S.E. Soldwedel liked an update for Children of the Wise Oak

Well, as you may or may not know, the book is in print and e-book, already.
When I missed Quill, I went with Kickstarter and did the biz.
If you never got a copy before, maybe now is the time.
It’s on a Kindle Countdown deal today until Feb 6th
myBook.to/CotWO

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S.E. Soldwedel liked an update for The Madness of Mr. Butler

IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Hello my dearest supporters. I have news. The manuscript is finished, turned in, and ready for production. On February 1st, 2016, I came up with this idea for an atypical space opera, put it in a contest, and with the help of all of you, I won. Since then, I have spent the last 11 or so months (with a break for a new baby) writing, editing, rewriting, reworking, and, at last, FINISHING the manuscript. I had some paperwork to fill out, and all of it came together this afternoon. So, I sent it off. My manuscript is in the hands of the Inkshares team, waiting for a production schedule. I am so incredibly happy, proud, and relieved to have finished this book.

"So...Mike...WHEN do I get the book?"

Here’s the thing: in talking to many of you over the past several months, it seems that the concept behind crowdfunding, writing, and producing a book was not made quite clear. That is my fault. Also, I did not make it quite clear about the Inkshares model, perhaps. Also my fault. I thought I addressed that it might take a while for the book to come out, but I am sorry if I left the impression that it would be sooner. Admittedly, I myself thought I would be handing in the manuscript last May, but, I didn’t. And the reason for that is two fold:

1) my baby boy was born in May

and

b) the story became something much greater than I imagined.

I took my time with the manuscript in order to make sure what you ended up with was a quality book arriving much later than you thought, rather than a crappy book arriving in a much more timely manner. Now, my end of the bargain is finished, and I’m sorry it took so long. But, writing a complete 70,300 word novel in less than a year ain’t so bad, in the grand scheme of things.

"So...Mike...WHEN do I get the book?!?"

You have every right to know, but I can’t quite answer that yet. I was told that production might not begin for at least two more months, meaning that production would start in March at the earliest. As for how long it takes to produce a book, Inkshares wrote a blog addressing that very question: http://blog.inkshares.com/post/154475375840/a-note-on-pub-dates-from-the-inkshares-production

To summarize the blog, A TON OF WORK GOES INTO PRODUCING A BOOK. Editing, designing, marketing, planning, reviewing, and so on and so forth...they are quoting 12-18 months passing from the beginning of production to the book being in your hands. BUT! I have seen them finish some as quickly as 10 months...but that is kind of remarkable. Inkshares has exploded in popularity lately, and they are backlogged with projects.

I will do the math for you:

Earliest production for Mr. Butler begins in March. Fastest production is 10 months.

So, in reality, the earliest the book would be in your hands is the beginning of 2018.

I know. That seems like a long time from now. And it kinda is. Although, for most traditionally published books, from first written words to bookstore shelves, the process usually takes more like 3 years, so it’s not so bad, really.

But I understand if you’re frustrated. You sent money in to the company to support me, and you were expecting a product much sooner than maybe two years later. Let me say I’m sorry, but I promise the book will be great and worth the wait. I appreciate your patience. If this wait time frustrates you to no end, then please email me at mhaase75@gmail.com and let me talk to you personally before you ask the company for a refund or anything rash like that.

In order to ease the pain of waiting, I have some GREAT NEWS.

I am building a website with the help of one of my greatest friends (more like a brother). It’s themindofmichael.com, and you can click that link and go there right now. It’s just a picture holding the place on the internet at the moment, but it’s my place, my foundation, and it’s going to be awesome.

I will be putting up short stories, poetry, art, photos, blogs, nonfiction tales from my own life, and music. Part of the website will be dedicated to Mr. Butler, containing other stories and various pieces to expand upon the universe of the book. That part of the website will only be accessible by entering a code (or some other simple method of access, still deciding on that part, but we will call it a code for now), and I will be putting that code at the end of the book so anyone wishing to supplement their experience can do so. I will be giving those of you who preordered and helped me win this contest this code in advance, so you can have material to read and enjoy while you wait for the book to come out. I will also be offering freebies and discounts on things on the website for you lovely backers as well. Things like art, poems, and music. You will also have access to previewing the other projects I will be working on this year, which includes:

-a poetry collection featuring illustrations from an awesome artist I won’t name yet because I didn’t ask their permission to do so.

