Moving along with another review (plus some notes about the next novel)

Saludos!

Well, Solstice has just gotten another review! Woohoo!! This one is by Lisa Alvarado, a noted Chicana author (Sister Chicas), poet, and performance artist, and regular contributor to La Bloga! And it’s a good one ^^; In fact, Ms. Alvarado has this to say about the book:

"It's a clever spin and a birthing of a universe equal to Dick's replicants and humans in Blade Runner, or Marv Wolfman's skinwalkers and vampires in Blade…While Dick's influence is clear, Silva's terrain is a unique one, his style noirish, his female characters strong and tender, ruthless and unstoppable."

…....wow ^___^; I highly encourage you to stop by La Bloga and read the rest. La Bloga is a site run by a group of prominent Chicano authors and writers, and dedicated to the reviews, discussion, and exposure of new Latino/a creative voices. Needless to say, I consider it an absolute honor to be mentioned on their site. So Lisa, muchas gracias!!! ^__^

Some other stuff has been going on as of late. Let’s see…

Well, as I mentioned the last time I wrote in this thing, I finished my first draft of my new novel, a comedic satire I’ve entitled Inventing Vazquez. I’ve decided to put the book away for a month before starting on the rewrite, to kind of clear my head and approach the book in January with fresh eyes. But I’m excited about having finished the draft all the same, especially because now I can start thinking in terms of ‘when will this be published?’ In fact, assuming I’m going the self-publishing route again (and given the unexpected success of Solstice, it’s not an idea I’m adverse to), I think I’m going to shoot for an early 2009 release ^^;; Hey, I’m crazy, I know.

Of course, in the meantime, with a month to spare before picking up Inventing Vazquez again, I’ve decided to start working on my new novel. Only problem is…transitioning from Inventing Vazquez’ light-hearted, mirthful tone, to The Mourning Syndrome’s dreary, depressing, and apocalyptic tone, is proving more of a challenge than I thought. I hope to start writing soon, because I really want to get going on it. Just have to finish outlining the plot, the main characters, and a single plot-related question that has, so far, been unanswerable. I guess I have to keep brainstorming. And watching Kairo 15 more times ^^;;;

It’s funny, too. I know some people have expressed concern over my schizophrenic writing projects (i.e., end of the world story, happy story, back to end of the world story, next one probably happy again). And I know that, given the fact that I’m trying to establish myself as a speculative fiction writer, Inventing Vazquez could be a problem to market. Still, I haven’t let that stop me. Not only was the new book a lot of fun to write, but the truth is…it tells a story that I think needs to be told. That’s to say, I have some thoughts on Hollywood and its portrayal of Latino/as and people of color, and Inventing Vazquez gives voice to those thoughts. So I’m not really worrying about whether it’s wise, career-wise, to publish it. I’ll do so regardless, and let the chips fall where they may.

Oh, I’m starting to take up some other projects as well. In fact, I just wrote a review of a Japanese movie called Dragon Head for Quiet Earth, and you can read it here. It’s given me the idea that, considering how much I LOVE Japanese and Asian horror movies, I might start a review blog for them. So there’s that. Also, I’m meeting with Christopher from Urban Molecule next week in NYC, and there’s a chance I might be able to contribute something to them, which would be really exciting. I guess I had to come out of my writing shell at some point, huh? ^^;

Okay, I’ve babbled long enough. And don’t forget to buy your copy of Solstice at our site or anywhere where books are sold! After all, nothing says, “happy holidays, I really love/like/marginally tolerate you, so here’s a joyous gift for you” than a book about the end of the world ^^;;

So very close…

Saludos!

Well, things are a bit quiet for now. And they might be even quieter in a few days. That’s because I’m a chapter and a half away from finishing the first draft of my new novel ^^;; Total madness, I tells ya… Even my girlfriend is stunned at the insane pace I’ve been able to keep up. Although I keep telling her, it’s like this novel is writing itself. Since it’s a much more lighthearted subject matter than Solstice, it was more fun to write, and hence, easier to do so. Of course, it’s only the first draft. And I already have a laundry list of changes in mind. To say nothing of the changes that will have to be made once my editor takes a first hack at it *wink wink*.

At the rate I’m going, it’s conceivable that I’ll actually finish the novel tonight. But, for the sake of playing it safe, I’m going to say that I expect to finish it tomorrow night ^^; Maybe then I’ll share with you all the title I’ve given it ^^;

What’s funny about the whole thing is that, in a way, I’ve caught myself unprepared for the next step: starting the next novel. Yes, the next novel.

See, the thing is, my current novel is a comedic satire about a mousy, soft-spoken protagonist who, literally and figuratively, has to find her voice in order to deal with the film industry. Her character is funny, witty, conversational, and very friendly. For this past year, I’ve forced myself to see the world through her eyes to write her story. And I’ve been saying all along that this novel is a FAR cry from Solstice. Whereas Solstice is about…well…the end of the world ^^;, the new one is more about films and their portrayal of race relations in the U.S. It’s about the things we see, and don’t see, in Hollywood. And it’s supposed to be comedic ^^;

So why is all this a problem for the next one? Possibly because I’m reverting back to my doom-and-gloom style of writing ^^;; The next novel, which I’ve tentatively titled The Mourning Syndrome, is going to be another heartwarming tale about…the end of the world ^^;; Eep. And it’s going to be very eerie, very dreary, and very…um…dark (sorry, couldn’t think of another word that rhymed). In other words, it’s going to be another COMPLETE departure from my current novel.

I plan to put away my current novel for a month once I complete it. That will give me time to forget about it, and then come back to it fresh next year to start working on editing and rewriting it. In that time, I’m certain to start work on The Mourning Syndrome. Which is why I think I’ve caught myself unprepared for it given the frantic pace that I maintained writing this last one. I feel like I’m going to have to switch gears in mid-stride, and start writing a very dark, very creepy story right on the heels of something that was lighthearted and comedic.

I told my girlfriend that, in order to prep myself for it, I might just have to watch Kairo (the original Japanese version of The Pulse) 17 times just to put myself in the mood, although hopefully I Am Legend will work too (I am GEEKED about seeing that one! You know me and my love of all things apocalyptic ^^). So who knows how the transition into The Mourning Syndrome will work out. Hopefully I won’t break something ^^;;

I wonder if I should even start working on that one at all. See, one of the things I’ve also realized as I stand a chapter and a half away from finishing my next novel, is that I have quite a few options open to me. There’s The Mourning Syndrome of course. And there’s the sequel to Solstice that I have planned. And there’s another project I have in mind, a comedy about…the end of the world ^^; That one, in particular, is only on the drawing board, but I think it’ll be a great opportunity to write another apocalyptic novel, but in a way that allows me to use the writing style I used and loved with my new novel. But like I said, that idea is the least developed of all, and my girlfriend really thinks I should work on The Mourning Syndrome first. Especially since its message is more relevant to our current socio-political climate. And, well, I think it’s too soon still for the sequel to Solstice ^^; We’ll see, I guess. It’s nice to have choices, though.

