Interviewed at Gotham Writer's Workshop

Thanks to Jenn Brissett for this interview over at the Gotham Writer's Workshop Website!

There's just a few questions, but they are good ones, and a highlight of one of my answers lies herein:

If you treat writing like a job, and think of it like one, this will also help tremendously. If you told your boss, at work, that you were feeling blocked and could not complete your tasks, they would not take you very seriously. When viewed as a profession, and a job, feeling blocked is resolved by allowing oneself to do a less-than-stellar job today, and to give oneself permission to suck, sometimes. Everyone has bad days at work, right?

One of the things I like to say is that some days writing comes so easily, like drinking cool water for hours -- like being a gargoyle in a rainstorm and the water just seems to pour out of your mouth. Other days, it is like having a tooth wedged in your head of what you know is supposed to be on the page, and writing is a pair of pliers that pulls and pulls at that stuck tooth. Everyone has good days and bad days at work. Some days are water. Some days are teeth. That's okay. That's supposed to happen.

What is never supposed to happen is giving up on your job.

What question was that for? What are the other questions and answers? What is the Gotham Writer's Workshop? All these and more can be found at:

http://www.writingclasses.com/WritersResources/AuthorAdviceDetail.php/author_id/192627

I think it is very, very important to point out the wealth of good interviews they have on that site, including Jeffrey Ford, Jeff VanderMeer, R.L. Stine, Jodi Picoult, Aimee Bender, and more. A real diverse line of writers answering useful questions for writers. What a great resource!

Coming Soon...

Nirvana Gates is the second novella set in the Fathomless Abyss...

http://www.amazon.com/Tales-From-Fathomless-Abyss-ebook/dp/B006IU9A7A

It's about a young woman who keeps chickens and sells eggs with her family, oddly enough, though the cover should be an indication that things get a little more complicated!

Art by the very talented Mats Minnhagen!

Paradise

From the arroyo side behind my sister's house, I climbed a ladder to cull the tops of the boxwood hedges that were out of reach from her yard. Two different worlds pushed against the bent, old backyard fence. On the one side, the backyard, lush with rose bushes, foreign plants like vining jasmine, an empress tree from China, and peaches, begonias, grass and grass and scrub grass and clover and grass... The dog rules the yard, pushing a soccer ball into the corners of everything, pushing out of the corners. This is a paradise. The neighbor has palm trees that shade the yard, as tall as clocktowers. On the Arroyo side, there's burrs, stinging weeds, hard-edged sunflowers and more burrs. The mosquitoes thrive. The biting flies and ants clamber all over me. I'm climbing up to get to the boxwoods from the other side of the fence.

From the arroyo, on the step-ladder, I can see the whole neighborhood, green behind their fences with grass, trees, beautiful decks and patio furniture. On my side, the arroyo side, there's graffiti along a fence. A wild animal painted it in the night, marking the line between what is and is not.

Weeds are sneaking into the fence line. On second look, it isn't grass. It's green, but it isn't grass. It's only weeds that look like grass, and some of them are getting bigger. Some of them are climbing up the sides of the house, and pushing through the slats of the fence and biting into the ground. They're sneaking in. They're taking what they can from the brown patches.

If we left this house alone for fourteen years, if this neighborhood walked out and down into the dry creek, and down to where the water pools into a small pond wrapped in brown, tall grass and dragonflies and small toads and snakes and the long, lingering, cautious look from the coyotes that live out there...

All paradises push. I'm ripping the weeds up. I'm pulling away invasive ivies. I'm back there, clipping the boxwoods.

These mountains we make that line the street valleys, these mountains we light up with Christmas lights, street lights, and headlights, rolling over the ground like slow magma, push back.

We flew home on an airplane. The ground is always leveled along the airports. The ground is kept clear and close-cropped. So much ground leveled into a desert around the palacial terminals. I leaned back and imagined riding a canoe down the arroyo, down to the river, down to the ocean, out to sea.

I imagine heaven is a place where the suburban sprawl is immense. All paradises must push. New people coming in from all over, and there's got to be more room.

