Book Review: Pond Life

Only put in about three hours since we last talked. I blame this on you. Because that's easier.

I read a book called Pond Life by Sam Kates; it's a collection of short horror stories--maybe horror isn't always the right word for each story, but creepy sure as hell describes them. I was thinking about how to review this book since I can't compare it to other novels, because it isn't actually a novel, per se. Given that I've published 4-5 short stories, and have a read a good number of them, including collections like this--I think I have some authority on it though.

The worst part about this book is the name. It doesn't nearly describe what you're going to experience when you begin reading, and I think that's to the detriment of Mr. Kates wallet--because the book is good. The best short horror story collection I've ever read is The Collection, by Bentley Little. Sam Kates barely misses this honor with these ten stories.

I don't want to spend my time describing each of the stories, because you can simply go here and read about them. What I want to do is describe the world that Kates creates in Pond Life.

He never tells you completely what is going on in each story, but sends you down a path of macabre and wonder that makes it hard to step away from the book at any given time. It's infuriating and yet wonderful how each story leaves you guessing at what happens to the characters in the long run. For the most part, Kates gives you a glimpse of the horror they're about to face, but then pulls you away--only to drop you into another story in which you witness a man murder his wife or the worst prison ever created.

One other thing I wanted to comment on is Sam Kates writing style. It's superb. He has a meticulous way with words that accurately paints a picture, but leaves enough room for the imagination to fill in blanks--which I always believe can create more powerful scenes than any writer can on paper.

If you're into short stories, this book is a definite buy. Kudos to Mr. Kates for creating these creepy stories.

Rating: 4/5
Recommendation: Buy

The Importance of Focus

I've put in 8 hours since my last update (I know, it's been a week--I've been busy). 

Today is the last day you can get twenty our horror novels for FREE: Free Horror

If you haven't picked up all those books yet, you should now, before you have to end up paying for them.

I've been thinking a lot about focus lately. I suppose around my junior or senior year of college I began bringing my laptop to class, and I honestly believe that is when my ability to focus intensely on one particular item at a time started degrade. I suddenly had every piece of information I could ever need in front of me, as well as all my idiot friends posting all the time (unless you've bought my book, then you're smart as a whip). It was virtually a foregone conclusion that I would stop paying attention. My grades didn't suffer, but my learning did.

This has transferred itself to every piece of my life now. I constantly zone out, check my phone, check my tablet, check my email, check facebook, check twitter, check my book stats. I check everything all the goddamn time AS IF IT MATTERS. 

It doesn't. None of it does. It's counterproductive. 

I had been writing two hours per day, with all those interruptions (and don't even get me started when someone starts posting politics on Facebook, that can take away HOURS of my time while writing). I cut it in half and now have a strict rule that only my Work In Progress can be on my screen. The results?

I'm getting through more of End Times (my next book) than I was at 2 hours a day. 

I'm trying to import focus into the rest of my life, and I think it would be smart for you to as well. Stop checking your phone when you're at work, talking with someone, or reading. Focus on what's at hand--THAT is what is important, not anything else. 

When Einstein theorized, he used a single notepad, and a pencil. It didn't matter where he was at. Literally, he could be in a crowded room with people talking all around him, and his focus was so intense that he kept right on going. Get that kind of focus, and success is the only thing that is going to be able to interrupt you.

What I Hope Busy Means

Put in probably around ten hours since the last time I came on here. 

As you can see, I'm reviewing novels now. If you're interested, check out the section. Caused some ruckus over at KindleBoards.com, but I promise I'm not as big of a dick as the review section makes me out to seem.

Reading my second indie novel ever, and it's much better than the first one. 

I'm constantly working, as you can see from my tongue and cheek post a week or so ago. I work fifteen hour days or more, every day. What do I consider work? I consider it anything that is producing a goal that I want--or hopefully producing it. So, literally, my entire day is filled with work. I take maybe a ten minute break when I wolf down food at night, and a ten minute break for lunch, but other than that I work.

My friend told me I was an idiot the other day for working on a Saturday. I told him that if I was still this poor in twenty years, then yes, I most definitely was an idiot for working like this. A lot of people die early from it, and honestly, that's something I worry about. Whether or not these crazy hours will end up shutting down my heart fifteen years earlier than it would have otherwise.