So this week should be interesting. If I can finish my novel, I’m going to throw a party (well, not really), watch a movie…and then get right back to work ^^;

Oh, one more thing. There’s a chance Solstice will receive another review from Horrorwatch.com. I got in touch with one of their staff members, who kindly agreed to read and maybe review the book on their site. That would be huge, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed hard ^^;

Okay, I’ll shut up now ^^;

What a ride!

I got back from NYC yesterday after taking part in this year's 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair in New York City. What a crazy few weeks these past ones have been! Between two book signings at local Barnes and Nobles and now the book fair, it seemed that November (and early December) were all about getting the word out. Which is good, because that’s the only way people are going to know about Solstice ^^;

The book fair was pretty good. Though none of the big industry names that were supposed to be there showed up, it was still a good chance to promote the book with readers, and to get to meet some very cool people. I ended up selling 10 copies of Solstice, too ^__^

I got to chat with some fellow self-publishers and authors, including Marc L. Abbott who wrote The Hooky Party, and with Polly Frost, an author of erotica who gave me a copy of her book, Deep Inside. Very cool people who were great to talk to and get to know! Did a book exchange with them, so I’m looking forward to reading their work.

Also got to meet and chat with a lot of up-and-coming authors. Two of my customers, in fact—Lauren Small and Fayomi—are writers looking to publish (actually, Lauren is already published) and are considering the self-publishing route for their future works. It was fun to be able to talk with them about the long, but rewarding, process of self-publishing a book. Another future writer, a young man named David, bought two copies ^^; It was great to be able to talk to him about the writing process, and to hear about his great ideas for his first novel. If you’re reading this, David, remember: write, write, write! Some stories have to be told ^_^ Another of my customers was the actual Assistant Director of the whole book fair, Christopher de la Torre, who himself is a speculative fiction writer and member of a coming e-zine, Urban Molecule. Also got to chat with a fellow Latina writer, Jaqueline Donado of NY Book Expo. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you, but thank you for the copy of your book! I hope you also enjoy Solstice!

Overall, I’d say it was just a rewarding experience because of the many interactions I was able to have with customers and non-customers alike. Since I only sold 10 copies, you can say that I took a big loss on the whole thing (when factoring registration and transportation costs). But I actually see the experience as a complete success. It was invigorating and rewarding just to be there, talking to people about Solstice, watching them take an interest in the story, taking the bookmarks I printed out for the fair. It’s a thrill unlike many others to have others express an interest in your work, even if they don’t buy a copy. And when they do, it’s an amazing experience to think that they’re going to read your words, and hopefully enjoy them.

Being there, I felt part of a writer’s community for the first time. Because, surrounded by writers and publishers like myself, I realized that we are a community, and it’s one that’s always inviting new members. I guess that’s why I love talking to people about writing—I always want others to discover this incredible joy that is writing, publishing, and promoting your work. That’s why I’m always badgering my friends Dan and James into writing. I guess I just want others to be able to share in this incredible experience.

So, thanks to all of you who bought a copy of Solstice at the fair, or who took the time to chat with me, or who just passed by and said hello! Thanks to all of you, including Christopher, David, Jacqueline, Polly, Lauren, Fayomi, and Marc, who shared your works and your ideas with me! Now I gotta get to work and follow up with you!

I’m excited to mention a couple of other things. I’ve now passed the 1300 book sales mark, and my distributor is now recommending I send over another 850 copies even though they still have 355 in stock. I am looking into just sending them my remaining stock (about 1500 copies). And if they sell those…are we looking at a reprint of Solstice??? @___@ Wow…

And the first draft of my next novel is almost done! I’ve mapped out the rest of the story, and I have exactly nine chapters and the epilogue to go! But considering that two weeks ago I was punching out a chapter a day, it’s now conceivable that I can meet my goal of finishing the first draft before the end of the year. The projected page total? A whopping 800-900 pages! ^^;; Eep… I really want to push myself and finish it; my mom really wants to read it, and I’d like to have it to her by the time I go back home for the New Year’s celebration in three weeks.

Okay, I’ve babbled too much again, as usual ^^;;

Milestones, reflections…and another review!

Well, we’ve reached a milestone…one I wasn’t always sure we’d reach at the start of this long, crazy process. We’ve sold our first 1000 copies of Solstice. In fact, we’re officially on backorder with my distributor as I race to supply more copies of the book. I found out earlier this week. It was a shocking revelation to see that, not only had they gone through my original stock and the replacement stock I’d sent them barely two weeks ago: now they were on backorder for more than 300 copies, and were recommending that I send about 800 copies (more than the amount I originally sent them) in anticipation of upcoming sales. Wow…

I hadn’t expected to reach the 1000-book mark so soon. I mean, sure, the optimistic hope was that, at some point, we’d sell 1000 copies through Biblio and break even on this self-publishing venture. Well, barely a month into the official sale, and we’ve broken even. Money was never an issue; I didn’t go into this expecting to make anything, and I willingly put myself into debt in order to be able to pull this off. My only real goal was to publish the book, and give it to my family. But it just amazes me to think that, already, we’ve achieved a level of unexpected commercial success.

Reviews from Booklist and Library Journal have certainly helped! And, now, we’ve got a new review! A while ago, a user named jimm left a comment on this blog that the book would be reviewed in an upcoming issue of SciFiNow magazine. Well, yesterday, issue 7 appeared at the local Borders…and true enough, there was a review of Solstice. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed. I mean, to be mentioned in the same magazine where things like Star Wars and Star Trek are mentioned, and to be placed alongside Terry Pratchett on the book review page!! WOW! ^^;;; Jimm had some really kind things to say about the book, including the fact that the book is self-published. While I can’t reprint the review here for copyrighting reasons, here’s a blurb:

“Silva spends much of his time investing in characterisation, bringing the players to life in front of the reader’s eyes…a very impressive launch for an exciting new author.”

Take a look, if you can, at the new issue of SciFiNow for the rest of the review! It should be at your local bookstores now ^_^ And Jimm, thank you! I will be sending you a thank you card, so please keep an eye out for it ^_^

I guess I just feel very grateful right now. Not only to jimm and the folks who’ve reviewed Solstice thus far, but to everyone who’s been with me throughout this process, to everyone who’s bought a copy, and to those of you who’ve taken the time to contact me and share your thoughts about the book (including you, Tsubashi-san! ^^). So, thanks to all of you for making this happen.

So what else has been going on? My brother was in town earlier this week, and we ended up having a blast (and by that, I mean we watched a lot of Anime, did a lot of nerdy computer stuff, and generally acted like the total nerds that we are ^^). My brother is like my best friend, so anytime he comes over, it’s just a lot of fun.

What else…oh, my new novel is coming along (page 562 when last I checked). I didn’t do a lot of writing this past week since my bro was in town, but I want to get back into it now, with a (perhaps unrealistic) goal of finishing the first draft before the end of the year. Eep…

Oh, and musically speaking, I’ve started recording songs. I actually recorded three songs (including bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and drums) over the past couple of weeks, so I’m kind of geeked about that. I guess, the more I listen to my favorite bands (Dirt Bike Annie, The Snow Fairies, GO!GO!7188, Deerhoof), the more I want to make music like them. Being able to play and record my own songs is kind of like a long belated dream come true. Silly, I know.