-an EP/album with my band, The Space Program (we also have a reserved website up at wearethespaceprogram.com, where you can use your keyboard to play drum sounds. It’s a fun).

-The children’s picture books I’m shopping out to other publishers

-embellished nonfiction from my life (David Sedaris kinda stuff)

-a short story collection

-blogs and news

-???

It’s all moving forward and shaking up. It’s a massively exciting year for me as a writer and an artist. I hope you are excited for what’s to come as well.

I will end things here for now, but I want to thank you all for your support and your patience. This will all pay off soon. I will update you as things expand.

In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions or need anything: mhaase75@gmail.com

Thank you all.

-Michael

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S.E. Soldwedel liked an update for A God in the Shed

There’s a long list of things I didn’t think would ever happen when I first decided that writing fiction was going to be ’my thing’. Obviously, getting one of my books optioned and meeting an academy award screenwriter weren’t on this list because I hadn’t even conceived of that possibility at the time.

That being said, I’ve always wanted an audiobook of one of my projects. What would that sound like? How would my characters feel coming out of someone else’s mouth? And an audiobook felt out of reach but still within the realm of possibility. Something to hope for without ever planning for it to happen.

Well, today is the launch of the Audiobook for The Life Engineered. Produced by Blackstone Audio, featuring the amazing voice of actress Amy Landon and available on Amazon, Audible and probably several other places where audiobooks are usually purchased.

It feels weird guys. I’ve listened to the sample on Amazon but I haven’t taken the plunge yet. I’m nervous. I’m 100% confident in the work that Amy did on the book (she is a veteran of over 200 audiobooks) but this is a milestone. Do I listen to this casually in the car? Do I set aside some time and enjoy the over six hours of audio in the dark with my eyes close? Just drinking in every detail, good and bad?

If you’re looking for a way to experience The Life Engineered anew, maybe learn how to pronounce some of those complex names I picked for the characters, then hop over to your favourite purveyor of audio literature and get yourself a copy. If you’ve never been on Audible, there are countless ways of getting your first book for free and frankly, that might not be a bad one to start with.

If you want to learn more about the audiobook making process, Paul Inman and I had Amy as a guest in our latest episode of WriteBrain and it was fantastic having her on.

As always, thanks for your support. None of this would have happened without you.

JF

NOTE: I should really update the header with the new cover image...

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S.E. Soldwedel sent an update for Disintegration

Hey, everybody. I was browsing the interwebs this morning, looking for things to distract me from what I’m sure all Americans and probably everyone else in the world knows is happening today ...

ARMAGEDDON!

No, no, just kidding. Kind of.

In my browsing, I came across a story about a child being born to three parents, and it made me think of James Holden, whom I know from The Expanse television show. The character, however, originated in the book Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (a pen name shared by two authors) and is referred to as "Jim."

But that’s not the only difference between the book and the series. I’m loath to admit I still haven’t gotten around to reading Leviathan Wakes (it’s next on my list), but I just discovered today that, in the book, Holden had a relationship with a fellow crew member of the Canterbury, just as he did in the show. Except, in the book, his lover is of Nigerian descent and, in the show, they whitewashed her into a blonde Scandinavian.

I’d say this boils my blood, but that would be melodramatic. I disappoints me, though, certainly. Significantly. For many reasons.

For one, a role that could and should have gone to a black actress was eliminated in favor of a white, blonde woman. For another, the depiction of an interracial relationship was eschewed, and I can’t help but think that it was a cynical choice, so not to alienate viewers who would have found it distasteful.

And, yes, I know that Holden and Naomi Nagata get involved and that the actress who portrays Naomi, Dominique Tipper, is of Dominican descent, so there’s an interracial relationship right there and you might be thinking "No harm, no foul" ... but Ms. Tipper is very many shades lighter than a Nigerian woman typically would be. Ms. Tipper is, to use a current term, "mixed race." I still can’t help but feel that the tone of Ms. Tipper’s complexion and the Anglo influence on her appearance was thought to be more palatable to these same audience members (whom I’m imagining, I realize; it’s all conjecture) who would have been less receptive to a dark-skinned woman with more "obviously" African features.

Now, maybe, if you’ve gotten this far, you’re wondering: "Why is this white guy all up in arms about this?"

