K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 76

A Lovecraftian-Inspired Gift Guide

The holiday season is upon us! If you’re a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos or have someone on your list who is I figured it’d be helpful to put together a little gift guide linking to some of my favorite Lovecraftian merchandise from across the web.

I’ve organized the list by category, and ordered them by price. So that should make it easy to browse. Have a favorite new weird or mythos-themed item I left off? Leave a comment and let us know!

BOOKS:

The Witching Elm by C.N. Crawford

$.99 (Digital Pre-order)

I heard about C. M. Crawford’s debut novel recently and while it’s not specifically Lovecraftian it definitely seems like something a reader of mythos and new weird would enjoy. I mean: talking ravens, bone-wardens, and other worlds? Sounds great, sign me up.

The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross

$7.99 + Free Shipping (Print) $7.60 (eBook)

Meet Bob Howard, a computer hacker who ends up working for the secret British organization: The Laundry. But this isn’t your typical super secret agency, instead of terrorism The Laundry that faces off against something much stranger.

Maplecroft by Cherie Priest

$11.00 + Free Shipping (Print) $7.99 (eBook)

I picked this up on a whim after listening to an interview with Priest on the Seattle Geekly Podcast and I loved it. Priest’s new-mythos tale spins a yarn about madness, fear, and the sea using the historical character Lizzie Borden as the protagonist. I look forward to more.

The Stars Were Right by K. M. Alexander

$12.60 + Free Shipping (Paperback) $2.99 (eBook)

Have a Lovecraft fan on your list? Pick them up a copy of my first novel, The Stars Were Right. Let them join Caravan Master Waldo Bell as he goes on the run in the costal megalopolis of Lovat on a quest to clear his name.

Old Broken Road by K. M. Alexander

$12.50 + Free Shipping (Paperback) $5.99 (eBook)

My latest Lovecraft-influenced urban fantasy novel: Old Broken Road picks up a year after the events in the previous book and follow Wal and his friends as they travel down an abandoned road full of dark apparitions, bizarre monsters, and ancient evils.

The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft edited by Les Klinger

$25.50 + Free Shipping (Print) $19.24 (eBook)

This gorgeous coffee table book annotated by Les Klinger is now the definitive collection of Lovecraft’s best work. If you have a fan on your list, or wanted to spend a little bit of time with Lovecraft’s works this is the book to get.

MUSIC:

Cthulhu by Cryo Chamber Collaboration

$7.00 (Digital Download) $15.00 + Shipping (CD)

If you’re into ambient music I highly recommend this collaboration from the dark ambient label Cryo Chamber. Themed around Cthulhu this album is drenched in distant echoes and vast chambers that will put you in the mood for terror.

Reliquiae by Atrium Carceri

$7.00 (Digital Download)

This haunting album is the soundscape I’d turn on when writing Old Broken Road. Heavy with mood I found myself loving every minute of it. (It’s also my go-to soundtrack when my friends and I play Mansions of Madness.)

APPAREL:

Bell Caravans Patch

$5.00 + Shipping (Order by Dec. 15th for Christmas Delivery.)

This beautiful 3″ patch, designed by illustrator Sean Cumiskey, is the perfect way of declaring your loyalty to your favorite caravan master. Put it on your backpack, a tote, or display it on the sleeve of your jacket, just make sure the world knows.

Cthulhu Ski Mask

$60.00 + Shipping

Winter has settled into the mountains and the ski resorts are opening. It’s good to protect ones face while shredding the slopes. Terrify other skiers and snowboarders in a hand crafted ski mask made by the Mad Knitter in a disturbing shade of Cthulhu green.

GAMES:

The Last Door Collectors Edition

$9.99 (Digital Download) FREE (In-Browser)

I don’t play many video games these days, but I absolutely loved this old school adventure game. Heavily influenced by turn-of-the century horror and the writing of H.P. Lovecraft, The Last Door, places you in the center of a dark mystery.

Mansions of Madness

$60.00 + Free Shipping

My wife can attest how obsessed I’ve become with this board game. It’s a blast. Investigators have to solve a mystery while the Keeper tries to kill them off. The perfect blend of Lovecraft and action adventure. A lot of fun.

MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY:

Miskatonic University Mug

$15.00 + Shipping

One of my favorite mugs in my house, with a beautifully designed Miskatonic University seal. It’s also nice and big and therefore holds extra coffee (the secret to my power.) Comes in white or nightgaunt black… naturally.

Miskatonic University Combo Pack

$45.00 + Shipping

Get a Miskatonic U. t-shirt, Miskatonic stickers, the M.U. course book, a M.U. library card, a customized letter of acceptance, a customized student ID, the M.U. mug (for those all night study sessions,) and a customized diploma!

