In the Image of Man

1/18/2020

A small god, a handful of followers and the end of the world
(The godling series Book 1) by Mark Long

Multi-volume, multi-genre author, Mark Long introduces us to the first in a series, “In the Image of Man”:
Would you know if a small god paid you a visit?

Would you trust in the least of miracles or believe in the messages that appear out of the blue on your computer screen? What would it take to make you believe?

As the story unfolds, there is an ancient godling adrift in the Universe and he is desperate for believers. This tiny god, who comes to be known as Bob, is small, powerless and unseen. Drifting through the ages he is brought to consciousness following a tragedy but, he must gain followers, as without true believers, there is no capacity for miracles. Worse, without them, he will cease to exist.

So, Bob goes to work, invisible and inexperienced, silently watching and hoping for people to love him. He learns all about vending machines and then computers and quickly grasps the human concept of spending money. As the days pass into mundane routine, his energy increases as his unknowing colleagues mutter… “Oh God.”

But modern life takes its toll, even on a higher deity.
Bob needs a sacrifice……not any old sacrifice, no blood or guts or murder and mayhem, just a chocolate bar given freely.

Ray Charles and Mary Callahan had no idea that their lives were going to be changed forever when a very weak but desperate god introduces himself. Ray’s anger over his wrecked car tyre draws Bob like a beacon to him. Mary’s emotional turmoil teaches Bob all about love and betrayal. He watches over her but not even a god is safe from making serious mistakes.

Soon, a psychiatrist, the Police and even the Pope are brought into the confusion. But then, Bob finds that he needs a far bigger audience if he is going to save the world from impending doom. Can he do it?

The first in a new humorous fiction series and written in a tongue-in-cheek style by author Mark Long, this story is both thought-provoking and funny. It’s guaranteed to make you smile.

This was such a delightful story to read. The originality of the premise caught my eye in the beginning. A small god that needed followers to have an existence.
The tone of the book was very enjoyable, it was mild and unassuming for the most part as the small god, Bob, struggled to help his two followers in a meaningful way.
I loved the plotting and characterizations; the dialogue was most interesting as Bob sought ways to make his presence known to his followers. I chuckled many times. The scene setting left little to be desired. There was a nice balance throughout the book.
The conclusion of the book was very satisfying and I look forward to the sequel.
I award 4.9 stars to “In the Image of Man”!

You can buy this book and you should:
https://smile.amazon.com/image-Man-handful-followers-godling-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/-in-the-image-of-man
https://www.kobo.com/in-the-image-of-man

You can follow the author:
http://intheimageofman.com
https://www.facebook.com/InTheImageOfMan
https://www.marklongauthor.co.uk
https://twitter.com/BluesScale

Tags: Religious humor, science fiction, satire, British humor, metaphysical, fantasy
Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction

72 Comments

Mark Long link

1/19/2020 04:52:34 pm

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. I had the idea more than a decade ago but it took quite a while to mature. I wasn't sure if it had matured like wine or like cheese and I am glad that you didn't think that it was stinky.

Mark

1/19/2020 05:01:38 pm

Sometimes a good idea takes quite a long time to mature. I am guessing the second book will be out on a faster schedule. I loved your book, it gave me lots of smiles and chuckles.
Please, tell us more about yourself. Perhaps something a little bit beyond your bio.

Mark Long link

1/19/2020 05:11:10 pm

Thank you. Book 2 is progressing quite well. It is fully plotted out and I am about 20K into the writing. I wrote a hard SF novel called Misjump between books 1 and 2 of the Godling series. I am pleased to be back in Bob''s world.

Hmmmm. Something that is not in my bio and will not get me arrested? I teach Ukulele for the Southampton Ukulele Jam and I have taught several hundred people including people that have since become instructors in their own right. It is always a pleasure to hear that someone that I taught has passed my skills and is making their own music. I also play sax, harp, guitar and keyboards, all with more enthusiasm than skill.

Mark

1/19/2020 05:22:41 pm

Glad to hear book 2 is coming along nicely. Your fans will be pleased.
Being proficient in multiple instruments is fascinating to me. I play the stereo quite well, thank you. And you play more than one type of instrument also, I love that and it has to keep your brain pliable.
New questions.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer?
What kind of work do you do? Feel free to skip that question, if you would rather not answer.
Does your work have any influence on your writing?

Mark Long link

1/19/2020 05:38:50 pm

I would love to write full time but like most authors (more than 90% of us), I can't make a living from writing. My day job is in product security which is an odd job in some ways. I spend a lot of time making sure that users of our systems are safe from cybercriminals. While working in computer security sounds exciting, it is actually very dull if done correctly. If we do a perfect job, no-one will ever hear about it. I specialise in reverse engineering malware, consulting and mentoring colleagues. I really enjoy explaining things.

One thing that might not be obvious about that sort of work is that we are required to have the same skills as the criminals, often to a higher degree. Accordingly, we are trained in hacking, lock picking, social engineering and assorted dark arts. It can be handy if a friend finds that they have forgotten their keys.

I draw a fairly clear line between my writing and my day job although Bob is the small god of computers (and vending machine repair) and some of my background was helpful there. My editor was quite insistent (correctly) that the story didn't get bogged down in technical details.

You might think that I would be inclined to write thrillers given my background but I struggle to read them because I know a bit about how things work. It would be a bit like a doctor watching a medical drama and being unable to enjoy the drama because of glaring medical errors. As for writing a more accurate version, I can't see people enjoying the heroes spending days reviewing source code and release notes.

Real intelligence work is much more George Smiley than James Bond and the vast majority of it is as dull as ditchwater. If it is exciting, something has generally gone horribly wrong.

Mark

1/19/2020 05:52:00 pm

Your editor was right. Too many details can slow a story down. That general maxim is somewhat genre dependent, but I think you found a great balance for Bob.
New questions.
How did you choose to make Bob the god of vending machine repair? The computer thing is obvious, knowing your background.
What inspired you to write this book?
Why did you choose this genre, or do you feel the genre chose you?

Mark Long link

1/19/2020 06:53:07 pm

It has been said that the best questions are those that are the hardest to answer. That makes yourr questions truly excellent.

Let me address the questions in a different order if I may, please. I read a lot. Indeed, I would advise anyone wishing to write that reading is critical to becoming a writer. I read mainly in the SF and Fantasy genres. It was perhaps inevitable that any book that I wrote would contain elements of these but In the image of Man is not squarely in those genres. If I had to classify it (and I did when pitching the book), I would consider it an urban fantasy/religious satire crossover. The advice that I repeatedly got from more experienced writers and agents was that:

a. You can't write a book in that genre and have it work
b. If you did, no-one would ever buy it.

Well, I think that it does work, quirky though it is. It don't think that it is ever going to be a huge seller but I wanted a book that people would enjoy, not one that would make me rich.

The genre rather chose me and it all started with a 4 word sentence. I was doing a free writing exercise when you just write down whatever comes into your head. Maybe there will be a story seed in there or maybe not. It is just a tool for unlocking ideas. I found that I had typed "Bob was a god." I sat there staring at the line and I thought there there were just so many questions that came from that line. Who was Bob? What sort of god was he? Is being a god something that can happen and can you stop being one?

As for Bob being the god of vending machine repair, the answer is in the title of the book. Bob is created in the image of Man, specifically Mr Ray Charles (no relation), a vending machine repair man from Slough. It is a reverse of the idea of Man being created in the image of God. Bob would have been a very different small god if the first person that he had met had been someone else. We might have ended up with the god of heavy metal music or the god of golf. I rather like the god that we ended up with though. At the risk of giving away spoilers, there are more small gods in the second book in the series (called "The afterlife") and they too have taken characteristics from their believers and they have quite different specialisations.

As for it being a satire, it had to be a funny book because the basic idea is a funny one. A god woken from insensibility to repair vending machines? However, there is something of a trick to the book. It explores some serious ideas. People die. Everyone nearly dies. We come to look at the nature of faith and what is says about us. A large part of the book is set in a mental hospital. We see ourselves in a distorting mirror. These could be very serious things but distorting mirrors belong in a fun house. The book does not take itself seriously because it is about serious things. It is a funny book because the line between tragedy and comedy is a thin one.

Mark

1/19/2020 07:11:51 pm

We have a love of reading science fiction and fantasy in common. That is all I read for most of my adult life, starting at a young age.
I agree completely with your characterization of your book, it would be silly of me to disagree. You nailed it. I love the story and the satire.
That is a great beginning of the story concept. Four words saturated with so much meaning and possibility.
I have never resided in a mental institution, though my wife used to work in a double-lock unit. Contrary to popular suggestion, we did not meet there.
New questions.
Who designed the cover of your book?
Feel free to drop a link if appropriate.
What do the elements on the cover represent?
Was it hard to come up with the title? What was the process?

