Writers: Go To Conventions (a guest post by Matthew W. Quinn)

Yes it’s been a minute. Here is a guest post by my friend Matt. Listen up. He’s got good advice here. (JRT)

 

By Matthew W. Quinn

One lesson I’ve learned in the years I’ve been writing professionally is attending conventions is a really, really good idea. Since I live in Atlanta, I’ve been blessed to have conventions like DragonCon, AnachroCon, and JordanCon (although I’ve never been to that one) easily accessible.

Firstly, conventions are good places to do business. I didn’t even know the BattleTech science-fiction franchise even still existed, but I ran into the staff of Catalyst Game Labs — the current holder of the property — at the 2008 DragonCon. I spent the subsequent year writing a short story entitled “Skirmish at the Vale’s Edge” for the site BattleCorps based on something I read in an old Clan Wolf sourcebook and submitted it to them just before the 2009 convention. I let the staff know I’d done this and soon afterward they wrote me to tell me they’d purchased the story. It’s still up there, and it’s now the canonical account of the Battle of Jallington Vale.

At a later DragonCon (either 2011 or 2012), I met representatives of another small press and received permission to send them my secondary-world fantasy/steampunk novel Battle for the Wastelands. I submitted in March 2013 and after not hearing back for some time, queried the company’s representative at the 2013 convention. I eventually received a rejection that November — they said it had good writing, but wasn’t for them. Although this wasn’t an acceptance, it was still feedback and a contact made for future projects.

More recently, I volunteered at the 2015 World Horror Conference. There I met representatives of two small presses, one dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, and horror and the other “bizarro.” I got the go-ahead to submit my teen Lovecraftian horror novel The Thing in the Woods and a rather strange tale involving little people. I’ve already submitted the former; I’ll submit the latter once I finish it.

Secondly, one can learn a whole lot about the craft of writing from panels. I found panels at DragonCon 2013 so informative on topics like pulp writing and putting together anthologies and collections that I ended up blogging about them. At the 2011 DragonCon I attended a panel on characterization taught by none other than Michael Stackpole. Another panel, with S.M. Stirling, provided some valuable advice about short stories and the most profitable use of one’s time. DragonCon 2010 gave me enough material for multiple blog posts. AnachroCon, though much smaller, taught me some valuable information about Norse culture and the state of Lovecraftian media.

Finally, conventions are a good place to sell your wares. James and I have a mutual friend named J.H. Glaze who’s very, very good at moving his product at conventions. I’ve purchased books at the World Horror Conference and DragonCon. If you’ve got books to sell, try to get a table either by yourself or with other writers to share the load.

-Matthew W. Quinn is a freelance writer, editor, and soon to be holder of an M.A. in World History from Georgia State University. Check out his speculative fiction here and follow him on Twitter here.

FOR THE LOVE OF COULSON (or how Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. can not suck)

Alright. This is hard to admit.

HARD.

Cause The Avengers pretty much came out and rocked my ass, your ass, and your grandma’s ass off. Cause Joss Whedon is a badass who can chew up corporate crap and spit out magic rainbows of love. Cause Clark Gregg is a bonafied Terminator when it comes to playing Agent Coulson, stealing a multi-million dollar movie from some of Hollywood’s biggest players. Cause, dammit, this is the Marvel Universe and the sumbitchin Avengers part of it.

But the really real truth of the matter is that Marvel Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. pretty much blows.

Hey guys, pose like you’re gonna kill a franchise.

I’m not the first one to say it so put your hair back on. The show is flat and boring. Nobody is engaging. I just don’t give a shit what happens because I know when the show starts that NOTHING is going to happen. There are no consequences. Everybody is exactly who they were when the show started and I feel they will remain that when the show ends. The actors have zero chemistry and even the indomitable Clark Gregg comes off as flat and muted.

Hell, it’s making me kinda hate Agent Coulson.

Yep He’s dead.

So what can be done? I’m glad you asked.

FIRST this show needs to remember that it is a part of the Marvel Universe. We were promised that it would tie in and we have seen almost NONE of that. Yes we got a 30 second appearance of Nick Fury at the end of an episode, but where are the small nods? The inside fanboy references? The freaking copy of the Daily Bugle with SPIDERMAN: HERO OR MENACE? plastered across the front of it. Why hasn’t this team started running into A.I.M. or Hydra or any of the other bad guy organizations out there? You have about 30,000 C and D list heroes and villains you can swing into this show for almost no money. Hell, Thor hits in two weeks, just give me a red and silver streak CGI’ed across the sky and have Coulson comment on it.

