Thursday, October 11, 2012

Here's a post... because I'm slacking on the ol' blog again!

I know. You're all shocked. I really need to do a better job of keeping this thing updated.

My apologies. It's been pretty busy around here. Mainly, my girlfriend and I finally moved into an apartment a few weeks ago. After living all of this time at home with my family, it feels good to finally get out there and have a place I can call my own--well for seven months, at least. We're hoping to find an actual home by the time our lease is up (although we're so in love with our apartment, I don't think it'd be overly devastating if we ended up having to stay for a little bit longer).

I know, this is something I should've done a long, long time ago. But it really worked out for the best. I was able to save a lot of money while living at home. I worked, so it wasn't like I was mooching off my parents. It's hard to turn down a free roof over your head. And when you're not in a relationship, then you feel like there's no rush to leave.

But once I finally got into a wonderful relationship, I knew it was time to get out and finally find a place.

We're loving the new place. I should post some more pics. If you're on Instagram, you can follow me on there. I'm "mdrabbles" (yes, I'm sooooo original it's scary. I suck at coming up with user names, so lay off!) I've taken a bunch of pictures of our cats taking advantage of our new home--and constantly stealing my chair.

In fact, here's one of them. While both cats love the chair, Bubbles (or Bubbs) seems to be the repeat offender:



So overall, we couldn't be happier. And that's one of the main reasons why you haven't heard from me for a while... other than... you know... me just being terrible at keeping a regular blogging schedule.

I've done very little writing, but I'm doing my best to correct that. Working on something right now. Another problem was I had a pretty nasty fight with writer's block--well, I don't know if I can call it that. I had ideas, but none of them worked when I tried to execute them. All writers hit a rough patch or a dry spell every now and then. I've still written little prompts for myself, so at the very least I'm still writing something.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll remember to do another post before 2015.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Milestone!

I just wanted to thank you all. Yesterday I hit a pretty big milestone. I ended up selling my 5,000th book. I still can't believe it. When I started this, I really thought I'd sell a couple here and there. I had no idea these books would reach so many.

You guys are the best! Thanks for all of your wonderful support. It really means the world to me. Have a great day!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Tumblr: My new home

Don't panic. I'm still going to post here, but I think this blog is going to be more about my writing, projects, etc.

I joined Tumblr a few weeks ago (you can follow me at http://mdrabbles.tumblr.com/). I'm still tweaking it here and there, and I'm still trying to figure out how I want to use it.

But I will say this... it is very random. Hence the title, "Random Shenanigans."

Kind of like my Twitter account, this is going to be me posting about a bunch of random things. The vibe I'm getting over there, I feel a bit more free to do whatever I want. Of course, I can do whatever I want here as well, but for some reason I feel like I have to stick to a certain structure.

On my Tumblr, I'll be re-blogging a bunch of pics that catch my attention; I'll post some random thoughts/entries; oh--and I'll be posting a BUNCH about Breaking Bad, so let that be a warning to you!

I'll still post here, but again, I might keep this more as a writing blog. Who knows? I might not even be able to keep up with my Tumblr page. But I figure what the hell? Might as well give it a shot.

Hope to see you all there!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I'm writing, NOT slacking! (I think...)

I started work on a potential haunted house story a few weeks ago. I think it shows some promise, but I haven’t been able to do any work on it this week.

Slacker.

Yes, I’m slacking. No, actually it’s been pretty busy at work… so it’s been a bit tougher to sneak in some quality writing time. Hope to get some done over the weekend. I always feel better when I get a little bit of writing done.

A little bit is always better than none.

Oh, and I'm also on Tumblr now. Just joined maybe a few days ago.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Time to get some serious writing done

I think I've figured out why I've been in such a writing rut. For the past month or two, I've been driven to try my hand at something longer, like a novella or a novel. It's just not happening now. Not to say that'll never happen (it will, I'm sure), but you can't force anything when it comes to writing. Because that's how it'll turn out. Sounding very forced. I need to get back to what I'm good at: short stories. If one of those stories end up wanting to be a novel, fantastic.

Short stories may not make me a bestseller, but then again I never became a writer to get rich or sell millions of books. The fact is short stories will always be my strong point when it comes to writing.

And I'm not saying that I'll never write a novel, or should make an attempt. I should, but the time isn't right. Right now, I just want to write. ANYTHING. A little bit of writing is far better than no writing at all.