Mark Long link

1/19/2020 07:25:47 pm

The cover was done by Spiffing covers (www.spiffingcovers.com), specifically by Gabriel. I think that he did a wonderful job. It was actually a bit of a tricky book to represent in a single image. For the most part, the main character is invisible and speaking in people's heads. There are two threads to the book (I am going to avoid spoilers here) and the cover needed to represent both.

The working title of the book was simply "Bob" but that doesn't really tell anyone anything. I did consider "Someone to believe in me" as a title but research showed multiple problems, not the least of which is that people associated the title with the Christian god. I have tried to be respectful to all beliefs but this is not at all a Christian book. It is about belief itself and the nature of humanity. Oh, and an asteroid. The cover represents Bob and The Traveller, the aforementioned asteroid.

Mark

1/19/2020 09:14:23 pm

I enjoyed the dual-track nature of your story, it became very exciting at the end.
Can you explain how you did the research for the title of the book? I would like to know more details if you don't mind. Most of my audience are authors also, finding the appropriate title will be of interest to more than a few.
More questions.
Were the character names difficult to develop? How did you choose them?
Have you entered any writing contests?
Have you won awards of any kind for your writing?

Mark Long link

1/20/2020 06:59:24 am

After I decided that "Bob" was not going to be the title, I proposed a couple of titles on Twitter and let my followers decide. The title "In the image of Man" was designed to reflect one of the central themes of the book. Bob, the object of people's belief, was shaped by the people that believed in him. In the back of my mind, I was thinking that many previous religions were started when someone with an agenda found something to believe in. In the case of Mr Charles, his agenda was that he wanted to change the tire. He was looking for help.

The wording was a play on the biblical line "And God created man in His image". Well, Bob was late to the game. He wasn't creating Man. He was effectively creating himself. As becomes important in "The afterlife", the first belief that a spark of godhood gets makes a permanent difference to the nature of the small god that develops.

Mary's name was again a biblical reference - in Christianity, Mary (well, Miriam) was the mother of God. In a sense, Bob is the child of Charles and Mary since he is shaped by their nature.

Ray Charles was chosen at random. They are common names but when they were combined, I saw a running joke that I could use. I ran with it.

Father Ryan was an unfortunate choice and I have considered changing it in a second edition. Apparently people find it confusing since it sounds like a first name.

Ranting John was a character that I rather lost control over. He had a walk on job in one scene. He wasn't anyone important. However, a chapter or two later, he fitted into the story. And then there was another place where he fitted in. Soon he was a central character and p[lays a bigger role in the second book. He adds a lot a lot to the mix because he is a very different person and doesn't worry too much about the rules. He has a problem with authority. He can say things that other people can't. I am glad that he wouldn't stay in the background. His name say a lot about who he is. John has more than his share of mental health challenges but his problems are just a part of who is his, a reason why he is in the position that he is in. His illness doesn't define him. He is a person with his own ideas and goals.

Dr Vinod Chandra is based on a surgeon that I know. His name is a slight variation on the man.

One thing that has been called out as odd about the book is that there is no human antagonist. There are people opposed to the progress of Bob but there is nothing malicious at all in their actions. Everyone is acting for what they perceive as the best. In my opinion, the best villain is one who knows that he or she is the hero.

I did enter a few writing competitions some years ago but I don't think that I was ever in the running for a prize. However, every time someone enjoys a book that I have written, I feel that I have won the only one that matters.

Mark

1/20/2020 09:40:47 am

Excellent! The group mind of Twitter to the rescue. I have used the same connection to choose a name for a new website feature. I have received good advice on many occasions from friends on Twitter.
I love the joke about Ray Charles. Father Ryan was not a problem for me. I liked Ranting John. He was such an interesting person in his struggle with his mental health. He has a clarity of thought that is rare sometimes.
The lack of an outright antagonist is not a problem for me. Every person acts in their own best interest, it's perfectly logical; every bad guy is a hero in their own story.
Every time a person buys your book is a real vote and you are the winner.
New questions.
I noticed that your book is in Kindle Unlimited. How is that working out for you?
Have you ever gone through the query process, seeking an agent or submitting directly to publishers or did you go straight to indie publishing or self-publishing, and why?

Mark Long link

1/20/2020 11:23:49 am

I queried agents for In the image of Man for about 2 years. About 1 agent in 5 responded. No-one wanted a full manuscript. Of those that did respond, none of them were concerned about craft issues. They either didn't like the idea (which is fair enough - tastes vary) or felt that there was no market for that sort of book. I can see their point. Urban fantasy/religious satire is not at all what most publishers are looking for.

The feedback from my beta readers was excellent and I thought that I had a pretty good book on my hands. In my mind, it deserved an audience. I had self published before (Z-day UK - a guide to surviving the zombie apocalypse in Great Britain) and helped friends to self publish in the past so I had the required skills.

One of the many things that I am not good at is book promotion. I tried various avenues including some sites that promote books (sadly, not Word Refiner as I was not aware of them). with limited success. The press release was not especially effective although it did get me featured in a local paper. Amazon giveaways seem to be been the most effective. Facebook advertising didn't seem to work well at all.

Kindle Unlimited didn't prove at all popular for this book. However, it was much more successful for Misjump, a hard SF novel that I released last year. It seems that SF fans are bigger users of KU.

It is often said that cross-genre books are a hard sell and my experience bears that out. Agents clearly need to look at the bottom line and would prefer safer options. Self publishing does allow a lot of books that are not commercially obvious choices to reach an audience. It also allows some books that would have benefited from additional work to be released but I have tried very hard to ensure that the quality of the book was as high as I could make it. I had the book edited by a professor teaching English at degree level and had multiple rounds of reader feedback and a separate edit from a professional comedian. I am impressed that Word Refiner found issues that had been missed.

Mark

1/20/2020 12:15:58 pm

Your experience with agents reflects what I have observed. Amazon has turned the publishing world upside down. So many publishers of all sizes have disappeared, going out of business or being gobbled up by another. Their profit margins have shrunk dramatically and are unwilling to take chances any longer.
For many authors, promotion is the hardest nut to crack. The problem is exacerbated because there are so many books in the market. Amazon publishes 1,000,000 books every year now. Promotion is the never-ending story, an author never gets to write "the end" on that part of the business. An author has to take the creative hat off and put the business hat on.
The "local author" angle is a good one to pursue, there are quite a few venues to pursue. Local newspapers, radio, TV, even at the college or high school level. Tourist-oriented businesses can be another worthwhile source of revenue. Having books and counter-style holders for your books in the car can be very handy.
Getting feedback from a comedian was a very good idea.
New questions.
How do you think your book compares to a book published by a major publisher?
There are many unethical practices in publishing, which one is the most unbearable in your mind?

Mark Long link

1/20/2020 12:57:20 pm

One of the good points about being a self publisher (or more accurately, owning the publisher since I am planning to offer some other authors on Orchid Imprint) is complete creative control. Please let me tell a story which may illustrate this.

I tried very hard to make this a good book. As to whether I succeeded, I will let the reader decide. As part of this, I paid for a critique from a more established author. He hated it with a passion. He told me to change the book entirely to make it gritty and tense, remove all of the humour and make the mood unrelentingly dark. In other words, he was telling me to make it much more like his books as they sold well. If I was represented by an agent and publisher, I would probably have to accept the recommendations and make the book into something that I never wanted to write. Because I was not, I was able to make it the book that I wanted it to be. If I was lucky, I might only have had accept a different cover design.

I have nothing against gritty, dark and tense. Misjump is all of those things. It was not what I wanted for In the image of Man.

By the way, I was interviewed on radio for a previous book and gave a series of lectures. It didn't much affect sales but it was a lot of fun.

On the other hand, I would love help from a publisher to get my books into bricks and mortar stores. Many bookshops will not touch anything that will not shift a thousand units a year and the safest option for them is to go with big publishers. Indeed, there are some that have exclusive deals that require them to only stock books from certain sources from what I have heard. That isn't a criticism. I know how hard it is to compete with the online giants.

Another thing that a publisher might be able to help with is the extensive piracy in the ebook arena. A company is distributing pirate versions of a review copy of one of my books and they have had better sales than I have!

As for unethical practices, I am going to choose one that doesn't affect me but which does grind my gears. Academic books often come out in a new edition every year to destroy the resale value of the previous edition and force students to buy new books. In some fields where the subject changes rapidly, new editions make sense every few years but I find it hard to believe that, for example, our understanding of art history changes much from year to year.

