Ben Spivey on "Being Indie"

On "Being Indie" is a monthly feature that will be hosted here on TNBBC. It is my hope that we will meet a wide variety of independent authors, publishers, and booksellers as they discuss what being indie means to them.

Ben Spivey is Co- Founder, Co-Editor and Publicist for Blue Square Press, which was established in 2010. He is also the author of Flowing in the Gossamer Fold, which was reviewed here back in March. And he blogs at Your Brain's Black Box.

Ben's novel was partially influenced by photographer Yelena Yemchuk and the beautifully uneasy feelings her artwork created within in.

Today, he shares with us this thoughts on the term "Indie" the personal impact of such labels.

I am not purposefully trying to be "indie." What I write—what I am doing—is what I love to do, it is what I believe to be important, and however that is classified is whatever to me.

While I do not label myself I understand the importance of such distinctions.

I've heard the kids with the shoulder bags talking on the train—people who enjoy being able to say they like writer X, "haven't you heard of X?" And when their friend says, "who?" They say, "X is an indie writer. Where have you been?"

            

I'd be just as happy as an Oprah book-of-the-month as long as my vision and my words and my passion was not compromised in the process.

            

The "indie world of books" is what excites me right now. Is it an entire world? Feels like it sometimes. It can be overwhelming, like a table full of BBQ nachos can be overwhelming.

           

People become board with "mainstream literature" but that doesn't mean there are not great popular fictions, just like anything there are good and bad, worthwhile and not. "Indie," can be more exciting and feel more personal, but it can be just as bad as anything else.

            

So what is being "indie?" If it's being independent, then I am not. If it wasn't for fellow writers, authors, designers, publishers and close friends, I'd be nothing.

            

A lot of the people I am involved with support each other in someway. It's a network. Maybe it should be called "being collective."

            

When I think "indie" in the conventional sense I think small press and all of the beautiful works that a lot of those hardworking people produce, distribute and love.

Book Giveaway: The Bee-Loud Glade

I am especially thrilled to be able to offer following giveaway !

Steve Himmer's novel The Bee Loud Glade will be featured in

 October as part of TNBBC's Author/Reader discussion 

In order to stimulate discussion,
we have 5 books to give away for US residents
and 2 books to give away Internationally!!

Here is the book description as it appears on Goodreads:

 When Finch, a recently fired marketer of plastic plants, takes a vow of silence to live as a hermit on an eccentric billionaire's estate, he finds that his attempt to contemplate nature and deeper truths is foiled by his noisy inner thoughts and his new employer's booming demands.

The contest will run through September 20th.

Here's how to enter:

1 - Comment here stating that you would like to receive a copy of the book, and tell us what you would consider taking a 7 year vow of silence for. 

2 - Pleas tell us if you are a resident of the US, or if you are international (In this case, Canada is considered international) and leave me a way to contact you.

*If your comment is missing any of this information, it will be considered ineligible.

3- Agree to participate in a group read book discussion that will run during the month of October over at TNBBC on Goodreads. Steve Himmer has agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for him.

*If you're comment is chosen as a winner, by accepting the copy you are agreeing to read the book and join the group discussion at TNBBC on Goodreads (the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you at the first of the month).

Winners are chosen randomly

and will be announced here and via email

on September 21st.

Good luck!

Review: A Burden To The Earth

Read 8/31/11 - 9/7/11
4 Stars - Strongly Recommend
Pgs: 279
Unpublished

TNBBC is breaking new ground! I had an opportunity to beta read Michael J. Sullivan's manuscript A Burden to the Earth. The pre-edited, unpublished book found it's way to me during a break in the action at the 2011 Indie Book Event (IBE) that took place in NYC this past July.

Michael's wife, Robin, was sitting front row in the audience at the event. Though I had never met her in person before IBE, we have quite the history together. Robin is a long time member of the TNBBC goodreads group. After the initial Hi, so great to finally meet you's, Robin and I discussed her publishing company and the authors she represents. Conversation eventually turned to her husband, who is enjoying his success as a sci-fi writer. Unlike his Riyria  books, she informed me that the book he had just finished writing was literary fiction, which is a new genre for him. She asked if I would be interested in giving her and her husband some feedback on it. Once she delivered the elevator pitch, I couldn't say no.

The book focuses on Elliot, a forty year old man, single and still living at home with his mother, who harbors a hatred for a world that he feels left him behind. Very much wishing things were still as simple as they were when he was growing up, Elliot struggles to adjust and adapt to life in the 1990's. Always a bit obsessive over women - he still has the unopened bottle of Coke that a girl he crushed on in middle school had given him and stalks the cute waitress who humors him with conversation at the Fox Den -  he damages the only friendships he has when he finds out that the two people he cares most about, Rachel and Randy, have begun dating behind his back. In his mind, their friendship is no longer equal and he nearly loses his mind after Rachel refuses to give into his demands that she pay him the same "attention" she does Randy.

Beta reading, while exciting to be one of the first few to see a book before it passes into the hands of the publishers, can also be a frustratingly long and tedious job. Reading between the lines in search of character development, pace, and overall story arc is fun. Discovering grammatical and structural errors and communicating the adjustments, removals, and recommendations - not so much. I found more of my time was spent typing up the edits than reading the actual content. And this is where I think beta reading works for me, and where it might not work for others. I know many a blogger who cannot STAND it when they come across a poorly edited sentence, let alone page, and don't get them started if it's poorly edited all the way through! Yes - it is important to know the difference between their, they're, and there. Yes - it is important to understand comma placement and how improperly placed commas can impact the performance of a sentence. And in a finished edition of the novel, those things are certainly much less acceptable, and reflect negatively on the author and editors for having let those things slip by. But in these early stages, with a manuscript or review ARC, I can see beyond all of that, into the meat of the story, and see the gem that is hidden beneath. Though, if I'm being honest, I have always been able to look past the typo's and still find nothing but love for the content. It's this ability to separate the two - the grammatical errors from the story's content and development - that allowed me to see this novel for what it really could be.

