Izanami's Choice, by Adam Heine

Well, it's been almost a year since I blogged, but this great book by my friend Adam Heine is now available for pre-order, and I wanted to tell some people about it, in case anyone still reads this thing. Here's the jacket copy from Goodreads:

Samurai Vs. Robots.

Progress. Murder. Choice.

In 1901, the Meiji Restoration has abolished the old ways and ushered in a cybernetic revolution. Androids integrate into society at all levels, following their programming for the betterment of every citizen, as servants, bodyguards, and bureaucrats. Jinzou are the future. Japan is at the threshold of a new tomorrow!

As a ronin steeped in the old ways, Itaru wants nothing more to do with the artificial creations posing as human. But when a jinzou is suspected of murder, he's pulled into a mystery that could tear the nation apart.

Malfunction or free will? When is a machine more than just a machine?

I always enjoy Adam's writing, but this story in particular captured my attention with its lush retro-future Japan setting, and its ability to ask compelling questions about androids, artificial intelligence, and morality without gumming up the story works of pacing, action, and intrigue.

It's full of combat, and adventure, and escapes, and murderous robots, and just enough mystery to keep you guessing what everyone (and every droid and AI) is up to right up until the end.

I had the good fortune to read an early version of this Novella, and it doesn't come out officially until September 1st, but you can pre-order it now, and there may be some advance e-galleys available for those willing to write an honest review.

You should definitely get your hands on it one way or the other if it sounds like your kind of thing.

Find it on: Amazon | Broken Eye Books | Goodreads

Torment, Kickstarter, and the Brave New World of Crowdfunding

At the risk of alienating a few of you, I'm going to post about something different today. I know it's usually books, writing, publishing, and screaming goat remixes of Taylor Swift songs around here, but today I want to tell you about something that's a pretty big deal.

This is one of those things where the voice of one silly old man is of little consequence, but still:

First, watch this video, in which Amanda Palmer illustrates what the spirit of crowdfunding is far better than I ever could (pointed to me by Shaun Hutchinson):



See what I mean? The world is changing, Hobbits, and it's changing for the better. The days of venture capitalists, distributors, and publishers (this term means something slightly different in the software industry, but whatever) telling us all what we want are over. Or at least they're soon to be. It's time for power to the people. Time for consumers (think fans, it's such a nicer word) to tell the people who make awesome stuff (as authors, this can be us sometime very soon, dear readers), what they want, when they want it, and how much they want to pay for it.

I'm sure I don't have to explain how amazing this is to all of you, but think of it this way: when you want a green pepper, because you're cooking fajitas or whatever, what do you do? You hop in your gas guzzling vehicle, your tires scour the highway all the way to the local grocer, and you buy a vegetable that laid down such a fat carbon footprint to even get to your state in the first place, at least three fourths of the price you're paying is overhead, before you even begin to consider the social and environmental impact the agricultural-industrial complex.

Word to your mother.

Now imagine if you could invest a hundred bucks a month ahead of time, and if 100 other people from your neighborhood did the same, and that money created a co-op that provided locally grown vegetables at cost (sometimes slightly above or below, but with extras) to everyone involved? Pretty sweet, right? And on top of cutting out the environmental impact (not a huge factor with games OR books, but still important) we're talking about a new dynamic that eliminates the need for corporate greed, golden parachutes and all that capitalist nonsense.

The pepper thing is a weak analogy, I know, but that's how my simple mind understands crowdfunding, at least for now. And as far as I'm concerned, it's a revolution (Kickstarter, not green peppers).

So, finally to the actual point of this post, yesterday, at 10:02 AM, I took this screenshot:

What that means, for the uninformed, is that some friends of mine raised $250,000 dollars for a game they plan on designing, in just over one hour. ONE HOUR.

Before I get to how amazing that is, and how happy I am for them, let me give you some background.

In 1999, I played probably the greatest computer role playing game ever made. It was called Planescape: Torment. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. I loved it mostly for it's design at the time, but now, over a decade later, as a writer, I can appreciate it even more for the sheer genius of its storytelling.

Anyway, before I get all nostalgic, the point is they're making a spiritual successor. It's called Torment: Tides of Numenera (obviously) and it is going to be pretty amazing. I should know, because one of my best writer friends and internet homies, Adam Heine, is one of the designers. The lead designer, who I also know a little bit, through Adam and Facebook, is Colin McComb, who is also very talented individual.

