S. Boyd Taylor for Dummies

Wello Horld

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:22:08 GMT

Hey, I'm back, kind of . It remains to be seen if this is a repeatable thing or not, but here's what's up with me. As of today:

Trifecta!
1) Martial Arts: I did the Yang Taijiquan 88 Long Form for the first time in forever. Felt good!

2) Writing: I wrote a 1,200 word flash piece, beginning to end. It's a Sci Fi piece, and I normally don't do techie stuff. But we shall see if it works or not.

3) Hot Hobby of the Month: Ancient Greek - Did 5 exercises in my Ancient Greek book.

Rock on! :)

Book Recommendation: Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander.

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:16:32 GMT

A friend of mine, Cassie Alexander, has a great new book out. If you are into Urban Fantasy, you have to check it out — “Nightshifted”.

Here’s the cover copy:

Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine—from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond…

NIGHTSHIFTED

Edie’s just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed. But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her watch, all hell breaks loose. Now she’s haunted by the man’s dying words—Save Anna—and before she knows it, she’s on a mission to rescue some poor girl from the undead. Which involves crashing a vampire den, falling for a zombie, and fighting for her soul.

Grey’s Anatomy was never like this…

***

Nightshifted is the story of Edie Spence, a nurse who works on a ward for supernatural creatures. The author, Cassie Alexander is also a nurse in real life.

***

Check her website out on: www.cassiealexander.com

Or BUY IT ON AMAZON HERE!

I miss Kung Fu

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:23:22 GMT

I've had knee surgery recently, if you're not in the loop, and I really can't do anything for a few months -- I miss my martial arts BADLY, especially Xingyiquan (Form of the Mind Fist), probably my favorite martial art.

Here is my kung fu big-brother David doing one of my favorite Xingyiquan forms, Ba Zi Gong Lian Huan (8 Word Skills Linking Form -- a combination of all of the "Word Skills", each skill being based on one word/theory/character in Chinese)

He's a little too relaxed here in my opinion, just cruising. He is missing the INTENTION that must be present in Xingyiquan -- literally "the eye of the tiger": when you look at your target, you think you must kill this person, that your fist must go through him.

I want to learn how to PLOT

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:58:40 GMT

I've always been a seat-of-the-pants writer -- sure, I have a general idea of where I'm going, but things usually change dramatically. I don't understand how some writers can write out an outline and have it come out being anywhere close to useful -- it seems impossible to me, and it makes me jealous.

So I am trying to learn how to do it. There has to be a way, right?

I've seen a few outliners suggest watching a TV show and then plotting it out on paper, as an exercise. I may try that.

But the closest I've come to success with this was when I was forced to write a synopsis for the East Texas Range War novel back when I only had 3 chapters. The synopsis actually came out *relatively* close to reality. But it was also one of the most painful things I've ever done, and it still didn't help me fill the plot holes or fix major structural problems (I could have done it, I guess, but I just didn't know they were problems yet).

So I'm going to try to write up a synopsis for this Urban Fantasy book and see if everything comes out okay. I don't have high literary aspirations for it, and it will do well with a linear plot, so I think this is a good novel to try it on.

The Dao/Good Lord/Great Spirit/Whatever knows that I have to do something to speed up my novel writing process if I ever want to even DREAM of making a living at this.

Any advice out there?

What I have on my plate (and do not have time to do)

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:04:15 GMT

I have quite a few things, writing-wise, that I need to do, and I really am STRUGGLING to find the time to do them:

1) Suggested rewrites by Anonymous Major Agent to Novel #1. AMA has not promised to pick up the novel if I do the edits -- in fact, she has technically already "passed" on it -- but she has said she would love to see it again if I make the changes she suggested. It's very encouraging, but it's also DIScouraging at the same time -- sure, I still have a chance, but I've also, technically, already been "rejected" too.

2) Rewrites to a modern fairy tale short story. It's my best short story in ages, and I have high-high hopes for it. Sadly, I have seen so many hopes come crashing down, I am having problems getting the drive together to finish it up and send it out.

3) Edits to new 2,000 word piece that is just WAY too clunky. It makes me depressed to read all the slow, turbid prose. But I will clean it up and get it to first readers eventually.

4) Edits to a Heroic Fantasy Novella. It requires relatively drastic changes, and something just isn't working in there. Thus it's way on the back burner.

