Michael G. Munz

The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz

Archives for 2007

Christmas Eve Rambling

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So it’s Christmas Eve already. I honestly didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d written here, but I suppose that’s the holiday season for you. I’ve no particular thing in mind to blog about today, so this is likely to be something of a stream-of-consciousness entry…and I warn you, my consciousness can get a little weird. On the plus side, I haven’t just consumed an entire box of chocolate-covered espresso beans. (THAT resulted in some interesting writing, let me tell you. I wonder if I still have that? Maybe I should post it here just for people’s general amusement/horror.)

Side note: There’s a line in Legacy of Memory where Felix makes reference to a similar situation for no particular reason other than he’s Felix. (I was going to put it up here, but, oddly, to it would require a rather lengthy lead-up, so I’ll hold off on that for now.)

I think Mike’s Focus Pendulum(tm) has now swung back the other way, toward writing the second book and away from marketing A Shadow in the Flames. I’ve said it before and I like to repeat myself: marketing is draining and not very much fun. On the plus side, I’ve heard from numerous people now (some of whom I’ve never even met, which is even more cool) that they’re enjoying/enjoyed the book. Some have even ordered more copies to give to friends as gifts, which frankly is a great compliment to me.

Random tidbit about the cover of ASITF: though the city of Northgate is fictional, there IS a location in the book that is actually visible on the cover. The Aristarchus crater, in which a small part of the book takes place, is visible and actually prominent on the image of the moon. See that light spot in the dark grey a little above the nine o’clock position? That’s Aristarchus. I honestly had forgotten exactly where the crater was since I looked it up a long time ago and needed a crater name, so I thought that was kind of neat. I’ve actually no idea where those buildings actually exist, though. (I can tell you that they don’t exist so close together like that, though. It’s an image composited from a larger skyline. Each building, wherever it stands in the real world, is actually at least a few blocks from the others.)

I suppose I should get back to working on LoM–not to mention some final preparations for Christmas with my family tomorrow–so I’ll leave you with a piece of music that someone made me recall last night. It’s from the Children of Dune miniseries from the Sci-Fi Channel, and apparently written in the fictional Fremen language. The hearing the lyrics but not understanding their direct meaning has the effect of turning the vocals into another instrument in the mix, and just creates, as someone put it, a more pure and personal feeling in the listener. (It’s also used to pretty good effect in the miniseries itself.) It’s on YouTube (paired up with a fan-created montage) at www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJdaWzoRYw.

So that’s it for now. Thanks again to all who’ve read the novel so far, and Merry Christmas! (Or, at least, have a festive holiday celebration of your cultural and/or personal preference! There. Now everyone can be happy.) 😉

Mike
www.michaelgmunz.com

Hello from the Wayward…

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Hey, that title sounds like some sort of arthouse play, doesn’t it? Actually the Wayward is the name of a cafe here in Seattle (www.waywardcoffee.com) where I come sometimes. I only recently discovered it, but it’s a nice place so far. They seem to be major Firefly fans here, too.

For the moment, it’s Saturday and I’m taking a short break from doing a bit of book-marketing online to blog a bit. Marketing continues to take up more of my time than I’d like–or at least thinking about marketing and doing what I can about it. (No idea how effective I’ve been just yet, but I suppose every little bit helps.) I’d much rather be working on Legacy of Memory, but I suppose I’ve said that before.

Speaking of Legacy of Memory (the sequel to A Shadow in the Flames), I am making headway, if slowly at the moment. Right now, as I’ve been in an ASITF headspace for the past month or so, I’ve decided to reread what I’ve got of LoM just to refresh myself and recall various themes and character arcs. Of course I can’t help but make a few minor edits as I go. Minor tweaking is something that’s difficult to stop doing. I’ve purposely not reread the first book even after I got my printed copy because I’m sure I’d see something I want to change.

I’m pretty excited about book 2, even though it’s not done yet. I just think it’s a better book–not that the first book isn’t good, of course. It’s just that I can develop characters more and build on things from book 1 now that things are established. It’s also fun for me, as a storyteller, to take elements from book one that I’d purposely cooked for development later and do what I’d planned so long ago. I also think my writing skill has just plain improved a bit, as happens with most writers, so I’m necessarily more proud of this one. Now I just need to finish the first draft, do some major tweaking/editing/revising/etc., and…well, see how well I can get it to press. Then the process of writing book 3, looming on the horizon, shall begin. (If you’re curious, I’m currently thinking of Here Be Dragons for the title of that, though I originally had a different title in mine for Legacy of Memory, too, so that’s subject to change. And NO, I won’t tell you what I was originally going to call LoM. It…it wasn’t good.) 🙂

A Shadow in the Flames is now the #2 best-selling sci-fi book from VirtualBookworm.com! Thanks to everyone who’s helped get me there!

