Reconsidering My Andrew Patel Stories...

Earlier today I wrote a blog post that referenced how my supervillain protagonist tales "Ubermensch" and "Needs Must" starring Andrew Patel, a half-Indian biomedical engineer with a major Nietzsche obsession, weren't selling well. In 2013 I'd only sold nine copies of "Ubermensch" and three of "Needs Must," although people snapped up a lot of them for free when they were promos. This contributed to my decision to shelve a possible second set of Patel stories and put off creating an anthology of the first set, even though I already had a cover made.

However, I just re-examined my spreadsheet and although the stories didn't sell as well as "Beast of the Bosporus" and "I am the Wendigo" (my two best-sellers), there's a very big reason I'd overlooked--both stories were only made available in September.

They've only been available for a third of the year and yet "Ubermensch" exceeded the older and more popular (in its first few months at least) story "Melon Heads." If they sold consistently throughout the whole year at that rate, "Ubermensch" might exceed "Wendigo" (my best-seller, with 23 copies).

So although I'm still thinking superheroes/supervillains don't sell as well as creature or Lovecraftian horror, I won't be as harsh on Mr. Patel and friends. You may see the "Consequences" collection--four stories covering the battle between Patel and the superhero Silverbolt and its consequences--yet.

Review of My 2013 Kindle Sales

I've been keeping record of the short stories I've self-published for the Kindle and here are the results for 2013. The following are sales only--although I've given away a whole lot in promotions, promos are a means to making more short-story sales (in December I made only one sale until the "Christmas gift" and I made six more as a result) and in the long run, preparing the Kindle world for the coming of my novels.

*The best-seller has been "I am the Wendigo," with 23 copies sold. Since this is a reprint of a previous sale and is promoted as such, this isn't surprising.

*Next comes "The Beast of the Bosporus," a tale of Lovecraftian horror in the early modern Ottoman Empire. 17 sales. I've promoted this one via guest blog posts in different places and it's had reviews on multiple blogs. That it's been one of my best sellers hasn't been a surprise either.

*Now for the first surprise--"Illegal Alien." This has been a poor seller in the past even though it was one of my top-reviewed stories, but it takes third place this year with 13 sales. That's more than "Melon Heads," which was my first Kindle story and came out of the gate VERY strong.

*Now sales numbers start declining and the surprises grow less pleasing. My supervillain protagonist tale "Ubermensch" made nine sales in 2013, while the alternate-history spy tale "Picking Up Plans In Palma," one of my best-reviewed and thematically-deepest stories, has made only eight. "Melon Heads," once my best-seller, has sold seven copies. "Needs Must," the sequel to "Ubermensch," has sold only three. I set the Patel stories as freebies for a few days after Christmas and that helped move some copies of my other stories, but that's not the same as them selling themselves.

To be fair, I only published the Andrew Patel stories ("Ubermensch and "Needs Must") and "Palma" in September and I didn't promote them with blog posts here and elsewhere to the extent I did with many of my other stories. However, a faux crime news story intended to promote "Ubermensch" has gotten 25 hits but generated no sales so far. It hasn't been up all that long, so it may pan out yet, but still.

This will have its consequences. I'd planned two additional Patel stories to package with the first two in a Kindle anthology entitled "Consequences" (that I already have a cover for) but that's looking less likely. It might still happen, since they haven't had time to "earn their keep" the way the others have and a package of several stories might sell better than individual tales, but I'd still need to write the second pair and that might not be worth my time with a demanding graduate school schedule this semester. I'd also planned for another set of Patel stories featuring him facing off with a black-supremacist supervillain involved with the Nuwabian Nation of Moors, but that's definitely not going to happen.

A Roman Legion Arrives In Westeros...

Those of you who are fans of A Song of Ice and Fire and related fan-fiction have got another treat for you today.

It's entitled "A Legion For Westeros." The gist of it is that the Ninth Legion, thought lost in Britain (although some recent evidence have suggested it wasn't), materializes in Westeros when King Robert Baratheon is on his fatal hunt at the tail end of the first novel, A Game of Thrones. After some initial communication issues, King Robert and his entourage start to get on quite well with the new arrivals.

Much more of the story is posted on my alternate-history message board than has been posted (yet) on fanfiction.net. All I can say is that sorts of interesting changes in King's Landing result from this spanner being thrown into the works at a most crucial time.