5) New UF story -- perhaps a novel, not sure -- just started on this yesterday, an am deep into the research for it. It's fun to be writing again, but I've always been kind of literary/snobby about my stories, and this is definitely has no literary merit what so ever. But -- and perhaps because of that -- it's fun.

6) Novel #2 (sequel to the one sitting at the agent) -- I have been choking on this novel for so long I'm about to give upon it and try something completely different. It's sad, tho -- there's a lot of good stuff in there. So I want to save it. Somehow.

I will note here that I DO NOT LIKE EDITING. Thus being stuck in editing mode on so many different pieces is really tearing me up. I feel like I'm stuck on the 5-yard line and I just don't have the strength for the last few feet.

But, anyway, I'll figure it out. I'll have to, won't I?

Not-a-Trifecta: 2 out of 3 ain't bad

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:43:09 GMT

Did my physical therapy yesterday, which is as close as I can get to martial arts, and I also wrote ~350-ish words on a new fic (for the first time in months!!)

Unfortunately for me, the new story seems to be a novel -- and it seems to have nothing to do with any of my other fiction, except having genre elements. Heck, it's not even particularly literary -- just straight Urban Fantasy, High Octane Action -- where the heck did THAT come from?

Anyway, I haven't picked up my guitar in almost a year, definitely haven't studied it. I need to figure out something.

The nice thing about my old Trifecta system was it had a balance to it: Martial Arts expressed my physical side, writing expressed my mental, and guitar fed my soul/source of art. I need to find a balance like that again, somehow.

Knee Surgery

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:07:36 GMT

So, in case anyone is out of the loop -- I am recovering from knee surgery. The particular culprit that caused all the problems is called "Patellar Tendinosis". Go ahead. Google it. You'll find hardly anything because it's pretty rare.

Here's the best summary of the injury that I've found (in case you want to use it in a book or something): http://www.tendinosis.org/injury.html

No one really knows what causes it, is what you'll get. The current guess is that there is a maximum "healing threshold" in which the body can repair damage normally. If you are bloody minded, stubborn, and a fool (like me), you can push your body past the healing threshold, and instead of healing things normally it just throws whatever tissue it can at the injury -- bits of bone instead of patellar tendon, whatever -- and you end up with Tendinosis. The problem is once the tendon heals incorrectly it never remembers how to heal correctly again. It's almost like the Prion problem (prions are a lower state of energy than like substances in the brain, so once you have a prion in your brain, your brain chemistry starts sliding down that low-energy slope). Actually, tendinosis is completely different than that, but I keep getting that simile stuck in my head.

Anyway, they fixed it by cutting out the "dead" or "mishealed" part of my tendon, and letting it regrow.

Things are doing well so far -- off crutches, in PT, healing ahead of schedule -- but I have a long way to go to full recovery.

A noticeable lack of writing that must be corrected

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:55:44 GMT

I have not been writing. Instead, I have been "researching" wuxia fiction and TV shows for the past several weeks -- that's my official excuse.

I've always wanted to write a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon style story -- possibly a whole epic fantasy trilogy -- and, for some reason, I decided to start researching it now.

That said, I still have not finished the Dark Sequel. Instead, I've been watching a Wuxia TV series. Bad me! I know! But now that series is done, and I have my life back -- I believe it is time to start back on the Dark Sequel and knock the rough draft out of the way so I can start writing other stuff.

Trifecta

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:18:18 GMT

Trifectas are a little bit different these days -- I have MORE hobbies, not fewer, and a lot of different things draining on my time. And through it all, I still absolutely MUST find time for the family.

So... With all that said, let me introduce you to a new trifecta:

1) Standup Comedy

Standup Comedy class for 4 hours, did a little networking, but I could've done better. I missed a great opportunity to hobnob with the veteran comedian that -- in all likelihood -- is about to go pro. But I really needed to get back to 2)

Did a lot of tweaks to my comedy material -- which, basically, is comedy writing -- and I think I did really well on stage. Not a kill, but a definite wild ride for the audience, which -- me being strange and surreal by nature -- is all I can hope for.

2) Family Time

I think I did really well on this one today. Spent quite a while "watching" Sami, and also did a lot of playing and cleaning up her toys with her. Also hung out with Janell and talked.

