Michelle Proulx's Blog, page 25
September 6, 2013
Got my book back from the beta readers!
That’s right! As of yesterday afternoon, I’ve officially reacquired Chasing Nonconformity, the sequel to my debut novel Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, from my beta readers. Huzzah!
Granted, I only actually got it back from two beta readers — specifically, my mother and brother. Three big cheers for them! The rest of my so-called “beta readers” haven’t done a whole lot of reading. But that’s okay! Because I’m going to be doing a lot of re-writing (again), so by the time they remember they’re supposed to be reading the book, I’ll have a new draft for them anyway. Then they can busily not read the new draft while I start on the next one. This plan, my friends, is fool proof. FOOL PROOF!
Ahem. So, onwards and upwards with the re-writing! I’ve got a lovely 200 page manuscript full of red ink sitting beside me just waiting for me to begin my perusal, so that’s exciting. More awesome, however, are the small cartoons I noticed that my mother and brother and slipped into the manuscript every now and again. They’re quite artistic, my family members. Thus without further delay, I present to you:
Drawings from Chasing Nonconformity (Summer 2013 draft)
Artists: Jesse Proulx and Linda Schneidereit
Note: Please don’t ask me to explain these, because … well, because I can’t. Enjoy!
And that about wraps that up. Now that you’ve seen the drawings, can you imagine the kind of ridiculous comments and suggestions I have to put up with from these people???
Got my book back from the beta readers! (Part 1)
That’s right! As of yesterday afternoon, I’ve officially reacquired Chasing Nonconformity, the sequel to my debut novel Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It, from my beta readers. Huzzah!
Granted, I only actually got it back from two beta readers — specifically, my mother and brother. Three big cheers for them! The rest of my so-called “beta readers” haven’t done a whole lot of reading. But that’s okay! Because I’m going to be doing a lot of re-writing (again), so by the time they remember they’re supposed to be reading the book, I’ll have a new draft for them anyway. Then they can busily not read the new draft while I start on the next one. This plan, my friends, is fool proof. FOOL PROOF!
Ahem. So, onwards and upwards with the re-writing! I’ve got a lovely 200 page manuscript full of red ink sitting beside me just waiting for me to begin my perusal, so that’s exciting. More awesome, however, are the small cartoons I noticed that my mother and brother and slipped into the manuscript every now and again. They’re quite artistic, my family members. Thus without further delay, I present to you:
Drawings from Chasing Nonconformity (Summer 2013 draft)
Artists: Jesse Proulx and Linda Schneidereit
Note: Please don’t ask me to explain these, because … well, because I can’t. Enjoy!
And that about wraps that up. Now that you’ve seen the drawings, can you imagine the kind of ridiculous comments and suggestions I have to put up with from these people???
September 5, 2013
My Book … In Chinese?
In her eternal attempts to be as adorable as possible, my mother phoned me up a few evenings ago practically bursting with excitement over her latest idea for marketing my book. And I’m happy to report that it is (possibly) a pretty good idea! So the idea is:
Hire my polyglot friend who speaks and writes Cantonese to translate my book, Imminent Danger, into Chinese … and then self-publish it to the Chinese market.
What do you guys think? Doable? Crazy? I know that Amazon KDP doesn’t currently have support for Chinese, but Smashwords does support Chinese, so … could it possibly work? Has anyone had any experience with translating and self-publishing an ebook? Share your wisdom with me!!!
To thank you in advance for your undoubtedly excellent advice, I present to you today’s …
Unrelated media of the day
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/pFhZ6CQ
August 31, 2013
Book Review: Catskinner’s Book (Misha Burnett)
Today’s book review features fellow blogger and self-publisher Misha Burnett!
The Book
Catskinner’s Book
The Genre
Science fiction / urban fantasy
The Author
Misha Burnett
The Plot
James Ozryck has a monster in his head.
All of his life the entity that he calls Catskinner has made him a fugitive, afraid to get too close to anyone, afraid to stay in one place for too long. Catskinner kills, without compassion and without warning, and is very good at it.
