The Happy Nerd

Pop Culture Saturday

2013-05-18T16:17:00.003-04:00

Happy Saturday, blog-readers. From the looks of things, a lot of folks have already gone out and seen the new Star Trek movie already. Not me--yet. I have the scheduled for Monday. I'm probably going to do one of those "first showings" like I did for Iron Man 3, when the theater has just opened and the concession stand is dead. There's really nothing like wandering into a movie theater that early in the morning. I just love it. So I'm trying to get as much work done as I can this weekend, so I don't feel too guilty about playing hooky on Monday. Hooky! Does anyone even say that any more? It sounds ridiculous. It doesn't even look like I'm spelling it right...

As I mentioned a couple of days ago I'm about to pass the 100k word mark on The Bloody Chorus. I'm tempted to put up the first chapter for folks to read, but it's really too early for that. I probably shouldn't do that until the book is done and turned in to the publisher, at the earliest. I'm still steaming toward my goal of having the first draft done by the end of June. The clock is ticking, but I'm getting there.

I had a completely unforeseen plot development yesterday that's going to change how the rest of the book plays out. Obviously I can't tell you about it because that would spoil it, but it's a nice twist that I don't think readers will see coming. Hell, I didn't see it coming until yesterday, and I'm almost done with writing it. I've talked a lot about how I outline things, how I pretty much know how everything is going to turn out, but maybe I should stop saying that going forward. As I've progressed over the years I'm leaning less and less on my outlines. They start off detailed, and then they just kind of trail off... I like to think I'm more confident in my ability to handle things. Or maybe I'm just lazy and want to get on to actually writing ;)

Oh, here's a little update--Goodreads has written me back again to say that they've received my "pitch" and sent it off to the editorial team for review. Will that be the last I ever hear of it? Probably. I know that sounds pessimistic, but it's just the way things go. "Three thousand wise guys all chasing the same Nickel." That's what it's like these days trying to market a book. And if you can tell me where that quote is from without Googling it, you're just plain cool.

From the world of pop culture--I picked up a t-shirt with Reptar on it. Remember the old Rugrats cartoon? Nerds rule! I also put up a Danica Patrick wallpaper on my computer. And no, she's not wearing her racing suit. Also, Netflix has The Legend of Hell House available for streaming. Nerds rule, and so does Roddy McDowell.

That's it. That's my whole life at the moment. It's provincial, it's geeky, and I love it.

Quiet Time

2013-05-15T22:12:00.001-04:00

When I left/lost my day job three months ago, I really thought I'd be spending a lot more time on the blog. I thought I'd be posting tidbits about comic books and retro stuff again and lining up cool guest authors. Well, time has really flown the last few months and I really haven't done any of those things. But honestly, I'm not complaining, because what I have managed to do is completely immerse myself in writing, something I haven't been able to do for years. Three months ago I had about 35, 000 words written on The Bloody Chorus. Tonight, I'm closing in on 100,000 words, and although there's still a fair amount of work left to do, the end is actually in sight.

So why haven't I been doing other things? Because I've been obsessed with the manuscript, and that's a great privilege. Sure there are the usual distractions of life, but for the most part I'm able to spend long stretches of my days and nights communing with my characters. There's a thing that happens when you get to concentrate deeply on a book. It's kind of like going on a very long road trip by yourself. It focuses and expands the mind. Distractions fall away, and the bond you have with the story strengthens so that you can see it all. All the pieces and all the moves of the vast chess game called plot are being juggled in your head, and you're not going to drop them because you're in control. It's hypnotic, really. And addictive. You just don't want to do anything else.

But of course I have been doing some other things. Like trying to convince Goodreads to feature The Forever Knight in an upcoming newsletter. If you're a Facebook friend of mine you might know that I sent them a number of emails about getting into their newsletter and having them form an "official" discussion group for me. I finally got an answer from them about a week ago, asking me to submit a "pitch" explaining why I think the book would be of interest to their readers. I just submitted it a few minutes ago. Now, we wait. I was thinking of trying to form some kind of petition for everyone to sign, thinking that might help convince them. On the other hand, that might backfire on me. So who knows.

On the lighter side, my new Aquaman statue finally arrived today! I ordered this way back in November and got the call today from the comic book shop saying that it was in, so I raced over there this afternoon to pick it up. It's smaller than I thought it would be, so that's a bit disappointing. But he is cool looking, and hey, it's Aquaman. Oh, stop your snickering. Aquaman rules!

And before I forget, the winners have been chosen for the Cover Print Contest. They are:

Holli K
Matthew E
Michael C

Congrats to the three of them, and special thanks to them as well for entering and posting reviews of the book!

Music, Writing, and The Wall

2013-05-09T22:51:00.002-04:00

Sometimes when I write about music on the blog I wind up with a lot of hits. The post I did a while back about the album Buckingham Nicks still gets lots of hits, which feels weird to me because that was a post that just came to be out of the blue one afternoon. Maybe those are the best kinds of blog posts.

I was driving home in the rain today when I heard Pink Floyd's The Wall come on the radio. I'm not one of those people who leave on a radio station and just listen to whatever the hell comes on--I hunt for something I like, often going through the dial multiple times before finally hitting on something decent. But The Wall? Awesome. That's one of those songs/albums that has the ability to instantly warp you back to the past--if you're old enough to remember when it came out. Luckily, I am.

The Wall was a gigantic hit when it was released in 1979. It was everywhere. And frankly, I can't imagine an album like that being a hit nowadays. Yeah, this is one of those posts where some guy says music was better back in his day :) But think about it--a concept album? When was the last one of those was popular? Here's how Wikipedia describes The Wall...

