Nicholas A. McGirr's Blog, page 9

August 12, 2013

The Past Few Months

So for the past few months, I've been terribly busy. Apologies for never keeping up with this blog are in order to all who have subscribed.

Nine months ago, I moved my family to Myrtle Beach from Youngstown, Ohio, a huge move and transition for all of us.
Not only were we all adapting to a new town and schools, but I also never stopped my education along the way. My major English courses have come and gone and I have begun the courses for my second major in Journalism. I have one year left at my university

Also in recent months, I also began researching more and more about the freelance business on top of my studies in school. I'm hoping that in the months to come, my writing style will not only change, but evolve into something far better than what I've given to you, my readers in the past.

So what's to come in the next few months? A new website that will focus all my talents in hopes of engaging with new clients. The finishing of Book Two: Book of Joel, the sequel to The Growing Dim Project. More updates here on Goodreads, LinkedIn, and other networking sites, all in hopes of gaining knowledge and future clients. I also have some really great blog ideas that include some great talent on YouTube, a capella groups, and well, just life in general.

All in all, this blog post is a simple: "Hey, I'm still alive." Only I'm not only doing well, I'm thriving on all the knowledge and experience of writing and becoming a better writer daily.

Thanks for reading,
Nicholas.

If you've been awaiting for Book Two: Book of Joel, please check out The Life Tree, a short story I published a few months ago. This should suffice while I finish up other projects.

The Life Tree by Nicholas A. McGirr
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Published on August 12, 2013 21:38 Tags: book-two, life-tree, nicholas-mcgirr

April 6, 2013

FREE Book Weekend

Hello everyone,

Just thought I would let everyone know that Life of Death and The Life Tree are FREE downloads this weekend on amazon. Click the links above to add to your "to read" shelves and click the links below to get to the amazon pages.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Tree-e...

http://www.amazon.com/Life-of-Death-e...

Enjoy and be sure to share the news!

Nicholas.
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Published on April 06, 2013 08:54 Tags: free, giveaway, kindle, life-of-death, life-tree, nicholas

March 3, 2013

The Second Walking Dead Hour

Hello everyone,

With the huge response from my last post, I decided to post another blog here on goodreads simply title The Second Walking Dead Hour. What's ironic about this is that I received most of my views of the last blog post DURING the showing of The Walking Dead. Which means that those of you interested in The Walking Dead and are watching the latest and greatest episode also have your laptops nearby searching for websites about The Walking Dead.

I have no shame in writing my blog during the show and grabbing some attention towards my own work. My blog posts prior to The Walking Dead Hour were about a giveaway of one of my titles, Life of Death. Apparently giving away something does not have the same appeal as the dramatic zombies crawling across your televisions.

So, during this hour (or two if you are watching the Talk Show about The Walking Dead afterwards) my wife, Holly is glued to the TV, the same as you. She awaits the next episode weekly and this gives me a chance to do one of three things. First, to now write this blog post weekly, second to work on my school work, or third to work on my writing and editing.

Today, I shall finish up this blog post, begin researching my next paper for school and then start wrapping up my latest project which will be release probably late spring. It's a novelette entitled The Life Tree and the final details are being wrapped up with the artist for the cover which I cannot wait to release for the public to see.

I plan on doing another giveaway of Life of Death here on goodreads in the near future but with that giveaway and the release of The Life Tree, unfortunately the price for Life of Death on Kindle and Nook will be raised from 99 cents to $1.99. The reason for this being I can't see charging more than 99 cents for a novelette and will be under the free amazon program for a short time to raise publicity.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm curious to see how many people will view this blog and pass it on.

Is this a cheapskate way of promoting my own material? Probaby, but I find that promoting my books with out of the box thinking is what will indeed help me to sell more books. Here's to a great episode of The Walking Dead that will leave a huge cliffhanger so that I may continue this blog.

As always, thanks for reading,
Nicholas.
Life of Death
The Growing Dim Project
Book of Joel
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Published on March 03, 2013 18:24 Tags: book-of-joel, growing-dim, life-of-death, nicholas-mcgirr, walking-dead

February 24, 2013

The Walking Dead Hour

So I find that every Sunday, my wife is glued to the television watching The Walking Dead. I tried watching this show with her several times, especially since I am a horror fan, but just cannot seem to get into it.

So, now I've decided to work every Sunday while she is watching this show. I won't knock it, but just know I have tried it.

I have currently started another project, this makes three, that I hope to release by the end of this year. This new project entitled The Life Tree, will be a novella and will be exclusive to amazon. Another strange tale of the afterlife and possible reincarnation.

I get asked constantly about what my books are about. I used to say Greek Mythology and music, but found that with all projects I've published and/or working on they all seem to have one common theme: reincarnation.

I'm excited about this project and it is almost at a completion where I will be ready to publish it by the end of March or the beginning of April.

I will be posting the cover to this once I get approval from the artist.

If anyone has any info or input on going exclusive to Amazon's KDP program please contact me and share some experiences. I would love to know how it works out for you.

