MK Schultz's Blog

The Dream is True!It's been some time since my last blog post for The Dream is True, so here goes a new entry of 7 short topics. Enjoy!
1. My recent book event - Readers Take Cornwall. I recently took part in a book event, powerfully dominated by around fourteen Romance authors! There were also a few Fantasy, Mystery and Thriller authors there as well, along with a great group of Vendors.

...Enter MK Schultz - As the only author representing the horror and sci-fi genres, I had been pondering for quite some time about how this event would go. Would everyone avoid the table with the life-sized human skull and alien on display? Would I miss out on sharing my writing, making the 1 hr 45 min drive and 5 hour event a disappointment?
NO! NO! NO! Not only would this be the most successful event I'd been a part of, things much more epic than that would transpire. I got to meet and connect with some really cool authors. I met the event organizor who was such a gem. But then there were the readers.
Okay, this part was really cool for me. Three readers who are part of a book club visited my table to talk to me about their latest read. It was Hard Copy, by yours truely! What? I was bursting with joy in knowing that my art had resonated with them. Honest - they told me they really enjoyed Hard Copy! What? How cool is that? Well not as cool as when they all bought copies of The Muse for their next read and one of them even bought my first book, Kassius Kanex. I need a drink!

It didn't stop there! Two other readers came by my table, one of whom had read Hard Copy and wanted to read more of my work. She bought The Muse and also The Kassius Kanex Trilogy from me and her friend bought all five of my books. Now this almost brough me to tears and when I told them that, I was offered a hug of consolation which I accepted.
Many other readers came by my table and brought my total sales to 30 books. This tied my record, before a visiting author came by my table to buy Hard Copy. I even tried to talk her out of it. "Are you sure you want to read this? It's really violent and graphic!" I said. Thank you to all for making this day so epic for me in my journey.

2. My current read My current read is in the form of an audiobook. I enjoy audiobooks because they allow me to optimize my time while driving or doing chores around the house. Doctor Wolfstone's Clinic: Patients 1-6 is a horror series of six short stories written by indie author Joshua Scribner and narrated by Brad Holbrook. There's some pretty grusome stuff in there, and the author does an interesting job of interconnecting the stories.




3. Book Research My novel, Hard Copy is quirky. The main character unwinds from his stresses by watching Gilligan's Island, a show that is engrained in my mind from child hood, making it easy research for me. In the book, the two main characters act in a live action play of Gilligan's Island as part of an audience participation night at a small theatre. For this scene, I picked the brain of my narrator for The Muse, Mikhail Roberts. Mikhail and his wife are professional actors currently striving for their dreams in New York. Mikhail's feedback injected a lot of life into the extensive re-write of this scene during the editing phase. There's another scene where the main character, Ray goes to a sleep clinic and this too was easy research for me because of my personal experience at one. One cool easter egg, is that Kassius Kanex is actually in this book, giving fans of the Kassius Kanex series chills up and down their spines. Buckle up!


4. Recipe Jalapeno Poppers My wife and I grow jalapenos. Here's a great thing to do with them.-Slice jalapenos lenthwise.-Remove core.-Fill core with creme cheese.-Sprinkle with paprika.-Wrap with small strips of bacon and secure with toothpicks.-Bake in a oil-greased pan in the oven or on the bbq until the bacon is how you like it.



5. Film and TV The vast majority of stories that I have consumed in my life are from the medium of film and television. Here's a few recommendations:1. Superman - I was getting a little tire of superhero movies, and this won me over again after recently watching it in theatres with my wife, son and daughter. Super fun!2. The Righteous Gemstones - If you like to laugh at silly comedy, watch this series on Crave.3. Secrets of the Octopus - This is a cool documentary on Disney, narrated by Paul Rudd.4. Classics! - Watch Citizen Kane if you haven't seen it.5. Horror - The Shining, Incideous, The Excorcist and The Ring.
6. Huh? Bruce Campbell 
- Yes! - Watch The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness

