Author: MCD

I'm a writer. I also bake. And knit. A lot. My novels are available anywhere ebooks/paperbacks/audiobooks are sold online. Find more info on my blog: http://www.madebymeghan.ca

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ebook publishing self-publishing writing

Meet Steven Hardesty & his book, Running in Heels

This post is part of an Indie Author Blog Tour. Enjoy!

Thank you for the opportunity to join the blog tour for a chat on a blog that feels so comfortable. Strange words, maybe, considering the subject of “After the Virus”! I’ve been thinking about writing methods because I’ve got a problem. My first book just went on sale for Amazon’s Kindle – “Running in Heels,” a story of murder, mayhem and cosmetic surgery – and the more I think about it, the more the book frightens me.

It’s that weird feeling you get when you suspect something you’ve created has gotten completely out of control. The “Frankenstein’s Monster Syndrome.” I only began to feel it after people asked me why my book has a female protagonist when I am, well, not female. (“Nobody’s perfect!” said Joe E. Brown in the last scene of “Some Like It Hot.”) It wasn’t supposed to be that way. The novel started out with a male lead character. I still can’t figure how the heroine crept into the story and booted him out.

Oh, I’ve tried to piece together the evidence from previous drafts – not easy to do when dealing with electrons – and I think this is how it happened:

You see, I’m not the sort who can write an entire book in his or her head and then key it and zip it off to fame and fortune. Nor am I a writer who can outline in detail. Once I’ve told a story, in outline or summary, it’s dead to me and I just can’t write it. So I get an idea and a handful of characters and a rough target toward which I want the story to go, and then I come up with an opening paragraph and start in, excited to see what happens next.

I had this fellow in my head – he was lost in life, desperate, no idea how to change things. Suddenly, fortune and disaster. How does he handle all that, what changes could it make in him? I opened my trusty PC and began to key in the opening para. But he wasn’t in the opening sentence. No. There she was, instead, this strange woman. Staring at me out of the computer screen, daring me to carry on the story without her. She took over the story, lock, stock and down to the last exclamation mark, and believe me I was making a lot of exclamations at that moment.

Where she came from and how she did it, I don’t know. And it worries me. Because I wonder, Will she come back, and which of my next stories will she take over?

Part of my problem is that my writing methods are pretty chaotic – because I don’t write stories, I listen to them. They’re for me first. The stories I like best to hear are those of ordinary people – unlikely people – who do extraordinary things. People who, when their backs are against the wall, decide to be something special. Not to “do” something special, to “be” something special. They may win or lose, and their sacrifice may never be noticed by the world, but they have for that one moment been heroes.

In “Running in Heels,” Kathryn Teal starts the story a coward but ends it a hero. I think she proves Buster Keaton wrong – every now and then some man or woman really does achieve a kind of perfection.

Cheers!
Steven Hardesty
___________
You can find out more about Steve at his blog and buy his book on Amazon. I have not had the opportunity (aka time) to read Steven’s book, which he just published on June 16, 2011, but his sample pages are awaiting me on my iPAD.

Categories
ebook interviews self-publishing writing

2nd blog tour post for AFTER THE VIRUS

A. S. Anand has posted an interview we did for my book AFTER THE VIRUS on his blogspot blog. Do take a moment to check out Aman’s book, 2032, if you head over there!

This interview is apart of a blog tour that a few indie authors have organized via the Kindle Publishing Forums. I am looking forward to hosting a few of these posts myself over the next few weeks.

As always, if you are so inclined, you can buy AFTER THE VIRUS and/or read/download some FREE sample chapters.

Categories
ebook reviews writing

After the Virus — 2nd Amazon Review!

After the Virus received a second review on Amazon.com  yesterday. I’ve copied & pasted from the Amazon.com page for After the Virus to share here:

5.0 out of 5 stars
June 22, 2011
By Mark McLeod

This review is from: After the Virus (Kindle Edition)

Great book!

The main character is an actress trying to survive the dead new world, which is a new approach to the Zombie genera [sic]. The book tells the story of her travails and the people she meets along the way.

There are worse things than Zombies and they walk by us everyday.

BUY THE BOOK
READ SAMPLE CHAPTERS

Categories
personal reflection writing

#Trust30 – Courage to Connect

Courage to Connect by David Spinks

Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Who is one person that you’ve been dying to connect with, but just haven’t had the courage to reach out to? First, reflect on why you want to get in touch with them. Then, reach out and set up a meeting.

(Author: David Spinks)

_________

I have been so focused on promoting After The Virus and trying to carve out writing time (so I follow up with a new novel in a timely manner) that my Trust 30 posts have really fallen to the wayside, but, with that said, I do read and think about the prompts every morning. This one has my brain churning, churning, churning… who have I always wanted to connect to?

Here’s the thing, I’ve always thought that we are all just people. Some people are fantastic at what they do (though, in reference to Outliners, I do believe that talent is only part of the parcel and practice makes perfect or at least really good), and they build a following because of that. So I have always tried to not put people up on pedestals – it’s so much easier for them to fall down that way.

With that said, I would probably become a gushing fan girl if I ever came face to face with Mr. Steven Spielberg, who pretty much raised me via his films.

I’ll have to think on this prompt throughout the day. Just wanted to call your attention to it.

Who have you been dying to connect to?

