Lips Like Strawberries Book Blog Tour 2021

Lips Like Strawberries  Book Blog Tour 

    Congratulations, you made it! First off, I’d like to thank you for coming to my blog. Welcome. If you’re here today, then you’re probably here for the launch of the Lips Like Strawberries book blog tour, starting with me, the author of the new rom-com/chick-lit/women’s fiction novel Michael Stephenson. For you today, I am giving you a peek at the cover of the book and a quick Q&A… with myself. Trust me, I’m not going crazy after the pandemic. I just thought I’d answer a few questions that some fans might have about the book before reading it. Also, check out the tour dates for the rest of the tour this week as well. As a little correction, July 29^th will not feature my book on the actual Chicklit Central website, but on all other social media concerning it. Hope you do join me on this tour. And of course, go get a copy of Lips Like Strawberries over on Amazon right now. It is currently in Kindle format only, but will be coming out in hard copy later this year, so stay tuned right here on my blog or follow me on my other social media for updates on that!

What is Lips Like Strawberries about?

That seems like such a simple question, and yet can be so complex to answer. On the surface, it’s a simple book about a girl trying to get over her anxiety, reclaim her life, re-enter the modern dating scene and find love. Ara is a newly-30 agoraphobe who hasn’t left her house since 2020 (it’s 2023 in the book). She has a best friend she loves, and who always comes over to keep her company. Outside of him, she has little to no connection with the outside world and is suffering through loneliness. But she does have one saving grace: She has a quirky, insane, totally unrealistic “ability” of sorts. Ara can experience the world through someone else’s senses for 12 hours, so long as she touches that person. We’re talking sight, sound, taste, et cetera. She’s been bobbing through life for the last three years using her ability to make faux connections to what’s going on beyond her window, until finally she is hit with one experience through someone else’s senses that she can’t ignore. And that sets her off on this funny journey that will hopefully get her back to normal and help her find love in the process.

That’s the surface meaning. A deeper dive into the book for me starts to unravel one of the few themes in the book. This story is very much about connection, not only between people, but also with ourselves, our innermost feelings, and our own unique physiology. It plays off the old notion that love is more than just how you think about someone or the sweet words you share with them, but that it is a chemical reaction in our bodies. It essentially asks us the question: What is it that draws us to someone and creates a bond with an otherwise complete stranger?

What inspired you to write this book?

Well, as funny as it may seem, the pandemic inspired me to write it. No, not the 2020 pandemic, the 1918 one. Okay, so I’m going to try to sound as respectful to what’s happened in the last year and a half as I can here. I know that the pandemic was extremely hard for a great many people throughout the world, so I wanted to write something that would be uplifting to all of us, be relatable both to the pandemic and to the chaos that is the modern dating scene, and give us all a few good laughs along the way. Well, as it turned out, I realized back in May of 2020 that I had already half-wrote a story that would fit that perfectly. It was entitled the same name—Lips Like Strawberries—but was a period piece, in which a young couple first separated by World War I, then by the pandemic of 1918 had to re-find each other. Total honesty here, I think that version was far more romantic, just because we have flashbacks of the couple before the war and they knew each other and how they felt about each other then. It also had a more heartbreaking feel to it as well, but it had the same mysterious powers at its center as Ara has in this one. So, I took the bare bones of that, changed the races, gave it a modern-day twist, and added in more humor. Adding more humor was a conscious effort because I really believe that in this day, especially with cancel culture, the pandemic and political unrest, we all need things we can come together and laugh about. Humor that can help to unite us.

Hm? Interesting that this was actually based off of a different pandemic. That sounds like it could be a pretty good read all its own. You mentioned changing the races. Why?

First off, thanks me. I always appreciate the self-appreciating compliments. Yes, I did change the races between the two books. The original Lips Like Strawberries featured a black couple, where this version features a white one. This was a conscious decision to flip the races after some of the events of last year. Although I do try to keep it as lighthearted as possible throughout the read, I didn’t want to ignore some of the heavier issues that we as both a nation (the US) and the world dealt with in 2020, and still must confront on a daily basis. And for me, the best way to do that in this book, at least, was to switch the races of the main characters. If I reveal more it might be considered a spoiler, so I will leave it there. As for the other version of the book, I’m toying with the idea of releasing that one as well with the name Lips Like Blueberries a few years down the line. It’s funny because I had already been working on that version for over a decade when the pandemic hit and decided to switch gears and re-configure it into Lips Like Strawberries. So, hope is not dead for that one yet.

