Paul Michael Peters's Blog, page 10

An authors pact

I am utterly guilty of it, as I suspect are many authors. Each review that comes through the system, each star, each ranking, a like, is something I read. At first, with Peter in Flight, there was a period of thickening of the skin. It took more than a year as the reader’s words trickled in and passed my eyes, processed in my mind, and taken to heart.

For that first story the impressions have been over all favorable. Not all readers will enjoy it, nor should they all. As the back of the cover prescribes, it is to be read at high altitude, between cities, and a reminder as to all you work for, and the hearts that will welcome you home. Going through the pages of Peter in Flight below 30,000 feet may give you a different perspective on the story, the gaps are more pronounced, and the distances seem vast.

There is a loop of feedback between the author and the reader. I imagine these fascinating stories, write them down, take time to consider what they will mean to you, my good reader, and what you may think. Over the weeks and months at my little table in the coffee house where words are connected in careful consideration, I focus on you, my dear reader, that these stories will be interesting. I wonder how to bring the characters to life.

The Symmetry of Snowflakes reviews still come in as the number of readers grow. In a general sense I find that there are two types of reader’s response. Enthusiasm seems to come from people who understand that the family Hank Hanson has is not that unrealistic. There are families of divorce, marriage, separation, and new unions. With each transformation of the family, new members are added, others removed, and the choices made by others impact them all. Then there is another set of readers. Those who may not be familiar with the realities of divorce, the years of shuffling family members, or the miles between houses on holidays. And those readers search for something they want to like about the book, about the writing, but come up short. There are also readers who dislike the way I have written about sex, which is understandable.

I understand this challenge, of wanting to like a book but unable to, very well. I have gone through the first quarter of several books in the last month including Infinite Jest (so well reviewed, so well liked, so thick, and just not my cup of tea). As a reader and a writer, I can not feel ill will to the reviewer who gives honest consideration.

My pledge to you, dear reader, is not that I will write a book you will enjoy. This is impossible for me to do for all of you, even when you were good enough to purchase a copy of my work. I can only promise that I will work to make the next book better than my last, that I will make great efforts to think of something new you can connect with, in part, or completely.

Insensible Loss is my effort to do just that. Write something better than I have before. While it may take the suspension of disbelief to enjoy in parts, I hope that it is not insurmountable to find the action, romance, and deception involved in the plot, characters, and dialogue something you enjoy and will share with others.

Please continue to let me know your thoughts through review or private message, dear reader, and I will work to make the next one even better.  

A new playlist for writing

I have been thinking to write here for some time now. It has been a spell. In the nearly three months that have passed since the last post, a new book has been released, Insensible Loss.

Deciding which category to place a book in is more difficult than one might expect. Insensible Loss contains love and romance, but it’s more than that. It has action and adventure, but it seems more than that. There is mystery to be solved, but no real detective. It takes place in both the past and future. So it is a fantasy, literary fiction, with lots of action and adventure, treasure, time travel, and it all is wrapped in a mystery. So I listed it as historical fiction, that could include romance and action.

Insensible Loss is some of my best work to date, and I hope you enjoy it.

Currently I am writing the next book called The Joy of Lying. I will not describe it to you, but I will share my current play list that is influencing what I write.

Click Here for the YouTube Playlist

King of the World First Aid Kit

I Saw the Light Todd Rundgren

Acid Tongue Jenny Lewis

Be Good Waxahatchee

Starman David Bowie

I Kicked a Boy The Sundays

1904 The Tallest Man on Earth

Blood The Middle East

Somewhere Only We Know Kean

1,000 Times Tahiti 80

Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

Sleepyhead Passion Pit

DTW - A Wing and A Prayer

Once again I find myself at the airport. DTW the abbreviation. In the last six weeks this marks the 7th start to a round trip. This time I am at the gate where the idea for my recently released short story “A Wing and A Prayer” first came to mind.

It’s the announcements here. Every few minutes a prerecorded message comes through loud and clear about the time zone, directions, the moving walk way, or the tram service. From this perch at gate 56, against the gray marble façade walls with the red triangle logo, sits a tree. I don’t think it’s a real tree. Something Shultz might put into a holiday special, it is in need of love or attention, perhaps sunlight, but clearly dusting. On this tree, a few years ago, sat one of the many birds that lived in this mile-long corridor of international traffic and travel. There were enough birds that posted signs and announcements used to ask people to not feed them and be mindful of the practices and noises used to scar them off.

In door birds are not that uncommon. We used to see them at the Oakland Mall in a time when mall’s were in fashion, smoking inside was acceptable, and parachute pants were the rage. It is rare for me to visit a shopping mall, but it is very common for me to be at an airport, where rolling down the moving walkway I can catch the scent of the fresh leather on racks, see the pressed and folded shirts one may need from poor packing, or the gadget stories every few yards that want to sell you replacement parts and overpriced headphones.

“A Wing and A Prayer” is more than a short story, but less than a novella. It more than just about birds who flock together in an airport, and less than traditional in the views it expresses about how different people can work together.

This short story, among everything I have written, stays in my thoughts most frequently as I fly in and out of DTW.        

