Back on Track

So I got my computer back on Monday, only to find that the promised backup of all my data that was to have been done before the nitwits at Furture Shop reformatted and reinstalled everything on my computer wasn't done.

What limited bakcups I had did not cover everything I had, and it looked as though I had lost all my photos, two novels and everything I've ever written for CONFRONT Magazine. Needless to say I wasn't impressed.

It took me complaining to two different managers and telling customers coming to the repair counter at Future Shop to take their computers elsewhere - and why - before they agreed to do anything to help me.

Finally after an hour-long pissing contest with the idiots in charge of computer repairs at Future Shop before they finally acquiesced and did a data recovery - for free, and in under two hours - of the files I lost.

I recovered everything, thank God.

So, moving on.

This week I finished writing the seventh chapter of the third book of The Omniverse, 'The Aeons War' and last night I hit a wall while trying to start chapter eight. Well, I hit a couple of walls. I don't like the flow of chapter six (which relates directly to chapter eight) so I'll be going back and giving it a rewrite before going forward with chapter eight.

However, 'Aeons War' has been taking most of my writing attention of late, and I am trying to get another e-book out before the end of the ear, namely 'Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind'. So, I'm going to take a break from one to work on the other. I've discovered I've got a little bit of a rewrite to do on certain chapters of 'Nevermind', and so I'm going to start working on that for a while.

What about 'Through Darkness and Stars', you ask? I know a lot of you have read 'The Unearthing' and are anxious for the follow-up. As I've said, I am waiting on some legal work related to The Omniverse and specifically to 'Darkness' to work through; once it's done, I will be launching 'Darkness'. However, before the end of the month I promise to release a preview chapter or two, which you will be able to link to from the link bar on the left.

That's it for now--right now I've got places to go, things to see and people to do, so I'll post again soon.

My Vault in Limbo

Limbo is neither a graveyard nor a gaol. It is a place of waiting. In Christian myth, Limbo is where the souls of the unbaptized babies go. Tainted by Original Sin, the sin of desiring knowledge of Good and Evil, yet innocent of actual transgression, these creatures are not pure enough to enter God’s presence, nor tainted enough to be exiled in Hell.

Where am I going with this, you may wonder.

I believe Limbo, as described above perfectly describes the condition of all the stories, either lost or incomplete, from all the storytellers, poets, bards, minstrels, writers and dreamers of the world. Each storyteller has a vault there, where we each keep our own lost and abandoned tales.

Throughout our lives we continue to fill this vault. Sometimes, we withdraw stories from within, bring them to life anew or reinvent them. More often than not, we consign stories to this place, and leave them here.

But I don’t believe anyone ever forgets a story that they send here.

Whenever I send a project here, I take the time to go through the inventory of my vault in Limbo. Everything I ever wrote is here. The high flying adventures of Captain Jock Stone and the crew of his best friend’s spaceship; the story of mutated children of a government experiment escaping and evolving into something else; the man who steals a time machine in an attempt to change his destiny; the tortured, unromantic life of street-urchin vampires. They were among the first residents of my vault. They came here in the decade between my thirteenth and twenty-third birthdays, and more and more have joined their ranks in the decade and a half since.

Three and a half years of poor sales have seen my publishers decide to pull “The Unearthing” from production. That means that the other four volumes of the story, “Through Darkness and Stars”, “The Aeons War”, “The Destroyer of Worlds” and “Artifacts of Forgotten Gods” have been shipped there, as well.

I was certain that the “Nevermind” screenplay would soon be counted among the residents of this vault. I was so convinced, in fact, that I had begun my grim tour of its contents. Several weeks had passed, during which time I heard nothing from the filmmaker to whom “Nevermind” was to have been optioned. Like so much of my work since I was laid off from my old job in 2006, I found that the project was running out of steam: self-doubt eclipsed my ability to write; anxiety and worry usurped my imagination. I couldn’t maintain my writing.

Likewise, my work with CONFRONT Magazine and my ongoing work with Anglo rights groups in Quebec began taking up more and more of my free time. I wasn’t sleeping properly (no surprise there) and I was continually exhausted at and by my job.

Since 2006, several projects have gone into my vault: a fiction piece about the events leading up to and the aftermath of a school shooting; a retelling of the Frankenstein’s Monster story; the constantly-promised revival of “Crossroads”, which keeps rolling over and going back into hibernation after every unsuccessful attempt to revive it; a story about a daughter who seduces her father, just to see if she can; a “ghost ship” story set in space; a military coup d’etat in the United States; a spy story about a plot to bankrupt Cuba, and several others that never made it past page One.