It’s like I made that shit up.

SECONDLY this show REALLY needs some consequence. Like the episode called EYE SPY. Crap episode. Nothing really happened. Had a glimmer of promise that quickly died. HOWEVER, they could have pulled that episode out by

SPOILERS WARNING!

simply doing one thing at the end. When the girl who they removed the eye from laid down at the end of the show and her eye began to flutter as she fell asleep they should have simply had the one eye left pop open and then do that zzzzt bloodspurt thing that happened to her handler.

BAM! all of a sudden you establish a few things. 1) Coulson’s team (and by extension S.H.I.E.L.D.) can miss things, which creates a helluva lot of tension. 2) It indicates that the person in control of the eye devices has a bigger plan and won’t simply disappear after this one episode. These two things could turn the show in the right direction because these two things are missing.

Truthfully they should call me and I can fix this show.

Here’s what the dealio should be: We all know that Coulson died in The Avengers movie. This Coulson is something else. He may be a Life Model Decoy, he might be a prototype of Ultron or Kang or a Doombot or a brainwiped Skrull or some other thing FROM THE MARVEL UNIVERSE that could possibly become the Vision. Regardless, he isn’t human and S.H.I.E.L.D. is field testing him.

He thinks he’s in charge of this team of misfits but truthfully THEY are handling him because he’s dangerous.

There are two scientists because they are both studying him using their different schools of training. Agent Ward and Agent May are there so that if he doesn’t work out they are the two with the ability to take him down. And the Rising Tide girl is the wildcard and the ONLY one who doesn’t know Coulson’s secret besides him. Of course her gig is to investigate and to mistrust S.H.I.E.L.D. so when tidbits of info that things are not as they seem come out, she is our way of finding out about it. She is our intro character. Once she finds out the truth she drops the knowledge on Coulson and he and her go off the rails.

Then we find out that this whole time they haven’t been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. at all.

Aw yeah son.

BAM!

Seriously Joss, give me a call.

TA HELL WITH A MASS MARKET (my opinion as a reader on why I love Trade Paperbacks)

I have a ton of books.

I don’t know how much they actually weigh, but me and the Missus have a book buying problem. Actually, the phraseology on that is wrong. We have NO problem buying books. Ignore the fact that my TBR pile numbers near 100. Ignore also the fact that there are easily 20 current releases I have NOT purchased simply because I know when I do I will immediately read them thus pushing my TBR pile even further int he background. (Yes, I’m looking at you COLD DAYS by Jim Butcher. Fuck you, don’t make me feel guilty for not bathing in your sweet sweet cotton-candy scented literature. I’ll get to you. I will. I PROMISE. It is inevitable.)

Where was I?

Oh yeah, books.

Here is a pic of our new, grown folks books shelves and our library at the house.

ALL the books on the left two shelves are mine.

 

So earlier I was thinking about books. The physical form of the book. I decided that I am totally over mass market paperbacks. I much prefer the size of a trade paperback.

Mass market paperbacks are now the cats of the publishing world in my opinion.

Now I’ll still buy a mass market, hell I bought one last night (SHARP by my good friend Alex Hughes). But if I can, I’m buying trades from now on.

Book four of the Deacon Chalk series will be trade paperback size.

My double anthology of sword and sorcery stories that I edited for Seventh Star press will be trade paperback size.

I’m actually going to push for any book released by me to be automatically in trade paperback size. I may not get it for everything, but it’s what I want.

They are easier to hold, easier to read, and easier to shelve. They are narrower, so you can fit more on a shelf, and with a mass market, you lose the 3-4 inch difference in dead space between the top of the book and the bottom of the shelf above it.

This post has no real merit. It was just a musing I thought I would indulge because, hey, fuck it, it’s my internet too.

So what’s your choice or opinion on this hot-button issue?

I DON’T KNOW IF I MISSPOKE OR WAS MISHEARD (I have an opinion on which it were of course)

Sorry, I started editing an anthology that became two anthologies and I looked up and a month was gone. I’m also about to remodel the tattoo shop I own (Family Tradition Tattoo) in Marietta, Ga so lots and lots has kept me away.

Anyway, I’m at JordanCon this weekend. This is a nice con. Real nice. Easy to work, 20 minutes from the house, the staff is super nice, and it’s loaded with folks I like:

Delilah S. Dawson

Alex Hughes

John Hartness

Deb Dixon from Bell Bridge Books

Anthony Taylor

Stuart Jaffe

Jana Oliver

I was on a great panel with Delilah, Alex, John, and Seanan Mcguire today where the topic of what we read came up. We gave our list and I said that I have been concentrating on reading some classic literature and award winners to see if they were worth the hype, ala, Hemmingway (yes), Falkner (yes), and others.