There are a number of reasons, too many to list, but to relate it to my own book, I have a vast number of characters who do not have two white parents. While I’m over the moon to even be published (and I would be figuratively catapulted to Andromeda to have Disintegration made into a series), I would be livid if the roles of Carina, or any of her sisters, were given to a white woman. I’d also be upset if Anjali were given to anyone but an actress of Indian descent.

Essentially, I want all characters in all media to remain however they were written by whomever wrote them, because these characters’ ethnicities are an important part of them, as our own traits are important parts of any of us. Sure, these characters are imaginary, but they are real in our minds. They are probably even more real to their creators. And who among us would want to have our children remade by some stranger who’s decided our progeny isn’t white enough or pretty enough for consumption by the general public?

A person’s culture influences their lives, as does the way other people perceive them, and appearance is a big part of perception. And I don’t think anyone should have to change the way they look or the way they speak to try and please someone who takes issue with difference. Yet such people exist--those who wish only to see themselves reflected in their media--which is surely why a white woman was chosen over a Nigerian woman to play Ade, whose surname was "Tokunbo" in the book and "Nygaard" in the show.

Heaven forbid we show anyone what it looks like for a white man and a dark-skinned black woman to have a sexual relationship. In a Science Fiction show set in the far future, even! And what about the converse? Ha! Like the America that voted for the guy taking office today could handle that.

Thank goodness for Loving, at least.

And I am grateful, too, that the role of Naomi in The Expanse didn’t also get whitewashed. Ms. Tipper is absolutely marvelous in the role. I, for one, really enjoy for there to be a variety of humans from all over the world not only depicted in my fiction, but also participating in my daily life.

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S.E. Soldwedel liked an update for Tears of the Assassin

Dear E-Readers, and all others.

Today the e-books of Tears of the Assassin were released. If you pre-ordered an e-reader, then check your e-mail for the arrival of your story. Paper copies are set for distribution Feb. 7th. E-readers can now enter the world of David Diegert. A world of intrigue, danger and betrayal, in which a young man must find his way with an underdeveloped moral compass that is spinning out of control. The challenges before him will draw you into his heart and mind, where you will feel the frustration, the anger, the hope and the triumph of a man forced into conflicting missions. Only a sharp, focused mind, with a heart of steel and a quick trigger finger, will survive and succeed in Tears of the Assassin.

William Schiele

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S.E. Soldwedel liked an update for Sync City

Greetings Jackolytes,

Well now, where are we at exactly? In the twisting, turning world of publishing, Jack finally has a fixed date for release on the unsuspecting public. And that date is February 28th, 2017. If you have pre-ordered the paperback version of Sync City, then your copy(ies) should appear around that time. If you are an international person of mystery (i.e. a non North American), they may take a touch longer to get to you.

For those of you who went the ebook route, things should be a little more straightforward, and you’ll just need to follow the instructions in the email sent to you at that time.

So what’s new in Jack’s world? Well, my website is new. Or at least tremendously updated. If you click here, you can see my new home page. And if you follow this link, you can read the first two of chapters of Sync City to whet your appetite. Many thanks to my lovely wife, Nicola, for doing all the heavy lifting on this one.

One of the sexy things you’ll notice on the home page is all the online booksellers from which you can now pre-order Sync City. Of course, if you want to get in on the ground floor, then you can very much pre-order it here (and please share with those who have yet to meet Jack). And if you are familiar with the opening scene of Sync City (read here and don’t be shy!), then make sure you come in on the ground floor and not the basement. The basement is a bad place to be!

Cheers,

Peter

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S.E. Soldwedel sent an update for Integration

Hello, my little gang of 12. My not-so-dirty dozen. Thank you for being the pioneers of interest in this nascent story.

I have been working on it quite a bit, switching between it and Disintegration, which will be published this year.

If you’ve forgotten all about this next book in the series, I don’t blame you, but I’d like to recapture your interest. And to entreat you to share both this, and Disintegration with everyone you know.

Integration follows events that take place about 250 years before Disintegration, but the narratives of both books are very closely tied, despite that each book being drastically different.

While Disintegration takes place in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, Integration unfolds during the waning moments of Earth as the paradise that it is, albeit an ailing one. And Integration is much subtler science fiction. It’s the kind of book I bet someone not steeped in the genre could read and, perhaps, not even be aware of its classification. At the same time, I think any devotee of sci-fi would delight in recognizing what hides in plain sight of those less in the know. ;)

Here is an excerpt of a scene that unfolds between Jack and Sabine, with some added notes to impart helpful details that have been explained earlier in the narrative.