Exceptionally well paced, A Burden to the Earth delves into the flawed and fractured mind of a man who is frighteningly close to the edge of losing everything, including himself. As the cracks in his reasoning become more obvious and worrisome to others, in Elliot's mind things are simply starting to appear more clear. "Life is a joke God plays on people...", and Hell be damned, he has finally become tired of being God's little punch-line.

I thought Michael did Elliot a great deal of justice when he wrote him - there is so much wrong with Elliot that readers will find themselves wondering what is wrong with them for not loathing him. He is completely dependent on his mother for room, board, food, and conversation and hates himself for it. His friends and family see him for what he is, and he hates them for it. Yet, we all know someone with some of the same qualities, don't we? Just a little too obsessed with a new girl he has just met, just a little too easy going within small groups of friends when things are going fine but then just a little too mopey when things don't work out the way he anticipated, a bit of an over-reactor to change.... There is something creepily familiar about Elliot... and therein lies the rub.

When you've finally had enough of feeling like you're always pulling the short straw, to what lengths would you go to show people you've had enough?

AudioBook Review: City of Thieves

Listened 8/28/11 - 9/7/11
5 Stars - Highly Recommended / The Next Best Book
8 Hours

This is a book that sadly sat on my "to buy" list for years. From the moment I read the jacket copy, I knew I had to read it and I was certain I would love it. Every time I stepped into a bookstore, I would pick it up, read the jacket and carry it around with me as I browsed, but something else always caught my eye and forced me to put City of Thieves back down. Then, for an incredibly long time, I stopped shopping in bookstores. (Part of the yin and yang of being a book blogger... most of the books I have are courtesy of wonderful indie publishers and authors looking for reviews, while the rest come from the endlessly overflowing local library book sales, thus rendering me incapable of purchasing brand new books for lack of time and space!)

But the recent Borders "Going out of Business Sales" enticed me to enter through their doors in search of some audiobooks to snag at a discounted price. I was about to leave home for a week, embarking on a 5 hour drive up to Massachusetts for a work thing, and I wanted something good to listen to on the way there and back. (God only knew how many radio stations I would pick up and lose on the trip. I have no patience with searching for new stations every 10 miles....)

Wait...I don't think you realize how big of a thing this is for me, shopping for audiobooks.

See, for most of my life, I've had a difficult time with them. Remember when we were kids and you could buy those books that came with audio tapes? They were so cool because you could follow along as you listened to the book being read to you. For me, it helped to keep me focused on the story - without the book, within 5 minutes of pressing the play button, I would suddenly find myself zoning out and completely lost, not having heard a word that was being spoken. And this habit has carried itself with me throughout my adult years as well. I'm an excellently disciplined reader. Plop me on a couch with a book in my hands and nothing can break my concentration. Not even sitting in the middle of kids screaming and fighting over the tv channels with the phone ringing off the hook! But put me in a silent car with an audiobook, and the entire thing is lost on me. My focus is out the window the moment the narrator's voice kicks in and I'm mentally listing off grocery items I need, thinking about upcoming episodes of True Blood, or quietly cursing the traffic. (I swear I am not like this when people are standing talking right in front me, or talking to me on the phone!) And then suddenly I remember - Oh Shit! I'm supposed to have been listening to this fucking book! How much did I miss? What the fuck is he talking about? How do I rewind? Did I rewind far enough? Fuck!

But recently, after attending the BEA and unexpectedly finding myself the owner of two free audiobooks, I decided to give them another chance. It's a miracle I still want to listen to the damn things after the shit I put myself through with these audiobooks - take a look at attempt #1, and attempt #2 to see why!

But I digress....

I popped into Borders, and headed over to their audiobook section. Being so late in the closing sale, the shelves were mostly picked through, and there wasn't a heck of a lot of fiction audio left. I did, however, find a copy of City of Thieves, which I happily grabbed. And this time, I did not let go! (I also took home an audiobook of Pygmy, which I absolutely do not recommend to anyone.)

The book is narrated by Ron Perlman - the odd-faced man behind HellBoy and the Beauty and the Beast series, who, believe it or not, has a wonderfully deep and lovely reading voice - and could easily become a contemporary classic lit novel.

The author, David Benioff, did an excellent job infusing this story of two Russian criminals - sent out on a dangerous journey in search of a dozen eggs during the Nazi's siege of Leningrad - with humor, culture, and pride. Young Lev, arrested by his own people for looting a dead fallen German solider, is a cautious worrywart. His cellmate, the cool, calm, womanizing Kolya, counts off the passing days based on the last time he has taken a shit and waxes poetic about an unknown novel entitled The Courtyard Hound.

Rather than face execution, which is the sentence for anyone arrested during the war, A Soviet colonel promises to set them free in exchange for a dozen eggs, which he needs in order bake a cake for his daughter's upcoming wedding. The kicker - there are no eggs to be had in the frozen city and the boys have less than a week to find them.

City of Thieves goes beyond the long, cold journey of these two strangers, peering straight into the heart of survival, the need for physical romance in a time of emotional upheaval, the lengths people would go to in order to ensure a meal awaited them at the end of the day. It deals with the suffering, mistrust, and hatred that the Nazi siege inflicted and infected Russia with.

Buried within the pages, or in this case inside the discs, there are encounters with cannibals, a rooster named Darling, discussions about sex and how to woo a woman, a chess game where life and death are on the line, and an extremely difficult passage for me to listen to involving a dog with a bomb strapped to his back.

