Category Archives: Travel

April 14, 2014 · 1:00 am

Stupid Twitter pics from Iceland

And now, for your amusement, a collection of my dumbest/funniest Twitter pics from Iceland. This might be a partial grouping, because I’m not leaving until Tuesday and may be inspired to inflict more on my followers. Follow me on Twitter if you want to see whether I’m feeling clever again later. (Note: Actual cleverness not guaranteed.)

I’ll probably do a proper picture posting before I head off, one with far better images and more serious commentary. The country is just gorgeous, and I took a lot of nature photos with the digital camera instead of my two-year-old iPhone 4S.

For now, on with the show:

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April 13, 2014 · 6:13 am

Iceland is for writers

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m in Iceland while my wife Kate attends the Iceland Writers Retreat. The retreat organizers were kind enough to include partners and kids in their more social activities and tours. Even though I’m not participating in the retreat’s workshops, I’ve found plenty of Icelandic fuel for my writer-mind.

A very old book in the library of Iceland’s presidential residence.

The Icelandic people are immensely proud of their literary heritage, and rightly so. They were the scribes of the Viking Age, committing the Sagas to print and providing a written history and folklore of the Scandinavian peoples. Icelandic, while today spoken by just 330,000 souls, give or take, is considered the language most like that of the old Vikings. (Geographic isolation will do that.)

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April 10, 2014 · 4:09 pm

I wanted to eat here just to write this tweet

However, as it turns out, Cafe Loki had really excellent, relatively inexpensive (for Iceland) food, and good beer.

But yeah, I may have planned this tweet several days ago, because that’s how my geek rolls.

I am burdened with glorious pastries. #avengers pic.twitter.com/VMBbovxGnX

— Michael J. Martinez (@mikemartinez72) April 10, 2014

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April 8, 2014 · 1:24 pm

Hanging out in Reykjavik

If you’ve taken a peek at my Twitter account over the past day or so, you might have noticed I’ve been slightly out of pocket. In fact, I’m in Iceland. And until perhaps six months ago, I never actually thought I’d write “I’m in Iceland” and mean it. But I’m here, and I’m stoked about it.

Here’s the deal. My enterprising, talented, travel-writer wife Kate is participating in the Iceland Writers Retreat this week. Check out the link, because it’s very cool. In addition to her communications business and her travel writing, Kate’s working on her own fiction as well. So she wanted to come and get a good dose of writer-time.

And so we turned it into a family trip. My daughter and I get to participate in the Retreat’s fun stuff, like tours and receptions. And when Kate’s in class, the kid and I get to explore.

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February 1, 2014 · 10:12 am

The Gravity of the Affair out in audio, another Daedalus review, and convention planning

Very happy to report that Audible has officially released The Gravity of the Affair in audiobook, and for the super-low price of $2.99. It’s a nice, trim two-hour reading by Bernard Clark, the same fellow who read the Weatherby sections of The Daedalus Incident audiobook. Check it out! And if you bought the Gravity ebook from Amazon, you can read along or automatically synch between the two, which is pretty cool. We do indeed live in the The Future.

I’m also happy that The Daedalus Incident continues to garner positive reviews and notice. The Qwillery — that great resource for news and reviews of debut SF/F works — published Trinitytwo’s review yesterday. Her verdict:

I thought this book was unique in many ways and I can honestly say it was my pleasure to read. I am looking forward to reading The Enceladus Crisis and The Gravity of the Affair. Michael J. Martinez has created a sci fi adventure that is just too good to miss, so make sure you don’t!

You can read the whole review here. Many thanks to Trinitytwo and Sally “Qwill” for all they’ve done for debut genre authors!

Meantime, I’m starting to figure out my convention schedule for the coming year. I can say with certainty that I’ll be at Lunacon, up in Rye, N.Y., on March 14-16. That’s pretty much the closest con to my house, making it a no-brainer. The list of program participants is impressive, and while they haven’t released panel info yet, I’ve seen some preliminary stuff, and it ought to be awesome. So come on out to Lunacon and say hi!