After saying it I felt the need to clarify that I wasn’t putting down genre in any way. I didn’t want anyone in the room to walk away with the impression that I think genre books aren’t “real” literature.

In my clarification the audience mistakenly thought I was putting down one of my co-panelists books which is the exact opposite of what I was saying. Now I’m not slick, but I don’t often misspeak (and I am never shy about an opinion) but my point that a good book is a good fucking book no matter where the publisher puts it and to be prejudiced by genre is dumb and limits you and no one else.

One of my literary heroes is Robert E. Howard. I have made no secret to that. He’s considered a hack by the wide, wide literary world. He wrote pulp, a LOT of it. He wrote about swords and barbarians and wizards and boxers and pictish kings and magic.

He also wrote about destiny, morality, love, valor, and metaphysical concepts such as genetic memory, immortality, reincarnation, and others. His wordcraft equals the greats of literature and I place him next to Cormac McCarthy.

Kurt Vonnegut is now considered literature, but trust me, he wrote science fiction and speculative fiction. The literati loves Neil Gaimen but he writes magical realism. It’s all genre dammit. Both of them are on the level of Harlan Ellison and the literati turns a nose up at him.

Genre is real writing folks. It just is. It’s not all vampire smooches and shit blowing up.

Go click the links in this blog if you don’t believe me. Order some books. Get your read on.

HOW FAR CAN I CARRY YOU? (or self-reliance)

There is a thing in this world that we are falling short of. It’s something that is vital to our health as a nation and as individuals.

It’s called SELF-RELIANCE.

The simple truth of life is that in this life you have to carry your own weight. It’s a complicated thing that you spend your childhood learning about and your teens figuring out how to do it. Once you become an adult you should have it worked out as to how you are going to take yourself through life.

Say you an me are going on a journey. The two of us are hitting the road and needing to go somewhere. We are walking. Now, I may not walk fast, but I can walk pretty far. The two of us could probably cover 10-20 miles before we had to stop. That’s a pretty fair piece.

I’m a big guy. 6’4 well over 300 lbs. I’m pretty strong. If you climb on my back I can probably carry you maybe a half mile before your weight would make me have to set you down.

Now pay attention to what happened in that example.

Both of us walking, carrying our own weight, we could go 20 miles.

Me carrying you, we could go 1/40th that distance. (and if I strapped up to your back we’d be lucky to make it 10 feet. (I am a heavy bastard)

Now this example carries over to your entire life. It applies to your work, to your marriage, to your friendships, to damn near everything you ever do. If we all carry our own weight we can go further. We can encourage each other on the road and inspire each other to reach destinations more distant than we would travel to on our own.

But we do it on our own two feet. Standing, walking, striding forward.

Walk beside. Don’t ride. You’ll get farther.

YO, HO, HO AND A BOTTLE OF TORRENT (or my contribution to International Please Don’t Pirate My Book DaY)

The other day, hell yesterday, the abominable snowman that is Chuck Wendig did a kick ass post on internet piracy. He ask for authors to join in the discussion and post up a blog with their thoughts. Here’s mine:

Okay I’ll admit it. I’ve pirated a lot of stuff in my day. Clicked it, downloaded it, thought nothing of it.  Music, tv shows, movies, damn near nothing was safe from my greedy grasp.

I had a lot of reasons, some where that ti didn’t matter, some were that stuff was unavailable in a way that would benefit the artist (I mean, did Muddy Waters really care that I downloaded his performance in London? I mean, being dead and all he probably didn’t care)

I heard a lot of talk from pirates about the fan aspect. The “if I try it and I like it then it helps get the word out.”

Well that works for music but it does almost nothing for an author.

I’ve worked in the music industry in clubs and owning a tiny (and I mean freaking tiny) record label with my best friend Kevin in the 90’s.

HERE is a link to one of the albums we put out.

And now I’m an author.

Here’s the gig: If you download a band’s record (one released through a label, not independant) then often they don’t care. The reason for this is that the band made their money on the record already. They got an advance which is theirs. Yes it goes to the recording of the album but if they get 10 grand and spend 2 then they pocket the rest.

This advance is recouped by the record label keeping the royalties earned from sales.

So far, this is the same way it is in the publishing industry.

But that shit is about to change.