Never in my life have I gone through the kind of creative agony that I faced from 2006 to 2008. Five months in, I have to admit that 2009 hasn’t been much easier. I had plans to publish two novels; I was supposed to have had one or both of them ready to go, by now. Unfortunately, “Through Darkness and Stars” is on indefinite hold (though I hope to revive it as an ebook) and “Nevermind” got side-tracked into the aforementioned screenplay project.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

However, this past week I heard back from my filmmaker partner-to-be. We have settled on a draft agreement for the option to produce “Nevermind”, and I am back at work on the project, crafting a beat sheet while continuing to peck away at the screenplay. I’m still keeping a light load with CONFRONT so I can concentrate on the script, and if things go well, I’ll hopefully be done with it before the fall.

I will continue to post my regular, if intermittent, updates to this weblog, Twitter and elsewhere. Best thing would be for you, readers, to subscribe to the RSS feed; that’s your best tool, I think, to keep track of those updates.

Until next time!

All is Quiet on New Year's Day

2009 begins.

The holidays are behind us at last, and by Monday the stores will have Valentine's Day and Easter crap on the shelves and decorating the malls. The United States will celebrate the end of an error when Bush is finally kicked out on his ignominious ass and Obama takes one of the most historic and important oaths of office of our generation.

Here in Canada we will hopefully be rid of Stephen Harper in a few weeks' time, although I'm not holding out much hope for that, given that the new Liberal leader doesn't seem to care much for the coalition or the will of the Canadian electorate--which puts him on an even keel with the Wrong and Dishonourable Stephen Harper, who is possibly the worst and most hated Prime Minister since the King of Graft, Lyin' Brian Mulroney.

I will absolutely continue to post my opinions on the state of Canadian and Quebec politics--it is my right and obligation to do so. However, I intend on focusing my energies and my time on other things, in 2009.

First and foremost, it is my intention to see more of my work get published, this year. The Darkness and the Stars is, for all intents and purposes, ready to roll. I will be submitting that the publishers of The Unearthing, and it is also my intention to finalize Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind and find a publisher for that book, by the Summer. Both books are, for all intents and purposes, ready to sell. I have spent too much time procrastinating over them, because of The Unearthing's lack of commercial success.

The Unearthing has been successful as an ebook; it has been downloaded thousands of times since being put online in March of last year. While that proves to me I have the skills to write an engrossing story, it is obvious to me I do not have the know-how to successfully market one. Therefore, I am going to be looking for marketing assistance, possibly even representation. An agent or a publicist will go a long way to help me move my "brand" forward, and so this will be an ongoing effort of the New Year.

CONFRONT Magazine continues to be and will continue to be a priority for me. I've just written my first cover article for the magazine, chronicling the up and coming band, Bad Flirt. I will continue to write for the magazine and I will dedicate one blog post per week to CONFRONT; pending Editor approval, I will cross-post that weekly blog to CONFRONT, as well.

I will also continue to reorganize this weblog, to make the Chronicles of an Independent Author more prominent, and as I will once again be working to see my writing published, there will be more updates to the Chronicles.

I intend to post more entries to the blog, as well. Last year I averaged 1 post per week, but I don't feel that that is necessarily adequate. Part of the problem has been that I've spent so much time over the last year and a half since The Unearthing was published worrying about the book's failure and what it means for me. I'm over it now, and I'm working on getting more work out to readers.

So that's it for my first post of the New Year. I hope everyone's had a great holiday, I wish you all the best for 2009 and I promise that there will be more to come, soon.

Work: The REAL enemy of productivity

So for the last few weeks I have been working on stuff for CONFRONT Magazine, most notably a piece on the Andy Warhol Live exhibit, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. That involved a lot of my writing time, and required multiple trips to the museum. However, I'm quite pleased with the end result of my labours, which will be going live on Thursday at CONFRONT Magazine.

Also this week, I have been listening to the new Guns & Roses album, also for CONFRONT, for this week's Views and Reviews column. I am a fan of G&R, but I have to say that the latest CD is a letdown. Of course, you'll just have to go to CONFRONT on Thursday to find out my full opinion.