Ron Perlman did a phenomenal job with the narration. His character voices were natural and subtle, so you always knew who was talking without being distracted away from the story. Unlike most of the other audiobooks I had listened to, he didn't attempt to make the women sound like women - those nasally, high pitched, whiny voices I had begun to believe were mandatory when narrating - and I love him for that.

I am really happy I picked this up as an audiobook because it's a great example of how audiobooks SHOULD be. And it finally gives me hope that I may find some others out there that are just as good. I am also thrilled to be able to move this book from my "to buy" shelf and into my "read" shelf!

Review: Stories for Nighttime and Some for The Day

Read 8/27/11 - 9/7/11
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended
Pgs: 208

Ben Loory's Stories for Nighttime and Some for The Day demonstrates the power and beauty of the english language when it's stripped down to its very core.

He plays endlessly with our notion of reality; twisting it, turning it, bending it, burying it and digging it back up again. His stories are bred of magic and mystery, dreams and nightmares, fears and hopes. They are wonderful and frightening, all at the same time.

Many of his stories serve as cautionary tales: such as the man who has a public pool drained when he sees a monster swimming at the bottom, only to realize too late that he has released it of its prison.... or the octopus who sacrifices the quality of underwater living to live an eternally bland life on land.... or the woman who unintendedly increases sales of a book she despises simply by speaking out against it. They warn the reader to be careful of what you wish for, to curb your curiosity, to weigh your options carefully.

His collection reminds me of a darker, more twisted play on Aesop's Fables, in that his stories mostly seem to end on a bitter note. I say mostly because, with some of them, I am not always sure what sort of ending his characters were dealt. Though it is always clear.. I would not have done such things if I were you!

As I devoured each tale, many of which I read out loud to my eight year old son, I recall the feelings and thoughts they stirred within us. Quite a few of them resulted in mid-reading conversations, the two of us trying to determine what might happen to each of the characters as they moved throughout the story. Other times, as they ended, we would just look at each other, shrug, and move onto the next one.

Extremely well written and cleverly executed, with a gorgeous cover to boot, Stories for Nighttime and Some for The Day is a collection everyone should own. Young and old alike can find something to enjoy within the pages of this book. Bigfoot, aliens, and magical shields are waiting to share their stories with you... I'll let you decide which are best read under the cover of darkness, and which should be let out into the light.

Many thanks to Ben Loory, who so willingly shipped over a copy of his book for review!

Indie Spotlight - Rae Bryant

 Rae Bryant believes in writing about the things most people would prefer to shy away from. Her newly released collection of short stories, The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals, which deals heavily with magic realism, surrealism, satire and postfeminism, was nominated for the Pen Hemingway award.

No stranger to writing and publishing, Rae's short stories have appeared in BLIP Magazine (formerly Mississippi Review), Opium Magazine, and PANK, among others. She is also the founding editor of Moon Milk Review, a nonprofit print and online literary and arts journal.

Rae joins us on TNBBC today to discuss why she writes about sex and violence, why she enjoys experimental writing, and how being a woman, wife, and mother is affected by these choices:

 "I should state, first, that it seems sex and violence for some writers are the bad or taboo or closeted things in other people’s narratives. It is a literary conceit, I think, this notion that serious literary writers should disengage with the “sex” and the “violence.” 

"Imagine the words whispered like unmentionables around the MFA workshop table. Writers who do engage directly with sex or violence or alternative forms are often termed the “others” or sometimes the Experimentalists, sometimes a dirty connotation in and of itself. And it is true, sex and violence and Postmodern structures can have different voices in narratives than say the conventional love affair as told from first person or the man walking his dog through life in third person or a retro landscape of a US town gone to ashes, but I like the different. 

"It is what makes the written word necessary for me. I can engage with conventions in real time. When I immerse in a story, I want to be taken to a place where I must engage creatively and rigorously with the work. I want to face and question my sense of convention and morality. And don’t get me wrong. I enjoy and seek more simplistic and realistic narratives. It is a style I sometimes prefer writing when the story requires it, but for me, the “other,” the edge, isn’t an optional engagement. It is ingrained, a way of organic crafting for me.

"I must admit. I do have a twisted sense of creativity. I blame Swift, mostly. Fell in love with “A Modest Proposal” at an early age, works by Woolf, Poe, any mythology I could get my hands on, and so the “other” has been imprinted on me. As a result, I often consider how normal scenarios would smell and taste and sound in a strange land, with a bent perspective. 

"My one standard is language. I like attention to language. I want unrelenting rigor and music, and I’m not afraid of fusions. Prose and poetry combined is a beautiful experience, albeit reading or writing. It disappoints me when readers and/or writers limit themselves to only one or the other to the detriment of a fuller exploration.

"And the female question? The mother, wife question? Should it matter in the realm of creative properties?

"Chaucer, Swift, Nabokov, O’Connor, Oates, Vonnegut, Woolf, Williams, Gaitskill, McCarthy... A small sampling of authors who pushed or push edges with an elegance and wit beyond me, and their works stay with me each time I sit with a book or pen in hand. Each time I return to them, I learn a little more about the writer I want to be. "

Her book, The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals , is a "visceral collection of stories that explores the wits, moralities, edges and sometimes broken realities of lovers and friends, life and death, and the mundane tragedies in a normal day. From detachable women to cow tipping, kingfishers to drive-thru sex, Bryant pushes the boundaries and creates for her readers the amusing, the heartbreaking and the magically bizarre conditions of woman and man." - Book description from Goodreads.com

You can find out more about Rae by visiting her website, "liking" her on Facebook,  and following her on Twitter. 

