Michelle Proulx's Blog, page 14
October 31, 2014
Special Halloween Treat — New Free Short Story “The Dusk Bugs”!
As the title of this post indicates, I have a special Halloween treat for you — a free short story! This is my latest foray into the world of short fiction writing (the first being, of course, The Coin Collector), and I had a blast writing it. I also suffered several minor panic attacks and a near emotional collapse, but you’ll have to read the story to figure out why.
This short story is, of course …
How delightfully campy is that cover? I had so much fun making it — it reminds me of a poster for an old B-movie thriller. Moving on …
The Dusk Bugs Summary
A pleasant evening stroll through the banana kingdom turns terrifying when our intrepid narrator is attacked by the most vicious and relentless of all predators — the dusk bugs.
If you read this story, your skin will crawl and your heart will pound in your chest — guaranteed. And I know this because the story is based off my own experiences walking through the banana kingdom (yes, it’s a real place) at dusk, and encountering the evil bugs that dwell there. Did I mention I hate bugs? Because I do. I hate them. SO. MUCH.
Right.
So CLICK THIS LINK to go download your very own copy of The Dusk Bugs. And once you’re done reading and laughing at my insanity, put on your costume, get out your candy, and have an awesome Halloween!
Unrelated media of the day:
October 29, 2014
Excerpts from SHWOOP editing session #2
SHWOOP editing session #2 went off without a hitch last night, and was once again live-tweeted by yours truly. Here are the highlights:
We are now officially 3/4 of the way through … chapter 1. *winces* Yes, I know it’s going slowly! But we are making progress, such as it is, so … yeah, lol.
That’s it for today!
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/lPhXleW
October 27, 2014
SHWOOP Editing Session #1
I know, I know — what the heck is a “SHWOOP Editing Session?”
That’s what I’m calling my nightly editing sessions with my mother as we attempt to cut Chasing Nonconformity from 106k down to under 100k. And, obviously, revise the book to make it better. It’s not just about chopping out sentences, people!
You may recall mother and I doing something similar for the first book in the series, Imminent Danger. I actually managed to film one of those sessions, resulting in a vlog that still amuses me to this day.
Right. So we’ve started up a new round of editing for the sequel, and it’s going about as well as can be expected. Sadly I can’t record any of these sessions, as we now live in different cities and I don’t know how to record a Google Hangout. If anyone does know, tell me!
And now for the fun stuff.
I attempted to live-tweet the event, which was complicated by the fact that Twitter baffles and frustrates me. That being said, here are 3 of the tweets I did manage to get out into the interwebs:
I’ve also got a couple of quotes from myself and my mother to amuse you:
Me: *opens chapter 1*
Mom: Wait, I haven’t read it. Is this how it starts?
Me: Yes, the content of chapter 1 is how the book starts.
Mom: I’m going to read it out loud as I go, because I’m assuming you’ve read it.
Me: Considering I wrote it …
Mom: What’s a word we use for cats?
Me: *what the heck what does that even mean*
Me: It’s like a big leaning tower of Pisa in space, and each level is a level. You can quote me on that.
Mom: *dying from laughter* Are you saying there’s no chance of her turning her communicator off, but there IS a chance she’d throw it down an air shaft?
Me: Yes.
Mom: *proceeds to laugh for another 3-5 minutes*
Oh! I also have a screencap of mom laughing, because why not:
Tune in next time for SHWOOP Editing Session #2!
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/N9v1D
October 25, 2014
Imminent Danger Re-Publish — Cover Reveal Coming Soon!
Now that I finally have a publishing plan, it’s time to reveal the new cover art for Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It!
No, that’s not happening today.
It is, however, happening soon — November 1st, to be exact. I’ve already sent out a mass email to people asking if they’d care to participate in this event, so if you didn’t get that email and now you’re horribly offended that I didn’t contact you, I’m so sorry! If you do want to help out and aren’t too steamed at me, pop me off a comment below and I’ll email you all the relevant info.
To go along with the cover reveal, I’ll of course be holding a contest (of course!). So stop by my blog on Nov 1st and check out the pretty new cover art, along with the giveaway (Oh, and I haven’t decided on the prize yet, so if you have any ideas let me know!).
That is all.