So thanks again for all of your support! Let's see if I can find a story that needs to be told.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Writing rut

I'm stuck in one of those ruts where it feels like everything I write isn't working. These ruts happen from time to time, but they're still annoying as hell. Nothing breaks my spirit more than working on a project and then feeling like it isn't clicking. Then when you try to move onto something completely different, you still get the same result.

I'm probably overthinking my stories. That is almost always the reason for such a rut. I think I have to get complicated with characters and storylines when I should stick to what I do best, which is keeping it simple.

Still, I'm not letting it bring me down too much. I'm doing plenty of reading, which is always the next best thing when you feel like you're in a tough spot. Reading classics from Vonnegut and company always cheers me up.

Of course, there are times when I curse myself for even calling myself a writer when I read a masterpiece like MOTHER NIGHT or CAT'S CRADLE.

I'll snap out of it. I always do in the end.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Slacking on the old blog... again!

So much for me saying that I was going to try and do a better job of posting...

Well, the good news is I've been busy with some other writing projects that I'm working on (which is why I haven't written much over here). I'm trying my hand at a novella of some sort. Not sure if it'll go anywhere, but so far I'm having fun with it. I'd tell you guys more about it, but every time I get excited and tell somebody what I'm working on, the book decides to stop playing nice with me.

True story. Serious!

Onto something that isn't writing related, I finally saw the movie PROMETHEUS. My thoughts on it? It was an okay movie. Not great, but certainly not horrible. I went into it with low expectations. I just wanted to be entertained, and I wanted to have some creepy/gross out moments. That pretty much happened.

Yep. That's why I don't write reviews any more. Because that's about all I have to say about it!

So that's pretty much what I've been up to. I'll try to post more than once a month... but I think we know how that's going to turn out!

Friday, May 18, 2012

All Prologue (everybody has a story)

(the title of today's blog comes from the title of an episode from HBO's THE WIRE)

My girlfriend and I went to Dave and Buster's on Wednesday to take advantage of their "half-priced games" deal. It's become our new favorite place. For those of you who haven't been there, think of a more grown-up version of Chucky Cheese's (is that how you spell the name of the place? I could look it up, but I'm too lazy right now). They've got games, and they've got booze.

How can one not have fun?

I guess this would be my version of gambling, although gambling doesn't seem as fun. At least there, I'm well aware that all I'm doing is spending money to win tickets. Tickets that I may never end up using, yet I still feel proud when I hit a jackpot.

Anyway, there was this sad looking man who was sitting at one of the games. He was there long before we got there. He just sat there and played the same game over and over again. He must've been in his late forties or early fifties. He had to keep calling the workers over because he'd clean the machine out of tickets.

He didn't look like he was having fun. He looked like a character I'd written about in a short story, In Decline (which also inspired the title for my short story collection). He just sat there and played the same machine over and over again. When his card would run out of points to play the game, he'd simply run over to the re-charge machine and drop some more money on it.

We heard the man say he was trying to win a new iPad. Now, I don't know if there was one in the actual machine, or he was saving up tickets to buy one at the store. Either way, the man must've blown close to a grand or so.

A bag full of stacks and stacks of tickets rested by his feet, as he played the machine more and more.

It was kind of bumming us out, if you want to know the truth. It was just a sad scene. This must've been Dave & Buster's version of a degenerate gambler. My girlfriend wondered if the man had a family, and if they thought he was at work. Maybe they laid him off because he was spending too much time at D&B's. Those one hour lunch breaks turned into three hour lunch breaks one too many times for his boss to stomach.

Maybe he didn't have a family. It could've been that he was trying to win an iPad so he could sell it to somebody. Or, the iPad had become a sick obessesion for him. Maybe it started innocently enough at the start, but then he grew determined to win the blasted gadget.

This is all speculation, of course. But that's what a story teller does. He looks at somebody and tries to think of a back story. What brought that person there and what was his or her motivation.

Everybody has a story. We may not know exactly what that story is, but it doesn't stop us from coming up with one on our own. You don't have to be an author or a writer. It's something we all do from time to time.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Effin' Mondays...

No, I didn't steal this "act" from Garfield... then again, maybe I did. I always have a hard time starting the week, especially since now I'm always doing something fun on the weekend. After two mornings of not having to worry about setting that friggen' alarm clock, it's a grind when the reality sets in that I have to wake up at around 5:30 the next morning.