Review: Broetry

Read 8/ 25/11 - 8/27/11
3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar with genre
Pgs: 121

Welcome to a whole new world of poetry, as told from the "man's man" perspective. Say so long to the flowery, romantic, whimsically girly prose you've become accustomed to! Brian McGackin's laying down brand new rhymes that speak to the heart of all of us... in terms we can all relate to.

With a manly flair, Brian pulls much of the content for his broems from past experiences - spelling out his dating horror stories, addiction to video games and beer, and unhealthy obsession for Taylor Swift for us in neat, concise lines that drive straight through to the heart of it all.

Poking fun at the format, Brian pretends he is a guest on Jeopardy in his broem "I'll take Crazy Bitches for $200, Alex", where he answers questions like...

"Crazy  Bitches for $400. Usually referred to as "zero," "nonexistent," or "the same as that of Hell freezing over," her family still calls it "pretty good." What are the odds of us getting back together? Correct. "

Sweetly demonstrating his sensitive side in "Whorecrux", he lists out all the girls he's dated over the years that have broken his heart, beginning with the red head in first grade who put him off Snack Packs and ginger hair for the rest of his life.

"Modern-Day Heroics" finds him pondering the act of killing a spider for a sex reward, though he ends up feeling extremely guilty over the dead arachnid.

I don't know why, but I had fully anticipated opening this book up and finding myself bombarded with a collection of pensive poems about farting, and scratching, and masturbating. And to be honest, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't come across much of that. What the hell does that say about me?!!

My personal perversions aside, this book is a must buy for the man in your life. As a stocking stuffer, birthday gift, anniversary present... you can't go wrong with a little Broetry.

Many thanks to Eric over at Quirk Books for making this review copy available to me. I look forward to reading more of their catalog in the future.

The Journey to A Greater Monster

David David Katzman is on a journey. It's a journey many authors have made before him, and one that many shall make in his wake. He is on the journey of self-publishing.

Like most journeys, the path is well worn, one footprint indistinguishable from the other; the territory, though familiar, remains frightening. It's a trip that is not taken lightly, humbling the traveler. It requires an inexhaustible amount of exertion and effort, an incredible amount of preparation, and a tireless determination to succeed.

This specific type of journey, however, also requires something of us, dear reader. It requires our support. Without our support, self published authors will have made their incredible journey for next to nothing.

Author of the independently published Death by Zamboni, David has completed his second novel - A Greater Monster. After researching countless publishers and carefully submitting his novel for consideration, receiving little to no response, David has decided to self publish.

Watch the video below for a little history on David and his new novel:


 David has created a Kickstarter page, where people can fund his efforts by donating money towards his goal of $3000 - the estimated cost of generating a print run of 1000 copies of his book on 100% recycled paper.

Not only are you helping David bring his groundbreaking multi-media novel to life, but if you check out the right hand column of his Kickstarter page, there are cool gifts associated with your donation. So, for example, if you were to pledge just $10, David will write a unique stream-of-consciousness email that is inspired by your name. Pledging $25 will land you a signed copy of A Greater Monster....

Here's the kicker... He needs to hit $3000 in pledged donations by September 26th, or his journey will come to an end. If he fails to reach $3000 by his deadline, he receives nothing. nil. nada.

As of this posting, David has generated a total of $2,021 towards his goal! Can we help him get all the way to $3000?! I think we can!

Help support the journey to A Greater Monster. Every dollar counts.

Tell Me a Story - Matt Micheli

Welcome to the next installment of TNBBC's Tell Me a Story!

Tell Me a Story is a monthly series that features previously unpublished short stories from debut and Indie authors. The request is simple: Stories can be any format, any genre, and any length. And many amazing writers signed up for the challenge.

Todays story comes from the wildly unpredictable mind of Matt Micheli. Matt is the author of Memoirs of a Violent Sleeper, and coins himself as "a transgressive fiction writer out of Austin TX who deals with lead characters that don't quite fit the norm". His analytical, sometimes satirical, and often times blunt views of religion, love, loss, life and beyond are expressed through his storytelling. For him, writing is an escape from the confines of a consistent and ordinary normality. He is currently working on final edits for a new novel titled SMUT.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pennies

Her:
Is this supposed to taste good? Because it doesn’t. It tastes like shit. Am I doing this right? Maybe I’m doing something wrong. But then again, how else would you do it? How else is there? This is the only way. It’s no rocket science. Jesus. Eugh. Mother . . . fucker, this is gross. I always thought it’d taste like pennies. Or at least that’s how I remember it as a kid. Like pennies. Not like fucking . . . rotten shit. This better work. For all this? This shit better work. How am I supposed to know? Am I supposed to feel something? Is it like drugs or something? I always heard it was like drugs or something. Like Ecstacy. Well, I don’t feel it. I don’t feel anything, yet. Or does it take a while? Maybe it takes a while. Eugh. How much am I supposed to drink? Maybe I need to drink more. But, I don’t know if I can. This is awful. Absolutely awful. Maybe my senses are heightened; that’s why it tastes so bad; so . . . strong. Is that what happens? I always heard that your senses go crazy. Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe that’s why it tastes so . . . bad. Sniff. Sniff. I don’t know. I can’t really smell or . . . see anything differently. I don’t . . . think, I can hear anything differently. Maybe I need more. Maybe I haven’t had enough. Oh God, this is disgusting. Gulp. Absolutely . . . disgusting. I thought this would be easier. I didn’t realize it would be . . . like this. I mean, was it like this for you? For your first time? I don’t know how you did it. Or . . . why you did it. Eugh. I guess I’ll drink more. Cause I haven’t felt anything . . . yet. Or . . . maybe, I am feeling . . . something. Yuck. Maybe we could’ve gotten a . . . a slightly higher quality. Maybe the quality isn’t good enough. Maybe that’s why I’m having to drink more than I thought. Maybe, it’s the low-quality. How much did you have to drink . . . your first time? And was it low . . . or high quality? Or does it matter? Maybe it doesn’t matter. Eugh. This is . . . gross. But, I guess we gotta do what we gotta do. And what do we gotta do . . . after this? I mean, I have my suspicions, but . . . Is it always like this? Does it always taste like this? Like crap? Does it ever taste like pennies? That’s what I always remembered as a kid. The taste of pennies. Gulp. Eugh. It’s sticking to my throat. Smack. Smack. Is that supposed to happen? It’s like . . . coating it. Ew. It’s thick. I think its . . . thickening. Should I keep drinking? It’s starting to stink in here. I think my senses are heightening because it’s starting to stink. Alright. I think I can feel it, maybe. Or maybe not. Or maybe . . . well . . . Maybe. I mean, I feel . . . something. Eugh. It’s really starting to stink in here. Does it always stink like this? Maybe it’s always gonna stink like this. Is it? Eugh. Ok. It’s getting thicker. How much more do I need to drink?