Well, enough babbling. Oh, tomorrow is the first book signing, at the Barnes and Noble in Ann Arbor, MI, at 1:00 p.m. And next Saturday, November 17, I’ll be at the Barnes and Noble in Troy, from 2-4 p.m. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to post soon.

Thanks for reading!

Radio Daze ^^;

Well, as promised, Don and Wilcoy were kind enough to have me on their weekly radio show on Quiet Earth. It was a fun and unique experience, and a total blast to be able to discuss Solstice and apocalyptic fiction/movies in general with two guys who clearly know and love the genre. Seriously, how cool is it to be able to talk about Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days/Weeks Later, and heartwarming end-of-the-world stories with someone? ^^; If you missed the interview, you can still hear it on their archives! Just look for the October 28 show ^_^

Anywayz, this is a short post...thankfully ^^;

Oh, and Solstice is available bla bla bla bla bla ^^;

So I get to write about something other than writing for a change! ^_^

Last night, my good friend Dan and I went to see Polysics here at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit. For those of you who don’t know Polysics, they’re essentially known as a Japanese Devo. They’re a four-piece Japanese band with a sort of surf/techno rock to them. Very quirky, very wild, but very good!

It was, unfortunately, a very short set, with Polysics having to share the stage with three other bands that, in my own humble opinion, weren’t that good. So much so, Dan and I shrugged off the second band, and then left the show two songs into the third band ^^; Polysics were tagged as the opening act, even though they probably should be headlining. But, they didn’t disappoint, even if they only played for about 30-35 minutes.

Their onstage presence was amazing. They channeled so much enthusiasm, so much energy, and so much power into their performance, it made me forget all sense of inhibition. I was jumping up and down, singing along, headbanging, and all the while not worrying that, as a 34-year-old grandpa lost amidst the gaggle of 19 year olds around me, I probably looked silly ^^; Hiro, the lead singer/guitarist, was his usual madman self, thrashing about the stage, screaming out to the audience, jumping up and down, and working magic on his guitar. No one seems to enjoy the music he plays as much as he does. Fumi, the bassist, was her usual rocking self. In fact, I consider her my sensei ^^, because I base my own bass playing style off her. Her fretwork is blinding, and her bass notes are deep and crunchy. Oh, and she’s cute as hell ^^;. So much so, I had to yell out, “Fumi-chan! I love you!” just cos I was being a total doofus at that point, and because, well, Fumi is on my List ^^;. Kayo, the keyboardist/singer, was her usual quirky self. She’s the serious one, the one who maintains a perfectly stoic demeanor throughout the performance, even when she’s jumping up and down waving pom poms or making funny little hand motions to the audience. She’s the perfect contrast and complement to Hiro’s antics.

Polysics is the reason why I wanted to play live. I was reminded of this yesterday, because the first time I saw them was in September of 2004. I remember the day well. Why? Because the day of the show was the day after I completed the first draft of Solstice! How’s that for crazy cosmic coincidences? I only found out about the show the day of, but when I did, I figured it was the perfect way to celebrate the completion of the first draft. And that show went down in my memory as the best show I’d ever seen, ever. It was a show that made me feel like a teenager again. And it was the show that really made me want to renew my pursuit of music, and renew my goal of playing in a band.

I’m grateful that it did happen, and that I did play in a band this year. More so because, believe it or not, our first gig was in that same bar where Dan and I first saw Polysics! I guess it was meant to happen. I couldn’t have scripted it better. It was an amazing experience to know that I was standing on the same stage where Polysics had been. I even went over to the spot where Fumi had stood and touched it. For good luck ^__^;

Wow, I’m babbling again… Anyway, after last night’s show, I guess I want to re-renew my musical pursuits again. My friend Brian is going to loan me some recording gear tonight, so hopefully I can start recording these songs that I’ve written. And while I don’t expect to follow the trend and one day play on the stage of the Fillmore, I do hope to hit the stage again some day, and play with the same passion and energy that Polysics plays with. They are, after all, my musical inspiration ^_^

Oh, *ahem* Solstice is now available wherever books are sold. Or you can order direct from Tragical Mirth Publishing and get an autographed copy ^^;;

P.S.: Tsubashi-san?! Four times????!!! Sugoi!!
P.S.S.: Razorsmile, I passed that message on to the artist! And you're right, I probably didn't! ^^;

The reviews are in! And a radio interview this Sunday!

Wow. So it turns out there were some reviews coming after all, from places I hadn’t expected ^_^ No wonder my distributor has been making some sales. Turns out libraries have been picking the book up thanks to a couple of library-friendly reviews that hit!

So, what are they saying?
Booklist Reviews says “This debut speculative fiction/horror novel is reminiscent of The Matrix and John Twelve Hawks’ The Traveler (2005). Although a little drawn out in the middle and preachy near the end, it indicates that Silva has promise.”

Library Journal says, “Latino author Silva brings a fresh new voice to the genre in this debut featuring a Latino-Asian hero and expanding the demographic appeal of sf. A good selection for most sf collections.”

Wow ^^;; And we’re still anxiously waiting for the next edition of SciFiNow to reach US shores; I believe there’s a review in there as well. So all of a sudden, Solstice is getting some publicity, and some sales. Wow…

It was a shock, for sure, to see those reviews. In fact, I just kind of stumbled into them, so you can imagine how speechless I was once I realized they were reviews. What’s most stunning about it is that, based on what everyone says in the industry, this was not supposed to happen! Reviewers, especially noted reviewers like Library Journal (affiliated with Publishers Weekly, so you know they’re not messing around), have a major bias against independently published works. I knew that going in, which is why I assumed they wouldn’t even look at Solstice. But obviously, something about our media kits and the book itself caught their eye and made them look past the stigma.

So far, from the little that I’ve heard from users, the book is going over well. One person even wrote about it in their livejournal (thank you, razorsmile!). So who knows, maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Oh, and if you’re not doing anything on Sunday night (October 28) at 9:30 p.m., check out quietearth.us. Why? I’ll be on their weekly radio show ^^; Site co-hosts Don and Wilcoy have graciously offered to have me on to discuss the book. If you miss the show, you can always download a copy of it later on. This should be fun ^^;;

Of course, I still worry about how my readers (all 16 of them) will react to the seismic change in writing style once my new novel is completed and published. Moving right along past page 530 (meaning it's now officially longer than Solstice), I guess I’m already looking ahead, trying to figure out how to market it to the same people who thought Solstice—and its heartwarming story about the end of the world—was a good read. Like I’ve said, the new novel is a comedic satire, and although it bears some similarities to Solstice (namely in that Liliana has one vomit scene, reminiscent of Io’s 49 vomit scenes ^^), it goes without saying that the two books are completely different genres. Oh well, I guess I’ll worry about that once I get to that point. Right now, it’s just first draft stage.

Anyway, Solstice is now available wherever books are sold. You may have to ask for it at your bookstore, but rest assured, it can be ordered. Or you can do the easy thing and order direct from me (and get an autographed copy in the process, which will one day be worth…um…56 cents on ebay ^^)! Thanks!