And the legionaries haven't even gotten to King's Landing yet. :)

Jaime Lannister and Ned Stark, Friends? See "A Different Song"

A member of my message-board the other night started an alternate-universe Song of Ice and Fire fan-fic entitled "A Different Song." He's posted it on fanfiction.net, so people who aren't board members can read it and review it.

It diverges from canon around the time of the Battle of the Trident, in which Ned Stark becomes acquainted with the young Greatjon Umber. Rebel leader Robert Baratheon is wounded in his duel with Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen per canon and Ned takes the northern armies south to what he thinks is the undefended capital of King's Landing and his revenge on King Aerys II Targaryen for the hideous deaths of his father and brother. His scouts discover the Lannister armies approaching King's Landing and Ned heads south with his cavalry to try to delay them from entering the city, hoping to sow enough confusion for the rest of his troops to take them by surprise.

Only they arrive in King's Landing in time to witness the beginning of the infamous Lannister sack of the city. However, the Red Keep is under loyalist control and Ned heads there for a climactic encounter with none other than Jaime Lannister.

Only one kind of long chapter posted so far, but it's a lot of fun:

*Ned's interrogation of some Lannister bannermen with Jaime causes Jaime to realize his father Tywin intends to murder the entire royal family, including young children and Rhaegar's Dornish wife Elia Martell. Unlike in canon, there's now time to stop it.

*Ned takes on the infamous Gregor Clegane with Ice, a great-sword made of possibly-supernatural Valryrian Steel.

*A confrontation with the vile Amory Lorch, with the life of Princess Rhaneys at stake.

*Ned, faced with Jaime's desire to protect the rest of the royal family even though he's killed the king already, seems to have a softening attitude in regard to oaths.

And with several Targaryens still alive, Lannister common soldiers and nobles dead at the hands of the very angry Ned and his companions, and Northern soldiers in control of the Red Keep even though the rest of the city is falling to the Lannisters, the political situation is about to get really complicated.

I'm definitely keeping an eye on this one.

"Silverbolt" Strikes Again

ATLANTA, Ga.--A group of alleged members of the Cazadores gang have been taken into custody after another attack by the costumed vigilante known as "Silverbolt."

According to police reports, Adamsville residents first reported gunshots around 10 p.m. Monday evening. Police arrived at a two-story rental house near Collier Park within ten minutes to find six men all alleged to be members of the Cazadores, a Mexican street gang reputed for its involvement in the synthetic drug trade. Several were unconscious and all six had been bound.

Preliminary interrogation revealed they had been attacked by Silverbolt, a costumed vigilante who has been involved in multiple incidents involving Atlanta gangs over the last year including an incident in East Point that led to the arrest of a fugitive wanted for murder. Police spokeswoman Teresa Jackson said four of the men have outstanding warrants and three will remain in custody pending transfer to the appropriate jurisdiction.

Mark Alvarez Abano, 22, of Adamsville-Parole violation, possession of "Alpha Z," a type of synthetic cocaine, with intent to distribute.

Eduardo Sanchez Santana, 30, of Decatur-Assault and battery, including an incident where the victim was in a coma for two weeks, as well as tampering with a witness.

Jimmy Grissom Vela, 19, of Birmingham, Alabama-Probation violation, possession of "Alpha Z" with intent to distribute.

Jose Garza Molina, 20, of Atlanta-Public intoxication, turnstile jumping, disorderly conduct. Molina was released on bail soon after the incident.

Jackson emphasized materials found during the investigation of Silverbolt's attack will not be taken into account when the decision is made on how to prosecute any of the arrested men. The involvement of the vigilante raises the possibility of planted or tampered evidence.

Jackson had the following words for Silverbolt.

"Whoever you are, I don't doubt you mean well. However, we are a nation of laws and your activities undermine that. No citizen can be permitted to take the law into their own hands."

She called on Silverbolt to turn himself in or at the very least abandon his vigilante campaign, citing the risk to his own safety and that of innocent bystanders.

Adamsville residents also reported a series of mysterious fires near the house as well as the appearance of a dark-skinned man who was not taken into custody as a result of the incident. One of the arrested men referenced a "doctor" who had some kind of practice in the house, but refused to speak further. Police advised residents to be alert for any further suspicious activity.

So who is this "doctor"? And what happened in that house that night? Find out in "Ubermensch," available on Amazon.com. Resemblances in the rap sheet to any living, real persons are purely coincidental.