Now the band has their record out. It’s up on Itunes, Amazon, on the shelves of the few Best Buys out there. If they are big enough they go in Walmart and all the other places CD’s still live. The band then books a tour, hit the road, and play gigs. Sometimes they get paid for the gig, sometimes not, but while they are out there they are hawking t-shirts and other merchandise.

This is where a band makes a living.

They get in front of fans, even the fans who pirated their album, and then sell them the two things that CANNOT be pirated, a live performance and a piece of merchandise.

Now remember how I said that this was just like publishing? Well, here’s where it ain’t.

An author gets their book out. It goes live on Amazon, B&N, and on bookshelves across the world. The author hits the road promoting the book. They work conventions and do book signings and speak. They bust their ass to entertain the fans who come, even the ones who pirated their book.

BUT OTHER THAN THE BOOK THEY DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO SELL YOU.

If you go see an author live at a convention or a signing then they are NOT getting paid for that. It is coming out of their pocket. It COSTS them money to be where you are, even if they are local.

So now you know. Buy the book. It’s the only real way that supports an author. The only way that matters.

And don’t pull the “I want to try it to see if I like it first” crap. There isn’t a book out there that you can’t read a preview for free. If you pirate it and it doesn’t blow your socks off then you won’t pay for it.

But you like books. You like writers. Put the money on the table.

We all appreciate it.

ARMAND ROSAMILIA MEET THE LOYALS AND TRUE BELIEVERS: LOYALS AND TRUE BELIEVERS MEET ARMAND ROSAMILIA

Y’all know I like to bring new folks to your attention. Here’s a fella that is hella nice and writes some truly kick ass zombie fiction. I mean Armand is truly out on the edge. He’s got a new one out and here he is to let you know a bit about the flavor of the story.

And the best way to support my guests is to buy their shizzle. Go look around Armand’s website, check out his amazon page, or just click the link below to go straight to the book! If you want crazy zombie action you will not be disappointed.

Without further ado:

Miami Spy Games

Miami Becomes A Character

Armand Rosamilia

As hard as it is to believe, Miami is where Miami Spy Games is set. I know, crazy! As with most of my stories, I take great care in choosing the perfect setting for a story, whether it is horror, thriller, erotica… you get the idea.

My challenge with Miami Spy Games was being handed the location when I took the job of writing the ‘episodes’. I live in Florida, but I also live about six hours north of Miami. It wasn’t like I could take a quick drive down, scope out the area, and begin writing. But once I started putting the basic story together, I realized Miami was a huge part of the plot.

It’s where the action is, obviously, but it also sets the tone. When you talk about the seedier sections of Miami, someone living in the area needs to know it is authentic, and readers all over the world need to feel like they know Opa-Locka. When I mention South Beach, everyone immediately thinks of gorgeous sun-kissed women wearing thong bikinis. (I know I do!), but I also wanted to show other parts of the area like the hotels and restaurants, so the reader got a better feel for it.

I was also able to talk to two people who are close to me that grew up in Miami: Kim Murphy and Steven Brack. They offered ideas for locations, told me about certain buildings and streets I used, and gave me some Miami tidbits I added into the story.

Time and time again, I had to research Miami maps and photos and areas like The Setai Hotel, Miamarina, Miami Zoo, Miami International Airport, and so many other spots. It’s amazing how much these places colored the story and felt like another character as I wrote, making sure to catch all the little nuances of each location and have it play off the living characters.

I hope I’ve done justice to Miami, and hope I can continue to play in their backyard with even more Miami Spy Games stories in the future.

If you have any questions about the Miami Spy Games series, I’d love to hear them: armandrosamilia@gmail.com

Armand Rosamilia

Miami Spy Games on Amazon Kindle only $3.99!

ARMAND’S AMAZON PAGE        and       ARMAND’S WEBSITE

Reblogging a great article: 8 Writing Techniques to Win You a Pulitzer | Jane Friedman

I am reading BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy because he is a total literary badass and I want to write like him.  I ran across this article, which by title sounds vaguely manipulative, but actually just gives some great advice (with examples) of how to write better.

8 Writing Techniques to Win You a Pulitzer | Jane Friedman.

WHAT THE HELL HAS JAMES BEEN DOING LATELY? (aka: status report)

Hello Loyals and True Believers. I hope you are well. I love you all and it is good to see you again.

