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The Mirror’s Truth
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March/April Author Q & A with Michael R. Fletcher **Contains Spoilers**
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I did? Gawdamn doppels agreeing to stuff!
I'm happy to answer any question about anything. As a fiction writer I claim it as my right to flat out lie about everything.
I hope you enjoy the book!
I'm happy to answer any question about anything. As a fiction writer I claim it as my right to flat out lie about everything.
I hope you enjoy the book!
Mod
Hmm. That's it. Time to change the wifi password again. Last time they hacked my Amazon account and bought a bunch of weird stuff. Definitely wasn't me. Anyway. Er... the check is in the mail.
Mod
Serious question though, can TMT be read as a stand alone?
Tracey the Lizard Queen wrote: "Serious question though, can TMT be read as a stand alone?"
Hmm. I know two people who tried it. One liked it, the other was lost. My sample pool is too damned small.
It was written as a sequel and you'll definitely get the most out of it by reading BR first. The character arc happens over two books. The revelations in TMT will really only have the desired impact if you already know the reprobates from BR.
Hmm. I know two people who tried it. One liked it, the other was lost. My sample pool is too damned small.
It was written as a sequel and you'll definitely get the most out of it by reading BR first. The character arc happens over two books. The revelations in TMT will really only have the desired impact if you already know the reprobates from BR.
Mod
This guy again?Seriously though. Awesome. I've been itching to read TMT ever since finishing Beyond Redemption.
Mod
Seriously though. Awesome. I've been itching to read TMT ever since finishing Beyond Redemption."
Haha! He lives here now that the doppels have taken over his house!
I read TMT whe nit came out, love it. Currently reading Ghosts of Tomorrow which has been great. You have a mirror fixation. :)
Scott wrote: "I read TMT whe nit came out, love it.
Currently reading Ghosts of Tomorrow which has been great. You have a mirror fixation. :)"
Funny thing, I didn't even realise it until I was editing Ghosts. The similar themes, insanity, reality, Mirrors... Yep. Definitely a fixation.
Currently reading Ghosts of Tomorrow which has been great. You have a mirror fixation. :)"
Funny thing, I didn't even realise it until I was editing Ghosts. The similar themes, insanity, reality, Mirrors... Yep. Definitely a fixation.
Michael wrote: "Funny thing, I didn't even realise it until I was editing Ghosts. The similar themes, insanity, reality, Mirrors... Yep. Definitely a fixation. ."It's the sci-fi futuristic virtual-reality version.
Scott wrote: It's the sci-fi futuristic virtual-reality version. "
Exactly!
Exactly!
Michael, Any news to share on audiobook versions of Beyond Redemption and The Mirror's Truth?
Keith wrote: "Michael, Any news to share on audiobook versions of Beyond Redemption and The Mirror's Truth?"
AIGHAIGHAIGH!!!!!
Sigh.
Short answer, no.
Long answer....
I don't own the audio rights to BR. Harper Voyager tried to sell the rights to Audible, and all the usual channels, with no luck. I do own the audio rights to TMT, but since no one wants to produce the first book in the series, I haven't put any effort into selling the sequel. When I look at the cost, the chances of it earning out looks slim. I could be wrong there, but being a broke-assed writery guy, it's a gamble I'm not in a position to take.
But all hope is not lost. As a recovering audio engineer, I do have the gear and skills to produce audio books on my own. I'm going to experiment with the first chapter of my latest book, Ghosts of Tomorrow. If it isn't awful, I will finish the book, and then consider doing the same for the others. It is, however, a huge investment of time, and I have to weigh that against whether I might be better off working on the new book. Which is kind of awesome.
So.... Maybe?
AIGHAIGHAIGH!!!!!
Sigh.
Short answer, no.
Long answer....
I don't own the audio rights to BR. Harper Voyager tried to sell the rights to Audible, and all the usual channels, with no luck. I do own the audio rights to TMT, but since no one wants to produce the first book in the series, I haven't put any effort into selling the sequel. When I look at the cost, the chances of it earning out looks slim. I could be wrong there, but being a broke-assed writery guy, it's a gamble I'm not in a position to take.
But all hope is not lost. As a recovering audio engineer, I do have the gear and skills to produce audio books on my own. I'm going to experiment with the first chapter of my latest book, Ghosts of Tomorrow. If it isn't awful, I will finish the book, and then consider doing the same for the others. It is, however, a huge investment of time, and I have to weigh that against whether I might be better off working on the new book. Which is kind of awesome.
So.... Maybe?
Mod
Can you tell us more about the process of selfpublishing? How did you go about editing, choosing cover art, and all the other things the publisher would normally do?
Tracey the Lizard Queen wrote: "Hi Michael/Doppels?
Can you tell us more about the process of selfpublishing? How did you go about editing, choosing cover art, and all the other things the publisher would normally do?"
Sure!
Hmm. Where to begin.
The Mirror's Truth was my first self-published novel. Prior to that TMT, I had no experience. Frankly, the idea scared the crap out of me to the point where I seriously considered letting the book die. But I'd sunk an insane amount of time in writing and editing the thing and the thought of doing nothing with it rankled. Once I got started, I realized (most of) my fears were misplaced.
I started as any nerd would start, with a silly amount of research. Research led to more questions led to more research, and soon my head was spinning. Print? Ebook? CreateSpace, or one of the others? In the end I gave up and picked what appeared to be the easiest path that would make the book available to (hopefully) the most people.
Both CreateSpace and Kindle do an amazing job of holding your hand through the process. With their "Extended Markets" option, the book should be available pretty much everywhere online. The one thing I made sure to do was make sure there was no DRM (copy protection crap) on the book. Sure, it leaves me open to pirating (frankly, if they want hack something bad enough they will) but I wanted people to be able to convert it to whatever format they preferred.