Miskatonic University Class Ring

$99.99 – $1,773.00 + Shipping

Need a classy engagement ring? Maybe you own everything else on this list and have some money to burn? Why not show some pride in the Ivy League school that never was and get a fancy 24k gold Miskatonic University class ring? Oh you so fancy!

Filed under: Shop Tagged: atrium carceri, c. n. crawford, charles stross, cherie priest, mansions of madness, maplecroft, miskatonic university, old broken road, the atrocity archives, the last door, the stars were right, the witching elm

I Like Nonsense

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.

—Dr. Seuss

Filed under: Inspiration Tagged: Dr. Seuss, fantasy, Quotes

Friday Link Pack 12-05-2014

We’re back baby! It’s time to share a few links I’ve found over the last few days. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Let me know! All right, let’s get to it.

Writing:

Here’s One Genre That Could Replace Post-Apocalyptic Stories

My favorite io9 writer, Charlie Jane Anders, discusses the potential in colonization science fiction as opposed to the doom and gloom of post-apocalyptic fiction. It’s a good idea.

Amazing Times

New York Times Bestselling Author Russel Blake talks about the broad reach within the literary market. Never before has someone been able to reach an audience so broad. It’s cool to think about. He’s right. We live in an Amazing Time.

Booker Winner Ben Okri Nabs Bad Sex Prize

Oooof… but to be fair, it’s real bad and potentially offensive if this sort of thing offends you, but really it’s more hilarious than offensive. I mean, “She felt certain now that there was a heaven and that it was here, in her body.” C’mon man.

NaNoWriMo Is Over, Now What?

You finished your 40k word project in a months time! Awesome! You should be excited. You should celebrate. But what do you do when NaNoWriMo is over? Here’s some ideas.

Old Broken Road Giveaway

I’m giving away five signed copies of Old Broken Road on Goodreads. Signing up to win is easy. Giveaway ends January 6th. Tell your friends!

Art:

Chattel

Photographer Kevin Horan takes beautiful portraits… of sheep and goats.

Paperholm

Artist Charles Young is building a giant city out of tiny paper models. Follow along.

Motion Exposure

Long exposures of light combined with activities like canoeing and kayaking. The results are as beautiful as they are serene.

Random:

Typeset in the Future: Alien

Okay, I think I found another favorite blog. Typeset in the Future explores typography in science fiction movies. This article on Alien is incredibly deep and is a must read. The articles on Moon and 2001 are also great.

The Ice-Skating Waiters Of Switzerland

Serving drinks and skating never looked so classy. (Thanks to Steve for the tip.)

Really Awesome Old Maps

My love of maps is no secret. Recently my friend Jazmine shared this link and I absolutely loved everything posted. Mapophiles rejoice!

Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind

Here you go luddites! Even Hawking is afraid of robots!

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Green Meadow

“It was a narrow place, and I was alone…”

Gif of the Week:

 

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: a.i., alien, city, goats, ice-skating, lovecraft, maps, NaNoWriMo, old broken road, stephen hawking

It’s OLD BROKEN ROAD Giveaway Time

Winter has settled in (if you can’t tell from the snow around here,) and there’s nothing better in the midst of winter than curling up inside with a good book. With that in mind I felt this was the perfect time to do an Old Broken Road giveaway!

Entering is simple, just head over to the Goodreads Giveaway between now and January 6th, click the big ENTER TO WIN button at the top, and… that’s it! It’s that simple. Click a button and be enter to win one of the five signed copies (plus some other cool stuff.) Click the link below and sign up.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER »

Winners will be selected on January 6th. Giveaway is open to anyone in the UK, Canada, Australia, and the United States.

Good luck entrants!

Filed under: Contests, old broken road Tagged: bell caravans patch, Giveaway, goodreads, swag pack

NaNoWriMo Is Over, Now What?

So NaNoWriMo has come to a close. You did it! You bested the holiday and fought through the distractions and emerged victorious! You probably learned a lot in the process: how you work, what time is best for you to write, and what it takes for you to power through a challenge like NaNo. It’s a good exercise. Now you have 40k words sitting there and it’s time to do something… but what exactly? Here’s six tips for moving forward:

1. Set Your Manuscript Aside

You just spent a solid month with your book. That’s a lot of time and often it’s difficult to pull away and see the whole picture. If you’re anything like me, odds are there’s a lot of work to go before your manuscript is ready to shop. Giving yourself time away from the manuscript will allow you to return with fresh eyes and a clear head. So what do you do in the interim? Start your next project (see point six), relax a bit, read someone you find inspiring: just get your mind off that manuscript so later you can really give it a solid and honest revision.

