A Halloween Special: PART TWO

For Halloween this year, I was a vampire clown.

It's an idea I came up with last year, while I was working on my costume for that Halloween - which you can read about in "A Halloween Special: PART ONE." While I don't begrudge anyone their costume ideas, I've long been of the mindset that, in order to properly celebrate the spirit of the day, Halloween costumes should attempt to be scary, spooky and/or creepy. If you want to be a sexy nurse or rugged cowboy, then save it for some other costume party. Halloween is not simply a day of fantasy, but a day of scary fantasy. It's why horror movies break box office records in October and why, in Southern California, Knott's Scary Farm has been a Halloween staple for as long as I can remember.

Some time ago, I developed the theory that any costume could be made Halloween-appropriate by simply adding vampire teeth. You can, for example, be a vampire nurse or a vampire cowboy, without having to compromise the rest of your costume. Last year, as I was putting together my vampire costume, it occurred to me that I should put my theory to the test on an annual basis.

So, even before last year's festivities were over, I knew that for this Halloween I would be some other sort of vampire. And when trying to think of fun juxtapositions, I came up with the creepy idea of being a vampire clown. Of course, I didn't know exactly what this vampire clown would look like or how I would pull it off, but I was confident that, when the time came, I would figure out.

As the day approached, I began perusing the various Halloween stores that open up every fall. Many of the stores I went to had entire clown sections, which was very helpful. The first items I bought were a rainbow afro wig, rainbow suspenders, and rainbow socks. I also picked up a pair of white clown gloves that ended up being way too smile, despite being advertised as suitable for most sizes; so I cut off the fingertips of the gloves in order to make them fit. Next, I picked up some grease paint. I had no real idea what I wanted my face to look like, nor did I have any significant experience in applying makeup; I was simply hoping that, when the time came, I'd figure something out.

For the main clothes, I knew I wanted an oversized pair of clown shoes and pants. So, for those items, I went to Goodwill. I found a large pair of tennis shoes and a pair of powder blue pants with a much too big waistline. I spray painted the shoes red, which turned out to be fast and easy. For the pants, I cut them to just below the knees in order to insure my rainbow socks would be properly displayed.

Finally, because I was going to be a vampire, it made sense that I should incorporate blood into my costume. I picked up a bottle of fake blood and used it to first stain a white T-shirt I'd be wearing. I wanted the stains on the shirt to look like I'd just fed on somebody. I also used the blood to stain the pants, but for these stains I wanted to simulate the handprints of my (hypothetical) victim. So, I put on a pair of rubber gloves, spread some fake blood on the flat of my hands and proceeded to smear my hand prints down the legs of the pants.

My parent's were hosting a Halloween party on Saturday night, so that would be the unveiling of my costume. I'd been able to work out everything but the makeup. I decided, for whatever reason, I wouldn't practice the makeup, but rather I would just go for it on the night of the party. I think I hoped to discover some innate ability for makeup that I never knew I had. As it turned out, I made no such discovery.

I did, however, watch a video on YouTube for applying clown makeup. While it turned out to be not so helpful, I was at least amused by the model who seemed terribly unhappy to be in the video. My inability to apply makeup ultimately worked in my favor, as the rough application of my clown face added to the creepiness of the overall character.

All and all, the costume was a success. And, while this was validated by my winning Best Costume , the real reward came from scaring the children at the party (as well as my cousin, who, it turns out, is deathly afraid of clowns). Now, I suppose, it's time to start planning for next year. What sort of vampire will I be in 2012? I'll let you know in about 12 months.

Happy Halloween!

Why Isn't This Dude Famous?

In the summer of 2009, my girlfriend, Chanel, invited me to join her and a group of friends to watch a stage production of the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The story is about a fictional rock band whose lead singer is a transgender East German man named Hedwig. The play, written by John Cameron Mitchell, originally premiered off-Broadway in 1998. In 2001, Mitchell's play was produced by Killer Films into a brilliant film. Consequently, Hedwig has developed an intensely loyal cult following.

While I had previously seen the film, I think it’s only fair that I tell you I didn’t watch it willingly. I knew next to nothing about it, however, based on the little bit I did know, it just didn’t sound like anything I’d enjoy. As it turns out, I loved every single moment of it and I could hardly believe I almost didn’t watch it. So, suffice it to say, when Chanel invited me to go with her and her friends to watch a live production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I jumped at the opportunity.

And so, on a Wednesday night in the middle of June, we all headed out to The Empire Theatre in Santa Ana where Theatre Out—a gay and lesbian theater company based in Orange County—puts on its shows. The theatre itself, set in Santa Ana's Artists Village, didn’t look particularly theatrical from the outside and, if you didn’t already know there was a production being put on, you might not notice it at all. Passing through the lobby, we entered the stage area, which was surprisingly small, not much bigger than a classroom.

The walls and floor were concrete, and the stage wasn’t so much a stage as it was a designated area in the corner of the room. I don’t imagine there were more than 30 or 40 seats in there; each and every seat, however, was filled by the time the show began. Nonetheless, I couldn’t imagine how they were going to put on this show in such a small space. That is, of course, until Darius Rose entered the room.

Darius Rose, the star of the show, didn’t simply play the title role of Hedwig—he embodied it. His performance was out-of-this-world amazing, from his powerful singing voice to his mesmerizing acting ability. The character of Hedwig is, to the say least, complex on many levels and Rose managed to express all of Hedwig’s complexities with brilliant humor and heartbreaking pathos. And as I sat in that small, concrete theater on a Wednesday night in the middle of Santa Ana watching a brilliant actor on the top of his game, I couldn’t help but wonder—why isn’t this dude famous?

His performance deserved to be captured on film and projected onto the big screen. He should have been whisked off on an international promotional tour, giving interviews and making TV appearances. He should be having power lunches with Harvey and Bob Weinstein and brainstorming with the Cohen Brothers. There should be rumors regarding his personal life in the tabloids and sightings of him on TMZ. His name should regularly come up during awards season and he should be making brilliant cameo appearances on Glee.

Yet, despite the abundance of ability he has to offer, he is a relatively anonymous actor. And that’s a shame. Because for all of the actors in Hollywood that are household names, far too many of them don’t have the talent to validate their celebrity. And then there are actors like Darius Rose who have talent to spare, but are underutilized and, generally speaking, under-appreciated.