The album is a rock opera that centers on Pink, a character Roger Waters modeled after himself, with some aspects based on the band's original leader, Syd Barrett. Pink's life experiences begin with the loss of his father during the Second World War, and continue with ridicule and abuse from his schoolteachers, an overprotective mother and finally, the breakdown of his marriage. All contribute to his eventual self-imposed isolation from society, represented by a metaphorical wall.

Just reading that description gives me chills. Screw you, Lady Gaga.

I always liked The Wall, but I didn't become a huge fan of it until a friend of mine gave me a cassette of the album right around the time I started writing The Jackal of Nar. Actually, he also gave me a copy of Pink Floyd's The Final Cut, an album I like even better than The Wall, another great collection of songs that delve into war and psychology--just the kind of influence I was sensitive to when writing Jackal. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this online before, but if you've ever wondered where the title Tyrants and Kings came from, I stole it from The Final Cut. One day I heard that particular lyric and Bam! I had my title.

Music always seems to influence writers. Some people write with music playing because they say it inspires them, but even if you need quiet to write, music is always somewhere in your mind, exerting its sway. My books are absolutely peppered with influences from songs and albums and Broadway shows. Some people have suggested theme songs for my characters, but did you know that Richius Vantran had a theme song right from the start? It was U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. The name "Vantran" comes from Miss Saigon, in fact. The character of Alazrian Leth from The Saints of the Sword came to me after listening to the soundtrack from Jekyll and Hyde. And Starfinder was heavily influenced by the music from Wicked. A chapter from my current project, The Bloody Chorus, came to me after listening to one of my favorite Floyd songs, When the Tigers Broke Free. When I need to write something sad, I often listen to Nightswimming by R.E.M. And on and on and on...

I usually don't talk too much about the musical influences, but it seems to me that they're just as powerful as any books I ever read. Maybe even more so.

When Dreams Come True Cover

2013-05-03T23:08:00.000-04:00

Some of you might remember when I was struggling with a short story a few months ago. That story was for the upcoming anthology When Dreams Come True, edited by a friend of mine, Brittiany Koren, who just sent out the cover image for us authors to check out. I was so excited to see it I figured I'd post it on the blog for the rest of you.

My story is called The Island of Small Desires. I really worked at it, because the theme of dreams coming true was so tough for me to work with for various reasons. Anyway, I'm happy with how it came out, and so was Brittiany because it made the cut, thankfully. The anthology should be out pretty soon, and I'll let everyone know once it becomes available. I get a particular sense of accomplishment after writing short stories that's not quite the same as when I finish writing a book. It's tough to describe. Book writing is much more consuming, obviously, but short story writing feels just as powerful. Weird. And hard to describe.

I haven't posted a review for a bit, but this one just came in tonight from Bookreporter. I love this one, and have Stephen Hubbard to thank for it. Sometimes you read a review that absolutely "gets" what you're trying to say in the book you've just sent out into the world. Here's my favorite part of it:

"Marco has trimmed down the page count substantially, but that has done nothing to diminish the epic feel of his story. In the past, one of his greatest strengths was in crafting thick epics that read swiftly. Now he has penned a small book that feels epic but still has the quickness, and is distilled down to providing a quality story."

I love that! Some folks haven't been thrilled with how short this book is in comparison to the others. One guy even said that he thought it's because I rushed it. Wrong! I wrote it short because I wanted it to be short. Honestly, too many books are too damn long, including some of my own.

Anyway, that's it for tonight. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Iron Man 3

2013-05-03T12:39:00.002-04:00

So I just got back from seeing Iron Man 3. I'm assuming that a lot of you who come to this blog will be seeing it for yourself, but I figured I'd post some quick thoughts about the movie and the overall experience.

First of all, I went to the 9am show. Rather than post another image from the movie, I'm posting a pic I shot of the concession stand at the theater. That's what it looks like when the place first opens--empty! I've seen this thing swamped with people, so this was kind of a relief. I didn't expect the place to be crowded, of course. What I expected was to share the theater with some diehard fans like myself, people who really wanted to see this particular movie, and that's pretty much what I got--a handful of nerdy loners like myself. Nice.
I've talked about this many times before, but there really is a magic to movies. You smell that popcorn, you find that perfect seat (always up front for me), those lights go down and you're swept away. For a little while at least, you forget about checking your cell phone and whatever bullshit is happening at work, you lose yourself.

So how was the movie? Great. As good as the original, which I loved, and better than Iron Man 2, which was surprisingly forgettable. I've read a couple of reviews that say the movie feels "remote," like the remote controlled Iron Man suits Tony Stark uses through the film, but I didn't feel that way at all. Robert Downey does his usual schtick with one-liners and quips, and yes, it's jarring sometimes but it all really felt like a defense mechanism to me, a way for the character to cover up his insecurities. I'm not sure how many other actors could have pulled that off.

Speaking of great actors, Ben Kingsley is, well, hard to describe as the Mandarin. This is where any review of the movie has to tread lightly, because his portrayal of the classic Iron Man villain isn't typical. It's effective, at least for the first part of the movie, but it did slip for me. There's a point in this movie where you just might turn against it, depending on how invested you are in having your villains played straight. If you remember the movie Brave, there's a point in that film where you see that the mother has turned into a bear, and you realize that's it--there's nothing more to the movie than that. For me that was a major letdown and ruined that movie for me. There's a point in Iron Man 3 that felt like that to me, and yet it recovers from it nicely, because unlike Brave, there really is more to the story.