6. My Current WIP! My current work in progress is a horror novel. Although it remains untitled, I can tell you that it will be thought-provoking, entertaining, and violent with some scenes that could be disturbing.
Blurb for MK Schultz's 6th Novel: In the early 1800s, eight-year-old Alfred Whitaker, an orphan haunted by an overwhelming fear of death, resides in a bleak orphanage. When his caregiver discovers this fear, he offers Alfred a mysterious solution—a life-altering trade that promises eternal existence, but at a grave cost. Transformed into something otherworldly, Alfred must navigate his new reality to survive. Nearly two centuries later, Alfred and his wife, Florence, roam as nomads, leaving a trail of darkness in the small towns they inhabit. As the sins of his past resurface, Alfred faces the consequences of his eternal choice, threatening the fragile life he’s built.
This novel is currently in the editing phase. Stay tuned for title, cover and release date, coming soon!


7. In ClosingAs my journey continues, I contantly remind myself by speaking the words aloud that sparked the beginning of my journey.
...The Dream is True!

I started writing my first novel in the summer of 2016. It was a difficult time in my life that gave birth to a new me. Three years later in 2019, I published my first book, Kassius Kanex. A lot happened in my life up to that point and a lot has happened since. As 2023 comes to a close, I would like to use this blog entry to reflect on three points. The Art, The Numbers and The Future.
1. The Art - 12 PiecesFirst up in this blog entry is a section I call, The Art. I searched for my art for 44 years until it miraculously all came together for me in a single day. That day was my personal epiphany. It was the day that I realized who I was - A writer and therefore an artist just like my father.
The list of my Art started with the introduction of "a seemingly simple man". For those who have read The Kassius Kanex Trilogy, you will know that he is far far more than that. The words began to flow and up to the year end of 2023, here's a list of my pieces of art.
1. Kassius Kanex, A Novel - Paperback2. Kassius Kanex, A Novel - Ebook3. Kassius Kanex, A Novel - Audiobook
Click to buy


4. The Fishing Trip - Kassius Kanex, Book 2 - Paperback5. The Fishing Trip - Kassius Kanex, Book 2 - Ebook6. The Fishing Trip - Kassius Kanex, Book 2 - Audiobook Click to buy

7. Equilibrium - Kassius Kanex, Book 3 - Paperback8. Equilibrium - Kassius Kanex, Book 3 - Ebook9. Equilibrium - Kassius Kanex, Book 3 - Audiobook       Click to buy

10. The Muse - Paperback11. The Muse - Ebook12. The Muse - Audiobook                  Click to buy
I think of the above as 12 pieces of art. I am grateful to all the people I have met along the way in my journey thus far who have helped me in so many different ways to get to where I am today. A massive thanks goes out to my friends, family, fans, local authors, voice actors, cover designers, publishers, proof readers, social media followers, and local book stores owners and staff. Thank you all!

2. The NumbersThe journey to my dream started late and although it has been a slow go, I am thrilled to announce that I sold more books in 2023 than I had in the previous four years combined. At the time of publishing this blog, almost 500 copies of my books have been sold to consumers of art in Canada, US, UK, France, India, and Australia. 
In 2022, I took part in over ten book events at local Ottawa Indigo book stores and had the great pleasure of seeing my books on many of their shelves. It was so thrilling to meet and talk face to face with people about my books. In 2023, I didn't end up doing any book events, but I did make some new connections with some smaller local book stores. Special thanks to In A Bind, located in Renfrew for stocking my full catalogue of books on their shelves. I look forward to getting back out to more book events in 2024. Stay tuned for updates on this.
As for online book reviews, there are currently over 50 on Goodreads.com and dozens more on Amazon in the various markets. I love reading all of the reviews, even the bad ones but I am thankful that most are quite positive and some are even amazing - like the one that compared my writing to early Stephen King. Wow!
2023 brought me another unexpected surprise. Not one, but two awards!Firstly, The Muse was awarded as the winner of The Author Shout Cover Wars Contest. Special thanks to Michelle Young for designing the stunning cover needed to claim this award. 











