Kevin Bragg sent an update for Transilience

None of this "before I get any further" nonsense...I’ll just start with it.

Mike Donald did an incredibly noble, and kind, thing by supporting Transilience. I am still a tad stunned by his generosity. Again, Thank You Mike. For the rest of you, dear Update Readers, I encourage you to check out his project Louisiana Blood. A new take on Jack the Ripper. The opening paragraph, alone, demonstrates the skill Mike possesses as a writer.

The Nerdist Space Opera contest is in its final 10 days. The race for 2nd and 3rd is very close. Two authors in the contest have supported Transilience and I cannot recommend in strong enough terms their books. Check out The Madness of Mr. Butler and The Life Interstellar. Their updates, alone, are worth the price of admission.

Tomorrow is World Book Day. To be perfectly honest, I only learned this fact through happenstance. Fortunately, this accidental discovery has given me fuel for this Update.

I mention in the About section that Transilience was spawned in a creative wiring course I took online through one Sweden’s many small town colleges. I took the course because it was taught in English and I didn’t have much else going on. I figured why not?

Who knew it would become this??

The course was held in the Fall (or Autumn) and by January I had a rough idea of what began life as a 1000 word short story could become as a full-length novel. What I didn’t have a clear grasp on was the progression of the Hard-Boiled Detective genre, which had inspired it. So, like a good academic, I launched into researching the subject.

I knew the classics. Chandler. Parker. Hammett. But Parker aside (whose Jesse Stone novels I’m not a huge fan of, I hate to admit) I didn’t really know anything about the genre since its heyday in the 40s and 50s.

Some internet research allowed me to compile a list of books that I felt represented the development of the genre up to present day. A retrospective, if you will.

Hard-Boiled Detective, This is your Life...presented by Alcoa.

Here is the list of books (in no particular order) I read, and took notes from, before I began writing Transilience in earnest...

The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely and The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.

The James Deans: A Moe Prager Mystery by Reed Farrell Coleman

The Guards by Ken Bruen

The Last Good Kiss by James Crumbly

Lost Light by Michael Connelly

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination. However, since those initial books, I have read more. I’ve become a huge fan of Connelly. If you haven’t read any of his books, do so. The man has a way of keeping the reader invested in a story without pushing the "thriller" aspect of crime novels to the edge of improbability. His endings aren’t always Hollywood, either, which I respect.

Ian Rankin is another author I’ve come to enjoy. His Rebus character is a fine addition to the Hard-Boiled genre.

So there you have it. In honor of World Book Day, a list of books which helped me write my own novel. I recommend one and all.

What are your favorite novels?

What has inspired you to write the stories you have written?

Cheers,

Kev

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Kevin Bragg

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Kevin Bragg followed LOUISIANA BLOOD - A Chandler Travis and Duke Lanoix mystery

LOUISIANA BLOOD - A Chandler Travis and Duke Lanoix mystery.

When the remains of Jack the Rippers first five victims turn up in a Louisiana swamp, an English detective and a local sheriff join forces to unravel the Rippers true identity...only to find themselves caught up in a modern day conspiracy.

Kevin Bragg sent an update for Transilience

In the spirit of making up for lost time, another update to grace your inboxes!

Like many (most) authors, I listen to music while I write. I listen to music pretty much all day long, but I rarely write in total silence.

One of the groups that has had a heavy influence on the creation of Transilience, is a Polish electro-jazz duo, Skalpel. Testament to this fact is their inclusion in Chapter 1. I first heard them whilst I still lived in Detroit. One of the DJs on the local public radio station, WDET, gave them high regard and played several tracks off their 2005 album Konfusion regularly.

(Segue)

Like many (most authors) - yep, here we go again - I have adopted the rather boring and unoriginal practice of giving my chapters naught but a number....officially. Unofficially, I’ve assigned a song title to each chapter. These songs represent groups that I tend to listen to whilst writing. They are also relevant to the chapter. They form a sort of soundtrack to the book.

For this update, I’ve decided to share the track list and I’ll include hyperlinks to YouTube videos so you can listen along if you’d like. The list will, hopefully, give you some insight into me, as an author, and provide clues to plot and structure of Transilience. Enjoy!

1. "Infinity Girl" by Stereolab.

2. "Asphodel" by Skalpel.

3. "Here Comes the Moon Man" by Amon Tobin

4. "Shivers" by Skalpel

5. "Introductory Nomenclature" by Telefon Tel Aviv

6. "Chain Reaction" by Steroid Maximus

7. "Black Heart" by Calexico

8. "Aftermath" by Ahmad Jamal

9. "Tension" by Skalpel

10. "Sex (I’m A)" by Lovage

11. "Getting There" by Flying Lotus (ft. Niki Randa)

12. "Towers" by Bonobo (ft. Szjerdene)

13. "Break In (Paradowski Remix)" by Skapel

14. "Take Five" by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

15. "Heard from Telegraph Lines" by Boards of Canada.

16. "Silicon Jazz" by Wavescape

17. "Fists of Curry" by Dan the Automater from Bombay the Hard Way Soundtrack

18. "Never Never Land" by The Vince Guaraldi Trio

19. "For Her Non-Place" by Prefuse 73 (I couldn’t actually find this on YouTube but it is on their album Interregnums, which I highly recommend).

