K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 80

Read A Sample Chapter Of Old Broken Road Now!

It’s September 1st, as promised the sample chapter of Old Broken Road is now available and you can read it for free at:

oldbrokenroad.com

Like what you read? Make sure to tell your friends on Twitter and Facebook and use the hashtag #OldBrokenRoad. Stick around as we get closer to the launch. There’s all sorts of excitement to come. There will be new swag and more giveaways, all building towards the release of the book!

Chaos awaits…

Filed under: Old Broken Road Tagged: ebooks, reading, Sample

Seattle Geekly Giveaway!

It’s PAXPrime weekend here in Seattle, and not all of us are able to go, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win free books and swag! Throughout the weekend you win signed copies of The Stars Were Right from my friends Shannon & Matt over at Seattle Geekly. Simply follow them on Twitter and find out how you can win!

Make sure you subscribe to Seattle Geekly [iTunes - RSS - Stitcher]. It’s a great weekly nerd-centric podcast covering: gaming, cons, movies, television, books, comics, and more. Basically all things awesome.

Filed under: The Stars Were Right Tagged: Books, Giveaway, PAX, Podcast, Seattle, seattle geekly

Friday Link Pack 08/29/2014

The weekend approaches! That means it’s time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. 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!

Old Broken Road:

Sample Old Broken Road Next Monday!

That’s right, on September 1st I will be releasing a sample chapter of Old Broken Road at oldbrokenroad.com. Really excited to get this out there. We’re getting really close! Those who sign up for my newsletter get notified first when Old Broken Road is released, so sign up today!

Writing:

What It Takes To Cook Some Of Literature’s Most Famous Meals

The Smithsonian looks at Dinah Fried’s new book Fictitious Dishes, which brings some of literature’s most famous meals to life. Everything from the chowder from Melville’s Moby Dick to the roasted eggs and potatoes from Burnett’s The Secret Garden. This is a food and literature lovers dream.

How Big Is Your Pond?

Dave Farland answers the question of every budding speculative fiction author, “should I write science fiction, or should I focus more on young adult novels? Which way should I go?” It’s good advice and something to consider. (Spoiler: above all, write what you love.)

Why Don’t Authors Compete?

Seth Godin explores the idea that writing isn’t a competition, and how the community works towards the betterment of all… although someone forgot to tell that to the authors in our next link.

Amazing Author Insults That Actually Raise Insults To An Art Form

An amusing collection of authors insulting other authors about their work. Someone should have sent them Seth Godin’s link. (Thanks to Kevin for submitting this one.)

Art:

80’s Sysadmin Warning Posters Look Like Dystopian Parodies

Strange and hilarious these System Admin posters from the 80s have that perfect mix of retro and strange dystopian Nineteen Eighty-Four future. (Thanks to Chris for sending this one in.)

1950s Hong Kong Captured In Street Photography By Fan Ho

Beautiful photography of everyday life in Hong Kong, China during the middle of last century. Haunting. (Thanks to Dwayne for this one. Fantastic find.)

Visual Inspiration by Gustavo Mendonca 

Going back into the archives for this one. Mendonca’s cityscapes for the now canceled Star Wars: 1313 creates a multilayered and gritty version on the Star Wars universe. Cool stuff.

Random:

33 “Facts” Everybody Knows That Are Actually Total Lies

You’ve heard a lot of these before, from alcohol killing brain cells (it doesn’t) to being able to see the Great Wall of China from space (you can’t) to vaccination causing autism (nope.) Nice collection. Worth checking out, or sending to that obnoxious family member that posts scare-articles on Facebook without actually vetting them.

Classic First Lines of Novels in Emojis: A Quiz

How many of these can you figure out. I got about half, which I think makes me pretty old, or kind of dumb.

Pop Sonnets

Take the pop songs of today, throw in a bit of the Bard, and what do you get? Pop Sonnets! (Thanks to Ben for this one. So great.)

The King And His Objects

“I think it is pretty clear that people who call for more objectivity are actually calling for subjectivity more closely aligned with their own viewpoints.” Fantastic article on “gamers” and the marketplace by writer, composer, and video game creator Matthew S. Burns. (Thanks to Chris for pointing this one out.)

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

Hypnos

A sculptor meets a mysterious man, and what comes of that meeting will change his life (and his work) forever.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: Competition, Food, Gamers, Hong Kong, Insults, Lies, Lovecraft, Novels, Old Broken Road, Sonnets

Visual Inspiration: Kuldar Leement

Crusaders (Detail) by Kuldar Leement

It’s been a while since I have posted a visual inspiration post, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been inspired! Those of you who follow me on Pinterest see me post things almost daily, but I know there a lot of you who just read my blog. So I am overdue.

