It's finally happening. My first book!
BODIES
OK, I did an audiobook once - but that was years ago, and I did it (mostly) for a friend of mine. She was moving from one part of Australia to another, and wanted something to listen to on the plane.
If you've been playing along on the home version, you know what life has been like for me the past few years. 2021 = 2 strokes. Lost my job, income, had to relearn how to play guitar, etc.
Blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah. Life is rarely how we expect it.
Years back, I was inspired by the words of a Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz-Sommer. A hundred and some years old, and ridiculously positive. Still played piano every day. After all of the evil shit life had thrown at her, she managed to get out of bed every day and not be mean. Her philosophy was simple.
Everything is a gift.
While a lot of life is unpleasant, that doesn't mean we can't learn something from it and come out better for it. At least that's what I learned.
Sure, I could've spent the past five years pissing and moaning. But for what? The more I thought about it, being bitter made no sense.
Can I play guitar, bass, ukulele, keyboards, etc. with the skill I did before? No. Would I like to? Sure. Is that going to happen? Who knows. But - I've done a lot of work on my playing. There's been real improvement. I'm being threatened with some recording later this year. Ain't all that bad.
But the book...what's up with that?
Glad you asked! About eighteen months ago I started work on a novel. The idea for it had been brewing in the ol' gray matter for over twenty years. I've always been a writer. I was first published at age fifteen. Made a whopping $50 or so. Writing, at least for me, has almost never been about money. Sure, I've had paying gigs, but I've had more non-paying writing gigs.
Writers enjoy writing. That's why we do it. I could go into my writing career but pffft...why? You're here. You know I have a blog. You might have even read some of my work on here.
Back to the novel. I finished it a few months back. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. It's too good of a story to waste it. A funny thing happened along the way - I kept writing other stuff too!
As a songwriter, I often write multiple songs at a time. This is no different. While working on the aforementioned novel, I started on a couple others. Short stories (a personal fave) starting flying out. Could be why I like them. I just take a seemingly mundane idea and twist the hell out of it.
And now there's a book. A collection of eighteen short stories. They're a bit dark in spots, especially the humor. The cover a fair bit of ground. I know some are asking this question:
Q: WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
A: It's not about any one thing. It's a collection of stories - stories about ordinary people encountering the moment when something changes - quietly, unexpectedly, and sometimes permanently. These stories bounce around between realism, dark comedy, and unsettling fiction without ever losing sight of the human beings at the center of them. You just might recognize character traits. I try to pay attention to those.
I wouldn't come out and call these horror. These stories don’t rely on monsters hiding under the bed. The unsettling part is realizing the bed, the house, the town, the relationship, or even your own body may already be changing. Hell, it could well be the family pet or the spider in the basement.
I think I'm a good storyteller. A raconteur if we're being fancy.
What BODIES is, is a good collection of stories I think most people will enjoy. I stuck with the short story format for a simple reason. An old friend of mine used to enjoy reading, but the only time he ever really got the chance was in the bathroom! So, I aimed for the grossly underserved bathroom reader market! I hope I hit the mark! (disclaimer: you CAN read BODIES in other places, not just the bathroom)
OK, the next question: WHEN IS COMING OUT?
Soon. I'm dealing with formatting headaches, legal mumbo jumbo, etc. I hope to have a test print within a week. Once I'm happy with it, I'll definitely let y'all know!
And lastly, the big question: WHERE CAN YOU BUY IT?
I've done a lot of thinking on this. As most of you know, I'm an opinionated SOB. I don't like waste. I also don't trust the digital world in a lot of ways. I've had my fingers burned too many times on that particular pie.
I'll be publishing through Barnes & Noble (to start with). Easiest route for me, for right now. I'm torn on e-books. I know some folks like them, but to me - that's just not reading a book. That's just looking at a screen (like you're doing now)...and really, we all do too much of that. If the demand is there for an e-book, I'll cross that particular bridge then.
There IS a drawback to B&N. They tend to only ship in the US. I'm looking into alternatives to cover that particular issue.
AMAZON? I'll have to deal with them at some point. I don't relish Bezos making a dime off of me, especially as he still owes me money for music downloads. See, that's the BIGGEST problem with "e" formats. No physical inventory. No hardcopy accountability. A lot of trust is asked, with zero guarantee. Like I said, opinionated SOB.
LIBRARIES? I'm working on that. I'm setting up my own publishing imprint and will be dancing that legal jig in the coming weeks and months. I've already heard from librarians in a few different locales that want my work on their shelves. Personally, I love libraries! I would be thrilled to know that someone, somewhere, sees my work in the library, picks it up, reads it, enjoys it, and tells their friends about it. To me, that's the best compliment my writing will every receive. (and no, I don't write for compliments - but they are nice)
Last but definitely not least, I want to throw some THANK YOUs out there! I was personally inspired by some friends of mine. Two I've known for years, and one for a much shorter time. Allow me to promote their work here:
Sid Baker (aka S.A. Baker, 'Sidney' to me) is a fellow musician and author, and I have always dug his writing style. Click this LINK and check it out for your own bad self!
Beth Kopras (aka Elizabeth Kopras, "Kope" to me) - I've know her since we were puppies! She's a frighteningly intelligent woman (and yes, she probably knows more about everything than most). Writing is her 'hobby' (because apparently one can only partake in so many sword fights in a given year). You can check her out HERE.
Yonka Parvanova is a writer, poet, and educator (Assoc. Professor at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria!). We became acquainted via her award-winning story DAICHOVOTO. It really moved me! So much, in fact, that I asked her if I could translate it to English and record it as a spoken piece (which she kindly permitted). You can hear it HERE.
And of course, my wife, Marina. She's been putting up with me for EIGHTEEN YEARS! And now this! She really must love me. I'd be lost without her.
Big THANKS to them, and to YOU for stopping by and reading whatever weird stuff I post on here. I hope you find BODIES worth the read!
Stick around. There's always something brewing here at METCO Labs. I'll keep yinz updated on BODIES, as well as other works coming down the pike.
Until next time, Thank You for stopping by! - MM
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