Announcing my new novel!

Announcing my new novel!

I have put it up for sale on Amazon.com.

He was destined to become a writer – but first, he needs to become a hero!

Deep in a cavern, far beneath the Black Mountain, the Demon rages! Out there, somewhere, is a very special kind of author fated to write a one-of-a-kind story. Driven by a seething, ages-old revulsion to imaginative stories and the joy they bring to young readers, the Demon vows to stop this aspiring writer in his tracks.

And who is this aspiring author and unlikely hero? It is Ottomotto, an unassuming Counting Gnome who toils at his dreary job at Amalgamated Rejects where he counts defective candies such as Tootsie Roll Pops with no tootsie in middle. He knows nothing of the Demon, or writing, when he is approach by an enigmatic muse – a Northland fairy named Esmeralda (who by the way, has some very serious self-esteem issues of her own).

At first, Ottomotto is torn. On the one hand, the lure of writing electrifies him, bringing purpose to his duller-than-dishwater life. On the other hand, it terrifies for it means revealing a shameful secret.

At last, Ottomotto decides, but it is too late for the Demon has struck, kidnapping a motley trio of misfit characters in search of a very special kind of author.

Tragically, Ottomotto must return to the tedium of Amalgamated Rejects. Or perhaps not. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll choose to become a hero – the kind willing to sacrifice his life to attempt a seemingly impossible rescue. If Ottomotto does choose, his only hope for success will lie in a place called Storyhaven, home to the ancient Tree of Tales.

Meanwhile, in the caverns beneath the Black Mountain, the Demon waits...

This is a story for readers of all ages seeking to summon the courage and enduring fortitude to pursue their creative dreams.

Click here to order.

Page Count: 298

Binding Type:US Trade Paper

Trim Size: 6" x 9"

Related Categories: Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / General

Announcing my new novel!

Two Novels in One Image

From: Ads of the World.

Two Novels in One Image

Agents Vs. Zombies

Here's an exciting new game, available on both iPhone and Android.

A deadly new virus is turning writers into the worst kind of zombie imaginable; the kind that writes query letters! It's up to you, the intrepid literary agent, to overcome this assault! You`ll need to think fast and stay calm as you deliver your rejections, one bolt at a time, with your trusty crossbow. Remember, aim for the head, not the writing hand!

Agents Vs. Zombies

Why not try a book?

From DOGHOUSEDIARIES!

Why not try a book?

The Joy of Books

This is from Type Books in Toronto. Just wonderful.

The Joy of Books

5,000 books reportedly thrown out in Occupy Wall Street raid

(From the LA Times)

More than 5,000 books in the Occupy Wall Street library were reportedly thrown away when police moved in to remove protesters from Zuccotti Park in New York early Tuesday.


During the police raid, Occupy Wall Street librarians tweeted, "NYPD destroying american cultural history, they’re destroying the documents, the books, the artwork of an event in our nation’s history," Galleycat reports. "Right now, the NYPD are throwing over 5,000 books from our library into a dumpster. Will they burn them? … Call 311 or 212-639-9675 now and ask why Mayor Bloomberg is throwing the 5,554 books from our library into a dumpster."

The Village Voice has asked city officials what happened to the library books, but has not yet recieved a response. "I watched the stuff thrown into sanitation trucks and just crushed," Lopi LaRoe, a 47-year-old Brooklyn artist, told a reporter.

The library, which started out as a box of books and grew to a collection of more than 5,000, was originally out in the open air. Rocker, poet and National Book Award winner Patti Smith donated a tent to house the library and protect the books from the weather.

It had hosted readings by authors including Douglas Rushkoff, Jonathan Lethem (along with a quiet but curious Jennifer Egan) and Lynn Nottage; on Friday, a group of volunteers read Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street."

According to the Associated Press, hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided Zuccotti Park, evicting protesters who have been camping out in the Wall Street park since mid-September to call attention to economic inequities and the distribution of wealth. The New York Times reports that 200 were arrested.

Initial reports suggest that the park's occupants were told they would be able to reclaim their items the next day. "But it could be argued that city authorities have junked much that once made up Occupy Wall Street," Time magazine reported. "Perhaps most tragically, Occupy Wall Street's roughly five thousand-volume strong People's Library, compiled through myriad donations and painstakingly catalogued by Occupy volunteers, was reportedly thrown out."