20. "Your presence" by Bill Van Loo & J. Schanble (Again, couldn’t find a YouTube video but here is a link to the album. Again, highly recommend it.)

21. "Forces...Darling" by Koop

22. "Soul Clap 2000" by Recloose.

23. "Break Charmer" by Cujo

24. "Evidence" by Thelonious Monk

25. "At My Heels" by Daedalus

26. "Hindsight" by DJ Shadow

27. "Sculpture" by Skalpel (A great track to end a novel, methinks!)

And there you have it. A soundtrack to my book!

If you listened to any, or all, of the tracks, I hope you enjoyed them. As you may have noticed, Skalpel features five times, but again their music had an impact on the way I approached the material. It’s my way of thanking them,

6 Days left in the funding campaign and no steps closer to 250. If you want to support my novel, now is a very good time to do so! If you have, I appreciate your help spreading the word. And if it isn’t too much to ask, keep it up!!

Cheers!

Kev

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Kevin Bragg sent an update for Transilience

One week left in Transilience’s funding campaign and I have been mysteriously quiet for the past two weeks. What’s going on, Kev?

What’s going on, indeed!

Before I progress any further, allow me to thank Zack, Christopher, Dom, Billy, and Peter for their support of my novel. You guys rock and I appreciate you taking a chance on my book!

For those of you not named Zack, Christopher, Dom, Billy or Peter, I encourage you to check out their Inkshare pages. For those of you named Zack, Christopher, Dom, Billy, or Peter but not the same Zack, Christopher, Dom, Billy, or Peter with a hyperlink...same thing goes for you. Check out their pages, and their work. You can do your part for a fellow Zack, Christopher, Dom, Billy and Peter.

Before I progress any further...wait a second....this is starting to sound oddly familiar. Hmm...perhaps you’re right. I guess I’m going for an aside before I launch into an update whose content has not been fully formed in my mind.

My plan, you see, is to fill this update with hyperlinks. I really have no idea why but it seems like fun to me. If this update is not replete with hyperlinks, my plan has failed. In either case, you will either applaud my efforts or vow never to visit this page again.

The funding campaign for Transilience has one week left. Eight days...I mean seven days until it ends. I need 187 orders to make the Quill goal. That’s eBook publication with a print run for everyone who has ordered a paperback. (The Beatles twice in one paragraph? Really? *shrugs*)

Where was I??

Oh yeah! One. Eight. Seven.

One week = Eight Days...er... Seven Days.

Perhaps it’s a sign.

As many of you already know. 187 is also police code for murder. They even incorporated the number into a television show featuring my former hometown, Detroit. Pity it only lasted a season.

Another coincidence? Transilience is also about murder. Murder for a belief. Murder for a profit. You know...daily life.

Seven days to accomplish a Herculean task. 187 Orders. Perhaps if I could amass a seven nation army of supporters, I can reach 250 by the Eleventh hour.

The obvious solution is to trade pre-orders. Trade them like I’ve never traded them before. Which, ironically, would be any point in the span of time before the moment I traded my first pre-order with another author.

That’s right. I haven’t swapped pre-orders. I’m not a swapper and it may cost me my chance of publication through Inkshares. However, here is why. NB: Some of you have heard this already.

(climbs atop his soapbox).

To me, it’s gaming the system. Perhaps the creators of Inkshares created the credit system for the purpose of trading pre-orders to achieve a goal. However, I’d like to think they did it to encourage others to find new authors, and new works of fiction that excite them. And, in turn, support said fledgling author. Not exchanging orders simply for the sake of achieving an end.

I want people to order Transilience because they are excited about it. Because it’s good fiction. Because it’s relevant. Not because of a sense of obligation.

Am I a fool for sticking to a principle when it might cost me my dream? Probably. After all, we live in a world where - yep here it comes - the winner takes it all. But at what cost? Our dignity? Our chance - sweet Lord brace yourselves - to say, I may have failed but I did it my way? It matters to me.

It’s important here (for me anyway) to point out that I’m not judging anyone who does trade orders. I am simply expressing my opinion. Not trying to inveigh against any one thing. I’d like to think I am engaging in one of the greatest aspects of living in a pluralistic society - another point-of-view. More and more, we are criticized for feeling differently when we should embrace as many perspectives as possible. Isn’t that true democracy?

(Steps down from Soapbox).

True story. Heading into this update, I had no idea what I was going to write. I’m not sure I’ve actually said anything relevant. I’m also not certain I’ve used enough hyperlinks to qualify for ’replete’. I may have alienated many of my peers on this site. But in a paragraph fully engaged in modal verbs, who can say for certain. Right?

I can safely say that I need a shitload of orders between now and next Monday to make the Quill goal. I think it can happen. I know it can happen. I’ve spent much of my life feeling like an underdog (I wonder how many of you expected that link??) and the reward is that much sweeter when I succeed.

So for those of you who have ordered Transilience, I am eternally grateful, and keep spreading the word about it. For those of you who haven’t ordered it, time is running out. Order soon!

It has already been named Thriller Night Syndicate’s Book of the Month, why not make it your own personal Book of the Month??

Thanks for reading along!

Cheers!

Kev

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