Nothing Profound…Just Some Updates
Since it’s been way too long since I’ve made a blog post, I thought I’d do something, even though I don’t have much to say right now…
Boldly Going Nowhere
I had mentioned that I had submitted a story for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds fan fiction contest. Unfortunately, my story was not selected as one of the stories. I plan to put it on the blog sometime soon: I want to re-edit to include some “deleted” scenes that were cut in order to make the contest’s word limit. Since they aren’t publishing it, I can put it back the way I want…
Getting the Word Out
I’ve added myself to a couple of sites that highlight authors and their works. You can now find my profile on Author’s DB and The Literary Net as well as GoodReads and Amazon. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter. I do have an account on Pinterest and if I ever figure out what to do with, I’ll let you know.
An Event!!
I have an event in the near future! I will be doing a signing featuring local writers at the Barnes & Noble in New Hartford, NY from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM on Saturday, May 21st. I’m really excited because most book shops don’t carry self published books for sound economic reasons ( publishers buy back unsold books; if the shop doesn’t sell the self published book, they are stuck with it). I am happy that the Colgate Book Store is carrying my book, at least for a while. I’m really excited to at least get a crack at reaching another audience in New Hartford. If you’re free, I’d love to see you….and love it even more if you bought a book 🙂
Slow and Steady Wins the Race…
I’m working (very slowly) on the sequel to The Reluctant Captain. I think I’m about a third to half way through the story. I’ve written myself into a bit of a corner right now and I’m trying to figure out how to write my way out of it. So bear with me, it is coming….sometime.
That’s it for now. Hopefully it won’t be another couple of months before I post again.
Until next time, Happy Journeys!
Mike
Read MoreMy Writing Life or I Go to Extremes
“Call me a joker, call me a fool
Right at this moment I’m totally cool
Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife
I feel like I’m in the prime of my life
Sometimes it feels like I’m going too fast
I don’t know how long this feeling will last
Maybe it’s only tonightDarling I don’t know why I got to extremes
Too high or too low there ain’t no in-betweens
And if I stand or I fall
It’s all or nothing at all
Darling I don’t know why I got to extremesSometimes I’m tired, sometimes I’m shot
Sometimes I don’t know how much more I’ve got
Maybe I’m headed over the hill
Maybe I’ve set myself up for the kill
Tell me how much do you think you can take
Until the heart in you is starting to break?
Sometimes it feels like it will”I Go to Extremes – Billy Joel
I’m in the middle of Billy Joel kick right now, brought on by the return of the Billy Joel Channel on SiriusXM this week. I have a 40 minute drive to my day job, so I really rely on satellite radio because otherwise, I have to change the station two or three times to pick up an FM station that I can stand…ah, the joys of country living.
This song has played a couple of times already and I’m afraid it’s now stuck in my head. But I was reflecting on it and it’s sort of a description of my writing life lately.
I recently completed my story for the Strange New Worlds Fan Fiction Contest and submitted it last week. I tried to work at it consistently all of last week, but my work was anything but consistent. I wrote all weekend and was psyched that I had the first draft finished. I went to work on the draft Monday night and found myself so tired, I couldn’t stay awake at my computer. Tuesday, I hunkered down after work and worked all night on it. I repeated again on Wednesday and Thursday when I finally submitted it.
Great, I thought, now I can return to my novel. I had a big chunk of time Sunday afternoon, I’ll dive right in.
Except, I didn’t. I spent all Sunday afternoon and evening playing Civilization and not even looking at my novel. I was out of sorts, irritable for no reason and generally in a pissy mood.
Fast forward to today…back to work and a hellish trip to and from home through lake effect snow. And tonight, I dove right in, wrote a bunch more and now I’m writing this.
It seems to be the way this works for me recently. The Reluctant Captain grew out of the NaNaWriMo Challenge (write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, see nanowrimo.org for more information). It really was a heads down exercise in where I ignored the world around me and just wrote like a man possessed.
For this novel, there have been different factors at work. One is that my day job has demanded huge amounts of time from me. This, as well as the holidays, contributed to very slow progress. When I had time, I would write, but mostly, I didn’t. Work has leveled out (for now) and so I have more time and I’ve tried to use it effectively.