Adam is a very dear friend to me. He's a critique partner of mine, and I've read a lot of his work, and as far as I'm concerned, he's got a very bright future as an author, regardless of what happens to him as a game designer. So ... I can't even really express in a blog post how happy I am for him, but this post isn't so much about a bro-crush man-gush as it is about what this means to all of us: we aspiring writers, we authors, and we publishing professionals.

More on all that in a minute. For now, I've got to do my shout outs.

• Brian Fargo is the boss. He runs inXile, which has a history of making awesome shit
• Colin McComb is the Lead Designer, he also writes books
• Adam Heine is a Designer, but we know him already
• Monte Cook authored the table top RPG system the game is based of off: Numenara
• Shanna Germain was a huge help with that, and she also writes and edits books
• Chris Avellone had Colin's job for the first game, but he gives the new one one thumb up (this dude is so cool, he has his own Wookiepedia entry)

Actually, I'm in so much shock over here, I'm just going to quote Adam's post about all this bizness (or paraphrase it, rather):

Adam, Colin, and Brian et al have 30 days to raise almost a million dollars, so go pledge now! GO! GO! GO!

Wait. What is this? Where are we?

You may recall Adam is a designer/writer for a computer game called Torment: Tides of Numenera, which is a successor to a game he helped make 14 years ago called Planescape: Torment. The new Torment will only happen if they reach their funding goal on Kickstarter. Hence the noise.

Planescape what now?

Planescape: Torment. A computer role-playing game from 1999 that won a lot of awards and became the standard for deep characterization and storytelling in PC games (a standard which many feel has not been met since). It didn't sell very well at the time, but it has gained a lot of fans since then.

Why should you give them money?

If Torment reaches its goal, it means Adam will have a job (the extent of which depends on how much Torment exceeds its goal).

You should give money to the Kickstarter if:

• You are a fan of Planescape: Torment, or have even ever heard of it.
• You are a fan of RPGs with deep, emotional stories.
• You like what you see in their pitch video or on the Kickstarter page.
• You like Adam's writing and want to see more of it (I should add here that one of the rewards includes a novella written by Adam - but this reward my be gone by now, check the website for more detail). NOTE: Matt here, I have read two of Adam's full length novels, and some of his other work, and I can tell you: they're awesome.
• You like Adam and want to help him have something approximating job security. NOTE FROM MATT AGAIN: This dude is a modern day saint. I'm not kidding. In case you weren't aware, he lives in Thailand, and is the foster dad for like 40 kids.

Whether you pledge or not, please spread the word!

Actually I don't know what pledging is. Or Kickstarter.
I probably should've asked this first...

Kickstarter is a funding platform for any kind of creative project. You pledge money to projects that you want to see happen, because most of them won't happen without your help. If the project doesn't meet its goal, then they don't take your money (which is why they say "pledge" instead of "pay" or "donate").

Learn more about Kickstarter here, and read here for how it's been used in the recent past.

-----------------------break it on down-----------------------

Okay, so that was basically just a near-exact copy of Adam's post, (and UPDATE: a lot of that is moot now, since they're funded) but what I really want to blog about today is the whole concept of crowdfunding in general. In a world where corporations allow the bottom line to run everything with so much power that crap products like the shake weight, spray on hair, and chicken mcnuggets actually exist and thrive, crowfunding allows really cool shit to be made, with super low margins (that's an MBA term for that ass), because fans of that stuff can essentially invest directly in it's creation.

It's not quite that simple, obviously, but it is that awesome.

UPDATE: I wrote most of this post at 11 AM yesterday, but now that's it 3 PM, and my soul-sucking corporate day job shift is over, the project is over 99% funded (out of a goal of $900,000).

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes you shed a tear of joy for humanity. When you sit in a dull grey office all day, and you work your ass off for someone else's benefit, it can get pretty depressing. But then you see something like this, and you remember the human race is fucking awesome.

UPDATE TWO: Looks like they got funded by the time I got out to my car. Congrats, ladies and gentlemen!

UPDATE THREE: Torment: Tides of Numenara broke the all time Kickstarter record for the fastest time to earn a million dollars: Geek Native. If you think about that for a second, you'll feel high.