Now, I’ve never met Darius Rose and I can’t speak to the aspirations he has for his acting career, but I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t feel at least a little slighted for not being a bigger name in entertainment. But during that Wednesday night in Santa Ana, watching him perform, I got the impression that Rose didn’t feel slighted or bitter. I suspect, whether you put him in front of an audience of 30 or 3,000, he would be satisfied for the opportunity to simply exercise his craft. And it was this idea of simply enjoying one’s craft for its own sake that resonated with me for days and weeks after I saw Darius Rose’s performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

As a writer, I'd spent many years thinking that nothing less than a lucrative book deal with a major publisher and bestseller status would make me happy. Thoughts of settling for a small press or, God forbid, independent publishing felt akin to giving up. I had spent many years learning my craft and many more years working on my novel, so why, I would ask myself, would I settle for anything less? And then I watched Darius Rose completely mesmerize the 30 or 40 folks that were audience to his performance. I realized that even if he only affected one person that night, then his brilliant performance would not have been in vain.

So kudos to Darius Rose, Theatre Out, and any other artist out there who hasn’t forgotten why art exists at all and why we love it so much.

5 Favorite Films That Didn't Earn a Profit

As I embark on the film adaptation of Inside the Outside, I find myself pondering things like production costs and budgets. You see, I'm a very big appreciator of small films that make lasting impacts. The film Once, for example, cost $150,000 to make and earned $20,710,513. More importantly than it's $20 million-plus profit, is the fact that it's a lovely movie.

So, when Inside the Outside is eventually produced, I often think that I would like for it to be such a film. Of course, I'm well aware that while there are triumphant films like Once, there are also plenty of wonderful films, big and small alike, that failed to break even.

With that in mind, I've compiled a list of my 5 favorite films that didn't earn a profit:

__________________________________________________________

5. Little Children (2006)

Little Children is a film based on the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta, who along, with the director, Todd Field, wrote the screenplay. It's a terrific film about a group of suburban men and women, all of whom have graduated into adulthood and are embarking on middle age, only to find that, like most adults, they never really grew up.

COST: $26,000,000

EARNED: $14,821,658

PROFIT: -$11,178,342

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4. The Majestic (2001)

The Majestic is a film starring Jim Carrey, directed by Frank Darabont, the creator and executive producer of The Walking Dead. Set in the 1950s, it's about a young screenwriter who, upon being accused of being a communist, gets drunk and accidentally drives his car over a bridge. He wakes up with amnesia in the small town of Lawson, where the locals believe him to be a war hero thought to have died in WWII.

COST: $72,000,000

EARNED: $37,317,558

PROFIT: -$34,682,442

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3. Rabbit Hole (2010)

Rabbit Hole is a film starring Nicole Kidman and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, the brilliant filmmaker who made Hedwig and The Angry Inch and Short Bus. The story is about a married couple struggling to heal after the tragic death of their 4-year-old son. Despite it's sad themes, Rabbit Hole is a surprisingly entertaining film with more than a few laughs.

COST: $5,000,000

EARNED: $3,409,780

PROFIT: -$1,590,220

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2. Waiting for Guffman (1997)

Waiting for Guffman is the hilarious mockumentary starring, co-written, and directed by Christopher Guest. It is about a community theater set in the fictional town of Blaine, Missouri. To help celebrate the town's 150th anniversary, a group of local residents take part in a musical production called Red, White and Blaine. And, as you might imagine, the production goes anything but smoothly.

COST: $4,000,000

EARNED: $2,923,982

PROFIT: -$1,076,018

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1. Almost Famous (2000)

Almost Famous, written and directed by Cameron Crowe, is easily one of my very favorite movies of all time. It's the story of a 15-year-old boy named William Miller, who loves writing and music and, thanks to a fortunate set of circumstances, finds himself on tour with the (fictitious) rock band, Stillwater, as he covers them for an article he's writing for Rolling Stone. The story is loosely based on the experiences of Crowe, who, as a teenager, wrote for Rolling Stone.

COST: $60,000,000

EARNED: $47,383,689

PROFIT: -$12,616,311

Megamind vs. Inside the Outside

According to Amazon.com, customers who bought Inside the Outside also bought Megamind.  While I'm delighted to be in the same company as a film that earned $321,885,765 worldwide, I can't help but wonder what the actual connection is.

Megamind, if you're not familiar, is an animated feature starring the voices of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, and Tina Fey.  And, according to Amazon, it is about a super villain named Megamind who dreams have come true when he conquers Metro Man, thereby gaining control of Metro City. But when a new villain is created and chaos runs rampant, the world's biggest Megamind might actually save the day.  I've never seen it, but it sounds sweet.

Inside the Outside, on the other hand, is a horror novel written by yours truly. And, unlike the family friendly Megamind, my story is about a young girl who grows up in a cult tucked away in the San Bernardino Mountains and is raised as a cannibal. There's lots of horror and bloodshed, people get killed and others get eaten. There is, however, a fair amount of bowling in the book, which, I think we all can agree, is a family friendly activity, but, other than that, I'm at a loss for the connection.

So, just for fun, I decided to see what customers had to say about both Megamind and Inside the Outside. In doing so, I think I might've unraveled the mystery. What I've done is paired snippets of reviews together, and your job is to see if you can guess which review is for Megamind and which is for Inside the Outside. It's an awful lot of fun and I think I can promise you it's not going to be as easy as you think.

CUSTOMER REVIEW PAIRING #1:

"I...enjoy[ed] the message that seems to be tailored to both kids and adults[,] that persistence can pay off even after multiple setbacks. There are plenty of scenes to make a person laugh."

or

"This book had me on the verge of tears, laughter, and terror, sometimes at the same time."

It's tough, right?

CUSTOMER REVIEW PAIRING #2:

Wonderfully funny twist on the old hero versus villain theme. The ending is somewhat predictable, but everything else is hysterically new.

or

"One of the best books I've read all year. Creepy, original, with a tight story and enviable prose."

I told you it wasn't going to be easy!

CUSTOMER REVIEW PAIRING #3:

"I purchased this for my grandchildren to watch when at my house. They are absolutely in love with it and I must admit I haven't gotten tired of it yet. You can't go wrong with this movie."

or

"Martin Lastrapes' debut novel is classified as horror (and indeed seems to be rising quickly up the charts), but really it achieves something even more powerful; I'd call it literary terror."

I know, I know... it sounds like I'm making these up, but I swear they're actual reviews from actual customers on Amazon.com.

After reading through all the reviews, I actually felt silly for not having seen the connection between Megamind and Inside the Outside before. I think the lesson here is don't underestimate good taste.