Who do you think this book is for? Who’s your target audience?

I think this book is for just about anyone, really. For starters, let me put this out there, it doesn’t have a whole lot of cursing throughout its text. I don’t really curse in my actual life, but I have been known to include cursing in many of my works. Here, however, I wanted to limit the amount of bad words so that even readers who prefer not to read that type of vocabulary could enjoy the read. And while I would say that it leans toward a younger crowd, I believe there’s a high amount of relatability for everyone, including an older reader set, as well as people who are married or not. Again, it’s really about connection between all people, and allowing us to realize that even though what we all went through was collectively bad, it is okay for us all to start having hope in a newer, brighter future again. In other words, I’d say anyone over fifteen could enjoy it. If it were a movie, it would definitely be PG-13.

With the pandemic still going, why did you feel now was the best time to release Lips Like Strawberries?

Good question. For starters, I really didn’t know how long the pandemic might last. The previous one did go on for about two and a half years, but with our current technologies, we got predictions ranging from anywhere between it ending in summer 2021 to 2022. So, me being an optimist, I went with the earliest date. But also, even though we are still in the pandemic, I wanted for people to be allowed to have hope for the future. That’s one of the reasons why I set the book in 2023. Because even though we are currently having variants rise up and we may have to take a step back, it’s still okay for people to look forward to a time when we’ll be able to think of this pandemic as just another event that couldn’t deter us from living out our dreams, finding love and happiness, and becoming our best selves.

Great interview. And where can people find your novel Lips Like Strawberries?

Currently, it is exclusively on Amazon as an Amazon Kindle digital ebook download. I hope to have the physical hard copies out by Christmas of this year, 2021. Look to Amazon for that as well. You can click on Lips Like Strawberries here and follow the link straight to the page. And check out the rest of the tour dates below. It was great talking with you, me, and remember to check out some of my other works as well.  

#LipsLikeStrawberries 

Book Tour: The Ones That Stare

Greetings, everyone. And now... the end is here... No, seriously, though. Today, this very blog post (my first in quite a while) marks the end of the digital book tour for my latest thriller novel The Ones That Stare. If you've been following along this whole time, then I thank you wholeheartedly. I hope you learned something about me or the book on the way, and look forward to your support. You know, artists can't produce these things without your support. So, during this trying time of Covid-19, with many of us staying at home, entertained by copious amounts of books, film and TV, please remember that all of that great stuff you consumed, and that kept you from going completely insane is somebody's job to put together. I know, it seems like a lot to ask you to spend money on entertainment when the general idea is that artists and entertainers should do their job for free, but please buy a copy of things instead of pirating them. The book only costs six dollars in ebook form, less than 20 for a paperback. You'd be helping to create more, even better entertainment.

Now, for those who know nothing about the book, well, here is a link to it on Amazon: http://mybook.to/TheOnesThatStare. You can read the book blurb there. But basically, if you like to read thrillers, or if you enjoy the films of Alfred Hitchcock, then you might like my novel. I have compared The Ones That Stare to such novels as The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn, The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It grabs you with a twist at the very beginning of the book, and never let's go after that. You follow Darien Coby, an average guy married to a fantastic woman. But now his wife is GONE, and he's going crazy just trying to figure out what happened to his love. He knows but one thing: one of his neighbors knows what happened, but who? And why haven't they said something to him about it? Now, he must go the extra mile to figure out who knows the truth about the situation. This is the 2020 thriller that you simply can't miss!

Still not sure if you should spend your hard-earned money on an author you've never read before? Then follow me farther down the rabbit hole as I introduce you to one of the main characters in a brief excerpt below. You can meet Bernedette below.

But before that, as for what is next for me, I have another book coming out later this summer entitled blEND (that's the word blend; yes, the capitalization is part of the title). It is a horror novel in a similar vein to Jordan Peele's Get Out. I am currently looking for reviewers with an open mind, who aren't offended by reading about racial and social issues. I also am still planning another season of The Writer and Extraordinary for later this year. And I hope to get the novel blind out as well, come this December. And finally, I look forward to releasing my first full-fledged romance sometime next year, entitled Lips Like Strawberries. Look for that, hopefully, next February!

