The Sound of Inspiration

I'm constantly on the lookout for new songs that inspire my writing. I love making playlists that whisk me away to another world, into the worlds of my stories where I can be an onlooker--the observer (yes, that's a Fringe reference)--and record the action as it unfolds with the magic of fiction.

Though with the search for something new, I sometimes forget about the familiar and the power it can hold. Finding a familiar song with a new adaptation or arrangement can truly be as amazing as finding a new one. A new take on an old idea can take on a full life of its own.

I found two such songs in this past week, which I've now listened to countless times. One new. One covered. The new song I found was Ellie Goulding's Bittersweet, which is unfortunately only available on the Breaking Dawn, Part 2 soundtrack (album only). I have very little interest in purchasing the entire album for one song, no matter how much I love it, so I've just been listening to it on YouTube.

The covered song I found is an amazingly ethereal rendition of Elliott Smith's Twilight. It's one of my favorite Elliott Smith songs (which I put on my SUSY Asylum playlist), but this harp version gives it new life. 

Maybe these songs will inspire new stories of your own or just provide a few minutes of relaxation and appreciation for what beauty is present all around us. Either way, I hope you enjoy them. Happy listening & happy writing!

Indie Life: A Bowl of Serial to Start the Day

I've read posts for Indie life for the past few months, and as part of my re-commitment to my blog (which has been suffering from inconstancy this year), I thought it would be a great time to join this monthly blogfest. Indie Life is hosted by the indie authors of the Indelibles as a 2nd Wednesday of the month feature. It seems like a great extension of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, which I found shortly after creating my blog a year and a half ago. Click HERE to sign up for Indie Life.

Writing and marketing with a full time job is tough, especially when that job takes up nearly sixty hours a week with my two hours of daily commuting. One of the top success tips I received from Indie ReCon was to write more books, to not solely rely on the release of one or two books, but to have new books released regularly.

Now regularly is a subjective term. But with having two books released in the past three years, I can honestly say that that's not regularly enough and see where that's not enough to generate continual interest and build my brand without the support of a publisher. I want to write more and have multiple releases a year, but my current workload to sustain my livelihood does not allow me to crank out a book every few months...not even poorly edited trash (which I would never allow myself to do).

I've recently looked more into the successes of authors releasing serialized books and series, novellas or book parts fifty to one hundred pages at a time. With the prevalence of ebooks, this seems to be a growing segment in the marketplace...and an opportunity for someone like me, since I can't write as much or as fast as I'd like.

I don't want to change the format of my remaining books in the Lorne Family Vault, but my new WIP, Project Winter, could make for a fun experiment into the serial ebook segment. With the shortened format I could release three to four serialized books per year, plus some Lorne Family Vault short stories I have planned.

The industry is changing rapidly and there is no one path to success, so I believe this is a way for me to better adapt to my current time constraints and still get the stories I want to write out to the marketplace. I'm curious to hear the experiences from other indie authors already releasing serialized books. What recommendations do you have?

Well, I've already made my forty mile drive and it's nearly 8 o'clock, so it's about time for me to get to work. Have a great Wednesday, and as always, thank you for reading!

IWSG Wednesday: The Heat of Summer

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

I'm sure everyone's felt the heat of summer finally kick in. I know it's not as hot here in southern California as it is in other parts of the country, but it's been hot enough for me. I already can't wait for fall, but can certainly wait to see my next electric bill.

Summer also brings a lot of distractions. I thought getting work done around the holidays was tough, but summer is not an easy time for concentrating. Vacations, family events, and sickness (what? you can't get sick in the summer! I guess I can) have been eating away so much of my time...kind of like the langoliers (hungry suckers).

Not everyone needs a schedule, but I sure seem to. If I don't hold myself to a schedule, then I push unscheduled tasks off. Something in the moment becomes more important. Then an entire month goes by with only one blog post to my name. No more. Wednesdays will be my posting day. There...I've said it, I've scheduled it, and now I will be forced to keep myself to it.