Now James has learned that Catskinner is not the only monster in the world, a world that has suddenly become a far stranger and more dangerous place than he imagined. In order to survive, he will have to become something more than a monster — he will have to learn what it means to be human.
The Review
I LOVED this book! It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s violent, it’s sexy, it’s intriguing … A+ all around! The world Burnett’s created is absolutely fascinating, and totally unlike anything I’ve read before — I honestly don’t know where he comes up with this stuff!
The protagonist, James, is enthralling — he’s a curious mix of beleaguered every-man, jailkeeper to a vicious alien entity, lonely man just trying to find his place in the world, and hired hitman. It’s bizarre. It’s wonderful.
I’m trying to think if there’s anything I didn’t like … I think the only thing that threw me was Godiva’s evolution as a character (Godiva being the love interest). When she first shows up, she comes across as extraordinarily vacuous. But by the time you get to the end of the book, she’s brilliant, resourceful, and deviously clever. It made a certain amount of sense, but I would have liked more of a gradual transition or explanation.
I highly recommend Catskinner’s Book. If you’re at all a fan of science fiction — or even urban fantasy! — I suggest you give it a try. It doesn’t fit neatly into one genre box, but … well, read it and you’ll see how great it is!
The Rating
5 out of 5 stars
Sound intriguing? Check out Catskinner’s Book here. The sequel — Cannibal Hearts — is also out, so click here to learn more about that!
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/wPqa2UB
August 28, 2013
My Poem: “A Toothbrush’s Tale”
I was going through my old file folders yesterday, and I discovered this absolute gem of poetry. It’s rather terrible, quite absurd, and has a moral which is totally incorrect and should definitely never be learned by any child ever. Cringe and enjoy!
A Toothbrush’s Tale
***
Fred the toothbrush was a sorry sight,
For his toothbrush friends knew not his sad plight.
This young little toothbrush was unhappy, you see,
His plastic casing oppressed him; he sought to be free!
***
“But Fred,” his mother said, “That’s quite absurd,”
“All toothbrushes are plastic, haven’t you heard?
I love you, my son, but to be quite frank,
Your mental skills I couldn’t take to the bank.”
***
Disheartened and miserable, Fred looked away,
And resolved to leave town the very next day.
Away from Toothbrushia little Fred would fly,
For hope gave him wings, much like a pie.
***
Far past the Cheesecake Mountains he flew,
Dodging the cavities, root canals, and goo,
Then to Toffee Lake, that abominable mess,
Delight of little children, but alas, I digress.
***
Finally came our hero to a castle on the sand,
Where, waving from the window, was a tiny old man.
“Come, little toothbrush, I can help you!”
Cried the old man, sitting on the loo.
***
Eagerly young Fred alighted at his side,
“I hate being plastic,” the poor toothbrush cried.
“Don’t worry!” the man said, “That form’s such a joke!
Soon you’ll metamorphize into an oak!”
***
“An oak?” Fred stammered. “But what can that be?”
“Why, you silly toothbrush, an oak is a tree!”
“But I don’t want to be wooden,” the toothbrush said.
“Don’t worry,” the man chuckled, “it’s like being dead.”
***
Terrified, poor Fred ran for the door,
But the old man pinned him via two-by-four.
“Abracadabra!” he cackled with glee.
And just like that, Fred turned into a tree.
***
The good folks of Toothbrushia soon forget Fred had left,
They cried for a while, but they weren’t very bereft.
So you see, little children, the point of this story,
Don’t complain, and don’t whine, or you’ll be sorry.
***
Unrelated media of the day:
Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/ujrztwP
August 26, 2013
Book Review: The Stone Kingdom (Danielle E. Shipley)
As you may recall from a previous post, I recently had the good fortune to read Miss Danielle E. Shipley’s new fairy tale novella, The Stone Kingdom (Book Two of the Wilderhark Tales). It is now time for the review!
