Forrest Aguirre, in the Leaves

Friends and fellow book lovers, my novel, Heraclix & Pomp, is now available for preorder and can be added to your Wishlist at Amazon.com! If I've ever spoken a kind word to you, I'd like to ask a favor of you: Please add Heraclix & Pomp to your Amazon.com Wishlist, even if you plan on buying it at another venue. This is one of those critical moments to a book's success. I am not a "name" author, save to a select few who have been following my short stories and anthologies over the years. Thus, it is critical to send out a pulse of data indicating that there is potential interest in the book. You don't have to pre-order the book (though I'm not discouraging this, either), but please add it to your wishlist. Then, please add it to your "to be read" list at Booklikes or your other book-lovers' website of choice. Please ask your friends to do the same - the best advertising is word-of-mouth, and while Heraclix & Pomp will, admittedly, not appeal to everyone, I'd like the world to have a chance to give it a read and decide for themselves whether or not it is their kind of book. If you have a twitter account, please tweet the URL. If you have an account at "that other site," please add it to your to-be-read list there. If you have a facebook page, please share the news there. And ask your friends to share the news. My publisher, Resurrection House/Underland Press, is now being recognized as a quality publisher by the publishing industry news outlets, but they simply don't have the marketing dollars that the big New York houses have. So I need your help in this in order to get the book in front of more readers. I appreciate anything you can do to help get the word out.

The link is for the hardcover edition. The hardcover, e-book, and audible.com versions are all due out in September of this year. Trade paperback will follow, but I'm not sure exactly when. If these formats do well enough, there will be a mass market paperback, meaning you can brag to your friends "I know that guy," while you're waiting in line to get your groceries rung up. And who doesn't like to show up their friends at the grocery store? But the appearance of the mass market paperback is dependent on what kind of interest we can generate *right now*! Books burn through bookstores fast, and there's not a lot of time to build a brand, especially with a no-name like your's truly. 

You'll note that Amazon doesn't have the artwork up, yet. I'll post that one more time in another blog entry, as a reminder of how utterly cool the cover is.

I will be randomly giving away a couple signed copies of the hardcover here at Booklikes, as well as that other site, as soon as I have physical copies in hand. I wish I could give all of the great reviewers here at Booklikes a free copy, but then I'd be in the hole for a whole lot of money, because there are so many great reviewers here. 

In closing, I want to thank you all for the wonderful reviews you've written in the past and some of the awesome discussions I've had with many of you about books we both love, books we both hate, and those we disagree on. Being here is an enriching part of my life as a reader.I'm a better man because of your contributions, and I thank you!

best,

Forrest Aguirre

author: Heraclix & Pomp

PS: Don't be surprised to see another plea similar to this over at Goodreads.com, on Google+, and at my blog, forrestaguirre.blogspot.com.

For those interested in my surgery saga. WARNING: not for the squeamish! And very long - too long to post directly here. For those who can stomach things of a medical nature, enjoy . . . if that's the word . . . :)

As you know, I am an old skool RPG geek, as well as a reader, as well as a writer. So any chance I get to combine the three, I do. It's like speedballing, but safe and legal. So here is a shot of the seeds that will grow into my next big project after Heraclix & Pomp hit the real world: a setting or supplement or adventure or maybe all three set in early-modern Central Europe, all under the Lamentations of the Flame Princess rules set, more or less (though I have a few tweaks of my own that will appear in whatever gets published). I'll also be continuing work on my science fiction novel, Solistalgia. But for now, just a teaser. More as this develops!

A solid history of the King of Prussia's army and it's times. Duffy touches on all aspects of the army's components. From recruitment to retirement (or, more likely, post-service destitution), The Army of Frederick the Great outlines the career trajectory of the common soldier, NCO, and noble officers that served under their warrior-king. The social and economic aspects of the army are also explored, showing that, since the 18th-Century, at least, military service hasn't changed a lot. I should know - I was raised as an Air Force brat. 

The last section of the book covers some of the major actions of the Seven Years' War, but is a little short on detail.

While I appreciate a good, solid history, I felt that this book could have been so much more. I wanted to hear more of the soldiers' voices, more of their recollections, and less of Duffy's explanations. A good historian explains; a great historian lets the past speak for itself from the primary source material, acting as a co-observer more than a lecturer. I had picked this book up to provide me with reading material while I did edits on my novel, Heraclix & Pomp, which takes place in 18th-Century Central Europe (but only peripherally involves Prussia). I'm through with this book, but not through with my edits. Thus, I am left now to look for other accounts of the Seven Years' War which are, alas, in short supply. 