I don't even really hate the whole day. It's usually the mornings that are rough. It takes me a bit to get used to the weekday, but as soon as it's over then I'm usually good to go for the rest of the week.

While I've always had my dislike of Monday, I think I really only started playing on that fact in public for maybe the past year or two. Why? I dunno. It's fun to gripe about a day that most everybody hates. I already know what I can put up for a status on Facebook, and I already know what my first tweet will be on Twitter.

It even gave me a blog post to write about.

No... I won't thank Monday for that. Effin' Monday...

Friday, May 4, 2012

Pennywise gives it their "All or Nothing"


I became a fan of Pennywise around 2008, I believe. I always heard about them but never really gave them a listen until then. I heard their latest album, REASON TO BELIEVE, and immediately I fell in love with them.

And that wasn't even their best album. I quickly bought every album they had on iTunes after that and they became one of my favorite bands. They're always playing on my iPod now, along with NOFX (who I also just discovered a few years ago--yes, I'm always late to the party on these things, but better late than never!).

I was crushed when I learned the lead singer left the band. After watching the documentary, THE OTHER F-WORD, it seemed like he was burned out and wanted to spend more time with his family. I could respect and appreciate that.

When I heard that they found a new lead singer and they were going to come out with a new album, I had my doubts. I sampled the album when it was free on KROQ for a week or so, but I didn't give it a fair listen. Immediately I thought, "Man, it's just not Pennywise without Jim." The songs were good, don't get me wrong, but I just couldn't get into it.

Replacing lead singers is one of the toughest things bands have to do. Very, very tricky to pull off, but there have been successful bands who were able to pull it off. I just listened to the new Alice in Chains not too long ago, and I have to admit it's a damned good album.

Yesterday, I found out that Jim (former lead singer of Pennywise) didn't leave the music scene after all. He started up a new band of his own. And that's when I realized that he probably was having other issues with the band, and it wasn't only about spending more time with his family.

So what's a band to do? Everybody else in Pennywise still wanted to move on as a band. Jim's happy doing his own thing. And while we'll always love the "Jim" days, there's no reason to hold a grudge against the new guy. Bands have to move on.

I decided to give them another shot. Not only that, but I bought the album. Because I love the band, I wanted to support them. I gave it another listen, and this time I really did keep an open mind.

I'm glad I did.

It's a really, really good album. The lead singer might sound a bit different, but the overall Pennywise sound is still there. I've listened to the album at least three times now, and it just keeps getting better for me.

I know some people out there won't be able to love the new Pennywise. There's nothing wrong with that. But still, give them a fair chance. You may surprise yourself.

Friday, April 27, 2012

The story behind "Dead Things"




I have a little story in a short story collection called, “Dead Things.” It can be found in THE GATE 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair, which was edited by the fantastic Robert J. Duperre. I wrote a little bit about how the story came about at the very end, but thought I’d go into a little more detail in this blog.

When I started out writing at a very young age, I had this idea in my head that I’d write thrillers, action/suspense novels, horror novels, and so on. My early writing sucked because I was always trying to come up with over complicated plots. I was good at fleshing out characters, and I was really good at writing dialogue. But when I would try to come up with a story idea, I’d always fall flat because I was thinking too much about the plot. I started a lot of stories and never ended up finishing most of them.

Things changed at college when I was introduced to Raymond Carver. I remember when we first started reading his stories, I was completely baffled. At first, the ending felt abrupt and I couldn’t see much of a plot. But the stories stuck with me and the more I read, the more I fell in love. As I read more of his stories, I said to myself, “These are the stories I want to write.” You didn’t have to have a complex plot. You needed characters that seemed real. They could be flawed as hell, but so long as you made them interesting enough for the reader, you were set.

I think that’s when my writing really started to take shape. I was no longer bogged down by plots that didn’t work out. I simply wrote about everyday issues with everyday people. Most of the stories were sad. Many of them didn’t offer happy endings. Yet, they seemed to work.

Jump ahead a few years and not only am I writing slice-of-life fiction, but I also find out that I can write dark humor and horror in a form called “drabbles,” which are 100-word short stories. I had a lot of fun with the drabbles, but I also needed a break from them so I could focus on my true love, which is slice-of-life fiction.