Mark

1/20/2020 02:19:25 pm

I have been saying that for years. The self-publisher retains complete control of the book and everything, they also get all the profits. I think that chasing after an agent is a relic of the past. With the explosion of streaming services, content is in high demand and will only go up. Soon, authors will be on the iron throne and will be sought after by many for content.
I love that story. It's also one of the hazards of being in a critique group, if one or two members have far more success than the others.
You identified several of the problems of a bookstore, I always suggest going to the small, independent stores, as they have far more leeway.
Libraries are another possibility, I have a link to a good post about that on my HRB page.
Textbooks are certainly an issue, one more way a publisher tries to survive. And why are they so darn expensive?
New questions.
Do you have a favorite book by another author or just favorite authors?
Did you have a favorite book as a child?
Do you ever read a book more than once? If so, which one?

Mark Long link

1/20/2020 05:09:07 pm

There is a popular perception that indie authors are just carrying on the tradition of vanity publishing. My cousin is also a writer but she won't consider anything other than the traditional publishing route as anything less is a failure. I don't see it that way. I am putting my books in front of readers. I don't think that readers care what the imprint is. I know that I certainly never bought a book because of the publisher. I think that readers care about the story, the characters and the quality of the writing and the first two matter more than the last. I am sure that we can think of popular series where the writing was, on a technical level, not good. They were page turners for their target audience and that is what matters. People read them and enjoyed them. I see indie authors as a challenge to conventional publishing wisdom. Will all of them succeed? No, clearly not. They will sink or swim on their merits, on luck and to an extent on how much they put into marketing. People won't buy a book unless they hear about it. Conventional publishing has the advantage there but there have been some excellent and successful indie books.

I am a serial re-reader. Books that I have read especially often are:

Double Star (Heinlein)
Starship Troopers (Heinlein)
Agent to the Stars (Gaiman)
Star Dust (Gaiman)
The ocean at the end of the lane (Gaiman)
Pretty much everything that Terry Pratchett published.
Most of Douglas Adam's work
Lord of the rings (12 times so far)

Lord of the rings was probably my first book love. I also read Azimov extensively as a child and I was very fond of anthologies since I could sample so many worlds in so little time.

Mark

1/20/2020 05:23:58 pm

We might be brothers, separated at birth. We love so many of the same type of books. I read so much Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, Poul and many others. I read LOTR only three times, before high school graduation. Have you read the sci-fi series written by Tolkein's good friend, CS Lewis? Clive patterned the protagonist after JRRT. "Out of The Silent Planet is the first volume.
Your cousin has set a goal like so many others. I have heard of authors sending out queries 100, 200 times. Many never get an answer, it goes on for years. Eventually, they give the chase up and indie publish or just stop writing. Most of those that do get a response don't get beyond sending in the asked for pages.
New questions.
Does writing have a spiritual or healing component for you, does it energize you or make you feel tired?
Why is it important for writers to tap into the emotions of the characters?
Have you ever done NaNoWriMo?

Mark Long link

1/20/2020 06:31:21 pm

I have read a little C.S. Lewis but I can't say that I am an expert on his work. I had some issues with his somewhat narrow morality but he was very much a person of his time. I tend to see the word as being more shaded than his more binary position.

How writing makes me feel very much depends on what other work I have been doing that day. For example, I wrote about 3000 words of training today but only about 400 words of fiction. There are definitely times when the story feels like it is ready to be written and times when I have to coax it on to the page. I think that writing fiction is part of the balance of the day, Sometimes I need to play music, sometimes I enjoy learning new things and sometimes I have to write.

If a writer doesn't tap into the emotions of a character, they can't write the character with the intensity and realism that the character (and the reader) deserves. If a character does something, it has to be because they want to do it or need to do it, not because the plot requires them to do it. Anything else rings false.Arranging things so that the character makes the choice that the plot needs without it being too obvious is a part of the craft of writing in my opinion.

Odd that you should mention NaNoWriMo. That is why I was doing the free writing exercise that gave me the line "Bob was a god."

Mark

1/20/2020 07:16:41 pm

Many know him for his beloved children's tale, The Chronicles of Narnia. He wrote far more than that also, quite a few books in different genres, including Christian Apologetics.
I will ask you more about your writing in a little bit.
Characters need to have depth and passion, if they are to be believable. You are quite correct, the reader must be able to identify and connect, or the story will bore the reader quickly.
New questions.
Did you use NaNoWriMo as a springboard for writing this book?
Did you hit the 50,000 word mark for a first draft by the end of the month?
What kind of preparation do you do before NaNoWriMo starts?
Are you an under-writer or an over-writer? When the first draft is done, do you need to add more to it to flesh it out or do you have to cut material because there is too much?

Mark Long link

1/21/2020 01:32:22 pm

No, I missed my target by several years. The speed that I write at depends on a number of factors including how much research I need to do. I had to do a lot of digging for details in ItioM and, like many people, often fall down rabbit holes while researching. For example, I didn't need much detail about the Vatican Internet Service (which is a real thing) but I ended up spending about a day learning about it.

NaNoWriMo was certainly the thing that got me writing this book. I had been focused on short stories prior to that. I still love the short story as a form because you only have the space for a certain amount of characterisation and plot. It is a concentrated form of a story, If a novel is a Grande Latte, a short story is an Espresso shot.

I don't think that I have a target length in mind when I write. I tend to think in terms of plot arcs and character arcs. I will often add material afterwards to improve characterisation or to fix plot issues. More often, I will add scenes to improve the pacing. I am very aware as I write that there must be variation in the tension level. There should be a rise in tension and then a resolution, not necessarily a good one from the perspective of the characters but a change of pace. I think that allows the flavours of the people and the world to come out. I tend to let the end of the book get faster paced and that can get out of hand. I hope that I got it about right here.

With ItioM, the main difficulty was the beginning - that got rewritten multiple times to try to create a more compelling hook. As Neil Gaiman says,the first draft of a book is the author telling themselves the story.

Mark

1/21/2020 01:48:49 pm

I do know a lot about rabbit holes. I have lived in them extensively. Even as a boy in pre-internet days. I would go to look up a word in a dictionary (ours was almost 20 pounds, a behemoth about 5 inches thick) or a subject in an encyclopedia. I would look up again an hour or more later.
The short story is a great exercise for authors and a wonderful medium to share in.
NG is right, the first draft should be very crappy compared to the final product. It has but one purpose, to exist and be edited. That sounds like two purposes, I think you know what I am alluding to.
New questions.
Have you ever used yourself or other acquaintances as a character for a starting point in a story? Would they recognize you or themselves in the story?
If you used a close friend or family member in a book, would you tell them or make sure that they wouldn't recognize themselves in the story?
Which is more fun to write, the protagonist or the antagonist, and why?

Mark Long link

1/21/2020 05:44:45 pm

Oh, those are good questions!

My first drafts tend to be relatively clean. I am not the fastest writer in the world but I am relatively easy to edit, I think :)

I think that every character has something of the author in them. Humans are complex things, saint and sinner both. Jason in ItioM is based on my friend Keegan (birth name Jason) and he was OK with me killing him off. He does get to make a small return in the current work in progress. I was specifically asked to include a person in the second book of the series and they appear as a parody of themselves. They approved the depiction. My friend Laura has a bit part in Misjump. She had always wanted to be a doctor and I was writing in a colony that was filled with people of the right (Dutch) ancestry... and I needed a doctor. She was pleased with the reference.

Oh, I only ever have protagonists. Every antagonist is a protagonist in their own mind. The Borg are not evil. They are trying to bring unity to those without it. The Star Wars Empire is trying to stamp out terrorism and bring a well ordered society that rewards those that help that society. I don't think that characters that do evil for the sake of evil read very well. Every monster has his or her reasons why what they are doing is for the best.

Mark

1/21/2020 07:38:43 pm

Glad you are enjoying this process.
Some authors stay far away from including friends or family in their book. Others go with the flow. That includes you. I think it's okay as long as the person is happy with it.
Grizz and I are in a book published late last year, it turns out I was a bad guy, but I was killed trying to make things right. My little dog stole the show and the hearts of the other characters in the book. It was fun.
You are the first author I can think of that doesn't have an antagonist. It is a bit unusual, but I agree with you, people are complex. It works well in your book.
New questions.
What is your writing routine when you sit down to write?
Do you write in a straight line or do you write whatever the muse provides for you at a given moment?
Which is more important to a story pace or flow? How do you control it?

Mark Long link

1/22/2020 07:04:37 am

I do have antagonists in the sense that there are those opposed to the main character but I think that it is important that they see what they are doing as for the best. In reality, people tend to believe in the causes that they work for but start from a different set of values to yours,

The writing routine has been different for each book.