My friend Ryan O’Nan—who is a marvelous illustrator in his own right (and available for hire!)—shared the work of Kuldar Leement. Ethereal landscapes, strange figures, and gorgeously rendered city scenes dominate his work. Each telling a story of their own. His use of space is what really stands out, in many pieces he creates a vastness that is somehow also very intimate. My favorites below:

Golden Witch Doctor by Kuldar Leement
Euphoria by Kuldar Leement
Brofist From God by Kuldar Leement
Never Quiet by Kuldar Leement

Amazing work, right? I could post so much more of his work, but you should really just check it out for yourself. See more of Kuldar’s illustrations at his site: http://www.kuldarleement.eu/ —  good stuff. I hope you found it as inspiring as I did.

Filed under: Art, Inspiration Tagged: book cover, Illustration, Kuldar Leement

Sample Old Broken Road Next Monday!

It’s finally happening. Next Monday, September 1st, I will be releasing a sample of Old Broken Road at oldbrokenroad.com! My editor and I have been hard at work all summer and I’m pretty dang excited with the progress we’ve made. I can’t wait to give everyone a little taste of Waldo Bell’s next adventure. If you enjoyed The Stars Were Right I think you’ll love this one.

In the meantime: check out Old Broken Road’s cover, scope some of The Stars Were Right fan art on Pinterest, grab an Old Broken Road background, and make sure to sign up for my newsletter and be the first to know when it’s released!

Filed under: Old Broken Road Tagged: Books, Free, Lovecraft, Prologue, reading, Sample

Friday Link Pack 08/22/2014

Friday time! It’s time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. 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!

Writing:

What’s Up With That: Why It’s So Hard To Catch Your Own Typos

Self-editing can be tough, but why is it so tough? Wired explores this conundrum. (Regardless of your choice in publishing, traditional or indie, I recommend you work with an editor. It’s important.)

How To Promote Yourself And Your Books Without Feeling Like A Soul-Selling, Sleaze-Sucking, Slime-Glob

If you’re in the business of writing then you’re in the business of promotion. Chuck Wendig offers some advice for how to promote yourself without feeling gross.

How To Spend The First 10 Minutes Of Your Day

Mise-en-place, a simple approach to getting yourself focused and ready to produce.

Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules For Writers

Great advice from one of the most prolific authors of the century. There’s so much good stuff here I have a hard time picking a favorite.

My SpoCon Debriefing

Last weekend I attended SpoCon in Spokane, WA. I had a great time. If you missed it check out this post to see photos and my highlights.

Free Shipping On The Stars Were Right through Sunday

To celebrate Lovecraft’s 124th birthday I’m offering free shipping anywhere in the US. I might not be able to beat Amazon on price, but I’ll throw in free swag!

Art:

Marilyn Myller

Incredible stop motion short featuring tiny carved foam dolls.

The Art Of Jeremy Chong

I stumbled across Jeremy Chong’s work this last week and a few pieces immediately evoked Lovat for me. Incredible concept work from fantasy to science fiction.

The Art Of Karla Ortiz

Another recent find. Karla Ortiz does great concept art as well, but what really stood out to me was her graphite pieces. (Pictured above.) Her work is stunning.

Clayton Kauzlaric’s Time-Warp Photos Of Seattle

Old lined up with the modern. Love these series. Apparently the old waterfront was significantly cooler than it is today.

Random:

Baltic Heraldry

Family crests from Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania in a 1902 calendar of colour woodblock prints. So much of our pop culture heraldic knowledge comes from countries like England, France, and Germany. It’s nice to see some other european countries highlighted.

Cultivating The Map

Danny Wills explored how survey instruments, cartographic tools, and architecture might work together at different scales to transform tracts of land in the geographic center of the United States. Very cool. Thanks to Todd for sharing this with me.

Humans Need Not Apply

An interesting video exploring the subject of the rise of robots in the labor force and how we’re moving towards a future built mainly by machines. It starts with the transportation and then slowly ripples through the rest of the world. Very much worth a watch.

The Evolution Of Mobile Gaming

A fun interactive article exploring of mobile gaming through the years.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Haunter Of The Dark

A young man investigates an ancient church on Federal Hill and finds more than he bargains for. This was a big influence on Old Broken Road, and one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. The H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast has a fantastic reading of The Haunter Of The Dark available for free, I’d recommend it.

Farewell Gif of the Week:

You think this is cool? Check out the video.

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: Baltic Heraldry, Clayton Kauzlaric, Jeremy Chong, Karla Ortiz, maps, Mobile Gaming, robots, Seattle, Self-Promotion, SpoCon, Stephen King, typos, Writing

Free Shipping Through Sunday!

