Michael J. Martinez

Tag: Geeky Giving

Where’d you come up with that?
Every story has a beginning — or at least, that’s what Hollywood tells us when they launch the umpteenth superhero reboot. Those aren’t really beginnings, though. They’re rethinkings, sometimes without much thought. The actual beginning of a story is that little flash of inspiration, the mini-epiphany that hits you and you say, “Dude, I could totally write a story about that.”

I’ve gotten into the inspiration behind The Daedalus Incident and it’s sequels more than a few times around the Internet — you can find the story here and here if you’re so inclined. It’s funny, though, because I had basically stuck with that one story idea for almost a decade before it finally got written — and then when it did, I found all these other ideas came to the fore, as if my idea-brain suddenly became unstuck.

Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. The notion behind MJ-12: Inception is perhaps only a couple years old at the moment, and I can honestly say I don’t remember where it came from. I do remember emailing the incomparable Paul Weimer about it a few years ago, before The Enceladus Crisis came out, asking if there had been other Cold War superpowered spy thrillers out there. (I ask Paul these things because his knowledge of SF/F is truly impressive and comprehensive.) He pointed me to a couple titles, but there was nothing that really mirrored what I wanted to do.

And so here we are; the first MAJESTIC-12 thriller comes out in September.

(more…)
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March 11, 2016
Back from vacation with tidbits of news
I’m back from the wilds of the Adirondack Mountains and once again ensconced in the day-to-day. We had a great time, and I even managed some intermediate trails on Gore Mountain (I’m typically a green-circle skier, so this was a nice thing for me). Took a bit of a spill on an icy patch and pulled a muscle in my chest, which has made for less-than-optimal sleeping, but it’s healing up. On the bright side, I sampled many fine beers and hung out with my family and other lovely people. Overall, it was a win.

And now that I’m back, I wanted to point out a few things:

After a short delay, The Gravity of the Affair is now free on Amazon as well as Google Play, iTunes and Kobo. (Due to arcane policies, it remains 99 cents at Barnes & Noble.) We’re going to keep it free for a while as part of a ploy to get people to check out the Daedalus series in paperback. So if you haven’t read it yet, please to enjoy!

I’m very OK with Barnes & Noble of late, despite the whole not-free thing, because The Daedalus Incident is on its list of “Alternate Realities – Alternate History” best sellers. And in some seriously fine company, too.

And hey, speaking of The Daedalus Incident, it’s on track for a March 15 release in mass-market paperback! And it’ll have the first chapter of MJ-12: Inception tucked in the back. The Enceladus Crisis follows in May, and The Venusian Gambit arrives in July, and they’ll both have different MJ-12: Inception excerpts as well. Collect them all, as they say.

Operation: DAEDALUS is still a going concern, and I’m excited to see all the love out there. As a reminder, if you leave reviews for The Daedalus Incident and/or use your social media superpowers to talk up the impending release, you’re entered to win a signed copy of the paperback and a preview copy of MJ-12: Inception. The more you review/post, the greater the odds of winning.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be adding material to MJ-12.net for your enjoyment. As you may know, MAJESTIC-12 is the conspiracy theory surrounding the government’s involvement in capturing aliens and using their technology. My take in the MAJESTIC-12 spy-fi thrillers will be…very different. But pretty darn fun.

I also want to point out that Geeky Giving has released its first story bundle! You get four great short stories and novelettes for the low price of $5, which goes toward neurological research. I urge you to check it out and donate. My novelette, “Mind Flight,” is in the March bundle, so get ready for that, too.

Finally, I did a guest post over at kt literary, my literary agency, as part of its “Peace, Love, Books” series. In it, I talk about unexpected joys of having fans. Because, to my very great surprise and delight, I have some fans. And they’re all awesome.

And that’s it for now. I’m working on MJ-12: Inception edits and outlining MJ-12: Shadows, which coming out around autumn 2017. Next week, I go to Los Angeles for the day job and will likely have some killer ramen and excellent tacos. It’s good to keep busy, right?

#SFWApro
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February 22, 2016
A little 2016 preview
The new series comes out this year!

I think everyone should be well and truly recovered from the holidays and such, so I figured it was a good time to let you know what you can expect out of me in the coming year, words-wise. And it’s going to be pretty cool.

Obviously, the Big Thing™ will be the release of MJ-12: Inception in September. This is the very first volume in the MAJESTIC-12 series of fantastical Cold War spy thrillers, because that kind of genre-blending is how I roll.

Now, the conspiracy theory states that MAJESTIC-12 is a cabal of government honchos hiding proof of extraterrestrial life from the general populace in order to leverage alien technology on behalf of the United States military. I’m taking that historical theory and running with it, but in very, very different directions. So you’ll see a lot of action and adventure, some truly fantastical elements, a decent dollop of mystery and suspense, and a couple of big question marks in MJ-12: Inception that’ll hopefully have you coming back for more.

So that’s out in September in hardcover. Where do things stand with it now? (more…)
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January 11, 2016
Interview with Geeky Giving about…geeky giving. Duh.
A quick note: I’ve been interviewed by Geeky Giving about why I’m helping out with their fundraiser for the Barrow Neurological Institute. The short answer is, of course, that they asked. To read the longer one, and the rest of the interview, click here.