What I worry about more though, is that I won't make it. 

Thus, why I put in the hours every day.

I know beyond certainty that I want to write for a living. I want to get paid to write stories and, if need be, market them. This could all come to nothing though, could turn up in twenty more years that I'm still sitting here hammering on a keyboard while the computer screen glows into the night around me, and I'm broke and lonely because I spent my goddamn life working all the time.

Still, even that the thought of being lonely in my end doesn't bother me nearly as much as the thought of not having put in those hours and knowing that I never gave it a try.

I hope being busy, I hope putting in the hours and doing it intelligently, I hope it all means that one day these things will work out.

First Professional Review

Wrote a little over four hours since Monday.

My first professional review was done today. It's hard to explain what it feels like to be waiting on something like this, to see what someone else thinks about your work. I've heard from friends and a few people that don't know me, all of which have been decent. Here, though, is a guy who does this professionally and has never heard of me. 

What if the book doesn't add up? What if it gets a bad review? I mean, there's nothing I can do to hide that. I can't rewrite the book; I can't change what I've done. It's out of my hands, completely. It's a validation of fourteen months of work, and of five years of before that of working up to the point where you think you are capable of putting out a product that is ready for mass consumption. It's a validation of my life, at least in part.

Or a rejection of it.

Anyway, enough with the dramatic nonsense. The review was good: 4/5 stars on Amazon. Here's the link to the site: http://tucsoncitizen.com/wryheat/2012/10/11/book-review-dead-religion-by-david-beers/

Thanks to Mr. Jonathan DuHamel for agreeing to review it!

If you haven't bought it yet, whatcha waiting on, brah?

A Day in My Life

Wrote about seven hours since Thursday. Deleted an entire chapter, restarted it. Sucks because it slows me down but kicks ass because my book won't blow. Wow, that was a great sentence, huh? I can totally see Hemingway writing something like that.

Four blogs have agreed to review my book so far. Plus, I've been invited to the UGA author reception, where they will actually have my book for sale. Annnnddd I've been invited to take place in a Battle of the Books type bracket. Plus, the promo at the end of the month--which I'll announce soon.

I figured I'd give a day in my life right now, so you can all see how pathetic I am.

4:55 AM: Wake up and immediately think that ending my life would be preferable to waking up this early.

4:57 AM: Turn off alarm. Grab tablet. Check Facebook and email, because that shit is what is important in life, right?

5:00 AM: Dress in the shortest shorts I can and a cut off shirt. 

5:15 AM: Arrive in gym looking like I shop for shorts at Baby Gap and that my arms have never seen the sun. Ever.

5:30 AM: Grunt as I throw weight up.

5:45 AM: Finishing getting beastly. I have never had sex last as long as this workout does.

6:00 AM: Make twelve cups of coffee. Would gladly use drugs other than caffeine if they were legal and cheaper. Watch my dog glare at me because I know he has to piss.

6:01 AM: Begin writing.

6:15 AM: Think about quitting writing forever.

6:45 AM: Realize previous thought was horrible because I have been endowed with Ron Jeremy Legendary Status in the realm of writing.

7:!5 AM: Contemplate deleting the entire book.

7:45 AM: Finish writing. My brain is drained, my muscles are already beginning to become sore, and my roommates are finally waking up. My day has finally begun.

8:30 AM: With my dog still hating me but having pissed, I leave for school.

9:00 AM - 5 PM: I go to class and study. I make fun of people as much as possible as this brings me great joy. I get made fun of by people of lesser status than me and this brings me infinite sadness because I cannot harm them. I will most definitely anger at least one professor, perhaps two if I'm on that day. I have more on days than off days.

5 PM: Leave school wondering why I didn't just skip and write the whole day.

5:15 PM: Talk to my girlfriend who reminds me she likes nice things and I need to be able to buy them for her and am then reminded why I did not skip school and write--because I will always be poor as a writer.

5: 30 PM: Arrive home to more glares from my dog, Tucker. He hates me. He should. I am a horrible owner. I walk him. He is happy for a moment. I bring him back in; he hates me again.