Now, if I can only figure out how to further tap into the Megamind market, I might be able to finally live out my dream of being a wealthy recluse.

The Evolution of Timber Marlow

Upon finishing an overwhelmingly mediocre high school career and having not planned for anything beyond Grad Night at Disneyland, I enrolled at Chaffey College.  After spending five years earning my two-year degree—and a brief layover at Cal State Fullerton—I transferred to Cal State San Bernardino, where I fell in love with the craft of creative writing.  It was at Cal State San Bernardino where I first dreamt up the creative potential of marrying cannibalism with literary fiction.

But long before that ever happened, my godfather, Willard E. Pugh, starred in Wes Craven’s 1985 horror film, The Hills Have Eyes Part II.  At eight years old, this movie was my first introduction to cannibalism and for at least a week after watching it, I refused to go upstairs by myself for fear of running into Pluto, the film’s scary bald cannibal.

While at Cal State San Bernardino I took a humanities class that, among other things, persuaded me to become a vegetarian.  Both the lectures and the literature in the class presented me for the first time with a behind-the-scenes look at how animals raised for consumption are treated (and often mistreated).  I felt like there was a dramatic core there worth writing about and decided the most dynamic way to harness it would be to replace the animals with people.  A couple years later, my first crack at cannibal literature—a short story called “Footsteps”—was published in The Pacific Review.

For about a year or two, I attempted to write my first novel.  While, in its completed state, there are flashes of what I like to think of as fine literary prose, overall it just wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.  Of course, I didn’t come to this conclusion by myself.  I have a tall pile of rejection letters from agents and publishers alike, all of them echoing the same sentiment—thanks, but no thanks.  With my ego sufficiently bruised and my dreams all but crushed, I became very cynical about the publishing industry and decided that, if I was going to get published, I needed to pander to what I imagined the system wanted.

In the winter of 2005, I decided to write a novel about a female serial killer, figuring this would have the publishing world licking their chops.  I knew that if I was going to write a story about a killer, that, in order to keep myself interested, the killer would have to be the main character.  I also knew that making my main character a killer would be a tricky endeavor, because most readers don’t want to sympathize with a killer—they would rather be scared of them for 300 pages or so, before watching them get their comeuppance.

So, my first order of business was to figure out why my killer was a killer and, more importantly, why my reader should care about her.  I decided my killer killed not because she was a sociopath, but because she was raised in an environment where killing was routine, just a normal part of everyday life.  I then decided that an environment like that couldn’t reasonably exist in mainstream society, so it made sense that my killer should be born and raised in a cult.  In order to make the killing in my fictional cult a reasonable necessity, I decided its members were cannibals.  In order to make the killing routine, I decided they should have public sacrifices two or three times a month, which my killer would grow up watching.  In order to isolate my cannibal cult from the real world—something I figured was necessary in order to ensure the enclosed nature of this strange community—I tucked it away on a combine in the San Bernardino Mountains.  I named my killer Timber Marlow.

As Timber’s story unfolded, I found myself becoming less cynical about publishing.  I also found that I was no longer writing this novel to pander to the publishing industry or to nurse my bruised ego, but rather because it was the best story I had to tell and I felt an overwhelming responsibility to tell it as well as I could.  I also came to realize that this was a much more personal story than I intended it to be, that Timber was, in big and small ways, sewn from fragments of my own life and experiences.

I was born to an overwhelmingly religious family, half of whom were Catholic and the other half Jehovah’s Witnesses.  I attended church every Sunday of my life at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Catholic Parish. Being Catholic was a choice someone else made for me, a choice for which I had no say in the matter.  And it was a choice I never questioned, because, in my small world, I never knew anything different.  Though I didn’t stop attending Mass until I was 18, I never really felt connected to the Catholic faith.

I spent the next decade or so trying to sift through what I genuinely believed about the world as opposed to what I was taught to believe.  It was about this time, ten years later, that I discovered Timber Marlow.  As I got deeper into her story, I came to realize that Timber Marlow wasn’t really a killer after all—at least not a serial killer.  She was just a kid who, through lessons and observations, cultivated a very absurd view of the world.  She was never given an alternative view to these lessons, nor did she have a say in what she was raised to believe.  And it wasn’t until she decided to run away from all she had known in an attempt to understand the world around her that her life would truly begin.

 

ADAPTING INSIDE THE OUTSIDE | PART 2

For Greg's side of this story story, check out the sister post on his blog.

For as much as I love movies, the biggest challenge for me in this adaptation process is thinking of my story, Inside the Outside, in cinematic terms.  On the one hand, this comes relatively naturally to me, in so far as that my imagination has always been most stimulated by visual cues.

As a kid, I loved comic books and, thankfully, Greg had an infinite collection of DC and Marvel comics (primarily from the mid-to-late 1970s) to keep me occupied for years and years. While reading had always come very easily to me, I didn’t think about reading comic books as reading in the traditional sense.  I was reading the action in the artwork, following the narrative from one frame to the next; the words were simply there to offer information where an illustration just wouldn’t do.

And so for the great majority of my childhood, I wanted to be a comic book artist when I grew up.  I also wanted to write my own stories, which is interesting considering I didn’t do much writing or think of myself as a storyteller.

As I grew older and continued practicing my craft as an artist, I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated that my artistic abilities could never quite sync up with the images I saw in my head.  In my head, I could create entire movies, but, when I sketched, my pictures looked like a kid exercising a hobby. It wasn’t until I discovered my love of writing and storytelling, without the pictures, that I’d finally found the perfect medium for my imagination. With words, I could paint a precise picture of the stories in my head.  And not just visually.  With words, I could also create moods and emotions.

So, again, adapting my novel into a screenplay should, it would seem, be a natural fit.  But the first challenge I ran into was when Greg and I were working out the physical layout of the Divinity’s compound.  For me, I always saw it in relatively abstract terms.  There were small dwellings and trees and dirt and a long road that led in or out.  It wasn’t until Greg started trying to map it out for the screenplay that I realized I hadn’t given much thought to the actual layout.

Of course, it made sense that we should do this, as eventually people with skill sets that I don’t have will need to be able to actually construct a physical representation of my vision.  But, in novel writing, I can get away with using a few precise words to start an image, while allowing for the reader to fill in the blanks with their imagination.  In screenwriting, there is no such luxury.  If it is to be seen or heard, it is up to us to articulate that on the page.

