Todd Keisling

Creepy, unsettling and uncomfortable.

Well done, Depeche Mode.  Well done.

TK

My last post was eaten, digested and shat out into the netherworld of the interwebs.

So.  Let’s try this again.

Busy week.  I finally finished chapter two, which was a huge relief since it seemed to just keep going on and on and on when, in reality, it isn’t any longer than chapter 1.  Together they’re a little over 16k words.  As I’ve said before, the book is going to be a lot longer than I initially expected, and much longer than its predecessor.  I estimate it will be longer by about 30k or 40k, which will put it in the 100k range.  I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that size, but the story will be as long as it needs to be.

Here’s what I can tell you:

Donovan’s still the center of attention, but this time he’s sharing the stage with his wife and a couple of others.

I’ve promised no cats will die this time around.  That’s the only promise I’m making, though.

The story will revolve around two incidents, with one based on the other’s premise.

That’s all you get for now.

In other news, I’ve taken a shine to Twitter.  It’s handy.  It lets me blog without really blogging.  Yes, I’m a convert.  Don’t judge me, okay?

Weird dream:  I enlisted the help of my friend Emma, who is an agent of the Canadian Secret Service, to help me infiltrate a compound of angry, apocalyptic Mormons who kidnapped my wife for nefarious purposes.  It had the pacing of a bad Nicholas Cage action film, chock full of one-liners I honestly can’t remember anymore, and it had a happy ending.

Right.  Back to work I go.

TK

Sorry about the wait.  We didn’t anticipate them being down all day.  All the PDFs are once again available for public consumption.

So go do what you do:  consume.

TK

Heads up, folks.

All PDF downloads are going to be disabled for the next hour or so, so if you came here for the free ebook, check back later today and it should be available.  I’ll write again once they’re up.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

TK

I did something really terrible yesterday.  Yes, I joined Twitter, and I blame it all on my wife.  She caught me with my guard down, joining the site to follow Trent Reznor’s tweets, and I couldn’t help but follow suit.

Now I’m on Twitter. I suppose this is another way to reach people.  The question is, will I use it enough to justify it?  I suppose we’ll find out.

So, does anyone else here use Twitter?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?

TK

. . . but I think there’s something seriously wrong with selling a 3.6mb ebook for $17.99.

Just sayin’.

TK

It’s kind of late and I’m not ready for sleep, so I thought I’d come here and let a few words spill out.

I was contacted by a reader this week regarding her book club.  ALT was included in their latest round of selections, and is scheduled for discussion near the end of the summer.  They use a website called Book Movement to keep everything organized.  It’s a community of sorts for any and all manner of book clubs–a place where they can post updates to their members, publicly list the books on their reading list, and leave reviews of said books.  It’s also a place for them to download discussion guides for these books to be used at their meetings.

“Your book,” she said, “is on the site, but there are things missing.  Can you help us out with this?”

I took a look at the page and, sure enough, it’s rather empty except for an image of the cover, a link to buy it on Amazon, and the synopsis from the back.  Then I started searching the site for information on how to go about filling in the blanks.  And I found out how.  Boy, did I ever.

So, since Book Movement wants $100 for the privilege of hosting a discussion guide for ALT, I’ve decided to host it myself.  Now, I don’t know if any of you have ever tried to objectively write about your own work, but I have, and it’s a pain in the ass.    I have a few ideas on where I’d like to begin with this discussion guide, but seeing as how this is the internet, I figured I’d step away from the microphone for a few minutes and let you guys sound off.

What would you like to see in a discussion guide for ALT?  What do you think is worth discussing?  Post your responses  in the comments.  I look forward to reading them.

On that note, I’m going to try and get some sleep.

TK

P.S.  Saw Watchmen today.  Save your money.