Also, I just realized, when I was young, I used to look a lot like The Nameless One, from the first Torment. I was like 19 here:

And here, which was like maybe 1997. Not long before Torment:

See what I mean:

I might not be blue, but I have the desperate, want-to-be dread-lock look down pat, don't you think?

And finally, something for the poets:

Oh How I Miss You Blogfest!

It's here! The brainchild of Andrew Leon, like any blogfest, it's not going far without the power (and the linky list account) of Alex J. Cavanaugh, Ninja Captain of the good ship Blogosphere. The third co-host, Matthew MacNish, was brought in for his good looks and great taste. Wait. That sounded wrong.

Anyway ...

The bloggers we really miss…

and the ones we would really miss!

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them!

List one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

Our blogger friends are special – time to let them know! 

The bloggers I miss:

Candace Ganger, AKA Candyland Gang, AKA Bethany, AKA The Jaded Wonder. Candace is one of my dearest friends, which is awesome, considering we've never met. She does still blog occasionally, but when I first started out, she was blogging every day, and every single post was a gut-splitting wealth of inspiration, tears, laughter and awkward hugs. I miss your posts almost as much as I miss you, Beth.

Kaye Em Evans. I still keep up with Kaye on Facebook, so it's all good, but I do miss her blog posts. She was another of the first blogs I ever started reading, and her posts were always fun and insightful.

The World in Miniature. This one is kind of cheating, because Bryan actually still blogs, and his cartoons are hilarious, but I really miss the flash fiction feature he used to do, and while I know his career has taken off in the last couple years, and he probably has very little time for blogging, I would love to see more flash fiction on his blog again. I guess I better write some.

The bloggers I would miss:

Katie Mills AKA Creepy Query Girl. Katie is one of my favorite bloggers. I feel like we've been through the trenches together. We both started out around the same time, and became friends quickly, but then we've both been through our share of rejections. Katie is a fighter though, and a talented writer, so as long as she doesn't give up, I know I never will.

Adam Heine. Adam is the Mastermind of Nerd-dom. I know of no better chart-maker, and sometimes it seems like Adam and I may have been separated at birth. I mean how could someone I've never met, who lives on the opposite side of the world, love exactly all the same things I love, and with the same passion? It doesn't seem possible.

Susan Quinn. Susan is the smartest lady I know. Literally. She's a rocket scientist, and she's the most successful self-publishing entrepreneur I know. Her posts on publishing, and craft, are particularly well thought out, researched, and presented. I don't know what I'd do without Susan.

Don't forget to visit everyone involved:

State of Projects

I was inspired by my good friend Adam's post yesterday, to take stock of my writing, so that I can feel good about what I have accomplished, and stop worrying about what I haven't (yet). Go read his post, first, because Adam is awesome, and you should never miss out on his blog.

Now, here are where things stand for me:

WARRIOR-MONKS: A YA Rural Fantasy, the query for which you've probably read. The first manuscript I ever finished, the one that taught me how to actually write (novels) and took up nearly four years of my life with joy, pain, elation, and enlightenment. This book is essentially shelved. It does still have a full out with one agent, and there are a few queries un-replied to, but I'm ready to move on.

RUNNING FROM RUBY RIDGE: A YA Contemporary Thriller. The draft is 95% done, and then it will be on to revision. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say that writing your second manuscript is so much easier than your first. Sure, it will be like 8-9 months by the time I'm done with this one, but that sure beats years. After a round or two of revisions, it will be off to critique partners.

SECRET PROJECT: A MG project of undisclosed genre. I can't talk about this one yet, but I've been brainstorming it for a while now, and I have over 10,000 words of outlines, character sheets, plot notes, and other sundry details. Hopefully when this is done and sold, it will finally justify my membership at the group blog: Project Middle Grade Mayhem.

SUPERBAD KICKASS (not the actual working title): A YA Non-Super-Hero Comedy. This is just an idea, really. I have some character sketches, but they're still quite thin and loose. I don't even know what's supposed to happen in the story yet. This is something I plan on collaborating on with one of my favorite people in the world. She knows who she is.

In addition to all these novel-length manuscripts (or dreams of manuscripts), I have a bunch of short fiction that is published in various venues. Most of you have probably already read it (and one story needs to be re-published, because it got taken down), but I'll give you a brief summary here, in case any of today's visitors are new readers:

The Deafening Silence: a bit of adult Memoir, published in the anthology: Literary Foray, from Static Movement Press. You can read it for free, at The World in Miniature.