The Geeky Giving team is also doing its first giveaway next week, so be sure to check their site for all the cool details. As for my still-untitled story, it’s coming along nicely. We’re talking neurologically-linked computer systems, aerial combat, nanotechnology and possibly aliens. Because aliens, dammit. I’m super excited for it.

All the Geeky Giving short stories will be available early next year in bundled monthly installments, written by a spectacular group of writers. Well worth your donations, you guys. Also, I’ve heard rumors — mere rumors, mind you — of happenings around Phoenix Comicon next spring. Barrow is in Arizona after all. It makes sense.

Check out Geeky Giving, and please consider donating. Tell your friends. Tell everyone. Let’s make this a fantastic fundraiser.

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November 19, 2015
Update on stuff and sundry things
I think I’ve exhausted myself of any and all Weighty Topics I care to address on the blog these days. (Note: There are many, many Weighty Topics to discuss in the world, generally speaking. What I choose to talk about here is an exceedingly thin slice of that.) So I figured I’d give you some updates on what’s going on with writing and such. The fun stuff.

First off, MJ-12: Inception remains with editor Cory Allyn in his Maine editing bunker. No word if there’s a moose involved. I haven’t received any emails with “WTF were you thinking” as the subject line, so I’m encouraged. The nice thing is, we’re still months away from release — building in some lag-time between The Venusian Gambit and MJ-12: Inception was a smart thing to do. Whatever I need to do, it won’t be a scramble to get it done. This is a good thing.

We’ve been doing some metadata and catalog stuff in the meantime, the kind of stuff you’ll see on Amazon pages, in publisher catalogs or on the back of ARCs. There’s also bits and pieces of business ponderings, and some neat opportunities to preview the first MAJESTIC-12 novel this spring, even beyond the planned build-out of MJ-12.net. More on that when it’s ready.

I’m also writing my short story for Geeky Giving, which is due in January but I’m hoping to finish by Christmas, if only to have the holidays off. Plus, Cory will emerge from the bunker any minute now with edits, and I wouldn’t mind having this story done before tackling the novel, lest I mix my neuroscience with my espionage.

And finally, there’s five days left on the Worldbuilders critique auction. Right now, that critique of 25,000 of your words is a steal. It won’t be cheap forever, since these things tend to ramp up at the end, but I imagine it’ll still be more reasonably priced than Pat Rothfuss’ critique, largely because I am not Pat Rothfuss. (However, I’m apparently pretty good at critiquing, if the kind words of past bidders are any indication.)

Remember, if you get priced out of the auction, you can still chip in $10 or more and be entered to win a critique by me, and others, as part of the WriMos for Worldbuilders lottery.

And that’s all I got. Family’s fine, day job is busy as usual leading up to the holidays. I clean the chicken coop on weekends and putter around with words when I can. It’s all good.

#SFWApro
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November 17, 2015
Some upcoming charity stuff I hope you’ll check out
This holiday season, think of the geeks in your life and donate!

There’s a lot of good things that happen when you become an author — you get to see your book in bookstores, you get lovely emails from fans, and of course there’s the advance and royalty checks. For me, the opportunity to leverage this whole author gig for charity ranks right up there, and I have a couple things coming up that I hope you’ll consider.

First off, I’ll be doing critiques as part of the Worldbuilders auctions, which should be coming up later this week or early next. This is my third year running with Worldbuilders, Patrick Rothfuss’ non-profit organization that benefits Heifer International. The deal with the critiques is that we put them up on eBay, you bid, and I read the auction winner’s writing and offer up ideas, suggestions and edits. This year, I’m doing two critiques, so if you miss the one, you could still have a shot at the other.

Then there’s Geeky Giving, a very cool effort to raise money for the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona so the researchers there can continue the fight against Parkinson’s, brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, ALS and traumatic brain injuries. Starting early next year, Geeky Giving is offering up $5 bundles of original short fiction each month for six months, and then putting out an anthology on top of that. I’m contributing an original short story to the effort, alongside such awesome scribes as Karina Cooper, Mary Robinette Kowal and Cat Rambo, among others.

My original story is untitled at the moment, but it’s well underway and is probably the hardest “hard science fiction” I’ve ever written. In the spirit of the Barrow folks, it’s focused on the brain, no less. And flying. There may be nanotech. I’m actually really excited about it, because it’s turning out to be one of the better things I’ve written. I really hope you’ll consider donating to read it. I mean, you’ve spent just as much on a latte. I’m much more entertaining than a latte. Right? RIGHT?

Oh, and in both cases, I’m hoping to offer up signed copies of the Daedalus trilogy for donors or bidders if the books get shipped out to me in time. In the case of Geeky Giving, there may very well be an ARC of MJ-12: Inception involved if schedules align. We’ll see.

There’ll be more details over the next several days/weeks/months, but I wanted to throw this out there now because the holidays are coming and money’s gonna get tight fast. (Speaking of, the Worldbuilders’ auctions invariably feature awesome geeky things you could give to your geeky loved ones this season. Just saying.) So if you can spare some of that holiday cash for the auctions and stories and whatnot, you’ll be helping a whole lot of people who need it, and that’s the kind of karma everyone could use.

Thanks, y’all.

#SFWApro
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November 10, 2015