Other than that, I've got to get back to writing and editing. If you haven't entered my contest for a paperback copy of Life of Death, please check the link below and feel free to enter, post to your Facebook page or do whatever it is you do.

Until next time, thanks for reading,

Nicholas.
Life of Death
The Growing Dim Project
Book of Joel
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Published on February 24, 2013 18:09 Tags: death, life, nicholas-mcgirr, walking-dead

February 4, 2013

Another Giveaway!

In case you haven't seen my Facebook posts, or updates here on goodreads, I'm doing ANOTHER giveaway!

This giveaway is for a print copy of my ebook, Life of Death. These promo editions cannot be purchased online or in stores.

My goal is to reach 2,000 entries. Please pass this along in any way shape or form of social networking: email, FB, goodreads, twitter, etc. It will be greatly appreciated!

Enter simply by clicking the link below to go to the Life of Death page.

Good Luck,

Nicholas.
Life of Death
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Published on February 04, 2013 07:05 Tags: death, free, giveaway, life, nicholas

Another Giveaway!

In case you haven't seen my Facebook posts, or updates here on goodreads, I'm doing ANOTHER giveaway!

This giveaway is for a print copy of my ebook, Life of Death. These promo editions cannot be purchased online or in stores.

My goal is to reach 2,000 entries. Please pass this along in any way shape or form of social networking: email, FB, goodreads, twitter, etc. It will be greatly appreciated!

Enter simply by clicking the link below to go to the Life of Death page.

Good Luck,

Nicholas.
Life of Death
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Published on February 04, 2013 07:05 Tags: death, free, giveaway, life, nicholas

September 15, 2012

Another old find

If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know that I'm a sucker for finding old books. And I found yet another set of great finds today at a local "trash and treasure" from a local church today.

With only spending $4, I was able to pick up quite a few books today, mostly references that I can use later in my writing career and through the rest of my college days. But I found one particular book that turned more into a treasure once I did some research.

My sister is a huge fan of Gone with the Wind, the film and book. So when I spotted a 1939 edition of Gone With the Wind today, the Motion Picture Edition I didn't realize what a great find this truly was.

With doing a little research and sending off a few emails, I'm hoping that my 50 cent find will turn into a small gem worth a couple of hundred dollars. I was surprised to see that the one item I intended to give away as a gift was the one true gem that came out of the old stack.

Regardless of the value of the book, there will be a story when I give it to my sister for whatever occoasion I should choose and honestly, that's more important to me than the dollar value. I'm not sure when I'll give it up, but when I do, I'm sure that my sister (also a writer) will appreciate the time and research I've put into this particular find. It is in excellent condition and cannot wait to see what the experts have to email me back.

I shall keep you posted and attach pictures when I do.
Until then, thanks for reading,

Nicholas A. McGirr
The Growing Dim Project: Book One
Life of Death
Book of Joel
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Published on September 15, 2012 19:41 Tags: gone-with-the-wind, old-books

June 28, 2012

Yet another Successul Giveaway!

Just another post to say thanks to all of you who showed interest in my work, by either download the still FREE copy of Life of Death or entering to win a paperback copy, that ended yesterday.

With almost 900 entries on this giveaway and over 1,000 on the previous, nothing can keep a writer inspired than seeing that there are readers interested in their work. So thank YOU!

I have been working on the sequel to The Growing Dim Project (for those of you waiting patiently) and still hope to release it by the end of this summer. With honing my skills in college, I'm sure that any reader can appreciate anyone working on perfecting their craft.

So to end this post quickly, I encourage all those to who have downloaded Life of Death to leave some sort of feedback. If you've been on the Life of Death book page lately, you'll see that the honest reviews are emerging, and though Life of Death isn't for everyone, I greatly appreciate all feedback.

Nicholas.
Life of Death
Book One: The Growing Dim Project

And don't forget to add to your shelves:
Book Two: Book of Joel
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Published on June 28, 2012 09:43 Tags: free, giveaway, successful

May 13, 2012

Many Thanks to the 1,000+ Entries of my Giveaway!

Now that the Giveaway for Life of Death is over, I just wanted to say thank you for all your interest in my work. I never would have thought that the amount requested would reach beyond 500, but it in fact raised awareness to over 1,000!

I was very excited to do this giveaway and hope to be able to do more in the future. Last year, with the launch of my first ebook, Book One: The Growing Dim Project, I gave away a Kobo ereader and also found that to be successful as well.

As part of this giveaway and the success of it, I thought I would drop a line to those following this blog that I have dropped the price for my ebooks and the pricing is exclusive to goodreads! The formatting is compatible with kindle and the nook, as well as any other ereader you can come up with (not to mention, you could just download it to your computer and read!). Life of Death is set at $2.99 and Book One: The Growing Dim Project is set at $3.99.