But then I have days like yesterday. It wasn’t exactly writer’s block. I knew where I was going with the story and I just had to start typing. But I didn’t. I felt like I couldn’t. I felt like the second verse – “Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes I’m shot,Sometimes I don’t know how much more I’ve got” That was me yesterday.
Today, when by all rights, I should be more tired (getting up at 5:00 AM, having two “delightful” drives through a lake effect snow storm and an equally delightful day at work), I get more accomplished in three hours than I did all of the weekend!
So my goal for the rest of the year is to try to moderate the yo-yo nature of my writing. As the old Aesop fable of the tortoise and the hare says “Slow and steady wins the race”. I have to remember on days like yesterday, I’m never as awful as I think I am and on days like today, I’m never as brilliant as I think I am.
Until next time, happy journeys!
Mike
Read MoreEbbs and Flows
I thought I’d babble a bit tonight about ebbs and flows in writing. This is really affects me in my writing because I tend to have limited windows available for writing. For example, much of December was consumed by work or holiday related activities. I had very little time to work on anything.
This past week, time has opened up slightly. I have been writing after work and I had huge block of time this weekend while the rest of the family was away at a high school theatre festival.
I think like most writers, I have days where it’s a struggle to type one word after another. The words come exceedingly slowly and I just have to painfully trudge through the night, happy to make whatever feeble progress I can. That happened on Monday night of last week as well as a part of Saturday afternoon.
And then there was Tuesday. It was one of those magical nights where my fingers couldn’t type fast enough to keep up with my mind. Everything was magical and easy. As a writer, you live for those days because they are few and far between.
If writing was always as easy as it was on Tuesday night, everyone would do it. I think though, I have more respect for myself as writer when I struggle through those days that it’s almost painful to get the words out of your head and onto the page. It’s like the brief period time I was a runner. Those days where just don’t want to be there and struggle through every step are probably the most valuable because you’re building a practice. You run because that’s what you’re supposed to do. It takes discipline (discipline that I am sadly, currently lacking).
The same thing goes for writing. You write when it’s time to write. It may only be a few sentences, it may be many pages, or likely, something in between. But you write when it’s time to write, regardless of the ebb or flow.
In other news, I finished my draft of the short story for the Stange New Worlds Fan Fiction Contest. I’m spending the next few nights doing final revisions before I submit my story (entitled “If My Grandmother Had Wheels, She’s Be a Wagon”).
Starting this upcoming weekend, it means I’ll be pulling my head back from outer space and back into the clouds with Malcolm, Joan, and Charles.
Until next time, Happy Journeys!
Mike
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We Interrupt This Novel Already in Progress…
I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Although I hate resolutions, I am going to try to be much better about updating this blog and giving updates on my work.
So, what have I been doing since the infamous (and barely read) Call of Chturkey post? Well, it was mostly work, get ready for Christmas, and work some more. My day job as a programmer has had me working long hours, but I have a feeling that it’s going to curtail sharply now and I’ll have more time to write. Both my novel and blog posts…that’s the plan at any rate.
As you might guess from the tag line, I’ve TEMPORARILY suspended work on my novel. Fear not – I am returning to the exploits of Malcolm and company shortly, but quite frankly, I saw a writing contest that I absolutely could not refuse to enter.
Simon & Schuster are sponsoring the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds fan fiction contest. Basically, you need to submit a short story about any character in the Star Trek Universe. The top ten stories will be printed in an ebook and physical book anthology.
When I saw this, I knew immediately that I couldn’t pass this up. As I’ve said on multiple occasions, the character Scotty has long been an inspiration to me. Possibly it came from meeting James Doohan when I was a college freshman majoring in Engineering. Malcolm’s character is directly inspired by Scotty. It should come as no surprise to anyone that my story would focus on Scotty.
Without giving too much away, the story takes place immediately after the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan after Scotty has been promoted to Captain of Engineering and transferred to the Excelsior. Hopefully you’ll be able to read it in the final anthology (keeping my fingers crossed).