I wrote this story a few months back before Rob contacted me and asked if I wanted to be a part of his collection. It was originally called, “Childish Matters,” although truth be told, I was never completely happy with the title at the time. That first title just came about because of a conversation that takes place between a father and his son when they’re talking about an old lady neighbor who is losing her mind. I’d read a story about a woman who wasn’t all there in the head beforehand, and I thought it’d be fun to write a character like that in a story. I knew she wouldn’t be the main character, nor would she be the main focus of the story. But it was a starting point. It started off in my head as an old woman knocking on her neighbor’s door, screaming about zombies.

Then the story focuses on the father and his son. The wife is no longer in the picture. At first, I wasn’t sure why. I just thought that maybe she wasn’t ready to be a mother and just walked out forever. I also knew that these so-called zombies that the old woman was screaming about were actually stoned teenagers on a playground.

And then it hit me; what if the father’s wife ended up becoming a drug addict? When I realized that, that’s when it made seeing the drugged-out teenagers even more powerful to me. It had a more devastating effect.

And that’s how the story came to be.

So when Rob asked me to be a part of the short story collection, I was trying to come up with some really complicated horror story. Again, going back to when I was little.

Bad, bad Mikey.

He told me I should focus on what I do best, and that’s slice-of-life. It didn’t have to be a horror story, so long as it fit the theme of the collection, which was “isolation” and “despair.” I told him I had this story that I finished not too long ago. He told me to send it over, so I did.

He loved it. He really, really loved it. And that was a huge compliment, because I really do think it might be one of the best stories I’ve written so far.

Rob fine tuned the story here and there, as editors do. I was happy to see that he didn’t think it needed any major changes, although I was prepared to have an open mind in case if changes needed to be made.

One change he made was the title. He also extended the ending just a little bit, while still staying true to the very last scene I had in my head. When he told me the new title, I fell in love with it. As I said, I was never happy with “Childish Matters,” but at the time that was the best I could do.

“Dead Things” is a much different story for me. While it helped me return to writing what I love, it was a bit different from what I normally write. Usually, my stories are very depressing and don’t offer happy endings for the characters. And while this story is indeed bleak and sad, it does offer a very touching moment. While there are no sure answers as to what would happen in the future, there was a little light at the end of the tunnel and it didn’t end as a downer.

 I wouldn’t have it end any other way.

Friday, April 20, 2012

So, this is how Friday begins for me...




Happy Friday!

That's right... this is how the morning began for me. Two effin' paper cuts at the same time. Even for me, that's pretty amazing. It's a new record, that's for sure!

If you ever wanted to know where I came up with the inspiration for the drabble, "Solution," where a character decides to deal with paper cuts in an extreme manner... well, now ya know!

Although, I don't think I'll take things quite that far.

(and yes, that's an instagram of said paper cuts that you're looking at. that's how I roll)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Something random...


I love to tweet.


I didn’t at first. When I started out, I didn’t have any books out and only a few of my friends were following me. I treated it like a mini-blog at the time. I think I had twenty followers, or something like that. It was small, whatever the number was.


After a while, I lost interest and stopped. I still liked to follow tweets from others, but I stopped tweeting.


When I started publishing books on my own, my friends told me that I should reconnect with Twitter. It can be a great marketing tool. So, I grumbled and forced myself back on. Then, I started getting followed by fellow authors and suddenly I was in triple digits.


Big whoop, I know. But for somebody who only had twenty following him at the time, that’s a pretty big fucking number!


Now that I’ve become more comfortable on Twitter, I find myself having fun on it. Too much fun, perhaps. While I do plug my books here and there, I mostly just write a bunch of nonsensical tweets. They range anywhere from corny to downright random. I’m not sure if I’m really entertaining anybody out there, but I know I’m enjoying the hell out of it!


Maybe the main reason why I love to tweet more than do actual blogging is because I can be random with it. I don’t have to have an agenda for the day. I don’t have to put deep thought into what I’m going to write. I just throw it out there. If it gets a laugh, cool. If not, no biggie. I try not to have my page look like nothing but tweets with links in them. Not trashing anybody who does that. If it’s working for you, groovy. I just know for me personally, I tend to tune out when I see nothing but links and promoting. So I do my best to avoid that on my page. I’ll plug a few times, don’t get me wrong, but for the most part I try to tweet about things that aren’t necessarily tied to my writing and books.