Babble babble babble

Wow, it’s been a while since I last updated this thing. I’m such a bad blogger -_-;

Keeping busy here, as usual ^_^ With less than a month to go before my first book signing (November 10, 1 p.m, at the Huron Village Barnes and Noble in Ann Arbor), I’m still trying to drum up some publicity for it with the local papers. It’s been a slow, difficult process, but there’s some hope that at least one of the major local publications, the Metro Times, will do something on Solstice. I also contacted my old school, the University at Buffalo, and it looks like they’ll mention the book in their quarterly newsletter to UB alumni.

Sales appear to be moving along, which is surprising considering none of the reviews have hit yet. My distributor is already running low on the quantities I sent them originally, and I’m already in the process of having to send a new batch. Wow. While it would be nice to be able to sell more copies directly, I’m excited nonetheless. I’m just hoping people are enjoying the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Speaking of writing, I’m now at page 498 of my new novel, and still no end in sight. This novel’s easily going to be about 700 pages by the time everything is done. I’m sure a lot will get cut out, but then again, I’m sure other things will have to be added in as well ^^;; Eep… But it’s a lot of fun to write. And *gasp* I’ve written my first…*gulp* sex scene ^^;;; My girlfriend thought it’d be a good idea, probably cos she’s a pervert *wink wink*

Came up with a new life goal, too. See, one of the ways I keep myself moving forward is by setting new long-term goals for myself. Last year, it was buying my first house. This year, it was publishing Solstice. I hadn’t expected it, but I also achieved the goal of joining a band and playing a gig. A couple of weeks ago, realizing I’d sort of out-goaled myself for a while, I came up with a new one: record an album. Thanks to the awesome Fender strat my good friend Brian loaned me months ago, I’ve now written about eight new punk/pop songs that I’m going to record soon. In fact, Brian’s going to loan me some kind of recording device so that I can do so. For now, I just want to record a demo, and I’ll probably be playing all the instruments myself (guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. My girlfriend will probably do the vocals, since I can’t sing to save my life). But, I decided that, down the line, once I’ve finalized and worked out all the new songs, I want to record an actual album and distribute it on a small scale. I even have a working band name now ^^;; So that’s a new goal that should keep me busy for a while ^__^;; Because, clearly, I don’t have enough things to do in my life.

Actually, I guess I’m just silly. Goals, I have plenty. I’ve already have two more novels planned after the one I’m currently writing. At the rate I’m going, I’ll probably start the new one in January. I think I just have to keep myself busy. I’m the kind of person that, the more I do, the happier I am. When I don’t produce, I tend to fall into depression. I guess this is one way to stave off depression, huh? Keep myself insanely busy with multiple projects at once ^^;;;

Anywayz, Solstice is now available at bookstores, Amazon.com, barnesandnoble,com, and generally anywhere else where books are sold.

Too many projects! ACK!!

So anywayz, just a few updates.

It’s official! I’ll be exhibiting at this year’s 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair in New York City on the weekend of December 1-2. I’m really excited about it, not only because it’s a chance to go see my family during a non-holiday period, but because of the exposure Solstice will hopefully get. And, well, it’s my first time at such a thing, and my first pure “business trip.” Yes, I get excited at the littlest things. I’m a nerd. I admit it ^__^

Oh, and I have my second book signing scheduled! This one’s at the Barnes and Noble in Troy, MI, across from the Oakland Mall. It’s for November 17, 2007, from 2-4 p.m. Really excited about that one, since it’s the B&N my girlfriend and I tend to spend most of our time at.

Well, on other literary fronts, my new novel is coming along. Rapidly @_@; I’m nearly at page 400, which is insane considering how much longer it took me to write Solstice (I started writing my new novel at around March). The funny thing is, I see this as being a very long novel, because I still have a lot of scenes and plot points to get to, and our beloved heroine, Liliana, just keeps yammering away! Oh well, it’s a first draft, so I’m sure a lot will be changed, added, subtracted, and forgotten. I guess I’m just having a blast writing that novel. It’s so refreshing to write something happy for a change ^__^

Of course, just last night, I was talking with my girlfriend about the other two projects I want to get to right after I finish writing this first draft of my new novel. One of them is entitled The Mourning Syndrome, and you can actually find a quick draft (very quick draft -_-) of the first couple of pages here. That one promises to be apocalyptic (again), but with more of a horror twist. It’ll be my homage to Japanese horror films, which I absolutely love (Kairo, Dragonhead, Suicide Club, and the Tomie movies being among some of my favorites). So I’m kind of excited to start writing that one.

But, the more I’ve talked about it with my girlfriend, the more poised I am to write…*drum roll* a sequel to Solstice. For those of you who’ve read it, I’m sure you’re thinking, “Um, how are you going to write a sequel to that?!” But, believe it or not, a story is in the works, and, if it’s at all possible, it’ll be even darker than Solstice! ^^;; Eep…

So yeah, I’m entering that phase that a lot of working writers probably enter, the phase that laments that we can’t just quit our day jobs and write non-stop. I wish I could just disappear into my favorite coffeehouse every day (I do like 60% of my writing in coffeehouses) and just plug away at my novels, maybe even working on two of them at the same time. But alas, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon, if at all. So staying up until 2 a.m. will have to continue to be the norm ^^;;

Anyway, as always, I just want to remind you that Solstice is now available at Tragical Mirth Publishing! Thanks for reading!

Wow...

Just had to share a couple of tidbits.

One is that I’m registering to take part in this year’s 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair on December 1–2. After getting some very good advice from another author, Marcus Sakey, I decided to start looking into doing some book fairs as a way of creating some exposure for Solstice. Wouldn’t you know it, there’s the perfect one taking place in, of all places, my home town, New York City. So it’s a chance to not only take part in my first book fair, but also to spend a little time with the family.

But the other item of news has me a bit…excited. I realized just today that I got a comment down on one of my earlier entries (the one entitled The Power of Writing) from a user named jimm. It turns out jimm is reading the review copy of Solstice I sent to SciFiNow magazine. And, as it turns out, jimm is not only enjoying the book, but says it will definitely be reviewed in the next issue of SciFiNow. …………..wow ^_______^;; I’m kind of speechless. Except to say that I can’t wait to read his review, and to personally thank jimm for his kind words. So if you’re reading this, jimm, thank you! I’ll make sure to track down your contact info and send you a more formal thank you!

FYI, Solstice is now on sale at Tragical Mirth Publishing! Order your autographed copy today ^^;

At long last ^__^

Well, it's official now! Solstice is now available for purchase through Tragical Mirth Publishing! Yay! Gotta make this short since I'm about ready to keel over from exhaustion. But it looks like everything is up and running as it should.

I think I'm too tired to be really excited, but I am kind of relieved that the launch has gone according to the schedule I set.

So I hope you'll stop by, and I hope you'll pick up a copy! You won't be disappointed! Oh, and special thanks to my bro for designing the animated banner, and to my friend and co-worker Mike D. for coming up with those last-minute "order now" buttons.

