BAM!

7 Questions with Writing Raw

Author: August 2, 2009

Weeb at Writing Raw invited me to take part in one of their 7 Question Interviews, which was a lot of fun:

“6. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Number one, do not believe the rumors. Number two, please send me some more money; the pennies I get from every book sold cannot hope to support my drinking and the associated medical bills.”

You can read the whole interview here. After the break, for fun, there’s an old interview I conducted with myself for an issue of The Inner Swine (Volume 4, Issue 4, December 1998).

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BAM!, Bullshit, Deep Thoughts & Pronouncements, Writing

HuZzAh

Author: July 21, 2009

I have these:

Thus there is joy here in the Somers Compound. You will be able to get one for yourself soon. in the mean time, some chaotic things are gonna happen, some of which are still secret.

Not secret: I’m gonna be Tweeting an Avery Cates short story over at http://twitter.com/somers_story starting on 8/5, through 8/12. 8/12 being the official pub date of the book, and also when the main web site (www.eternalprison.com) goes live (right now it’s just a placeholder). If you’re on Twitter, follow me and get a free story!

Other things will be happening, but for now they’re under wraps. And I am tired, and the cats are wrestling because they’re hungry. G’night.

BAM!, More Shit I Gotta Do

Miscellania

Author: June 25, 2009

A couple things that I’ve been remiss about mentioning:

  • Street Team: Friends, have you ever wanted to take part in a slightly incoherent DIY marketing campaign? If so, you’re not alone. A group of scrappy readers have volunteered to do just that, so we’re forming an Eternal Prison Street Team. This basically means I send you promotion materials (stickers, bookmarks, etc) and you. . .well, do what you want with them. Plus anything else creative and legal you can think of. If anyone is interested in becoming one of these cool folks, you can contact me directly or surf on over to our little forum, where I’ve set up a special place for everyone to discuss strategy. I can’t promise everyone makes it back alive, and there’s not money in it for ya, but if you think it’ll be fun, come on by and take a stack of stickers and go to town.
  • In MWA Anthology: I just found out my short story “Sift, Almost Invisible, Through” has been selected to appear in the next anthology put out by Mystery Writers of America. The anthology is tentatively titled Blood Lust and is edited by Charlaine Harris. It’s currently scheduled to appear in April 2010. I am of course still waiting to find out it was all a terrible mistake.

That’s my news for today. I’ll try to lead a more interesting life in the coming days (maybe I’ll try robbing a liquor store) to provide y’all with better blogging.

BAM!, Filthy Lucre, More Shit I Gotta Do, Writing

Open Accessed

Author: June 17, 2009

Hey kids, lookit this:

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/books_9780316022101.htm

It’s my book The Digital Plague online. Free to read. Ain’t that cool?

It’s a pretty nifty little interface, too, I think. Why they chose book #2 while there’s only an excerpt of The Electric Church, I’m not sure, but maybe that’s something that will be worked out in days to come. In the mean time, if you know of anyone who might like my work but hasn’t bothered to buy a copy, feel free to send them this link and they can dig into it for free.

BAM!

The Benefits of the Authorly Life

Author: April 22, 2009

Met up with reader[1] and sometime blog-commenter Damaso yesterday at Rudy’s Bar and Grill in New York City yesterday, after conquering my general fear of everyone who is not already known to me. Aside from a very interesting conversation about a variety of topics, and some of Rudy’s delicious Rudy Red beer, Damaso gifted me with this:

That’s right, moonshine from Hungary. When Damaso emailed me some weeks ago saying that he’d read my pleas for more, more more! liquor on this web site and in my zine and in just about everything I write, and he would bring me back some excellent homemade liquor he’d encountered in his travels, I didn’t believe him. When he emailed and suggested we have a drink so he could pass it over to me, I thought he was probably there to kidnap me and force me to be his own personal ghost-writer (shut up, that happens ALL THE TIME).

In reality, Damaso’s a cool guy and we had a great time drinking and chatting – though I drew the line at risking my life on the free hot dogs that Rudy’s offers. Damaso took a chance, and I hope he is still with us today. And also, he wasn’t lying about the homemade hooch. Sometimes, being a world-famous writer is worth the constant kidnapping attempts.

[1] I hate the term “fan”, which just sounds wrong to me, so I use the awkward term reader instead.

BAM!, Bullshit

Mass Market Covers

Author: April 14, 2009

Saw these a few days ago thanks to my uber-editor at Orbit, but didn’t realize they were releasable, because I never ask the right questions. Friends, I give thee the mass market covers of the Avery Cates books so far:

The Eternal Prison

Ain’t they pretty? Don’t they make you want to rush out and buy the books all over again?!? There’s actually a nifty little piece on Mass Market cover strategy over at the Orbit web site, where these covers have been unveiled, which I encourage you to read.

BAM!

Mind Melding with the Best

Author: March 25, 2009

I was invited to participate in another SF Signal Mind Meld, which are quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do. This time the question was, who were the funniest writers in the history of Science Fiction? Adam Roberts, Dave Freer, Don Sakers, Elizabeth Hull, Esther Friesner, Frederik Pohl*, Gardner Dozois, Jim C. Hines, Joe Haldeman, Joe R. Lansdale, John Zakour, Mike Resnick, Simon Haynes, Spider Robinson, and myself took a swing at it.

Of course, if the question had been, who’s the funniest writer in SF after three cocktails and no dinner? the answer would have been me, by a long mile.

*HOLY CRAP I AM IN THE SAME SENTENCE AS FREDERICK POHL

BAM!, More Shit I Gotta Do

Every Other Day of the Week is Fine

Author: March 16, 2009

Ah, Monday. My sainted mother tells me that she still wakes up at 6AM every day despite being retired for 20 years now, trained by 40 years of waking up for school, for jobs, for her screaming, bratty kids. Similarly, I figure Monday will always be a drag even when I’m sitting on a yacht somewhere dozing through a good book and a bottle of good Scotch: I’ve been trained to view Monday was a descent into grim struggle.

Today though, there’s something fun to brighten my day: The Digital Plague is part of Bookspot Central’s March Tournament. In round one I’m up against Black Ships by Jo Graham, and after 2 votes (one by my sainted agent) we’re tied 1-1. Get over there and cause a ruckus and GIVE ME MY TITLE. I’m told there’s an engraved trophy, and I’ve never won a Major Award, so I demand everyone go there and make sure I win. Or I will be wrathful.

BAM!, Bullshit

Well, Lookie Here

Author: March 13, 2009

To balance out the bad review I posted the other day, here’s a really great review. It says, in part: “This book is absolutely brilliant. A masterpiece from a very talented author.” Huzzah!

Even better, the web site has excerpts from both The Electric Church and The Digital Plague posted, so if you’ve been wondering about my books but unsure, here’s a chance to take a gander and see if you like ’em.

BAM!

Best Bad Review This Year

Author: March 9, 2009

The Digital Plague got reviewed by the glorious Zine World, and Henry S. Kivett didn’t seem to like it, though I had to read between the lines to get that. The bad review is worth it, however, for this glorious summation:

“Somers’ fatal mistake is that he kills off the only likeable character on page 29, leaving us to follow a jackass and his cohorts through a wasteland. . .”

And thus we have the title for Avery Cates #4, don’t we? A JACKASS AND HIS COHORTS coming to you in 2010!

BAM!