I come off as a goofball… because I am a goofball. And proud of it, dammit!


Twitter is probably a better representation of me than any blog entry I end up writing. When I blog, I feel like I have to have an agenda. That there has to be a reason for me writing a particular entry. And it’s hardly ever random, which is sad. I don’t know why I feel like it always has to be about my writing and books on here when I don’t do the same on Twitter.


After all, you can only take so much when it comes to listening to somebody talk about writing and their current projects. That doesn’t really give you a good insight into the person. If you just went by my blog entries here, you’d think all I did was write and try to sell books when that’s the furthest thing from the truth.


Is there a reason for this blog entry? Honest answer? No. I just thought I’d be completely random today, much like I am on Twitter. There’s no reason why I can’t have fun on here like I do on Twitter. The only person preventing that from happening is me.

(for more goofy inane babble, you can follow me on Twitter!)

Monday, March 26, 2012

Happy Early Book Day! LESSONS IV is now available!






Hello everybody! Well, LESSONS IV is finally here, and I was actually able to get it out to the world a lot sooner than I thought I would. Everything just kinda came together over the past few days, and I was working non-stop all weekend long trying to get it all together. I thought I'd wait a few days... but I'm impatient! Plus, I knew you guys were really waiting for this, so it made me happy that I was able to get it out there a little sooner.

I really had a blast writing this one. This might be the darkest Lessons book yet. Don't worry, there's still plenty of that dark, twisted humor that you've come to know and love from the previous books.

There are 29 drabbles. (Author Imogen Rose thought it'd be a neat idea to keep it at 29 in honor of leap year) Not only that, but there are 9 bonus drabbles/shorts by authors J.L. Bryan, Daniel Pyle, Jason Letts, Robert J. Duperre, Daniel Arenson, M.P. McDonald, and M.S. Verish.

I hope you guys enjoy the book! Once again, I can never thank you enough for your support. Happy reading!

You can get your very own copy of LESSONS IV by clicking here.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Making progress on LESSONS IV: The Dead Carnival and Other Morbid Drabbles

I began work on LESSONS IV at the start of the new year, and I haven't stopped since. I'm happy to say that the book is getting closer and closer to becoming a finished product. It'll have 29 drabbles (plus some bonus drabbles and shorts from some awesome authors).

This is the first time that I've made a collection of stories where they all revolve around the same theme: carnivals. With LESSONS III, a bunch of the drabbles had to do with evil toys, but I also added other ones that had nothing to do with demonic toys trying to murder their playmates. With this new one, all of the drabbles stick to the concept.

It was a blast.

I'm still tweaking things here and there. There's still work to be done, but we're getting there. All I can say is that I'm really excited about this new drabble collection. I really hope you guys end up enjoying it.

I'll keep you guys posted when I think I'm closer to a publishing date. Thanks for your wonderful support!

P.S. Those who've read IN DECLINE will get a nice little surprise when they read this new collection. That's all I'll say!

Monday, February 27, 2012

"Dead Things;" A new short story featured in THE GATE 2.




I know it's been a while since you've seen some new writing from me, but now's your chance to read a new short story of mine. I was lucky enough to be included in a new short story collect, THE GATE 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair.

I was thrilled when Robert asked me to be a part of his new collection, especially when you look at the names of all of the other authors who are also featured. It's an honor to be included with them. Authors I've looked up, and people I can call my friends.

If you've read my short story collection IN DECLINE, then I think you'll really enjoy this brand new story of mine. It's called, "Dead Things." It's about a father and his son trying to calm down a crazy old woman who is convinced zombies are invading their town. And on their journey, Dwight is forced to re-visit old and painful memories of the past.

I'm really proud to be a part of this collection. I hope you guys will check it out.  Click here to go to the Amazon product page.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

If I could go back in time... (I'd find my high school self and smack the sh** outta him!)

This is actually inspired by a post that Amanda Hocking did where she wrote a letter to her high school self. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you do. Click here to go to her blog.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say this, but high school wasn't a picnic by any means.

From the very first day, I knew I was in trouble. And it was just my luck, being that I loved my last year at junior high. When I got to Carl Sandburg High School, it felt like a different world--and not in a good way. By no means am I trashing the school. Like I said, I think a lot of us had a hard time at whatever high school we wound up at.