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/YUT9L89
October 22, 2014
Obligatory NaNoWriMo Post
NaNoWriMo approaches!
Before you ask, yes, I’ll be attempting the 50k word novelling challenge this year. I attempt it pretty much every year, although I haven’t succeeded since 2010 (when I wrote the first half of Chasing Nonconformity).
My novel project this year will be the third book in the Imminent Danger series, hesitantly titled “Cerulean Bound”. Make of that what you will.
I don’t expect to make it all the way to 50k, but I figure that even if I only do 10k, that’s 10k more than I had before, so what the heck!
My username is Grand Admiral Chelli — feel free to add me as a writing buddy, come say hi, etc.
This concludes my statement. Have a glorious Wednesday!
Unrelated media of the day:
When sexting goes wrong …
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/JqMke
October 20, 2014
My Winter 2014 Publishing Game Plan
This is a big one, folks, so prepare yourselves!
After a great deal of research and herbal tea, I have roughly mapped out my publishing plans for the next few months. I haven’t worked out timelines yet, but I do have the steps more or less in order, so I thought I’d share them here. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts/opinions, as you in all likelihood know something I don’t. Thus, without further ado …
My Winter 2014 (and possibly Spring 2015) Publishing Game Plan
Cover reveals for Imminent Danger and Chasing Nonconformity. As you may know, I’m going to split (at some point) from iUniverse and re-publish Imminent Danger via KDP and Createspace. The sequel is getting into the latter stages of editing now, and both books have beautiful new covers, so I’ll be hoping to get you lovely people to help me out with cover reveals in the next month or two.
IndieGoGo Campaign. Okay, this is the big one that I’m really excited about. After that potato salad Kickstarter went viral, I thought to myself, “Self, you can totally run a crowdfunder for your book. It may fail miserably, but you can sure as heck try!” So sometime in the next few months (currently looking at ~December) I’m going to run a crowdfunder for Imminent Danger/Chasing Nonconformity! The concept is pretty simple — you donate a certain amount (to help me pay back the cover designer and assorted publishing-related expenses) and then in return you can choose from a whole bunch of perks. There will be the obvious ones, like eBook copies and signed print copies, but then there will also be some fun stuff (I’m thinking a swag bag with assorted Imminent Danger themed goodies). So if anyone’s run a crowdfunder before and has any tips, please share them!
Re-publish Imminent Danger. Once the campaign’s over, time to re-publish Imminent Danger with its pretty new cover! I’ve also made some minor edits to the book (nothing massive structurally-speaking, just little tweaks to improve the flow of the book), so it might be worth checking out. (wink wink) Also, I’m planning for the IndieGoGo campaign that you automatically get an eBook copy of the new Imminent Danger regardless of how much you donate, so that should be an easy enough way to update your virtual library.
Publish Chasing Nonconformity. No timeline yet on this, as the book’s still being edited, but we’re looking at Spring 2015 at the moment. Once the sequel gets published, I can obviously start sending out all the Chasing Nonconformity-related swag from the IndieGoGo campaign.
Write the third book, tentatively titled Cerulean Bound. Spoiler alert!!! I’ve got the plot mostly worked out (well, the start and the end, at least, lol), so now it’s a matter of writing the darn thing. The first book took me 7 years from start to finish, and the second’s going to take 5, so hopefully we can cut this one down to a year or two.
That’s the plan! Questions and comments welcome and encouraged. Have a wonderful week!
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/J6vwIhD
October 17, 2014
My First Year as an Indie Author Giveaway
Self-pubbed author Nicholas C Rossis is celebrating his one year author anniversary by giving away free copies of his books! Pop on over to his blog and check it out :)
Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:
Party cat found on wall4all.me
Today is my authorversary Indieversaryone-year anniversary since the publication of Pearseus: Schism, the first book of my epic fantasy series!
Twelve exciting months and four books later, I’d like to celebrate by sharing with you my work. So, anyone who leaves a comment below until the end of the month, will receive a free copy of one of my books – your choice!
So, what are you waiting for? Tell me which book you’d like to receive, and enjoy some of the greatest stories of all times (hmm… too much?) :D
Also, don’t forget that you can download Pearseus: Schism for free on Goodreads.