Categories
ebook interviews self-publishing writing

1st blog tour post for AFTER THE VIRUS…

Ken Badertscher has posted an interview we did for my book AFTER THE VIRUS on his website, ebookfab.

This interview is apart of a blog tour that a few indie authors have organized via the Kindle Publishing Forums. I am looking forward to hosting a few of these posts myself over the next few weeks.

As always, if you are so inclined, you can buy AFTER THE VIRUS and/or read/download some FREE sample chapters.

Categories
ebook reviews writing

After the Virus — First Amazon Review!

After the Virus received it’s first review on Amazon.com  yesterday. I’ve copied & pasted from the Amazon.com page for After the Virus to share here:

4.0 out of 5 stars
Survival Of The Fittest, June 15, 2011
By R. Jones “music man” (Las Vegas)
This review is from: After the Virus (Kindle Edition)

Plunge headlong into a decaying world of ruined cities, ruined lives, and ruined aspirations. In “After The Virus” you have a detailed look at a world completely off the rails with warring factions determined to re-create that world in degrees of pain and suffering worse that the decimation of the disease that killed 99% of the population. Enter Rhiannon, beautiful, feisty, and determined that she will escape the perils that reach out for her everywhere she turns. Meet Will, strong-willed and silent, bent on restoring his part of that world in a peaceful fashion. Their efforts collide around a mute girl and an injured dog and propel them to the final show-down with an evil expertly crafted to make you wince and shudder. Good solid writing and an action-packed read!

BUY THE BOOK
READ SAMPLE CHAPTERS

Categories
ebook interviews writing

An interview for AFTER THE VIRUS…

David Wisehart just posted an interview we did for my book AFTER THE VIRUS on his website, Kindle Author.

It is always fun to chat about the writing process and the inspiration for your stories, so check it out if you want a little insider information about AFTER THE VIRUS.

And/or read/download some FREE sample chapters.

Categories
personal reflection writing

#Trust30 – Prompt #8 – Five Years

Five Years by Corbett Barr

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

(Author: Corbett Barr)

_____________

It is odd to get a prompt that doesn’t trigger much of a reaction for me, especially since I have been quite motivated to respond to the first 7.

I have thought about this for over 24 hours now and cannot come up with any earth-shattering, life-changing communication that I would have with my younger or older self, except maybe; to my younger self: it doesn’t get any easier, but what fun would it be if it was easy? And to my older self? (Hopefully it will be) Damn you look great, oh, and I see we are still on track and loving every minute of it.

Categories
personal reflection writing

#Trust30 – prompt#7 – Dare

Dare to be bold by Matt Cheuvront

Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.”

– Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

—–

I won’t bore you with my lists of goals and obstacles or tangible plan (if I manage to format one) but what I find interesting about this prompt – other than I totally agree – is that I usually pride myself in being rational. It is something I have constantly strived for, mostly because everything can go off the rails so suddenly, so it is best to plan to be as rational as possible ahead of time.

And this does block me, especially if I am attempting to write from a rational perspective; such as, I need to write a romantic comedy next, because that is what sells…that’s what I spent the bulk of 2007 doing, with no pitch-able romantic comedy to now show for it. This is the brick wall I come back to time and time again. It is obviously a tough lesson for me to learn. I must have 5 rom coms shelved at this point, including one I still work on sporadically. I like to think that I am now a strong enough writer to create in almost any genre, but boredom really factors for me, and if I am bored for sure the reader will be as well!!

So while I do think there is a strong argument for learning rules and structure (I am certainly big on structure) – be they for screenwriting or novels or shorts – but, once you are cemented in those rules, I think it is important to try to forget those restrictions as you begin to create a new story.

I am trying to play more, trying to believe in the world I am creating and desperately trying to not judge the writing, because once I attack a new idea rationally I often kill it for myself, even though it could have been great if I had just believed.

So while being rational may be great in relationships, it can be death to creative endeavors.

Categories
ebook personal reflection writing

#Trust30 – prompt #6 – Come Alive

Come Alive by Jonathan Mead

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.

Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?

(Author: Jonathan Mead)

_______________

Is it just my interpretation or are these prompts a little darkly bent? “You have 15 minutes to live, do before you die, you have one week left to live”. I guess the prompt authors lean towards the extreme in order to get the essence of their prompts across in a couple of sentences, and, of course, now that I dissect it, I could be accused of doing the same in my own work, but–still– leaning towards the dark here.

Now that I’ve protested a bit much, I must admit that I wouldn’t change a single thing about what I am currently doing… oh, you know, I would like to sell more books, we’d like to own some property, and maybe have a little less stress and more money, but we are on the ground floor–actually maybe we are a couple of rungs up the ladder towards the life we always wanted to build. I hope everything grows, expands, from here, but I would still chose to write, to be a storyteller. I am not too sure I could survive (mentally) doing anything else.

For the bonus section of the prompt: in regards to goals improving the present, I am launching a mini marketing campaign this week for After the Virus – I believe that slow and steady growth will help me find my readers, who may not necessarily be my friends and family (though their support is greatly appreciated). So, to that end, I am starting to request reviews and spend some time in a few book related forums on Kindle and GoodReads.

However, the more I read about marketing your books, the more it becomes apparent that the best bang for your time is to actually write more books, so, to that end, I will be dividing my time accordingly, and am actually looking forward to digging into a new project.