I was depressed during most of my time there, which made me an easy target for bullies. Can't say that I really blame them in the end, because I certainly didn't make things any better, and I gave them way too much easy ammo to use. When I was a freshman, I started writing these really terrible, emo poems--I don't even think I should call them poems, as I have no desire to insult the world of poetry. When people found out I was writing them, they asked to see them and for some reason I got it stuck in my head that this was a good thing. People were paying attention to me. So I started writing more, and really cranked up the depression-suicide watch/tone on them--not because I was suicidal in any way, but because it was getting me attention.

I didn't realize at the time it was very, very negative attention. Again, I made myself an easy target for people looking to do some damage to any little bit of self-esteem I might've had.

There were times where I really didn't think I was going to make it. I wondered how it was possible that each day that went by seemed to only get worse and worse. I didn't realize until long after I graduated that it was really me who made the experience even more horrid.

When I was in high school, I was in survival mode. I know I could've handled myself better, and did things in a more mature manner, but I was just trying to make it out in one piece. Long time friendships were ruined because I couldn't act like a fucking mature human being. Then again, I was in high school... were any of us mature?

I'm very happy to say that I am in no way the same person I was back then. I've done a lot of growing up. Life is much happier and I'm accomplishing a lot more than I thought I ever would at my age.

I couldn't go to my high school reunion, because I was convinced that the people I went to high school with would think I was the same person. That thought scared the living shit out of me, so I figured it'd be better if I stayed away. I kind of regret doing so, because I guess there were a few people who were looking forward to seeing me again. I was afraid of reliving high school.

There are times where I wished I could go back in time and smack the living crap out of my high school self. Tell him to man up and get over it. Things wouldn't always be this bad. There was light at the end of the very dark and what seemed to be a never-ending tunnel.

Then again, maybe if I did act differently back then, I wouldn't be the same man that I am today. Maybe I couldn't write things like IN DECLINE if I didn't go through some really dark and troubled times. Maybe I wouldn't be as mature about things right now if I didn't go through my emo-immature phases back then.

Thank God there was no Facebook or Myspace when I was in high school... otherwise I'd be fucked.

To my friends back in high school who have found me on Facebook, I'm sorry if I kept my distance from you. I wasn't trying to avoid any of you. I just have a hard time re-connecting with people from my past, especially if they knew the kind of person I was back in high school. It's something I should get over, and hopefully one of these days I will.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Total Bummer

(note: I took the post title from a NOFX song, because I really had no idea what to title this thing)

I found out that one of my childhood friends took his own life back in December, and I found out about it only a few days ago. Came as a complete shock. I know that we kinda grew apart once we hit high school, but we were never on bad terms or anything. A lot of the people you end up being friends with in grade school and junior high, you kind of go different ways once you hit high school for whatever reason.

I was shocked, hurt, and bummed when I found out.

He friend requested me about two years ago on Facebook, and we exchanged some posts back and forth. He was living in Florida at the time, so it wasn't like we could go and hang out like back in the old days. Still, I wished I had a chance to talk to him more even though I know that nothing would've changed the outcome. He didn't make any of his pain public. Even when we were growing up, I never saw that side of him.

Miss you, buddy. Sorry you had to leave, and sorry you had to leave the way you did. I can't pretend to know what you were going through, or know what was in your head when you made that final decision. Wished there could've been another way, but then again, don't we all?

Thursday, January 19, 2012

And the theme for LESSONS IV is...

(drumroll)

Carnivals!

That's right. Each of these drabbles take place at random carnivals. Plenty of bloody ride mishaps (and most of them aren't accidents!), and terrible rigged games where your life depends on the outcome (spoiler alert: the games are rigged!).

I know I said I wanted to take a break from the LESSONS universe after I wrote III, and that was the truth at the time. Even though I haven't published anything new, I've been working on other things. I still have a short story collection that I need to work on and I'll hopefully have it out sometime this year.

But I've always wanted to write another LESSONS book. They're so much fun, but as I've always said I need to have a solid idea or theme. When I wrote the first two, themes just kind of happened as I wrote the drabbles--and that was easy since they were still new to me. Now, I actually have to have a bit of a gameplan when I do one of these. Also, it helps prevent me from doing the same old, same old (or at least, I hope!)

I had an idea about a carnival theme a few days ago. I ran with it, not sure if I could make anything out of it or not. The ideas came flooding in, and as I'm writing this post I'm up to 15 drabbles.