In the image of Man was started many years ago but I was blocked on a plot point for years. One day, I was explaining the problem to someone and I realised that the solution was to run the plot threads of the story in parallel. When I was unblocked, I would write for a few hours in the evening but not every day. It would depend on how wiped out I was from my day job. The editing took a long time, in part because the comedian that read it had many suggestions based on sensitivity. I had been careful not to be offensive with regard to religious issue but I had apparently been less generous when it came to some of the female characters. There were some fairly significant adjustments to Anne Charles required.

Z-day UK was mostly written in a month. I had to take time off work because I had accumulated too much leave and my wife suggested that I should write a book. Apparently, she was hoping for a different book :) I went with a subject that I knew well - planning for disasters is a part of my job and I had been thinking about the subject of the zombie apocalypse for years. I feel that I should explain. I don't think that we will ever have a Z-day but it is both a best case and worst case scenario. It is the worst case because everything has gone to hell and there is no help coming. It is a best case because you have access to resources and no constraints on how you can use them. I was writing every day for 8-12 hours.Most of the delay was waiting for the art work. There is a little story about the reaction to that book. Because of the nature of my day job, a lot of colleagues are from "interesting" backgrounds having worked for various governments in roles that I am going to be unspecific about. After one of them read Z-day, they asked why I had never mentioned that I was ex-special forces like them. I explained that I had never served. They looked confused and hurt and told me that civilians didn't know that "stuff" (not the word that they used) and if I didn't want to talk about my service, I should just say, I took it as confirmation that I had got something right.

Misjump was written in a year (plus about 3 months for editing) and I took days off my day job to make a lot of progress in a burst.,Rather than having a word count in mind, I would plan to get from point G in the plot or character arc to point H or where-ever I was at the time. Unlike Z-day or ItioM, I went to an outside editor that Neil Gaiman had recommended and that was a different experience in a helpful way. As well as spotting many typos and wanton cruelty to the common comma, they made some suggestions about pacing that I found helpful.

The Afterlife is all plotted out but I am allowing myself to add to the story as I flesh out the skeleton. I am trying to write at least every week but I have become distracted by another idea for a long short story based on the premise that an ordinary person is told that they are the chosen one and must embark on a quest. The person is a 15 year old... but only because they were born on Feb 29th. The dynamics of the tired old YA plot change in interesting ways when the main character is a grandmother.

I think that pace and flow are both important bit I tend to write for flow and then adjust the pace if it feels wrong to me. It is often said that every word must advance the plot or the characterisation but I think that a balance is needed. Worlds need to be built. Characters need to act like people. We are not in an episode of 24 here.

Mark

1/22/2020 09:41:12 am

The first rule of SOF is to not talk about SOF. You did well. That is an interesting story. It proves that if you haven't done it, web search results magnified by imagination can cover a lot of ground.
I find it very interesting how each book has been written in a different manner.
Many authors have multiple projects they work on, I think it's a good way to beat writer's block on one book by working on the other.
Your chosen grandma story sounds like fun.
I have repeated the advice about every word has to earn its keep. Many authors are overwriters, especially beginning writers, they want to share everything they learned in research, most of it drags the story down.
New questions.
How do you think your book relates to the world we live in today?
What is the one thing you hope readers will remember from your book?
Do you have a classical author or poet, you admire?
What popular modern authors have influenced you?

Mark Long link

1/22/2020 02:15:01 pm

In the image of Man is set in Slough in the late nineties because that had the right feel to me. However, it is fundamentally about human nature, what we need and what we believe. I don't think that those things have changed all that much. Technology has moved on somewhat but not in any way that matters for the story.

Well, I would like them to remember that they liked the first book of the series, especially when the next book becomes available. But to be serious, I would like them to remember that what we are shapes those that we interact with and that if we want kindness, we should be kind.

I have a weakness for poetry, especially war poetry. Kipling had a lot to say about the effect of war. I know that he is considered racially insensitive but I think that we have to consider him in relation to the time that he lived. We also need to read what he means and not just the words that he chose. If you take Gunga Din, some of the language would not be acceptable today but it is a poem in praise of a brave man. Naming of parts by Henry Reid is another well loved poem and who could forget Night Mail by Auden?

I am not sure that he qualifies as a modern writer but Douglas Adams is a name that I often hear from readers. I like to think that I have been influenced by Neil Gaiman and John Scalzi. It has been suggested that I was unduly influenced by Terry Prattchet, specifically his book Small Gods. It is a fine book and one that I like but there is only a slight resemblance to ItioM. in that they both feature small gods that have a level of power related to the number of believers. However, the idea of the power of a god being related to the number of their worshippers is one that we see throughout history and many, many books. David Eddings used it, John Scalzi used it, the ancient Romans used it. The settings and plots are fundamentally different and none of the characters are similar. I don't think that Mr Prattchet would consider ItioM to be derivative.

Mark

1/22/2020 03:35:27 pm

You dropped some big names there.
I remember when The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a hot book. I was backpacking around western Europe. I was reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance br Robert Pirsig. I never got around to Adam's book.
You are right. We are shaped by the people we meet and events, near and far.
New questions
What software do you use to write and publish your books, and why do you use those?
How do you keep track of all the characters and events in your books?

Mark Long link

1/22/2020 05:44:07 pm

During the initial writing, I use Google docs. That means that I can write from any device that I have access to. When it comes time for editing. I switch to Microsoft Word since I have a little more control there.

I know that a lot of writers use tools to keep track of characters but I keep most of the information in my head. I know these people. They are my friends. I can keep them straight.

That said, I have a summary of the plot at the end of the document that I am working on. As time goes on, I can delete a line because I have covered that part of the arc. I am more likely to use paper than software to track characters and plot. Despite my background, I can be something of a Luddite.

Mark

1/22/2020 06:17:29 pm

A lot of writers use Word, I do also.
That is funny, but sometimes pen and paper are best. I track my work on both, but the details are on paper and Post-it notes.
I attach my proofreading progress to an email that sits in my drafts. It is safe there. If my computer croaks, I am in pretty good shape.
New questions.
Are you a plotter, a pantster, or a hybrid?
Have you ever had the experience of the story swerving in a different direction than planned, as if a character was driving it?
Do you have defined space for writing at home, or are you a coffee-shop writer?
Do you listen to music or have the TV on when writing, or do you need quiet?

Mark Long link

1/23/2020 04:28:17 pm

I am a plotter - but sometimes I let the story go where it needs to go. I think that organic development can lead to some great moments. While I know how a plot will develop, I like it when a character is well developed enough that their decisions may not be the most obvious route to where I am going.

Generally, my characters stay where I put them but Ranting John was an exception. He kept finding ways back into the story and I liked the tone that he added. Misjump went entirely to plan and The Afterlife has, so far, followed the initial design. I used to run RPG games for a group and there are a lot of similarity. I know the universe that the book is set in and I know the general direction but sometimes the diversions make for good times.

I write anywhere that I have access to a keyboard. When the words are flowing, I am pretty much oblivious to my surroundings. Some music can help but it has to be instrumental only and, for choice, an instrument that I don't play. I will try to match the music to the feel of the chapter that I am working on if possible.

Mark

1/23/2020 05:46:42 pm

If I was a writer, I think I would be a plotter also. I love maps, having a plan for writing a story would fit my personality quite well.
I love that Ranting John carved out a bigger role for himself. I have heard many writers talk about this happening in their stories.
I can tune out all distractions also, when I am reading or proofreading. It took some work for me to be able to hear my wife's voice the first time she calls me.
New questions.
Action, dialogue, or narration; which is easiest to write?
Of the five senses which is the easiest to write and which is the hardest?
Have you ever participated in theater in some way?

Mark Long link

1/24/2020 05:34:11 am

I think that it is a sign of a well fleshed out character that the writer can understand how they would react to a situation.

I always find dialogue the easiest to write. Every character has to have their own voice and you can tell a lot of the story that way. Of course, there is a risk to be aware of. You often find books where the characters explain the plot to each other. People tend not to speak to each other like that. I don't come into work and say to my colleagues "Well, you know that we are in the widget business. We are the largest widget maker in maker in the world and I am proud of that. So, what challenges are we facing today, Susan?". However, people do say"Hey, Sue, what is the deal with the Acme Novelty order, it was what, 43K light brown widgets? We should be able to fulfil that from local stock. Did dispatch screw up again?"

Feel is the hardest to write but it can be the most visceral. It is pretty easy to give the reader an idea of how things look and leave enough room for them to imagine the right details. "The full moon lit two sides of the old house, casting deep shadow over the yard" pretty much works. "The brass door handle was rough, pitted with corrosion from years of neglect" is a bit more immediate.

No, I have never been involved in theatre beyond helping out with a couple of soundtracks. I have a lot of friends that are involved in theatre but I think that I am happier behind the scenes.