I recently found out that you can use a custom domain name on Blogger. This really excited me because I had a custom domain name, michaelpiercebooks.com, which I've been using for a website that I never took the time to update. It was so much easier to move that domain name over to blogger and delete the website altogether. Now I can keep the domain name and forget about a secondary website. For being an indie author, the blog has more than enough information about myself and my books...as long as I keep it updated. Now, from the advice of successful indie authors like RaShelle Workman (who is also an IWSG member), my July project is to build a newsletter using MailChimp.

Do you have any newsletter building tips? Have any unique ways of beating the summer heat? Are you watching Under the Dome? Any fun and exciting 4th of July plans? Stay cool, stay safe, and as always, thank you for reading!

IWSG Wednesday: Apologies & Updates

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

I feel bad that I missed last month's post and had to make sure I did not repeat the folly so Alex doesn't kick me out of the group. Sorry, Alex! Where did May go? The last few weeks have just flown by and I leave for Kauai tomorrow for a week-long vacation. Maybe that had something to do with the month disappearing in a flash. I just bought Dan Brown's new book, Inferno, to read as I lie on the beach for the better part of a week. I hope I don't get too burned...haha.

It's only taken a little over a year, but all the ebook versions of my books, Provex City and SUSY Asylum, are now available: Kindle, Nook, iBookstore, Kobo, and Smashwords. I've been working on getting the 2nd Edition of Provex City out, and it is finally available! It has been a lot of work getting both of my books formatted for paperback (on Amazon) and multiple ebook readers, but in the end, I believe it was worth it. Now I can get back to writing and promoting again.

I've put a lot of thought into what I am going to write next, and I have decided to step away from the Lorne Family Vault series for a little while and write a brand new book. And this decision came after I'd already fully outlined the third book in the series--figures. I ultimately decided to start a brand new project because I'd like to submit again, to work on getting traditionally published while continuing to promote my self-published books. The new book will be written as a standalone, so once I start submitting, I can dive right back into the Lorne Family Vault and pick up where I left off. Hopefully, I'm making a good decision, but only time will tell.

My new book is codenamed Project Winter, and it's a YA contemporary/dystopian in a female POV. It will be quite a change for me. I have a complete outline, synopsis, and first chapter thus far. It feels really good to be writing again. But as usual, starting a new project brings on a whole lot of anxiety, especially with the pressure of future submissions looming overhead. I know how hard it is, but I think I'll be better prepared this time.

Are you ready for summer? Are you at the beginning, middle, or end of your primary project? Anyone going to the SCBWI Summer Conference in August? I am and can't wait! The conference is always a great motivator...and getaway. And as always, thank you for reading!

Best and Worst Move Remakes Blogfest!

Thank you to Alex, Stephen, Livia, and Al for hosting this blogfest! There are so many good and bad movie remakes to choose from, so I've decided to narrow it down a bit and present to you my:

Best and Worst HORROR Movie Remakes

 

WORST

Psycho (1998): Gus Van Sant's shot-by-shot color re-creation of Hitchcock's classic is an amazing feat. How could a shot-by-shot remake of a masterpiece go wrong. This remake shows how. Vince Vaughn is so incredibly miscast as Norman Bates. He just wasn't believable. There were great supporting actors in this movie, but they could not save it. And Gus Van Sant gave us Good Will Hunting just the year before. How could he follow Good Will Hunting with this?

BEST

The Last House on the Left (2009): The remake of Wes Craven's 1972 classic is every bit as horrific and brutal as the original. Many times the remakes are watered down, but not this one. It's not a move for the faint of heart, but it is well made and acted, paced and shot, paying true homage to the original. The Last House on the Left is a simple story of brutality and revenge, real and gritty, and more horror than any Hollywood monster movie.

 

Bonus: Best and Worst Song Covers - Metallica Edition

Worst:  Metallica was named MTV's Icon of 2003 and given a special tribute concert. The biggest problem was they chose bands to pay homage to Metallica's songs that couldn't play them. Korn's performance of "One" and Limp Bizkit's performance of "Sanitarium" were incredibly bad and take the cake for worst covers.