Well, this tour has been very short but sweet. Whenever I embark on a book tour, I always go into it with as little expectations as possible. No matter how much planning and communication you do with others on the internet, you still never know what you're going to get. I hope that you all enjoyed the little bits of insight here and there and aren't afraid to comment below or leave a review of my book on Amazon, Goodreads or another social media site. I look forward to it all. Thank you for coming today, and I'll see you again soon!

An Excerpt from The Ones That Stare

The clock read 7:35, yet Darien hadn’t returned home. He used to have long days that started in the earliest of dawns and stretched beyond dusks. Lately, he hadn’t had such days. Lately, he had busied himself with getting home to his wife. Now, with her gone, he hadn’t need for punctuality.

Plus, he had other business to attend to for the night. Still, his absence on the street made Bernedette curious.
“Hm? Why isn’t he home yet?” she asked herself as she stopped in front of his house and stood on the sidewalk. She stared through his front window. Favorite program? Not tonight. Tonight: static.
“Come on,” she bade her dogs. They crossed to her house and slipped through the freshly locksmith-ed front door just as a car rolled onto the street.
Kaduunk! A gallon of oily, dishwater-brown rainwater splashed from asphalt reservoir. Nearly hit a jogging Eli. He flinched at the beads of filth flung his way. The driver inside cringed, “Sorry! Sorry! Really sorry!”
Eli chuckled, shooed her and continued his jog—apology accepted.
The woman made a left into Darien’s driveway, parked, exited the car.
Meanwhile, Bernedette undid her dogs’ leashes and rubbed the giant Danes’ coats. Sarah sniffed and scratched at the front door, prompting Bernedette to ask, “What, honey? What’s wrong? We just came from outside. You need to go again? Huh? Does some little doggie need to go again?”
Woof! A no.
Bernedette pushed up erect, like an upright Buckingham soldier. Peeked out her living room window. Her eyes captured what her dogs’ noses already had. “Who is that knocking on Darien’s door?” she mumbled with sleuth’s intent.
It was Hannah, the woman she saw that night but hadn’t met. Her brows arched with recognition at the shape of the woman from behind. Bernedette had once thought her power of recognition a special gift. No matter how bundled-up someone was, or how they stood or walked, or what hair they had, she could recognize them. Face not required. “It’s that girl,” she breathed. Every young woman a girl to her. She let her tongue nip at her lip in salivatory anticipation. She had to know what happened. She had to know why she was there.
Ba-rooo! One of the dogs howled desire. Bernedette kept her gaze on the girl.
At Darien’s house, Hannah rang the doorbell, knocked twice and called, “Hello? Hello? Is anyone home?” No answer fated to come, she waited an over-polite five minutes before walking back toward her car.
“No! She’s leaving.” Bernedette’s voice vibrated against the pane. She hid half-eyed behind the curtains. “Hm? What should I do?”
Woof! One dog responded.
“You’re right. I should learn who she is.”
Woof!
“Alright, I’ll feed you first. Come on! Hurry, before she leaves!” Bernedette dashed to her kitchen and yanked open the fridge. She stopped to grab her heated forehead. Winded. She hadn’t jogged, let alone dashed in over a decade. Wet dog food, out. And into two bowls.
She crumpled the dog-food bag, threw it on the counter, and ran back to the front in time to see the car pull down the street.
The race on, she jetted out of her front door, locked it behind her, and glided to her car. In less than a minute she was in her car, gripping life into her steering wheel. She caught up with Hannah’s car. “How do they do it in the movies?” she asked herself. “Three cars behind. Yes, that’ll do. That’ll have to do. And what will you say to her once you stop? What will you say…?”
Bernedette hadn’t a proper plan. She hadn’t accounted for any scenario other than her succeeding. What if the girl didn’t stop someplace where she’d be able to speak with her? What if she went straight home? What if she caught on to someone tailing her and called the police? A thousand what-ifs—questions left for fate. She only knew she needed to speak to her.
The harder she thought, the fewer good ideas came. She’d have to make chasmic leaps: total stranger, to knowing about the girl’s association with Darien, to interrogating her about Sayen. Were she a social genius, she’d ably manage the transitions. Had she a brilliant light? Yes, once. It shone through from spirit to skin. However, a social genius? Never that. But she needed to know some things and the girl had the answers.