At first my intent was to release the book as absolutely cheaply as possible. I was gonna blow my whole budget (which was maybe $300, yeah, broke-ass writer) on the editing. I began searching the internet archives for copyright-free art and messing about with typography. It all looked awful. When it comes to the visual arts, I am a no-talent-ass-clown.
I started researching artists and soon found all my favourites were far beyond my paltry budget. At some point my wife told me her brother's wife's nephew was an artist and I should check out his stuff. I decided to humour her (shh!) and checked out his site: http://www.jadillustrated.com/
I knew right away I'd found my artists and set about trying to figure out some way of making it seem like my idea. I failed.
While Anthony was a great deal cheaper than Richard Anderson and Brom, he wasn't free. Budget blown to hell before I even got to editing, I threw caution to the wind and went nuts. I hired Shawn King (http://www.stkkreations.com/) to do the typography and several editors (including Tim Marquitz).
I did a post a little while back walking through the evolution of the art (this one was for Ghosts of Tomorrow, rather than TMT, but the process was almost identical. If you're interested: http://michaelrfletcher.com/2017/02/1...
Aaaaand I'm at my day job and stuff is starting to happen. If any questions fall out of my blathering, shoot them at me!
Can you tell us more about the process of selfpublishing? How did you go about editing, choosing cover art, and all the other things the publisher would normally do?"
Sure!
Hmm. Where to begin.
The Mirror's Truth was my first self-published novel. Prior to that TMT, I had no experience. Frankly, the idea scared the crap out of me to the point where I seriously considered letting the book die. But I'd sunk an insane amount of time in writing and editing the thing and the thought of doing nothing with it rankled. Once I got started, I realized (most of) my fears were misplaced.
I started as any nerd would start, with a silly amount of research. Research led to more questions led to more research, and soon my head was spinning. Print? Ebook? CreateSpace, or one of the others? In the end I gave up and picked what appeared to be the easiest path that would make the book available to (hopefully) the most people.
Both CreateSpace and Kindle do an amazing job of holding your hand through the process. With their "Extended Markets" option, the book should be available pretty much everywhere online. The one thing I made sure to do was make sure there was no DRM (copy protection crap) on the book. Sure, it leaves me open to pirating (frankly, if they want hack something bad enough they will) but I wanted people to be able to convert it to whatever format they preferred.
At first my intent was to release the book as absolutely cheaply as possible. I was gonna blow my whole budget (which was maybe $300, yeah, broke-ass writer) on the editing. I began searching the internet archives for copyright-free art and messing about with typography. It all looked awful. When it comes to the visual arts, I am a no-talent-ass-clown.
I started researching artists and soon found all my favourites were far beyond my paltry budget. At some point my wife told me her brother's wife's nephew was an artist and I should check out his stuff. I decided to humour her (shh!) and checked out his site: http://www.jadillustrated.com/
I knew right away I'd found my artists and set about trying to figure out some way of making it seem like my idea. I failed.
While Anthony was a great deal cheaper than Richard Anderson and Brom, he wasn't free. Budget blown to hell before I even got to editing, I threw caution to the wind and went nuts. I hired Shawn King (http://www.stkkreations.com/) to do the typography and several editors (including Tim Marquitz).
I did a post a little while back walking through the evolution of the art (this one was for Ghosts of Tomorrow, rather than TMT, but the process was almost identical. If you're interested: http://michaelrfletcher.com/2017/02/1...
Aaaaand I'm at my day job and stuff is starting to happen. If any questions fall out of my blathering, shoot them at me!
Which one of the doppels was responsible for Bedeckt's delusion? That was the most genius thing I read recently! And that finale..You're turning me into a fan girl and there's only so many people I can squee about. You understand, I have a grim image to uphold.
Melina wrote: "Which one of the doppels was responsible for Beckett's delusion? That was the most genius thing I read recently! And that finale..
You're turning me into a fan girl and there's only so many people..."
Squeeing is VERBOTEN!
I don't plan books. I start writing and discover what the story is and who the characters are as I go. My plot plan for BR was basically "Dirtbags steal god-child." At some point late in BR I realised Bedeckt was sane. Not normal sane, but that he clung to sanity with a kind of insane desperation. That was the point where I knew what TMT was going to be about. I didn't know details, but I had the last big battle/scene in my mind. I knew that, for at least a moment, Bedeckt was going to define reality with his madness. From that point on, I was praying I'd be able to do the scene right. It needed to be huge. It needed to be insane. It needed to make sense. And much as BR was about how some people just can't learn, can't better their situations, TMT was the opposite.
But of course me being me, it couldn't be an actual happy ending. I wanted redemption, but the cost had to be high.
Which Doppel? The quiet one that still believes people are basically good.
You're turning me into a fan girl and there's only so many people..."
Squeeing is VERBOTEN!
I don't plan books. I start writing and discover what the story is and who the characters are as I go. My plot plan for BR was basically "Dirtbags steal god-child." At some point late in BR I realised Bedeckt was sane. Not normal sane, but that he clung to sanity with a kind of insane desperation. That was the point where I knew what TMT was going to be about. I didn't know details, but I had the last big battle/scene in my mind. I knew that, for at least a moment, Bedeckt was going to define reality with his madness. From that point on, I was praying I'd be able to do the scene right. It needed to be huge. It needed to be insane. It needed to make sense. And much as BR was about how some people just can't learn, can't better their situations, TMT was the opposite.
But of course me being me, it couldn't be an actual happy ending. I wanted redemption, but the cost had to be high.
Which Doppel? The quiet one that still believes people are basically good.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Ghosts of Tomorrow (other topics)Ghosts of Tomorrow (other topics)
Ghosts of Tomorrow (other topics)
Thanks Michael!