Less than a week to go

Things are looking up with Solstice. I have two book signings scheduled for November. One is at the Ann Arbor Barnes and Noble on Washtenaw, November 10, at 1. And the other is at the Troy Barnes and Noble across from the Oakland Mall, but we're still waiting on an official date for that.

What was cool was that the person at the Troy bookstore who took my packet told me over the phone that she'd read the book and “loved it.” Wow. ^^; See, it's so amazing to hear that from a total stranger. It's one thing to hear friends and family say they love your book. I think they're contractually obligated to say stuff like that. But when a stranger says it, it certainly gives you hope that you're on to something.

Anyway, gotta run and get things ready, including setting up my invoicing system, my fulfillment system, a sales tracking spreadsheet, and my personal page. Oh, and band practice is in two hours ^^;; Eep...

Book and Bass Banter ^_^

Things just seem to be getting busier and busier these days. That’s hardly a surprise, I guess. With just a little over a month before Solstice’s release, it’s only going to get busier ^_^

Still working to promote Solstice on the Internet. It’s kind of cool, though, that when I do a Google search for it, more and more results are hitting. I guess, slowly but surely, I’m getting the word out. I’m also hitting a lot of forums, started a new blog at a science fiction site, and generally making myself more visible out there. It’s not easy willingly doing so, given my relatively introverted nature, but I guess it’s gotta be done ^_^

Some reviews might start hitting soon too. Quiet Earth now has Solstice in their “upcoming reviews” list, and one person in their forum has already given some props to the three sample chapters. It’s weird when you see someone other than a friend or family member say good things about your writing. Hopefully there will be more ^_^;

Also went into a Barnes and Noble this weekend to start inquiring about a book signing. Since authors are encouraged to do local book signings, and since you might want to have one scheduled before contacting the local press about your work, I figured it was time to do so. The manager hasn’t gotten back to me yet, but the man who handled my request did look at my flier and enthusiastically said that my book seemed very interesting. So who knows, maybe the cover will do the job of attracting readers, huh? ^_^;

My new novel is coming along as well. I’m at the 170-page mark already, which is far quicker than the pace I had with Solstice. Unfortunately, I’m realizing that novel is becoming a bit more autobiographical than it should be. Which might not be too bad in and of itself, except that the novel is a first-person narration, and the speaker is a woman ^^;; My girlfriend jokes that either 1) I want to be a woman, or 2) Liliana is me in drag. *shudders* Not a pleasant thought ^^;; Anyway, the story is very close to my experiences as a writer of color, so I guess a little bit of autobiographical overlap is unavoidable.

This last weekend was pretty cool for another reason. I mentioned before that I’m now in a new band, Big B and the Magic Bullets, with my good friend Brian. Well, we played this Saturday at the Detroit Blues Challenge. And we didn’t win, but we played very well, I think. In fact, people were dancing, and cheering very heartily between songs. And Brian tells me that the feedback from the people who spoke to him was generally, “You guys should have won.” And, well, considering we’ve only been playing together for about two and a half weeks, our performance was pretty amazing.

What makes me very happy about this whole thing is that I’m now officially part of the band, and I’m with a group of musicians that are both talented and good people. It’s nice to play with a group of guys that don’t say stupid, racially insensitive things at every turn, things that, for the sake of retaining band harmony, you don’t say anything about. That’s what wore me down so much about my old band. Between the constant homophobic banter, and the racially condescending remarks made by one member, and the alcohol/ego issues with the guitarist, I felt that I was biting my tongue all the time. I found myself putting up with crap, just so that I could play gigs. I was glad to leave the band when I did.

And yet, I knew I was going to miss playing gigs. I don’t know what it is, but when I play live, I feel, well…alive. When you’re playing music, and the crowd gets into it, it’s very much a natural high that makes you grateful to be able to do the things you do. And, having been so socially introverted for most of my life, I liked that I was able to partake in something like that, and experience a kind of nightlife I’d never known before but that I’d always wanted. I knew I was going to miss all that, and I did. I missed the feeling of driving to a gig, of sitting back and watching other bands play, of just hanging out and feeling that sense of excitement as show time drew closer. I’m excited that I’ll get to play gigs again, and this time with friends.

I guess I’m just grateful. When I found myself having to leave my other band, I’d felt as if something great was yanked from me. I’d felt that I had been robbed of something I’d worked hard at because of other people’s idiocy. And I’d felt betrayed, first by a drunken guitarist who was happy to boot me despite my standing up for him before, and by a drummer who, despite frequently whining about the guitarist’s alcohol and behavior problems, chose to cast his lot with him rather than with me. But now, with the right people, with people who appreciate music for what it is (a passion, not a ticket to commercial success) and who genuinely enjoy just playing it (instead of just drinking at shows), I feel like I’ve regained that which I lost before.

Now, if my girlfriend jumps in and works up the courage to sing with us, that’d just make the whole thing even sweeter ^_^

Wow, this time I really yammered! So sorry about that. I guess I better get back to work. I have too much to do (including answering some e-mails, especially yours Tsubashi-san! ^^). I promise not to babble on so much next time! ^^;;

Really, not much has happened

I'm a bad blogger, I know. But really, nothing much has happened in the past almost-month. Really. So what if *whispering* the books got in and I have a bunch of them in my basement as I await the long-awaited launch date for Solstice. So what if *muttering* I updated my web site and started promoting it across a bunch of forums and web sites and begging everyone I know to visit it and pass along the URL. So what if *muttering* I'm playing in my great friend Brian's band, Big B and the Magic Bullets, and we're playing at an upcoming Blues band competition ^^; So what if *muttering* I e-mailed none other than Lisa Alvarado, a great and prolific Latina writer, who has graciously offered to review Solstice? And really, who cares if *muttering* I started up an art page with deviantart, because I figured it was time I started promoting some of Solstice's characters among people who might actually appreciate their origins? ^_^ And, oh, who cares if *muttering* I'm almost at page 150 of my new novel? ^^;;

So really, as you can see, nothing much has happened.

Ugh...

In any event, the date is fast approaching when Solstice will become available, and things are moving along. While it's proving harder than I thought actually spreading the word of mouth, I'm still hopeful that, eventually, it will get out. I already have three people lined up to review the book, and I mailed out close to 30 review packets on the day after the books arrived. And the new trailers I posted on my web site and YouTube will, I hope, at some point start making the rounds. Just have to be persistent.

And within the next week or so, I'm going to start *gulp* contacting my local bookstores to *gulp* inquire about doing book signings. That should be a fun, if terrifying, experience. But it's a big thing. And who knows, maybe then, it'll actually finally hit me that I have a book out. Because, frankly, it still hasn't hit me. When I got the books (after waiting around all day for the carrier to show up...without a forklift! Thank goodness for my girlfriend and some great neighbors, who helped us take all 74 boxes into the house! ^^), I reacted as if I'd gotten a set of guitar strings or something in the mail. The next day at work, my friend Leda (who actually designed the book's cover, and her husband did the painting) asked if I was excited. When I responded in a strangely nonchalant manner, she said, "DUDE! You gotta show some excitement! Cmon!!" ^^; I guess I've been so tied up with the logistics of all this, I haven't found the time to get excited. Oh well. Some day soon, maybe.