December Writing Contest Results

The second phase of my writing bet with my friend Lauren (an extension from the summer until the end of 2013) is now complete. For the month of December, I wrote around 11,678 words.

Here're the results:

1. THE THING IN THE WOODS is now complete, with a current word count of 47,377. I wrote the ending in a series of marathon afternoon writing sessions, an ending that impressed the woman in charge of one of my writing groups with its beautifully-described grotesqueness. I gave the female lead some POV sections of her own and gave the (human) villain some close-to-death POVs.

This isn't the first draft--I've cycled chapters through one of my writing groups as I've written them and in the last batch, rewrote chapters even after submission before critique. I'm thinking I'm on the third or fourth draft at present--well, partially through. I made another pass through the first four chapters yesterday, around 20% of the length by word count. I'm hoping to add some meat here and there to hopefully kick it to 50,000 words, but I've also made a lot of micro-cuts. I'm thinking it's going to be a wash.

2. Around 1,200 words were written for other projects. This includes developing the Catalina Merrill harem-intrigue subplot in one of the later WASTELANDS novels a bit further, some more back-story for THE CYBELE INCIDENT, and touching on environmental policy and solar power some in my political book.

Graduate school for the coming semester is looking nightmarish in terms of the number of books I need to read, so I want to get as much done with THING as possible before the next semester starts. I'd like to have my Cobb writing group go over the entire manuscript (like they did in 2012 for BATTLE FOR THE WASTELANDS) and make one last set of revisions before I start querying agents and publishers. THING's shortness is a strike against it and I'd like it to be as good as possible (and hopefully get some ideas to extend it) before I do anything. Given the time the group will need to read it, I doubt I'll be sending it anywhere until February.

I don't known if Lauren will extend the bet or not, but my friend Emily has a short story/novella idea of her own and so the competition will continue.

THING IN THE WOODS First-Ish Draft is Done

This announcement is a week or so late, but here it comes. The first draft of my "teen Lovecraftian horror novel" The Thing In The Woods is finished.

The story began when I was hanging around the Borders in East Cobb when I was in high school or college. I was reading a Call of Cthulhu role-playing game manual and came across the concept of one of those isolated small towns where Lovecraft depicted evil things afoot being suburbanized. The phrase they used was "supernatural Love Canal." What began as a short story turned into a novel (in terms of concept, as I actually hadn't written very much), a novel I neglected to focus on other projects like Battle for the Wastelands.

However, I eventually realized this was another project I could write fairly quickly, since I wouldn't need to do as much research as I would for other projects. As of last March, only 1,517 words had been written. By the time the summer writing challenge with my friends Nick and Lauren began, only 6,000 words had been written. Now it's 46,000 words long. I call it a "first-ish" draft because I typically write one or two chapters at a time, print and revise them, submit to writing group(s), and then revise based on their comment. The last two chapters, which one of my groups will consider on 12/29, would technically be at the "second draft" (or a "Cherie Priest first draft" because she considers an unrevised-but-just-finished project to be "draft zero"), but earlier parts will have been revised twice or more.

Then things will get a bit tricky. Many agents will not represent and many publishers will not publish a work that's this short. There are some presses that will, but oftentimes they will only put them out as eBooks, not as print books. Although the eBook market is rapidly growing and threatens to obliterate mass-market paperbacks, no print editions mean no book signings. That's a very good way to generate publicity and thus further book sales (I've covered a bunch in my years as a journalist--see here, here, here, and most recently on page 10 here). If book signings are not an option, I'm not sure how I'd do my bit to promote the book.

Fortunately, I've got ideas for at least three more scenes I can add that flesh out the book's female lead (she's a relative newcomer to the story and I fear it shows) and provide one last POV for the novel's (human) villain that's thematically fitting. Hopefully I can get it to 50,000 words. Then I can bring the completed novel before my other writing group (and some interested friends) and once I revise based on their opinion, it'll be ready to be shopped around. I'm thinking this will be done by the end of first quarter 2014, although graduate school could be a problem.

Fingers crossed. Wish me luck.

EDIT 8/20/17: The Thing in the Woods has since been sold to a small press and is now available on Amazon. Enjoy!

Search Called Off For Missing Dolbeau-Mistassini Family

DOLBEAU-MISTASSINI--The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have called off the search for a missing Dolbeau-Mistassini man, his wife, and son.