3) Kung Fu

Practiced quite a few forms, most of which I just relearned yesterday:
- *Yang 18 Jian (Jian is a Straight Sword -- in the west we call them Long Swords)
- Yang 32 Jian (I relearned only to about half way, but I was surprised I got that far)
- Compulsory Shaolin Staff Form #1 (relearned from scratch in 30 mins! Woohoo!)
- *Compulsory Yang Taiji Fan Form #1

* I had already relearned these two, but my brain had already mixed them up and forgotten bits of them again, so I had to straighten them out on Sunday.

Combine these with the forms I've already relearned:
- Yang 10 Fist
- Yang 16 Fist
- Yang 24 Fist

And I'm starting to build up a head of steam. If I can relearn the Yang 88 Fist Long Form, I will be doing REALLY well.

I've had the experience, several years ago, of relearning Xingyi; when my knee feels better, I believe I can do that rapidly. It is the Taiji -- with the 5 minute or 15 minute forms -- that takes the longest time to relearn, because it is SO LONG and SO COMPLEX.

Sale! "Our Vast an Inevitable Death" to IGMS.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:01:24 GMT

First sale in a while; thought I should share!

Anyone still over here?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:03:21 GMT

I keep missing Live Journal. I wish I could get here during the day to catch up with people and post, but I never seem to fit it in.

Is anyone still out here? I guess I kind of assume that since I faded away everyone else has too.

Monty Python is the Meaning of Life

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:34:20 GMT

Well, I’ve done it. To improve the silly, Monty Python-esque book I am currently writing (in truth, I’m currently writing two books simultaneously, and only one of them is silly) -- I’ve determined that I need to come to a greater understanding of stand-up, skit, and other forms of comedy. Essentially, I need to rapidly, efficiently develop a high level of expertise in something I’ve never done. Yay! MORE impossible goals!

So, how do you graduate from being just a snarky writer and entertaining guy/gal in a crowd to a full humorist? No idea! But here’s my current strategy:

1) Read books by and on Monty Python:
- The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus: All the Words (Vol 1 and Vol 2) (reading one episode a night and acting out key scenes to practice movement, elocution, and emotion)
- Michael Palin’s Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years (the full 700 page book, not the abridged audio (which is also good) for an inside perspective of Python in it’s heyday and the personalities involved)
- Monty Python Speaks (for the opinions of the other members)
- Graham Chapman’s A Liar’s Autobiography (I only have the abridged audio read by Chapman, I’d love a hard copy so I can get past the abridgements but they are rare and expensive! I re-listen to this regularly to try and get that madness back in my words)

The goal of this research is to be able to build a sort of mental armature or model of each member of Monty Python as they were back in the old days, to try and estimate how each of the six members might think. Not sure if this will prove to be of any value, but I’m hoping it will give an extra perspective and polish to my work. As a note, I am finding Terry Gilliam to be a particularly fascinating individual, and John Cleese is a strange type of hyper-analytic genius.

Note: I would really like to read The Pythons: Autobiography, the classic Monty Python’s Big Red Book (which is blue, of course), and Brand New Monty Python Bok, but I haven’t been able to find them for a reasonable price -- and I’ve spent so much money already, it’s really hard for me to justify it.

2) Read books on Comedy:
- The Comedy Bible by Judy Carter (very interesting insights to modern joke and sitcom structure)
- The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus (Vorhaus wrote “Married With Children”, but I can forgive him, there are some great brainstorming techniques in here, but his plot advice is pretty rudimentary)
- Step by Step to Stand Up Comedy by Greg Dean (not very far into this one, but it gives you a lot of information about the classic punchline that is missing from the Comedy Bible, as CB focuses on “Act-Outs” and performance.)
- Signed up for Dean Lewis’s Comedy Workshop, where I will have a last performance at the Dallas Improv. (I sat in on one of his Level 2 classes, and everyone was HILARIOUS; if there is any hope for me to really learn this, this may be it)

The goal of this is to learn performance and modern joke structure, to give me more insights into the old Monty Python mindset. This is far outside my normal limns and safety zones, a dramatic shift for myself personally, and the stage work especially is a stretch for me -- and fills me with a terror of a uniquely gut-clawing and nauseous breed. A bit like gas, really. Or a chestburster.