The man whose writing single-handedly pushed me "over the edge" into the world of writing has passed away. I learned of Stepan's passing a few days after the fact. I am still saddened. Stepan was a great writer - I published his work two times as an editor (in fact, Stepan was the only author to appear in all four volumes of Ministry of Whimsy Press's World Fantasy Award-winning Leviathan series). His writing was quirky, a touch cynical, funny, and whimsical. Those who met him know that Stepan's personality was reflected in his work. The writing world lost a good writer. The human world lost a good person.

Stepan's first influence on me came when I picked up a copy of his Philip K. Dick-award winning novel, The Troika. I was generously gifted a copy of his short fiction collection, Danger Music, by Jeff VanderMeer. Stepan was gracious enough to sign them both. He later sent me a copy of his longer collection, Dossier (signed as well) and his cartoon collections Life on Earth and Common Ectoids of Arizona. In my experience, Stepan just wanted to share everything. I've met few people as kind and giving as he was.

I had the privilege of spending some time with Stepan and his wife, Kia, at the World Fantasy Convention in Washington DC back in 2003. I remember him as always smiling, even when he was squelching his inner cynic with a good laugh.  I came to view him as unassuming, yet theatrical (he did children's puppet theater in some capacity or another, and I could see why).  I corresponded with him from about 2001 to 2007 or so. Then life got in the way and we lost contact, which is much more my fault than his.

I miss Stepan. In hindsight, I wish I had kept contact with him. He was the kind of person who could brighten up your day just by being around, and heaven knows I could have used that from time to time. I owe my writing career to Stepan. His work started it all. And though he did only a little in the way of mentoring, his work inspired me and continues to inspire me.

One last thing that Stepan sent me some years ago was a 3-ring binder containing his novel Burger Creature: The First Volume of the Burger Creature Saga, including "A Synopsis of The Burger Creature Saga" and a series of drawings showing the various characters in the book. Here's Stepan's synopsis of the 1st book:

THE PLOT IN A NUTSHELL:

Novel one: BURGER CREATURE

Part one: THE BURGER WALKS AMONG US

Lily Cook, a sweet young burger-franchise cashier, discovers and animate beef patty and raises him to humanoid adulthood in a matter of weeks. he has french fries for hair and pickle slices for eyes. She names him Burger Creature and falls in love with him. But after a single night of wild cosmic burger sex, he's kidnapped by two sinister corporate thugs in a black sedan - representatives of Bennett Foods and the Burger Planet franchise.

Part two: CURSE OF THE LIVING FOOD

Lily abandons her life in Tuscon Arizona and roams the roadways in search of her ill-fated boyfriend. Meanwhile in Colorado, at a research-&-development facility of Bennett Foods, Burger Creature is held captive. He grows into a giant, but despite his size, he's severed at the waist and decapitated. Everything below the neck is transported to the research labs of two other R-&-D unit. Lily allies herself with a trio of Japanese spies who steal the head from Bennett Foods, then ditch Lily and keep the head for themselves. Luckily Lily has new allies waiting in the wings - her friends from Tuscon.

This gives a taste of Stepan's wackiness, but some of his writing had a decidedly Literary bent to it. For example, "The Minutes of the Last Meeting," a novella, which appeared in Leviathan 2, is an exquisitely written historically-based science fiction piece about what would happen if Czarist Russia were to develop a nuclear bomb. Stepan's breadth of writing was pretty amazing.

Behind the clear plastic cover to the bindered Burger Creature is a note from Stepan. It reads:

5.2.2005

Dear Forrest:

Confused? Put upon? Adrift in a fallen world? Read this book?! It solves everything.

yrs.

Stepan

It just might, Stepan. It just might . . .

Rest in Peace, my friend.

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Of those who have tried to add Heraclix & Pomp to their shelves, how many have been successful? I'm trying to ensure that it can be added but it doesn't yet show in the Amazon search bar on Booklikes.

My editor is incredibly good. He has brainwashed me into clearly identifying instances where I'm being a lazy writer. He sent me his suggested edits for the first 7 chapters of Heraclix & Pomp.  In several places he showed me that, by using an intrusive narrative voice, I have pushed the reader out of the character's point of view (whether the character is Heraclix or Pomp or a minor character). For this, I am grateful.