Have no fear; I will be back to continue the adventures of Malcolm and his crew. The contest ends within the next two weeks, so I will turn my focus back to Malcolm and the Daedalus.
Until my next post, I wish all of you a very healthy, prosperous, and happy new year!
May the winds be at your back!
Mike
Read MoreThe Call of Cthurkey
I was going to write a blog post listing all things for which I am thankful, but fate intervened. I stumbled upon a story about the the Chermpumple and I noticed a link at the bottom to a story about…the Cthurkey. Here’s a picture:
After reading this, a story instantly came to my mind. And as a Thanksgiving gift to you, I present:
The Call of Cthurkey
by Michael Tefft
(with apologizes to H.P. Lovecraft)
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human stomach to tolerate the most obscene combinations. Cooking shows on the Food Network strain in each direction to inspire more and more strange combinations, but so far, none that our stomachs can’t handle. But some day, we will find the combination of foods that will surely drive us mad.
My knowledge of such a thing occurred this Thanksgiving. As was tradition, we assembled at the house of my parents. In the morning, we gathered in front of the television to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as was our want. I could smell a strange odor coming from the kitchen; at once delicious, while at the same time repugnant. Strangely, my mother would not let me help in any way with the cooking, saying simply she was trying something different and wanted to make it a surprise.
After some time, I asked my father if I could borrow his computer to check the hockey scores as cell reception was nearly zero at my parents’ house and my fantasy hockey team was not going to run itself. He grunted from his recliner and I went to my former bedroom, now the home office.
As I brought up the browser window, I noticed that one of my parents had left the browser brought up in a page full of strange and arcane recipes. As I read the page, I looked in horror at combinations of gelatin formed into translucent prisons for meat, vegetables or fruit. As the dread rose along with the bile in my throat, I read the “Comments”. And buried in the comments was a link to what was described as the most forbidden food combinations put together. The link simply read “Crockernomicon”.
With some trepidation, I moved the mouse and with a deep sense of foreboding, clicked the link. The site loaded; I immediately felt like I had stumbled on some lost and forbidden lore. I saw recipes for Jellied Chicken Loaf, Shrimp Aspic Mold, and Pickle Stretcher Salad. The more I read, the more my stomach gurgled and I swallowed hard to force down the rising bile. And then at the bottom of the page was a link to “A Truly Unique Thanksgiving Treat”. To my horror, I realized that the link had been already visited. With trembling hand, I clicked the link.
At the top of the page, I saw the phrase “In his tureen of Gr’vy, Chturkey waits for dressing”. Before I could read any more, my sister came to the door to tell me that the feast was ready. I closed the browser before I could finish looking at the screen, sure that I saved my sanity.
I followed my sister to the dining room table and froze. Before me lay a tableau out of a nightmare. On plates and serving trays were a collection of abominations that would destroy a man’s sanity. First, a transparent green tower trapped what looked like cole slaw within its shiny emerald walls. Nearby, a translucent white mound with flecks of red and green; the whole thing wobbling as the plate was handed from person to person. More and more of these transparent or translucent concoctions were handed to me. I knew what was expected and with rising dread, I scooped the various congealed food onto my plate. As I stared at the utter horror awaiting me, I was snapped from my daze by my mother’s voice. “Now for the main course.”
Nothing that that I had seen in my life prepared me for the horror that arrived on the platter. On bed of brussels sprouts that looked like the spawn of the Triffids, lay a true abomination. A fully roasted turkey with the tentacles of an octopus and the legs of a crab stretched the limits of sanity of my mind. This could only be one thing: the dread Cthurkey. Nothing I had seen in the Crockernomicon had prepared me for this. My father took his electric carving knife and hacked into the monstrosity. When asked if I wanted white meat or dark, I asked for white in fear that I might be eating turkey stained with the inky blackness of the octopus.