Today marks the 124th birthday of H.P. Lovecraft. I figured since mattress stores and car lots have sales for every holiday under the sun I get to do something similar!

Today I am offering free shipping on any order from my store. (US only.) Just use the code Lovecraft124 when you checkout and your shipping will be free! This code will be valid through the end of the week so if you miss it today, fret not, the code will work through Sunday the 24th.

store.kmalexander.com

Filed under: The Stars Were Right Tagged: birthday, Books, free shipping, Lovecraft, sale

A SpoCon Debriefing

Here’s my first con report! This last weekend I spent my time slinging books at SpoCon 2014 in Spokane, Washington. And what a weekend it was! The con was great and full of friendly people, great guest speakers, and amazing costumes. I’ve been to a few conventions before but this was my first as a sponsor/vendor. I’m excited to see what comes of it.

Before I delve into highlight, I want to thank everyone who came by the booth and picked up a copy of The Stars Were Right. I sold way more than I expected and I hope everyone who grabbed a copy enjoy’s Wal’s story! Extra thanks to those folks who came back before the con was even over to tell me they were already reading and really liking the book. You made this author’s day.

Some highlights:

Discussing Lovecraft his writing, influences, and style with a number of attendees. I could do this forever.
Meeting new people, fellow authors, and the supportive SpoCon team.
Seeing all the cosplayers. As you can see from my pictures they were great. I’ll admit that I came into this with a bit of a bias towards bigger conventions. I didn’t expect the level of quality I saw. I was glad to be proven wrong. Incredible work by everyone.
Hanging out with my buddy Josh Montreuil. The guy is a talent. Expect some rad stuff from him in the future.
Talking with a veteran author about the publishing industry, writing, and all his experience over the years. As a guy just starting out it was great to talk with someone with so much experience. I found the whole conversation really encouraging.
Seeing my rad little sister experience her first sci-fi/fantasy convention. She came as Dave Strider from Homestuck on Friday and as Spine from Steam Powered Giraffe on Saturday—her costumes were incredible and she got tons of reactions as Spine. (You can see her below.)
Watching two guys try and figure out what they loved about the cover of The Stars Were Right and why they were so attracted to it. While I didn’t agree with their conclusion, I did appreciate their kind words. I’m pretty particular about cover design and my thoughts are pretty straightforward, I even wrote a whole post about it.
Casual Thorsday.
Of course, Josh Montreuil’s Silver Laced Polish Tyrannosaurus. (I look forward to more of these.)

I’m still coming down from the high of it all. It’s exhausting but really fun. Glad I went, as with everything I learned a lot. Now to decide which convention comes next…

Filed under: Con Reports, The Stars Were Right Tagged: Conventions, cosplay, cover design, Homestuck, Josh Montreuil, Lovecraft, SpoCon, Spokane, Steam Powered Giraffe

A Memo Of Things

I have a little list of things I have been wanting to post about. I figured a single post is easier than a bunch of little posts. So anyway, let’s get to it!

Bad news first: there will be no Friday Link Pack this week. Sorry about that! Since I am traveling to Spokane for SpoCon I won’t have time to assemble a weekly collection of linky goodness. If you’re jonesing for a fix feel free to scroll back through the Friday Link Pack archive. I’m sure you’ll find stuff you missed.
If you are a regular visitor I’m sure you’ve noticed there have been some changes to the Project Tracker on the right. A few new projects have cropped up, and another one has finished. What could they be! I’ll have a full announcement coming soon but for now enjoy this little teaser site (with headphones!) It is exceptionally teasery.
I am currently obsessed with Hell on Wheels, which is good, as I need something to occupy my downtime until football season officially starts. I put it off for a while, but now that I am watching it regularly I am really digging it. It’s a solid western with some great characters. It is worth a watch.
SpoCon attendees: I’ll see you soon! I’m excited to meet folks, sell some books, and visit the city of my birth. My booth is located right outside of the dealers room so stop by and say hello and grab some free swag. I got a ton of stickers, bookmarks, and buttons that are yours for the taking. If you can’t make it to SpoCon hit up my Free Stuff page and find out how you can get a swag pack. It’s easy, and free, well… it’ll cost you two stamp. So it’s easy, and like ninety-something cents.

That’s it! I’ll be back next week with news and most likely a bunch of pictures of snazzy cosplayers.

Filed under: News Tagged: A Waking Thunder, Conventions, Friday Link Pack, Hell on Wheels, Our Dust Forever Echoes, SpoCon

Simple As This

Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

—Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft

I’m not intentionally trying to do a weekly “quote from the masters” thing, I just happened to come across this quote and wanted to share. So, fellow writers, leave a comment and tell the rest of us what you’re reading!

Filed under: Quotes Tagged: Books, On Writing, reading, Stephen King, Writing