Mark

1/24/2020 10:03:20 am

There are good ways and bad ways to advance the plot. You are certainly correct, dialogue has to be normal and appropriate to the setting. It's easy to tell when a writer is taking a shortcut because I feel cheated.
The sense of touch is very broad, it can happen in so many different circumstances and contribute so much to fleshing out a story and characters.
New questions.
What kind of marketing has worked the best and the least for you for this book?
Speaking of marketing, why did you pick me to help promote your book?
How do you know when a book is finished?

Mark Long link

1/24/2020 10:58:24 am

Oh yes, a touch can have so many meaning from an intrusion of personal space to a gesture of trust and affection. You might feel the same sensation but how you feel about it is quite different!

The question regarding what worked best for marketing my books is one of those that sound simple but is perhaps more complex. There are multiple ways to define success.

There are sales - and as an indie author those are always hard to come by. Most Indie authors will sell about 250 copies of a book. Let us imagine that you can write a book in about 500 hours. That is incredibly optimistic but we will run with it for now. Let us assume that no money was spent on the cover, the editor or promotion (and you really won't sell 250 copies if you do that). Assuming that your book is at a competitive price, you will maybe get $1 royalties per book. That is 50 cents an hour. Even with costs cut to the bone, an author would generally be better off getting a minimum wage second job. For 95% of books, the author will make a loss or a trivial profit.

Some people write books for the fame or because it give them credibility. That is mainly for non-fiction books and was never a mark of success for me.

For me, I would define success as people reading the book and enjoying it. So, my marketing is aimed getting people to read and (I hope) enjoy the book. Book giveaways have been successful at getting the book into people's hands and retention has been pretty good - Amazon analytics tell me whether people are reading the book.

Facebook ads have not had much of an effect and nor have Amazon ads. It is possible that the Amazon ads would be more successful if I spent more money on them but given the economics of indie books, it is hard to justify the spend. The amazon algorithm is based on the number of reviews and follows on goodreads. That doesn't sound like a high bar but that would require 20% of readers to review the book on average and many fewer people than that leave reviews.

However, reviews on websites have helped - not as much as word of mouth but they reach a much wider audience. Of course, some sites are more trusted than others. You have a good reputation and that is why I came to you.

I consider a book to be finished when all the plot and character arcs that I meant to complete are completed,, the text reads well and the pacing feels about right to me and to my beta-readers. I cherish my beta-readers. They have helped me so much. I also paid for multiple professional critiques of In the image of Man just to be sure that it was as good as I could make it - but as you know, two typos and a spelling error still managed to hide in the text!

Mark

1/24/2020 11:35:47 am

So many authors use only one metric, sales, to measure success. As you ably pointed out, there is more than one way to measure success. Most authors share the same story about ads on the big platforms, they have little to no effect, except to line the pockets of the platforms.
Thank you, reputation is important. I guarantee exposure, not sales. No one can guarantee sales. I am only one small part of a marketing plan. There are so many different angles to pursue. Each one takes time or money, if you don't want to give up writing time.
I am the polisher, the person to go over a book when the author thinks it is ready to publish. Promoting a book every week, I find one book free of spelling errors each year, on average.
New questions.
How long does the research process take before you start to write a book or do you do the research as you write the book?
How many drafts did you go through to have a ready-to-publish manuscript?
Were you able to stop the person who pirated your book from selling it?

Mark Long link

1/24/2020 01:12:11 pm

I know that some religions consider perfection to be the exclusive domain of their god. Could I claim that the errors were a homage to those beliefs? No, I didn't think so.

It does sometimes feel like the way to make a small fortune as an author is to start with a large one. As you said, there are over a million books a year published and it is hard to stand out. I don't think that anything guarantees sales except for the reputations of big name authors and even then, they have hits and misses.Of course, there are also fashions in books. For some reason, there seems to be a LOT of litRPG out there at the moment. Some of it is quite good while some others are less impressive.

For research, I generally research as I go but I tend to write about subjects that I know reasonably well. I have heard it said that a writer should know every subject well enough to fake it for the duration of a plane flight. The research for Z-day didn't take long but the research for ItioM took a lot longer since I was not aware of who the patron saint of librarians was or how saints are nominated. I could have made it up and I doubt that anyone would have noticed but I wanted to get it right.

I know that some writers will start over with each new draft but I tend to edit in place. About 80% of ItioM was in the first draft and has had very minor changes in the editing process. I write relatively "clean" drafts which I consider to be good fortune rather than skill. The main area that got revised was the start. I know that a lot of people find the end tricky but getting the reader interested was much more of a challenge, to be honest. That got rewritten about five times.

No, the pirates ignore my emails and their servers are in a country well known for a relaxed approach to other people's intellectual property. It is difficult to pursue legal action under the circumstances.

Mark

1/24/2020 01:26:03 pm

Many years ago, I read that some people who make rugs by hand, purposely introduce a small error, in the making of a rug, in homage to their god.
Every genre has a bell curve, a few are really bad, a few are really good, most are in the middle.
A lot of writers worry about editing after the first draft is done. I have handed out that bit of advice glibly, also. It seems many get stuck in writer's block when they try too hard making the first draft perfect. You and a few others prove the exception.
I read a blog last year about how to contact the web host in cases like yours. The host is usually more worried about running afoul of the law and will cooperate with the IP rights holder, taking the offender down.
New questions.
Do you belong to any writing groups?
Are there any writing groups for the genre you write in?
Going back in time, did you do any kind of creative writing, even back in grade school?

Mark Long link

1/24/2020 06:22:58 pm

Apparently the pirates took the book down after I threatened legal action so I am happy about that. It was still up a few days ago.

I am not in any writer's groups as such. It always strikes me as a bit of a lonely occupation. We sit at our desks with only our characters (and Luna the dog) for company. She is my most uncritical audience. Maybe I should look for one though. Do you know how writers can help each other? I interact with a lot of very fine writers on twitter.

I am pretty sure that there are no urban fantasy/religious satire groups. It is a bit of a niche genre. I could probably find a hard SF group though :)

Thinking back, I can't think of a time when I didn't tell stories. I was making up stories (much to my parents' dismay) from roughly the time that I could speak. I have always rather lived in my own head but since I published, I can invite people over for imaginary tea and cakes.

Mark

1/24/2020 07:32:03 pm

Writing, at least the first draft, is a lonely occupation, without a doubt. For many writers, the rest of the process usually requires bringing others onboard, at one point or another. For some writers, they will edit the first draft, then present it to a critique partner or group. Then another rewrite or two, followed by exposure to several beta readers. After another round of editing, then the manuscript goes to an editor, followed by a rewrite then the proofreader. Formatting and layout is involved, the cover, perhaps an audiobook also. Some writers can take on one or two of those jobs as they build their library. Some involve multiple editors for different stages such as a developmental editor for plot construction also.
The critique partner or group is composed of writers, published and unpublished, in different phases of their writing careers, ideally. A mix is best, so knowledge can be shared for the benefit of all. If only one is published, there is a danger of the others mimicking what the published author does and thereby running the risk of diluting their voice. These groups can meet in real life or be virtual. You could create one by gathering others who write in a similar vein.
New questions.
What is the most important thing you learned from publishing this book?
What are three things, that you wish you knew before you wrote your first book?
Do you have a hero, real or fictional?

Mark Long link

1/24/2020 08:29:42 pm

There is a writers' group around here now that I think of it but they meet on Friday afternoons while I am at work. Either they are much more successful than me and don't need day jobs or they are retired. I don't know which. Of course, I am no spring chicken so maybe I will join them in a few years.

I have learned things from publishing this book, mostly related to marketing. I am going to steal a line from Edison here. I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

Hmmmmm. Three things that I had wished that I had known before I wrote my first book,,, my first book is unpublished and since I deleted all copies, it will always be unpublished. I learned a lot about writing but I put too much effort into world building and not enough into plot. I am going to go with:

1. The importance of a fresh idea;
2. Great set pieces do not make a great book. They can be part of one but they are not enough by themselves.
3. The tone has to fit the audience and YA, as a genre, requires a different feel for language,

I think that I might have been better knowing that men in their forties should not write YA unless they actually know some teens. I don't think that authors should necessarily write what they know but they do need to know the audience, I think.

Mark

1/24/2020 08:52:38 pm

Maybe they know others who are working a day job like you, that would like to join a group.
Great line from Edison. He was persistent in his genius, and that's what it takes for a writer to succeed.
I think you are not alone in what you did with that first book, world building can get away from many writers. I don't know how true this is, but I read a long time ago that Tolkien wrote his tales of dwarves, hobbits and quests for his children. Being a professor of languages the world building must have felt very inadequate, so he fixed that by creating written languages and histories and so on. Perhaps the long term lesson is that it might work eventually, even if it fails spectacularly at first. Though, I don't know that his trilogy was ever a failure or not. Pure conjecture on my part.
Those three things are quite good, The setting merely provides an environment for the characters.
Knowing your audience is very important. A lot of imagination can make up for lack of real experience, as long as it's properly oriented.
New questions.
You have published a number of books. You are writing more. Are you writing anything strictly for your own pleasure, not necessarily planning to publish it?
What are common traps for beginning writers?
Do you think a strong ego is an asset or liability for a writer and why?