Babysat by the Man in the Moon: a bit of MG Memoir/Fiction crossover, unpublished. You can read it for free, at The World in Miniature.

Dragon on my Back: a bit of adult Horror, published in the anthology: Literary Foray, from Static Movement Press. This one is temporarily unavailable online.

Lake Argo: a bit of adult Fantasy published in Vine Leaves Literary Journal Issue One. You can read it online for free, at that link.

Cubic: a bit of adult Humor/Horror, published at Underneath the Juniper Tree.

Other than all that stuff, if you simply can't get enough of me (yeah right) there are several links to interviews, guest posts, and other non-fiction stuff on my Creative Writing Page.

Now, this post has certainly gone on long enough, don't you think? In the spirit of disclosure, why don't you share about a project of yours in the comments? If you're not ready, you can certainly ask me about any of mine.

Finally, big day today. If you haven't: VOTE!

You Guys Really Missed Out

First of all, congratulations to the Atlanta Braves, who clinched a playoff spot last night with their walk-off defeat of the Miami Marlins, but especially to Kris Medlen, who tied a record set in 1950-53, by Whitey Ford and the New York Yankees. Kris is the best pitcher in baseball right now, but make no mistake, this is a record that can only be won by a great team.

Now, that's not what I meant when I titled this post. You missed out because one of my best internet writing friends has changed the rules on his First Impact Critiques. Adam Heine is one of the smartest guys I know. He's also one of the kindest and most giving, but that's beside the point. The point is that he has this series he does, critiquing anything from queries, to jacket copy, to first pages, to even short synopses. To quote him "basically anything under 300 words that is used to answer the question, 'Do I want to read this book?'"

He's still open to accepting submissions for the critiques, but due to lack of submissions, he's had to stop offering the prizes. He used to give away Amazon gift cards, or even better, critiques from his agent, Tricia Lawrence, to readers who commented with their own feedback on the posts.

I'm here to tell you that you should send him something. Yes, even if I've already critiqued your query, you should send it to Adam. He's very good at what he does. His forte is Science Fiction and Fantasy, but I've seen him critique everything from Erotica to Mystery, and he always does so with skill and style.

I don't know if he'll open up the prizes again if I send him enough people, but it doesn't matter. The critiques themselves are worth it on their own. So head over to his blog, read Pawn's Gambit, check the First Impact page, and hit him up. You won't regret it.

Be Inspired - Tagged by Autumn

Man, I love the fall. Football. Baseball. The weather cools off. I came outside this morning, just after 5 AM, and there was frost on the windshield of my car. The air felt crisp. My dog hurried with her business. Autumn is my kind of season. Jeans and hoodies. Craft beer. Great sports.

Anyway, I got tagged in one of those things. You know, those posts that people tag you in? I was tagged by Michael Offut, and I then proceeded to forget about it, as I often do, even though I kind of wanted to do this one. I've wanted to talk about this book for a long time. So, then I got tagged again, by Adam Heine (who was tagged by Authoress) and I realized I better just do it, before I forget (reading back over the posts, these might be two separate post-chain tags, but whatever, I'm combining them here).

The idea is to answer some questions about your WIP. I'm not going to talk about my current WIP, because I'm still drafting, but I will talk about my last WIP, which is technically still in progress, because I haven't sold it.

So that's an image of The Eight Principles of Yong up there, separated into individual strokes. The character means 'permanence' in Chinese Hanzi and Japanese Kanji. East Asian Calligraphy features prominently in my manuscript WARRIOR-MONKS.

Now, to the questions:

What is the working title of your book?

WARRIOR-MONKS.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Well, I actually went to reform school as a teenager, and one day the thought occurred to me: what if I wrote about that experience, except I made the school (mostly) cool, instead of some place you would want to run away from? Except, the kids do still want to run away, at least at first, because they're punks.

In what genre would you classify your book?

I call it YA Rural Fantasy, which is obviously a play on Urban Fantasy, but works, because it applies. It could also fall under Contemporary Fantasy or Magical Realism, but I don't worry too much about putting things in neat little boxes.

Who would you pick to play your characters in a movie adaptation?

