Monthly Archives: April 2014

04.24.14
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My favorite Bad Way Out audiobook excerpt

I’m going to be posting segments from a quick little interview I did with Dan Wallace, the narrator for the audiobook version of Bad Way Out.  I’ll probably get it on the blog on Saturday.  Until then, here’s the segment of the book that Dan captured beautifully.  While it has no official name, I’ve dubbed it The Party.  When Dan reaches the pivotal moment in this scene, I still get a little emotional by his perfect read.  I’ll let you, the listener, guess what that pivotal moment is.

 

 

04.22.14
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What Book Seven looks and sounds like in my head

Book Seven is still months away from being published, but that doesn’t mean my head isn’t swimming with images of Oz and the gang.  In fact, this video demonstrates what I see and hear every time I turn my attention to the last book in the Oz Chronicles.

04.17.14
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TEDx Postmortem

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One of the twins from my fictional tale about publishing. I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. She’s gorgeous.

I did the TEDx event this morning at Pinewood Prep in Summerville, SC.  I had a fantastic time, and I met some great people.  I spoke to a roomful of mostly kids about publishing using a fictional tale of twins exploring separate paths to fame and fortune as authors.  I’m not sure how it went from their perspective, or how long I actually spoke.  I rehearsed several times before going in and came out anywhere between 13 minutes and 25 minutes, so I’m guessing I got close to the required 18 minutes.  I kind of expected a countdown clock in the room to keep me on task, but there was just an old analog clock in the back of the room, and I was too preoccupied to do the necessary math to keep track of time.  I used no notes, but I had prompts in my PowerPoint that triggered facts and figures I needed to tell my story.  I had this whole thing about the honor in failing I wanted to get into, but I got sidetracked.

I got the opportunity to talk to a couple of the kids about writing after the program, and met one young man who has already finished his first novel.  He asked for advice, and I’m afraid I failed to give him anything inspirational.  I have to come up with a better response to that request from young writers.  When I was his age, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to ask an adult about writing.  My hats off to him for being passionate enough to complete a novel at such a young age, and for having the guts to talk about it so openly.  It’s not easy to do.  I know.

The speaker after me was Brian Thomas, a Yale graduate, renowned educator and former Emmy Award winning actor for his role in Fast Break to Glory.  When I heard his credentials, I was convinced they had asked me there as a joke.  He was a super nice guy, and made it a point to tell me that he felt like the kids got a lot out of my presentation.  I don’t know if it’s true, but he made me feel better.  I was up the night before with a stomach bug, so I was still kind of floopy during my presentation.

That’s enough rambling.  Now that TEDx is behind me I’m going to do a feature on the narrator for the audiobook version of Bad Way Out.  His name is Dan Wallace, and he is an incredibly talented voice over actor.  He’s so good I don’t know how I was fortunate enough to get him.  More on that to come.

04.07.14
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Conflict

My concept is up in the air right now.

My concept is up in the air right now.

The theme for the TEDx event I will take part in is conflict.  I’ve been asked to address the conflict that exists between traditional publishing and indie publishing.  I think I’ve come up with a way to illustrate the life of a traditionally published author and an indie author that blends actual stories (some that belong to me and some that are ripped from the headlines) set in fictional circumstances.  It will be a bit of a juggling act.  I’m just hoping my talk won’t go viral for the wrong reasons.