I have my first interview tomorrow, over the phone, for these folks.
Nervous? Me?
I will try to be animated (ie: not drone) and try to avoid inadvisable jokes. We’ll see how it goes.
Oh, and I got my first review through the Amazon.com Vine program. It’s five stars.
“This is a great fantasy story plus a noir mystery with a complex plot. I read it in one sitting!”
Most writers hold some sort of contest when their books come out, yes? As a promotional thing?
I feel a vague urge to do the same thing, but I’m not sure what I should do. I’m not planning to give away a tooth, like that horror writer from a couple years back.
So I’m asking you: What should I do, and what sort of prize should I offer? I have copies of Child of Fire sitting around now, and could offer them as prizes, but that sounds… presumptuous. (I know, I know. I’m the worst self-promoter ever. Don’t judge me.)
I have other books and stuff I could give away. Alternately, I could convince my wife to make a sketch to include with the book.
Another option is to give away copies of the book in exchange for reviews.
If I were going to be honest, though, I’d admit that I’m dubious about the value of this sort of thing, and time has been really, really tight lately. What do you think?
Why is it that extremely practical things are so unfashionable? Why do so many people scoff at the fanny pack? Can someone explain it to me? Can someone explain why my wife doesn’t want me to go out like this???
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People often say we can’t afford to reform our health care system. Let me throw out a data point, courtesy of the new intranet site at work that lets employees look up our own benefit info.
My health insurance, which covers three people in our family, costs approximately $20,000 a year.
That’s over 1600 a month. Now, that’s not all “employee contribution.” That’s my contribution and my employer’s added together, and that’s how it should be calculated–those fees are part of my compensation, even though they’re going into Great West’s pocket, and not mine.
Of course that doesn’t include my deductibles, my co-pays, or the things my insurance doesn’t cover. When the pediatric triage nurse told me to take my son to the ER, I went, even though our health insurance “discourages” that by making us pay way more for that sort of care. (That particular day was over $300–what the heck, the kid is worth it.)
That figure doesn’t include dental, by the way. It also doesn’t include vision. You know what else it isn’t? It isn’t the “buy-up” plan at work. I’m not getting the gold-plated coverage; I’m getting the lowest level of basic care they offer.
Twenty grand a year, just for insurance. We’re already paying a fortune.
America can do better.
So much for getting to bed early tonight.
Child of Fire will be getting a very nice review in Booklist. And, well, while I have no intention of discussing (or even linking to) every review I get–although the first few have been startling and noteworthy to me, no matter how routine others might find them–but there’s one thing in this review I really like.
As my editor said, this reviewer “got it.” A few of the early reviewers online were less than enchanted with the fact that Ray and Annalise (the two main characters) have a troubled backstory that is not explicitly described. Which is fine. I certainly understand being annoyed that there’s information you want or expect but don’t get.
But that’s how I wanted it. Child of Fire is structured like a mystery/thriller. It has scenes of physical danger (not all of them supernatural) mixed with scenes where people tell stories about their lives, or about the lives of their family or neighbors. Basically: magic, gossip, face-punching, to be glib about it.
The only major characters who do not tell their own stories are the two leads. They certainly have a difficult history, together and apart, but I didn’t want to write a story where the characters explored their pasts; I wanted one where tried to live with them.
And it’s nice to read a review that considered that a plus.
It’s true. I have one superpower but it’s a total doozy. Allow me to share it with you:
Whenever I do a cool thing, it stops being cool.
When I was younger, I was like one of those mutants who needed to be forcably recruited to Prof. Xaviers Academy–I used my powers carelessly and caused a lot of grief. I grew sideburns, forcing everyone else to shave theirs off. Whenever I bought a cd by a cool band, they immediately broke up. When a buddy said something I agreed with, I responded by saying “Word.” Within a week, no one was using that expression except my wife, which shows you just how uncool it became. And so on.
Eventually, like one of the professor’s students, I learned to use my powers for good. I’m the one who put an end to people saying “Not!” at the end of sentences. I also put an end to “Chill!” although I regret waiting as long as I did. And, as a sign of my complete dedication to doing right, about ten years ago (before I started shaving my head) I pulled my hair across the top of my head and put a barette in it for an entire day, just to put an end to that horrible fashion trend.
You’re welcome.
And now I’m afraid that I have to use my powers yet again, because the new movie 9 is being called “stitchpunk!” and that’s too damn many “-punks”.
So… (ahem) That new graphic novel series The Boys is really “capepunk!”
There. It’s done. For those who don’t know how this really works, all the old terms are grandfathered in, but it will now be personally embarrassing for anyone to come up with a new “-punk” term.
And that’s fo-rizzle.
As Monk often says: “Here’s the thing…”
One of the quirkly little personality traits that so endears me to my wife is that I can be extremely stressed-out or depressed without knowing it. I get sullen, crabby, pessimistic, and withdrawn for anywhere from two weeks to a month, eating badly and staying up too late, then it suddenly dawns on me that hey, maybe I’m depressed.
“Denial,” she calls it.
Anyway, this is an actual conversation I had at work today.
Co-worker: Your book comes out this month, right?
Me: Yep. Just under three weeks from now.
Co-worker: Omigod! Are you excited?
Me: No.
Which… yeah. Denial. I’m not jumping around or drumming my fingers on my knees, but I am vaguely naseous and stressed out. I have been kicking my own ass for my lack of productivity lately (Man Bites World has been impossible to write–it’s like rolling a giant ball of sloppy wet clay uphill.) but hey, maybe that’s because I’m nervous? Maybe because I’ve been writing since I was very, very small and now, 35+ years later I’m about to finally be put to the test?
And that if I fuck this up I’ll have to start over again?
It’s a lot easier to deal with my stress when I recognize that it’s there. At least, I hope it will be.
1) MightyGodKing’s latest Stab at Relevence, the card game.
2) F=MA? Or F=MAWill(MagicNecklace)? From a blog created by filmmakers planning their first hard-sf indie feature film.
3) RT Book Reviews gives Child of Fire four and a half stars. (I hope that’s not out of ten) Unfortunately, I can’t read the review because I don’t subscribe.
4) Don’t settle for cheap knock-offs! A dieselpunk ray gun commercial
5) Outrageous burgers across the nation. Starting with, you guessed it, a burger with a donut for a bun.
6) 20 Neil Gaiman Facts. Reader, I lolled.
Why? Because I just told my son “No stabbing!”
Yep! I’m one of the greats.