Him:
We barged in and found her there, sitting on the floor, buck naked, covered in blood, talking to no one. There was blood everywhere. It stank to high-heaven. I threw up. Actually I think we all did from the smell but I was the first one to enter. The first one. I don’t know how long she had been in there but it must’ve been several days; the body was decomposing and looked bruised and sunken in and the odor wasn’t from, how should I put this, fresh kill. There were chunks of flesh missing from (the officer swallows and looks down) the victim’s arms and legs. The girl’s mouth was covered in blood; she had obviously been drinking and eating from the corpse. (Still looking down, he shakes his head back and forth) Sick. I’ve seen some sick shit in my day (he looks right at me nodding his head up and down) but never have I seen anything like this. Her mouth: I remember her teeth. It looked like there were pieces of flesh between them: her teeth. I have never (he shakes his head and looks off) . . . never seen anything like that. (His head still shaking) And her eyes; like a cat in a headlight. Wide open, but . . . empty; dead; (he pauses to think) like mirrors. That crime scene; that smell, it still keeps me up at night. That girl’s cat eyes and her mouth smeared in blood and her talking some uncontrollable gibberish and the smell. (He shakes his head looking off at nothing) I still see images of it every day. (He looks down again, contemplating) I still smell it. I taste it . . . like pennies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to thank Matt for participating in TNBBC's Tell Me a Story. If you like what you've read, please support Matt by checking out his website and book. Help spread the word by sharing this post through your blog, tumblr page, twitter and facebook accounts. Every link counts! And be sure to check back with us next month for the next installment....

IBC's Blog Talk Radio & ME!

Tonight, I made my very first radio guest appearance! Rachel in the OC and Amber Scott of the Indie Book Collective invited me to spend some time on their blog talk radio show tonight to discuss some do's and don'ts for authors on Goodreads.

(Phew! That was link-heavy sentence, wasn't it?!)

I met the lovely ladies of IBC at the Indie Book Event which I attended as a panelist last month. They are all about empowering indie and self-published authors by teaching and developing skills in branding, social media, and good ole' networking.

I have been quite taken with both of them, and was thrilled to be able to participate in their show tonight, discussing how authors can improve their Goodreads presence. The conversation was great! I loved the questions Rachel and Amber had for me, and I really enjoyed hearing their perspective on Goodreads - not just as a website for books, but also as a social media platform for authors. You can hear us chat it all out here.

I had written out a list of 5 do's and don'ts, though of course, these things take on a life of their own and while some of the points I had wanted to make made their way out... others didn't. So I hope you will humor me as I share them here:

The 5 Author Do's and Don'ts of Goodreads

Tip 1: Don't join a group to simply pitch and run.

This goes for both authors and readers. It's totally see-through and will never provide you the attention you think or wish it will. If we don't know you, or haven't seen you around the group before, where is the incentive to check out your book/blog/website/whatever? Best case scenario, you get ignored. Worst case, we get a stern talking to by the group moderator and your post is deleted. Repeated "pitch and runs" will get you kicked out of the group and banned from re-entry.

Instead, DO Read the group rules. Find out what the group etiquette is like, what the moderator and members have outlined as "norms". I would also recommend locating the section where members are encouraged to introduce themselves. A quick post that tells the group who you are, what you like to read, what made you want to join, is all it takes to begin building relationships and discovering common ground.

Tip 2: Don't start a discussion thread about your own book.

Tacky! Nothing says "Who cares about you, let's talk about me" than when an author asks readers to talk about their novel. Not only do you run the risk of coming across as abrasive and self-serving, you can also negatively impact your future potential readership. (It may also be against group policy)

Instead, DO participate in other book discussions the group may be hosting. Share your thoughts and insight with the members, it will help them get to you know better as a reader and a writer. Also, consider partnering with the group moderator to discuss ways they may be able to help support you and your novel. Within TNBBC, I love hosting "sidebar group reads" where an author offers up a small giveaway of their novel and then the winners, the author, and any additionally interested readers meet within the group for an entire month to discuss the book

and "pick" each others brains.

Tip 3: Don't pollute a group poll if your book is nominated (or self-nominated) by soliciting all of your friends to join Goodreads just to vote for it.

Tipping the polls is a horrible, distasteful thing to do. Most members and moderators are quick to sniff the forced votes out, and their wrath is swift and painful. Not only is it against group policy, it is also against Goodreads policy, and accounts have been deleted for similar offenses. Why push your book to the top of the polls to become a group read when the actual members of the group didn't vote for it? Who will be reading and discussing it? It just doesn't make sense to do that.

Instead, DO vote on someone else's nomination or book. One that you may have read already or have an interest in reading. Then, join in the discussion for that book. Cultivate a readership of your own naturally, through common interest and conversation.