This is going to sound like blasphemy to some of you out there, but I really don't think about this much. Do I think about my books being made into movies? Hell yes. But I don't think much about the actors, which is pretty odd, because my mother was an actress and my father was a stage manager. There is one character in my book I would love to see played by Ken Watanabe, or maybe Hiroyuki Sanada.

Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book?

A reluctant juvenile delinquent must achieve knowledge of self and let go of resentment amidst magic and martial arts at the world's strangest reform school.

Is your book already published?

Nope. Still working on getting an agent. Considering shelving this one for a while if the last full I have out comes back with a big R.

How long did it take you to write this book?

Write? I must assume you mean draft, because while I haven't made any changes in months, I won't consider it done until an editor has paid me for it. It took me just under a year to draft.

What other books in your genre would you compare it to?

None. I'm not trying to be a pretentious ass-hat, but I've never read anything like this. I suppose it's a little like Harry Potter, because there is a special school, but the similarity ends there. I suppose it's a little bit like Stormdancer, by Jay Kristoff, because it's a YA Fantasy steeped heavily in Japanese mysticism. But really, I haven't read a book like this.

Which authors inspired you to write this book?

I've wanted to write a novel ever since I was a little kid, so I guess J.R.R. Tolkien. It always comes back to Tolkien for me.

What else inspired you to write this book?

Well, other than my own past experiences, mentioned above, it was my love of Eastern thought, and things like tea, Zen, Japanese swords, Yoga, meditation, martial arts, and kicking ass.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Well the setting is mostly absolutely authentic, because I actually lived in that part of the world as a teen. Also a lot of the story is based heavily in the truth of my own life. Other than that, there is a lot of awesome magic, weapons, martial arts like Kenjutsu and Aikido, and there is even some kissing, for the ladies.

Now, as far as actually tagging other people like you're supposed to, I'm not into it. I don't like tagging people, because I don't like leaving anyone out. And besides, I'm no good at following up to make sure they do it, anyway. Also, this post is way too long already. Happy Tuesday!

AIR PIRATES by Adam Heine

First off: sorry for the double post today. I scheduled myself into a corner, but both posts were too important to move. If you took the time to read (and comment on) both, then you rock. If not, that's okay, too.

Okay, guys. This is very exciting for me, because it takes us back to one of the coolest things I used to do on this blog. Sharing examples of successful query letters. I finally get to add another one to that list.

And this one is going to be very cool, because it comes from my good friend Adam Heine, who not only wrote an awesome book, but just recently landed his agent. So, if you've never read one of these before, it can get a little confusing. I like to do tag-team analysis, so here is how it works: Adam's query will be in plain text. Adam's analysis of why he thinks his letter might have worked, will be in blue. My random interjections, stupid jokes, and occasional tidbits of sage wisdom, will be in scabby-red (note that my blog design template turns hyperlinks into a more blood-red).

Okay, here goes...

Honestly, I don't actually KNOW why my query worked, but I guess it did (11 to 17% request rate, depending on how you count). I'll try to say why I did what I did. We'll see if that helps.

It does.

For Hagai's 17th birthday, he receives a stone from his mother that shows visions of the future. The thing is, Hagai thought his mother was killed ten years ago.

The Hook. It's hard to get everything critical in just a sentence or two. I think the trick is knowing what's NOT critical. Here, I wanted his age, the inciting event (the stone) and why it was inciting (the sender, his mother, is supposed to be dead). I'd cut "that shows visions of the future" too, except then he just gets a stone, which is somewhat less exciting.

I get the feeling Adam's just being humble here, which I completely respect, but I'll go a little deeper. The key, IMHO, to what he's done here, is how he conveys so much information in so few words. One way he achieves this is by combining Hagai's age with his birthday, which is masterful, if you ask me. Another is that he deftly weaves backstory into the same two sentences as his hook and inciting incident (which may or may not be the same thing, depending on your story and your query). The final thing, and this is not always that easy, depending on your character, is Hagai's name. Knowing Adam, and knowing his love for all things Asian (much like my own) I get a hint for the kind of world he's built, just from his MCs name. It's subtle, but it's there. This can be very important in some genres, like fantasy, or completely unnecessary, like in contemporary romance (assumption).