Mark Long

1/24/2020 09:15:11 pm

I do write for pleasure but it is a pleasure that I very much hope to share with readers. I think that a large part of the pleasure is knowing that others will join you in the world that you have made.... or in the case of SF, worlds.

One common trap for new writers is to make the characters too realistic. No, bear with me here. I know that sounds like nonsense. Imagine if you will that you had a character that was exactly like your friend John. Now, John might be a great father, generous to those in need, a fine colleague and always happy to stand his round. Those are laudable things but a character in a book that was those things would be a bit dull. You have to paint in more vivid stokes if you will forgive the mixed metaphor.

I think that another trap for new writers is how hard it is to keep working on something for years without anything to show for it but an ever growing file on disk and, if you are lucky, some feedback from friends. Oh, and a thousand variations of "Have you finished your book yet?"

Another potential trap is getting advice from people that like you. I can see the temptation. No-one wants to be told that your baby is ugly. It is important to get some impartial advice. That said, it is also important to remember what is important to you. Even if the betareaders hate it, if you want to release a book about a watermelon juggling barrister with ADHD and a wooden leg, you can and should. It might affect sales but that is not everything. Just make it the best book that it can be.

Ego is a funny thing for writers. There are times when I write something and think "That is good. I am a good writer. Hell, I am a great writer." Sometimes this feeling can even last until I read back what I have written. Other times, I know that I am the worst talentless hack that ever drew breath writing cardboard characters on pale paper landscapes. The truth is that I am neither. I am just a guy telling stories and sometimes people like them. I know very few writers that don't have this cycle and the few that I have met who believe that they are great writers are almost always wrong. We all have feet of clay and our heads in the clouds.

Mark

1/24/2020 10:14:56 pm

Vivid strokes is perfect! You are right. Everyone is a mix, few will actually admit to it completely. We all think we are above average in driving and honesty. It's the other yahoos who are so bad! I think we derive hope from stories that are populated with flawed characters that overcome circumstances of various kinds.
A lot of people entertain the idea of writing a book. A small percentage actually put pen to paper. Most of those don't get past a few pages or chapters. They look at what they have written and are embarrassed. A small percentage actually finish a first draft. Most of those throw it in a drawer and give up. A small percentage actually do all the work and get it published. That is around a million people each year on Amazon. It takes a great deal of persistence.
I love that, a watermelon-juggling barrister! We can beat that here in Portland, Oregon, there is a guy on a unicycle, wearing a full Darth Vader costume, who plays the bagpipes that spout fire! Your point is a good one! Make the book the very best you can. Ebooks got a bad reputation at the beginning of the publishing revolution. So many poorly written books were published that many were turned off to all of them. Now, there are so many well-written books, highly original in concept and well executed. I think your book is in that category.
I think everyone struggles with the inner critic, I know I do. That is partly why I made that page on my website, Acclaim from Authors. Sometimes I need to remind myself that authors love my work.
New questions.
Can you describe the demographic of your ideal reader? Who is the person most likely to buy your book?
Do you have anything you consider to be your writing lucky charm?
What is the biggest obstacle you face in writing?

Mark Long

1/25/2020 09:56:18 am

The unicyclist is famous thanks to youtube.

My three books have very different sets of readers.

Z-day is popular with men, typically under 30. A lot of people buy it as a gift.

In the image of Man has proved fairly popular with men and women with British readers liking it best. It is a very English book and I don't know how much of a problem that is for American readers. The people that seem to like it best are women in their thirties and up.

Misjump is classic SF and has been mainly read by men over the age of 30. That probably has a lot to do with genre. However, there have been a surprising number of women readers given that it is SF. Interestingly, the men seem to focus on the action and the women seem more interested in the characterisation but there have been exceptions.

No, I don't think that I have a lucky charm.

Finding time to write is always a challenge. I am not very good at focusing on a single thing. I have a full time job, work with St John ambulance, teach uke, practice archery, practice yoga and go metal detecting. I need to make more time to write but I write a lot of training material at work (one of the perils of being senior) and after 8000 words a day of training materials, it is hard to sit down and write fiction.

Mark

1/25/2020 11:17:47 am

If you want something done, ask a busy person. Ben Franklin is quoted as saying, and there is a lot of truth in that. You have so many activities and you have written four books and working on number five.
New questions.
Do you see an advantage of writing under a pseudonym, why or why not?
If you branch out into a different genre, will you use a pen name, why or why not?
Are there any issues that are peculiar to writing this genre that might not apply to other genres?

Mark Long

1/25/2020 01:00:57 pm

I don't use a pen name but I can see why people might. If my writing were incompatible with my day job, I would have chosen a pen name but I checked with my employer and they saw no conflict. I have a special contract that allows me to write fiction as long as I don't use any company resources to do so. My boss knows that I write and several of my colleagues have been kind enough to buy books. Of course, you might have to use a pen name if there is a clash - for example, a writer called John Kevin Rowling would probably want to use a different name. My name is a common one and there are other writers call Mark Long but in different genres.

I am on my fourth genre so I don't see myself using a pen name if I change genre again, I don't have much of a reputation but I was flattered to be recognised at a party once.

There are some issues that I had to be careful about when writing In the image of Man, mainly related to not offending any religious group. I had a Roman Catholic betareader do a sensitivity check to ensure that I was not stepping on any toes. As you can tell, I rely on my betareaders extensively and I am hugely grateful.

I did have a small issue with Z-day UK though. Amazon objected to the offer on the back - "Your money back (cash or shotgun shells) if this book does not help you to survive the zombie apocalypse." Apparently there was some concern about how such a refund would be honoured.

Mark

1/25/2020 06:32:04 pm

You work from home, so you are not even using company wifi. That does work out well. There are quite a few people on Twitter with the same name also.
That was a good idea to use a beta reader that way.
Maybe that person at Amazon was worried how you might deliver the contents of the shotgun shells.
New questions.
Are there any writing styles or genres that you disliked at first but soon came to like?
Do you think reading, watching movies or listening to music help you be a better writer?
At this time, do you read books for entertainment or just research homework?

Mark Long

1/25/2020 06:48:41 pm

Thank you. I wanted the book to have every chance that it could have.

I was working on the assumption that laws regarding ammunition would be somewhat more relaxed after the end of civilisation. The offer can be claimed if:

1. The reader survives but the book did not help
2. The reader becomes a zombie and still remembers the offer.

There are genres that I don't like but I don't think that I changed my mind about any of them. There are certainly authors who write work that I can't enjoy but they are spread across genres.

I read books for the enjoyment but I always have my inner editor listening in the back of my mind, I will notice when characters act for the plot rather than for their own reasons or where a plot hole is handwaved away. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the book. It is more like a tool mark on carved wood. Of course, there are limits. There is a very successful thriller writer that I can't enjoy because the patches are so clumsily done. To continue the metaphor, tool marks are inevitable but you should still sand down your work. I agree with Stephen King. “If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Mark

1/25/2020 07:08:28 pm

The concept of tool marks is a good word picture. It illustrates perfectly the idea.
I agree with you and King, a good writer must be a good reader. A writer must be aware of what people are reading the most. I have met a couple of authors that didn't want to read in the genre for fear of diluting their ideas. There are only a handful of storylines, with variations across genres, every author tells it differently. That is why it is so important to read. There are no original stories, only original ways of telling the stories.
New questions.
Have you ever read a book that changed the way you look at writing?
Would you agree or disagree with the statement: suffering is a requirement to be a good writer, and why?
What were your intentions or your goals when you wrote this book? Do you feel you were successful in getting that message across to the reader?

Mark Long

1/25/2020 07:35:52 pm

I have heard it said that every story has been told before but not by you. Well, I don't know that every story has been told before and there is certainly room for new ideas but books are essentially about people and the same themes will tend to play out. It has also been said that there are only seven basic plots:

1. overcoming the monster
2. rags to riches
3. the quest
4. voyage and return
5. comedy
6. tragedy
7.rebirth

Everything else is just combinations of those. If so, I can live with that. There are only 3 primary colours but wonderful paintings can be made. Just think what we can do with 7!

If I were more cynical, I would cite a bad book and claim that I thought "I can do better than that!" but I would not be wholly honest if I did that. "How to write a damn good novel" by James Frey is an excellent start. The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes by J.M. Bickham is also well worth the read.

