The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz
I’ve been interviewed by Richie Earl at his book blog, One Thousand Worlds in One Thousand Words:
What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
Wait, what? Remaining sane? I think I have to be just a little insane to spend my free time toiling away at fictional worlds, so I think actual sanity would only be a hindrance. Besides, insanity is far more inspiring and fun!
[Read the full interview here.]
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| Free 10/23 & 10/24! |
The Kindle version of A Memory in the Black is currently free today (October 23rd) and tomorrow on Amazon.com!
Save humanity from itself. It is the goal of the worldwide conspiracy known as the Agents of Aeneas. For months they have struggled to unlock the secrets of an alien spacecraft buried on the Moon. Now word of that craft has leaked, and multiple groups plot to seize it for themselves.
One man has plumbed its depths and returned alive. While Agent Michael Flynn protects him from those who believe that he knows too much, together they must find a demon from Michael’s past: the freelancer Diomedes. Michael’s violent ex-mentor, Diomedes murdered a man at the heart of the spacecraft’s discovery. They must learn why.
Meanwhile the vigilante Gideon, slain by Diomedes six months ago, has been seen alive in the city of Northgate. His baffling return will draw two women into dangers far beyond those that lurk in the city.
Memories that haunt them all will entangle their fates as one in the blackness.
“Munz writes some of the most engaging action sequences of any book I’ve read.”
“Left me wanting more. In the best sort of way.”
Free for Kindle today and tomorrow!
Don’t have a Kindle? You can still read Kindle books on your computer, tablet, or smartphone with Amazon’s free Kindle app…
A Shadow in the Flames, the first book of the New Aeneid Cycle, is now permanently free from eBook retailers in the U.S.! What’s more, the cover is newly redesigned to match the style of book two, A Memory in the Black. (Both covers were designed by Amalia Chitulescu.)
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| A Shadow in the Flames: Now FREE! |
While you can still read Kindle ebooks on a computer, phone, or tablet without a Kindle via Amazon’s free Kindle app, A Shadow in the Flames is also now available from places other than Amazon:
Save for Smashwords, the new cover hasn’t appeared on the non-Amazon sites yet, but they should have it soon after it goes through the regular review process. So pass the word! Have a read! Tell your friends, enemies, and any hyper-intelligent raccoons you may know who speak English!
I recently finished reading a novella by J.M. Guillen called The Herald of Autumn. Below is the review I’ve posted on Amazon and Goodreads…
The Herald of Autumn by J.M. Guillen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Find yourself caught between a centuries-long struggle between spirits of the old world and the new, witness beings of faerie who can make a story real with their powers of Telling, and risk nightmares given form by what lurks in the darkness, just read this book!
This is a fantastic novella. I’m drawn to tales of old-world faeries (the kind of creatures that will steal 2 decades of your life with longing, or strip the flesh from your bones if offended), and The Herald of Autumn doesn’t disappoint. Guillen crafts his writing with an amazing, poetic care that not only makes the world palpable but paints in marvelous fashion the concepts behind it: stones that have never known flight, singing in joy as they’re flung from a sling; the power of a true name; and the titular Herald of Autumn himself. Descriptions of dark things encountered (both real and sent as nightmares into the main character’s mind) are both imaginative and frightening: “I saw a capering, giggling boy in the shadows, with extra joints in his fingers. They bent backwards, serpentine. He would tickle sleeping children until they bled…” Twisted.
Within 5 minutes of finishing it, I had already told three friends to tell them to pick it up as soon as I could, and that’s honestly not something I’ve ever done before. My only complaint–and I mean this in the best way–is that it’s just a novella and not a full-length novel. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the perfect length for the story it tells, I was just sorry to see it end!
An evil genius bent on world domination legitimate businessman on Goodreads has given A Shadow in the Flames a 5-star review!
“There truly is a difference between writing and storytelling, and [Munz] knows both. He teases us with scenes that we know, KNOW must be related, but can’t quite put together. The entire time, we watch a certain ticking time bomb of a character, waiting for the moment when the countdown hits zero.”
So I’m continuing to chip away at the pre-writing phase of book 3 of the New Aeneid Cycle (working title, A Dragon at the Gate). At this point, I’ve managed to lay down the skeleton of the book in the sense that I now have a rough outline of how I expect things to go. (Granted, once I actually start writing, this is likely to change, but it’s a good road map to start with.) It’s a good feeling; the difference between trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with or without the box top to tell you what it’s going to look like, really.
Some things I’m still not sure of. There are characters who don’t really have much to do yet. One I’ve already decided to kill off for that reason. Other characters I know exactly what I want to do with, but not quite how to plug them in. I suppose one solution is going to be simply tossing them into the mix and seeing what they do. I bet at least one of them is going to mess up my whole plan… [Read more…]
A fantastic call to action for book-lovers everywhere, from J.M. Guillen…
Imagine having the power to change the stories of a generation.
You could define what their ideas of “heroism” were. You could shape what they found funny, or noble, or tragic. People who you would never meet or touch would share deep, inherent concepts with you, and carry them forward to a time beyond your death.
If you could shape the stories of a generation…