We did eventually work it out—and, by “we,” I mean Greg.  I was little more than a cheerleader, as Greg, using books and notepads, worked out where the Main Dwelling was in relation to the Sustenance Dwelling and the long dirt road and so on and so forth.  We eventually got the geography of the Divinity worked out and were thankfully able to move on to my comfort zone: Storytelling.

NEXT TIME: Making the hard decisions of which characters and scenes to keep and which to get rid of.  Also, I tell you what it’s been like not only to re-imagine my story for the screen, but also to invent new scenes that don’t exist in the book.

ADAPTING INSIDE THE OUTSIDE | PART 1

For Greg's side of this story story, check out the sister post on his blog.

All during the five years I spent writing my debut novel, Inside the Outside, I thought of it in very cinematic terms.  I love movies, have loved them my whole life.  In fact, I’d be willing to say that my love of movies equals—if not surpasses—my love of books.  Where it concerns my creative ambitions, however, I’ve always been focused on creative writing, specifically prose fiction.

As for films, I’ve always loved them from a purer place, I think, more of an amateur appreciator, someone who was simply glad that there were brilliant filmmakers out there willing to exercise their craft for the benefit of folks like me who love sitting in a movie theater, popcorn in hand, and getting lost in whatever story they’ve decided to tell me.

So when my brother, Greg, called me up and asked about adapting Inside the Outside into a screenplay, I didn’t immediately know how I felt about it.  It wasn’t that I’d never hoped it would one day be made into a film (I have to imagine that this is the hope of a great many novelists), I just figured if it did happen, I would have little to do with it beyond optioning the film rights.

But, Greg is a brilliant filmmaker and I knew he wouldn’t have broached the idea if he didn’t have a clear vision of what the movie would look and feel like.  He knew my plate was full, both with marketing and promoting Inside the Outside, as well as writing my second novel. Assuming I was interested in collaborating with him on this project, he wanted to know if I’d be willing to make it a priority in my otherwise busy schedule. So I told him that if this was something he wanted to do then we should do it. Why not, right?

The first thing we did was establish a scheduled routine.  After comparing our schedules, we settled on Tuesday evenings at his place and Friday evenings at mine.  The first thing we decided to do was create an outline for the entire screenplay, using Scrivener. I love creating outlines, as it’s how I write my novels, so this was right up my alley.

During our first meeting, we focused on how to open the movie.  On the surface this seemed like it should be a piece of cake—I did, after all, write the story!—but, for the screenplay, Greg explained why we would need to invent a new opening.  It all made perfect sense to me and I was totally on board, it just proved to be more challenging than I expected.

In fact, up to this point, I’m finding the most challenging aspect of adapting Inside the Outside is figuring out how to retell my story in the language of cinema. For the record, this wasn’t my first time working on a screenplay.  I spent some time studying screenwriting in college and I also wrote a number of shorts and comedy sketches with Greg.  And, more than once, we’d collaborated on feature-length screenplays (none of which ever reached a final, polished state).

That being said, I don’t consider myself a screenwriter.  For that matter, I haven’t exercised my screenwriting muscles for at least a few years. This is where having Greg as a collaborator works tremendously well in my favor.  I have the comfort of knowing I can talk about the book purely as a story and, whatever it is I am saying to him, he can see it in film terms.

So far the process has been both fun and challenging.  It’s involved a lot of hard work, pizza, and slumber parties. And over the next couple of weeks you can look forward to me recounting all the highs and lows.  I’ll tell you about what it’s like seeing my story through my brother’s eyes, the thrill of hearing him totally get what I was trying to say and the odd (humbling?) experience of finding out that he actually understands certain aspects of my story better than I do.

GoodReads is the Place to Be!

Since publishing Inside the Outside in July 2011, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time on GoodReads. If you’re not aware of it (and why wouldn’t you be?!) it's a social network for book lovers. I was a member of GoodReads before I published my novel, so being an official author on the site is super cool. One of the great things about GoodReads is it hosts book giveaways, such as the giveaway for Inside the Outside, which ended on September 2, 2011.

Speaking of which, congratulations to the winners—Amanda (Visalia, CA), Stacy (Inverness, FL), and Amy (Greene, NY)—each of whom received a signed copy of Inside the Outside.

One of the other great things about GoodReads is it’s a place for readers to leave reviews about the books they’ve read.

I’m not sure if other authors (Stephen King, for instance, or Chuck Palahniuk) read their reviews on GoodReads, but I do.

And, so far, Inside the Outside has faired extremely well with readers. In no particular order, I wanted to share the kind words readers on GoodReads have been saying about my debut novel.

(Side Note: I truncated some of the longer reviews. You can read them in their entirety by following the links below).

Emma wrote:

One of the best books I've read all year. Creepy, original, with a tight story and enviable prose. I plan to read it again, which in today's media clutter, is the biggest compliment I can bestow upon it. It's just that good.

Jennifer wrote:

Fantastic book. I was completely captivated; I'm still thinking about it days later.

Chanel wrote:

This book had me on the verge of tears, laughter, and terror, sometimes at the same time. Martin Lastrapes writes with such vivid imagery, that there were times where I had to put the book down to avoid being overly spooked. I found myself caring for each character and caring what happened to them.

Natasha wrote:

I totally loved this book. It was hard to read at times imaging what was laid out about cannibalism. Made me cry and laugh. I want more, more of the same twisted story but also more of Martin Lastrapes amazing imagination and his talented writing. The way he can lay a story out I am in awe of.

Cassandra wrote:

5 STARS AMAZING! I absolutely LOVE Inside the Outside by Martin Lastrapes. I strongly recommend everybody read this book. After reading the first few pages, I already knew I'd be HOOKED. YOU MUST READ THIS! Happy, Sad, Intense, Creepy...YES, YES, YES!

To those readers who read the book, enjoyed it, and thought enough of it to take a little time out of their day to write a kind review, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. For those readers who read and enjoyed the book, but didn’t leave a review on GoodReads, I appreciate you too. And for anybody who hated the book, but chose not to review it, I appreciate you the most!

Colin Frangicetto: Under the Cover

It’s been said that you should never judge a book by its cover.  While this may be true, I’ve been guilty on more than one occasion of doing exactly that.  And so, even though I invested a tremendous amount of hard work into the writing of my debut novel, Inside the Outside, I always knew that, for better or worse, its cover would greatly affect how potential readers would judge it.  But now that it’s complete, I’m confident that, should Inside the Outside be judged by its cover, it will be judged favorably.  And for that, I am forever indebted to Colin Frangicetto.