***

Sabine puts on her underwear and one of Jack’s t-shirts and heads downstairs.

She finds him sitting at the kitchen table, intent on the [smart-]surface. He catches her movement out of the corner of his eye and looks up at her, but says nothing. He turns his attention back to the table.

“Morning honey,” Sabine says cheerfully. She refuses to be affected by his uncharacteristic stoicism.

She walks over to get a glimpse of upon what he is so intent.

“Hi, babe,” he says, not looking up.

“Reading about the abductions?”

“Yeah.”

Sabine turns to walk away and he reaches out for her hand. She turns back to him to find him looking up at her.

“I missed you,” he says, eyes watering.

“Jack, don’t,” she protests. She doesn’t want him to profess his love. She doesn’t want him to express his vulnerability. She feels the fleeting pleasure at his momentary distance slip away.

“No, damn it,” he replies. “I’m not going to fucking hold onto shit. I didn’t just miss you. I worried about you. I’m not crazy to think I may never see you again when pretty young women are being snatched up all over the world. And when you don’t reply to me. When you avoid me because I want you to express to me just one iota of what I put out, why should I assume it’s just business as usual, that it’s you refusing to give me what I need, and not that you’re the one who got taken.”

“This is why I don’t reply,” she says, extracting her hand from his unconsciously tightening grip. “Why can’t you ever be happy with what you have. I am here. God damn it, I always come back to you.”

“I live in perpetual fear of the day you won’t,” Jack says, his eyes spilling a stray tear down each cheek. “God, Sabine, you are the only person I really miss. The only one I really want.”

[Context: Jack does not lack other avenues for companionship. He and Sabine are unmarried.]

The sight of him crying elicits such conflict in her. She wants to tell him to stop, the same way she was told never to cry, as a child. No one compares to the masculine ideal presented by her stern, distant father, whose emotional expression comprised anger and rage and all the notes in between. In her eyes, a man does not cry, and Jack debases and diminishes himself with these increasingly frequent emotional displays.

But a small part of her protests.

I’ve never met another man like you, she remembers telling him, and she remembers that it was a compliment. When she had discovered such depth of feeling behind his playboy persona, it was the moment she knew that she loved him. It was when she first doubted that what she truly wanted was just to be fucked without feeling by men who didn’t care for her in any way beyond basic respect for her humanity, if that.

She thinks of Mehdi and realizes that, at an earlier point in her life, before Jack, she would have fucked him despite his flagrant disrespect of her, perhaps even because of it. Because no man with so little regard for her could ever worm his way into her heart.

Sabine is beautiful to a point nearly beyond comprehension. She is the stuff of fantasy. Her face is mathematically, art-school perfect. The shape of her body is salacious fodder for maddening lust. She has stretch marks and the density of her breasts has suffered from large swings in her weight, but no blemish impugns an intangible beauty that transcends even the perfection of her visage. She exudes warmth and ebullience of spirit despite fierce independence and advertised lack of need for anything, from anyone, besides pleasure.

She bends over and puts her arms around Jack’s neck, pressing her warm face against his wet one. She moves to sit in his lap and he pushes back the chair to allow it. They sit together, quiet, and she is grateful that he doesn’t ruin the moment with his compulsion to fill every silence with words.

She feels a slight twinge in her heart at the thought that she feels closest to him when there is nothing to say. When she’s not swept away by a flood of useless language.

like · liked by Jacqui

S.E. Soldwedel commented on an excerpt of Slipping

So much vernacular. So much information beyond the vernacular, too ... and this is the introductory chapter. Buy me dinner, first. ;)

But, seriously, it’s a lot to absorb. I’m really digging the premise and how richly realized is the science, and the very real characters ... but even still, my attention keeps faltering. And I don’t want it to; I want to be engrossed in this interesting story.

Instead, I find myself wondering "What’s half? What’s a Zig? What’s a First?" and even though, with the latter example, you immediately explain it, that takes me out of the scene. What I want to flow instead feels a bit like a teenager learning to drive a stick-shift.

In your more recent drafts, have you tried incorporating these footnote-esque bits more fluidly? Or, even, since this is so scientifically rich and requires such description, putting in actual footnotes? Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman did that in The Death Gate Cycle, making the information available if the reader wanted it, but allowing one who would rather just ride the narrative to do so. I certainly don’t mean to overstep; I sure wrote a lot. :-/

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