Category Archives: Writing

August 9, 2014 · 9:00 am

“Her Majesty’s Elopus” – A GISHWHES short story

I’ve been slowly getting back to the writing life after several weeks away, and enjoyed a rather unusual jump-start this past week, courtesy of an even more unusual source.

I received an e-mail from someone named Deborah Margarella with the subject line: “Scavenger Hunt!” She was indeed involved in a scavenger hunt, as advertised, and one of the items was:

Get a previously published Sci-Fi author to write an original story (140 words max) about Misha, the Queen of England, and an Elopus.

This was quickly followed by several more e-mails from other hunters, asking for the same thing, which made me believe that this was not simply random weirdness, but a very deliberate weirdness. What was this hunt? Who’s Misha? And what the heck is an Elopus?

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Filed under Charity, Weirdness, Writing

July 13, 2014 · 8:29 pm

Signing in San Francisco, plus a new review of Enceladus

I’ve re-emerged from the wilds of Idaho mostly intact, though rather exhausted after a long work retreat. I had a flight cancelled out from under me, requiring a five-hour drive to get to my final destination. That was followed by three short, somewhat uncomfortable nights, then a red-eye. Yet I did have a lot of fun, mixing both hard work and hard play. And Idaho is really a pretty piece of country. I’m a lucky guy when it comes to day jobs.

I have a few notable items to throw out here. On Saturday, July 26, I’ll be at Borderlands Books in beautiful San Francisco starting at 3 p.m. to do a reading, Q&A, signing, whatever. I know there’s some Night Shade Books fans in San Francisco, so I hope to see you there. It’ll be a lot of fun. (And then I’m going to Mission Chinese Food, because it’s nearby and I hear it’s the best, but I digress.)

Secondly, while I was off in Idaho and well out of cell phone range, the Qwillery offered up reviews of both The Enceladus Crisis and The Gravity of the Affair by TrinityTwo. On Enceladus, she writes:

The Enceladus Crisis … packs an astounding wallop of adrenaline. This is a smart, well-written and outstanding series; no sophomore slump here, Book Two is even more exciting than the first one.

And on Gravity, she says:

I must admit, I didn’t care for Horatio Nelson overmuch; he’s too pompous. But the author’s depiction of this historical figure rings true … It’s an excellent companion to Martinez’s series and gives readers a glimpse into events that shaped Nelson’s destiny before he became renowned as Britain’s most heroic sailor.

She pretty much nailed Nelson — he was brilliant and a true English patriot and hero, but he was most definitely pompous and not an easy guy for modern readers to like. Many thanks to TrinityTwo for her kind words, and to Sally at the Qwillery for her most excellent blog and the hard work all involved put into it.

Now that I’m back, I’ll be putting the finishing touches on The Venusian Gambit over the next three to four weeks or so, and perhaps blogging a little more regularly. The finale of the Daedalus series is coming along quite nicely, and the ending is deeply satisfying to me in terms of where the characters end up and how the worlds have changed. It’s also one heck of a ride. I was writing a particularly fun scene a few weeks ago on a plane, when my wife Kate looked over and saw me grinning as I wrote.

I consider this a very good sign.

It looks like Gambit will launch next May. The reception to these books has definitely exceeded any reasonable expectation, and for that I’m grateful to all the folks who’ve read it. I hope you enjoy the conclusion as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

#SFWApro

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Filed under Books, Events, Gravity, Travel, Writing

July 7, 2014 · 4:34 pm

Going offline this week

Even though I’m freshly returned from my beer/bike/book adventures in Colorado, I’m off once again this week, this time for a retreat as part of my day job. It’s up in Idaho, and I do believe cell coverage will be spotty at best. So if you’re looking for me here or on Twitter, or you’ve sent me an e-mail, well…I’ll get back to you Friday-ish, most likely.

A few things before I go: My thanks once again to the awesome people at Boulder Book Store, and everyone who came out, for a great event last week with Sara Megibow and I. We had a good crowd and good questions about publishing, and I signed many books and met new fans. Thank you, one and all.

And if you missed me in Boulder, you can catch me in a few weeks in San Francisco. I’ll be doing a reading/signing/Q&A at Borderlands Books on Saturday, July 26 at 3 p.m. PDT. I’ll bring bookmarks. It’ll be fun.

Finally, I expect to show up on a couple of fresh podcasts soon, and although I don’t have direct links, I figured I’d throw them out there. I did a roundtable on Skiffy and Fanty where we dissected the first season of BBC’s Sherlock. (I generally love the show, others less so.) And I did a quick interview on the Reading and Writing Podcast, where I discussed my books and how they came to be. Totally unsure as to the exact dates for these, so keep an eye out.

Of course, if I’m able to get a signal out in the sticks, I might have a few fun Tweets or posts later this week. But otherwise, I’ll be back at you on the weekend. Have fun and be kind to one another.

