1) Holy cow, but this is amazing. And here’s some poster art.
3) Creating the sociopaths of the future.
4) A teeny murder weapon. Weirdly, I was going to show this to my son, but he’d already seen it. My little boy is growing up.
And now it’s on Publishers Weekly
StandardThe PW blog Genreville just posted that reader-created book trailer. Awesome.
They’re also asking for favorite book trailers. If you have one, post a link; if you want to see some, check out the comments. I certainly will later on, for trailer research.
Joke trailer better than real one
StandardWell, I assume it will be better.
I received an email an hour ago letting me know that someone had created an animated trailer for my two books. The emailer didn’t realize that the first comment on that thread was from me (although judging by the f/u email, they did immediately after they hit SEND). Still, it’s pretty damn funny.
Also, I’ve been seeing links to it here and there, some by people I know and some by strangers–there’s something weirdly hypnotic about disco dancers with book heads, I guess. Something weirdly hilarious, too.
Would the trailer I’m planning to make convince as many people to link to it? I don’t know, man. I don’t know.
In honor of the day
StandardDo the Write Thing for Nashville Auction
StandardThree writers are running a benefit auction to help the flood victims in Nashville on this blog. I offered two signed copies of Child of Fire but haven’t heard back from them yet.
And who can blame them? What are two mmpb originals from a new author compared to some of the other auction prizes being offered? Full manuscript critiques! Partial manuscript critiques! Query critiques! Thirty-minute phone discussions of the industry! All with top agents, editors, and authors. One of the latest offerings is from a bestselling author willing to fly to any US city and buy lunch with the winning bidder and her friends.
I’m sure they’ll get around to me eventually. Right now they’re dealing with the big stuff.
And I encourage everyone to head over there and check it out. It’s for a great cause and there are real treasures to be had.
It’s amazing!
StandardI mention that I want to make a book trailer, and a reader made one for me!
The folks at Random House are going to be so excited!
Five Things for a Friday
Standard1. After weeks of trying to figure out how to fit exercise into my schedule (“What do I give up?” and “When would I have the energy?” being the most important considerations) I suddenly realized that I could squeeze a long walk into my schedule after I finish my shift at my day job, but before I come home. This week I’ve been walking the bus route toward home for 30-40 minutes, and it’s working well. Soon I’ll bump that up to an hour. It means giving up some reading time at the bus stop, but it’s worth it.
2. My feet and leg pain is back. See number one above. I haven’t told my wife about it because it freaks her out, but it’ll soon be obvious because…
3. Our Mothers Day jaunt will be a trip to the park. Lots of walking. Lots of greenery. She loves long walks outside and considers them an essential part of her spiritual self-care. Unfortunately, our son only ventures outdoors after an hour of whining and misery. But we’re doing it, for her. I expect to be in a lot of pain, and to be stuck in the middle.
4. Also this weekend, a very good, very old friend will be in a nearby town. Will he be able to visit? Will I be able to go visit him? No clue.
5. I’m pretty much committed to making a book trailer for book three. Nothing much is going to happen to it at least until the fall, after Game of Cages (aka book 2) comes out. No rush. I will, however, be watching a ton of trailers in the meantime to see what I like and don’t like.
Surprising 6th item: The pre-writing for The Buried King is at the absolute worst part–I have all the characters set and what they want. I know how they’re going to try to get what they want. What I don’t have is a clear idea of how all the conflicts are going to play out.
Truthfully, I don’t need to know this exactly, but I have to have enough information to be sure that the protagonist is going to have conflict with each of the antagonists, and I need to know that each conflict is going to be different. I’m not there yet, which means I’m ready to start writing chapter one but I’m also not ready. Frustrating.
There was supposed to be a surprising seventh thing, too, but I can’t remember what.
A quick tip
StandardPeople, think hard before you drop this link into a fat person’s email inbox.
FAQ Generation
StandardReading through the thread at Suvudu about what an author’s website needs, I realized how badly I need to revise my site. One thing I need is a FAQ (apparently).
So! Do you have any questions you think I should address in a FAQ? Ask away, please!
Randomness for 5/6
Standard1) Arizona’s new immigration law made simple.
2) Hey, if they wanted privacy, they wouldn’t be doing it in the woods!
5) Automatically generate a very popular or unpopular TED Talk. Here is the TED Talk lecture that explains it all.
6) Microflora inside the human body, and how it relates to digestive illness, obesity, and other health issues. It’s amazing how little we still know about our own bodies.
7) I hate to bury this one at the bottom of the list, but I don’t want to delay posting it until the next link roundup: The Racial Politics of Regressive Storytelling. For some years, DC had been recasting “legacy” heroes with non-white characters. The new Atom was Chinese-American (and awesome!). The new Blue Beetle was a Mexican-American kid (and a lot of fun, if not as awesome as The Atom). I never read the new Firestorm, probably because my library doesn’t carry it. Now they’re pushing them to the side so they can “bring back” the original characters. Idiots.