Todd Keisling

Another week down.  One more spent with a little work, a little play, and a whole lot of daydreaming.  Pieces are moving into place within my own head.  I can see whole pictures now that were once simple pieces jumbled together.  I am at the threshold of the next story.  I’m on my mark.  Let’s see if I’ve still got it in me.

Right.  Enough vague words.  A lot’s happened over the last several days whether you were paying attention or not.

Let’s see . . .

John Updike passed away.

So did Charles Wesley Cooper.

Neil Gaiman won the Newberry award for The Graveyard Book.

Stephanie Meyer is, believe or not, “too sad.”

And finally a new edition of Pride and Prejudice that might actually make me give a shit about the book.

One thing that had a couple of headlines this week was the popularity of the cell phone novel.  Yeah, you read that correctly.  Apparently ten of the bestsellers in Japan were written exclusively for viewing on cell phones.  A buddy of mine over in Kofu confirmed this.  It took me a minute to wrap my brain around this, but as he said, for a culture that spends most of its time traveling on the bus or train on their way to work, it’s really the only time for people to read.  And since talking on cell phones while riding public transit is forbidden, it seems like another good way to pass the time – besides texting, of course.

I think that’s about it for now.  Expect news next week.

Until then -

TK

Quick update-

My official Facebook page is now live.  A lot of folks use the site and, I must admit, I’ve been drawn to it a lot more over the past few months as a means to keep in touch with a lot of people in one place.

This blog is syndicated through that page, so anything I post here will also post there.  So if you have a Facebook account, do a search for my name and become a fan.  And if you’re not on Facebook, well, consider giving it a shot.  It beats the hell out of Myspace.

TK

A couple of things happened in my absence that I forgot to mention here. I realize that enough time has passed that their importance may be lost to everyone else, but to me they still matter, so here they are:

The first is a book review of A Life Transparent by Finnish author Maija Haavisto. It was a very pleasant surprise to have this in my inbox. Reviews for self-published authors are hard to come by unless you’re waving cash around. And, like most these days, cash is also hard to come by. Maija did this because she loved the book, and I can’t thank her enough for it.

Secondly is the novel’s inclusion on the website ebooksjustpublished.com. The site’s founder, Mark Gladding, contacted me seeking permission to post the book, to which I agreed. He’s put together a great repository of electronic books. The only stipulation for inclusion is that the e-book can’t contain any form of DRM, which I whole-heartedly support. The best part is, most of them are absolutely free. Be sure and check it out.

On an unrelated note, I discovered the identity of the mystery person who sent that copy of Heart-Shaped Box. It was my aunt, of all folks. She was browsing my Amazon wish list and decided to send me a little gift. Two other books arrived a few days later. Thanks, Brenda.

Speaking of books, I opted to buy The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster and The Stranger by Albert Camus. The former has my rapt attention; the latter is one of my all-time favorites, and I don’t understand how I went so long without actually owning a copy.

Right. That’s all for now.

TK

Okay, folks.  Need your help with this one.  I received a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble from my boss for Christmas.  Unfortunately I haven’t the slightest idea what to get from my local B&N.

So I’m going to turn this one over to you.  Recommend a book to me.  I do have a couple of preferences:

I’d like to keep the out-of-pocket expense at a minimum.  Say, no more than $5.  So your choice can go as high as $25 in price – roughly the cost of one brand new hardcover.

My preference is fiction.  New or old, it doesn’t matter, so long as it’s fiction.

It must be available at Barnes & Noble.

Now, my filthy assistants,  go!

TK

Yesterday I received a peculiar package.  It was from thriftbooks.com, a site I’d not heard of until that very moment, and it contained, as you would expect, a book.  That book is a hardcover copy of “Heart-Shaped Box” by Joe Hill – an excellent piece of modern horror, and one I’d recommend to just about anyone, but especially to those pining for something better in that particular genre.   His short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, is also incredibly excellent.

Right.  There’s my plug for the day.  Now on with what happened . . .

There’s this book.  Thing is, I didn’t order it.  I double checked my accounts to make sure it wasn’t a case of fraud (and, even if it was, what a weird incident of fraud – since when would a scammer or phisher swipe my info to send me a book, y’know?).  Nope, no money missing.  Someone must’ve sent it to me.

So I’m here to ask you:  did one of you purchase this book and have it sent to me?  If so, thank you.  If not, well, continue reading on so you can laugh at my paranoia.

I began by comparing the edition I have with the one in the mail.  They’re both hardcover, but with some stark differences.  For starters, this new copy’s jacket is printed on glossy paper (my copy is on matte), it’s smaller in size (about the size of a trade paperback), and is missing various monograms from the publisher.  It’s also missing the Library of Congress cataloging data and the edition number.   On a whim, I’d say it’s an advance reader copy – the kind sent out months prior to publication for the sake of reviews.  Usually those copies are also pre-approved galley proofs, and they’re marked as such.  This one is not.

On the other hand, it also has the markings of being a bootleg of sorts, though why someone would want to bootleg a novel (and go to such expensive pains to do so) is beyond me.  Bear in mind that this possibility is way out in left field – so far out that it’s impractical and highly improbable, but you never know.

At first I was confused, but that quickly transformed to being creeped out.  If you’ve read the novel, you can probably see the connection; if you haven’t, I’ll throw you a bone.  The book’s about an aging rock star who buys the suit of a dead man on the internet with the promise that his ghost will come it.  It arrives in a black, heart-shaped box and, with it, his ghost which proceeds to try and kill him out of revenge for events I won’t reveal.  Seriously, it’s a great novel, written by Stephen King’s son, and I’m happy to report Mr. Hill is a much better writer than his father.  So, now you can see the connection I made here.  Who would send me this book?  Being an internet dweller, I’ve made my share of enemies over the years.  A number of people run through my mind, but honestly, why this?  A message?  A warning?