Tip 4: Don't reply to or comment on less-than-stellar reviews of your novel on Goodreads.

This is bad form no matter what social media or review site you are using. Reviews are someone's personal opinion, and personal opinion will never be swayed if you berate or harass someone, or attempt to convince them otherwise. It can only lead to ugly things.

Instead, remain silent. Be open to the feedback. Hopefully the review has some constructive feedback that you can take away from it. Now, if the review is a positive one, DO reach out and thank them for their kind words, and for reading your book. Readers love to hear from authors! Goodreads is an excellent platform for fostering and encouraging reader/author interaction.

Tip 5: Don't be a rebel and a rule breaker.

Always look for the group rules, guidelines, and "norms" before posting. Can't find them? Reach out to the moderator to ask what things you should be aware of. When you break a rule and are called out for it, simply apologize and correct the faux pax. If you don't like the rules, or can't work within them, then perhaps the group is not a good fit for you.

These are quick tips, and they are not a true reflection of every group moderator on Goodreads. For me, they are the things that I find are best avoided for new members, and helps to cut down on some of the resulting embarrassment and bad feelings.

I hope you enjoyed the radio show, and feel free to leave a comment or question if there is something you want to know more about! I'm feeling kinda chatty after that radio-high!

Audio Review: Pygmy

Listened on 8/22/11 and 8/26/11

2 Stars - Recommended Lightly / Not as intro to author

8 Hours (7 discs)

Oh Chuckie P. You and me, I thought we had a good thing going?! I thought we had an understanding, a mutual love thing going on? We had our first date with Invisible Monsters. Remember how I fell head over heels for you but didn't want to appear too easy at the time, so I allowed you to wine and dine me with Survivor a week later?

How could you do this to me? I mean, after all the great times we shared, and late nights we had, reading Diary and Haunted, Choke and Lullaby until the sun came up...? Sure, I wasn't terribly impressed with Stranger Than Fiction, but I thought we worked through that. Was it something I said? Something I did? Help me understand what would make you treat me this way.....

Ok.. ok.. I admit that I was kind of unsure about Pygmy. I had questioned for years whether or not it was a part of you I wanted to expose myself to. It seemed like a part of your personality that I was better off not knowing.

But when I saw the audio book sitting there, on those sad Borders bookcases, marked down to 40% off the original price, I couldn't help snatching it up and taking it into the car with me. The fact that I've had less than favorable experiences with audiobooks should have also warned me away from your book.

Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment.

But, all of that aside, I can't help but wonder if this was all just an elaborate test of my love, and if so, did you anticipate me failing horribly? Were you trying to rid yourself of me completely? I bet you didn't expect me to finish it, did you? I imagine you and your buddies took bets on just how far I would make it... $10 bucks says she doesn't get halfway... $30 bucks says she won't make it past the first disk... How much did you lose, Chuckie? Huh? How much? Did it surprise you to hear that I listened to every single, painful, nearly-indecipherable sentence?

And that poor poor narrator! How he managed to speak for 8 hours in that god-awful broken english you wrote in is a mystery to me. This is enough to break anyone, I think:

"Tongue of operative me lick, licking, touching back tooth on bottom, molar where planted inside forms cyanide hollow, touching not biting. Not yet. Tooth wet smooth against lick of tongue. Swallow, spit, say counting, one, two, counting on fingers of hand until six. Tell passport man, to be exchange student with host family six month.

Passport man strike paper of book with ink, marked good to enter nation. Slide passport book returned to this agent. Man say "Welcome to the greatest country on Earth". Press button and doors allow way inside, accessing target family to harvest." - and this example, one of the more decipherable moments in the book!

Smartly, you may have assumed I would cringe at hearing this terrorist agent speaking in abstract present tense, referring to himself in broken third person. If that didn't turn me off, I am certain you thought I would run screaming from the whiz bang nasty anal rape scene that takes place within the first few chapters, didn't you? Or how about the part where pigdog face brother and cat sister discuss with little Pygmy their mothers obsession with dildo's? I bet you thought I wouldn't have stuck around to hear that part....

But I did. I hung in there. I suffered through all of the Comrade this and next now that. I listened to the flashbacks that clarified just how this little hater came to be, he and his comrade terrorist soldiers who were sent from their country into ours to infiltrate and destroy our kind. I listened to that sexually depraved misfit plotting how he would impregnate his host sister to spread his seed and infect us at a deeper level. I did. I hung in to the very end. And I hated nearly every minute of it.

But Chuckie, my dear. My dear sweet Chuckie P... I forgive you. I do. I will try to put this all behind me. I will clear my mind of this horrid, disgusting, insane side of you. It may take some time... but I think my wounds can heal. They will heal. And when they do.... my signed copy of Damned will be waiting.....

Indie Spotlight: Liz Bartucci

Liz Bartucci is the self published author of The Secret Lives of the Unemployed, which is based on her blog by the same name and was released this past July as an eBook.

No stranger to the written word, Liz is a screenwriter and playwright. She is a graduate of the Actors Studio MFA Program, as well as a former Disney Studios/ABC Entertainment Writing Fellow, and her screenplay "Everything's Going To Be Alright" (which was nominated for the Emerging Narrative Award in the IFP Market Conference) is in development with Roadside and Cyan Pictures.

She is also a multiple Heidemann Award nominee (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and a former Walter E. Dakin Fellowship (Sewanee Writers Conference). Her play "Steve" is published in Smith & Kraus' The Best 10 Minute Plays (Contemporary Playwrights Series).

