C. Michael Lorion's Blog

Hey, everyone. I need your help. If you've read my novel, Totem (Book 1: Scars), could you please tell me what, if any, other books it reminds you of? It could be a standalone or a series. It would help me tremendously to see what other works people compare Totem to. Thanks!

What's the first novel you read in a genre? For instance, The Stand was my first horror novel back in the early 80s when I was in junior high, Ender's Game was the first science fiction novel I read, more than ten years ago at the recommendation of a friend, Dragon Weather was the first fantasy novel I read.

How about you? Fill in the blanks. Your first novel in the _________ genre was __________. Feel free to list as many novels as you'd like, and when you read them.

What novel(s) have you reread, and how many times have you reread it(them)?

This comes from a previous post where someone said they wanted to reread a book I had mentioned, but were afraid of spoiling the memories of the book. Has this happened to you? Did you end up rereading the book? Were your memories spoiled, or enhanced?

This happened to me with Stephen King's The Stand, which I read way back in the early 80s when I was in junior high. I reread it last year, and although I enjoyed in in different ways and on different levels, I almost wish I hadn't reread it. Before I reread it, I had some magical memories associated with reading it in junior high. I don't think I can say those memories were spoiled, but I now look at the book in a different light. Maybe with not as much nostalgia. Hard to explain.

Anyone out there relate?

What novel did you put off reading for a long time? You wanted to read it, and maybe you started it once, twice, or more, but for whatever reason just couldn't get into it, maybe the length intimidated you, or the subject matter, and then finally you read it and was floored by how good it was and you wished you had read it way back when. What novel is that?

I'm reading Gary A Braunbeck's book, To Each Their Darkness, and in it he writes this: "For as long as there is fear of the darkness, there will be hope."

As a reader and writer of dark fantasy and horror, this statement strikes a chord with me. I've mulled it over for the past couple days, and I'd like to know your thoughts on it--as a reader of fiction, perhaps as a writer also, and, perhaps most importantly, as a person.

Have you read a novel that changed your outlook on life, caused you to enact a behavior, or stop one? Caused you to love someone more, hate someone less, made you change religions or political parties or stopped you from harming yourself?

If so, I want to know. What was the novel (no nonfiction, please), and how did it change you? If too personal, just name the novel if you'd like.

Look forward to hearing from everyone.

It really is. Truly. I spend three years of my life writing, revising, crossing out, deleting, adding, cutting, changing, revising, revising again. Then I hand it out to my beta readers.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Then I get an email from one of them expressing their thought on my story, my dear baby. I don't open the email because I'm too scared. I wait a couple days. Then I open it. The person likes it. He actually likes my story.

Other beta readers chime in over the next week or two, and they like it, although they do offer suggestions, ask questions, and I make appropriate changes to the manuscript.

More revising.

Then I upload it to Amazon's Kindle Store.

And I wait.

And wait.

A sale! Someone out there in readership land actually bought my book, the one I spent three years writing. Yay!

Then I wait some more. I initiate a four day free book promo in KDP Select. Over those four days, more than 260 of my books go out over the internet for free--not just in the United States, but the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, and France.

After the promo, a couple more sales.

And more waiting.

In between the waiting times I'm busy searching for appropriate book reviewers and blogs, looking for someone who will read my book and review it. Someone! A blogger agrees, he reads my book, gives it a great review. Yay!

Waiting for more bloggers, some have agreed to review it, just waiting for them to get to it. They will, they'll post their reviews, and I'll be scared again to click on the website to read it. But I will open the website, and I'll read the review, and I'll go on from there.

As I said, this writing thing is absolutely nuts.