Jacques Plante, 35, his wife Hettie, 25, and their newborn son Achille were first reported missing Jan. 12, but heavy snow and storms prevented the search from beginning until Jan. 15. Searchers in snowmobiles, helicopters, and even on horseback searched the countryside surrounding Dolbeau-Mistassini all the way to Normandin. Bloodhounds found a trace of his scent at one point, but it was soon lost. The RCMP combed the countryside for two weeks before another winter storm forced them to pull back.

"Mr. Plante and his wife trapped animals in the countryside, but during the winter came in to work at the ski resort," said Corporal Andrew Johansson, who oversaw the search. "The Plante family cabin was empty when we found it."

The only evidence of recent habitation, however, was the fire ring out front. There had been a fire there during the last week or so, but not evidence of cooked food.

In response to questions about whether the family had been stranded in the countryside without food during the winter, Johansson reiterated the need to keep adequate supplies as well as emergency radios to call for help. In the event of an emergency, it's always best to stick together. Oftentimes when a person strikes out alone seeking help, they run into trouble and cannot help themselves.

So what happened to this Canadian family? Find out by reading "I am the Wendigo," available on Amazon.com.

Pets Going Missing in Geauga County

Chardon, OH--Geauga County residents have been reporting an uptick in the number of missing pets over the last two months.

Newly-installed County Dog Warden James Gibson said there were 20 missing dogs and 10 missing cats reported in October, up from 11 missing dogs and four missing cats this month last year. In September, there were 15 missing dogs and eight missing cats, an increase from last September's numbers of eight and two respectively.

What's more, no identifiable dead animals were found. A skeleton later determined to belong to a Labrador retriever was discovered in Munson Township, but no connection with any of the missing dogs could be made.

"It'd been picked clean," Gibson said. "Clean."

He suspected turkey vultures had been at the carcass for days before it was found. There were no other dead animals found on county roads or in any of the townships.

Gibson advised residents to keep their pets, particularly cats and small dogs, indoors unless on leashes. This is doubly true at night, when predators would be most active.

Leslie Groves, a resident of Claridon Township, lost her beagle Samwise in September.

"He got out when I was taking out the garbage," she said. "Wriggled between my legs and out the door he went."

Samwise had gotten out before, but had always come back within a few hours. It's now been over a month and no sign of Samwise, alive or otherwise. Groves doesn't know what she's going to tell her daughter Abigail, 10.

Andrew Steinberg, a resident of the Huntsberg township, said the pet disappearances began increasing when some forests near Chardon-Windsor Road were cleared to make room for a new shopping center, the first new commercial construction in the area since 2008.

"Dozens of acres of forest, clear-cut," he said. "Whatever's living there, if it's still alive, is having it make its living elsewhere."

He suspects the perpetrators are coyotes, although he admits he hasn't actually seen any coyotes even at night.

Alva Jones, a representative of Donner Construction, denied any connection between the new development and the missing animals.

"There was no sign of coyotes or any other large predator when we surveyed the land," he said. "We found what looked like a squatter camp, but it had been abandoned for some time."

He offered his condolences to those missing their pets.

So just what has been driven out of the forests and forced to prey on cats and dogs in order to survive? Find out by reading "Melon Heads" by Matthew W. Quinn, available on Amazon.com.

November Writing Contest Results

Now that I'm done with graduate school for the semester, I can post about the results from my November writing contest with my friend Lauren.

My most important accomplishment this month was taking THE THING IN THE WOODS from 36,294 to 40,579 words. That's over 4,000 words. All that's left to do is write the climactic confrontation with the titular Eldritch Abomination and I'll be done with the first draft. My plan is to bring the remaining chapters before one of my writing groups in December and then the whole thing before my other writing group in early January. Then comes the search for agents, publishers, etc. THING will probably be rather short, which could be tricky.

I also managed to cut BATTLE FOR THE WASTELANDS down from 99,631 (100,000 as far as publishers are concerned, since one always rounds) to 97,427 words. This I accomplished through lots of little cuts, like replacing "looked to the left" with "looked left." Many small cuts, added up, equal lots of cut words. All this was done without affecting the macro plot any.

I also worked on some old short stories that might be Kindle fodder. I brought one before my writing group this morning and got some advice that could lead to two versions, one a supernatural horror tale and the other a purely natural "animal story" that could be sent to a pricier market.