Honestly, I would have liked to have seen a bit more action, but the action that does take place is pretty awesome. Tony Stark spends a lot of time out of the Iron Man suit, and I felt myself clamoring for him to just put the damn thing on already! But that all just makes it sweeter when he does, and we get to see a lot of the different versions of the suit in action, which was a geeky treat.

So enough of my opinion--go see it and decide for yourself. I think you'll the summer movie season is off to a good start!

Researching Evil

2013-05-02T22:11:00.000-04:00

I haven't felt much like blogging this week. I've spent the last few days working on a special chapter for The Bloody Chorus, one that really took my mind and my mood in a dark direction. I get to research a lot of different subjects when writing, and usually it's fun. This time, however, the subject of my research was torture. Real torture, the kind practiced by states like Nazi Germany. I don't want to spill too much about the scene I'm writing, because that would ruin the story for those of you who'll be reading it someday. All I knew was that I wanted it to feel "real" while at the same time being entertaining enough to keep people engaged and not grossing them out. I'm not a horror writer, after all.

I remember flipping through The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich as a teenager and being really interested in the gory parts. I guess that's just how kids are--a little curious, a little twisted. I remember being shocked by it but also fascinated, and I guess that's the kind of thing I'm going for in this chapter. But I'm not interested in presenting it as the "banality of evil." That phrase was used in reference to Adolph Eichmann, and basically meant that atrocities are performed by ordinary people in service to the state. That might be true, but there's another school of thought that says torturers think of themselves as above others, and that's what I'm going for in the chapter. What I don't want to do is "show" too much of it. I really want the horror of it to be psychological and unseen. If I can pull it off I think that will be much more effective.

Aren't you glad you stopped by to read this? I promise, most of The Bloody Chorus isn't going to be so grim. But it's the dark that makes the light stand out, right? No picture with the post this time, btw. Didn't seem appropriate.

Summer Movie Fever

2013-04-29T09:18:00.001-04:00

Monday! It's always kind of a bummer when the weekend is over. I feel like I have to knock the rust off the writing gears--it's amazing how stiff they get after just a couple of days.

Tomorrow will be four weeks since the The Forever Knight came out. The blog tour is winding down--only four more stops, I think. One was a complete no-show, which is fine because these things happen and sometimes it's inexplicable. To be honest I'm kind of winding down from the whole "marketing mode" myself. The initial burst of energy that comes when a book is released is always fun, but after a while I just want to settle back into the comforting routine of writing. But as I said we're not quite there yet. Today a new interview went up over at Reading Reality. This one comes with a chance to win a book. The blog host, Marlene, was great to work with, so I just wanted to give her a shout-out and hope you all will hop on over to her blog. I'll also be doing an interview and giveaway next month over at SciFiGuy.ca, another one of my favorite blogs. I've been saying this over and over, but it's true so here goes--I've had a lot of help from a lot of great people in getting the word out for the book. You all know who you are, so thank you.

To change the subject completely, who's looking forward to the summer movie season? Everyone, right? It really kicks off this weekend with the release of Iron Man 3. Right now IM3 is at 90% at Rotten Tomatoes, with 61 reviews. That's a decent amount of reviews, so odds are good it will hold on to a "fresh" rating. This is one of those "must-see" movies for me--it's hard for me to turn down anything with Ben Kingsley in it anyway. On the other hand, I did a search for "Ben Kingsley Mandarin" on Google Images just now to have something to post with this blog, and all I got was a lot of him sitting around, so I'm a bit worried. I hope they don't waste him! Maybe I'll go with the Gwenyth Paltrow in a bra picture instead. Yes, I think I will ;)

Overall, it looks like a pretty good crop of movies this year. Of course Man of Steel is at the top of my list! I'll be there bright and early opening day. But I'm also looking forward to Epic, the new Percy Jackson movie (yes, really), Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 (wow, a lot of kids movies), Fast and Furious 6, The LONE Ranger (not LONG Ranger--thanks Stefan!), and Pacific Rim. Probably more, but I can't remember them all. So I'll be a busy movie-goer over the next few months. Oh, Star Trek. Forgot about that one.

Looking at that list, I'm wondering which ones will be disappointments, and if they'll be any real surprises. Often I walk into a movie, and there's just so much hype about it that the movie just can't live up to it. On the other hand, there are movies you don't expect to love, and they wind up being magical, like Life of Pi--definitely my favorite movie of last year.

So, enough blogging. Monday calls.

Nature Goddess

2013-04-25T08:54:00.002-04:00

This is the kind of thing people usually post on Facebook, I suppose, but I thought I'd post it here on the blog instead. I came across this amazing painting the other day while doing research on the web about nature goddesses. The Bloody Chorus has a number of different deities, including a goddess named Paiax, who so far hasn't been seen yet plays a fairly substantial role in the story. It's pretty incredible what you find when you type a phrase like "nature goddess" into Google Images--especially if you have safe search turned off ;) I have no idea who painted this image, because it was uncredited on the website where I found it. But I downloaded it immediately, because it was so strikingly different from the other images that I found--kind of a steampunk/anime take on the idea of a nature goddess. If you look closely, you'll see that the image in signed by the artist. It says "Alcd" and a date. I have no clue who Alcd might be, but wherever he/she is, nice work!

So, keeping the post short today. Back to work on the book. Crossed the 80k word mark earlier this week and want to keep plowing forward.

Signed Cover Print Contest!

2013-04-22T15:02:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow marks three weeks exactly since The Forever Knight was released. Why is that important? Because by now it's given some of you the chance to read it! And that's important because I'm kicking off a cool new contest today--the chance to win one of three art prints of the cover art for the book, signed by the artist Todd Lockwood. These are premium 9.5x14 art prints without any of the typeface displayed in the actual cover. It's nothing but the gorgeous work of the artist, as pictured. That way you'll be able to see all the scary details ;)

So how are you going to win one of these beauties, you ask? Here's how....

