I have five titles available for Kindle (digital delivery) so if you wanted to try e-readers before but hadn’t purchased one, now is a good time to get onboard. The digital books are the complete work and generally are priced about 40% cheaper than the print edition.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ElTcgyniU

If you have read Accidents Happen or What Do You Say to the DJ?, you can use the links below to post your comments:

Accidents Happen
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What Do You Say to the DJ? Expanded Ed.
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What Do You Say to the DJ? 1st Ed.
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HH: Describe your new release, Accidents Happen, in a couple of sentences.

AM: It’s a story about one man’s struggles after a car accident. But it’s not exactly what you think. This story has plane crashes and guns and the supernatural.

HH: What was the inspiration for the book?

AM: Accidents Happen was a happy accident. For the second half of 2009, I was actually working on another book.

What happened was that my friends and I were sitting around the kitchen table in our house last October, talking about writing and publishing. Someone issued a challenge: a fifty page story, a complete story with a beginning, middle and end. It would have supernatural elements, the aura of heroic epic, and the possibility of a sequel or sequels. The catch: finish it in three weeks.

I was like, “I can do that!”

HH: How long did it take?

AM: The first draft was finished in four weeks.

HH: What happened to the other book you were writing?

AM: Because of its length, I considered publishing Accidents Happen together with the other story. The stories were totally unrelated and it just wasn’t a successful merging. So I scrapped that plan.

HH: Will your readers be confused by going from What Do You Say to the DJ? – a “real life” book – to Accidents Happen?

AM: I like the fact that the story is grounded in the reality we know. Yes, there are supernatural things going on, but the main character lives in the same world that you and I do. So to answer your question, I don’t think so. The big difference is one story is a memoir and the other is entirely fictional.

Thematically, both stories touch on how hard it is to just live your life. Not that I feel like I need to justify my transition to fiction writing.

HH: Why the back up story? What is a back up story?

A back up story is basically a short story that relates to the primary story. In this case, the story introduces you to a few characters who will have major roles in the sequel.

Tabitha Worthington, who drew art for What Do You Say to the DJ?, sent me three sketches for new art. I used them as inspiration for the short story called Bare Bones. A girl, a boy and a chicken who will all have their own tales to tell eventually. The art was included in the book because it was gorgeous and I couldn’t keep it to myself.

HH: What are you working on now?

AM: The follow up to Accidents Happen. Every character you meet will be back for an appearance in the sequel. I’m also compiling Smart ReMarx articles for an annotated release. If you need a fix of my non-fiction writing, it’s slated for release this summer.

HH: Talk briefly about the publishing process.

AM: It’s intense. I write and edit the book from start to finish, work on all the promotional materials and put together a rough idea for the cover.

HH: You don’t design the cover yourself?

AM: No, I have it professionally done. It’s such an important element that it is worth it to let someone else do it and then I always have the option to tweak it here and there. But I do have ultimate approval over what it looks like.

HH: What is the cover image for Accidents Happen?

AM: It’s a good luck charm. Even though the title might suggest negativity, I wanted to counteract that notion with something suggesting the opposite vibe.

HH: On that note, good luck!

In a month or so, I’ll have the release details so you will know how you can get your hands on it. Stay tuned!

Regardless of how the challenge turns out (come on, you know there is no way I’m not cranking out 50 pages!) I’ll find a way to share with you the final result. Stay tuned.

The prize for this challenge, if his book is completed and meets the criteria, is that I agreed to front the money to publish his completed work and go through the various publication steps to get his book out there, including the editing, design and distribution.

But why let him have all the glory? It’s a welcome creative challenge for me as well. I’m two days behind, but a more prolific writer than he is, so I should be able to catch up. Whatever I write, I’ll share the results with you in a month or so.

I participated in NaNoWriMo a few years ago, and I’m sorry to say that although I completed that assignment (50,000 words in 30 days) I have no idea what happened to that manuscript. I may have to dig it up and see what I had done.

Stay tuned. 2 weeks and 5 days and counting…

AM: It’s a full-length novel.

So fiction this time?

AM: Yes, fiction this time.

Do we get to know the title now, or is it too early?

AM: It’s too early. It needs a round of editing before I settle on a title.

Did you make a conscious decision to switch to a fictional storyline after publishing What Do You Say to the DJ?

AM: It definitely was a choice to say that I needed to move into a different genre for this one. Plus, DJ really worked because of the interplay with Dara [Shifrer, his co-author] and I’m on my own this time. The memoir was fun but I kept thinking that my life would way more exciting if I took a little creative license with the story.

I think you referred to it as “mostly autobiographical”? Probably a little bit of your trademark sarcasm in there. When you write, do you edit as you work, or do you wait till the end and then polish?

AM: There’s one full length draft where I do a minimal amount of editing. There is definitely rewriting throughout the entire writing because it’s a continuous process of discovery of the characters and the plot. No matter how much I think I know about a character when I really get into the storytelling, things get fine tuned.

Do you have any little quirks when you are writing?

AM: I developed a fine talent for writing with a beer in my hand. It doesn’t disrupt the writing process as much as you might think.

I’ll let that one go. In DJ, part of the story revolves around your dating life. Is the scene better now for you?

AM: Are you asking me out on a date?

No, well, maybe, we’ll talk after. What kind of themes can we expect in the new book?

AM: Thematically, this is almost written as part two of What Do You Say to the DJ? Anyone who has read that will find some similarities in the themes and the angst that drives the characters. It’s about growing older and reaching this point in your late twenties where all of a sudden you have to act like an adult with adult responsibilities and adult relationships. I’m still amazed at how much more complicated life gets as you get older. Many things don’t come easily with adulthood, and part of growing up is learning to deal with it.

You planning on having accompanying art in the book?

AM: I liked the interpretation that artwork brings to the story, so yeah, it’s being planned for inclusion.

So when can we expect the new book?

AM: It will be on sale this winter.