Mike
www.michaelgmunz.com

Blogging/Blathering About Vista

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Hey, look at that, I’ve figured out how to put the novel cover on my blog. Ain’t technology amazing? (Sometimes I think of that and wonder how quickly any one of us nowadays would get burned as a witch if we suddenly found ourselves in the dark ages with so much as a beeping digital watch…I suppose there’s a short story in that. Hrm.)

So on with the whole geek/laptop experience, I suppose. I’m currently in a Tully’s with a mocha, actually able to type this live because they’ve got free wi-fi. It’s rather surprising that Starbucks and Barnes & Noble don’t have that–I don’t imagine it would cost that much to set up, and I’m sure places that have free wi-fi are able to pull away some of their customers. Then again, there’s a thing such as brand loyalty or just plain habit, so maybe they don’t have to. But hey, I wasn’t going to be talking about that, was I? Maybe later.

This laptop is my first experience with Windows Vista, and so far it’s actually not too bad. Oh, shocking, the Mac vs. PC ads overstated the problems once again. (I really do hate those ads…not really because I’m an avid PC supporter so much as I just dislike strawman arguments. Well, okay, so I dislike commercials in general. Someone needs to start a fund to get Jared from Subway ejected into space.) The whole issue with Vista asking you if you REALLY want to do something you just told it to do (User Access Control) isn’t that big of a deal, mostly because it’s quite easy to turn the sucker off. I suppose I really ought to turn it back on now that I’ve got it set up the way I want it so it can actually do what it’s designed to do–keeping spyware from messing with the system. Even before I turned it off, it wasn’t really that big of a deal. Oh, no, an additional click or two! Whatever shall we do! Precious seconds lost! Come on, people, you know you’d only waste them anyway, right? Oh! Maybe we can all get a class-action lawsuit going against Microsoft for all those lost seconds? …Okay, maybe I shouldn’t blog while shot full of caffeine.

Other than that, it’s not too terribly different from XP. I’m a little torn with regard to the new Start Menu in Vista. I like some things about it–the search function, for example, that pops up a program if you type it in–but I miss the way XP would expand the programs with just a mouse-over. In Vista you have to actually click it, which is a little more of a pain if you’re on a laptop using a touchpad. Maybe there’s a way to change it, but I’m not sure. Then again, on my XP machine at home I use the classic start menu, so maybe even XP doesn’t do that. The file explorer windows are different from XP, too. So far they just seem to be different for the sole purpose of being different; I haven’t noticed any more easy of use. Actually one thing I miss is the button that let you go up a level in the directory. I realized after a while that I can do that by clicking on the names of the directories in the top bar there (okay, so I’m not enough of a geek to know all the technical terms), but so far I’ve yet to learn to do that instinctively the way I have with XP. Perhaps I have issues with change.

The Aero graphics are kind of amusing, and certainly pretty (okay, so I’ve played with the window-tab thing that gives you a 3-D scrolling list of all your open windows a bit too much). As many have said before me, you could just as easily turn it off and free up a bit of computing power, but I rather like having it on. It doesn’t really help me, but there is something to be said for feeling like I’m using the latest new thing. (I paid for a new laptop, it should at least FEEL shiny and now, yes?)

I don’t really have a specific point about Vista so far. If anything this is less of an intelligent article on the subject and more just stream-of-consciousness rambling on a subject I only so far have a passing familiarity with, but it’s good to just write sometimes, if only for the practice. Plus this way I can look like I’m doing something important while I sit here at Tully’s.

I should talk about something more fun next time. Civilization 4 anyone?

Rambling avec geek

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And this would be blog entry number three. So it’s been a little longer since writing here than I’d intended, but hey, I’m still getting the hang of this blog thing. I suppose part of the problem with being someone who’s really more of a listener is I’m less inclined to get on a soapbox or just start typing without having a story to tell. Or maybe it’s just blog performance anxiety? (Join the fight against Blog Performance Anxiety! We can wipe out BPA in our lifetime!)

My original intent for this entry was to talk about my novel, but quite frankly, I’ve done an awful lot of that lately what with setting up the official website and taking care of looking over the text and cover proofs. (That’s finally done, by the way–and more relieved/panicked I could not be–and the novel should be available in a couple of weeks.) Besides, all of that information is set up on the website that links to this blog anyway, so to borrow a favorite phrase from a former boss of mine why re-invent the wheel? (He was also rather fond of “like pushing a noodle up a rope,” but I’ll save that for later use. Then again, I can’t imagine any instance in which I’d WANT to push a noodle up a rope, but life is filled with surprises, isn’t it?) My whole point here is that if you’re curious about A Shadow in the Flames–and really, why not be curious?–check out Michaelgmunz.com.