As you all know reviews are an all-important way that authors get the word out about their books. I'm not shy about asking for them. Or, in this case, bribing for them :) To enter this drawing just post a review of The Forever Knight somewhere official, such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, or your own blog. Then email me the link to the review and you'll be entered. Simple, right? And here's the cool part--you get one chance at winning for every review you post. So if you post the same review in three venues, your name goes into the bucket three times. And since I'm giving away three prints, your chances of winning one will be pretty darn good! And if you've already reviewed the book (as I know some of you have), you're ahead of the game--just send me those links.

Now I know that not everyone has had the chance to read the book yet, so we won't wrap up this contest until May 15th. That gives you three more weeks to grab a copy of it, read it, and get posting those reviews. The truth is you'll not only be getting a chance to win something cool, but you'll be doing me a great favor as well.

And just so you know, I keep meticulous records when it comes to these contests, so don't worry about your entries falling through the cracks. It won't happen. I thought of using Rafflecopter for this contest but didn't like the way it worked, so I'll be handling it all myself. It'll be totally fair, I promise you.

Let the pigeons loose!

This Blog is Mine

2013-04-21T17:34:00.000-04:00

Sunday. My anniversary weekend. Seventeen years with a wonderful woman. We celebrated by going out to dinner at a great local restaurant--Kitchen-a-Bistro was its name, for those Long Islanders familiar with it. For the first time ever we tried a tasting menu, where the chef chooses a whole bunch of little courses for you. I've always considered myself something of a foodie, so that was a lot of fun. And by foodie I don't mean a food snob, just someone who loves to eat.

In fact, I've been thinking lately about how sick I am of seeing food "celebrated" so much nowadays. Really, it's getting ridiculous. I've been watching what used to be called cooking shows since I was a little boy--anyone else remember watching The Galloping Gourmet? I do. Then it was all those PBS cooking shows and The Frugal Gourmet. And then the Food Network came along. They started out fine, but something happened along the way. I kind of blame Rachel Ray for it. She was so goofy and loud and obnoxious--and popular. That was all it took. Suddenly all the cooking shows seem to be emulating her. Around that same time, Top Chef became a hit, and the contest cooking show was born. And the complete fetishization took hold.

Now everyone says they're a foodie, and the word has no meaning. It's a stupid word actually, and although I just said I always considered myself a foodie, I actually don't use that word anymore. I want that damn word banned. Who isn't a foodie? Who doesn't like to eat? No one.

While I'm kind of ranting here, I'm going to also say that I'm sick of hearing about Julie Child. Really, enough already. Yes, she was the first TV food personality. We get it. She wasn't Magellan.

Ha! I had no idea what I would write about when I sat down to blog just know. This is what you get when you don't plan things out better. Screw it. It's my blog and I'll write what I want.

Hope you all had a great weekend :)

The Bloody Chorus--Progress Update

2013-04-20T12:54:00.000-04:00

So the crazy week is finally over. I spent more time than I should have watching coverage of the Boston Bombing, but I still managed to get some work done. The big news is that I've now crossed the 300 page mark on the manuscript for The Bloody Chorus. At the moment I have 311 pages, actually. I promised that I would keep people informed about my progress on the book, so I figured I'd let you all know that things are moving at a good clip. Since leaving my old job I've managed to pretty much double the amount of pages completed, and I'm shooting to have the first draft of the book done by the end of June. Will I make it? I think so. Just putting it out there so you can all keep me honest and hold my feet to the fire.

I'm particularly happy today because I completed one of the hardest chapters of the book yesterday. I wish I could tell you about it, but if I did it would spoil the story. It was a pivotal action scene, told from multiple viewpoints, so I had to outline it properly and even sketch things out to make it come together. Overall I'm pretty happy with it, but I'll be going back over it soon to make sure it's all correct.

I did manage to get to the movies this week to see The Place Beyond the Pines. Wow, not sure what to say about this one. I want to like it better than I did. It felt very long to me, but as I mentioned on Twitter the strong performances help carry it over the finish line. And I really shouldn't complain about this movie at all, given the fact that I just read how the makers of Transformers 4 are trying to partner with a Chinese production company so they can get their movie shown in China. I have nothing against China, but I'm really tired of movies pandering to foreign markets, a key reason why so many movies today are so brainless, and why characterization is taking more and more of a backseat in movies. No need for great dialogue when you've got a giant robot smashing bridges, right? None of which is going to keep me from seeing Pacific Rim this summer, by the way. I'm just saying. I see a lot of movies, and I'm surprised and how many of them I don't enjoy. It never used to be that way for me. But then an ambitious movie like The Place Beyond the Pines comes along, a serious character study with adult themes and lots of emotion, and I'm bored. Clearly I'm very conflicted :)

Enjoy your Saturday.

Twitter Chat and Other Links

2013-04-17T22:56:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a week huh? It was hard to concentrate on writing or anything else after what happened in Boston. Others have already said a ton about this, so I'm not going to get into it here. It was awful and we all felt it.

I just finished up the online Twitter chat about 45 minutes ago, and had a great time. I was a little apprehensive about doing it because as many of you know I keep to myself mostly and have never done an online chat before, but I have to admit it was a breeze. And it was a lot of fun. I saw some familiar faces there, so if you were there but lurking, thank you for showing up! I never know whether these kinds of things sell any books or not, but it's mostly about getting some name recognition, and for that alone it was worth doing. If you missed it, the transcript of the chat has been posted HERE.