For now, I'll keep at this promotion thing. Because it's true what they say about publishing a book; the real work begins AFTER you get the books printed and delivered! Now you have to actually tell people you HAVE them...and that's not as easy as it might seem ^^;;

The power of writing

The books are scheduled to arrive in a couple of weeks, and everything, so far, seems to be going as planned. I’m halfway through compiling the final review mailing list. And, best of all, I’ve got a couple of folks from Quiet Earth who have agreed to review the book! Considering how stacked the odds are against me that Solstice will be reviewed (the industry is very biased against self-published works), it’s great to know that at least two people will review the book! ^_^

With mid-July almost here, I’m getting really excited about launching the official marketing campaign for Solstice. In fact, last night, I completed a new trailer for it. It’s a shorter teaser trailer emphasizing the Scribe aspect of the novel (i.e., that, in this story, people called Scribes can make anything they write come true). The main trailer, which is now 100% ready to go, focuses on the apocalyptic aspect of the story. I’m planning a third trailer, another teaser, that focuses on Io, the main character. For this one, my brother is lending his vast creative talents. He’s going to (hopefully) render some images of Io that I can then put into a trailer, so I’m really excited about that. Hopefully, the three trailers, put together, will provide a real sense of what the story is all about, and pique the interest of those who see them.

The question now is, do I launch the first teaser trailer on YouTube and my web site, or do I wait a bit more? Decisions, decisions ^^;;

One decision is made, though! I’ve decided that, even though the books will be officially available in bookstores, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com in October and November, I’m going to launch an “early bird” sale on September 15 (the day of Mexican independence, no less). People who want to get the book immediately can buy it direct from my web site. By then, the Tragical Mirth Publishing site will be fully enabled to process credit card and Paypal transactions on a secure server, so I’m hoping the early bird sale will drive enough people to buy it from me directly.

Some stressful times are coming, no doubt, but at least I’ve rid myself of one source of stress ^_^ I quit the band I was in. A bad combination of financial disagreements, alcohol issues, egos, and the prevailing homophobic/semi-racist attitudes among the senior band members made me realize that I was better off moving on. When something as fun as playing music stops being fun because of the people you’re with, you know you’ve reached your end. So at least I don’t have to worry about that anymore ^_^

Which is good, because I’m really getting into my new novel. I completed Chapter 7 two days ago and am at around page 91. What’s weird about it is that it’s a complete departure from Solstice. If I build any kind of fan base with my first novel, I wonder if I won’t shock (or disappoint) them once the next one comes out. Whereas Solstice is a dark, apocalyptic drama, the next novel is a comedic satire. Whereas the heroine for Solstice is this tough, kickass woman named Io, the heroine for the new one is this mousy, timid woman named Liliana who’s hopelessly clumsy and can barely utter a single sentence without stammering and stumbling! ^_^

Still, it’s a novel that deals with something that I feel is very important: namely, Hollywood’s portrayal of people of color. As a Mexican-American, I’ve always been kind of disappointed at how Hollywood chooses to portray not only Latinos, but essentially any person of color. For the most part, we’re either invisible, or we’re stock characters, or we’re comic relief, or we’re criminals, or we’re token characters. The new novel is my way of addressing this. And although it’s meant to be funny, its deeply satirical tone argues that the situation itself is hardly funny.

I guess that’s the one thing I love about writing. When you write, you can write anything you want. I remember when I first started writing “seriously” (i.e., novel-length stuff). Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that serious! After all, my “first novel” was actually a 500-page Anime fanfic (based off the Slayers series) called Nightmares in the Apocalypse (sheesh, am I obsessed with apocalyptic stuff or what? ^^). But even then, I saw writing as a way of telling the stories that I wanted to hear. Of telling the stories no one else was telling. It was then that I truly realized what a wonderful, and powerful, thing writing was. As a writer, you have complete control over the storytelling process.

And when you control the storytelling process, you control everything. You know how it’s like when you’re reading a book, or watching a movie? And something happens, and you wish it hadn’t, or you wish it had been different, or you wish the ending had been better, or you wish the dialogue had been sharper, or you wish the characters had been more likable (or less likeable, depending on your mood)? Well, when you write, it’s all up to you. You decide where the story goes, what the twists are, what the characters will say, and you alone determine the ending. And, well, you decide who the characters are. And that, to me, was one of the most alluring things about writing from the moment I started writing that silly fanfic all those years ago.

I mean, in Solstice, all my main characters are people of color. Io, the main protagonist, is Mexican-Japanese. Her partner, Yuniko, is Japanese. Io’s boss, Anika, is African-American. The other two main characters, Jai Lin and Viala, are Lao. A couple of people asked me why I made, say, Io Mexican-Japanese. My answer: why not? ^_^ Besides, I’m Mexican-American, so of course I wanted a character that reflected and upheld my ethnic background. But I also deeply admire the histories, cultures, and languages of Asia, and I wanted to reflect that as well. When you’re the storyteller, and when you control the narrative, you can make the story, and its characters, reflect the things that are most important to you.

And, frankly, I don’t think there are enough heroes/heroines of color out there in mainstream media, especially films. I don’t see a lot of heroes/heroines out there that make me think, “Oh wow, now THAT’S a strong Latino/a!” Solstice was my opportunity to introduce a few at least. And I’m hoping my next novel continues to do so (Liliana, after all, is also Mexican-American ^_^).

Because, really, I don’t have enough things to do…

Heard back from my printer. The books are scheduled to ship out in late July, so that’s when I start jumping up and down and exclaiming excitable things in English, Spanish, and possibly Japanese just for the hell of it. That means I have that much time to assemble my final review mailing list, create a bunch of packets, stuff them in envelopes, and have them all ready. That way, when the books arrive, my girlfriend and I slip a book into each envelope, seal it up, and *whoosh* send them out, in the process compiling the largest postage bill of my life ^_^

Things seem to be moving along with Biblio. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve sent them all the necessary forms and application materials. So I guess it’s pretty much official now that they will be handling the distribution for Solstice.

Of course, while it’ll be cool to have my book available at major bookstores, I’m really hoping people buy the book direct from me (hey, you get an autographed copy that way! ^^; It’ll be worth millions…never! ^^;;;). And, I’m going to give folks an incentive to do so. What will it be? Hmmm, you’ll have to wait to find out…

One change to my plans, though: I think I’ll be pushing the start of the main marketing campaign until late July or even August. Since I won’t be able to get review packets out until July 23 or so anyway, it makes sense to hold off on posting the trailer, and creating the rest of my characters’ MySpace pages, until later. (Did I say “rest of”? Why yes I did! My main character, Io, already has one. Want to look her up?) Does that mean I won’t post up at least a “teaser” book trailer on my web site soon? Hmmm…

Speaking of which, I’m discussing revamping the Solstice site with my webmistress ^^; In anticipation of the start of the marketing blitz, I want to make it more robust, give visitors more to check out. That should be fun.

