You’ve probably heard of the callback, a technique comedians use to get fresh mileage out of an old joke, often with exponentially uproarious results. Here’s a callback in Seinfeld: Seinfeld did these a lot, in this case it was a callback and a kind of catch phrase linking back to a previous episode, that when repeated multiple times, only gets more power. Master of my domain. I use these sometimes just hanging out with people- something gets mentioned early on, you see a chance to mention it again later, tangentially related to what they’re saying, boom, everybody laughs. Everybody uses …
King Ruin – The Ruin War 2
King Ruin is a Hard SF thriller, Book 2 in the Ruin War trilogy. Your soul is the war zone. In the fearsome battle with Mr. Ruin, elite Graysmith Ritry dived deeper into the fires of the mind than ever before. There he found the ‘Aetheric Bridge’, a crossing-point that links all souls throughout time, and unleashed its awesome power. Now that power has been noticed. King Ruin, a malevolent entity far greater than Mr. Ruin, wants the secret of the Bridge, and Ritry alone stands in his path. But Ritry is nothing compared to the King, and there’s nowhere …
Mr. Ruins: Chapter 1
This is chapter 1, titled RITRY GOLIGH A, of my science-fiction thriller MR. RUINS, book 1 in the RUINS SONATA. Read more about it here. Her neurons are starting to burn. Her name is Mei-An, a sweet-looking meta-Asiat with black face-framing bangs to die for, and her brain is in my hands. She came in to my graysmithy building an hour ago asking for a language inject, for what purpose I have no idea. I didn’t question her. I’m a graysmith, a smith for the gray matter of the mind, and this is what I do: implanting memories, erasing them, …
Adventures in Book Marketing: Mr. Ruins
If you follow this blog, you’ll see I’ve been pushing my latest book, Mr. Ruins- which had a cover I poured all my ideas into, but people thought looked like a bunch of worms sitting on an eyeball. :(. It wasn’t meant to be that. So now I’m talking about…
New Release – Mr. Ruins at 99 cents!
My brand new science fiction techno-thriller Mr. Ruins is out on amazon, and on sale for just 99 cents/pence internationally until August 20th (after which it goes back up to $4.99). So if you want to buy, I suggest you buy now! Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon Ca Amazon Au Already it has 10 reviews, with a 4.6 average rating. Get in on this great deal now. “Mr. Ruins is a heart-stopping, high-octane SF technothriller.” “Gorgeously drawn ruins blend with an utterly unique story.” In the tsunami-drenched dregs of a sprawling future-ruin, ex-skirmisher Ritry Goligh must learn to fight …
Mr. Ruin – The Ruin War 1
Mr. Ruin is a Hard SF thriller, Book 1 in the Ruin War trilogy. Your mind is the battlefield. In the war that devastated the world, ex-marine Ritry was a ‘Graysmith’ – an elite interrogator who dived deep into the hellish fires of enemy minds. His efforts made him a hero, saving countless lives, but also scarred his sanity and lost him everyone he ever loved. Now Ritry sees a chance at redemption. A shadowy figure known only as Mr. Ruin offers him an awesome power – the ability to dive not just into minds, but into the fabric underlying …
Ignifer’s Rise
Ignifer’s Rise is an epic fantasy novel set in a bleak industrial world populated by bizarre castes, where a boy with the fate of the world written in his scars must raise a legendary hero to life, and prevent the rise of an apocalypse god.
Great review of ‘Ruins of the Rising Sun’
Here’s a really great review of my new haikyo book, Ruins of the Rising Sun, on Seba Rashii culture zine. Thanks Seba Rashii! Quick quotes- “The stunning image of an abandoned, devoid-of-any-purpose roller coaster is a powerful metaphor for the clear ups and downs described along the way by the author. Any reader already acquainted with Japan will know it is place that doesn’t leave any impression other than the permanent on a person and the haikyo featured in this book are perhaps uniquely Japanese. With everything from abandoned theme parks to love hotels, soap lands and leftovers from the …
Into the Ruins – Adventures in Abandoned Japan
Ruins of the Rising Sun – Adventures in Abandoned Japan is a hybrid Japan travelogue/ photo-book written by author / photographer Michael John Grist, crammed with explorations of abandoned ruins. Best-selling thriller writer Barry Eisler has said- “Gorgeous, haunting, stunning memento mori photos… fascinating text commentary… I guarantee you will start fantasizing about exploring haikyo yourself.” It’s currently available as an e-book through Amazon: – Amazon US – Amazon UK Story: For five years writer and photographer Michael John Grist explored over 100 of the most beautiful and haunting modern ruins in Japan (called ‘haikyo’), from abandoned theme parks and …
story craft #18 Steeping (or China Mieville’s Teapot Brain)
I have figured out how China Mieville writes. I did this by watching several interviews he was in, and noticing one thing- China Mieville uses the word ‘steep’ quite a lot. In this video interview he used it, and in this article, and this one, and this one. In this single word lies what I believe to be the secret to being China Mieville. In a word, it is preparation. In another word, it is teabags. Ever since I read Mieville’s book The Scar 10 years ago I was kind of awed by the world he put together, the way …