Another interview went live today, this one from Brittiany Koren at Written Dreams, so you can check that out if you're interested. I'm doing the best I can not to repeat myself in these interviews, but it's getting a bit tough now. But they're fun and I enjoy doing them, so as long as people keep inviting me I'll keep at it.

And the blog tour rolls on as well. Had three more reviews this week, two of them good, one not so great. I like posting them for you all to keep score:

What She Read--A review from a mother and a daughter. This is the one that wasn't so hot. Oh well, can't make everyone happy.

Books without any Pictures--Called the book "highly recommended" and liked the way the gay characters were handled. Nice.

Ageless Pages--Mentioned death, necromancy, and cannibalism, and is the only review so far so to call out the lack of a map in the book. Ah, maps, my old nemesis! No maps.

Other than all that, work progresses on The Bloody Chorus. This week I have been working on one of the key scenes of the book, one that's absolutely pivotal that I have to get exactly right. So, it's been a bit of a slog. But like I said in the chat tonight, you just have to keep going. That's all writing a book is in the end--putting one word after another (and hoping it comes out coherent!).

The Intimacy of First Person

2013-04-14T00:43:00.003-04:00

Since the new book came out I've had a number of comments and questions from people regarding the shift I made from the third person narrative of the previous Lukien books to the first-person narrative used in THE FOREVER KNIGHT. This has all put me in mind of a guest post I did a little while back for Two Ends of the Pen, and I figured I'd repost it here now for some of the new folks that have been coming to the site lately...

Back when I started writing seriously, I was convinced that a “real” epic fantasy novel had to be written in third person. I had read The Mists of Avalon, The Lord of the Rings, and other classic, epic tales, and knew for certain that I wanted to follow their lead. I wanted to write a book with lots of characters, following them where they went and weaving their individual stories into one big tapestry that pulled them all together by the end. That was “bigness,” I figured. That was how to create the heft and scale I wanted in my books.

Eventually, I did finish that first book. THE JACKAL OF NAR came out in 1999, a third-person narrative with a “main” character and a constellation of other, somewhat lesser characters to support the main protagonist’s journey and to give the book the kind of moral ambiguity I figured could only come from different viewpoints. The story was big, complex, and by the time I wrote the third book in the series, difficult for even me to remember completely. But I was proud of what I’d written. I’d kept all the pieces of the story moving in my mind like a deep game of chess. I wrote three books in that first series, and then went on to write another trilogy, also featuring lots of characters and third-person narratives. I even wrote a YA novel. Shorter than all the other books I’d written, yes, but still in that third-person viewpoint I’d gotten so comfortable with.

And then, something happened. I don’t know what it was that made me want to do it, but I suddenly really wanted to write a first-person novel. I wanted to more deeply explore the main character in my second trilogy, a troubled knight named Lukien who had already been through a ton of trials in the earlier books. Lukien was, unquestionably, the heart and soul of the books I’d written, and yet I felt that his story had gotten muddled somehow, lost in a sea of sub-plots that had been meant to bolster his story, not weigh it down. I wanted to revisit Lukien. More important, I wanted to know him.

A lot of new writers think it’s easier to write a first-person book than one written in third-person. With only one main character and viewpoint to contend with, there’s only one timeline that matter, one central thread for the writer to follow to the end of the story. Before I actually started writing seriously, I was one of those writers that thought of first-person as “easy.” To be completely honest, I even considered it something of a copout.

I was very, very wrong.

After writing seven books with lots of different viewpoint characters, I stared at the computer screen a long time before the first words of Lukien’s new story came to me, the story that would eventually become THE FOREVER KNIGHT. I had spent years writing in my own voice, and it took me time to realize that now I had to write in Lukien’s voice. It was his story, after all. I needed to hear his voice in my head.

It took some time. I went back to reading some first person narratives to get the feel for how it’s done. I remembered some of my own favorite first person stories, like Charles Portis’ TRUE GRIT, an absolutely fantastic example of first person writing and that elusive thing called “voice.” Reading TRUE GRIT, I could feel that character of Mattie Ross—she was alive on those pages. She supplanted the author’s voice entirely. That’s what a great first person story does. Above all, it’s a character study. It’s an intimate conversation between the narrator and the reader. Eventually, Lukien’s voice came to me. I felt his bitterness and rage and all the things that had gone wrong in his life. More importantly, I knew that he was a good man, frustrated by his inability to do good things. After spending years writing about him in previous books, I finally got to know him. Some who have read THE EYES OF GOD and the other books about Lukien don’t think of him as good. I used to be able to understand that, because previously I was like an outsider looking in, spying on Lukien and the other characters but never really getting to know them intimately.

That’s no longer true. I’ve created lots of characters over the years. Readers sometimes ask me if I have a favorite. I used to dodge that question because I really didn’t have a favorite. But that’s not true anymore. Hands down, Lukien is my most favorite character of all those I’ve created. It’s not even close. He’s like a close friend now or a lover.

If hearing that makes you roll your eyes, that’s okay. I know it sounds odd. Writers are an eccentric bunch. We talk to our characters, we act out scenes, and we immerse ourselves as deeply as we can in the worlds we create. Sometimes we prefer them to the real world. I don’t know how much I’d like Lukien in the real world. I don’t think I’d ever be friends with him because we’re such different types of people. But I have gotten to know him by writing in first-person, in ways I’m sure I never would have otherwise.