In the process of cleaning things up, I came across these sentences from chapter 9, wherein Pomp has just entered Hell:

Bits and pieces of her . . . "past" is the word, float all around her. She cannot comprehend the many images and events, but knows they are hers.

It made so much sense when I wrote it, but now I look at it and I hear the word "LAZY" being screamed into my brain (don't worry, my editor doesn't scream - my conscience takes care of tone and volume control in my head).

Here, I'm telling, not showing. To make matters worse, I'm telling the reader what she intuitively knows. Now, there's nothing wrong with 3rd person omniscient POV, but it really robs the reader of the joy of discovery. My readers are smarter than your average bear, I like to think. So why not provide them with the information in some other way that lets them discover Pomp's intuitive feelings and thoughts with her? Then, the reader is a part of the story and feels more of a bond with Pomp, allowing sympathetic and even empathetic feelings to come into play later on in the story.

Now, how am I going to fix this? To be honest, I don't know. That's the struggle of editing - identifying what's wrong, then making it right. I suspect that the second sentence will have to be exploded into a larger description of what she sees that clearly shows to her that these memories are owned by her. 

Wish me luck! Later this year, you get to read the results. :)

So, back on GR, I was once able, as a "librarian," to add books, add covers, clear up metadata, etc. Can the same be done on BL, and if so, where do I find the steps to do that? 

PS: Does anyone know if we, the people, are still allowed to do this on GR? I would like to get my novel information up there, as well as here! Help?

I'm doing a Giveaway on Booklikes!

I'm so excited to finally have the first part of this series published.  This first book is quite short, only 8000 words.  The reason for its brevity is to give you a snapshot of New San Francisco and its unique culture. 

So check it out!

You can learn more about the book by going to

www.philosophiesdead.com

I just saw the cover art for my novel Heraclix & Pomp and I am giddy like a little school child before Christmas! Tee hee! I am uber-excited to share it with you, and will do so as soon as I get permission from the publisher. They get to spring it first, I think. I seriously can't say how excited I am. It's perfect. I promise, I'll show you as soon as I can!

Jeff VanderMeer gave me some great advice as we were editing the Leviathan 3 anthology: Don't ever put your own fiction in an anthology you're editing. That's proven to be good advice, and, after having edited several anthologies and written my share of short fiction, I've learned that editors are often their own worst critics. And by this, I don't mean that editors are too hard on themselves. In fact, I mean quite the opposite. It is extremely rare that an editor doesn't at least hamper, if not ruin, their own anthology by including their own work therein. The Lovecraft Anthology: Volume 1 is no exception.

Let's do some math. There are seven adaptions of Lovecraft's work in this anthology, including "The Call of Cthulhu," The Haunter of the Dark," "The Dunwich Horror," The Colour Out of Space," "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Rats in the Walls," and "Dagon". Of these, Dan Lockwood, the editor, adapted three. Four of the adaptions are uncompelling. Can you guess who adapted three of the four that I found least appealing? Bingo!

Now, just because four out of seven adaptions were less than stellar doesn't condemn this anthology. Adapting from one media (the short fiction form) to another (graphic novel form) is hard work and easy to bungle. So we have to make some allowances for difficulty in translation. There was bound to be some bad work here.

And the art ranges from good (in the case of Alice Duke's rendition of "Dagon") to very clever (in the case of D'Israeli's "Call of Cthulhu") to comic book genius (in the case of I.N.J. Culbard's "The Dunwich Horror"). There really is no bad artwork in this volume. There is a wide range of styles represented, each with its own strengths.

Unfortunately, the art is saddled with the adaption and, though visually appealing, it is difficult for the dark beauty of the art to overcome the poor adaptions.

Three of the adaptions are excellent: Rob Davis' treatment of "The Dunwich Horror," David Hine's take on "The Colour Out of Space," and Leah Moore and John Reppion's collaboration on "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" are all faithful enough to the original texts, without being unoriginal, that even the most hard-core Lovecraft fan should find a great deal of enjoyment in them. If you're an old hat at Lovecraftian terror, you're not likely to enjoy the others.

If you are new to Lovecraft's work, I wouldn't recommend this anthology outside of the three stories I've mentioned above. The others cut far too much out of the original stories and don't allow the reader to build up to the sort of cosmic dread for which Lovecraft is known. "Dagon," a story which I love, was particularly dull, I thought.

And I'd be ungrateful if I didn't acknowledge that my daughter bought this for me as a Christmas gift. The girl knows her old man!