After that, I’m looking into BaltiCon in late May, and then really trying to figure out what I want to do for a summer convention. As much as I’d love to go to WorldCon in London, I’m having a hard time with the costs of it all. Whereas, if I hit GenCon in Indy or DragonCon in Atlanta, I may find new audiences and cheaper flights. (I’m already spoken for the weekend of CONvergence, so that’s out.)

If anybody has any thoughts as to a good summer con, throw it out there in the comments!

#SFWApro

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January 2, 2014 · 1:31 pm

Final release date for The Enceladus Crisis! Coming May 6!

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope 2014 is treating you well. As for me, we’ve nailed down a final, no-kidding, get-ready-for-the-awesome release date for The Enceladus Crisis, the sequel to The Daedalus Incident.

May 6.

We were thinking we might go a bit earlier on it, but frankly, after the fun and games Daedalus went through with its release dates, we wanted to be absolutely sure that print, e-book and audio were all ready to roll at the very same time, and that the new Night Shade publicity machine is purring along smoothly.

So instead of the preliminary date of April 1 (which I wasn’t too enamored of, given the whole punk’d holiday thing), we went for May 6. And it will be glorious.

Of course, in the meantime, you can pre-order The Enceladus Crisis from your favorite local bookstore, as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can also get caught up by reading The Daedalus Incident and my e-novella, The Gravity of the Affair (vendor info at the book links). I mean, I’d hate to leave you without the sailing-ships-in-space goodness you’re craving. I’m nice like that.

Meantime, I’m still here in Arizona. We were going to fly back home today, but there’s something of a bad-ass winter storm reading to pummel the warmth and joy out of the East Coast, and flying into said storm seemed rather dicey. So instead of suffering through a foot of snow and sub-zero temperatures, I’ll be suffering through bright sunshine and mid-70s temperatures until Sunday morning.

Life’s rough, I tell ya.

Oh, and for those of you who don’t follow my Twitter feed, I did indeed run my very first 5k on New Year’s Day here in Phoenix. And by run, I mean…actual running. The whole way. (Except for when I stopped to tie my shoe.) Managed a respectable 36:04 time, which left me giddy and punch-drunk. Of course, this morning my legs are full of cactus spines and pain-demons, but it’s totally worth it. I may even do another one in the future, should my legs start working normally again. There are worse ways to ring in a new year.

Tagged. #herewego pic.twitter.com/vAf9DjYLVH

— Michael J. Martinez (@mikemartinez72) January 1, 2014

#SFWApro

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December 31, 2013 · 5:50 pm

Farewell, 2013! Happy 2014!

The sun setting on the Arizona desert…and on 2013!

Figure I’d take care of the new year’s greetings a bit early, as I’m planning on getting up early tomorrow to do a 5k. Yes, it could be as comical as it seems at first blush, especially given the hilly, cactus-strewn terrain here in Arizona.

I wanted to give a proper fare-thee-well to 2013, as it was a pretty kick-ass year. After much trepidation and no few delays, The Daedalus Incident finally saw the light of day and was very well liked by folks, which did my heart good. I also signed a deal for The Enceladus Crisis, which will be available April 1, and The Venusian Gambit, which should be around some time next winter. The Gravity of the Affair also went from Web freebie to actual for-sale novella, too.

I also went to my first SF/F convention, met lots of cool people, did my first book reading/signing, and raised nearly $700 for charity through this whole authorial thing. The latter is reason enough to keep going. The rest really is gravy.

There were a ton of people who helped make 2013 awesome on the book front, including super-agent Sara Megibow and the Night Shade Books team — or teams, rather, both old and new. To them, and to the reviewers and bloggers, my fellow authors who were so generous with their time and wisdom, and to everyone who took the time to give my work a read…thanks.

So far, 2014 looks to be just as exciting. The Enceladus Crisis is coming out, and I’m excited about the direction the Known Worlds are taking. I’ve started in on The Venusian Gambit and, let me just say, I’m even more excited about how this series is going to wrap up. And from there…who knows? As a writer, I have options. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Of course, none of this would be any fun without a wonderful wife and daughter, great friends and family, and all the other good stuff life has to offer. No matter what happens with the writing thing, I’m a lucky guy.

Have a great New Year’s holiday, everyone. Stay safe and make smart choices tonight. And for the new year, I humbly suggest you count your blessings, tell your loved ones you love ’em, enjoy life and try new things.

