames are seven to nine seconds long, which you can customize. You want the duration of each frame to last long enough for the viewer to read the caption. Don’t make the trailer too long or your audience may lose interest. I think two minutes or a little over is about as long as you want to make it.

            First, there were certain photos that I wanted to incorporate. After printing them off and arranging them in the right order, I wrote a script to tell key elements of the story, without giving everything away, and ending with a “what happens next?”

            The photos are uploaded individually into Movie Maker, forming a sequence, which can easily be rearranged by dragging, if necessary. Blank frames can also be added as needed. See how I used one of these near the end of Wilderness Justice. Once you are happy with the order, then the caption is added to each picture. Here you have numerous options, including font, color and size of font, and special effects of the text. The text can be static in the frame as the frame picture appears or slides into the frame from top, bottom, or side. Experiment with the different options until you get the look you are looking for.

            Finally, and in my opinion, the most important element is the music because it sets the mood that you are wanting the audience to feel. Again, I went online, where I found audionautix.com, that provides royalty free music. I experimented with different sounds until I found the sound that just seemed to fit perfectly. I chose to use the same piece of music throughout since it helped build suspense as the trailer advanced. You have the capability to mix and match for different moods.

            Experimentation with all the elements is key to finding the right combination to making your trailer personal. If you decide something needs to be changed, it can be done easily. Don’t be afraid to give it a try. Beginning from ground zero and working on it off and on, it took me three days to produce this book trailer. I know you can do it too. Have fun with it!

            Please think about these elements as you take a look at the book trailer for Wilderness Justice. http://youtu.be/drKmZIZ8RCU Enjoy!