There's new houses coming up. There's always new houses coming up. There's new stripmalls all over.

Paradise is a push.

Excitement, Adventure, Writing and Announcements

Hard at work or hardly working? Well, when you're inventing for a living it's definitely hard work. I am currently editing like mad, my own work and someone else's, and it is an exciting adventure story and a gruesome YA steampunk-ish thing and also I'll be pulling out the third Dogsland book, dusting it off, and looking to polish everything, everything, everything for your humble peepers, fair reader.

WAR BEETLES is out, at last. http://www.grumpsjournal.com/index.html

War beetles left wreckage like hurricanes across the plains. The battle still raged on at some far distant place over the horizon. Along the ground, in their wake, acid pooled. Smoke from the fires of war left a gunpowder stink hanging in the air, and all the fresh meat of the dead made it smell worse.

Meridian Smith, a survivor of the battle, walked cautiously over the devastation with a girl he had found in a village. He had solid boots that rode high up his legs, near to his hips, and a long duster jacket. Meridian had lost his helmet in the fight. His forehead and ears were deep red, now. He didn't think about the sunburn, though. He was too busy watching out for the ground, and for the little girl that held his hand. He had to lead her carefully, because the earth was full of holes and sinkholes and smashed bushes and the remains of animals.

Desdemona was her name, she had said. She walked beside Meridian, clinging to his hands. She wasn't brave enough to walk by herself. She was too small to traverse the fields without his strong arm lifting her over the worst of the destruction. Her shoes were not built for long travel. Meridian was surprised she hadn't complained about her feet, yet.

Announcement of something cool: StorySouth's Million Writers Award just selected ARACHNE from a prior issue of that very magazine as has just published WAR BEETLES, as a notable story of 2011!

http://www.storysouth.com/millionwriters/millionwritersnotable_2011.html

As you all know, ARACHNE came out last year in the first issue of the Journal of Unlikely Entomology, and is a part of the interconnected collection, WOMEN AND MONSTERS, available here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/89167, here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/women-and-monsters-j-m-mcdermott/1105651888, here: http://www.amazon.com/Women-and-Monsters-ebook/dp/B007R3NL3G and elsewhere!

At the moment, I am editing something that is set in this shared world, and I highly recommend checking it out, if you can!

So, this post was begun to announce good news, and has devolved into shameless self-promotion of a particularly intense variety. I mean, how many times can I say "BUY MY STUFF!" in one blog post, right?

So... You know... Buy my stuff, please?

And... Done!

That's it, folks!  One week of free eBooks is over!

I'm going to check the timestamp on the folks who e-mailed me, and see if it was before midnight, or after, when they e-mailed me. And, there are no more free eBooks available.

Fortunately for you, the titles are still available for sale, and at numerous libraries across America! You could pick up an inexpensive used copy, a new copy straight from Amazon, or even a free copy from your local library!

And, if you enjoyed the free eBook, please do consider picking up one of my other works, and please do consider telling others about the work.

Thanks,

Me.

Other Works Available

Howdy all,

I'm very pleased with the giveaway going on for a couple more days. But, one recurring theme has been surprise by folks who didn't realize I had another thing out and for sale. Another recurring theme has been folks looking for an opportunity to "tip" me, which is great, but doesn't reward my publishing partners who are a huge part of my success.

So, I thought I would take a moment to mention some of the things that I have out right now.

Beyond Dogsland, there is the audiobook of LAST DRAGON: http://iambik.com/books/last-dragon-by-jm-mcdermott/

For fans of LAST DRAGON, I think you will be very pleased by the short story collection, out from my own little micro-press (more projects are forthcoming not by me, but we are in such early stages it is not time to announce or even hint at anything...) Bad Ducky Industries. WOMEN AND MONSTERS reimagines Greek mythology in a modern, surrealist mode, and looks for the hidden corners of these stories. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/women-and-monsters-j-m-mcdermott/1033667146

DEATH MASK AND EULOGY, a novelette, is available in just about every format I can think of, http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/58545 and lots of people like that little piece. You might like it, too.

