Cover Art Mock-Up
For those of you who are waiting on the release of Frostwalker, there is now a signup list! Just head over to the Frostwalker page and enter your email address in the signup at the bottom of the article. Note that your email address won’t be shared with anyone else and will only be used for one notification when Frostwalker is released and then the list will be deleted.
This is just a quick little update. I was lucky enough to have Sandy, at The Reading Cafe, conduct an in interview with me. The interview is now live on their site and you can check it out here. It was fun and I appreciate them giving me a chance to talk about Frostwalker, how I became a writer and lots more. Check it out and please leave them a comment!
Robert Zimmermann, Poet
I have something a little different for you guys today! I recently had a chance to interview Robert Zimmermann. A lot of you know him from his book reviews over at his blog, but what you might not have realized is that he is also a poet. Rob is currently working on a collection of his poems but took a little time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions. Enjoy! Continue reading
I just wanted to post a quick update to give you all the latest info on what I’ve been up to.
To begin with, I’ve recently finished a new short story! It’s currently titled The Card and is around 4,200 words long. This one is a more traditional horror piece, not vampires or zombies. It’s still in the first draft stage, but edits will be ongoing and it should be finished relatively soon. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with it. I may release this one the same way I’ve released Out After Dark and Best Served Hot, but there may be other considerations. In any case, when it’s available, I’ll be letting you know about it here as well as Twitter and Facebook!
Meanwhile, Frostwalker is still undergoing edits. Nothing new to report there, but just wanted to mention that progress is being made. We have top men working on it. Top. Men. (And a couple of top women.)
In other news, Best Served Hot is currently on display at the Indie E-Books site! If you’re not familiar with Indie E-Books, here’s how it works: With the indie publishing revolution, there’s a huge amount of reading material out there. But, how do you know what you’ll like and what’s not for you? At Indie E-Books, you can view short stories by independent authors and get a feel for their work. Sort of a test drive for fiction. You can read the stories for free and even leave comments.
Also, Indie E-Books conducted a quick interview with me! If you want to check that out, it’s on their blog. Give it a read and be sure to tell your friends!
A bit of a ramble here. Bear with me…
One of the questions I get asked a lot lately is “When is Frostwalker coming out?”
The answer is usually “Soon, Mom. Jeez! Stop buggin’ me about it!”
Back in early January, the plan had been to do one last line-by-line edit of the manuscript. After that, it would be a few adjustments to scenes for pacing and then maybe one last round of beta-readers before release, maybe in March if things came together nicely.
Now, I’ve had the great fortune to have some very talented beta-readers. Not just their talents, but the mix of talents as well. Some were eagle-eyed typo hunters. Others weren’t into grammar and spelling, but they had an eye for details. Between the various beta-readers and my own line edit, Frostwalker was in pretty good shape – I thought. Continue reading
The Forever Girl, by Rebecca Hamilton
Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook have no doubt seen my posts about just how great a read The Forever Girl was. As someone who doesn’t usually read that genre, it was a departure for me. The fact that I was sold on the first chapter and then loved the book in full should be a testament to the wide appeal this book offers and the compelling ability of the author, Rebecca Hamilton.
Today, I have a special treat for you! I asked this talented (and busy) lady to take the time to answer a few questions for me and my readers and she graciously consented. I’m very pleased to present this brief interview with Rebecca Hamilton. I hope you find it as enjoyable to read as it was to conduct! Continue reading
I’m taking a break from editing Frostwalker today. Instead, I thought I’d share some thinking that hit me in the shower, of all places. I do a lot of good thinking in the shower…
How many times have we been talking with friends when the subject turns to a recent movie? Inevitably, someone (maybe you) has to say it: “The book was way better.” It’s said so often that it has become a cliché. Now, I love both books and movies – I think most of us do. When you’re watching a movie, you’re usually not thinking about the book being so much better. Why is it that, after the experience, a book feels like it was better? Continue reading
I really love the adventure that writing fiction presents. You truly never know what your characters are going to do or where your story will go until you set off on that winding path. While I’m the sort who writes “from the hip”, I believe that even the most outline-bound of us will find surprises as their work unfolds.
I’ve most recently encountered this while working on my current new project, which had been under the working title of Dubrow’s Last Case. With Frostwalker set for the final edit to begin in January, I had started a new novel for this year’s NaNoWriMo attempt. Ultimately, that faltered when I decided to focus on getting the current short stories I have available ready for public consumption. After I had taken care of that I decided that, since NaNoWriMo was a bust this year, another short was in order and Detective Martin Dubrow was going to provide it.
Then something unexpected happened. As the good detective began his strange investigation into a brutal murder I began to see certain signs. There were plot threads forming in the mists at the limits of my creative vision. A possible love interest? What’s this about enemies thrust together in a fight for their mutual survival?
Work on Dubrow stalled while I puzzled out just what was troubling me about this story. Lying in the dark, mulling over the day’s writing – or lack thereof – I finally pieced it together: Dubrow’s Last Case wasn’t a short story at all – it was just one thread in the overarching story I had begun on November 1st. This was a story that demanded to be told!
And so, with my characters taking my hand and leading me once again, the parts have been joined as a whole. There was a bit of cleanup required; Detroit became New York, Fall became Summer, but the pieces fit surprisingly well considering the original intent was something completely different.
Often when we write, we don’t tell a story – we simply give it a voice.
Have you had a similar experience in your own creative endeavors? Why not tell us about it in the comments below?
It’s kind of strange how things come together sometimes; how we stumble into situations rather than striding boldly forward to our destiny. I’ve written fiction since I was a kid but in the past few years I’ve finally begun to take it seriously. However, progress has been slow. There was always something else to do other than write or edit or promote my work. There would always be time tomorrow.
But then, during this year’s NaNoWriMo, I stumbled across news of Lulu.com’s 2011 Short Story Contest. Intrigued, I thought I’d give it a shot. With a word count limit of 600 words it would be a fun challenge and quick enough that it wouldn’t slow down my “real” work on my NaNo novel.
Ah, but one of the entry requirements was that you had to make the story available for purchase through Lulu, even if you set the price as free.
OK, sure, why not?
Heck, while I’m at it, why not just polish up this other story and put it up there too?
Now, a few weeks later, I find myself posting on my new blog, which I’ve tied to my new Facebook page and new Twitter account. I spent last night working on yet another story (before setting up my WordPress account) and I’ve just been notified minutes ago that the Kindle edition of Out After Dark is live.
In short, I’ve gone from “maybe someday” to “now is the time” and all rather by accident. Funny how that happens…
Brandon R. Luffman 