You are not alone

Recently I was in Atlanta. During that trip I took the opportunity to visit with my team. My team is the group at JERA Publishing Services. You see, writing is often looked on as something produced by an individual. There are the hours spent alone over the blank page, the days spent shaping an idea, the months of re-writing a chapter, and the years suffering the aches of a sore back and writers cramp. Well, I used to think for the longest time that this penitence and suffering alone was needed to advance the "art".

A few years ago I came to the realization that there were simply things I am not good at. Self editing being one of them, interior design and layout another, and cover design a third. If I wanted to meet a quality I believe my writing could reach, I needed to assemble a team that would be honest in feedback and talk through ideas. Unless you surround yourself with other artists and writers willing to commit to that level book production, or you are one of the fortunate to have a publishing house back you, you may need to find that team that works best for you.

There is no lack of people in the world willing to take your money. Many will tell you the easy things you want to hear. For me, the importance is to focus on the truth of the matter to improve. It took some time, it took some experiences, but I have found that team I can trust in a little place north of Atlanta in Roswell Georgia called JERA. 

On tough days I find encouragement. When I am think "it's good enough" there is an extra push for being better. If a concept isn't ready, there is someone to help me talk through it. I am very grateful for the JERA team and what they have provided me - a sense that I am not alone in my writing, there are readers at the ready.

The JERA Team October 2015

   

What is next?

Currently my next book, Insensible Loss, is in the process of editing. Highly skilled and talented people work on the interior and exterior of shaping my ideas into perfection. (That is a really nice way of saying, I am a poor speller, and this really smart woman helps me with that.)

But what is the next book after that? Insensible Loss is on to the next steps of being shaped for your reading pleasure, what about after that? It is a question I ask myself all the time. It is not for lack of ideas, rather, it is the opposite. Not all ideas are equally good or what you, my dear reader, will want to spend your time with. So I am looking for your help in what I write next.

You will find I have added a page called "Whats Next" to this site. There you will find a synopsis of several ideas waiting to be turned into books. Take ten minutes and vote on which story you would like to see from me next! Sign up for the early reader program and you ill be included in early releases, updates and news in the stories you help to shape.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE 

Insensible Loss

Like many of you, I listen to podcasts. I have several favorites that I cycle through during the week. Some are background noise to life with funny stories, others are deep discussions on special topics. One of my favorites is called “A Way with Words.”

Just thinking the title makes me think of Steve Martin’s Roxanne “Worms, Roxanne, I was afraid of worms!” but I digress…

Last spring there was an episode called “Insensible Losses” where one of the hosts Martha Barnette talks about the recent discovery of this term with her husband while earning about hiking.

More than 60% of the human body is made up of water. Clean water is critical to human life. This term, insensible loss is one which describes the amount of water a body will loose without noticing. Most of the water we think of loosing is through evaporation and cooling the body. A large portion is lost through breathing. With every breath, even during little to no activity, we are loosing water without awareness.

We are unaware of so many things in our life that float off into vapor or slowly drip away. As I get older my tolerance slips away for loud kids with their rock and roll music. My hard line ethical certitude is more gray and tolerant of others beliefs. Compromise becomes more frequent. I don’t know if I am alone in this, but I know that the change has happened.

The next book I release will be called “Insensible Loss” and deals with that slippage over a life time of these things we once held so tight. Right now it is in second draft, and I am targeting January for release. There will be a copy sent to Martha Barnette with a thank you note for her introduction to the term and the spark of inspiration. 

Mr. Memory Pre-Order

Over the last 10 years I have been writing and capturing ideas for my next novel. Some of them have turned into longer tales, others never fully blossoming into a fully developed book. That is the way writing tends to go. A spark or a vision comes to you, time is spent nursing and growing them, but they only grow to be a shorter idea of what was once there. A first attempt can be worked and shaped to be better, but they may never fully mature to a novella or novel. But the good and true time spent is not wasted. These are the short stories, my short stories at least, bundled for your reading enjoyment. One day a full novel may be released about birds at an airport, a world of bubble people, or the extended tales of a man who remembers everything, but for now you will be able to enjoy them in a limited universe. 

Mr. Memory and Other Stories of Wonder is now available for a pre-order on Amazon for the kindle. A paperback version will follow as part of the release on October 15, 2015. You can pre-order your copy here today: Mr. Memory and Other Stories of Wonder Pre-Order Page

I May Come Off Shallow

I realized that I may come off shallow this morning. It took place at the coffee house where I spend hours each week being attended to by the barista's through serenade, great coffee, and great banter. After my order was place and paid for I made way to my second favorite seat. In the corner of my eye was a woman I thought I may have known before, but did not make that recognition known to her or companion through body language. 

You see, I suffer from being very bad, and I mean truly awful, at names. Normally I am good with two things, a persons face and story. But names are fleet footed and run from my brain near as fast as when they are spoken. Yes, yes, tricks, repetition, association. Such as the main character Peter, in Peter in Flight, I have shaken my share of hands. A good story stays with me, the name never does. 