I have been working very hard in this shared world, TALES OF THE FATHOMLESS ABYSS, and I am very excited to see this project continue! There's lots happening behind the scenes, and it all starts with this collection, edited by Phil Athans: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-From-Fathomless-Abyss-ebook/dp/B006IU9A7A

Of course, both LAST DRAGON and DISINTEGRATION VISIONS are available from Apex Books! http://www.apexbookcompany.com/ And it is the rare case that it is best to purchase directly from their website, though the books are available at most major retailers, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Finally, in the forthcoming issue of JOURNAL OF UNLIKELY ENTOMOLOGY, expect to see my short story WAR BEETLES!

State of the career is pretty good, but if you want to pick up stuff, and support my career, here are some great options. Tipping is always appreciated, at sankgreall(gmail)com, but it isn't as appreciated as helping along the publishing partners that make my career possible. During a major transition at Nightshade, some things are running way behind, and I don't need to tell you that the best way to speed things up is to make noise with reviews, make some purchases with some dollars, and just generally being an advocate for ethical treatment of authors and creators in all things and ways.

Also, one could tell one's friends that free eBooks are available until the week started with my prior blog post comes to a close. That would be helpful! (And thanks to those, like www.sfsignal.com, that spread the word!)

Free eBooks of the first two novels of the Dogsland Trilogy

Just what the title says. Anyone who doesn't already have one can drop me a line and receive one or both.

drop me a line at sankgreall(a)gmail(dot)com

Offer good until next Friday.

Light Blogging, Heavy Reading

So, I haven't been blogging quite regular-like, except for the occasional announcement, and it is probably time for one of those "Why haven't I been blogging" posts that seem to prop up from time to time.

Well, I'm busy. Very busy.

Between my imminent wedding, trying to locate better housing, and my attempts to write, read, etc. I have been preoccupied with things-not-blogging.

But, I would like to take a moment to mention a few books I've read recently that I thought were the Bees' Knees.

Ralph Ellison is a hard writer to ignore, and his subject matter is the sort of stuff that takes on new resonance considering recent news from standing-ground in Florida. I particularly enjoyed the Bingo story. Standing on the cusp, like that, is something that I get, and I thought it was a well-done story of hope in an otherwise bleak, hard world.

"The Last Worders" is one of my favorite short stories, and I loved this collection. Much of it is not easy reading, in that it will involve a lot of pain and misery and human suffering ('The Pelican Bar' left me queasy, right from the get-go) but the material here is strong and powerful and Small Beer Press knows how to pick 'em.

This is an explode-y book, for people that like their serious environmental content wrapped in action and adventure. I found it hard to take the book too seriously, honestly, even when it wanted me to do it, but that's not a bad thing. It was a light, fast, fun thing that could be a fine diversion on a rainy afternoon.

My second Philip Roth novel, and an enjoyable one, though I have yet to see what the big deal about Philip Roth is, when his work, to me, with the two things I've read, is very good, but not mindblowing. In this case, the alternate history of America if Charles Lindbergh, an anti-Semite, became President just before World War II, and prevented the USA from going to war. Instead, we ally with Nazi Germany. It feels hard to believe considering the weight of literature that obsesses and mythologizes and extols upon that difficult time in the world, but it wasn't so hard to believe, really, once it got going. It wasn't such a stretch to think folks who would place Japanese-Americans in interment camps might also place Jewish-Americans into them, or strive to do so. It is an interesting thought experiment, and solid, well-researched work of alternate history. Regardless, I enjoyed it enough to recommend it, here.

Anyway, that's recent things I've been reading in between all the hectic things in my life, at the moment. (I've read a few other things, but I didn't like them enough to plug them, here.)

Anyone read anything good, lately?

Last Dragon Now in Audio!

Iambik has released, at last, the Audio version of LAST DRAGON for your listening pleasure, narrated by Cori Samuels.