The Novella 
The Stone Kingdom (Book Two of the Wilderhark Tales)
The Genre
Fairy tale / Fantasy
The Author
Danielle E. Shipley
The Plot
One thoughtless act is all it takes to bring the curse threatened on Rosalba’s christening day to pass. Now the princess must combine her desperate determination with the service of benevolent tailor Edgwyn Wyle to find the second half of the key to her kingdom’s restoration.
The Review
This was a short, sweet, and delightful novella. The heroine, Rosalba, is everything a princess should be — kind, beautiful, caring, and rather feisty on top of that. She falls into the classic fairy tale trap of doing something she really shouldn’t, and the kingdom pays the price for her mistake. Luckily, help arrives in the form of the chubby but helpful tailor Edgwyn — an endearing young man who is probably my favourite character in the story. He’s everything you want in a fairy tale prince, minus the rock-hard abs and … well, being a prince. But he’s kind, and generous, and their love story was so fun to watch unfold.
As this was the second novella in the series, and I hadn’t read the first, I was expecting to be hopelessly confused, but that wasn’t the case at all — this novella stands on its own as a separate story. I could tell from the way certain parts were written, and the inclusion of a couple of chapters that struck me as being rather irrelevant to the story, that these were put in to tie this novella into the existing series and please fans of characters from the first novella. As a new reader, I found that a bit irksome, but hey, I can hardly fault a book in a series for being part of a series!
Aside from that, I found this novella to be a charming and excellent read. Shipley is obvious well-read in fairy tale lore, because she draws a lot on common fairy tale tropes (evil fairy curse, princess trapped in tower, etc.), but she puts her own spin on them, which makes for a really enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend this story to any fairy tale fans out there!
The Rating
Five out of five stars!
Check out The Stone Kingdom here!
August 24, 2013
Cannibal Hearts
Well, this is it.
It's been over a year now, and Cannibal Hearts is now available for purchase. I just have the Kindle version available now--I will have a print edition, but not right away.
I'm looking at this as a soft launch. There are people who read this blog who have been waiting for it, so here it is. I'm not going to try to do any major marketing until I've got…
Misha Burnett's new novel "Cannibal Hearts" just released! Check it out :)
August 22, 2013
Free Short Story — “The Coin Collector”
I’m psyched to announce that after many hours of messing around with formatting and design and whatnot, my short story The Coin Collector is now available for FREE download from Smashwords! Click here to download it now!
Here’s the cover image again for your viewing delight:
And here’s an excerpt to get you irreparably hooked:
Pounding his fist against the dented metal door, Mr. Quimbly shouted, “Anyone in?”
“Just a moment, if you please,” a voice rumbled from inside.
After a few seconds, the door squeaked open of its own accord. A huge, gleaming claw attached to a scaly green appendage nearly the size of Mr. Quimbly’s entire body reached out toward him. Mr. Quimbly yelped, stumbling back and nearly dropping his file.
“Forgive my rudeness,” said the same deep voice, and the claw retracted back through the doorway. “I didn’t mean to startle you, little manling. Do come inside. I’ll put the kettle on.”
“I—I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you,” said Mr. Quimbly, preparing to run.
“It isn’t, actually.”
The claw shot back out, hooked around Mr. Quimbly’s waist, and yanked him inside.
Mr. Quimbly landed on the floor of the dimly-lit warehouse with a thud and a groan. As he shakily retrieved his fallen spectacles and pushed himself to his knees, he noticed a glint of gold near his left hand. Picking it up, he realized it was a Spanish doubloon. How curious, he thought.
Then he looked up, and found himself staring at the scaly snout of a massive green dragon. The resplendent beast towered over Mr. Quimbly’s head, its horns brushing the ceiling. Its jagged viridian scales contrasted magnificently with the small mountain of gleaming gold coins on which it was nestled.
“Good heavens,” said Mr. Quimbly, dropping the doubloon. “You’re a dragon.”
Thanks to everyone who gave me valuable advice and insights on self-publishing and formatting and content and whatnot! If you feel like sharing my exciting self-publishing news with your respective friends/family/bloggers, I would obviously be incredibly appreciative. I would even bribe you with a free copy of the ebook, but … well, it’s already free. Cheers!
