One of my favorite movies is Interstellar by Christopher Nolan. There are some moments in this space-faring movie where the threat of imminent death combines with the genius of human scientific endeavor along with one human’s will to survive that fill me with a riot of glorious, awe-inspiring emotions. I’m thinking primarily of the moment where they have to pull their main ship out of a spiraling death spin through an insane docking maneuver. Phew. That whole extended sequence is insane. Stressful and hopeful in equal measure, with soaring music that keeps on ratcheting the tension and stakes to deliver …
MJG Fall update 2018!
Has it really been 6 months since I last posted an update? That is sorely slack and I am sorry – but it is not for lack of writing-focused endeavors. On the contrary, since I last blogged I have written 1.5 books, edited an old book up to a fine shine, and plunged into a whole new writerly genre. At the same time, over the baking summer we hosted my wife’s sister and 2 kids for two weeks – a big deal for us as we’ve never hosted anyone, let alone a whole family! On with the details: 1.5 books …
MJG Spring update – Newsletter April 2
Well well well. The Zombie Ocean/Last Mayor series is finished, and now it is Spring. The old things are dead and it’s time for some new growth to creep in – and what better way to keep the zombie theme alive than with a zombie book… But not about zombies. Though actually there are zombies in this book, just in an epic fantasy setting, but the point is the book itself is sort of a zombie. What am I blathering on about? The Rot’s War, book 2 of the Ignifer Cycle – more below. Also I have epic news about …
MJG Newsletter Oct 2017a
Hello Ocean fans! For October’s first newsletter I’ve got some news about the epic fantasy novel I’m revamping, a couple of holiday snaps, as well as a special offer on my favorite collection of short stories, which I’m confident you won’t want to miss! First up, the epic fantasy: Epic Fantasy revamp. For the past month I have been hard at work revamping the novel once titled Saint Ignifer’s Rise, the very first book I wrote, and the first I ever published! I always loved it, but after promoting it a few times after launch (way back in 2014) I …
3-book promotion
This evening I set up a three book (I should say ‘product’) promotion- The Last free, The Loss (book 4) free, and the box set books 1-3 99cents, starting on April 18-22. It took two hours to get it all done, and in total if all promotion sites accept me, it’ll cost $510. It looks like a lot. It is a lot. But the last time I did this I spent $630 and ultimately got more than double that back. Plus- Mark Dawson, King of book facebook ads, spends about $20,000 a month on advertising, and gets more than that …
Why I write.
Every time I finish writing a book and take a few weeks off, I start thinking about how ‘thin’ life is. I check my ads and my book sales more. I eagerly await feedback from ARC readers. I read more political news than usual, until I get sick of it, and start casting around for other things to do. I do the cover and editing. I update my website and marketing. I play Civ 4. I check in with family and friends, until everyone I know is accounted for. I watch everything I want to watch, read everything I want …
New website, job, kittens!
I have a new website!! Much of it is currently under construction, so please forgive that. I’ll get to it. I’m also finishing up Zombie Ocean book 4, publishing and planning promo for a box set books 1-3, and starting on a teaching management course. At work I just got taken on full time (today)! That is great for stability, especially with a bloated mortgage. I never blogged also that we have kittens now, 2 6-month old brothers Lincoln and Churchill. Here’s a picture: Churchill is on top. Super cute.
Zombie Ocean 3 finished!
Raise a glass of champagne, Zombie Ocean book 3 is finished! It has been quite a slog, harder than any book to write since King Ruin. I had the story from the start, but having the story and having the story are two hugely different things. Making things line up straight and clear on weird terrain is way harder in reality than on the planning table. But, I think it is strong. The ending took me completely by surprise- it is very different from what I had planned- so hopefully will be most unexpected for the reader too. That was …
Mugged or worse…
Yesterday SY and I were walking home in the dark, around 7pm, past the park near our house. It’s not the best way home as there’s a long passage where on both sides there’s a tall and spiky metal fence, but we were near Sainsbury’s buying light bulbs and it’s a pain in the ass to go all the way round the other way. In that passage, you’re hemmed in basically- and we don’t usually take that route for that reason, even though it does have lights. There’s nobody nearby either, to hear you scream- park on one side, allotments …
Confrontation on the train
It seems like I get into some kind of confrontation with someone about once a week now (the house seller, the gardener, the preacher at church, kids at school regularly). This after 11 years in Japan and perhaps 1 or 2 proper arguments with random people. Perhaps that was partly due to poor language skills, but also culture difference. Anyway, this morning on the train I had a confrontation. We were packed in, and an older woman next to me in the aisle was grumbling about everybody, muttering to her partner but loud enough for people nearby to hear. She …