Here is a link to the spot in the catalog where one could, if one were so inclined, pick up the audio edition of LAST DRAGON!

http://iambik.com/books/last-dragon-by-jm-mcdermott/

This is my first audio book, and I am much very pleased about this. Please, feel free to spread the word!

Where do the artists and authors come from? Does anyone keep track of these things?

So, when I was an adult, I learned that I went to the same high school as amazing dark fantasy author Carol Berg, which would have really blown my mind when I was actually in high school. You see, it felt like Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth, TX, was - for all the many good things about the school - a place where soldiers, lawyers, and medical professionals came from, not artists or authors or creative thinkers. The curriculum was religion combined with college preparation. The creativity that happened there, at the time, felt like something for a college application, not something that people did or taught because they were truly passionate about their field.

Naturally, I was completely wrongheaded. In fact, one of my classmates is listed on IMDB as a Shakespearian actor who studied in London. One of my Odyssey of the Mind team members, last I heard, builds sets for plays and operas in St. Louis. There was at least two other authors present when I walked those halls beside me while I was there, and a few folks who dropped their life and fled to New York and LA to work in Television and Film, who are still working in those fields. One of my classmates (who I do not even recognize or remember though he did graduate in my year) just opened a movie theatre/fine dining establishment in New York. Like many high school kids who thought he was living in a suburban wasteland, I was completely and totally wrong.

College, as well, I thought I was the lone speculative fiction writer in a sea of passionate New Yorker-wannabes. Naturally, I was also wrong. Every day that passes, I learn more and more about the people I went to school with. At World Fantasy Con, in Saratoga Springs, I met someone whom I actually went to class with who was trying to start her career in Fantasy Fiction, and we exchanged memories of Dr. Pipkin, with his sonorous voice and passionate love affair with the poetry of Wordsworth and Coleridge.

Basically, I was wrong every time I ever started to believe this.

Where do the artists and poets and creative types come from? Look around you. See if you can figure it out. I bet you'd be surprised who it is.

Let me tell you something very important: We creative types are everywhere.

I was at Ace Hardware yesterday buying twine, and the gentlemen who showed me where the twine was located, when he finished helping me, went back to his conversation while stocking shelves. He was talking about Renaissance Fairs, and the costumes he likes to wear when he attends - the roles he likes to play. I smiled to myself, because it made me think that he was probably an awesome guy, who went home at night and did interesting things with interesting people if anyone bothered to ask him about it. He makes his own costumes. He researches the past and recreates it. When he's done stocking the shelves at Ace Hardware, he studies history and incorporates what he learns into his own life and costumes.

Awesome people are everywhere.

Feel surrounded? Feel like you're in a wasteland? I know some of you do. Some of you live in the suburbs of Southern Cities where politicians must talk about Jesus and the Creation of Earth some 4000 years ago just to get elected to public office. Places where people beat you up for being different. Places where ironic cool folks look down their nose at you for not listening to the right bands, or attending the right church, or voting the right way.

Take heart. When I was in the middle of nowhere, driving half an hour to go to a private, parochial school that built itself around the myth that college was meant for everyone present, I was surrounded by creative types who probably felt the same way I did. Too bad we rarely seemed to find each other. Now I know that I need to look a little harder whenever I feel that. Because cool people really are everywhere.

Regarding the future of publishing...

I don't know what the future will hold for the business of books.

I do know that people are reading more than ever before, and that the people who do very well in this present of books seem to be busier writing than blogging.

As am I, at the moment.

While I'm away, please feel free to visit your preferred bookstore website, or book club, and offer up a review of one of my titles.

For instance, there is yet to be a real review of DISINTEGRATION VISIONS, my latest short story collection from Apex Books, and I would appreciate one.

Did you pre-order DISINTEGRATION VISIONS?

Don't worry! They arrived last night, and they'll be signed, personalized, and in the post today!