I don't think that the author needs to suffer. I think that the characters in a book do though, at least a little. There must be fear or need or there is no action. Under no circumstances should the reader be required to suffer. I am a firm believer that every reader has the right to stop reading a book that they don't enjoy. To quote Sid Ziff, “It is not a book to be lightly thrown aside. It should be thrown with great force.”

I wish that I had a grand vision to share with you about In the image of Man. The honest truth is that I had a story in my head that I needed to get out. Once I had done so, I told people about it and they liked the idea. I showed it to a lot of agents. They didn't like the idea. I published it anyway. Readers were very kind.

Mark

1/25/2020 08:03:49 pm

Thanks for recommending those books.
The idea that an author must suffer is fairly antiquated. The characters need that to move, no doubt. Most of us won't move from a comfortable place until we are forced to. It is human nature.
There is no right or wrong answer to that question. Your story brings out some wonderful ideas about change and growth. Publishers are running scared, these days.
New questions.
Do you ever brainstorm with non-writers and if so, is it effective?
What was the best money you ever spent as a writer to enhance your career?
Do you subscribe to any magazines, newsletters, blogs or podcasts that enhance your writing career? Feel free to share as many as you would like.

Mark Long

1/25/2020 08:43:57 pm

Yes, I often brainstorm with people that are widely read but who don't write themselves, I find that they have different ways of looking at things and are not necessarily bound by the same conventions that authors tend to share.

The best money that I ever spent in terms of improving my writing was on the critique where the famous author hated it. You may wonder why given that I wilfully ignored most of what he said. After reading the advice and thinking a good deal about it, I found that I had a choice ahead of me. I could write what I thought was a good book or I could chase sales. Of course, I might get sales from either but the safer course would result in writing a book that was more typical, a better fit. I didn't want to do that. So, indirectly, the money spent taught me that ultimately, I was the one that decided what to write. Whether it sold or not was another matter but I don't think that there is a lot of demand for a book much like others in the same field but by a virtually unknown author. I learned that I would be best off being the sort of writer that I wanted to be rather than the sort of writer that anyone else suggested,

It is odd, really. I don't think that painters go to other painters and ask whether they should paint differently. Writers do.

I used to subscribe to "The Writer", a UK based magazine. It had some helpful articles and details of competitions for new writers but in the end, I decided that I would sooner write than read about writing.

Mark

1/25/2020 09:14:50 pm

That was money well spent. It clarified your thinking. I am glad you made that choice. I don't recall anyone answering that question in a similar way.
I would think, if a painter goes to school, they learn different ways to paint. My only experience was a couple of art classes in high school. We practiced in many different mediums of artistic expression.
New questions.
What are your favorite reference books or websites for grammar and writing?
Why do most authors write in 3rd person POV instead of first and second POV?
Do you think you were born to write or did you have to learn the craft?

Mark Long

1/26/2020 01:06:31 pm

Hmmm. Interesting questions.

I don't use any references for grammar. I may make a few grammatical mistakes but I don't think that there are that many. My day job requires writing a lot of reports and I work with technical writers a lot of the time. I think that they have broken my worst grammatical habits.

For writing, I have read a fair few books on the craft of writing but my main reference books are other fiction that I have read. I am coming up to my 56th birthday and I have read thousands of books. Some were much better written than others but I learned something from all of them - even if it was "X does not work well".

Third person has some advantages for the writer. You can zoom in or out on a person. You can move to where the action is happening. Exposition is easier to fold into the text without it looking too much like an info dump. Second person tends to be a bit clunky if used at length. First person has some advantages. It can be very immediate and visceral. It is often the choice of a less experienced writer because it feels more natural. However, it has a few disadvantages that make it unattractive to me. The first is that the action may not always be with the main character. There are many times when you want the reader to be aware of something that the protagonist is not aware of - such as the actions of the antagonist. These can perhaps be overcome but first person can be exhausting to read. I would only use it for a short story where you want a lot of impact and reader fatigue is less of a problem.

I don't know that anyone is born to write. I think that some people are natural storytellers but learning to write well is something that comes with reading books and writing, often badly. I know that I have quoted a lot of people in this discussion but I am going to do it again anyway. Aristotle said "For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them." I have always learned from my mistakes and I have been lucky enough to have many of them to learn from.

Mark

1/26/2020 04:21:46 pm

Working with those tech writers seems to have been a fortunate circumstance for you.
I use the Chicago Manual of Style, commonly referred to as CMOS. It is very popular with authors and writers of many different kinds. I use it for the rules of hyphenation more than anything else, those rules are very arcane in application at times.
Third person is very convenient in many ways, though it does put a bit of distance between the reader and what is written. First person POV is very intimate and does require some ingenuity to maintain continuity. A book I read a couple of years ago used alternating POV chapters, the action was very consistent between chapters. In the crucial scene, it was told twice, from each person's perspective. She avoided head hopping quite well. I enjoyed the story.
I appreciate the quotes you use, they bring extra color into the conversation.
New questions.
How did you celebrate when you published your first book?
How many times did you rewrite the first page, the first chapter of this book?
Do you have a “favorite” filler word or two that you have to keep taking out of a story, like “just” or like “like”? 😉

Mark Long

1/26/2020 05:58:10 pm

I am showing my age here. When I saw CMOS, I thought "Capacitive Metal Oxide Semiconductor? Haven't seen one of those in a while."

I celebrated my first sale with a bottle of champagne that my father had given to me for that purpose. He died in 2016 so it was bittersweet... also, fruity with toast notes.

I rewrote the start of the book three times before deciding that I was actually starting the story in the wrong place. I wrote a number of different starts but none of them were quite right. In the end, I added two chapters and the original start is now chapter 3 but it got stripped down a fair bit. One bit of feedback that I have had is that the beginning skips around a bit and that is true. The start of Bob is rather understated - he is at that point barely a thought on the breeze. So, I started with the other story thread and then the event that led to the awakening of Bob.

I try hard to keep filler words out - for example, I just typed "I try ver-" before realising that I had a filler word and deleting it. I do allow them in reported speech because people talk that way, I might use "just" or "only" too often.

On a slight tangent, I have had criticism for using "said" too often with the feedback that I should use more interesting words. Maybe it is just me but when I read a book where rather than saying things, everyone expostulates, queries, asserts and exclaims then I find that much more intrusive. My eye tends to skip over "said". What are your thoughts on the topic, please?

Mark

1/26/2020 06:13:34 pm

The first page and first chapter should grab the reader's attention and not let go. It's no surprise that you struggled with finding the right balance.
When proofreading, I encourage authors to delete the filler words, with an exception for dialogue, as long as it's appropriate for the character.
There are two main sides to the debate about dialog tags, I find reading "said" and "asked" easier, my eyes brush right over them. Everything else puts me into a higher alert for typos. I do enjoy the use of action tags when possible to bypass the tags, as long as the identity of the speaker is clear.
New questions.
Do you base your characters on people you know or have met, or is it easier to just invent them completely?
Some authors go to great lengths to get inside the heads of their characters. Some create a biography, find photos that match the picture in their head, fill out psychological profiles. What do you do in that regard, if anything?
Do you have any problems when writing about characters of the opposite sex, why or why not?

Mark Long

1/26/2020 06:39:27 pm

If you will forgive one more quote, it is said (almost certainly apocryphally) that Meyer of MGM fame said that he wanted a film to start with an earthquake and build up from there. It is important to hook the reader and difficult. I will share the first line of the second book in the series though. "Phillip Jackson considered himself to be a reasonable and rational man." It doesn't start with a bang but I think that there are a lot of questions that come off this first line.

I am also a fan of action tags. For readers not familiar with the term, it is a bit of an author's trick. "Jane squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the hot tears in. 'But I wanted the diet coke!'"

My characters are almost all made of whole cloth and are rarely based on real people. I might use names as a nod to a friend but the personality, speech patterns and so on are just what feels right for that person. For example, in this book, there is a priest named Father Ryan who is at heart an academic and he has a rather intellectual approach to language while his Bishop is much more traditional and uses language more loosely. One point that might be a bit subtle is that Bob always talks to people in much the way that they would talk to someone and so his word choices and approach is different for each believer. He is made in the image of Man.

I know people that do keep extensive background files on their characters but mine are very brief - about half a page on each. Where do they live, how old are they, what do they do for a living, what matters to them and so on.

Hmmm. I don't have any problem writing characters of the opposite sex but I don't know if they read well. I hope that I can capture the different voices but you are in a better position to judge than I am. I know that I always score roughly in the middle on those tests that determine if you are a male thinker or a female thinker. One thing that I do try to do when writing female characters is to ensure that they have agency. One of Mary's problems at the start of the book is her lack of agency. Bob gives her the confidence to take more control.

