Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 57

Yep, That’s Climate Change

Kumquats

With Tess on the East Coast we’ve heard all the caterwauling that keeps getting broadcast by denizens of the right-coast every time a slow moving low pressure system pushes its way across the area. Here is the thing folks, they’re all “polar vortices”. That’s right every last low pressure system that has crossed any door step on the east coast in the last 250 years was, without question, a circumpolar whirl.

But here is the fun part, due to the long-term, transformative effects of lowe...

Anyway, My Role

Is to just write books. Ol’ Dead Ed is still one of my favorites. A bit of a hero, an example to live up to, and a bit of the anti-hero, the asshole you mutter about when he’s not listening.

After Action Report: Cover Words & Formatting

I had never previously considered all the extra parts that you must necessarily write, edit, and have at hand when you publish a book. And in hind sight this is something any Indie should be ready to deal with, and have a plan to manage.

Blurbs

These are short, one or two sentence, “reviews” that get appended to the story cover and to book descriptions. At release date you could have powered a zero-point singularity generator with the amount I had. It was not something I was considering, and wh...

After Action Report: Legendary ConFusion

Saladine Ahmed and Howard A. Jones together

I have not yet left Detroit, but it is important to get some of this information down quickly to avoid the danger of losing these lessons. Over all Legendary ConFusionwas a very good experience for me. It has been both illustrative, outlining a number of concepts I need to grasp before I can expect to grow my reader base or improve my work, and entertaining, providing me a bevy of new friends and peers.

Brian McCellen and Sam Sykes Horn Brothers

Divers...

Inferiority Complex

Member of the Pack

I write to you today, a changed man.

I’m going to keep this brief because I want to get right back into the convention schedule, but I now know that my inferiority complex (mostly to do with being an Indie) was completely unjustified. Yesterday I met an amazing collection of literary types, some of whom have been occupying pedestals of heroism in my mind for a long time. We laughed, we talked, and I realized that there is not a lot of difference between us, beyond whoever’s i...

Kindle Count Down Deal

For a limited time only $0.99

That’s right, for a limited time, “The Big Red Buckle” will be available via Amazon for the low, low price of only $0.99. Now is your time to own the first in the series. Top quality cover work by Jeffrey Witty. Excellent words arranged artfully in interesting patterns by Matthew Thyer. You too can be part of the phenomenon. Hang out with the cool kids. Buy “The Big Red Buckle“.

Fan Metrics

I have no fans

I am waiting on a “webinar” with Hugh Howie to start and browsing through Kboards while simultaneously avoiding the next chapter of “Up Slope” and packing for my trip to ConFusion later this afternoon when I come across a reference to a new site called BookVibe. I know I should be working a little harder than this, and I’ll keep that in mind. I’m just feeling pretty low energy right now.

I searched on my book usingBookVibemore out of curiosity than anything else. I like maps and...

The Problem with Facebook

“The problem with Facebook is that it’s keeping things from you.” Yep, that pretty much sums it up. If you’re reading this on Facebook right now, know that you’ve almost won the lottery.

My recent experiences with Facebook promotions was a less than stellar example of the grift that is Facebook. This guy does a very good job of explaining the internals of why this media outlet will never work out for creatives and independents.

Yeah sure, I’ll still use FB as a social site for an author presenc...

Who I Pictured in my Mind When I Wrote Pet

This is the latest from Jean-Baptiste Chandelier. The video has some sick Acro in it. Check out the helicopter at 2:22, low altitude endless flips (near Mont Blanc Massif), and, near the end, a SAT par excellence over some impressive white.

There are aspects of this guy’s public image that I held close in my mind when I was writing Petrus Mandel in “The Big Red Buckle“. He is a real artist in the air and seems to have a fun-loving attitude that, while not unique in the sport, is outstanding be...

Packing for Detroit

Good grief! I’ve got to pack my bag for Legendary ConFusion this afternoon. The cards look awesome, I’ve already given out a couple and they seem well received. I ended up choosing to go with the Luxe stock from Mooand they color matched the middle layer of red with the cover colors so the whole thing has heft and looks really sweet. You could frame these cards and mount them on your wall they are that nice. Again, a huge thanks and plenty of kudos to Jeffrey Witty, the incomparable artist wh...