At the end of 2023, I also received word that The Muse also placed as a "Recommended Read" in the 2024 Author Shout Reader Ready Awards.










3. The FutureMy writing journey will continue in 2024 and I look forward to sharing new art with you all very soon. 
As such, I am thrilled to announce that I will be publishing a new novel in 2024. The title and the plot are under wraps, but let me leave you with this teaser...
If you enjoyed the adventure and sci-fi of The Kassius Kanex Trilogy and the horror of The Muse, then get ready for a new dramatic sci-fi/horror novel about a man who tries to cope when traumatizing events from his past return to face him head on. This novel with shock, thrill, horrify and have readers guessing until the end. More details to be released about this project in the new year! Stay tuned and buckle up!
Connect with me on social media for upcoming book releases, book events, free promotions, and sales or to chat, share ideas, collaborate, encourage and grow together.
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As I bid adieu to 2023, I will end this blog entry with my usual closing line, taken from the song Dream of Mirrors by Iron Maiden...
The Dream is True

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The Muse - Audiobook Production

Due to the incredible reception that my novel, The Muse has been receiving, I am thrilled to announce that the audiobook will be available sooner than later. 

Here's the scoop.

I am thrilled and super pumped to officially announce that the audiobook version of my horror novel, The Muse is currently in production. I knew it would be difficult to capture the voice and mood that I had envisioned for this story, and so I began my search by opening it up for auditions on Amazon's ACX site. After careful review of over a dozen auditions, I finally found the spine-chilling voice that I was looking for.










The official audiobook cover of The Muse revealed for the first time.





But more importantly, Ladies and gentlemen. Let me now officially introduce you to the narrator and voice actor of The Muse, 

Mr. Mikhail Roberts!
Mikhail Roberts was born in Iowa City, Iowa.  As a boyhe lived abroad for 5 years in Japan, and picked up a fluency for thelanguage.  He first trained in voice, piano, and trumpetperformance.  Upon returning to the US, he was met with an incredible cultureshock, and found it difficult to reintegrate into western society.  It wasthen that his other artistic and creative talents began to manifest themselvesmore aggressively, and soon Roberts found that he had an eye for 2D art, and aknack for sculpture.  In middle school he picked up the guitar,electric bass and tuba, but it was in high school that he discovered his truelove:  Acting.   

By this point, Mikhail was behind the game, so he joined as manyproductions as he could, so he could get as much experience as he could, in aslittle time as possible.  When it came time for him to go to college, hechose only one school to audition for; The University of Cincinnati,College-Conservatory of Music Dramatic Performance program-- it was there thathe would acquire the foundation he would build upon for the rest of hiscareer. 

During the summer between his freshman and sophomore year, he was castin his first ever leading role in a feature film as the role of Josh Daniels inthe indie horror The Monster's Mind, directed by BrettHatten.  Then, during the following summer, he starred in a leadingrole in the indie TV pilot Seven Hills, where he first worked withwriter director Tyler Wirtanen.  The two of them would go on to writeand produce numerous short-films in Cincinnati, until Mikhail'sgraduation. 

After graduating and moving to Los Angeles, Mikhail started workingbehind the camera even more--first as a boom-mic operator, PA, andgrip.  Then finally, after the purchase of a RED SCARLET cinema camera, hestarted getting hired as 1st and 2nd AC, and eventually Director ofPhotography. 

In 2014, Roberts took a hiatus from production, due to booking a role inthe the debut cast of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal StudiosJapan, in Osaka. He remained there for three consecutive contracts, and duringthat time, began to develop his skills as a photographer.  He found thatmany of the concepts of cinematography applied, so he quickly grew a portfoliodoing headshot photography for his fellow cast members.

In 2017, Mikhail finally returned LA, continued working in TV, film,theater, and hosting a live show in Twitch. During the pandemic, Robertsapplied to grad school and was accepted to Florida State University— in thesame year, he also began narrating audiobooks. Since then, Mikhail has narratedhundreds of hours across multiple genres, and series, taking a singular joy inhis new found   medium. As for live-performance, Roberts will appear inthe 2023/2024 season at Asolo Repertory Theater, as Bertram Cares in “Inheritthe Wind” and Lesgate “Dial M for Murder.”