#SFWApro

Home away from home in Vermont

When folks ask me where I’m from — pretty common in New York, which is a very transient city — I say Vermont. Now, I only spent three full years of high school and all four summer breaks from college in the Green Mountain State, but I claim it anyway. There’s more of Vermont in me than any of the other places I’ve lived.

So when I get to return, such as this past weekend to visit my mom, I get a little blissed out. And this time, Vermont laid out a bit of a welcome mat. The picture here is of the Local Authors shelf at the Bennington Bookshop, where I bought many a book in my youth. Even though I’m not technically local anymore, you can see both The Daedalus Incident and The Enceladus Crisis there on the second shelf. And that brought me joy.

There are also copies in the SF/F section, and all my books there are now signed. As further incentive, my 10-year-old daughter signed the photo credit she received in the back for taking my headshot. Rare collectables, y’all. So if you’re in the Bennington area, stop by and support a great local bookseller!

Bennington gave me my start as a pro writer; I interned at The Bennington Banner, the local daily. And below is a picture of the Silk Road covered bridge outside town. It’s an awesome bridge, dating to 1840. Twenty-four years ago, I took almost this exact photo for the paper. Now, I was never a great 35mm photographer, and it was in B/W film on top of that. It took a good hour of developing to get a usable image for the paper. The photo below happened in one click with my iPhone 5s, and came out fantastic:

If I were in the darkroom (or Photoshop, I suppose), I’d dodge in a bit more of the other side of the bridge, but really, I was pleasantly surprised at how well this came out, especially when I remembered just how stubborn my first attempt was more than two decades ago.

So there’s my bit of Vermont. Enjoy your moment of zen.

#SFWApro

Reading/discussion in two weeks in Boulder, Colo.

I love visiting Colorado. I’m fortunate in that my cousins live there, and seem quite happy to have us crash now and then. (Or, at least, they don’t kick us out when we show up.) I’m looking forward to great beer, lots of nature and, most importantly, seeing my cousin’s new baby.

And I’m doing a reading and discussion with my awesome agent, Sara Megibow, on Wednesday, July 2, at Boulder Book Store. So I got that going for me, too.

It’s going to be a bit different from the events I’ve done in the past in that Sara and I will talk about the behind-the-scenes process of getting a debut novel published. Given last year’s sale of Night Shade Books to Skyhorse Publishing, there are some good stories to tell. I’m also going to read from my latest book, The Enceladus Crisis, and we’ll take questions on just about anything.

And yes, I’ll happily sign your books. That never, ever gets old.

Again, it’s Wednesday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. MDT at the Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St. in Boulder, Colo. The event page is here. Vouchers to attend are $5, but you can then put that $5 toward a purchase at the store that evening — or a purchase of my books any time you like. Sara and I will do our level best to make sure you get at least $5.01 worth of information and/or entertainment.

In other news bits, I saw a very nice review of The Enceladus Crisis over on book blog 20four12. Caleb Flanagan writes:

The Daedalus Incident was one of the best books I read last year and I waited very anxiously for The Enceladus Crisis to be released. Everything about what Michael J. Martinez is doing with these books delights me, and this second book in the series was no disappointment…. This is a fantastic book and I can’t wait for the next installment.

Of course, I’m working hard on that next installment, The Venusian Gambit, due out next March, which is why I haven’t blogged much of late. That will probably change in the coming weeks as I wrap up Gambit and do a bit of traveling. In addition to Colorado, I’m spending a few days the following week in Idaho, and visiting San Francisco later in July. (There’s a signing at Borderlands Books, too!)

Many thanks to Caleb for the kind words, and to Boulder Book Store for hosting Sara and I.

#SFWApro

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Filed under Books, Publishing, Writing

June 12, 2014 · 5:00 pm

Staying the course as a writer

It was two years ago today that I got The Call from my agent, telling me that Night Shade Books wanted to publish The Daedalus Incident. I remember not because I’m an inveterate calendar tracker, but because it just so happened to be my 40th birthday. Yes, Sara Megibow got me a book deal for my 40th. (That totally awesome remote-control Jawa sandcrawler I got when I turned eight? A distant second now.)

I mention this because there was a recent op-ed in The New York Times on the propensity of authors — would-be and established — to write about their publishing travails, and how they’ve pledged to keep at it, no matter the disappointment. There may indeed be some benefit to hearing others’ success stories, especially when dogged persistence overcomes strings of rejection and disappointment. So here’s my story; maybe it’ll be helpful, maybe not.

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Filed under Books, Publishing, Writing

June 10, 2014 · 6:00 pm

Mike Underwood’s Shield and Crocus is out today!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming about my books and writing to talk about…someone else’s books and writing.