While Colin is a brilliant artist with a loyal and growing fan base, he is probably best known as one of the founding members of the rock band Circa Survive.  Of course, I didn’t know either of these things when Colin was first brought to my attention.  It was my student, Jose, who told me about Colin.  Jose had taken a few of my English courses at Mt. San Antonio College and, consequently, he knew I was working on a novel.  As I was wrapping up the writing phase and looking ahead to the publishing phase, Jose asked me how the book was coming along.  I told him that I had been thinking about the cover, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it.  My only idea, I told him, was to find a decent artist willing to work on it and see what they could come up with.

After a moment, Jose’s eyes lit up.

“I know someone.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said.  “He’s an artist.  He’s really good.  I can ask him for you.”

“Sure,” I said.  “That’d be great.”

Of course, I didn’t expect Jose to actually talk to who ever it was he knew.  Not that he was a liar or anything, I just figured he’d forget about it or whatever.  And that would’ve been fine, as I figured this artist he knew was probably some kid who sketched incoherent doodles in textbooks in between playing video games and working on his ollie kickflip.  But the next time I saw Jose, he told me he’d talked to the artist and that he was interested, but he wanted to read some of the book.

I figured it couldn’t hurt, but I still wasn’t too sold on whoever this skateboarding doodle artist was.  I told Jose to have his artist friend email me, so I could send him a few chapters.  I figured this would nip the whole issue in the bud as whoever this artist was probably wouldn't care enough about some freelance project to actually email me.  In this case, everybody would save face (and, by “everybody,” I am of course talking about me).  But, to my surprise, I soon received an email from Colin Frangicetto.

It was a brief email, essentially an introduction, so I responded in kind.  Colin told me he was touring Europe, but when he got back we could arrange a phone call to talk about the book and the possible cover art.  My first thought was that he must be a serious artist if he’s touring through Europe.

Right around this time, Jose sent me a couple of websites where I could view Colin’s artwork and I was totally blown away.  His work was strange and imaginative, vivid and surreal.  I definitely wanted him to work on my book cover, so I asked if he wanted to meet up when he was back in town.  But it turned out he lived in Pennsylvania.  I was left wondering how the heck Jose had a friend in Pennsylvania.

A few weeks later, Colin and I spoke on the phone and he couldn’t have been nicer.  I remember at some point during the conversation he mentioned something about his band.  I figured it was some sort of garage band he messed around with as a hobby when he wasn’t busy with his paintings.  A few days later, Jose told me Colin’s band, Circa Survive, would be playing in Anaheim at the House of Blues.  I figured this must be a pretty big break for their little garage band.

I was sitting at the computer reading about Colin’s band when my girlfriend, Chanel, walked by.  After taking a look at the screen she stopped in her tracks.  I should mention here that I’m notoriously ignorant about music.  I probably own about five CDs and, given a choice, I much prefer listening to talk radio.  Chanel, on the other hand, is a music junkie.  She’s always going to shows for bands whose names I could swear she made up on the spot (Ladytron? Warpaint? HorrorPops?) and her CD collection could seriously harm me if I were ever standing near it during an earthquake.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Oh, this is the band the artist is in.”

“He’s in Circa Survive?!”

“You know them?”

“Yeah,” she said.  “They’re kind of a big deal.”

After talking with Chanel a little more and doing some further research, I found out that Circa Survive were indeed a big deal.  It also became clear to me that Colin wasn’t touring through Europe to show his artwork, he was touring with his rock band.  I was beginning to feel very silly, because not only was Colin this terrific artist who sold his pieces for large amounts of money, but he was also a rock star.

I couldn’t believe he was even considering working on my book cover. Certainly he had better things to do.  Right?  Well, as it turned out, he liked the idea of creating a book cover, as he’d never done it before.  And, luckily for me, I seemed to be the first author who asked him to do it (well, technically, it was Jose who asked).

Next time I saw Jose, I asked how he knew Colin.  It turned out Jose had never met or talked to Colin before.  He was just a big fan of Circa Survive and he loved Colin’s artwork.  The first time he ever communicated with Colin was when he asked if he’d be interested in working on my book cover.  This instantly shot Jose up the scale of one of the coolest dudes on the planet for even trying such a thing on my behalf.  Of course, Colin is right there with him in the cool department for not only responding to Jose—a perfect stranger, mind you—but also for talking to me and agreeing to do my book cover.

Colin liked the premise of my novel and he told me that the story of Timber Marlow, my teenage cannibal protagonist, fit very nicely with a series of paintings he was working on.  When it was time to work on the book cover, I told Colin my favorite painting of his was “Unicorn,” which is of a woman with big eyes and no arms and a horn sprouting from her head.  It's a striking collaboration of watercolor and black ink and it very much captured the aesthetic I hoped to have for my book cover.

With that painting as his reference, Colin sent me a rough sketch of Timber Marlow.  I really loved it, but the only problem was he gave her hair and she was holding what appeared to be a spear.  I asked if he could make Timber bald and have her holding a cleaver, as both of these visuals are very important in the novel. The next picture he sent me was a completed painting and I was thrilled beyond words when I saw it.  This was definitely the painting that would go on the cover.

When it was time for the book to be designed, I sent Colin’s painting to Jerry Dorris of AuthorSupport.com.  Jerry did a brilliant job of designing the rest of my cover around Colin’s painting.  In the end, everything was perfect and I couldn’t have been happier.

Now that everything is complete and Inside the Outside has been published, I can still hardly believe my good fortune.  Every time I pick up my book and look at its cover, I’m reminded of the precarious domino of events that precipitated its creation.  I can’t imagine the cover looking any different and, luckily for me, I don’t have to.

So now, should any potential readers judge my book by its cover, I know I’ll have nothing to worry about.

And I have Colin Frangicetto to thank for it.

A Little Gaga Spillover

Contrary to what Google might have you think, I am not Lady Gaga.  So, if you’re a little monster who turned up on this website hoping to get your fill of Gaga, then you made a wrong turn. Just to be clear, my name is Martin Lastrapes and I am the author of Inside the Outside, the novel about the cannibal girl named Timber Marlow.