Stay tuned for the official release date, coming soon.

Follow MK Schultz on X @Makemali, or on Instagram and TikTok @mkschultzauthor

Follow Mikhail on TikTok @mikhail_roberts or on Instagram @mikhailroberts

As always, I close with this...

The dream is true.

My art is because of my dad. He is the K in MK Schultz. His name is Kenneth and he inspired me to become an artist. My art is writing. His is painting, drawing, sculpting, building and a multitude of other works by his hand. Works that I have spent a lifetime observing. 


He is my hero. He is literally a legend to me. Like all legends, there are stories of amazing folklore of him. Stories that I know and hold close to my heart. His kindness and uncanny sense of truth has taught me much.
It has been some time now since I have made a blog entry on the dream is true, but today I devote this entry to my awesome dad, Kenneth Frank Schultz.
At the age of 13 in his farmhouse room in the 50's, he drew pencil drawings of actors by candle light. He was not taught how to do this. He was born with this gift. He is an artist and he simply felt the desire to express himself with his art.
Here are a few of his earliest works. I will share more in the future of him and all his wonderful works, for there are many. Thanks for the inspiration, Dad!




The dream is true!

👉This blog entry of The Dream is True, covers the following four main points.👈
✔1. Book Event
✔2. Audiobook Release
✔3. Reviews

✔4. Next Book

✔1. Book Event Capital Authors In-Person Event - March 20th, 2022 

I am super excited to be teaming up with two other local authors for a book event in Ottawa at the Pinecrest Indigo store. This is the first event I have been able to do since covid hit, so needless to say, it is long overdue. 

Join #CapitalAuthors best selling author, entrepreneur and speaker, Ryan Fahey, author, entrepreneur and mental health advocate Michelle Young and yours truly, as we collaborate at this March 20th event.

✔2. Audiobook Release The Fishing Trip: Kassius Kanex, Book 2, Audiobook Release
2022 is off to a great start. On February 25th, the audiobook version of The Fishing Trip was released on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. Narrated by podcaster and professional voice actor Skyler MorganThe Fishing TripJoin Max, Calvin, Sherman, Will and John as they embark on their 13th annual fishing trip.You won't believe what happens.


I am thrilled to bring this experience to my readers as Skyler Morgan brings the Kassius Kanex universe to life. I have a special treat for audiobook lovers because this presentation will bring a cinematic experience to the listener through not only the powerful voice of Skyler Morgan, but also by the amazing audio tracks sprinkled throughout. I hope you all enjoy this experience as much as I did working on it.
As always, buckle up! 😀This book can be consumed as a stand alone novel, but if anyone would like a free promo code for book one prior to jumping into this one, please email me at mkschultzauthor@gmail.com


✔3. Reviews Keep Those Reviews Coming
I have been receiving some amazing reviews for all three books in The Kassius Kanex Trilogy and for this, I am truly grateful. Writing is my passion and I do it gladly for free and without any praise, but the icing on the cake is when one of these amazing reviews come in from all over the world in Countries like Australia, India, UK, US and Canada. Here's some examples of what I am talking about.




  




✔4. Next Book Progress Update on my 4th Novel With all that I have going on, I am still overwhelmed with feelings of passion as I continue work on my fourth novel. As previously announced, it is a dramatic horror novel titled, "The Invocation of Khalon Pohl." I am still targeting completion of this novel in 2022. So far, the manuscript is a little past the one third point. Stay tuned for future progress updates. 
As always, I will close with this...
THE DREAM IS TRUE!

To all fans of Kassius Kanex. My heartfelt thanks for making EQUILIBRIUM the best selling softcover book of the series.

To express my gratitude, I have free audiobooks and e-Books for those who are interested.