Alas, my work for CONFRONT hasn't been the only drain on my free writing time of late. Last weekend I had a corporate retreat to go to, and though I had one hell of a good time, I did not get my weekly fix of Cagibi lattes and excellent writing atmosphere.

These events have conspired against me to stall my creative efforts, though I can honestly say that sometimes nothing is more important than getting out from behind the desk and getting back to living life. However, it means that my rewrite of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind and my work on the tentatively-titled Length of Love have been stalled.

All this is especially frustrating, because I had wanted to be done with Nevermind before the end of the year (Which is looking less and less likely) so that I could start shopping it around to agents and publishers in early 2009. Douglas Adams once said he loved the wooshing sound deadlines made as they zipped by. I imagine I should take that concept to heart, but still. It's been four years since I finished the initial draft of Nevermind and I hate how much time has slipped past from that first writing to now.

Equally frustrating, I've been stalled with Length of Love. Granted, I've not had much to say about the project, but that's because it is still in its first draft stage, and the subject matter is bound to be so controversial that I don't want to share with others until I've gotten the initial writing done. That's me suffering for my writing idiosyncracies I suppose.

I would also like to send up another flare about beta readers. I am still looking for people who would be interested in reading the final revision of The Darkness and the Stars, which is the follow-up to The Unearthing. As I've said previously, I'm looking as much for the opinions of readers as I am the opinions of my fellow writers. The story takes place 18 months after the close of The Unearthing, and is not so much a sequel as it is the continuation of the story. If anyone is interested, please email me or post a reply to this entry. The only requirement is having read The Unearthing already. As it is available as a free PDF format ebook from this and many other sites, I don't think I'm asking for too much--plus, you get to read not one, but two books free of charge.

Anyway, I'm off to get shut-eye. I still have to get up for the paying job in a few.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Questionable Content and Other Sundry Notions

So one of the biggest productivity-killers I've encountered of late has been the amusing and endearing webcomic, Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. It's a wonderful ongoing comedy about twentysomethings in college, hanging out, having coffee, listening to hipster music and contemplating life, sex, love and pop culture. The website is here, but if you're new to the comic, you should probably start reading from the beginning, here.

I guess what I like best about this story is that it reminds me in many respects of Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind, my own novel about twentysomething lovelorns growing up and hanging out. I think Jacques nails the sentimentality and the poignancy better than I did, however, and I really think his work deserves to be read. Please check it out; I think you'll enjoy!

***

On to other topics, this weekend I completed the third rewrite of The Darkness and the Stars, which is the follow-up volume to The Unearthing. I am currently recruiting beta readers to go over the "finished" story and let me know their thoughts. For fans of The Unearthing, this is your chance to read the next part of the story before anyone else; it is also an opportunity to provide feedback to the author, and possibly help shape the final version of the novel.

I am also looking for beta-readers for another project some of you may be familiar with, called Crossroads. The latter story is technically "finished", having debuted eight years ago on the Jumpgate web portal. However, I feel it needs a bit of polish. It has proven beyond my capacity to see where to tweak it, so I'm offering it up for book-doctoring. I know it needs some work, I just don't know where.

If you're interested in helping with either project, you can either reply to this post or email me. Don't be concerned if you're not a writer; what's more important is that you be a reader. It is a reader's opinion I need.

***

Also in the "ME" news, I will be going back over Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind as my next project. Following the suggestions of one of it's beta readers, I will be doing the final revision of that story by starting with the last chapter and working backwards. Likely, Nevermind will be the next story I submit for publication. I'll be shortly in the market for an agent/publicist to help with that.

Well, that's it for this post. Glad to be writing about writing again...I'm sick of that beady-eyed fat fuck Stephen Harper. God help us, we have at least another two years of his shit to live through.

First Round of Updates Done

As you may have noticed, the first round of updates to the look of this weblog are done. There are new links, outdated links are gone, the site has been retooled somewhat, and I've added a list of blogs I read and things from the Internet Tubes that I like.

I will, eventually, be migrating my "Chronicles of an Independent Author" to its own blog, and cross-posting from there to here, as I do want the Kspace Universe to remain my primary weblog.

I'm still open to any suggestions you may have on ways to improve this weblog further; links you'd like to see, features you'd enjoy seeing, questions, comments, observations...anything.