And, seriously, because I have SO LITTLE TO DO, I figured, I should add more things to my list of tasks. Like possibly starting a small freelance art-and-music-video-for-weddings business. After doing the Solstice book trailer, I made a couple of music videos for my friend, Dan. A couple of people, after seeing them, suggested I try and start a side business doing that for wedding parties. So, before Sunday, I’ll have to put up a quick “Portfolio” page on my main TMP site.

Wow, this was a long, babble-filled entry, wasn’t it? ^^; I imagine, as the big day (October 1…maybe…hint hint) approaches, I’ll have even more to babble about. Much to your chagrin.

Oh, and a special HELLO to Tsubashi-san, who has the distinction of being the first person to leave a comment! Arigato gozaimashita!!! And thank you very much for your kind words about Solstice ^_^

We’ve got distribution!

So things are really starting to pick up speed around here. With the books already in print and scheduled to be delivered to me in July, and as the marketing campaign is almost ready for its official launch, I received some encouraging news on Tuesday. Turns out Biblio Distribution has agreed to distribute Solstice ^_^

While there are many pros and cons with using a distributor (one of the main cons being the percentage they take, which is higher than what bookstores and wholesalers will take), there’s no denying one simple fact. How else am I going to get a bookstore in, say, San Francisco to purchase a few copies of Solstice? Like Dan Poynter says, let a distributor handle the big chain bookstores, so you can focus more on niche markets and independent sales. It’s like outsourcing a big, and messy, part of your fulfillment process.

So I’m pretty excited to now have a distributor who’ll help me get the book into actual bookstores (although I still hope most people will buy it directly from my web site, hint hint! ^^). To me, it feels like Solstice is now a completely legitimate endeavor with some strong backing (first Acid Mothers Temple agreeing to let me use their song, now a national distributor that works with all the big names in the bookstore and wholesale industries). My girlfriend and friends have argued that Solstice was always a legitimate project, but at least it’s starting to feel that way for me.

Of course, I still have to do my part to promote the book. Having a distributor will be nice, but unless I promote Solstice, they’re not going to get any orders from bookstores. The trailer, I hope, will be key in doing this. So far, everyone who’s seen a sneak peek of it has said it is awesome, and creepy! I can hardly wait to officially launch it. I figure its launch will be a good indicator of potential interest in the book. Because it’s one thing to have friends and significant others say good things about your work. It’s a completely different thing to have perfect strangers say them ^^;

As if I don’t have enough to do, I’m also plodding away with my next novel. Already starting Chapter 5, and having a ton of fun writing it. See, unlike Solstice (a happy, apocalyptic tale ^^), the new novel is a comedic satire. I guess it’s a much welcome, and needed, distraction from the rigors of managing a self-publishing venture.

Going to work with my webmaster (or is it, webmistress? ^^) on updating my web site. In anticipation of the marketing campaign, I want to bolster my main site, make it more robust, add in an “author page,” things like that. I also need to connect with my fellow Latino/a authors, because so far I’ve been very insular about all this, and there’s a large network of Latino/a authors out there that I need to start connecting with.

This is, in many ways, all very odd for me. See, I’ve always been a fairly low-key, humble person. I’ve never been one to do shameless self-promotion, but in this business, it really seems that you have no choice but to be shamelessly self-promoting. Maybe even have a bit of an ego. While I’d rather not develop the ego, I guess I have to quickly learn how to promote myself and my work. Oh well.

Moving along

It’s been a while since I updated this thing. With the official start of the marketing blitz for Solstice only two weeks away, things are definitely picking up.

For starters, the book trailer is done. And, thanks to some nice voice recordings provided by some supportive friends, the end result is something that has been called “gripping,” “intense,” “intriguing,” and “professional.” I used a lot of different kinds of stock photography from istockphoto.com and similar sites to pull off the visual narrative. And I used some sound editing software to create some very creepy sound effects. In any event, I’ll be posting that trailer on this blog, on my site, and on YouTube on July 1, so hopefully it’ll have the reaction I’m hoping for (“Wow, your book sounds great!” vs. “Uh-huh, and you printed how many of these things?”).

Second, I’m now in the proofing stages with my printer, Edwards Brothers. Yesterday I sent them the okay on the actual text part, and tomorrow I’ll be going to Ann Arbor to finalize the details on the cover. Turns out the proof of the cover was a little too red for my artist’s tastes. She recommended I show them the original painting so that the printers get a better sense of the color matching. So after tomorrow, I can officially, 100% say that the book is in print.

Third, since the book will be ready within six weeks, I have to start prepping the next round of review packets. Who knows if any of the ones I sent with the bound galleys will be reviewed, but hopefully some of my target publications will be intrigued by the book and the materials I’ve enclosed in these packets.

Regardless, it’s a real thrill to know that, sometime in July, I’ll have my first novel in my hands.

Now I just need to figure out where I’m going to fit all of them ^__^;

The Marketing Campaign is Launched!

So things are starting to move along quickly now. On Wednesday, I received the bound galleys for Solstice, and this morning, they went out to the first batch of prepublication reviewers and two distributors. I guess this is the official start of the novel’s marketing campaign! ^_^

When it comes to having your work reviewed, the odds are stacked against self-publishers, especially self-publishers of fiction (or worse, apocalyptic fiction ^^) like yours truly. But I think that, with the right presentation, anyone can have a fair shot. Dan Poynter, the self-publishing guru, will be the first to tell you that presenting yourself as a legitimate publisher is critical to any self-publishing venture. What I’ve found through my own experience is that there are lots of little ways you can achieve this. And it doesn’t involve spending loads of money on hiring publicists, marketing specialists, or specialty services. It can start with something as simple as a clean, consistent look for all your marketing pieces.

I guess it’s helped me a lot that I work in a marketing department for a Fortune 500 company, in a Creative Services department to be exact ^_^; Where I work, there’s a big emphasis on image standards, so that every piece of marketing collateral produced by the company has a standard, consistent look and verbiage style. This helps to create brand recognition, so that anyone who sees one of our pieces can say, “Oh, this is a [company name] piece.” Even fonts need to be consistent across all pieces. So this helped me create a set of Tragical Mirth Publishing marketing pieces that, like my employer, has a common, consistent look. And this, in turn, has given all my pieces a more professional appearance.

The review packets themselves were in exercise in careful, strategic positioning ^_^ (don’t I sound all knowledgeable and stuff? Yeah right…). The first step was to buy good, black, laminated folders with a business card slot. On the cover of each, I placed a full-color label featuring the novel’s cover art, a teaser tagline, and vital information (ISBN, publishing house, etc). The hope is that it will intrigue them enough to actually want to open up the folder (which, in this industry, is never a sure thing)! In the inner left pocket, I put in a press release, a fact sheet (that again featured the cover art), and an “about the author” flier. In the inner right pocket went the cover letter and a full-color flier detailing the novel, its plot, and its pertinent information. As I mentioned before, every item had a consistent look and feel, with Melior being my font of choice, and blue/green being the company’s colors. So the reviewers aren’t getting a hodgepodge of randomly created fliers and things. They’re getting an information packet that’s reiterating key points, speaking in a consistent tone, and presenting a series of key images (the cover art and the company logo) repeatedly and consistently so as to create that elusive brand recognition.