This is still months away. Even when I do get the drabbles done, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done before I can release it to the world. But know this, it's going to happen. I can now say that with confidence after working hard on it for the past few days.

I'm really excited. I hope you guys will enjoy it once it's out. I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

LESSONS IV???

Maybe... I have a possible theme for a new collection and I'm running with it. Nothing's set in stone, and right now I'm just experimenting. That said, I'd love to put out another collection. Hopefully I can make this happen. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

A message from Nermie to Mr. Giggles



Mr. Giggles,

I saw you last night. I don't know what you were planning to do to Michael with those scissors, but I'm keeping my eye on you. Don't mess with me, buster! Try to harm Michael again, and I'll tear the stuffing right out of you!!!

-Nermie (aka the watchful chinchilla)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

IBDD (I Blame David Dalglish)


David Dalglish is one of my author buddies. He’s a terrific guy and he’s one hell of a writer—you can find a ton of his books by clicking here.

But he’s also a prick.

There’s a reason I use such a harsh term. We were talking about bad movies, and he asked me if I saw THE ROOM. I didn’t, and he told me that I should immediately purchase it, along with the Rifftrax audio commentary. (I later found out that Rifftrax is by the guys who did Mystery Science Theater 3000, which I’m a huge fan of) So, I decided what the hell? I picked up the DVD along with the audio track, and my girlfriend and I watched it a few weeks back.

Oh. My. Gawd.

I don’t even think I can do it justice on here, but I’ll do my best. The writing, acting and directing is atrocious. I couldn’t believe this was an actual movie we were watching. Many times throughout the film, our mouths were on the floor (and we had to look away from a bunch of the sex scenes where they would only be considered “sexy” on April Fools). We were also in tears from the commentary by Rifftrax as we watched. When it was over, we still couldn’t believe what we had witnessed. That had to have been one of the worst movies we ever saw.

And then… it stuck with us. We can’t stop repeating lines from both the film and Rifftrax. We say things like, “Oh hai, Darkness. Oh hai, Building,” etc. etc. We went out to eat after watching the movie and when I had to go to the restroom, it took all the strength in the world not to mutter, “Oh hai, Urinal! Oh hai, Sink! Have I told you how wonderful and sexy Lisa is?” for fear of somebody being in one of the stalls.

I’m effin’ obsessed with this movie now. I can’t stop watching Youtube clips. Even the ones without the Rifftrax! It’s that fantastic. My girlfriend and I are forever doomed to recite the awful lines. I’m still waiting for the day where I have a really, really bad day so I can scream, “Everybody betrayed me! I’m fed up with this world!”

So, I blame David Dalglish. Hence, me calling him a “prick.” He knew this would happen. It was all a part of his evil plan all along. I’m sure of it!

And now, it’s my turn to be a prick.

If you haven’t seen the “awesomeness” that is THE ROOM, do yourself a favor and buy/rent it. Then go to Rifftrax and purchase thecommentary. Watch it, and let it sink in. Try not to say “Oh hai (insert object/person name)” once you see it. Impossible, I say. Im-effin’-possible.


The Rifftrax sample:
http://youtu.be/X_7zpB1v0Og

Some “epic” clips without the Rifftrax audio:

Everybody betrayed me

Oh hai, Mark

What a story, Mark!

The Flower Shop scene
http://youtu.be/7S9Ew3TIeVQ

Monday, January 9, 2012

29 for one more week

So, on Sunday (the 15th) I'll be turning the big 3-0. Kinda hard to get my head around that, not that I feel that much different now. Still, it's a milestone birthday and I can't deny that. I have to say that I'm pretty psyched with the way life's going. If you told me that I'd sell thousands of ebooks before my 30th birthday a couple of years ago, I would've thought you were nuts. I never expected that to happen.

I know my numbers aren't as grand as a bunch of other indie authors out there, but for a short story writer I have to say I've gone above and beyond where I thought I'd be. :)

What's in store for the new year? I hope to have a new short story collection out. I'm still working on the second draft, so it'll be a while. A new short story of mine will be featured in THE GATE II (which comes out in February). Other than that, I'm just going to keep on writing and see what I come up with. I've never been good with plans on writing. The stories just happen in my head.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, THANK YOU for all of your wonderful support. My writing career wouldn't be what it is today without you.