2. Think About How You’re Going To Expand

Unless you’re writing middle-grade most publishers won’t want a 40k word novel. Even YA tends to be around 50-60k minimum. Adult novels range around 80k-90k words, and sci-fi and fantasy can get into the 100-110k word range. (Check out Chuck Sambuchino’s great post on word count here.) None of these are hard and fast rules but it’s always good to shoot for the average range within the genre you’re targeting. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to expand and I’ll cover some of that in point three. If you’re going to publish independently you can ignore this completely. There are no set rules for independent publishing. Just make sure you’re telling the best damn story possible.

3. Revise, Revise, Revise

Stage one is done, you’ve let the manuscript rest for a time and now you’re ready for revisions. It’s time to go through your manuscript and tackle all those things you ignored to hit that word count by the target date. Trust me, they’ll be there. I tend to find that as I revise, my book grows and shrinks. As I mentioned in point two, odds are you’re going to need to expand. So, if you’re worried about your overall length don’t worry. As Tolkien said, “this tale grew in the telling.” He’s not wrong. I find that there’s usually a lot I left out in that first draft and I find it’s not difficult to find myself adding significant portions to a story. When you’re finished with your first revision, go through it again! There’s no set number of revisions, just make sure you get the book to a point where you’re comfortable sharing it with alpha/beta readers and eventually editors.

4. Get Some Eyes On That Thing!

Ask some friends who are willing to overlook your typos and grammatical errors to read your manuscript. This isn’t a edit pass. You want folks who can look past errors and focus on character development, plot, pacing, and world building. Listen to their feedback and incorporate or ignore it as you see fit. It’s good to gauge what works and what doesn’t. There’s a lot of good advice for finding and working with alpha/beta readers, three great posts I’d recommend:

5 Things You Should Know about Working with Beta Readers

by Joel Friedlander
Writing Excuses Podcast: Alpha Readers

by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, & Dan Wells

and specifically for readers:

5 Things Beta Readers Should Know Before They Agree To The Task

by Lauren Sapala

5. Think About Your Go-To-Market Strategy

The manuscript is finished, it’s time to consider your choices. You can shop the manuscript to publishers or take the self-publishing road. Neither are bad decisions but you need to find what works for you.

Traditional Publishing

You’ll need to find an agent, which means synopsis and query letters and rejections. Once that’s done the agent will need to find a editor which means more rejections until you find one. However, once you find a publisher willing to take you on they’ll do a lot of the heavy lifting. They’ll handle promotion and cover design and provide you with an editor. They’ll also throw an advance your way as well.

Independent Publishing

To me, this is a lot more than just throwing your manuscript online and letting it go. I think doing independent publishing properly requires a small business mindset. You need to start thinking like a publisher. You need to be honest with yourself about your skillset. Most folks will need to hire an editor. You’ll also probably want to hire a designer for the cover and perhaps figure out how to do layout for your printed publication. There’s some services to help you: Amazon’s CreateSpace has layout and cover design packages and recently Nook has launched their own line. It’ll require some initial investment but your readers will appreciate the attention to detail. Once that’s decided you’ll need to consider marketing. With independent publishing you’re essentially deciding to become a small business and that is daunting to some people. There’s a lot to that, but I think it’s best saved for a future blog post.

6. Start Your Next Project

If you want to be a writer you have to keep writing. So start your next story! Maybe it’s a sequel, perhaps it’s something completely different, maybe something you left out or something you didn’t have the ability to explore might work better as it’s own stand alone book. It’s important to keep working and honing those skills. Live every month like it’s National Novel Writing Month.

Finally, and most important, congrats on finishing. Forty-thousand words is an immense accomplishment and you should be proud! You have done what a lot of people only dream of doing. You’re a writer! Now get out there and share your work with the world.

What advice would you give your fellow NaNoWriMo participants? Has anyone ever shared some advice that has stuck with you? Leave a comment and let us know!

Filed under: publishing, writing Tagged: beta readers, independent publishing, NaNoWriMo, revisions, Traditional Publishing

Schultzian Lovecraft

I stumbled across these reinterpretations of Lovecraft’s stories done Charles Schultz style by illustrator Julien Bazinet and I had to share them. They’re terrifyingly adorable. I don’t know about you, but I’d watch this holiday special.

See more of Julien Bazinet’s work at his DeviantArt page.

Filed under: Art, Random Tagged: charles schultz, charlie brown, Comic, cthulhu, julien bazinet, peanuts, snoopy

Update: Signed Copies Of OLD BROKEN ROAD Are Sold Out

Just wanted to post a quick update. If you visit my store you’ll notice that signed copies of Old Broken Road are currently sold out! Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I really do appreciate everyone’s excitement and support, it makes me wish I ordered more initially. Luckily there’s more inbound. Since the Thanksgiving holiday is this coming Thursday here in the US so I won’t see that shipment until next week.

Until then, ebooks are (obviously) still available and I still have plenty of signed copies of The Stars Were Right and the Bell Caravan Patches. If you’re hankering to get your hands on a copy of Old Broken Road and cannot wait, they’re still readily available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Filed under: My Books, old broken road Tagged: books, old broken road, the stars were right

Not The Automobile

“A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.”