So, imagine my chagrin, when, just a few minutes ago, I, having decided to cater to my ego, did a Google search of “Inside the Outside” only to find the results page dominated by Lady Gaga. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, just a month and a half before I would publish my debut novel, Inside the Outside, MTV aired a documentary called Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I feel it’s worth mentioning that I have no beef with Lady Gaga.  In fact, I heard an interview with her on the Howard Stern Show, in which she comes off as not only genuinely talented, but bright and articulate. Having said that, I’ve never gone out of my way to listen to or avoid a Lady Gaga record.  From what I can gather, she has a certain showmanship that I can appreciate, even if I don’t always understand what she’s doing—say, for instance, when she dressed up as an egg at the 2011 Grammy Awards.

Anyway, I don’t want to get too far away from my point, which is: I’m not Lady Gaga.

I’m not saying it would be such a bad thing if I were.  She’s certainly enjoying the sort of creative and financial success that I would love to experience. But, suffice it to say, despite our non-related projects of the same name, I am not she. So, if you are one of Lady Gaga’s little monsters and you did, perhaps, in a drunken flurry of Gaga fever, buy my novel, Inside the Outside, under the pretense that it had any relation to the documentary, Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside, let me say thank you. I appreciate your support.

And really, when you think of it, Lady Gaga would probably enjoy my novel anyway.  Just the cover alone, I imagine, would pique her interest: a bald girl with a cleaver in one hand and a flower in the other, wearing only a tank top and nothing else.  For all you know, I could have just described Lady Gaga’s outfit for the 2012 Grammy Awards.  Hell, didn’t Lady Gaga dress up in a meat outfit at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards?  The more I think about it, Google might be on to something.

Now, let me wrap this up by coming clean.  The sole purpose of this blog post (and, let’s face it, I’m sure at least a few of you have figured it out by now) is to try and weasel my way into the top of any Google search of “Inside the Outside.”  If Lady Gaga is already there and I have now mentioned Lady Gaga sixteen times, in conjunction with mentioning Inside the Outside eight times, then maybe—just maybe—I can enjoy a little Gaga (seventeen!) spillover.

In closing, let me say this: Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes Lady Gaga Inside the Outside Martin Lastrapes…

5 Blogs Every Indie Writer Should Bookmark

I got into the blogging game primarily to create an online presence for myself. I wanted there to be sort of an Internet headquarters for my readers (present and future) to come see what was happening with me or any news surrounding my debut novel, Inside the Outside. The more time I spent working on my own blog, the more I started noticing other blogs. I started to appreciate them more now that I had a better idea of what it took to put one together. Amongst the many blogs I started noticing, I was thrilled to find out that there are lots of folks out there with great blogs about books and publishing. And every time I discover one of these cool blogs, I add it to my bookmarks, as any self-respecting web surfer would do. Well, after recently looking over my growing list of bookmarked blogs, it occurred to me that I should share them with my readers—put the ol’ Martin Spotlight™ on them, as it were. Even if their sites already get more traffic than mine does (which I assume is the case with all of them), I figured a little extra shine couldn't hurt. The blogs that I primarily frequent are not only about writing (in some form or fashion) but are also beneficial to other writers (in one way or another). So, without any further ado, here are, in no particular order, five blogs that every indie writer should have bookmarked…

IndieReader.com
IndieReader.com

1. IndieReader

I first became aware of IndieReader when I was surfing the Internet for news about—uber-successful indie author—Amanda Hocking. And, sufficed it say, I stuck around because I loved the site. IndieReader was founded by Amy Edelman, a publicist and writer who has been both self-published and traditionally published. The thing I especially love about IndieReader is its support in promoting self-published authors, rightfully equating the singularity of their voice and vision—from writing to publishing—with the indie mavericks and auteurs of the film industry.

BestDamnCreativeWritingBlog.com
BestDamnCreativeWritingBlog.com

2. The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog

I assume The Best Damn Creative Writing Blog found the inspiration for its name from the now-cancelled television program The Best Damn Sports Show Period. As both a sports lover and a book lover, I appreciate the allusion, even if it’s all in my head. Now, with regards to the blog itself, The BDCWB offers news, essays and commentary about the publishing industry. Among other things, you can expect to find everything from posts about dating sites for book lovers to interviews with bestselling authors.

SelfPublishingReview.com
SelfPublishingReview.com

3. Self-Publishing Review

Self-Publishing Review is near and dear to my heart, because their core purpose is to legitimatize self-publishing as a viable option for writers looking to see their work in print. They go about doing this by, among other things, posting book reviews, publisher reviews, interviews, and news. And a particularly cool feature of the site is they allow outside writers to contribute their own blog posts (they are, of course, moderated).  Even if you're not a self-published author, but are thinking about it, you'll find that Self-Publishing Review is a great resource.

book designer
book designer

4. The Book Designer

The Book Designer is a great blog geared towards helping independent publishers and authors get to market with a great looking, properly constructed book, on time and on budget.  The brain behind The Book Designer is Joel Friedlander, a successful indie author and publisher himself.  Friedlander's blog covers a myriad of important topics that all indie publishers need to be familiar with, from editing and designing to marketing and promoting.

TheCreativePenn.com
TheCreativePenn.com

5. The Creative Penn

Okay, first of all, I have to say that Joanna Penn, founder of The Creative Penn, is adorable. If you don’t believe me, check out her “About Me” video. Penn is an author, blogger, speaker and business consultant based in London, England. Her mission for The Creative Penn is to help people who are interested in writing and publishing, as well as authors who want to gain insight on the marketing and promotion of their books on the Internet. What a swell gal, huh?

And there you have it.  Five blogs every indie writer should have bookmarked (what are you waiting for?!). Now, just to be clear, these aren’t the only five blogs I frequent. I just figured, for the sake of this first go, five seemed like a reasonable number. I look forward to featuring other blogs I enjoy, so keep an eye out for those. Also, if you have a blog that you think I’ll love, send it my way. And if I love it (or, at the very least, like it a lot), I’ll be more than happy to shine the ol’ Martin Spotlight™ in your direction.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some blogs to read.

The Collective Intelligence of the Twitterverse

On a lazy Friday afternoon in the middle of August, just 10 years into the new millennium—by which I mean, yesterday—I joined Twitter.

It was a big day for me, joining Twitter.  And my life hasn’t been the same since.  Mainly because, before yesterday, I wasn’t a tweeter (is “tweeter” even the appropriate noun? For an English professor, I’m not really much of a grammarian).  I wasn’t really sure I saw the point in it.  But, as an author, it occurred to me (as it has to a couple million other artists looking to bring awareness to their work) that Twitter might very well be something I should look into.