This is just one thing I hope will present Tragical Mirth Publishing as a legitimate venture, and not just a one-time, vanity-press author trying to make a quick buck. Writing is my passion, and being an author is my ultimate career dream. So I wanted to make sure that passion translated into top-line professionalism when it came to designing this first marketing campaign. Because if a reviewer can appreciate your professionalism, then maybe he or she will be that much more inclined to review your book. So hopefully it’ll work. And if not, well, I blame the Melior font! ^^; And my friend Pam.

The novel’s first big break!

Something funny happened yesterday on my way to my e-mail inbox. I got a response from someone I didn’t at all expect one from! And the result is a big break for Solstice.

A few weeks ago, my friends James and Dan took me to see Acid Mothers Temple at the Magic Stick here in good ol’ Detroit. It was at this show that I first heard their song, “Pink Lady Lemonade.” As I listened to it, I thought to myself, “This song would be PERFECT for the Solstice book trailer soundtrack!” (Yes, I’m developing a book trailer for Solstice, to be released in July.) So, after the show, I asked my friends what they’d think about me asking the band for permission to use their song for the trailer. They told me to give it a shot, that I had nothing to lose. So I did. I left Acid Mothers Temple a message on their web site’s message board (the only way I could find to get a message to them), asking for permission to use “Pink Lady Lemonade.”

So after pretty much assuming that 1) they wouldn’t respond, and 2) even if they did, they’d say no, it was a major shock when I saw an e-mail in my inbox yesterday from none other than Kawabata Makoto, the band’s awesome guitarist.

In a simple message, he said that it was okay for me to use the song for the book trailer, and that I should send him a link to the video once it was completed.

My first instinct was to e-mail my friends James and Dan with the subject line, “HOLY FRICKIN CRAP!” ^^;

I consider this a pretty huge deal. Not only do I now have permission to use a song I think is perfect for the Solstice trailer, but having the support of a band as well-known as Acid Mothers Temple certainly lends the project a new level of legitimacy. At least, that’s how I feel.

Everything else seems to be moving along well too. The novel’s bound galleys are complete, and I’ll be shipping them off to prepublication reviewers tomorrow morning. I’ve already printed out the necessary marketing collateral (e.g., fliers, postcards), and am a week away from sending the files to the printer to begin the official printing of the final product.

I’m really excited about my other project too. Even though I’m juggling everything else, I’m still trying to find time to work on my next novel. This last weekend, after returning to my main place of inspiration—the local coffeehouse—I churned out almost two chapters, just like that. Needless to say, I’m going to start hitting the coffeehouses again. Considering 70% of Solstice was written in a bunch of coffeehouses, I’d say it’s fairly conclusive that those are my best places to write ^__^

Okay, gonna shut up now. I talk too much. ^^; But check back soon, because the moment I start working on the trailer in earnest, you know I’ll be here, blabbing on and on about how it’s going!

So I'm blogging now...

Several years after everyone's started a blog, here I am. Blogging. Yay ^_^;

Well, I've heard from numerous sources that starting a blog is a great thing to do when you're self-publishing. Which, it just so happens, is what I'm doing. So, let the shameless self-promotion begin!

Anyway, I'm a writer, and I'm self-publishing a novel, Solstice, that's scheduled for an October 2007 release. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about this crazy, but wonderfully fulfilling, process that's called "self-publishing."

Solstice
First off, if you want to know more about the actual novel, you can visit my web site at www.verytragicalmirth.com. It’s primarily apocalyptic fiction, a speculative fiction (i.e., involving science fiction and fantasy elements) book about people called Scribes who have the power to make anything they write come true. The story centers on one Scribe, Nadie, who decides to use her powers to punish humanity for its crimes. It’s a thriller incorporating elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. The first three chapters are available for download.

Why Self-publishing?
What made me go the self-publishing route, even knowing it's a labor-intensive, and reasonably expensive, process? There were actually a few reasons:

One: I’m too much of a control freak. Like anyone who’s written a novel, I’m very attached to my work. The thought of having someone else tell me to change the title, change the names, and change the characters’ ethnicities (my main protagonist, for example, is a Mexican-Japanese woman named Io) didn’t appeal to me. I also heard major publishers don’t really let their authors (especially first-timers like me) provide feedback and/or suggestions for the cover art, and I had some definite ideas on what I wanted the cover to be. So self-publishing seemed like an ideal solution to appease my control-freakish ways.

Two: I tried doing the agent thing in 2006, but after about 15 mailings, all I had to show for my efforts were a stack of form letters that told me nothing about why my novel wasn’t their thing. And it’s not like I even sent unsolicited manuscripts. I followed all the rules, including looking up each agent and sending them only what they asked for (e.g., query letters, first three chapters). So it got kind of disheartening that, despite all the effort that goes into crafting individualized letters, packages, and sending it all off, the most you could hope to get was a photocopied piece of torn-off paper telling you they have no interest in your project. Had I gotten any kind of actual feedback (e.g., “your novel is no good to us because, well, your story actually sucks!”), at least I could have worked on improving my weak points. But how can you improve when no one tells you anything about what you need to improve?

So I came to a decision: if I’m going to invest that much time, and money, into securing an agent, I may as well redirect my efforts towards self-publishing. I’m happy with my decision, no matter how it turns out in October. My book will be done, and I don’t have to spend all these months waiting around for agent replies that might never even come.

Three: My parents. You see, I used to be a grad student at the University of Michigan. But after five frustrating years of feeling significantly dumber than everyone around me, I came to a long-belated conclusion: academia and I didn’t mix. So I ended my graduate career without attaining that Ph.D. my parents really wanted me to get. I left grad school because I knew I wanted to be a writer of fiction. So, in a way, my novel is my dissertation, my gift to my family, and my way of saying, “hey, it’s not a Ph.D., but I hope it makes you proud.”

This gave me all the more reason to want to speed things up. Rather than waiting the (at least) two-year cycle from finding an agent to having your book published by a major publisher, I decided to just skim ahead and do it myself. I made this decision in January: the book’s coming out this October. That’s less than 10 months to get my book printed. I’d say that’s reasonably quicker than 2+ years ^_^

What’s going on now
The novel is actually set to go to print next month, so I’m in the middle of prepping and finalizing the files for that. But the next few weeks will be critical. After all, I plan to launch my marketing blitz in July. Part of this blitz is a book trailer, which I’m currently working on. Book trailers, I think, are a great way to promote a novel because they provide a visual element to something that’s strictly literary. And because my novel is primarily a thriller, I’m incorporating the kind of structural and thematic elements that we’re used to seeing at theaters. At least, that’s my hope ^_^

And, well, I’m also finalizing a lot of the marketing support materials that will go out with the review packets in June. That includes press releases, a bio on yours truly, a flier, and some additional artwork. Most of this stuff I’ve had to do myself because I’m on a shoestring budget. But hey, so far, everything’s going according to plan ^_^;

Anyway, now that I’ve started yammering on and on, I better stop now. So for now, I hope you’ll stop by at www.verytragicalmirth.com. Thanks for reading!