Today marks the launch of Michael R. Underwood’s Shield and Crocus, a very epic, very awesome urban fantasy from the folks at 47North. Mike asked me to read it months ago, and I was proud to offer this blurb (now featured on the book’s Amazon page):

“Blindingly creative, Shield and Crocus delivers action-packed, four-color fantasy with a lot of heart.” — Michael J. Martinez, author of The Daedalus Incident

And if you need more convincing, even after such a hearty endorsement, here’s the gist of the story:

In a city built among the bones of a fallen giant, a small group of heroes looks to reclaim their home from the five criminal tyrants who control it.

And if that doesn’t convince you, the good people at Tor.com have this excerpt for you. I’m telling you, this book has everything. It’s a total blast to read. So I offer many congratulations to Mike, and exhort you, the reader — yes, you — to get on out there and pick up a copy.

That’s right. I exhorted.

#SFWApro

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Filed under Books, Publishing, Writing

June 4, 2014 · 6:00 pm

Thank you, readers!

It’s been nearly a month since the release of The Enceladus Crisis and, as of this writing, both Enceladus and The Daedalus Incident remain in the top 100 on Amazon’s Historical Fantasy Kindle charts. That’s pretty amazing, especially given that both books come from a small (but scrappy!) publisher.

I’ve heard from a lot of fans and readers over the past month, and they’ve welcomed the second installment in the Daedalus series with open arms. That really means a lot, and it’s fueling my writing as I head to the finish line with the third book, The Venusian Gambit.

In addition, a lot of you good folks have taken the time to write reviews on vendor websites, Goodreads and on your own blogs. There was a new review this week on Infinitefreetime.com, blogging home of writer and teacher Luther M. Siler. He thought The Daedalus Incident was OK, but had this to say about the sequel:

It is awesome. It is action-packed and exciting and creative and fresh and original (no, seriously, space galleons powered by alchemy) and unlike the first one he’s clearly got a contract for another book now so it ends by nicely setting up the next book without feeling like it was written as the middle book of a trilogy.

That was very cool to see. So thanks, Luther. And thanks to all of you who’ve given my writing a shot. It means a lot!

Now that Enceladus is out in the wild, things are calming down a bit, and I’m back to focusing on Gambit. I’m enjoying how everything is coming together, but it’s a little bittersweet, too. I’m going to miss these characters and this world when I’m done. But for one, there’s one last adventure left to them, and I think it’s going to be a good one.

#SFWApro

A great new Enceladus review, and good times at BEA

I wanted to talk a bit about my experience at Book Expo America over the past few days, but before I do that, I’m quite happy to link up to a great review of The Enceladus Crisis by Abhinav Jain, a.k.a. Shadowhawk. He reviewed The Daedalus Incident for The Founding Fields (read it here), and had this to say about the sequel:

Everything that was great about The Daedalus Incident makes a comeback in this novel and it is all better than before…. I wanted a rock-solid story and I got it. I wanted some awesome characters, whether heroes or villains and I got that. I wanted to see an exploration of both the realities and their particular quirks that have developed and I got that. … Michael has clearly improved his craft going from his debut to his first sequel, and it is a change that I approve of wholeheartedly, both as a reader and a blogger.

You can read the whole review here at Shadowhawk’s Shade. Many thanks to Abhinav for the very kind words.

I also got a lot of kind words at Book Expo America.

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Filed under Beer, Books, Events, Geek, Publishing, Writing

May 26, 2014 · 11:50 am

I’m on the Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing podcast – and there’s a giveaway!

I had a most excellent conversation with host Timothy C. Ward on the Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing podcast, which is now live and available for your listening pleasure. We talked about the er…adventurous route the Daedalus series took to publication, along with a goodly amount of stuff about how The Enceladus Crisis was written. Tim is a great, thoughtful host, by the way. You should totally check it out, either by clicking here or downloading it to whatever digital listening device you employ.

But hey, if a high-quality podcast about SF/F and publishing isn’t enough of a draw, there’s a giveaway! Subscribe to the AISFP newsletter by 11:59 p.m. CDT on June 2, and you’ll be entered to win copies of my two books, or a copy of fellow Night Shade author Robin Riopelle‘s Deadroads. Really, you can’t go wrong with either choice. So click here to sign up and enter to win.

In other news, today should be the last day the ebook edition of The Enceladus Crisis is on sale for $1.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. Of course, I still think it’s a good value at $9.99. But who doesn’t like saving money? So hurry it up if you want to get it cheap, y’all.

Finally, I wanted to point out this bit about book promotion in The New York Times book section today. If you scroll through this blog, you’ll of course quickly see that I very much find book promotion valuable. I know some authors really dislike having to do interviews and guest posts and readings and whatnot. But my feeling is…what’s the point of writing a book if nobody knows it’s out there? So off I go in promoting, and all I can hope for is that you, dear readers, find it entertaining and insightful.

#SFWApro