― Frederik Pohl

Filed under: Inspiration, Quotes Tagged: Frederik Pohl, Plot, Science Fiction, worldbuilding, writing

Friday Link Pack 11-21-2014

Friday, Friday, FRRRIIIDDDAAAY! That means it’s time to share a few links I’ve found over the last few days. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Let me know! All right, let’s get to it.

Tanzania:

Community Starts With You

My friend Brandie Heinel is moving to Tanzania to build an orphanage, foster home, and community center. She needs your help. Instead of buying that coffee or a beer today, please take time and donate.

Writing:

Burying The Coin By Setsu Uzume

Do yourself a favor and listen to the latest short story from my friend Setsu Uzume over on PodCastle. If you’re looking for a steampunk romp with a little more punk, then you won’t be disappointed. Not only is the writing great, Amanda Fitzwater does an excellent job with the reading.

‘Am I Being Catfished?’ An Author Confronts Her Number One Online Critic

Strange tale of an author seeking her biggest Goodreads critic. This was making the rounds for a while, but it’s worth a read if you missed it. Thanks to J. Rushing for suggesting I add it. Oh, and I should add, never, never, never do this.

The Book That Writes Itself

In which Hugh Howey asks the question: when will machines start writing books? Don’t think it could happen? Think again. It’s an interesting exploration on the advancement of artificial intelligence and humanities future.

Grimm Brothers’ Fairytales Have Blood & Horror Restored In New Translation

You’re probably aware that the old fairy tales were much different than the ones we know today. In the mid 19th century they were cleaned up for children and deviated significantly from the original stories. Well, good news! In the latest edition, those tales have been restored to their terrifying glory, and now I know what’s going on my Christmas list.

Art:

Thierry Cohen’s Darkened Cities

In this series photographer Thierry Cohen explore landscapes we rarely see. Modern cities usually alive with artificial light, lit only by the stars.

Surreal Pencil Drawings Of Lips By Christo Dagorov

Switzerland-based illustrator creates fascinating imagery and landscapes within the texture of human lips.

The Weather Diaries

A book and short film made to celebrate Norwegian Fashion Week that goes above and beyond. Surreal and haunting imagery that is stunningly beautiful. Thanks to my own favorite painter, Kari-Lise (who else), for sharing this.

Random:

Norway’s Sleek New Passports Contain A Surprise Design Feature

As I said on twitter, I think Norway is going to win “Best Looking Passport.” Is that a thing? We should make it a thing.

Cory Doctorow: Information Doesn’t Want To Be Free

I debated putting this in writing, and opted here, because information is much broader than just the written word. Anyway, Doctorow makes a case that digital locks are worthless and access is better in the long run (and people will pay for it.)

Ancient Egyptian Handbook Of Spells Deciphered

Here’s your fascinating archaeology news of the week, a 1300 year old manuscript deciphered. They claim it contains spells to cure possession by spirits and various ailments, or to bring success in love and business but let’s hope no one conjures up a First, eh?

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Book

“As I hurried home through those narrow, winding, mist-choked waterfront streets I had a frightful impression of being stealthily followed by softly padding feet.”

Gif of the Week:

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: archaeology, catfished, charity, Community, donation, DRM, egypt, goodreads, grimm's fairy tales, information, lovecraft, Norway, robots, setsu uzume, steampunk, tanzania, thierry cohen

Community Starts With You

Hello friends and readers! Today I’m asking you to join me in taking part in something pretty extraordinary.

My friend Brandie Heinel is moving to Tanzania to build an orphanage, foster home and community center. The construction of these buildings will help create over 100 new jobs, educate over 600 new students and leave a positive impact in both of these communities for generations. Brandie is overseeing the construction and working alongside the school’s administration to ensure that the project is completed and the community’s needs are met with utmost care and support.

I’ve been following her progress via http://mamahope.brandieheinel.com, and the partnership between her and the community is inspiring. I want to spread that inspiration. She’s already raised over $8,000 of her $40,000 goal, but she needs your help!

The holiday season is a time to give thanks – a time when we show others how grateful we are for our own great fortune. What better way to begin the season of giving than to give the infinite gifts of health and education?

So please, visit her fundraising page at http://mamahope.brandieheinel.com. Please DONATE there and help her give the children of Tanzania the opportunity to live happy and healthy lives in a campus that is dedicated to their future. The $10, $20 or more you might spend on a shirt, lunch, or beer this week could instead go towards sustainable and necessary community-created care for brilliant children. Help to be part of a community building an orphanage, foster home and community center. Brandie only has 42 days left to reach her goal of 40k. What could be better? Please donate and tell your friends!

Filed under: Random Tagged: charity, Community, donation, tanzania