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered!

blue jay versus owl

I was helping Angela in her mother's garden this evening. It was about five o'clock and still bright light out. We were moving tomato seedlings. (I should say, Angela was moving them and I was watering them. I have a minor back injury, at the moment, and my movement ability is erratic.) Out in the center of the yard, a huge brown owl swooped down into the pine needles from the woods behind the yard. The owl looked up, suddenly, at us. It darted back into the trees.

The owl watched over us, while we were working in the yard to fertilize strawberries and preparing the beds for planting. I took pictures of the owl on my electronic devices. Our observor felt like such a good omen. This bird watching over us was ready to go after the squirrels that have been such a bane, and any rabbits that have also plagued the garden. The wise owl, scanning the world, comes back to stare down at us like a sentinel.

The blue jays were furious. It was still light enough that the owl was sluggish and not seeing so well. They darted around it, cawing their heads off. Then, they took turns swooping up behind the owl, on a higher branch, cawing and cawing. One cawed in front to distract the owl. Then, the one behind swooped down and popped the owl upside the head as hard as they could. The owl seemed more annoyed by the cawing then the pops in the head. The blue jays kept at it, trying to pop that owl hard enough to get rid of it. The blue jays worked in tandem. Then, one got spooked and gave up and the other kept at it alone.

The owl remained. The owl was patient and unconcerned.

The owl waits for darkness, looking over the garden. I took a video on my iPod, and if it comes out, I will post it.

Spring is here. When we opened the back door, the earwigs were swarming there. We poured borax down to drive the bugs away. We smashed them dead into the borax. We swept their bodies into the grass.

This morning I was working on the steampunk novel, and it is close. I have turned in the novella for the Fathomless Abyss and await editorial notes. Dogsland continues. Disintegration Visions continues.

The engines of creation are still burning a little longer.

Spring is here. I am writing.

Wherein People Post Reviews

So there's been more than a few reviews coming over the transom, for the novels NEVER KNEW ANOTHER and WHEN WE WERE EXECUTIONERS. I'm going to just link to two reviews for WHEN WE WERE EXECUTIONERS, for those that are curious.

Jesse Bullington writes in Strange Horizons, praising the second book of the trilogy, while providing a pretty spoiler-heavy take on Dogsland, so be forewarned if you haven't read the first novel of the series.

What made Never Knew Another such a remarkable read was how unexpected and fresh a read it was. With that in mind, I should have suspected that When We Were Executioners would go in a very different direction from what I might have anticipated. Down to the page count, it's exactly the same length as its predecessor, but it's so rich in detail that it feels twice as long. Yet for all its differences, the parallels McDermott weaves between the two are among the most satisfying elements, as demonstrated by how he winds down toward his finale:

There is another demon skull to claim, an old one more terrifying than any living. We will no longer be executioners chasing after a prize. We will be the fire that purifies this city for a thousand years. Let the rain come and cool the ash from our flame. We were supposed to be executioners. We were supposed to be hunters and killers of abominations. (p. 231)

The question of how McDermott will concludes the trilogy is less sure than ever now, save the certainty that it will be interesting.

So, that's kind of awesome. link to the full review: http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2012/03/when_we_were_ex.shtml

Also, Barnes and Noble recently ran a feature on WHEN WE WERE EXECUTIONERS, as well, following up on their glowing review of the first title in the series. Paul Goat Allen writes his review at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog, entitled "Just Another Skull in the Wall"

There are so many remarkable elements to this saga – first and foremost is McDermott’s uncanny ability to thoroughly immerse the reader in the brutal, filthy, and dangerous city of Dogsland. His writing style is incredibly vivid, rich in imagery, and has an undeniable lyricism to it. 

Want to read more of the less-spoiler-y review? http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Explorations-The-BN-SciFi-and/Just-Another-Skull-in-the-Wall-J-M-McDermott-s-Dogsland-Trilogy/ba-p/1285923

So, thanks to all the reviewers out there! There's two things you can do to make the third book happen. First, you can purchase copies of the books in the trilogy. Second, you can tell your friends about the book, for instance, by writing reviews. Word of mouth helps!

Thanks, Jesse and Paul and everyone who have written reviews!