Best: Garage, Inc. is Metallica's cover/compilation album that came out in 1998 and showed how great they could remake songs. There are many amazing covers, but most notably The Dubliners' "Whiskey in a Jar," Bob Seger's "Turn the Page," and Blue Oyster Cult's "Astronomy."

Children's Book Week Giveaway Hop!

May 13th to 19th
Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer , Kid Lit Frenzy, & Mymcbooks

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my giveaway! I'm so excited for the opportunity to participate in this blog hop and to help support Children's Book Week!

What is Children’s Book Week you ask?

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast!

I'm doing something a little different this time and offering one lucky winner a $15 Amazon gift card.

Here are the official rules/guidelines for the giveaway:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. Just click the Join this Site box below "Followers" on the sidebar.
2. You can gain extra entries by following me on Goodreads, Twitter,"liking" my Facebook fan page, adding my books (Provex City and/or SUSY Asylum) to your Goodreads "Want to Read" list, or leaving a comment below.
3. This is open to international followers.
4. This contest runs from May 13 - 19.
5. The winner will be selected on May 20th via Rafflecopter random selection and announced in this post. You will have 48 hours to respond or I will draw another winner. 

Thanks Again & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Also, make sure to check out the other blogs participating in this Giveaway Hop, too!

SUSY Asylum is Available! Prepare Yourself for the Madness!

It's been a long road, but all the hard work has finally paid off. My second book and the second book in the Lorne Family Vault has arrived on Amazon (Kindle & paperback) and Smashwords ( in multiple ebook formats). Since I've submitted to Smashwords, they will be distributing it to other online retailers like Barnes and Noble and the iBookstore, but that could still take a few weeks.

In SUSY Asylum, there is no release. There is no escape. No hope. 

Oliver and Desiree are introduced to the writings of a mysterious blogger, Commodore Chaos, when they return to Provex City to indulge in what the sublime city has to offer. The blogger claims the Lornes are collecting people venturing between the higher planes of awareness and locking them away in a mythical asylum. But are these legitimate concerns for inter-plane travelers or just the ramblings of an anonymous conspiracy blogger? 

 Oliver looks to Provex City as his only connection to his father while Desiree looks to the city as an escape from the torment of losing her best friend—again. Provex City is a wonder of beautiful treasures, entrancing them to continue returning. But behind the beauty, wolves have continued hunting Oliver, a boy who is still unaware of his importance in the rebellion. 

Oliver’s belief is waning. Desiree will not always be by his side. Mr. Gordon will not always come to his aid. Oliver finds himself alone, forced to confront his biggest fears, fight his inner demons, and face the very cold reality that no one is coming to save him. 

Welcome to SUSY Asylum.

SUSY Asylum picks up right where Provex City left off and jumps into the action quickly, answering a good amount of questions you may have been left with at the end of Provex City. So if you've read Provex City and would like to know more about the city itself and the Lorne family, then SUSY Asylum will take you there...and beyond! Amazon and Smashwords allow you to sample or download the first few chapters, so do take advantage of that.

I've hired Candace at CBB Book Promotions again to do the blog tour, which is being set up for sometime in October. I know it's a little ways away, so during that time I may set up a book blast tour to help spread the word sooner.

Now that SUSY Asylum is released, I am putting the finishing touches on the re-release of Provex City. The 2nd Edition should be available in the next two weeks. And I present to you, the new Provex City cover!

This cover was also created by Erin and you can check out her blog to see her many other covers by clicking the link below.

www.edhgraphics.blogspot.com

Be sure to add SUSY Asylum to your Goodreads TBR list  HERE.
And if you haven't done so, add Provex City to your Goodreads TBR list  HERE.

If you are interested in reviewing SUSY Asylum, then please send me an email and I'd be happy to send you a free ebook of your format choice.