3) Listen to Watch Comedy
- Eddie Izzard’s Dressed to Kill (he is the heir apparent to Python’s style, and it’s amazing how effortlessly it all comes together; especially trying to work out when and how he does his faces and changes in intonation)
- Steve Martin’s Wild and Crazy Guy (some obvious influence on Izzard, love his body mechanics)
- Steven Wright I Have a Pony (great surrealism, but I crack up when I try to be that stonefaced)
- Comedy Central Presents and Comedy Central Death Ray, whatever other stand up I can get used/cheap
- I’d say Flying Circus and all the movies (Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Meaning of Life), but I’ve seen them so much they’re almost memorized.
- Beyond the Fringe (A strong influence on Monty Python, where Dudley Moore got his start; really kicked off the wave of satire that Python later rode)
- Do Not Adjust Your Set (Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle) and At Last the 1948 Show (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle) (both series are Monty Python pre-cursors)
- I’m Sorry I’ll Read that Again (John Cleese and Graham Chapman radio show, another precursor)
- The Compleat History of Britain (Palin and Jones) (another precursor that I’ve only found on youtube)
-The Goon Show -- Spike Miligan, Harry Seacombe, and Peter Sellers (a strong influence on the 5 British Monty Python members when they were kids)
-Fawlty Towers

The goal of this is to identify what I like best and to analyze it, to see what is being done. For instance, how to Martin and Izzard fill time when they’ve forgotten what’s next? What do you do if a joke fails? How do you make the audience accept surreality in their humor? And HOW IN GOD’S NAME does Martin walk around on his toes with his knees bent without falling down?

4) Constant Practice
- Carry notebook to jot down ideas constantly
- Carry Digital Voice Recorder to record act-outs and ideas and test runs of jokes and anything that gets a snicker during the day
- Do brain storming exercises every day (this also helps with serious writing)
- Somehow learn to have no shame on stage, practice Act-Outs as part of every day stuff, but only if appropriate
- KEEP WRITING BOTH OF MY NOVELS (this has been difficult and slow since I broke my thumb (hey, did I mention that my right hand is in a cast? typing now requires gymnastic effort), but it is critical; this is all about making me a better writer.)

This is the part where the rubber meets the road, practice, reciting jokes aloud, opening up myself and uncoiling the stresses that keep me mousy and quiet during the crushing banality of ordinary life. I don’t LIKE being quiet and mousy, and I’m NOT, not with my friends or on my own time. While I obviously find this freeing -- downright revolution-inspiring -- there’s one part I don’t like a about it: Comedy is built on negativity in an almost universal manner. Comedians talk about what scares them, annoys them, upsets them, weirds them out -- jokes about things they like usually flop for the same reason long periods of happiness with no conflict flop in fiction... Conflict is central.

In fact, what I’m finding out is that the elements of comedy -- even stand-up jokes -- have a lot in common with fiction writing. Minimalist verbiage, good hooks in the setup, universal themes, punchy pacing, the importance of being unexpected. My hope is that my expertise in one area will transfer easily to the other.

A Fun Stylistic Analysis of Monty Python, and... Something Completely Different

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:00:53 GMT

(Originally posted here at my website; you can respond here or there.)

If you know me at all, you know I like Monty Python. It would not be far from the truth to say I was raised on a steady diet of Python (and, of course, Doctor Who. But that is off topic -- GET BACK IN THE BLOODY BLUE BOX, TIMELORD!! It's not your post!)

The result is that I have a zany, surreal sense of humor, and I tend to like my humor British. Despite the fact that I have lived most of my life in Texas. You can imagine the complications (the skits write themselves, don't they?)

So... When I decided that I should write something funny for a change (instead of all this dark stuff I've been struggling to sell, as full of irony as it may be (i.e., "Teddy Bears and Tea Parties: A Horror Story")), funny to me meant Monty Python.

This left me with quite a problem on my hands (and when I say problem, I mean a twenty-foot tall electric penguin with green tentacles shooting out.) So I did what any self-respecting only-child of two college professors WOULD do -- I started studying.

I downed the whole Python series again in one go (doing my best to keep an eye on how things worked), and then all of the movies. This of course was not enough. I needed something I could analyze at a much more leisurely rate. Rather than driving my wife mad by rewinding skits and sketching out scripts for them, I dived into the written materials out there... (Pardon me while I elide time for convenience and pacing -- if I had the skills, I would insert a Terry Gilliam-style animation, probably about monkeys using books as wings, but at some point turning into monkey-headed cherubic angels all shooting plungers off their harpstrings at each other, while a large, decapitated head of Graham Chapman (he's dead already, he won't mind) eats large parts of Parliament in the background. However, I do not have any animation skills whatsoever, so there is no animation, and you'll just have to deal with it.