Again, I just wanted to give a simple thank you for being interested in my works. I am currently working on the sequel to The Growing Dim Project and I am launching it this upcoming summer of 2012, and will quite possibly do a paperback giveaway for it as well. Be sure to check out previews of it through "Nicholas's Writings" on my author page and you can check out the new cover and synopsis for Book Two: Book of Joel by clicking the title.

Again, many thanks to all who have entered my giveaway!

Nicholas A. McGirr
Life of Death by Nicholas A. McGirr Book One The Growing Dim Project by Nicholas A. McGirr Book Two Book of Joel (Sequel to The Growing Dim Project) by Nicholas A. McGirr
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Published on May 13, 2012 04:31 Tags: book-of-joel, free, giveaway, growing-dim-project, life-of-death, nicholas-mcgirr, price, thanks

May 7, 2012

An Antique Find

As an online English major, I am currently entering my major courses. As of late, I recently finished an American Literature prior to 1865 course. Through this course, I am reminded constantly of why I wanted to become a writer in the first place. Reading Hawthorne, Poe and Dickinson and finding new stories that I long to either read again or get the full manuscript. As an online student, my courses are accelerated for I only take one course at a time. The courses are five weeks long, back to back, and sometimes the short amount of time does not allow for full books to be studied in their entirety. This was the case with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Having never read this story and reading through the textbook, I was highly disappointed when I turned the last page of Chapter 1 and there stared at me the front page of Chapter 9. Highway robbery, I tell ya, robbery to a lover of literature! Regardless of my disappointment in the missing chapters, I started a quest to find a copy of this book and read it in its entirety. I felt the need to, like it was drawing me in somehow supernaturally. Not only do I feel an obligation to read a novel that influenced our entire nation to some that would even blame the War Between the States, but as a very eclectic person, I felt the need to venture away from my stories of the supernatural, death and vampirism and really dive into one of America’s great classics.

So, after rifling through my library of classics and finding Tom Sawyer, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Lovecraft, I racked my brain trying to remember if I actually owned a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I remembered seeing the title among my books once, but could not remember if it was one of the books my mother and I shared while I was living at home as a teenager.

I eventually gave up on my search to find the book for I couldn’t even picture the cover of the edition I thought I once owned. I’m now off to visit my mother and the title comes to my mind again and so I ask if she owns a copy.

She takes me by the hand up to her private library (an extra bedroom in their home) and thumbs through a small cabinet that is filled with books with broken spines, the covers barely hanging on to the original glue, and faded jackets. I wait. She pulls out her copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, it’s red, hardbound and the cover is screaming for life as the threads hang loosely from the edges. I open it with such subtlety afraid of ripping the precious find in my hands. As soon as I open it, a small piece of the front brittle page flakes off to the floor. My mother is not worried, she knows it is old.

The pages are yellowed deeply and I flip through the brittle pages wondering where she found this book or if it was passed down. I do not curve the pages and pick up each small stack of pages and move it over to the left careful not allow any more flakes to fall through my fingers. Upon reaching the last final pages of the book, I come across some advertisements that were published with the book. I find a Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup ad, which I find entirely too amusing.

I move the old pages back to the right to search for a publication year, anything to give me an indication of the time period of this book. I know that the original title was published in 1852, but this was obviously a much later reprint.

I took pictures of the book once I finally set it down. After not finding any publication date, I decided to research it for my mother. I wanted to know the year and publication and the monetary value of the book, not that it would compare to the value of simply holding something that has lasted over 100 years. The pictures can be found here:

http://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/1...

I began researching the cover of the book as well as the advertisement in the back and to no avail do I find anything significant. I can place the book around 1876-1893, but that’s a wide span of decades to really narrow down. Though not disappointed in my research for it brings a sense of mystery to my mother’s copy, and well, I like that. A great true mystery is hard to come by, and my mother does not remember where she got it from. “Some garage sale, probably,” she says.

Though my personal books are in ebook format, I love the smell, the page flips, the spine, the care that goes into making a physical book. As a book lover reading this, I’m sure you can relate. At this point of my writing career, I am adapting to the times with my ebooks, and I fear that the actual invention and wonder a physical book gives will cease to exist one day. Our children will one day look at books the same way we look at vinyl records, I’m sure of it. I don’t know about you, but I still have and cherish my vinyls. I hope the same can be done with the classic hardcover book that has survived through 10 or more decades.

I write this because my little adventure with Uncle Tom’s Cabin will now hold something simpler for me as I continue to write more stories and share them as much as I can. I hope that whoever reads this shares my beliefs and will continue sharing and passing on any and all books in their library.

Until next time, thanks for reading and keep sharing your favorite reads!

Nicholas A. McGirr
The Growing Dim Project Book One by Nicholas A. McGirr Book Two Book of Joel (Sequel to The Growing Dim Project) by Nicholas A. McGirr Life of Death by Nicholas A. McGirr
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Published on May 07, 2012 09:08 Tags: antique, classic, death, harriet-beecher-stowe, life, nicholas, nicholas-mcgirr, uncle-tom-s-cabin