OK, 2014…bring it!

#SFWApro

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December 28, 2013 · 10:52 pm

A few noteworthy book-related bits from the road

New Mexico was really lovely. Taos is a world away from the hustle and bustle of New York City, and it was a lovely place to spend Christmas. And yes, Santa found us just fine. Dude probably invented GPS. Tonight I’m in Flagstaff, Arizona, preparing to venture to this canyon thing they got up in these parts. They say it’s a “grand” canyon, but it’d have to be one impressive ditch to earn that name. We’ll see.

I did see a meteor crater though, and that was pretty grand in and of itself:

Crater #selfie in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/97F9QgyUyO

— Michael J. Martinez (@mikemartinez72) December 27, 2013

Meantime, while the family and I have been exploring the Southwest, I’ve seen a few cool book-related tidbits I wanted to share. So here we go:

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December 23, 2013 · 11:05 am

Greetings from the Land of Enchantment

If you’ve followed my Twitter feed over the past few days, you’ve seen that I’ve been out and about in the world. One of the many, many benefits of being married to my wife, Kate, is that she is a travel writer and blogger, and we tend to get out of the house more often than most folks. This year, we’re spending the holidays in the Southwest, where we really haven’t been before. Already, I’m happy we’re rectifying that.

Christmas will be spent in Taos, New Mexico, and we’ll be with friends in Phoenix, Arizona, over New Year’s. And on New Year’s Day, I’ll be participating in a 5k run/walk. I’m curious to see how the breakdown between walking and running pans out, as this will be my first. That said, if I can be a debut author at 40, I see no reason I can’t be a debut 5k-er at 41.

Speaking of authoring, it turns out that I do my best work on airplanes. I’ve been outlining the third book of the Daedalus series, now tentatively titled The Venusian Gambit, and I went on a very nifty writing jaunt while in the air between New York and here. If I could afford to spend eight hours a day, five days a week on a plane, I’d write as many books as Chuck Wendig and still keep down my full-time job. Long story short, The Venusian Gambit is taking shape faster and better than I had hoped.

I’m able to focus on the third book now because The Enceladus Crisis, the second book in the series, has been sent to the typesetters, which means that, for all intents and purposes, it’s Officially Done. Yes, there will be copyediting, but the major editorial work is finished. My editor, Cory Allyn of Night Shade/Skyhorse, did a great job making a good book great, and my beta readers Drew Montgomery and Dan Hanks were generous with both time and excellent input. We’re on schedule for an April release, which makes me quite happy, given all the fun and games we had with The Daedalus Incident and its multiple release dates!

Finally, I want to give a huge shout-out to the bidders on my Worldbuilders auction items. The naming rights to a substantial supporting character in The Venusian Gambit went for $200, and my critique of up to 25,000 words of writing went for $395. That is some serious, serious money, and there are poor families that will directly benefit from that. The generosity of the bidders is nothing short of mind-blowing. Thank you.

I’m off to explore New Mexico: Land of Enchantment. I’m told, however, that wizards are scarce, so I’m not sure how exactly the state earned this sobriquet. I’ll keep you posted.

#SFWApro

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July 20, 2013 · 3:45 pm

Now I understand writing retreats

My wife Kate and I had the chance to take a few days off on our own in the wilds of the Adirondacks and Vermont. We were, of course, grateful for the fact that we weren’t home; the weather was, by all accounts, unbearably hot. But it was still pretty warm up north, so while our mornings were fun and active (canoeing and bike riding), our afternoons were spent writing.

And man, more than 12,000 words later, I totally get that writing retreat thing.

Not that I didn’t really get it before, but I’ve always been of a mind to write whenever and however I can. An hour here, a half-hour there. It does add up. But such stretches of unscheduled time…it’s kind of amazing what you can do. We didn’t really plan it as a writing retreat, per se; it was merely one of many pleasant outcomes of the trip. We both got a lot accomplished, and still felt wholly relaxed and rejuvenated.

I’m still going to stick to my guns when it comes to writing time. Just write — whenever, however, and for however long you can. But if you can indeed carve out time in a big way, it seriously rocks.