The bravest thing Hagai's ever done is put peppers in his stew (People seem to like this line. I guess this is what they call "voice." Fortunately for me, it's the same voice I use in the novel, so I didn't have to cut it.), It is voice, but it also characterizes our MC a bit, so again, Adam's killing two birds with one stone. but when the stone shows his mother alive and in danger, he sets out to find her (increased stakes and what Hagai does about it). Initial conflict. Air pirates are hunting the stone too, and it's not long before a young pirate named Sam nicks it. Hagai tracks Sam down and demands the stone back--politely, of course, because Sam's got a knife.

Here's where things got tricky. The book actually has two POVs: Hagai and Sam, but every attempt I made at writing a query that mentioned this, or that restarted the story from Sam's POV, didn't work. The best I could come up with was to make Sam the Second Character in the query and show his goals. The hard part was ignoring all of his backstory which, honestly, is like 2/5 of the novel.

I absolutely subscribe to Adam's method, here. I'm sure someone out there has done it, but I cannot personally recall reading a query told from more than one point of view (usually 3rd person) where I thought it worked. A query is not a synopsis, and it really only has one simple job: entice an agent to read some pages.

Oddly, Sam offers him a job. He needs someone non-threatening to consult a seer hiding among the monks (a couple world tidbits here), and he reckons Hagai is as non-threatening as they come. Hagai agrees (see how quickly I came back to Hagai?), Yep, we do, and it's a point well taken. The novel is almost always going to be so broad and complex that there is no way to fit it all in a query letter. Just cover the key elements. intending to turn Sam in at the first opportunity. But when the seer says Sam is the key to finding his mother (increased stakes), Hagai chooses his mother's life over the law (what Hagai does about it). This is called choice. When I give query advice, I tell people to focus on the three Cs: Character, Conflict, and Choice. Who is the story about, what do they have to overcome, and what will happen if they can't (or choose not to)? Adam's covered all of them succinctly, and in an entertaining way.

Though Sam has the Imperial Navy and the world's most ruthless pirate on his keel (more stakes) and voice, Hagai joins Sam's crew (more Hagai doing), headed toward some godforsaken island he's never heard of (also this whole sentence gives a couple more world tidbits). He doesn't trust Sam, and the stone haunts Hagai with visions of his own death (more stakes? Honestly at this point I think I was just slapping stuff on). This also sets up some rules of how your world works, assuming the stone is some kind of magical artifact. Nonetheless, he's determined to change the future and find his mother, if it's not already too late (parting emotional shot). This also summarizes the conflict, stakes, and choice in one decent sentence.

AIR PIRATES is an 84,000-word YA steampunk adventure (genre, but not a very clear one), I like genre-bending, I do it myself. set in an alternate world (a phrase I felt necessary to use only because "steampunk" usually implies "19th Century Earth;" I still don't know if it was necessary). I think the clarity is there. I think it would appeal to readers of Scott Westerfeld's LEVIATHAN trilogy (comparison; I usually don't do these at all because they're too much of a stretch, but after reading Leviathan, I felt like it was exactly the sort of thing I would write (if I was a genius). The wording is critical though: "I think it would appeal to readers of" rather than "my book is as awesome as"). At this point, with a query this good, I don't think the comparison was necessary, and I'm sure Adam's agent didn't use it in her decision whether or not to read pages, but this is a good example of how to handle it. My short story "Pawn's Gambit," set in the same world as AIR PIRATES, has appeared in BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES and THE BEST OF BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES, YEAR TWO anthology (professional credits; I'm lucky to have one, but for years I left this part blank, and that's okay too). Yep, it helps, but is not required. If you have no credits, just leave it blank.

So, just to try to summarize, if I can wrap my head around all this, I think the biggest strong point in Adam's query writing skills comes in his ability to combine ideas he needs to convey into single concepts. Like a sword with a soul-trap enchantment, it accomplishes two (or more) things at once. This is especially evident in his opening hook, but if you look closely, his query letter is full of examples of it.

He doesn't spend a lot of time going into detail about the conflict, and in fact we have very little idea about most of the plot, but it works just fine, because we know just what we need to know, and nothing more. Keep in mind that an agent will see the pages to get an idea of the writing, and will then go to the synopsis to find out what happens (plot).

What do you guys think? Can you make heads or tails of all this colored text? Does Adam's book sound as awesome to you as it does to me? Do you like Naruto? What about Avatar, the Last Airbender (no, not the film)?