Or, as everyone else I’ve told has suggested, maybe it’s just a random act of kindness.  Which is why I prefaced this by saying thanks.  But, if someone doesn’t step forward and claim this act of kindness, I’m going to send it back, as I feel weird about accepting anonymous gifts – especially ones about pissed off spirits coming back to kill others.

In other news, you’ve probably noticed the site’s loading a lot faster.  You can thank the scripting prowess of my loving wife.  Parts of the site will be appearing and disappearing in the coming days due to small updates.  The look may not change, but stuff under the hood is definitely being tuned up.

Until next time,

TK

My buddy Phill pointed out to me during a short conversation Sunday that we hadn’t really talked all that much in about six months.  At first I didn’t believe that, because six months (half a year!) is a long time, but when I broke it down and thought about it, I realized he was right.  I’ve been off doing my thing mostly away from the internet for the better half of a year.  I will admit this is intentional.  Most of you folks know I work a day job, that being a writer (or, some would say, an author) isn’t as glamorous as it was in the days of Fitzgerald, and so I spend my days working in a box, at a computer, doing things that I don’t necessarily enjoy but that I don’t necessarily hate either.  It’s a comfortable living that doesn’t follow me home.  Seeing as how I’ve had worse, this present predicament isn’t bad at all.

That being said, I spend most of my time glued to a computer screen, so when I get home, the last thing I want to do is, well, be glued to a computer screen.  I resolved at the beginning of last year to cut my time at a computer in half, devoting more of it to real life things like spending time with my fiancee (and now, my wife).  Until that point I was a devout user of a little place called deviantart.  I still have an account there, I still check messages from time to time, and my account page now serves as a kind of portal to this site, though it appears I’ve fallen behind on updating that as well.  I realized early last year that I was spending too much time there and not enough time with other, more important things.  So I basically left the so-called community and chose to maintain the profile for the sole basis of redirecting folks here.  Judging by my site stats, it seems to be working.  There’s a good chance if you’re reading this right now it’s because you came from deviantart.

Early ’08 was good.  Erica and I both had steady work, things were looking up, and at some point in May I decided, hey, let’s finally get married.  So we spent all summer planning our September wedding.   I also just realized that I promised photos. You can find them at the bottom of this post.

Bear in mind there are way more than this – I just haven’t had a chance to upload them.  Most of these are from the wedding; there’s one other from our Halloween reception in Kentucky (in case you’re wondering, I was the Marquis de Sade, and Erica was a demented little doll brought back to life).

After the wedding plans were beginning to come together, I realized things were going to have to fall to the side in order for us to continue.  I found myself spending considerably more time pondering over wedding decorations than I ever thought possible, as well as trying to organize an event that would include folks flying in from other parts of the country, and I realized that, in the end, I could never make it as a wedding planner.  The big day was one in which everything that could simultaneously go right and wrong did.  People couldn’t find the place.  A hurricane was dumping mass amounts of water over our little location.  The beer was late.  People hated our music selection.  Typical fare, I suppose.  But, despite all of that, it was a great day.  A lot of my friends from Kentucky made the trip, and it was nice to be welcomed into Erica’s family.

The months following the wedding are a bit of a blur.  We held a second reception in Kentucky on Halloween for the friends and family who couldn’t make it in September.  The economy’s downard spiral hit home as Erica was laid off in November.  Winter set in.  Looking back I can’t honestly tell you the little details between points A and Z because my mind was partially elsewhere.  A writer’s mind is never idle.  At least I don’t think it should be.  My written silence can be partially blamed upon my imagination, I think, simply because I’ve had too many ideas and I can’t decide upon which to focus.  I came to terms with the fact that my novel-in-progress, imagiNATION, may be forever a work-in-progress and may never see the light of day.  But, as an ancient seer once prophesised to me, I must speak the word unspoken.   So I chose to focus my attention forward, rather than back, and in that time I’ve overcome a lot of roadblocks concerning a lot of different plots for different stories.  I realized I am only one man, and that I have to work at my pace, not at anyone else’s – and that no matter how much I’d love to, I simply can’t match Stephen King’s pace – and that’s probably for the best.

While going over the site stats this week, Erica and I discovered that, since it’s initial availability in February 2008, the free digital version of my novel, A Life Transparent, has had over 3k downloads.  When I first self-published the book, way back in early 2007, I announced that I wanted to sell 1000 copies.  In this regard, I failed.  However, in giving it away, the book tripled my expectations.  It’s a thrill to know someone read my book.  But over three thousand – 74 of them just this month – is astounding to me.   This is a book that’s had little to no promotion except for word of mouth.  Three thousand of you decided to give me a shot.  Whether or you loved or hated the book, I thank you for taking the time to read it.

Now we’ve come to 2009.  I’ve made some statements in the past, suggesting the site would be overhauled and so on.  And it will, to some degree, but as far as this site is concerned, it’s a two-person operation.  These things take time.  I don’t think you folks are in any hurry.  I’ve also said there are “things” in the “works.”  They are, but not physically.  It’s all in my head at the moment.  One important thing, however, is soon ready to make the transition to paper, and that is my goal for 2009.

The sequel to A Life Transparent, titled “The Liminal Man” will be written this year.  All I will say about it is that it will be a longer story, the plotline itself is mostly solid, and Dr. Albert Sparrow is the villain.

I’ll leave you folks to digest that.

Until next time,

TK