August 20, 2013
I need your advice RE: self-publishing a short story
Greetings fellow blogotrons! In today’s post, I desperately need your advice. Intrigued yet? Read on!
As I mentioned in a recent post, my short story The Coin Collector (formerly The Numismatist) has failed to win a place in the Sword & Laser Anthology competition. Tragedy strikes again! Anyhoo, at the suggestion of the lovely Keri Peardon, I have decided to self-publish my short story on Smashwords. Huzzah!
First of all, I’m going to offer the short story for free — as a kind of sampler of my work, in the hopes that people will download the story on a whim, enjoy my writing style, and then seek out other works by me. This process will of course be aided by whatever I stick into the ebook at the end of the story — so, something along the lines of:
Enjoyed the story? Want to read more by Michelle? Check out her debut sci-fi/romance novel, Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It!
Visit http://michelleproulx.com/ for details.
Or something to that effect. That’s what I was going to go with, anyway. Then the lovely Keri Peardon struck again, suggesting that I include an excerpt of Imminent Danger at the end of the short story. Her theory is that as long as I indicate the length of the short story in the ebook description, no one will be upset by a free preview at the end. I’m a bit worried, though, that people won’t read the description, and will just see “4000 words length” and get upset when the story ends about 2000 words before they thought it was going to. Then again, it’ll be a free download, so they really can’t complain, right?
Hmmm … what do you guys think about this? Let me know in the comments, or clicky clicky the poll:
Take Our Poll
I’ve also got a possible cover design I’ve been messing around with, which I will now share:
What do you guys think? I’m pretty pleased with it. The treasure chest image is from here: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/178312. It’s royalty free (woo!), but I will of course be crediting the photographer (“chancey”) in the front matter of the ebook.
SO! Please let me know your thoughts on:
A) Whether or not I should include an excerpt from Imminent Danger at the end of the short story
B) What you think of the cover design
Thanks oodles! Have a fab Tuesday!
Unrelated media of the day:
August 16, 2013
Sword and Laser Short Story Anthology — REJECTED!
In a tragic turn of events, the short story I submitted to the Sword and Laser Short Story Anthology competition didn’t make the cut. Obviously I wish my story had made it, but I’m not too torn up about it — can’t expect to win the very first short story competition you enter, after all! That would just be silly. And awesome. But mostly silly.
For all wondering, the short story was a whimsical fantasy rambling of mine entitled The Numismatist. I was thinking of posting the entire thing here, but I think I might try entering it into a few more competitions, so you’ll have to make do with a teaser excerpt instead:
Pounding his fist against the dented metal door, Mr. Quimbly shouted, “Anyone in?”
“Just a moment, if you please,” a voice rumbled from inside.
The door squealed open of its own accord, and a huge, gleaming claw attached to a scaly green appendage nearly the size of Mr. Quimbly’s entire body reached out. Mr. Quimbly yelped, stumbling back and nearly dropping his file.
“Forgive my rudeness,” said the same deep voice, and the claw retracted into the darkness. “I didn’t mean to startle you, little manling. Do come inside. I’ve already put the kettle on.”
“I—I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you,” said Mr. Quimbly, preparing to run.
“It isn’t, actually.”
The claw shot back out, hooked around Mr. Quimbly’s waist, and yanked him inside. Lying in the middle of the dimly-lit warehouse was a massive green dragon. Its iridescent viridian scales contrasted magnificently with the small mountain of gleaming gold coins on which it was nestled.
“Good heavens,” said Mr. Quimbly. “You’re a dragon.”
“Well spotted,” said the dragon.
The Numismatist – Michelle Proulx 2013
There you have it! As you can imagine, the situation rapidly deteriorates into silliness now that Mr. Quimbly is stuck in a warehouse with a dragon. I’ll probably give it another read through, maybe make some minor edits, and then send it off to another competition. I figure I have to win something one of these days if I keep entering things, right?
Never give up! Never surrender!
Unrelated link of the day:
This is so cool. Seriously. Go to this site and mess around for a bit. It’s really awesome.