Since yesterday—which, again, was my first day on Twitter—I’ve tweeted exactly eight times.  Is that too much?  Not enough?  Seriously, I have no idea.  Of those eight, half are original tweets, while the other half are re-tweets.  And as of this blog post, I am following 103 tweeters.  Is that appropriate?  Am I entering obsessive stalker category?  Or am I underachieving?  As for followers, I’ve acquired 13 since yesterday.  Am I lighting the world on fire?  Or should I be horribly ashamed?

While my primary purpose for being on Twitter is to bring attention to my writing, I don’t want to be the asshole who only promotes stuff.  But when it does come time to slip a shameless plug into Twitter, do I couch it in what appears to be a 140-character witticism or is that an insult to the collective intelligence of the Twitterverse?

In fact, if it hasn’t become clear enough already, the primary purpose of this particular blog post is to write about Twitter simply so I can tweet it.  In this way, I told myself, I could tweet a link to my website, thereby promoting myself, but because the medium by which I would be delivering it would be directly related to said link, it would shield me from any perceived doucheiness.

Now, of course, you may be thinking: If he tells us what he is trying to get away with, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of trying to get away with it?  The answer, of course, is yes.  I have, in fact, defeated my own purpose.  And, you may be glad to hear, I’ve done so out of respect for you.  I knew, long before I hatched my scheme, that you were too smart to fall for it.  Therefore, I decided to fill you in on it.  In this way I’d be offering a nod and a wink in your direction, my subtle little way of making you aware of my awareness of your awareness.

But, more than that, it is my attempt to appeal to your sense of ethos.  I want to show you that I am an honest guy.  I’m not here to pull the wool over your eyes.  I’m not trying to get away with anything.  If I say it, you can believe it.  So let me be even more upfront with you: Not only am I writing a post on my website for the sole purpose of promoting myself on Twitter, but I’ll also be posting this very same link on Facebook.  So, yes, I’ll be engaging in a virtual orgy of social-networking.  Shameful, I know.

In the end, it is my sincere belief that the men and women of the Twitterverse are a good people. A kind people. A forgiving people.

So, my fellow Twitteronians, I beg your forgiveness for this and any other future offenses to your world.

The Evolution of Professor Me

I’m an English professor.  It’s how I earn my living.  Invariably, when I show up on the first day of any given semester and see a group of 30 or 40 college students staring at me as I prepare to introduce myself, I’m always struck by the same thought.

How did I get here?

I’ve been teaching English since the fall of 2006.  While I like to think I’m good at my job, there was definitely a time when I knew I was terrible at it.  Not for lack of effort, mind you.  I just didn’t know what I was doing nor did I know how to get any better.  It’s taken me these last five years to reach a point where I feel like I almost know what I’m doing.

It wasn’t always my ambition to be an English professor—or do anything at all in the world of academia.  In fact, growing up, I had no idea such a world existed.  As a kid I was shy and timid, so the easiest thing for me to do was get lost in my imagination.  I loved professional wrestling and comic books.  My brother Greg had an impressive library of comic books that he collected during his own childhood in the seventies, so, for as long as I could remember, I had access to Batman and Superman and Spiderman and most every other superhero that came out of DC or Marvel.

It was never the words in the comic books that captivated me, but the pictures.  I loved drawing pictures as a kid.  Some of my earliest memories involve me hiding under my bed and falling asleep with a crayon in my hand and a coloring book pillowed beneath my cheek.

My love of art and drawing stayed with me through high school, culminating in an advanced placement studio art class during my senior year.  But, by the time the class was over, I found I was burnt out with art.  This should’ve been alarming, as art was the only vested interest I had in school, but I found that avoiding the idea of my post-high school life was a lot less stressful.  Of course, high school did eventually end and I had nothing planned for myself, so I enrolled at Chaffey College.

I grew up five minutes away from Chaffey and, more importantly, I knew how to get there, so, obviously, it was my number one choice.  While I went into Chaffey completely clueless as to how I was supposed to succeed in college, I had the great good fortune to end up in a freshmen composition course taught by S. Kay Murphy.  It was Kay’s first time teaching a college course and it was my first semester in college, so we were a perfect pair.  More than that, Kay saw something in my writing that I had never seen before.

Potential.

She spent the semester encouraging me and my writing and I, in turn, applied myself—really and truly—for the first time as a student, college or otherwise.  With her encouragement I discovered a love for writing that seemed to come from the same place that my love for art and drawing had once come from.  Interestingly enough, that same year I took a U.S. history class, which assigned, among other books, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

It’s important to note that I was not a reader growing up.  If it wasn’t a comic book or Pro Wrestling Illustrated, I had no interest in reading it.  So, when I was assigned to read The Jungle—which is around 400 pages with teeny-tiny font—and only given a month to do it, I was terrified.  For reasons that I can scarcely articulate, something triggered in my brain soon after I began reading The Jungle and, without meaning to, I finished Sinclair’s seminal novel in three days.  So in just under a year, at the age of nineteen, I discovered a love for reading and writing.

A few years would pass before I decided to study English, but even when that time came, I didn’t know what I would do with a degree in English.  All that made sense was becoming a high school teacher.  As I was preparing to graduate from Chaffey and transfer to Cal State San Bernardino, I went to see my counselor for a State-of-the-Union-type sit down.  He asked what I wanted to do with an English degree and I told him I would teach high school.

“You don’t want to do that.”

“Really?”

“No,” he said.  “Just stay in school for an extra two years and get a Master’s degree.  Then you can teach in a community college.”

“No kidding?”

I finished my Bachelor’s degree with relative ease, as the enthusiasm and motivation I discovered in Kay’s class was still going strong.  Graduate school was another story altogether, proving to challenge not only my intellect but my will.  It was tough and I’d love to tell you that I stuck it out for some noble reason, but the truth is I didn’t have a backup plan.  I had painted myself into a corner, so to speak.  In the absence of any other reasonable options, I managed to earn my Master’s degree in three years.

As I was finishing up my degree, I called the Language Arts department at Chaffey College to ask how I might get a job teaching there.  A month or so later I was interviewing for an adjunct teaching position.  About fifteen minutes into the interview, I was offered a couple of advanced composition classes to teach.  Before I knew it, I was holding two textbooks and a set of keys.  Classes would begin in three weeks, so I needed to start writing a syllabus.  The fact that I didn’t know how to write a syllabus was the least of my problems, as I didn’t know how to be an English professor.

I took the job anyway.

