Sunday, October 23, 2011

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE WRITER BIZ FRONT


From just looking at this blog, you might get the idea that I've been spending most of my time wallowing in strange and obscure entertainment – not that that wouldn't be a bad life. Unfortunately, I'm more of a workboy than a playboy these days. Besides checking in, sorting, and shelving stuff (not just books) for the Phoenix Public Library at more than one location, the writer biz keep growing new heads and grotesque new appendages just when I think I've thwacked it into submission.

November 1st is hurtling at us, Marty Halpern's Alien Contact anthology is coming out. I already have my contributor's copy where I can see my name listed among a whole lot of famous writers. Soon I'll be poking through the smoldering bookselling wasteland, hoping to see it for sale. I'll also be hyping it – though these days the word “pimp” is the more popular term.

I had hoped to have Cortez on Jupiter available as an ebook by now, but it's still in the final stages of all-important proofreading – something I've learned is extremely important in self-publishing. And there're all those wonder technical details I've been learning about. Talk about new life and new civilizations!

I'm also trying to get another ebook done, Obsidian Harvest, the Aztec dinosaur detective novella I collaborated on with Rick Cook. When Rick and I get to brainstorming, it can get wild. I'm not only coming up with a cover, but illustrations, and I'm having these visions of an animated book trailer that may take me into some truly dangerous territory.

Meanwhile, other writers are getting interesting and usual ebooks out. Cat Eldridge of The Green Man Review informed me about Neil Gaiman's Snow Glass Apples and Murder Mysteries. And others are popping up all the time. It shames me into getting back to work.

Then there's the ebookization Smoking Mirror Blues and High Aztech that folks are screaming for.

And, yes, I am still writing. I've got this poststeamppunk Pancho Villa - Nikola Tesla - airship -deathray thing that I keep getting distracted from. When I get back to it I've found that vision has changed, which has caused the story to go off in another direction. I end up chasing it through the apocalyptic landscape of our times.

Y'know, it's kinda fun.
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4 comments:

  1. greyirishOctober 25, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    Heh. You've got at least one customer when you get your ebooks out. Do you know what format(s) you're aiming to release it for/as yet? (.PDF, iBook, Kindle, etc.)

    Oh, this you might like: Muktuk Wolfsbreath, Hardboiled Shaman. There was a great 3-issue comic book series featuring this character years ago at Vertigo. The webcomic lacks the great Timothy Truman art, but has the same terrific writing: http://hardboiledshaman.com/

    - Bobby

    http://the-unpublishable.com

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  2. ERNEST HOGANOctober 25, 2011 at 4:38 PM

    I'm going for Kindle and ePub. I'll reveal it all once I have it nailed down. The comic looks good, too.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 27, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Good luck with the e-ventures, Ernest. I'm a slow adopter and haven't gotten to the e-world yet but I'll get there one of these days.

    Any chance you'd send me a copy of the July/Aug Analog (with your story in it) if I send you a copy of the Sept/Oct F&SF (with my story in it)?

    --Chris DeVito

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  4. ERNEST HOGANOctober 27, 2011 at 7:44 PM

    Chris, sounds like a good deal. send me your email address in a comment -- that I will NOT post. Then we can make all the arrangements. I've heard about your story and am anxious to read it.

    ReplyDelete