And the most important part: Thank you for all your love and support! I know I keep saying this, but that’s only because it bears repeating: I couldn’t have done it without you! I love…
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October 11, 2014
Editing Tip: 10 Ways to Get Past the First Chapter
We shall begin today’s lesson with a personal anecdote.
My current goal is to edit Chasing Nonconformity. This is going very poorly, because every time I sit down and open up the file, it begins on page 1 — also known as Chapter One. Now, logic dictates I would just skip ahead in the document to wherever I need to edit and go from there. But before I do that, I happen to notice a slight re-wording I can do on paragraph three. Okay, that’s better … oh, but I don’t like how Eris rolls her eyes in paragraph five. And I missed a comma in paragraph 7 … maybe I should keep reading …
Three hours later, Chapter One has completely changed for the zillionth time and I’m no closer to finishing the darn draft than when I started.
As I’m learning, the trick to editing a book is to get past the first chapter. Once you’ve broken through that barrier, sky’s the limit! No, I take that back. There is no limit. The first chapter is a pair of steel shackles and you are the Hulk, summoning up your anger, stoking the fires of your wrath, bigger and hotter and higher and flamier until BOOM! Free of the shackles, free of the first chapter, ready to show the rest of your story who’s boss. (relevant link)
Thus, I present to you …
10 Ways to Get Past the First Chapter
Highlight Chapter 1, cut it, and paste it at the end of your document so it isn’t the first thing you see.
Never turn off your computer or close your document file so you can always keep your place in the manuscript.
Hire someone to slap you in the face with a lightly salted salmon fillet every time you try to edit Chapter 1.
Change the font color of Chapter 1 to white text so you can’t see it.
Search “Chapter 2″ and don’t look at the screen until you know you’re in the right place.
Hire someone to slap you in the face with a braised lamb shank every time you try to sneak back to edit Chapter 1 whilst pretending to edit the rest of the manuscript.
Hire someone to scream directly in your ear every time Chapter 1 appears on-screen in order to mentally connect the first chapter with complete terror.
Commit a crime and go to jail. Hard to edit Chapter 1 without a computer.
Hire that guy from Inception to sneak into your mind and brainwash you into forgetting Chapter 1 exists.
Summon up some basic willpower and just skip the first chapter.
As you can see, some are more practical than others. I myself will be starting with #3. I wanted to go with #6, but lamb is significantly more expensive than salmon and I am poor.
Thank you for sharing in my madness. For all those Canadians out there, Happy Thanksgiving!
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/0tfIrVq
October 8, 2014
Help Me Debut!
Fellow self-pubbed author is trying out crowd-funding! Stop by her page, check out the pitch, fund her if it looks interesting!
Originally posted on Jeyna Grace ©:
Don’t worry, I have not forgotten about my blog project. I will release the introduction next week, as I do not want to crowd my blog with too many posts.
Now, you might be asking why; why did I push back the exciting blog project I have been talking so much about? Well, it’s because of The Battle For Oz.
If you did not read my last post, this will seem new to you, but if you did, I hope this post will nudge you to check out the project. I honestly do not like to repeat the topic of my posts, but I have to be certain I did my best to raise funds for my book.
So, what’s going on with The Battle For Oz?
I have put the novel up on a crowd-funding publishing website.
What is crowd-funding?
Crowd-funding is when you and everyone else decides to…
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October 2, 2014
My Mother’s Sassy “Letter to the Editor” Jabberwocky Poem
Does everyone know what a “chicane” is? Essentially, it’s a curvy bit of sidewalk they put on a road to force traffic to slow down. See the below image:
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/One-lane_chicane_2.jpg
So those round bits of pavement with the yellow caution signs are chicanes.
In my hometown of Aurora, the local government went absolutely crazy with chicanes. They were tired of people cutting through a quiet neighborhood to get from one major road to the other, so they ripped up the streets and infested them with literally dozens of chicanes. It’s practically a go-kart track if you try to drive through there now.
Naturally, no one actually slows down — they just zoom down the middle of the road. But the chicanes were irritating enough — and enough of a waste of taxpayer money — to prompt my mother, back in 2008, to write an ultra sassy version of the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll and send it in to The Auroran (the local newspaper). I found it quite amusing, and hopefully you will too!
Without further ado …