I am so excited to have reached this milestone in my journey. It is a beautiful thing to advance another small step closer to that day when I can finally scream from the top of my lungs...

THE DREAM IS TRUE!

 The feeling inside of me; the need, the desire, the passion, the destiny, that once grew to adolescence, is beginning to overtake my very soul and being. I now know that I haven't much time left, before it will surface to escape the unnatural, which bound it for far too long!

The dream is true.

For this blog entry, I would like to touch on a few areas in my writing journey that have recently moved me closer to my dream which I believe will one day be true. 

Control what you can. I will say it again mostly for dramatic purpose. Control what you can. Like anything in life, if you commit yourself to something, I believe you will realize one of the following three things. You will either drown, survive or thrive. 

For me, I can't control the things I drown in, so fuck them. As for the things I survive in, like jobs etc., well that's fine I guess, as long as they continue to provide a means to that which brings me true purpose. 

This brings me to thrive. 

For me, writing is what completes my very soul and it is because of that that I believe. One day, I think my writing will give me back all that I have given to it, which for me is nothing short of my very being and soul. 

I am not writing this to discourage, but on the contrary. I feel that something is beginning to happen and all I have to do is keep my foot on the gas before I run out of gas. If I can inspire someone else out there to do the same, then that would be a shitload of cool in my books.

I am currently working on a new stand-alone novel that is pushing me beyond the limits I have currently reached. I hope that some or even one, will one day soon discover my calls to the universe through my writing. The greatest response to this call that I could ever ask for, would be a tip of the hat to my stories.

...And here is a great truth I will now divulge about my current state of affairs.

In my current work in progress, I am diving deep into the concept of the muse as a real and tangible being in the universe that thrives on us, the artist. It needs us as much as we need it. 

This story - my story, is that of a muse that comes from the beginning of time. He is one who gives to the artist, the very thing that can bring peace to the artist - to create art for the purpose of fulfilling an inner need of the soul, a million times greater than the need an alcoholic has for that first drink in the approach of evening.

REVEAL

My new work of progress is a work of dramatic horror. 

Its title is...

THE INVOCATION OF KHALON POHL

“The blank page tortures the artist - the absence of expression, death to him.”

MK Schultz

...Coming in 2022

The dream is true!

Today, I am going to talk about some recent thoughts and feelings that I had after completing a four year journey, writing a trilogy. The universe I was immersed in produced a world that I belonged to and yet now I am sad to say goodbye to it. This life felt real and it brought great rewards to mine. Now that it is over, I am embarking on a new life. I already feel a separation from the first, but I am strangely ok with that because I know that my journey has only begun. The most beautiful thing that I have realized on this journey is that I feel a sense of power that I have never felt before. The thing that is funny though, is that selling books or benefiting financially doesn't matter. It isn't even important, because the benefits that I have received from this journey have bought me something that money cannot. Happiness, contentment, fulfillment and purpose. That is all that I really needed. I have always had a job, but it never satisfied me the way that my writing has. But I am still thankful for 'the job', because it too serves a purpose. It provided the income needed to live, so that I could find my passion too live.The Dream is True.

 Cheers to the freaken weekend baby! Today I wanted to talk about reviews. They seem difficult to get for me, even from people I know. Receiving a bad review hurt me at first, but then I paused and re-read it slowly and as I did, I began to see it in a different light. There, contained within this review, was something very valuable that you won't receive from family or friends. To me the negative was all opinion and that is fine but it is only relevant to that one reader. This is because art is subjective. But even though that may be true, it is still helpful to hear what people don't like. It puts things into perspective I think. Along with the negative comments contained in this particular review, I also saw positive and this for me became amplified in the process. The reason I think this is because if one is to believe the negative, then the positive comments are also true. This may not be the case for a review done by someone who knows the author where the review is solely positive, but perhaps inflated. So anyways, I thanked the negative reviewer personally, and I ended up having a lovely exchange with her. In the end, I appreciate her review and as I look at it again, the positive now outshines the negative.

The Dream is True.

MK Schultz