Todd Keisling

Erica is awesome, not just because she takes care of me when I’m sick, or bakes a lot of treats for me, or even because she’s my best friend.  No, Erica’s awesome because, when I told her I needed to record some audio for the ALT trailer, she made a pop screen and had it ready for me when I got home. Observe:

Okay, seriously.

This was made using a wire paper holder for the base (the kind that keeps a paper upright while you type), two wooden crochet needles, an embroidery hoop, one nylon stocking, a USB microphone courtesy of Rock Band 2, and lots of tape.

Unfortunately I’m not very much of  a dramatic speaker, so my voice over was re-recorded (which is fine by me) with someone who knows what they’re doing.  But, we’ll have this contraption to remind us and inspire a good laugh.

TK

The amazing Emma sent me a pack of stills taken from the finished book trailer.  Details concerning When and Where the trailer can be viewed are still being worked out.  In the meantime, I thought I’d tease you with some of the shots.

The city.

Passive

Cryptic crosswords, breakfast style.

Repetition

Monochrome

Mr. Candle

I can’t wait to see this thing in motion.

TK

A million years ago I mentioned the possibility of ALT having a book trailer.  It was in the original plan, dating way back to ’06, and it never got off the ground for a whole bunch of reasons.

Well, after more than a year of talking about it, delaying it, talking about it some more, and then actually putting words on paper, I am happy to announce that my dear friend, Emma, and her film school friends are currently hard at work on making a book trailer for ALT a reality.  As in, right this very minute, while I type this.

She’s posting production stills on Twitter as they progress, and you can follow her right here.

I’ll also be posting stills as she sends them.

Stay tuned!

TK

63,054 words. TLM is officially longer than ALT, and it’s about 55%-60% complete.

Ten bonus points goes to the person who tells me which song I’m paying homage to in chapter 8.

More soon.

TK

From Ch. 7, The Wretched:

He stepped onto the street, his mouth open to voice a reply, when a rumbling in the earth ripped through the area.  There was a moment in which Quinn had no idea what was happening.  There was a pain in his back and bottom, and he realized he was thrown off his feet by the tremor.  When things settled and his clarity returned, he heard the girl shrieking for him to get up, get up right now and move his ass.  Among the droning and the trembling, he made out three, distinct words: “Don’t look back.”

It was his motor skills that betrayed her warning, acting instinctively to do the very thing she wished him not to.  Quinn climbed to his feet, looked back, and stood in awe.  What he saw made him think of the sea.

He’d seen the ocean as recently that previous Spring, when he, Wendy and some friends spent the week at the shore.  There they’d enjoyed days on the beach, in the sun, wading out into the lukewarm waters.  There were waves, then, but not the sort upon which a person could surf.  Waves like that were far more exotic, experienced only by those living in those far-off locales.  He, like the rest in less tropical places, saw waves of staggering height vicariously through television and movies.

The wave he saw before him did not move quickly, and it did not move without purpose.  It rose to a crest along the street from whence he came, crashing down in a methodic free-fall at the corner, and then paused in mid-height when it saw him standing there dumbfounded and frozen.  It was the single, largest thing Quinn had ever seen.  Had it not been the fear that rooted him in place, the sheer magnitude of it would have done the very same.

It hovered there, watching him with thousands of tiny, white eyes that blinked in together.  Then it began to writhe in upon itself, building up one layer atop the next, slowly climbing to its zenith.  Quinn’s mind filled in the rest.  He saw it crashing down upon him, a hundred-thousand Cretins and Yawning chomping and scratching and consuming him, one bloody bite at a time until there was nothing left.

The wave continued to build, and it was the girl’s disembodied voice that spurred him to move.

“Are you fucking crazy?”

His feet found the will, and they tore the rest of him free from the street.  He ran.

Exciting things on the way.  More soon.

TK

Click to enlarge.

Working on the second edition of ALT this weekend, with a little TLM work on the side along with whatever shenanigans I manage to get into.  This is a document I haven’t opened in nearly three years. It’s a source of nostalgia and a benchmark. I can see how far I’ve come as a writer since I brought Donovan Candle to life back in late ’06.

The revisions are minor. I’m cleaning up a little awkward structure here and there, and making a few tiny details gel with the new book. It’s not going to be a different story or anything, so you won’t have to worry about buying it a second time (but it’s totally fine if you want to). Most of the changes will be in the form of formatting. The font size is going to increase, the kerning’s going to be adjusted, and it should be easier to read.

The book will be available in print, as well as a number of digital formats. I intend to use Smashwords to handle those (which may mean a version for the iPad). This digital movement is a new thing to me, as it wasn’t as viable back when I first did this self-publishing thing, so ALT 2.0 is going to be a testing ground of sorts for TLM.

Right. I’ve waffled long enough. It’s late and I’m sleepy and goodnight.

TK

I meant to write this over the weekend, but I couldn’t be bothered.  It was a beautiful weekend.  It was a nice, relaxing weekend, during which I enjoyed four, blissful days away from the day job.  I set out to accomplish one goal: do as little as possible.  I’m happy to report I accomplished my mission.

Yesterday was my 27th birthday.  It came and went with little fanfare.  Thanks to those of you who wished me a happy day.

Now I’m left on April 6th with reflections and ruminations.  I am twenty-seven years and one day old now.  Usually I spend my birthdays in a sort of antisocial shell, in which I claim I don’t care when I really desire people to acknowledge that, hey, I was born on this day X amount of years ago.  It’s very egocentric, and not something I’m particularly proud of.  This year is the first year that didn’t happen.  I’m happy to say that.  Maybe it’s a positive sign of age and wisdom.  Maybe I just don’t give a shit anymore.

So, I’m 27 now.  I was 17 when I wrote my first book.  23 when I wrote ALT.  I was on the other side of 25 when I started working on THE LIMINAL MAN.  I’ve grown up a bit since I started the book–a fact which is helping its progress now more than ever.  Donovan Candle is, and has always been, a projection of myself in the future provided certain things do not change.  He is, by my rough figuring, about 39 years old.  The closer I get to his age, the more I feel I understand what I’m supposed to be writing about.  I understand more of what he’s supposed to feel, and I understand how he’s supposed to think.  When I was 23, I didn’t get that, and that shows in the book.  I’m trying to fix that now.

Progress on the novel has stopped this past week, as I had other real life matters to tend to.  Today I begin on what will probably turn out to be chapter six.  The screenshot I posted a couple of weeks ago showing the title of chapter seven, well, that’s probably going to be chapter eight.  I decided the second part of the book would need five chapters instead of four, so I have to jump back five days and cover some ground.  I don’t suspect it will be a long chapter.

Other ideas are brewing.  I think I mentioned a collection of stories a while back.  It’s still in the planning process.  These are stories you’ve never read, and stories I’ve not yet written (except for one), but I have a title for the collection.  It’s going to be called “Things I Left Behind.” It’s not going to be my usual sort of thing.  But! That’s quite a ways off.

I have to cut this one short, but I’ll be posting something in a few days concerning people you should be reading in the meantime.

Until then,

TK

Courtesy of The Vandals.

A real post will follow soon.  Until then,
TK