That was about five years ago.  I’ve learned a whole lot since then, much of it coming the hard way.  While I’m far from an expert, I feel like I’m pretty good at my job.  And, more than that, I also like to think I have some useful insights to offer college students and professors alike.

And that's why, from time to time, you can expect to read any number of posts here on Inside Martin regarding my life as a college professor. It’ll be a chance for me to share my stories, talk about my experiences, fill you in on some of my personal victories, as well as some of my more demoralizing defeats.  Even if you find that what I have to say here doesn’t make you a better student or teacher, hopefully you’ll find that you’re too amused to care.

Ani DiFranco: One Righteous Babe

UPDATED 7/15/14:

Below is Episode 24 of The Martin Lastrapes Show Podcast Hour, "One RIghteous Babe," in which Martin and Chanel discuss discuss Ani DiFranco's epic and controversial 9/11 poem, "Self Evident," as well as her pioneering efforts as an independent artist.

My decision to become an independent publisher began about two years ago, while I was having lunch with my brother Greg at Vitello’s, an Italian restaurant in Studio City, CA, best known for being the spot where Robert Blake allegedly murdered his wife.  As we waited for our food, I was moaning about how frustrating it was trying to get my novel, Inside the Outside, published. “Why not publish it yourself?” Greg said.

I wasn’t the least bit interested in publishing it myself.  I wanted to be a traditional author with a literary agent and a book deal.

"I just can't imagine I'd be able to reach many readers if I published it myself."

"Even if you reach only a small audience, at least people would be reading it," he said.  "And isn't that the point, to have people read your book?”

Because there was—and is—a long-standing stigma attached to self-publishers, I feared that bucking the system would somehow taint me, making me unappealing to any future publishers.  And I told Greg as much.  It was at this point that he pulled out his trump card.

“What would Ani DiFranco do?”

from VHS, around 2001, I think: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WorldBeat/05/14/ani.difranco/

Ani DiFranco, if you’re not familiar, is a singer, songwriter, poet, and political activist who, once upon a time, walked away from a record deal offered to her by a major label, choosing instead to find her own way as an independent artist.  Along the way, she created Righteous Babe Records, which allowed her to forge her way outside of the mainstream, succeeding primarily because of a loyal army of fans built largely on word-of-mouth.

In an open letter to Ms. Magazine in 1997, Ani says:

“I’m just a folksinger, not an entrepreneur. My hope is that my music and poetry will be enjoyable and/or meaningful to someone, somewhere, not that I maximize my profit margins. It was 15 years and 11 albums getting to this place of notoriety and, if anything, I think I was happier way back when. Not that I regret any of my decisions, mind you. I’m glad I didn’t sign on to the corporate army. I mourn the commodification and homogenization of music by the music industry, and I fear the manufacture of consent by the corporately-controlled media. Last thing I want to do is feed the machine.”

I first became aware of Ani DiFranco when, in the early spring of 2002, my girlfriend asked me to go with her to see Ani in concert at the Grove of Anaheim.  I’d never heard of Ani and I really wasn’t interested, but, being a loyal boyfriend, I begrudgingly agreed to go.  For the most part, I was underwhelmed with the show, until halfway through when Ani began reciting a poem she was working on, which she would later call “Self Evident.”

It's an epic poem about the tragedy of September 11, which is unapologetically critical of both America and then-President George W. Bush. Bush, at the time, was at the height of his popularity, so bashing him hadn’t yet come into vogue.

Ani DiFranco in Conversation with Anthony DeCurtis. 12/16/07.

I wasn’t even sure if I agreed with everything she said in the poem, but it was so powerful and unflinching that I instantly became a fan.  I went on to listen to all of her records (I believe she had thirteen or fourteen at the time) for the next couple of days, while scouring the Internet for her song lyrics, which themselves read like poetry.  I eventually became acquainted with her story of being a maverick, of creating her own path.

So, when, while we sat in our booth at Vitello’s, Greg asked me, “What would Ani DiFranco do?”, what he was really doing was holding me up to the standard of my artistic hero.  He knew that for me to reject the idea of being an independent author would be akin to rejecting Ani DiFranco.  And he was right.  Humbled by my brother’s simple logic, I decided it was time to reject the system that had already rejected me—over and over again—and try my hand at being a maverick.

In that same open letter to Ms. Magazine, Ani says:

“We have a view which reaches beyond profit margins into poetry, and a vocabulary to articulate the difference.”

Torch in hand, Ani has been leading the way for nearly twenty years, inspiring artists like myself to take the road less traveled.  Her example provides me with no small amount of hope that there are treasures to be discovered in the place where ambition and integrity meet.

And I thank her for it.

About My Musings

The primary goal of Inside Martin is to create a personal presence online where readers can get to know me better.  With that in mind, “My Musings” is going to be a section where I talk about what’s on my mind.  Because I’m a writer and publisher, my intention is to write mostly about writing and publishing. But, because I have a great many interests, some of which have little or nothing to do with writing or publishing, I will occasionally write about other things. From time to time, I will also include guest posts and interviews here. This will also be the place where I will write about my novel, Inside the Outside, keeping you up to date on things such as book signings and public readings.  And, should anything interesting happen during any of my public appearances, you can rest assured I will write about it here.  So, in all, “My Musings” will represent the great majority of thoughts and ideas floating around in my head, specifically the ideas that don’t fit neatly into one of my other two categories: "Books That Aren’t Mine" and "Misc. Prose."

Inside the Outside: Blog Tour 2011

So, I'm so excited to announce the inaugural blog tour of Inside the Outside.  If you're not familiar, a blog tour is, essentially, a cyber book tour.  I'll be making seven stops over the next two weeks.

UPDATE (8/20/2011): The Blog Tour is complete! Click the links below to read all the interviews and guest posts:

MONDAY, AUGUST 8:

The Black Abyss  - Interview

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10:

The Word - Guest Post: "Creating the Illusion of Flesh and Blood on the Page"

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

Wednesday, AUGUST 10:

Ginger Nuts of Horror - Interview

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12:

Exciting Writing - Interview

*        *        *        *        *        *        * 

MONDAY, AUGUST 15:

Book Den - Guest Post: "One Author’s Attempt to Write a Likable Killer"

*        *        *        *        *        *        * 

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17:

The Coffee Stained Manuscript - Guest Post: "The Benefits of Being an Independent Publisher "

*        *        *        *        *        *        *

MONDAY, AUGUST 22:

Alive on the Shelves - Guest Post: "What Inspires a Writer to Tell a Story?"