A judge has signed an order allowing protesters to return to Zuccotti Park with their belongings; further court action is expected Tuesday.

What that means for the books, no one yet knows.

5,000 books reportedly thrown out in Occupy Wall Street raid

Books on Shirts

Cool T-Shirts from Out of Print Books! For each book they sell, one book is donated to a community in need through their partner Books For Africa.

http://www.outofprintclothing.com/

Books on Shirts

Even Demons Need Heroes

Okay, the Demon has been feeling down lately. Two recent rejections from agents will do that. And then, I came across the most effing unlikely hero:  Comic Sans Font! The Demon stands in awe of his take-no-prisoners/"you talking to me?"/"hasta la vista"/"Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" attitude.

Effing excelsior, dude!

I'm Comic Sans, Asshole from joehollier on Vimeo.

From: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/07/im_comic_sans_asshole_animated.html

Even Demons Need Heroes

Of Lou Gehrig, Kate DiCamillo and Yamashiro Tomoe

Argh! The Demon is greatly annoyed. Why?  He came upon a list of the Top 100 Speeches as deemed by scholarly experts. Guess what? Lou Gehrig's farewell speech was...well...it was dissed! It ranked  #73 on the list. 

The Demon wishes no disrespect to the other speeches rated higher, but c'mon! With a mere 277 words, Lou Gehrig established a heartfelt connection with 61,000 fans at Yankee Stadium and with many more for generations to come. Two hundred and seventy-seven words - that's all it took.

And that recalls an earlier post on this blog about the power imbued in the economy of a few words:

I found the following observation (confession?) from Kate DiCamillo at The Pippin Insider: "Telling stories is hard work; the stories that I like, the ones that seem most powerful to me, have an ineffable quality of one word seeming to do the work of ten words."

One word for ten? Sounds daunting, eh? How about one word for a hundred? Let flash back to an earlier post of mine where I asked whether it was possible for one hundred words to the job of ten thousand. (i.e., a ratio of one word for one hundred).  Here’s what I wrote:

Is it possible for one hundred words to the job of ten thousand?

I've been contemplating this question since reading a wonderful short story, Bog Rhubard Shoots, by Yamashiro Tomoe (it's from the book, Reflections on the Way to the Gallows). It tells the tale of Mitsuko, a young Japanese woman, who, in the 1940s, was sent to prison for her involvement in the left-wing political movement (as was her husband, who was assigned to different prison).

Under the terms of her conviction, Mitsuko "could write only one letter of postcard length each month. Even though the frequency and length of the letters were limited, they still had to be checked over by four persons: the guard, the chief guard, the chaplain, and the supervisor of the guards. Under these circumstances, one hundred words had to do the job of ten thousand in the letters that Mitsuko and her husband exchanged. If a letter written under restricted conditions failed to pass the censors and was stamped 'To be handed over upon release,' the letter itself would probably shed tears."

And one last thing: "...today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." That's the line everyone associates with Gehrig's speech. But there was another line: "When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that's the finest I know." That's the line that sends shivers up my back. It's why his speech is finest I know of.

'nuff said!

Of Lou Gehrig, Kate DiCamillo and Yamashiro Tomoe

An exercise in first lines

Apparently, the first line of a book is of great importance. It must be true: I read it in a book! Here are the results of my recent efforts at crafting first lines...

I once loved a woman who loved the Muppets.

He counted the bars as they went up, each like a giant meat hook mounted upside down, and wondered how many it would it take to do the job.

This is a story of three crows gathering in the moonlight, fireflies dancing by a stream, and dust, more beautiful than stars, floating in the sunlight.

If you had to write a story to save your life, what would you write?

It is Thursday and I am blind.

Once there was a rose and a sword.

I must have been born with a broken heart; that is the only possible explanation.

Time travelers are dicks, destiny is for douchebags and eternity isn't what it seems like.

Deep in a cavern, far beneath the Black Mountain, the demon woke from his nightmare.

Above a mountain glade a procession of Black Butterflies followed the trail of blood, dark and shiny upon the grass, towards the stricken, snow-white deer: in their wake, the Golden Dragon followed.

An exercise in first lines