Ahem... I seem to be rambling. Let's hope I keep it up, it's a downsight more interesting that me actually saying anything.

Python then kicked me to the "Goon Show", and the "Goon Show" to "Firesign Theater", and then back to Python (Graham Chapman's "Liar's Autobiography") who -- with a sharp pass to Westminster Cathedral -- sent me spinning under the feet of "At Last It's the 1948" show, then to Kingsley Amis who gets the ball stolen from him by Cyril Connolly and book on Pythons and Philosophy -- who shoots -- and SCORES! GOOOAAAAL! And all the books and TV and radio series are all hugging each other now, in this, the first FIFA finals in untaming one man's sense of humor.

It's been quite an adventure so far, and I guess I will see if it pays off with the new novel, but the new novel is not what this post is about.

It's about something I didn't expect to find. Way down deep in the dank, cavernous mazes of Michael Palin's Diaries (somewhere between the plastic skeletons chained to the wall and the fake rats squeaking and trying to nibble my toes off with their little rubber teeth) -- and simultaneously in Graham Chapman's "Liar's Autobiography" -- and simultaneously-again in "Monty Python Speaks" and again-again in the audio-commentary for the Monty Python Autobiography, I stumbled into a strange sort of perspective:

Success rarely happens in a day. It's random. It is, in a way, luck.

These guys were good -- really good -- arguably the BEST at what they did, but they were still "lightly paid writer/performers" until one day... They just suddenly realized they weren't. They didn't expect it to happen. They were just plodding along, and then, all the sudden, they were hanging out with famous people, making a little more money, and then a LOT more money.

When I go back and look at "The Complete and Utter History of Britain" and "At Last the 1948 Show" and other things, I see that they were doing very Python-style stuff before Python. Not as extreme, no, not as experimental, not free from the constraints of format or punchline -- but still very Pythonesque. In effect, Python was just another logical step in what they had been doing all along -- and it went big.

...And this makes me think it can happen to anyone. Most of us work hard at our arts and never get noticed. But it CAN happen, and it does happen, and you don't even realize it's happening, usually, until -- BOOOOM! -- you're being shot out of a cannon with a raving maniac shouting, "You better learn how to land, son, or this is really going to hurt!" up at you.

And that thought... Well, it gives me hope. (Not the cannon one, the one before that -- oh, you know!!)

And now we come to the dream-portion of this post. Terry Gilliam once described several of the incredibly lucky events in his life as, "It was like I was willing them to happen." That he knew such crazy strings of coincidences were possible, so he put himself out there in the way of big events, where they might be, and -- well -- they just hit him.

I want to be like that. I want to put myself out there in the middle of things, so this is my dream:

I'd like to meet all of these guys (the living ones, obviously.)

I know a lot of them are tired of Python. They've moved on (and rightly so!), done huge bodies of wonderful work -- Terry Gilliam has some absolutely astounding and amazing movies, Terry Jones has his documentaries, Palin his innumerable series, Cleese as always is a genius, and heck, Eric Idle has even written a Science Fiction book called "The Road to Mars"!

But that's my dream, to one day meet all of the living Pythons. Why? I really don't know. They just seem like they'd be a blast to hang out with, really. Who could ask for more than that? That I've found their work hilarious, moving, and even inspiring may also enter into it.

The problem is, I don't know these guys, they don't know me, and, really, what chance does a minor-league-short-story-writer-wannabe-novelist really have of meeting (much less shaking hands with and sharing a pint of beer or a cup of tea) with mega-stars that live anywhere they want to live and do whatever they want, when they want?

Here comes the hard part, and if I don't say it now I won't ever say it:

I need your help -- specifically, your brainpower, your voice, maybe a little bit of your time.

I want to meet these guys, and the way I grok it, the only way they're going to want to meet me is if the situation fascinates them. So what I need is the crazy, the surreal, the absolutely impossible:

I need an internet movement.

Specifically, an "S. Boyd Taylor wants to meet Monty Python" movement. With buttons! Fliers! Silly goings on!