I'm still writing; I peg away a couple of pages a day during my lunch hour on my current new project, I spend the weekends dithering with "The Darkness And The Stars", the forthcoming follow-up to "The Unearthing". Likewise, "Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind" is insisting that I start to pay attention to it, and "Crossroads" is going to [eventually] return from the dead, no pun intended...

I'm not one to write about works-in-progress, and I'm not here to talk at you about proper writing technique, seven ways to improve your grammar, the importance of character development or how to write an effective, exciting and erotic sex scene. I'm of the opinion that one either can or cannot write well, and the focus of this weblog has always been a chronicle of the things I am trying to get my work read by as many people as possible, with the eventual goal of maybe making more than a buck or two while doing it.

Unfortunately, that does leave for some lag time between posts, and then a burst of several posts in a short period of time before another large lag. Those of you who have borne with me so far, thank you. Those of you new to the process, feel free to browse the archives; the Chronicles of an Independent Author are there to be read, so feel free to do so.

Also, in the interests of value-added blogging, please feel free to suggest content or content ideas. What can I bring to you, dear reader, to make your experience more enjoyable?

Everyone who suggests something will get a free copy of The Unearthing ebook.

News About Me And My Writing

So there's a whole lot of little things going on right now...first, my review of the new Alanis Morissette CD for Confront Magazine was until recently being referenced on the Wikipedia page for the new album, so that was fun--while it lasted.

Second, I'm up for a job as a reporter for CJAD 800 AM Radio here in Montreal, so that's tres cool. It's not that I'm unhappy at the newspaper; in fact I love my job. However, I would like to get in on the journalism side of things; unfortunately my spelling and grammar in French aren't good enough for me to get a job as a reporter with the paper.

Also going on, my interview with Craig Chaney of the Metal band Evergreen Terrace has been posted over on Confront Magazine; it was a fun conversation and I'm glad to finally be able to share it with the readers.

The latest stats for The Unearthing are pretty good; roughly 1750 downloads since the free ebook download went live in March. Ugh...I've got to do so much housecleaning on this and my sister site for the novel; update the links and such, as Chapters Indigo are now selling it here in Canada for the US list price instead of the 30% markup it used to be selling for. My publisher has had a falling out with Amazon.com over the latter's ridiculous demands...that's something else I've got to get around to. But, if you haven't already bought the book odds are you won't. If you have bought it you don't need to buy another, and if you do want to buy it, the links on the left all still work in the meantime, so that's on the low-priority list.

...I smell a small lecture about the above paragraph wending its way from the keyboard of my personal Jimminy Cricket...

CONFRONT Magazine is also branching out, musically speaking. In association with MAP Music (Musicians Against Parkinson's) CONFRONT Presents will be hosting an awareness concert to benefit people living with Parkinson's Disease. The event is August 23rd, at Club Soda here in Montreal. The line-up for the show includes Arthur Kall, Monday Rose, Polar Eyes, La Confrerie, and The New Cities, as well as presentations by musician and MAP Music founder Robbie Tucker and Canadian Pairs Bronze medalist, Craig Buntin.

I guess that's the most immediately relevant stuff. So, for want of a better concluding paragraph for this post, let me just say

Brief Update...

So it's been twelve days since I last posted. My bad. A lot of things have been going on; the ever ongoing quest to treat my panic disorder, adjusting to yet another new medication, the relaunch of CONFRONT Magazine, initial feedback from Oh Well Whatever Nevermind's test readers before I polish it off one last time and send it out to prospective publishers...that one I'm going to need some advice on; I"m not sure how best to approach the pubs.

In that time I've been rewriting The Darkness And The Stars, the follow up to The Unearthing. I've also been involved in regular planning sessions for a new phase in CONFRONT Magazine's ventures, garnering some positive reviews for my article on heavy metal music for said same magazine, and toying with an idea to ship to a comic book company I met through Twitter.

The Chapters/Indigo thing was some over-hype by Publish America: Canada's Only Book Seller won't be STOCKING PA titles, but selling them on a par with the US cover prices. I've gotten another 200 downloads of The Unearthing, so I'm around 1750 now...Still trying to figure out the next step on that one.

I'm actually dozing off...guess the anti-anxiety meds are kicking in. More soon...I promise.

Interesting...

...Publish America just announced that the Chapters/Indigo book stores will begin stocking Publish America titles.

...The largest book store chain in Canada will now be a potential new point of sale for The Unearthing.

Now of course the question is how to turn this to my advantage...seems my "break" from marketing The Unearthing is coming to an end...