I ate and soon the strain was more than my brain could handle. Dinner became a blur. I must have paused out as I awoke alone on the recliner in front of the television, dimly aware that a football game was playing. As I tried to shake the horror of the feast from my mind, I kept hearing in my mind the words from the dread Crockernomicon:
“In his tureen of Gr’vy, Cthurkey waits for dressing”
I wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful this year for everyone who has supported me as a writer. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Mike
Read More
Why I Love Halloween
Halloween is very nearly my favorite holiday of the year – it’s closest rival is Christmas which I think I give the edge to because of the giving of presents. It used to be the receiving of presents (and don’t get me wrong, I still like to get presents), but I love seeing the look in someone’s eyes when I get them the right Christmas present.
But Halloween is the next biggest holiday in our household. And it started from when I first had my own place. That year, my (now) wife and I threw a Halloween costume party for our friends which was an annual occurrence until our son was about two years old. When we moved to our current house (a century plus old Carpenter Gothic style house), we created treasure hunts that went to scary themed rooms through out the house. Once our son started to trick or or treat, the parties ended, but we still decorated. For a couple of years, we had a graveyard of terror for kids to explore if they dared.
Why do I love Halloween so much? I blame it on two things: a love of theatre and a love of horror. Before my son was born, my wife and I participated in two – three community theatre shows each year. I have to say, I love costumes…not that I ever got really great costumes. But costumes do contribute greatly to character. And as an outgrowth of that, I have an interest in makeup. I honestly think that one of the worst things for my makeup interest was watching the SyFy show Face Off, as it only wants to make me do more things with makeup.
My love of horror probably goes back to my childhood to Monster Movie Matinee. Every Saturday, starting at 1:00 PM when the cartoons were over, we travelled to the mansion on the hill (actually, a well crafted model), to see long fingers of Dr. E. Nick Witty, the host, with occasional appearances of Epal, his assistant. We never saw our host’s face, only his hand with the long fingers and dagger long nails. The host would introduce the movie of the day which ranged from the classic Universal Monster movies (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, Creature From The Black Lagoon), to all manner of 50’s and 60’s horror movies including The Blob. I sat transfixed every Saturday afternoon that I could watching those movies. I think at one point, I even had put together one of those plastic models of Frankenstein with the glow in the dark gravestones (like in the original movie Fright Night)
In many ways, I was really lucky to grow up at the end of the Baby Boom era (I fit the generally accepted criteria for Gen X, but just barely). At the height of the Baby Boom era, shows like Monster Movie Matinee could be found many places across the country as movies were used to fill time on the channels and I’m sure that many of the movies could be broadcast cheaply. Shows like Monster Movie Matinee just don’t exist anymore and it’s damn hard to find a channel with the classic monster movies. TMC is usually a good bet (like they were much of Halloween this year) to see the 1950’s and 1960’s Hammer Studio remakes of the classic monster movies with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee seemingly changing place as the monster du jour. I find it sad that we don’t get to appreciate these old movies very often. They aren’t scary in what we would consider scary according to modern sensibilities, but they have such great atmosphere. And they have defined the tone of many horror genres since.
This has been a great Halloween for me as I’ve been able to reconnect to my love of the old horror movies. I got to watch two Hammer Studio productions of Dracula, Prince of Darkness and Dracula 1972 (sort of Dracula meets Austin Powers). In addition, I watched two horror classics that I’ve never seen before; The Exorcist (yes, I’m ashamed that I’ve never seen it until now) and The Evil Dead. This will probably keep me sated for horror movies until next Fall (Walking Dead not included in that statement).
So here are some pictures of the Tefft House of Terror. We went with the ever popular Frankenstein theme with my wife Colleen as the mad scientist and yours truly as the monster. I went with an interpretation similar to the Peter Cushing Frankenstein of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed because I thought it made more sense than the green, block-headed shape of the Karloff Frankenstein.
So what does all of this have to do with my writing? My love of horror will be evident in my next book. Without giving away too many spoilers, the book will drift more into the supernatural and horror genre. Malcolm and friends will find themselves confronting horrors that they are not necessarily prepared to fight. I don’t want to say too much more because: a) I don’t want to spoil anything, and b) it’s not written yet so everything is subject to change.
Until this time next year, creepy dreams!
Mike