If you want to help -- post a link to this, retweet it, talk about it at work, facebook it, tell your budgie, or call up John Cleese if you used to share a toothbrush with him at University and are still close, or even post YouTube videos of you in a Gumby outfit with a handkerchief on your head chanting, "S. Boyd Taylor wants to meet Monty Python."

Anything harmless and humorous, really.

Then we'll see if it works.

Fencon!!!!

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:15:21 GMT

Went to FenCon this weekend and met soooooo many people. Pardon me, I am part geek, I'm not good at keeping lists of them -- but everyone (really everyone) was so nice. It was a blast to be there. Among the many great folks:
- The usual suspects (you guys should know who you are!)
- Chris of Books-a-million (who gave awesome insight into the state of libraries and book stores and what people are expecting to happen next, technologically)
- Felicia of Geeky Blogger Fame, and crew.
- Lou Anders (nice enough to talk to me for about 20 minutes on the state of Epic and Low Fantasy, thanks Lou!)
- Toni Weisskopf (publisher of Baen Books, who graciously allowed me to ramble on and on about completely unimportant things)
- And a whole host of new people who I am still sorting through business cards for, and will be catching up with shortly.

Trifecta-in-waiting

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:12:04 GMT

1) Already did Kung Fu today -- 2 hours, different forms. I think I have finally learned the second Yang Fan form all th way through; it is a gorgeous form, and I'm happy to have finally learned it. Now I just need my knee to cooperate enough to hit the low stances cleanly.

2) About to take a shower and leave for writing; I have work to do reformatting my novel slightly. It is not new words, but it is something I can do to increase my chances of getting a novel sale; this will be writing for the day.

3) Since to hit a trifecta, I only need to play some guitar, right after this post (and before the shower) I will go play a few songs.

That will be a rocking day.

Accountability - Trifecta

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:34:55 GMT

Accountability details.
1) Writing: +1000 more words on that shortstory I am rewriting from scratch. It's going pretty well, really. It's a funny little story, all I can hope is it makes people laugh. I like it.
2) Kung Fu: Did Yang Taiji 24 today, and Xingyi Wu Xing Lian Huan (Xingyi 5 Element Linking Form). Not much, but some!
3) Guitar: Played the stuff I normally play. I really only have two songs.

Trifecta complete.

Writing Again

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:20:44 GMT

I've been writing again, +1000 words Thursday, +1250 words today (Friday). Rewriting an trunked short story that was more summary than action. originally it was only 2,000 words long, now it looks like it may hit 4k or 6k.

No trifectas recently. To be honest, I'm not sure that since the baby there is time to do trifectas anymore. Two things per day I could fit in -- but three? Man, it will be hard. We will see.

Still, I intend to keep the posts up for personal accountability more than anything, but right now it looks like there won't be any more writing until Sunday (or even Monday) at the earliest.

Book Review: NO HERO, by Jonathan Wood

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:10:30 GMT

I've finally gotten around to doing the "official" book review of NO HERO by Jonathan Wood. Quality work by Wood here; great one-liners, outrageous characters, and a wonderful climax.

The main character is a former police detective brought into a crumbling secret government agency that alone is responsible for stopping Cthuloid horrors from consuming the world.

Everyone thinks he's a tough, decisive guy, but once you're inside his head, he's a lot deeper than that. He ends up being an insecure James Bond working against supernatural evil. Why insecure? Because he believes he is "no hero," but everyone else knows he is.

Four out of five tentacular horrors.

Great book, buy it here.

How to Read eBooks on Your PC - A Friendly Guide

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:28:03 GMT

After coming out with my eBook, I discovered that a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors don't have an eReader and don't know how to read eBooks on their PCs. This didn't surprise me, since, up until 3 weeks ago, I didn't either.

Buying an eReader is WAY too expensive for me. I just can't justify it. But once I had my own eBook, I needed a way to read it, to proof the design -- and once I started buying eBooks, I realized how cool it is and how great the experience can be. There are so many books out there for a dollar (or even free) that I can't even begin to guess at a total of them. And some of them are downright cool.

This gave me a brilliant idea -- why not write a quick guide for those slow adopters, just in case they want to catch up but don't know how.