Mark

1/26/2020 07:06:53 pm

Keep the quotes coming, I enjoy them. One of my favorites, from many years ago, "I love it when a plan comes together." Most people don't know what famous philosopher said that. I am happy to oblige, John "Hannibal" Smith, the lead character on the TV series, The A-Team.
Your opening line shows there is more than one way to entice a reader to keep reading. There is a world of possibilities unsaid in that first line.
Your characters had distinctive voices, no question. The differences between Father Ryan and his bishop were excellent.
Mary's growth was quite good, she went from so low in the mental ward, to sitting in an executive desk, running the church of Bob.
New questions.
How do you balance the demands on your time as a writer with personal relationships?
What did your family say when you announced your desire to be a writer?
What area of your writing has the greatest need for improvement at this time?

Mark Long

1/26/2020 09:26:53 pm

One of my beta readers didn't like it that Mary was still essentially working in an office and felt that she need more of a reward. I think that she did OK - from telesales to CEO within six months.

I usually write after everyone has gone to bed. I am something of a night owl.

My family think me odd. They have a point. My writing is just more oddness. I don't think that they really mind me writing as long as I don't expect them to read anything that I write.

I think that my dialogue and scene setting are OK but there is always room for improvement. I would like to work more on pace and plotting.

Mark

1/26/2020 11:28:49 pm

Mary did well, no doubt about that.
I would imagine that being a night owl has some advantages, such as peace and quiet. The opportunities for distraction are somewhat reduced and even walking about is less likely to happen. I would think you don't get out of the chair very much, unless you use a standing desk.
I am well acquainted with oddness, I have never fit into the milieu, unless I am in a bookstore.
New questions.
Can you think of a non-writing skill you could learn that might prove to be useful for writing in the future?
When do you think your next book will be published?
What will you do differently with this next book, in terms of publishing?

Mark Long

1/27/2020 04:53:27 am

The way society is going, survival skills might be the most suitable if one wishes to keep writing. In a best case scenario, PC maintenance might be useful for those that don't have a small god of computers to keep things in working order.

I hope to publish The Afterlife in the second half of this year.

The Afterlife will be published on Orchid Imprint (with at least one book from another author) and be available as a print and ebook as before. I probably will spend less on promotion because I have, in the words of Edison, found 1000 ways that don't work. I don't think that there is much of a market for the genre, to be honest. I was pleased with In the image of Man, to be honest. It was the book that I wanted it to be and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive but is is not destined to be a best seller.

One thing that I will certainly do is make it a free book for the first few weeks. That worked very well with Misjump..

Mark

1/27/2020 09:30:23 am

I will be okay then, I remember my lessons from the boy scouts.
Is Orchid Imprint yours? I read a good blog some time ago, that advocated authors should have their own imprint. I know several authors that have taken the next step and opened their own publishing business after self-publishing several of their own books.
Will Afterlife pick up right after ITIOM or jump into the future to begin?
More questions.
Is there a particular type of scene that is harder to write than the others?
Is there any particular time of the day that ideas usually hit you?
Is it hard or easy to connect with your muse, why do you think it is that way?

Mark Long

1/27/2020 09:45:18 am

The next book takes place a few months after the end of In the image of Man. The core characters of the first book are still very much in the story but there are also a host of small gods - and not so small ones.

Orchid Imprint is mine but it will not just be publishing my books. I passed an ISBN and the appropriate branding materials to another writer only today.

I find dialogue to be the easiest to write so any type of scene that is not dialogue would be the hardest. I suppose exposition is the hardest to write because it has to be done with considerable grace if it is not to feel like an info dump.

Ideas often come to me as I am drifting off to sleep - they seem like good ideas at the time but the cold light of morning is merciless and they usually prove to be nonsense.

I don't know that I have a muse. I see writing as a creative engineering task. It is about communicating certain ideas, ideally with a few jokes and exciting bits. I don't know that it needs a muse.

Mark

1/27/2020 10:46:39 am

I look forward to the next book.
Many authors find dialogue is the most difficult and exposition is the easiest. That does lead to info dumps unless the author is very careful. Many new authors, in particular, seem to struggle to resist sharing all of the research results. That drags a story to a screeching halt so fast.
I know one author who gets ideas almost every night at 2:30 in the wee hours of the morning. She keeps a pad and pen beside the bed.
I like the way you look at writing as creative engineering, so many authors struggle to connect with their "muse".
New questions.
With the explosion of different streaming services, these companies are scrambling for content. Writers are going to be sitting on the top of the heap soon, because they are content providers. Have you considered shopping your content to these companies?
An ebook is only one form that writing can be consumed in. Have you considered licensing large print, graphic books, plays or audio books? Audio books are exploding worldwide.
Have you looked into foreign markets? Many different countries use English as an official language or a second language. Big Bad Wolf is a company that sells English language books all over the world in the millions.

Mark Long

1/27/2020 01:11:56 pm

I did wonder about film rights but I hadn't considered theatre or big print editions. I don't know where I would start with those but they are interesting ideas. There is an audiobook version of In the image of Man in progress. Mind if I share a teaser? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DTWDawT_Eg

I am also talking to voice talents about an audio version of Misjump.

Most of my sales are in a foreign market :) I am English and the book sells better in the US than here although it seems better received in the UK. I have had sales in 8 different countries, both ebook and paperback. I did a quick check and Walmart are selling the ebook version (well, offering it for sale. I don't know if they have sold any) as is an Italian shop and a Swedish one. I was recently delighted to get a review from Japan!

Mark

1/27/2020 01:45:31 pm

Licensing into other formats and markets is going to become more important in the near future. I have blogs and links to blogs about licensing, audio books, screenplays and more elsewhere on my website, hit the search box.
I like that video clip. Sami is doing a nice job on your book. Does she do all the voices? Will there be any music or sound effects?
Congratulations on spreading across borders and continents. Do you have any ideas for a third volume beyond Afterlife?
More questions.
What books are you reading at present for your business and for pleasure?
Do you proofread and edit your own books or use a professional?

Mark Long

1/27/2020 01:57:53 pm

When I heard Sami, I knew that she would be a great Mary. Yes, she is doing all the voices. I quite like music in an audio book but I wasn't planning to use any. Maybe I should.

Thanks! I will check out the blogs.

Yes, the third book is called Exodus and is about the small gods helping humanity to reach the stars.

I have just finished listening to Fresh Blood by Jessica Hicks. It was a solid book, reasonably acted. It didn't sparkle but I enjoyed it.

I use professionals to proof read but there is always a risk with late breaking changes. Windhaven Press did the proofing for Misjump and no-one has noticed any errors yet. I had a second pass from a scientist friend of mine to catch introduce errors.

Mark

1/27/2020 02:25:04 pm

A little bit of music between chapters or sections can be nice to set the mood. Many audio books don't have any.
Exodus is a perfect name for a trip off-world. I like how it keeps with the theme of the books also.
I proofed a book not very long ago, called Original Grace. It was a great deal of fun and a fairly unique take on several themes. You might enjoy it, I laughed quite a bit. Some well-written dialog.
Last questions.
What are your thoughts on bad book reviews?
What is your favorite motivational phrase that keeps you going?
What famous person, living or dead, would you like to meet? A famous author?

Mark Long link

1/27/2020 05:22:41 pm

That sounds interesting. I will try to check it out. Who is the author please?

I think that bad book reviews can be of value. If they didn't like the book because something that was wrong with it then I have learned something. I would also be a bit suspicious of a book that everyone praised. People have different tastes and not every book will suit every reader. I do have an issue with people that leave bad reviews saying "I don't like this genre" or who leave 1 star reviews and who clearly haven't read the book (that only happened to me once - and he left 4 other 1 star reviews that day).

My main motivational phrase is "I said that I would do this and there are people waiting for it."

Hmmm. Do I get to travel back in time to meet them if they are dead? If so, I will choose Adolf Hitler, circa 1935 while he was still in the beer halls. I think that the careful application of a large stein could save the world a lot of trouble. If they are coming to me rather than me, I will choose Abraham Lincoln and advise him that the play is truly awful and he should stay home and play cribbage.

Thank you very much for your kind review and fascinating questions. A pleasure to meet you, Sir.

Mark

1/27/2020 06:08:03 pm

The author's name is J. Serrano. Let me know if you find a spelling error.
I like that motivational phrase. It would keep me going also.
Maybe you could have convinced Adolf to pursue his painting career.

I have another promotion starting tomorrow, so I must bring this to a close at this time.
Thank you, Mark, this conversation has been most enjoyable. I wish you greater success in the future; keep writing, your fans are waiting for more.