I have many writer friends and occasionally they post up what they are doing and how it is going so I figured I would do the same.
I am going to list things by project name, brief description, and then the status of the project.
So here goes:

RED RIGHT HAND:  Charlie, a survivor of something terrible, gets dragged into a mad hunt for elder gods who are breaking their prison on the other side of the universe and coming to our world.  Her hunting partners are Brad and The Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep himself. It’s dark urban fantasy based out of the Lovecraft Mythos and I freaking love the way it is going. Rough sketched for 3 books.  STATUS: 25% complete on first draft. I WILL finish the first draft over November.

THE CLOCKWORK COURTESAN:  Tesla’s nephew and a Clockwork girl in an action adventure/steampunk tale that has dirigibles, clockwork people, magic, Pinkerton Agents, mechanikal cyborgs, and a lot of romance. STATUS: 25% done but on hold. I think the story needs to gestate a little bit longer.

SUPER SEKRIT COLLABORATION WITH A NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR: Holy crap y’all. I am so damn excited about this one I can barely keep it in…but I have to so no details except to say that this is an urban fantasy take on a classic tale, set in medieval times, and done in a totally fresh and new way. My collaborator is almost got her schedule clear (one more week) and then we start. IT IS GONNA ROCK!  STATUS: Character sheets done, outline 90% done.

THUNDER ON THE BATTLEFIELD ANTHOLOGY: I get to try my hand at editing! This is the sword and sorcery antho from Seventh Star Press that will hit 2nd quarter of 2013. The deadline isn’t for another 3 months but I have been getting some truly awesome submissions and it will be a terrific collection of heroic fantasy.  STATUS: Pre-selecting the submissions for acceptance.

WEIRD WESTERN ANTHOLOGY:  I am now a proud member of The Outlaws Of Fiction with Brady Allen, D.A. Adams, and Steven Shrewsbury. We are the Four Horsemen of the Writer-pocalypse. We are joining forces to compile 4 novellas (one each) for a collection. It will be a weird western theme and it is gonna rock. My story stars Caleb Donner, a survivor of the Donner Party Massacre who wanders the west as a pariah and a hired gun. He gets into some crazy stuff. We will be pitching a publisher in a few months. STATUS: Planning stage, but my story is outlined and in the que to be written. (20,000 words should be a 2 week turnaround, written and revised)
* check out the Outlaws Of Fiction on our BLOG and our FACEBOOK PAGE

THAT WAY LIES MADNESS: This is written and ready to roll. It’s the Lovecraft Mythos in space. It’s dark, spooky, and straight space horror. I love it. I love the world, I love the voice, I love the main character. I have the cover ready (art by me) and the rights to “He Stopped Loving Her Today” reverted in October so I am including it as a backup story. I am also including interior art drawn by me.  This one will available in both e-book and print.   STATUS: I have some interior art pieces to draw, after that I just lay it out and pub it. I plan to have this done by end of month also.

HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY COMIC BOOK SCRIPT: I am writing a comic book script based on my zombie love story as a way to pitch comic book companies to allow me to write for them. I LOVE comic books. I’ve been a fanboy since I was a kid and now the industry is looking for novel writers to write for them so I am getting this written as a sample script. Of course if someone wants to make it a comic book then I am totally game.  STATUS: 33% done. Also will be finished by months end.

 

So there you go. That is what I am doing. Along with doing some work on the tattoo shop to prepare for 2013. Its been open for near 4 years so its time for some newness. So far it is all on track for 2013 to rock your face off.

I GOT A NEW OFFICE (oh hell yeah)

Yep. The Daughter moved out and I have turned her room into my office. I miss her, but I do like having a place with a big monitor and no internet to write in. Her bed is still there because, thankfully, she does come home to visit and we need a place where guests could, theoretically, stay overnight.

Now we are having a writer’s group Halloween party soon, so I will will post up a full on video tour of the office then, but for now I want to show you my desk.

Yep. I got my Boondock Saints Poster, one of three Frank Frazetta prints, a bunch of books from Conan to Mack Bolan, Wally Wood’s PANELS THAT ALWAYS WORK print, a rosary, a framed hotrod magazine, a crapton of action figures, and my Conan comic screen saver on my big piss off monitor.

I love it.

Here’s a closer shot of how it looks when I look up from the monitor while writing and a list of the figures you see.

From the left:

Hellboy vinyl statue, some zombie viking figure that I am sure is a McFarlane toy, Svadun and Belit (Queen of the Black Coast) from the Conan action figure line from McFarlane with Viking Spawn looking down from above (I have had that figure for near twenty years!),  Conan himself with a big ass hammer, Cthulhu all gnarly looking, Ash with chainsaw and boomstick in the upper corner, and finally My Little Cthulhu with screaming victims.

This is where I go to send wordcount to Valhalla.