In this spotlight, Liz shares with us the catalyst for the novel and what readers are saying so far:

It All Began With a Broken Heart

"I had just had my heart broken and had emptied out half of my 401k. I was at a loss both emotionally and financially. I knew I had to–as Hunter S. Thompson had once said–to write myself out of the hole.' I first tried writing about "Secret Lives...", much in the fashion like the character Grey, trying to investigate people's lives and how unemployment induced some odd habits and behavior, but because instinctively I am a creative writer, I began to write a fictional story, loosely based on how I was feeling. Characters, dialogue came easily like they often do for artists during bleak times.



At around the same time, a friend of mine insisted I rejoin the world by joining Facebook, which I was initially against, but eventually it was the gateway drug for a life online. I decided to make my time on the web useful by putting up installments of a short story, which eventually became "Secret Lives..." There was demand from readers who lived even more digitally than myself to have the entire series available for their ereaders.

Personally, I prefer a book you can smell, one you find in a creaky floor bookstore, but I decided to self-publish it with that goal in mind, that with enough readership, interest and buzz, "Secret Lives..." can become the paperback that the lead character Lucy actually writes in the story. Reaching that goal would literally be writing the future, perfect."

The Sub-Title

Why is it 'Kind of a Love Story'? "Well, isn't every good story? There is a love triangle that develops between the three characters, Lucy, Grey and Zac. Like most single folks who are also unemployed, the feelings of being unwanted, and rejected are also explored. We haven't even begun to discuss the deep emotions that are being experienced during this recession. There is an almost an insurmountable sense of loss during these times. But sometimes, just the right person at the right time helps to carry you through. It's important not to self-implode but to reach out and risk, like these characters decide to do."

The Content

"We are the ones we have been waiting for..." Obama had said. If this were true, Lucy knew she was in big trouble...

The goodreads description: This is the story of three Brooklyn neighbors, who after a year of being unemployed, decide to stop looking for work and instead embark on a life of permanent hooky – only to find themselves and each other.



Having lost hope and the desire to become part of the workforce again, the three decide to “to abandon the world like the world has abandoned us,” and embark on adventures that they only promised themselves that they would take when they were overworked desk jockeys.



Funded by their Unemployment Checks and cashed out 401(k)s, the quirky team develop an unlikely friendship and an unplanned love triangle as they trip their plight–fantastic.

The Word on the Street

Liz says it's been getting great reviews. "People have been identifying with the characters, and have reached out to me about how inspired they are by the book. All the characters become employable by their own means. At one point, Zac tells Grey and Lucy that the 'jobs' are gone. And unfortunately I think they are, the only jobs that are out there, are the ones people are creating. It's actually just what the characters and myself have done. Despite what Obama is doing or not doing, he was right, WE really are the ones we have been waiting for.



There is interest, because my background is in film, in having "Secret Lives..." developed into a TV series or a movie. And I am also working on that. Whatever form it takes, as its writer, it would be a privilege to inspire people in these times, to help them 'work their way out of the hole."

It's Available ...

You, dear reader, can get your hands on a copy through Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook for $2.99, and it will also soon be available at GoodReads and for the iBookshelf for the iPad Crowd. Anyone looking for those formats, can 'like' Secret Lives of the Unemployed on its Facebook Page and will be alerted when it happens.

The David Maine Blog Tour: In Review

It's the end of the line, folks! The David Maine Blog Tour bus has pulled into the station. I don't know about you but I couldn't have asked for things to have gone any better.

Thanks so much to the book bloggers, authors, and readers who participated this past week and made the whole thing possible. I couldn't have done this without you and your interest in David and his novels! You made creating and hosting this blog tour such a wonderful experience. I hope I didn't micro-manage you all too harshly!!!!

And many thanks to David, who agreed to be tormented and tortured by the group of us as we prepared for our portions of the tour.

If you happened to miss a stop in the tour, or .... if you prefer to peruse the tour after it's been posted in its entirety, here's the quick and dirty download:

• Sunday, the party started right here with a guest post by the author of the hour on what being indie means to him.
• Monday found David Maine guest posting on author Steve Himmer's blog.
• Tuesday, author Michael Davidson dissected David's new eBook Gamble of the Godless.
• Wednesday, Lisa of The Bibliophiliac reviewed Fallen, one of my favorite Maine novels.
• Thursday found Tara from BookSexyReview gushing over Gamble of the Godless.
• Friday, David was interviewed by author Rena Rossner.
• Saturday bounced back to me for a slew of mini-reviews on all of David's previous novels.
• And finally, Sunday... David Maine's thank you post!

I hope you've enjoyed viewing the posts as much as we did creating them. We thank you for the support.

Review: Ayiti

Read 8/21/11 - 8/25/11

3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar with genre

Pgs:110

Ok guys, help me out on this one. I suffer a severe form of geographic retardation, and the internet does not seem to be much help tonight... is Ayiti a part of Haiti, or simply the word Haiti spelled out phonetically in Creole? I'm thinking it's the latter...

See, Ayiti is the upcoming first release from Roxane Gay, and it's a collection of her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The entire collection takes place in Haiti or deals specifically with the cultural differences of Haiti natives who attempt to assimilate themselves in North America.

Some of the stories resonated strongly with me: Motherfuckers tells the story of a young Haitian boy who becomes nicknamed by his classmates as HBO for his body odor. Voodoo Child is about a Haitian college student whose roommate wrongly assumes she practices voodoo and rather than correct her, she plays the part to keep the fear simmering. In Things I Know About Fairy Tales, the main character explains how women in Haiti are prepared by their mothers for their eventual kidnapping, referring to bits and pieces of the fairy tales she grew up loving and applying them to her life during and after the abduction.

Other stories, like A Cool Dry Place, All Things Being Relative, and Gracias Nicaragua Y Los Sentimos, while well written, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, simply did not catch my attention the way the others did.