So now the question is, what SHOULD I talk about? Rather than try to work out a specific theme for my blog, I’ll likely be all over the map, at least until some sort of theme or focus emerges…if it does at all. That said, there will likely be a great deal of geekish leanings here, because to say I don’t have a bit of geek in me would be to deny the facts. (Ah, I can just see my parents, if they read this, getting ready to try to tell me otherwise, but don’t worry, I use the term with no negative connotation. Besides, saying you’re a geek on the Internet is rather like saying you’re a carnivore in a steak house, isn’t it?)

Subject change! I’m sitting here writing this from my first ever laptop computer (Well, okay, SLIGHT subject change) in the middle of a Barnes & Noble café…and I just discovered that alt-130 doesn’t seem to work to make an accented e on this thing. Hrmm. I’ve owned a computer since my parents got me a 286 in 1990 (which ran at a lightning-fast 12Mhz and is now likely somewhere in the Smithsonian), but I’ve never had my own laptop before. It’s actually strange how many people assume I would have one just based on the fact that I’m a writer and I like to write in cafés, but I’ve never wanted to spend the money, and frankly I enjoy writing with a pen first before typing things up. It occurred to me, however, that I seem to now be able to type faster than I write (legibly, at least), so getting an inexpensive laptop to take with me might be a good idea. …And okay, fine, part of it was just the whole allure of expensive electronics, but still…

I’m still getting the hang of it (as evidenced by the aforementioned alt-130 discovery), but so far it’s okay. Of course I can’t always get online. I discovered that the wi-fi in my usual café isn’t exactly free (in fact it’s no where near exactly free, it’s not free at ALL, so why I’m using the phrase “isn’t exactly free” I’ve no idea), so I’m actually typing this up in Notepad and planning to upload it to the blog once I get home. (And I’ll probably also fix the unaccented es, too. Oh, won’t that be exciting?)

So I think I just spent a lot of time saying essentially nothing. Looks like I’m getting the hang of this blog thing, eh? Maybe next time I’ll ramble on about what I think of Windows Vista, which is weird and disturbing…and on my new laptop. In the meantime, think of some inspirational words pretend I said them, and I’ll see you later…

Jumping on the Blogwagon

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Welcome to my first ever blog entry!

…Hmm. There was no trumpet fanfare like I was expecting. With all the hype about the “blogosphere,” I expected my own private parade or something. Not that I really need a parade–though don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind one. I suppose the logistics of the thing are a little too complex to accomplish instantly. Street closures, band bookings, and then they’d have to reserve a date, make sure it works for everyone… Come to think of it, I’d probably have to show up to the parade–I mean, it’d be rude not to, really–and frankly, I’m not sure I’ve got a parade-shaped gap in my schedule at the moment as I’m too busy with getting my novel to press and all that entails. (Yes! Shameless plug!) Perhaps it’s just as well there’s no parade. I don’t know, though, not even a trumpet fanfare? Ah, well. Somehow life goes on.

So yes, first ever blog entry! This isn’t to say I’m completely new to the concept, of course; I’ve written short stories, one and (so far) 3/4ths novels, essays, journal entries, forum posts–I’ve even written four movie scripts in college, but we won’t talk about those–but I’ve never officially blogged. (Ah, noun-verbing. Gotta love it.) I think part of the difference is that the word “blog” seems to carry with it a connotation of some sort of importance given how they’re always talking about “what the blogs are saying” in political discussions. Great, so now I have to write important things? Ack, the pressure! I’m a writer, but I’m much more used to writing things that are meant to be entertaining rather than “important.”

Then again, entertainment is important, right? (I mean, it must be; there’s an entire section of the newspaper devoted to it!) Besides, given how many Hollywood blogs are likely devoted to tracking the minutiae of Paris Hilton’s dog’s dietary choices (“Is she depressed about the size of Leona Helmsley’s dog’s inheritance? Oh, noes!”) I guess I’m safe. So if you’ve found this blog, hi there, and keep reading! I’ll do my best to make it interesting.

And I guarantee you here and now that this is the last time I’ll mention Paris Hilton or Leona Helmlsey in this space! (Legal Dept. note: This is not a guarantee. Offer void where prohibited by law. Blog should not be taken internally.)

Quote of the Arbitrary Time Period: “Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.” –Douglas Adams