My shallowness often comes across at this point. Who are you? When did we meet? Should I say anything? I am deciding before I say anything. 

A great example of this took place roughly a year ago in this very spot. A very attractive woman started to look up from her coffee at me. It was more than that distant look into the distance while thinking and I just happened to be in her view. She was looking at me, recognizing me, almost, dare say, flirty? I would smile and be busy at work. Once and a while I would look up and our eyes would meet. My spidy senses would kick in, and I would look back to my writing.  

About 30 minutes after she left, I realized who she was. Earlier in the week a "singles" website had matched us, I had written her, and I had gotten no reply. It was a virtual blow off, which is frequent today, followed by a physical shrug off. Had I immediately placed her, lord knows what I would have done or said, but still it took that long. 

Today's encounter could have been one of many woman I could not place. Was it someone I had gone out with twice two years ago before parting ways and her getting married to the next man she dated? Was it that crazy woman from college that one of my roommates dated before moving on? Could it have been that woman I met for a brief romance eight years ago? I have no idea. Apparently it wasn't a good enough story for me to remember as it is more than thirty minutes later and I have no idea. 

One of the worst moments of this was with friend from high school. It had not been even two years since I last saw him daily do a local cable access show. Paul, of the world famous Paul and Paul Show, was walking down the street in Chicago when he looked into the window of a Blockbuster Video store to see me. It was out of the place moment and time to recognize me, completely out of context to what he would have expected. So he banged on the window and got my attention, than ran inside to say hi. At the time I was a manager at the now defunct business, and very friendly with the hordes of unknown locals that frequented the store. He came expecting a hug and recognition and I provided friendly banter not knowing who he was or how I knew him. When the connection was finally revealed after several awkward moments and attempts to place him, he finally said "It's Paul!" Dear lord I felt small in the moment that has stayed with me always. 

So, if I come off shallow, or too self involved, please, do not take offense. I am just catching up to the moment. I am trying to remember our connection. Did we hook up? Spend some time together? Make a cable access show in the 80's? Shake hands at a trade show booth in Las Vegas ten years ago? Was your photo on a website I sent a "like" to last week? Which school did we go to, because I have attended at least eight different schools in my life? It's not you – it is me. 

Free eBook of The Symmetry of Snowflakes

It is a great book about cold holiday's you can read from the safety of a warm summer.

The Symmetry of Snowflakes needs more readers. To help spread the word you can request a eBook copy on this website. Be sure to tell your friend and share the love.

Thank you to all the Goodread members who have been supportive of this novel!

What is your book about?

Many people ask me “what’s your book about?” It is a difficult question to answer. It’s about so many things. It’s about family, it’s about friendship, it’s about love, and about making the best choices you can in life - without carrying too much regret.

When I answer it’s about family, people ask “is it based on your family?” I have to say no. Because for those who know me well, they recognize little snippets that ring some truth about me.  This story involves people who are wily, lecherous, mean, and have generally loose morals. I am the only person in my family who fits that description. All the other members of my family are kind, loving, saints who have put up with my shenanigans over the years.

When I answer it’s about friendship, people ask “which character am I”, “Or is that character really supposed to be so and so?” You will find when reading this for yourself that I have taken the best of my friends and have evenly sprinkled them amongst the characters to make sure that any faults my friends may have are concealed – because we are truly at our best when we are together, and none of us really see’s the shortcomings in each another. Friendship is one of the most rare and valuable things you can find life. Friendship is a relationship that is stripped of the selfishness of sex and economy - there is so little in it for the other person, that true friendship should be cherished when you find a chump who will let call you them “friend”.

When it comes to making choices in life, Glenn Campbell wrote the best lyrics. “There’s been a load of compromisin’, on the road to my horizon.” Those few words say so much about character. They capture the protagonist’s father very well. A character looking back on a life when he tried to do the right thing; but over the years found it’s difficult to do consistently. We have to live with those compromises. People in our life are impacted by those compromises. That is part of the book as well.

Which leaves us on the topic of love. Make no mistake - there is love in this book. There is also hot stimulating sex. The sexiest and smartest of the characters, my favorite character in the book, brings clarity about the difference between love and sex and all those little things in-between. I hope that you will love this book, and not just have sex with this book. My hope is that you will want to share that love of this book with your friends and family. You will make the right choice to share it with others.

The other frequently asked question I get is, “What inspired you to write this book?”

In the first chapter our protagonist Hank Hanson explains a situation to his close friends. He asks, “What do you buy your mothers second husbands, third wife, for her father funeral?” I thought long and hard about this sentence when my brother asked me that very thing many years ago. It was something I realized that only he and I understood. It was nothing I could ask my friends. Even when in my mind when I mapped out which person in my life outside my family would understand that having parents that were remarried, full blooded siblings, half blooded siblings, formerly legally bound siblings, and the children of people who you would think I was related to, but am not, in addition to all the baggage, responsibility, and miles put on the car over the years spent with them. When I mapped the potential candidates out, it took the form of a snowflake.

That was the spark of the idea. Here is the first chapter of what resulted in that spark – The Symmetry of Snowflakes.