NOTE: Adam is also going to be featured on Mother. Write. (Repeat.) today, chatting with his agent, Tricia, about how they hooked up (not like that). So you should definitely read that as well.

The Follower Project

I have a silly goal.

I would like to try to reach 1000 followers before I start querying.

Hopefully this year.

That's an arbitrary number, and I know agents really don't care how popular your blog is, but it's just something fun to think about while I do my best at this networking with other writers thing.

Lately the growth of my follower count has been stagnant. Don't worry, I know why. It's because I haven't been discovering many new blogs lately.

I'm an extremely prolific blog reader, and a very loyal visitor to blogs I like (as many of you know), but one thing I don't do (which I probably should) is poach followers. If you don't know what that means, don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. Poaching followers is basically just visiting the blogs of people you see commenting on blogs you read.

You visit their blog, follow it, comment about it, say hello, and hope they'll do the same for you. I'm not saying I've never done it, because I have, but I don't do it often, mostly because I'm just lazy.

So anyway, I had an idea. If I was smart, like Alex, I probably would have planned ahead and made this into a blog fest, but no one's ever accused me of being smart. So I'm just going to do it today, and see what happens. The thing about blogging is that there's so much out there. So much content, and so many bloggers, it's hard to know who to follow. It's not all about who will follow back, because that's just selfish, but that is part of it. Mostly (at least for me) it's about how do I find blogs to connect with that have interesting content, which is actually relevant to what I'm trying to accomplish?

Well. I'll tell you how. You ask your friends. The people who run the blogs you already know and love. Chances are they read some great blogs you've never heard of.

So what I'm going to do, right now, is point you all to five blogs I love, that I think might be flying under your radar. They'll all be people I've never blogged about before (or at least not for a long time). I'll list them here, then you will go follow them, and tell them I told you to. That will make them like me even more than they already do (which is a lot).

Before I get to what I want you to do, I'll list the blogs. Here:

Micahel Offut - Micheal runs slckismet, and he's an interesting guy. He talks about books, and publishing, and his honesty is refreshing.

Adam Heine - Adam has an awesome last name. Add a -ken and he'd be a great beer. He also runs Author's Echo. Adam blogs about writing too, but he also loves Anime and Manga, and knows more about board games than anyone I know.

Sarah Ahiers (Falen) - Sarah runs Falen Formulates Fiction. She's a writer too, and knows the second most about board games of anyone I know. Her dog, Yvie, also writes the funniest Friday Funny posts.

Hannah Kincade (Palindrome) - Runs Musings of a Palindrome, and like Sarah, she's one of my Minnesota peeps! She also blogs about writing and publishing, and always finds the most interesting inspirational pictures (not inspirational like that, I mean as in inspiring you to write, duh). She also just got back to blogging, and we missed her so!

And here's one I know most of you don't know about, because it's nearly brand new. YA Confidential is run by some of the dopest ladies out there. Yes, it's a group blog, and I don't know if they have a follow back account, but this one is worth it for the fun design alone.

So. There's five blogs you should be reading and following. You know the rules. Go visit those links, follow the blogs, and told them I sent you.

Now here comes the important part. I don't want to just poach your followers, the people commenting on all of your lovely blogs. I want you guys to tell me who to go follow. Not just because they'll follow back (although that would be cool), but because you think I'd enjoy their blog, and you have an inkling that I might not already be aware of it.

You don't have to give me five, but please give me at least one blog you read in the comments, that you think I would like, and might not know about. You don't have to go through all the work to code the html. Just give me the link, I can copy and paste it into my browser.

Oh, and if you follow me, and lurk, and I haven't visited your blog to follow back, shame on me. Please tell me so in the comments, and I'll remedy that right now.

I don't expect this to astronomically improve my followers in one day, but it may be a repetetive theme for me, and if I get to 900 this year, I'll hold an awesome contest to get to 1000, and give a bunch of cool shit away.

NOTE: Google Friend Connect and Blogger have really been effing up the widget lately. If you visit a blog, and can't find the follower widget, hit F5 on your keyboard, to refresh the page, and it should come up.

ANOTHER NOTE: For the love of all things holy, if you run a blog, and your follower widget isn't right at the top, like mine, what are you thinking? Are you trying to make it hard for people to follow you?