Reviews, Giveways, and Werewolves

2013-04-11T11:15:00.004-04:00

I literally had no idea what to title this post. This one's going to be a mixed bag. Nothing major to talk about--just a bunch of little things. After the initial launch of the book last week I've been keeping somewhat quiet, focusing on writing and trying not to get too obsessed about reviews and such. Ah, who am I kidding? Of course I'm obsessed with reviews. I shouldn't be, really. But it's hard. So far reviews have been exceptionally strong for the book--noting less than 4 out of 5 stars, at least not that I've seen. Perhaps the tastes of the reading public is finally improving ;)

There is a new interview up for the blog tour today--you can catch it over at A Daily Dose of R&R. This one comes with a chance to win yourself a signed hardcover of the book, so scoot on over there and try your luck.

I'm just wondering out loud here, but do you ever get tired of book giveaways? There all over the place now. Personally, I enjoy doing them and always have, but I wonder if readers get tired of them. I've had good luck with them over at Goodreads, which has enabled me to get my name/books in front of new readers. Whether or not that transfers into sales or not remains a question, however. Maybe a few. It's all about moving the ball down the field a yard at a time anyway.

I took my first crack at writing about werewolves yesterday. I'm not nuts about vampires and zombies, but I've always been into werewolves. I can say this because by the time any of you get to read The Bloody Chorus you won't even remember me mentioning it, but there's a couple of characters in the story who have the power to get mighty furry. Calling them "werewolves" is kind of shorthand, because they're not the typical "full moon" type. I'm just putting my own spin on an old classic. You know I always try to post a pic with my blogs, so I found this beauty. She's a looker ain't she?

Oh, one more thing--the upcoming live Twitter chat is next Wednesday, so do clear your schedules for that. I'd definitely like to see some familiar faces there (or at least some familiar avatars).

I think that just about does it for today. No, wait, let me just pester you all one more time for reviews. If you've read the new book, please take the time to post something about it somewhere like Amazon, Goodreads, or Barnes and Noble. Thanks!

Tyrants and Jackals

2013-04-06T23:26:00.001-04:00

I went to my parents' house for dinner tonight and found an old friend waiting for me downstairs in the den. Okay, so this post is for hardcore Marco friends/readers, admittedly, but check it out--I found an early printout of the manuscript for what eventually became my first book, The Jackal of Nar. You can't really tell from the picture, but this bad boy was thick--at least two reams of paper thick. And check out the title--Tyrants and Kings. That was going to be the name of the book originally, not the series. Any other trivia? Why, yes! Look at that name--John Daniel Marco. That's when I thought having three names on the cover would make me sound cool.

Of course I couldn't resist blowing the dust off the manuscript and reading through it for a bit. Lots of memories, let me tell you. I remember sitting downstairs at my parents' house writing the book. At the time I lived in a noisy apartment and often went to my parents' house to work in peace so I could concentrate. It genuinely seems like another lifetime ago. I was recently married, I had no child, and I had hair :) I also had a different agent back them. If you look closely in the upper left hand corner you can kind of see where I used Paint Shop Pro to scratch out her name. I'm not even sure she's in business anymore. And how's this for trivia--I found her on Compuserve. Some of you might need to look that up to know what I mean; it was an early form of communication that came just after the invention of smoke signals.

I was going to take the manuscript home with me, but I didn't. After flipping through it I left it right where I found it. It will probably stay there for another fifteen years or so. I'm sure I'll take it home someday, but for some reason it just felt good to put it back and leave it be. I like looking back, but I like looking forward too.

Barnes and Noble Picks for April

2013-04-04T22:39:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a week. I had a feeling it was going to be fun, but I think this was the best "release week" I've had since my first book came out back in '99. So many great comments and good wishes from people--it's been great and a little humbling as well. One of the coolest things was seeing The Forever Knight chosen as one of Barnes and Nobles Scifi/Fantasy Picks for April. I posted on Facebook that I was kind of surprised to see that, especially since this month was filled with a lot of new releases. It was particularly cool because two of my favorite fantasy authors--Robin Hobb and Guy Gavriel Kay--are on the list as well. Nice to be in such fine company.

For those of you who like to keep score, there have been two more reviews on the Blog Tour--this one from Bibliophilia, Please, and this one from A Daily Dose of R&R. There was also a good one from Library Journal, a snippet from which you can see in the sidebar. So far nothing but sunshine review-wise. I don't think that's ever happened before. Perhaps Lorris and Pris are looking out for me!

So I headed off to a local Barnes and Noble tonight and snapped the picture posted here. This sounds kind of terrible, but if either Borders or B&N had to go, I'm glad it was Borders. Barnes and Noble has always been really supportive of my books. Borders? Eh, not so much. Probably why they went under :)

I did manage to sneak in a trip to the movie theater this week. Saw The Croods. You all know how much I love animated movies, especially modern ones. I kind of hate to say it, but The Croods was a bit of a snooze for me. Just felt kind of boring. Lots of traveling from scene to scene, lots of slap-sticky action scenes, and it just left me feeling flat. Of course, it might be because I've been watching I, Claudius for the past week or so, and right now nothing I watch or read is satisfying me. I, Claudius is absolutely the best thing I've seen in years. After watching it, going to see Nicholas Cage as a caveman just doesn't cut it.

The Forever Knight--Now Available

2013-04-02T09:36:00.000-04:00

Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

Yes friends, it's finally here. The Forever Knight is now in stores. I haven't actually been to a store yet to see it (that's tonight), but I've gotten some reports from folks who have spotted it. So, like Bigfoot, it really does exist.

Wow. What do I say? I'm thrilled, relieved, excited...all those things I always feel when a book comes out, but more so. I'm particularly glad to be home today to be able to enjoy it.