6:00 PM: I market Dead Religion. This means I beg anyone I know, and a whole lot more people I don't know to read my book, review my book, and tell others about my book. There is nothing glamorous about this. At the end of each of these sessions I remind myself that I should quit writing, take my book offline, and probably cut my fingers off just to make sure I never do this to myself again.

7:00 PM: My fourteen hour day has ended. I am exhausted. My girlfriend is angry I haven't listened to her day. My dog is angry I haven't walked him more. My roommates are angry I haven't cleaned enough. My group members at school are mad I haven't done more and go to bed at 8 PM so they cannot call or text me after that time. I have made not a single person happy and have destroyed my body and mind.

8:00 PM: I get in bed. I read authors, who 80% of the time are about 100% worse than me but yet millionaires. There are exceptions to this, but they are so rare I want to rub sandpaper across my eyeballs most nights. 

9:00 PM: I fall asleep.

There you have. 16 hours all accounted for in the pathetic life of a newly published author with no fan base. If you ever think you have it bad, just come read this. 

At least 10 people will not commit suicide after reading how pathetic I am. I'm glad I've been able to help some.

Some Good News and Some Good News

Wrote 4.7 hours since Monday. Damn debate made me wake up late today.

My first interview is donezo: http://www.thebookcast.com/indie-author-david-beers-dead-religion/

I don't think I sound as polished as John Grisham, but I'm not a complete moron. I didn't go off about The Fed either, so that's a plus. I think I concentrate more on the art of writing than the book, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. If you have any thoughts on it, please let me know. Bill was extremely gracious and fun during the whole thing, and it was a great experience for me.

Got word back today that two book bloggers have agreed to review my book. This is super, super good news. One is in America and one is in the Philippines, and that's exciting. Now I just have to hope that I wrote a book they might like.

Using some facebook advertising. Want to see how well it works--hit 18,000 people today and spent $4.77 on it. Not bad. We will see about purchases. 

The new book is coming along good. It's so different from Dead Religion, and it's going to be long. Perhaps multiple books; I don't know yet. 

Including school, I'm working about 70 hours right now a week. I'm enjoying it though, and it appears some of this stuff is paying off.

Contest: I'm giving 10% of my profits to your favorite charity!

I'm not even going to attempt to count the hours I've racked up since the last time I wrote. I'll say I've been on a tear, already 9,000 words into the End Times. I'm hoping it's going to be around 100,000, so I'm moving along nice with that.

First, I want to say thanks to anyone who has purchased Dead Religion. I can't thank you enough. If you haven't, get it now, and gift it ten times (I kid, kinda): Buy Here. The reviews I'm getting back are all very positive, and that's good. I'm having trouble penetrating the horror market, everything so far has been word of mouth that stems from me or someone I know. Just gotta keep on keepin' on, though. Currently I put an hour a day into marketing, and I've been neglecting this blog. I'm going to get back onto blogging, Monday's and Thursday's--as it's necessary too. Holla at Meet My Husband for reminding me of that all the time.

So what's next? I have an interview tomorrow for my book, and I've done another interview that is going up at the end of November (takes forever, right?). Got something in the works for late October, kinda Halloween themed, which should be cool for any horror fans--teaming up with some other horror authors for it.

So, I'm going to do a pretty little contest that I doubt many people will participate in, but I'm going to give it a try anyway. This is what I want to do: whoever can convince the most people to buy my book, I'll do two things for them: 1) I'll name a character in End Times (my next book) after them, and they can decide the character attributes (up to a point, after all, creative control rests with me), and more importantly 2) I will dedicate 10% of all profits I make during the month of October with Dead Religion to a charity of your choice. 

Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me.

Now, this is how you prove to me you did it: Simply have someone email (DavidBeersAuthor@gmail.com), comment here, tweet me (@engineofsociety), or facebook saying they bought it because you told them to. That's it. I'll trust you. Fairly simple, fairly easy, and in the end we're doing a good deed with charity.

We'll do it from today to 10/1/2012 until 10/11/2012.

Questions? Just drop me a line the same way.

Hope you guys decide to participate.