I Love Canadian Authors discussion

Everybody welcome Michael. He's new to the group but a very creative author. I was very intrigued by his 'internet enhanced novel', a great idea. He'll explain about his book, Until the Deep Water Stills.

Okay, in my eagerness to be 'on top of things' I posted before I checked with Michael about his own schedule. Sorry.

Michael will be in later, you know how life tends to get in the way of fun stuff, so go ahead and ask your questions and he'll come around to answer as soon as he untangles himself from the real world.

Sorry Michael. But when motivation strikes me I tend to act fast. I'm also curious to know what Internet Enhanced involves.

Hi Lauren:

The Reader Views Awards honor writers who self-published or had their books published by a subsidy publisher, small press, university press, or independent book publisher geared for the North American reading audience.

There is a small fee to enter the contest. Initial judging is done by Reader Views reviewers which means at a minimum you get a book review published on their web site. Your book then goes on to the next level of judging. Check out their website for full details: http://www.readerviews.com/Awards.html . I most definitely recommend them if your book fits the eligibility criteria.

The "Writers in the Sky" award is one of the specialty categories and is sponsored by Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Service.

My novel is actually self-published. Idiomatic is the imprint name of the distributor I linked up with to get my novel on Amazon.

The "Internet-enhanced" concept is something I came up with to give my novel a unique angle. "Until the Deep Water Stills" is a fusion of a traditional print novel with an optional online companion. The online companion features text, photos and professional quality audio recordings. Each chapter in the print novel has a corresponding entry in the online companion where the characters find themselves with an actual online identity:

• Katherine’s Photo Journal (text & photographs)
• Jayce’s Diary (text & audio recordings)
• Bryan’s Blog (under a pseudonym)
• Faith’s Letters to Her Runaway Mother (text & audio recordings)

The reader can approach the book three ways:

1) Read the print novel only as it stands on its own
2) Alternate between the print novel and the website chapter by chapter
3) Read the print novel first and then experience the website.

The online companion takes you deeper into the minds of the four main characters and provides additional plot lines that are not found in the print novel.

You can learn more at my website: www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion site: www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

Thanks!
Michael

Hi Michael,

Congratulations on the awards your novel has received. I'm intrigued by the interactive aspect of your novel. Was it lots of extra work to create the online content? Was it difficult to decide what should go into the book and what should be used online? Do you know how many readers read both?

Dianne Ascroft

Congratulations on your awards from me too, Michael!

About Reader Views: I agree, they're a great help to authors. They're very generous in their review program, because it's not only a free service but they post it just about everywhere, including public libraries (mostly in the US).

Your book sounds intriguing and on the intense side. It's about marital realationships but really it's about life (correct me if I'm wrong). You need pretty strong, well-defined characters to pull this off. Did you base some of them on actual people or are they all purely fictional?

"Internet enhanced" and with photos - is this the start of something new in fiction?

Good questions!

The online component was actually an afterthought. It took about a year to pull it together. The original concept was too simplistic and didn't add much to the novel. I realized, after getting feedback from some friends, that I had to make the characters' "online" identities as distinct as their "print" identities so I went back to the drawing board. It also seemed important that the online companion have secondary plot lines not found in the print novel so there was a payoff for taking the time to follow it.

I couldn't have pulled off the technical side of it without the help of a long time friend who is quite tech savvy. He held my hand through the process which is why the online companion is dedicated to him.

I find the split is about 50-50 in terms of people who read the print novel only and those who also tackle the online companion.

Erma: You're 100% correct. The novel is about the bigger, tougher questions in life: Who we are deep down, how that defines how we live and how we love. Marital relationships are the vehicle for delving into those fundamental issues.

None of the characters are based on actual people per se but all of them have bits and pieces of real people - including, of course, myself - woven into them. By the end of the novel they were all real, living, breathing people to me.

I won't venture to say that I know where fiction is going but I think that some kind of tie-in to the web is a natural evolution. The internet is such an integral part of our everyday life. It seems inevitable that fiction, and art in general, will embrace it and use it to open up new possibilities. If only I could patent the idea I'd be set for life!

Keep the questions coming.

Michael

Hi Michael;

Welcome back from the warmer southern climes. Trust the bird watchings (both of the standard and cockney variety) were good?

Your novel is indeed a wonderful portrayal of the trials and tribulations of contemporary married life.

RE your note that:
The reader can approach the book three ways:

1) Read the print novel only as it stands on its own
2) Alternate between the print novel and the website chapter by chapter
3) Read the print novel first and then experience the website.

I have so far been able to do only item 1. My review is to be posted shortly, for I have been meaning to do item 3. It would have been more convenient if I could have done them together while reading, usually on the lazy-boy in the sun-room or in bed. Hence I was wondering if you have considered putting out an "e" version where the web links would be embedded at the end of each chapter and readers would click on them. Of course we would need to be reading the book on say a laptop. I'm not sure if it can be done, but perhaps your tech-savvy buddy might have some ideas?

See you at the next WEN breakfast meeting.

Best,
Wally

Thanks, Waheed. The e-version with links to the online companion is a great idea! I've been contemplating the e-book arena for awhile. I just need to find the time to turn my mind to it. Lack of time is my constant lament. I want a Harry Potter time-turner for my next birthday!

Michael

I checked out some of your blog entries. It's quite the adventure! Was wondering about your images. Did you take some of the photos yourself? Loved the one with the rocks in the mist in the water. A sentence caught my eye: "He was so solid and stable so I anchored myself in his ocean." Until the Deep Water Stills: An Internet-enhanced Novel

Hi Erma:

My apologies for the delay in responding. I was out of town for a couple of days.

I can't lay claim to taking any of the photos myself. I used freebies from the Microsoft photo gallery where there was a suitable image. The rest I purchased from istockphoto - an online stock photo service. Low resolution photos suitable for web use are available for a $1 or $2 each.

Yes, the photo of the rocks in the mist is quite striking and worked well for the theme of that journal entry.

Glad you liked that particular line. It is part of a water metaphor that runs through the entire novel. I've never quite sure when I may be pushing the envelope a bit with my imagery. But that particular image seems to hit the right note.

Any other lines that anyone particularly liked? I love that kind of feedback!

Michael