What follows is that guide:

1) For Amazon eBooks (.mobi format -- Amazon has their own format because they are special):

a) If you use Chrome or Safari as a web browser, instead of IE? If so, you can use Amazon's Cloud Reader -- a web app that accesses any ebooks you've ever bought from Amazon, anywhere -- here:
https://read.amazon.com/

Note: Safari and Chrome can both be used on Mac, so this is arguably the best way to read Amazon ebooks on Mac.

b) If you use a PC but don't use Chrome for some reason (you madman!), you can download and install Amazon's Kindle for PC right here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

2) If you prefer standard .epub eBook format, such as found on a Nook or an iPhone or a Sony eReader (basically everyone except Amazon), you can download and install Adobe Digital Editions on your computer for free -- it's quite a nice tool, zehr modisch.
http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/

---
If you enjoyed this post, you can give eReading a shot via my eBook "Teddy Bears and Tea Parties: A Horror Story", available AT B&N or AT AMAZON.

Blurb from David Brin

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:02:15 GMT

Teddy Bears and Tea Parties -- now with a sporty new blurb from NYT Best Seller and Hugo and Nebula Award winner DAVID BRIN:

"Way unconventional, dreamlike, and fun."

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Bears-Tea-Parties-ebook/dp/B005H5AI5U/
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/teddy-bears-and-tea-parties-s-boyd-taylor/1104815010

A Call for Help to Friends

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:44:44 GMT

Hey guys -- all of my writing friends, Amtgard buddies, martial arts pals, etc -- this is a humble Sam asking for assitance.

I've been told by some folks that have done a lot more ebooks than me that one of the best things I can do is get a "sales push" for Teddy Bears and Tea Parties, my new Ebook. After a solid sales push (AT LEAST 20 copies sold in 1 day) Amazon is more likely put the book in front of customers as a recommendation and it has a good chance of becoming "self-sustaining" (selling enough to stay in the recommendation list) -- otherwise it will likely stay invisible, and sell nothing.

If you want to help, and you can afford 99-cents:

Tomorrow, Friday 8/19, please buy Teddy Bears and Tea Parties at the link below.

I apologize if you feel like I'm asking you for too much. I would't ask for your help if I didn't believe it was important.

Note: If you don't have a Kindle, you can read ebooks from Amazon through your computer's web browser using the Amazon Cloud Reader.

If you don't want to participate, I understand, no hard feelings, you're still my friend -- but if you DO want to help, buy Teddy Bears and Tea Parties at the link below TOMORROW 8/19, so we all get the most bang for the buck:

http://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Bears-Tea-Parties-ebook/dp/B005H5AI5U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1313696777&sr=8-4

Thank you for your support.

Paul Jessup's Weekend Novel-a-Thon

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:12:20 GMT

Ever wondered how the words get written, the magic gets summoned, the real heart of a book gets made? Here's your chance.

One of my favorite writers of the strange and surreal, Paul Jessup, is going to a weekend-novel-a-thon. This weekend (and the two days prior), he will crank out a whole novel -- that's 40-50 THOUSAND words. That's a LOT, ladies and gentlemen.

...But wait, there's more.

He will also blog about it as he writes it! You will be able to follow along, near-live, as he spins a novel whole-cloth from his head. And, better yet, you can vote on the title.

More info, here:
http://pauljessup.com/2011/07/26/my-weekend-novel-a-thon/

Go Jessup go!

Book Recommendation: NO HERO, by Jonathan Wood

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 01:18:13 GMT

Jonathan Wood's excellent book "No Hero" is on sale now. You should definitely go check it out. Part James Bond, part supernatural, part hard boiled, it's quite a trip. I keep intending to get around to a longer review, but life is eating me. This is all you get for now, live with it! :)

You can buy it here.

For more information, check out the book's website here.

Republication!

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:27:57 GMT

For those of you with subscriptions to ChiZine (Chiaroscuro Magazine), my flash fic "The Eight of Swords" was recently republished there in Issue 47, April-June 2011.

Back in Black

Sat, 21 May 2011 04:06:49 GMT

Okay... Not black. Orange actually. It's a new shirt, and I think it looks good on me. Gotta figure out how to get pictures up more easily, so I can make these posts a little more interactive! :)

But, anyway, since starting Atkins+Exercise, I'm down 20lbs. Oh, and I've done at least two or three trifectas in the last week without even trying. Even today:

Guitar: Played my normal songs.
Kung Fu: Yang Tiaji 24 Fist and YT 16 Sword
Writing: Edited 22 pp of "This Cold and Lonesome Ground"