Now we wait for the reviews to come in. So far there have been two posted, both very positive. The always awesome Rob Bedford posted his review for SFFWORLD yesterday, and this morning this one went live from SciFi Chick (another of my favorite sites). She called the book "captivating." Nice :)

Today is also the first stop on my blog tour. Up first is this review and interview over at The Arched Doorway. Check it out. Yes, it's another good review. *Whew* Special shout-out to Rebecca Lovatt for making it happen.

Let me take a moment here to once again thank all of you out there who've waited patiently for the book to come out. You've been great. Please keep on spreading the word! Thanks also to the good folks at DAW Books for making it happen. They're one of the last bastions for the kind of fantasy I write, so remember to keep on supporting their authors!

No writing on the docket today. I stayed up late last night working on a particularly vexing bit of The Bloody Chorus. Going to kick back today and celebrate the simple joy of being a writer. I'm also going to call the mechanic because my car needs fixing. Ah, yes, nothing but joy...

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...

2013-04-01T10:04:00.002-04:00

For those who don't recognize it, that's a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth. I woke up with that phrase in my head this morning. Probably not surprising since tomorrow is a day I've been anticipating for a very long time. If you don't know what tomorrow is, check the sidebar. But honestly if you're here at my site, you already know :)

While we wait out the final countdown, here's something for today--a guest post I did over at Two Ends of the Pen. As I mentioned in my last missive my friend Debra Martin invited me to her site to write up a little something about Lukien. Do please check it out when you have a chance.

To go along with this entry I'm posting one of the last sketches I have from Todd Lockwood for The Sword of Angels. This, I believe, is the battle scene on the bridge from that book. Like all of the sketches Todd showed me, this would have made a cool cover. I love his work and I'm hoping that he's tapped to do the cover art for The Bloody Chorus as well.

Now, just to round things out, here's the master at work...

She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)

D-Day Minus 3

2013-03-30T14:47:00.002-04:00

So, what do you do three days before a book is released? If you're me, you sit back and feel rather sanguine.

A lot of people have been asking me lately if I'm excited about the impending release of The Forever Knight. Yes, I am. In some ways, I can't believe it's finally here. It seems like a different lifetime ago that I actually wrote it. It was, in fact, about three years ago that I delivered it to my publisher, and two different full time jobs ago. So why sanguine? Because I like the book, I told the story I wanted to tell, and I've done pretty much all I can at this point. I have some interviews coming up online, and that's all good, but I actually think the best thing I can do to promote it is to keep writing more books. So that's what I've been doing most of this week, and what I'll be doing next week too, and for all the foreseeable weeks after that.

As I've mentioned a couple of times I do have a "blog tour" kicking off next week to support the release of the book. I was going to post one long list of all the book tour stops for those of you who like to keep a scorecard, but I see that TLC Book Tours has already done that--you can find the list of stops here. First up is Arched Doorway, one of the blogs that I'm actually excited about because it's run by a young woman who's very into the kind of heroic, epic fantasy that I write. They'll be a review and an interview coming up on Arched Doorway on the book's actual release date, April 2nd, so stay tuned for that. I'll post a link to it again when it goes live. My friend and fellow author Debra Martin will also be posting a guest blog that I did over on her awesome site. That will be going live on Monday morning.

They'll be some other guest posts and interviews appearing over the coming month, and I'll keep you all informed about them. I'll also be keeping my eye on those pesky reviews ;) Yes, I hate the bad ones. Yes, the ruin my day. But I've always gotten more good ones that bad ones, and I'm confident it will be the same this time. So it's time to chill about all this stuff and keep looking forward.

What are you doing on Tuesday?

2013-03-29T10:17:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday night I'll be heading out to a local Barnes and Noble store with my wife and son to pick up my personal copy of The Forever Knight. This is a ritual that I've been doing ever since my first book, The Jackal of Nar, came out in 1999. Naturally, I have a copy of all seven books that I've written right near my desk on my shelf. Each one of them has been purchased by me personally, and each one has a receipt to commemorate the sale.

I've posted a picture of the very first one. It's dated 03-04-99. Holy bleep. That seems like a really long time ago. The cashier's name was Cheryl, by the way. I have no idea why that's on the receipt. As if to prove how much things have changed since then, that particular Barnes and Noble closed down several years go. A shame, because it was my personal favorite. A couple of years later, my second favorite B&N location closed down. Geez.

Not to worry though! Because there's still a few locations within an easy drive of my house, and I shall be going to one on Tuesday night to see The Forever Knight in the flesh for the first time. That's right--I still haven't seen the finished book yet. The publisher usually sends me one by now. *Ahem.* Ah, no biggie. Soon it shall be in my patient hands. And of course it can be in yours as well. Wouldn't it be awesome if we all flooded the Barnes and Nobles and bought up all the copies? Wow, I love that plan. Let's do it.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

2013-03-28T20:47:00.002-04:00

The website Dark Faerie Tales is running a series right now called "Fantastic Fables" in which authors are asked to re-imagine classic fairy tales, using their own characters in clever ways. I was happy to be asked to participate, but actually struggled with my submission. I didn't actually retell a story as I was asked to do, but rather did a comparison between Lukien and Hans Christian Anderson's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier."

My submission will be posted on April 8th, so I won't go into what I wrote--I'll post a link to it when it goes live. In the meantime, however, here's a great segment from Disney's Fantasia 2000 that retells the tale. If you're an animation buff like me, you should check it out. Definitely cool...

Kindle Contest!

