Hey! What grabs your attention?
There are certain qualities that seem to draw people more or less to an idea. Whether it’s a color, a taste, a sound, or some other sensation, the commonality between them all is a distinct lack in clear descriptions.
Some may eventually find a way to put those thoughts into words, but I believe those lucky few are hiding a longer process.
That is to say, we first have an instinctive and reflexive response that is only later reasoned and negotiated with. All explanations for les goûts et les couleurs are destined to be at least a little fallacious in their post hoc ergo propter hoc way of defining themselves.
Words so twisted they match the nature of the thick tome that is Maneus. And a sentiment that’s been on my mind ever since I spoke about my books live on TikTok last week.
Impromptu Interview
I had the good fortune of being invited by Shae Smith and Clint Baker to join them for an hour long talk alongside co-guest Ted Kostis.
The only real hurdle was fighting with time itself.
Based in the USA, Clint and Shae run the show during their evening.
Woe is the round world, that’s my late night!
My tired eyes and lack of sleep notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed being on the show. And lucky for everyone, Ted recorded it all so you can catch the conversations if you so desire.
I find it funny how obvious it is I’m trying to keep my voice low. I didn’t want to wake the neighbors!
While I expected to talk about Significatorius and the process behind writing that book, I was surprised to instead hear so much interest about and around Maneus.
It is true that my homage to ancient epics has a mysterious air around it, but I always fear that’s more of a negative than a positive. I don’t shy away from it meeting my expectations, I simply worry others may not enjoy the flavor of the meal I cooked up.
All in all, I enjoyed sharing my thoughts about the chaos in the corner store and a bit of the history behind the strange setting.
Remember Stacktember
Last week also marked the end of
’s Stacktember challenge. It was a lot of fun to put together a short story over the course of the month and I’m very proud to have won both the Reader’s Choice Award and the Craft Award:
I decided to put the entire Permafrost series on its own separate page to facilitate future reading. While it was certainly fun to see the narrative develop in real time, I can imagine it’s somewhat annoying to click through 4 different posts to see the whole thing now.
The only addition is a tiny intro, and I only added it because it looked a little awkward to jump right into the text having the main title transition into yet another subtitle.
Otherwise it’s completely unchanged. Copypasted without review — at least for the moment!
Permafrost
Dr. Lathis Ergon and Dr. Cristalla Ktisis were sentenced to freedom in the far north. Their research into alternative fuel sources bore fruit in the sense that methane clathrate and its theoretical discovery could solve the current crisis.
I have no plans to expand the story, but it’s a nice tall tale to include in Nightly Noise.
Raving Reviews
The last thing I want to mention is a reminder to anyone and everyone who has read Significatorius since it came out.
Reviews and ratings are the lifeblood of an indie author bound to the Amazon algorithm. If you feel so generous, I would greatly appreciate a few words sharing your thoughts.
Otherwise, I’m keeping it short this week.
Until next time,
JMB