Roxane's stories impart a wisdom that appears to have been gained through difficult and challenging life experiences. (I say "appears" because I am not entirely sure which stories are true and which are fiction.) Her view of the world is unique and beautiful and, at times, even quite painful. Her writing offers a fresh perspective on a frequently misunderstood culture.

I want to thank Ryan and his publishing company Artistically Declined Press for allowing me the opportunity to review Ayiti.

David Maine Blog Tour: Wrap Up

Have you enjoyed our week full of David-centric blog posts? Have you gained some new insight into the mind of this amazing author? Have you marked each of his novels as To Buy and To Read on your goodreads shelves? If you answered yes to each of those questions, our jobs here are done!

For the final leg of the tour, I wanted to wrap things up by discussing each one of David's novels.

First, I bring you my review of David's first Sci-Fi / Fantasy novel, The Gamble of the Godless.

Read 8/7/11 - 8/14/11

4 Stars: Strongly Recommended

Pgs: 347

For those of you who have read his previous novels, when you think of David Maine, you think literary biblical fiction, because in your mind, the two have always gone hand in hand.

And ok, if you're a fan like me, you could argue that his 2008 release Monster, 1959 was a departure from his bible-related past, although I would argue back that it still held it's own in the literary arena.

Well, folks, David has turned the tables on us, yet again! Not only has he temporarily left the realm of St. Martin's Press - publisher of his 4 previous novels - he also leaves behind traditional paper novels for eBooks (GASP!) and plunges head first into an entirely new genre - one that is filled with characters and situations typical of science fiction and fantasy books.

Now, while I tend to get extremely upset when my favorite bands change their musical style (I'm looking at you R.E.M. and U2 - who kicked ass in the 80's and early 90's, then sold out and left me angry and confused from the mid 90's straight through to present day) I tend to be more forgiving with my favorite authors.

A departure from what was once an author's niche may run the risk of alienating readers, yet if done well, can demonstrate their flexibility and increase their readership. I am convinced that The Gamble of the Godless will prove to be the latter.

If I'm being honest, and my near and dear TNBBCer's know I am nothing if not honest, lovers of the science fiction and fantasy novels are among the most passionate, if not sometimes incredibly odd, readers. I'm thinking Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings kind of readers... "Thou shalt not take JRR Tolkien's name in vain" kind of passionate!

While I am not sure David's Godless will spawn fan-fiction hard-core groupies, I do know that it is an excellent gateway novel for those who are considering testing the Sci-Fi / Fantasy waters. And from the reviews that are quickly pouring in, it's quite the hit with genre fans as well. Like any sci-fi novel, Godless requires some suspension of belief to fully enjoy the adventures that our protagonist Avin and his friends find themselves in the thick of, it's a fun read that you will find yourself easily slipping into.

Avin, a simple naive farm boy who does as he is told, heads out into Animal Territories when he discovers that his older brother ran off to join the Humans against their war with the Wolves. As he and his new friends Ax the Warrior and Jocen the One-Armed Sorcerer head out in search of Drew, they acquire a rag tag team of animals who accompany them on their journey - an owl who cannot lie, a drug addicted Cheetah, a sling-shot toting Raccoon, among others. Of course, the deeper they tread through the animal cities, the more they discover that this war may be much bigger and more sinister than they had originally suspected.

At it's core, it's a story of friendship and loyalty, and of not judging a book by its cover. It puts family and trust at the forefront, though it does come with its wicked little web of secrets as well. And for David, it's a return to a genre he has loved since he was a little boy.

And now, some mini-reviews, featuring David's 4 previous novels, in the order which I had read them:

Fallen

2005 (click title to see google preview)

A unique spin on the Cain and Able tale - modernized and told in reverse, beginning with Cain awaiting his death in a cave and ending with Adam and Eve in Eden. At times incredibly breathtaking, David manages to capture human emotion unlike any other author. I fell in love with David and his storytelling within minutes of cracking this novel open. And it was one of the first books I ever pushed relentlessly on the member of TNBBC on goodreads, because it was just. that. good.

The Preservationist

2004 (Click title to see google preview)

The hardcover of this book has the coolest, most artistic dust jacket I have ever seen - and quite possibly my favorite of all his novels - Told in turns by each of the characters in first person (except the chapters for Noe which were told in narration), we are introduced to the family who was chosen by God to survive the Flood in an interestingly modern telling of the biblical story. Maine gives each character depth and reason, showing us thier inner strengths as well as thier faults... thier histories as well as thier present lives.

The Book of Samson

2006 (click the title to see google preview)

The narrator (Samson himself) has a very unique voice, which pulled at me once I began reading and would not let go. An intriguing look into the life of a mass-murderer in the name of THE ONE TRUE GOD - to see things from his side, as a man who believes he is doing the work of god. An amazing must read, even if you have no interest in religious novels or previous knowledge of Samson, as, in my opinion, this book can be read by anyone, at anytime.

Monster, 1959

2008 (click title to see google preview)

Set in the mid to late 50's, Maine introduces us to K. A King Kong/Godzilla-esque monstrosity living on an island that was at one time used as a testing site for nuclear bombs. Written in true campy, B-movie style, Maine shows us the world from K's view. A uniquely refreshing, if at times, saddening, perspective -- His thoughts, or lack thereof, his painfully limited understanding of the world in which he lives, and how he reacts when faced with the tiny human intruders who turn his life upside down. A cool spin on a classic horror flick, in part as told by K, if he had the knowledge and capability of speech and was able to tell his tale.

Join David Maine on his blog tomorrow as he puts the final touches on the blog tour!

For additional reviews and interviews with David Maine, check out these posts:

Mandy the Bookworm and The Indie Book Blogger both interview David.

The Best o' Books has a guest post from David.