2013-03-26T10:09:00.001-04:00

In keeping with the roll out of the new book, Literary Escapeism has launched a new contest this morning to help me promote The Forever Knight. We'll be giving away a brand new shiny Kindle ereader to a lucky winner. Literary Escapeism is absolutely one of my favorite book review sites on the web. The woman who runs it just exudes love for books and reading and it shows in how willing she is to help authors get the word out about their work.

Along with the contest, a brief, never before seen excerpt from The Forever Knight has been posted as well. I chose a sort of quiet little scene for the excerpt, one that I think illustrates the relationship between the two main characters of the book, Lukien and Cricket. Do me a favor--go and check it out. Join the contest, leave a comment, share the link--all that good stuff. And while you're there, bookmark the site so you can go back to it often.

One Week to Go!

2013-03-25T09:44:00.000-04:00

It's Monday, and it feels nothing like spring here on Long Island. I spent most of the weekend doing nothing in particular--the highlight was brunch on Saturday at a local restaurant with the Easter Bunny. My son and I even took a picture with him--I have proof that he exists, non-believers.

So, it's a week until The Forever Knight is released, and that's what's on my mind mostly these days. What's an author supposed to do the week before his book comes out? It's been a while since I had a book released, so it's hard for me to remember. No, not really.
Mostly I'm going to be writing some guest posts this week, doing a couple of interviews, and waiting nervously for reviews to start coming in. So far, the handful of people who've read the book have been very positive about it. That's a good sign. And the truth is that if some stinker reviews come in, well, that's fine. For one thing there's nothing I can do about it. Like I said last week or whenever, when you send a book out for reviews you've got to take what you get back.

More importantly, though, I wrote the book that I wanted to write. That's pretty much always the case, but it's particularly true of this book. Loyal readers might want to cover their ears here, but The Forever Knight is the book I wrote for myself, without much consideration for what readers would think of it. Of course I want everyone to love it, but I know not everyone will. That fact--that not everyone will love what you create--is such an obvious fact that it should always be self-evident to a writer, but it isn't. We want our readers to love our books. All of them. So we tweak things sometimes and hold back sometimes and exclude characters or scenes that we think might offend readers. But when I was writing The Forever Knight, I remember distinctly thinking "fuck that."

The result? Well, you'll get to decide for yourself in a week.

Clionet the Sea Goddess

2013-03-20T14:49:00.000-04:00

So it's two weeks until the release of The Forever Knight, and I should probably be blogging about that, and I know I mentioned posting a character interview with one of main villains from the book I'm currently writing , but I've been so into actually writing The Bloody Chorus the past week or so that I haven't had time to do anything else. So, I figured I'd post an excerpt from the manuscript to introduce you to another character from the book, one of my personal favorites so far, the sea goddess Clionet. This is from the beginning of Chapter 20 of the book, titled Dead Water...

Floating.

The current buoyed her toward the sun, her mile-long tentacles radiating from her gelatinous body. A slave of the tide, she drifted toward the shore of a nameless island. Her twelve eyes swayed at the end of their stalks, sensing the light and the colors of the ocean. The warmth of the sun touched her as her bell broke the surface. She surrendered to the gentle waves, aware of her countless stingers, fanned out like deadly hair, thoughtlessly trapping unseen prey. A school of minnows, a mass of tiny shrimp—the jolt of their dying reached her consciousness.

She had no brain but could think. She had no heart, no blood to pump. Yet she was alive and serene, her strange, jellied body undulating on the waves, the silent ocean untamed around her. Clionet could mimic nearly any creature in her domain, yet this form was perhaps her favorite. With no mouth to speak or ears to hear, she was wonderfully alone. Even her body was nearly transparent. She let the tide draw her to the shore, let her tentacles drag along the rocks and her vast bell roll upon the waves. A meal of crustaceans digested in her gut. The heat of the sun pricked her pinkish skin.

Then, in her mind she heard a prayer.

At first she ignored the disturbance, but the tiny, mortal voice persisted. Clionet thrashed. Her mind filled with the voice, distant but clear, calling to her. Its urgency tugged her from her ecstasy. She focused on it, venom seeping from her thrashing tentacles as she awakened. She knew the voice, though he hadn’t prayed to her in ages. His insistence frightened her.

Clionet retracted her tentacles. Down she sank, deep toward the gloom, blue light sparking along her body. The province was far and she needed to be quick. A spray of ink cloaked her transformation. Her twelve eyes became two enormous saucers. Suckers sprouted on her long, powerful arms. With a breath she flooded her mantle and let the water shoot from her siphon, jetting her toward Jinja Castle.

By the way, the image that I've put up with this post is from an artist who calls herself Atama Muhonnin on Deviant Art. You can follow the link to check out more of her work. When you search for the term "sea goddess" on Google you get back a ton of great images, but this one really struck me and seemed to fit own vision of Clionet. I think it's pretty great.

Upcoming Twitter Chat

2013-03-18T09:05:00.000-04:00

Okay folks, it's time to mark your calendars. On Wednesday, April 17, I'll be the guest on Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Chat hosted by Bryan Thomas Schmidt. I got the invite from Bryan a few weeks ago, and now that it's about a month away I figured I'd mention it so you all could fire up your Twitter accounts and make ready. I'm not exactly sure how it's going to work, but I'm assuming people will have a chance to ask questions.

I'm one of those people who always worries about throwing a party and having no one show up, so it would be great to see as many folks as possible there, especially some of those familiar, loyal faces that so often come here to the blog. So get a Twitter account if you don't have one yet, 'cause all the cool kids will be there. The chat will be at 9 pm Eastern. I, of course, will be there, all ready to answer questions and talk about books and writing in general--so don't ask anything too hard ;-)

You can find out more about SFFWRTCHT over at the website.