Ten minutes morphed into 20. Twenty into 28. Thirty-five… Forty-two. Each minute cost one strong beam of sun. Finally, it was a mariner’s-blue night. A murky dew spritzed each car. Lefts. Rights. More lefts. More rights. A never-ending drive. It welcomed doubt. Oh, she must know I’m following her, otherwise why the insane driving pattern? She must know. She must. No, you can’t back down from this. Press it, even if the situation becomes tense. What do you say? What do you say…?
More lefts. More rights. As they drove—one safely lagging behind the other—Bernedette let her mind wander to darker twists. Who drove like this, taking short roads and sudden burst-turns to get off main streets? Where was this mysterious girl leading her? Into a trap? A trap of what doing, of what kind? Who was this girl leading her farther down a rabbit hole she so willingly tumbled into?
And then the girl pulled into a parking lot. And Bernedette knew most of her questions would soon meet answers.
Hannah parked in front of a lingerie store and went inside to escape rain’s pattering. Look over her shoulder uncomfortably? Flee helplessly into the store? Feel her neck-hairs stand on end? Hannah did none of that. In all that driving, she hadn’t noticed her shadow.
Bernedette sat in her car for a full minute, waiting. Through storefront glass, she watched Hannah browse. “Come on, Bernedette. What the hell are you gonna say to start a conversation?” Nothing came. How do you politely coax someone into an interrogation? Maybe you couldn’t. “Oh, just do it already!” she commanded herself.
Out the car! Into the store. Darker inside than what it appeared from outside, the store had medium-dim mood lighting, mimicking lingerie-wearing conditions. Bernedette spotted Hannah perusing along the right wall, drifting toward the rear. The old woman then looked to the left to see the cashier ringing out another customer. The cashier welcomed Bernedette to shop the scant-fabric-ed wears.
With one scan of the store, the aging dog mom knew this store wasn’t for her.
They call this clothing? Wouldn’t even cover a toothpick, she thought, rubbing her hand over a thong. Years, decades even. It had been so long since she felt… She was the type of woman who knew she’d never love another man after her husband. She hadn’t the strength to start over, be so vulnerable with someone again. One was more than enough.
“Don’t lose focus, Bern. Keep your mind on task,” she instructed. Eyes up, she scoped the store. Hannah’s eyes focused solely on the wall racks in the purple and black-coated store. Bernedette saw opportunity. Little time for stealth. She bypassed the mid-store displays—aromatherapy and massage oils—and traipsed to the back. She feigned looking at the wall-hung bustiers and leather garter belts.
“Come on. Closer. Closer,” she willed Hannah, hoping to bump into her to break ice. Just a little...
Bump!
“Oh! I’m so sorry. I should’ve been paying closer attention,” Bernedette apologized.
Reciprocated smiles. Hannah slid around Bernedette, saying, “It’s OK. Aisles are pretty tight.”
“Ha!” Bernedette stepped back but kept eyes on Hannah. She made sure the girl could feel her gaze tickling her neck and behind her ear. Her best acting job in years. Bernedette waited for the girl to turn back toward her. Then, she squinted, saying, “You look familiar. I’m sorry, but have we met before?”
“Um… I don’t think so,” Hannah shook her head. She stopped flicking through clothes and stood dead-faced with Bernedette.
“Pretty sure I know you, or I’ve at least seen you somewhere before.”
“Well, I do some acting. Maybe you’ve seen one of my commercials? I was in a gum commercial a few years back. Oh, and I’m in a Prilosec commercial. I also do some stage—”
“No, that’s not it,” Bernedette said, her façades more convincing than Darien’s. “Wait, I know. I saw you at my neighbor’s house a while ago.”
“Your neighbor’s house?”
“Yes, 8495 Stillborn Street. You know it, right? Sure you do, you were there,” Bernedette led.
“Hmph,” Hannah hummed, neither offended nor defensive. Bernedette intrigued her.
“Yes, it wasn’t too long ago. I saw you dancing with him, through his front window.” Her smile evaporated and turned into an observant Colombo eye. She edged razor-close to creepy, witch-like.
Hannah grinned, replied, “So you like to spy on your neighbors?”
“Oh! Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no! I apologize if I made you feel intruded upon. I happened to be passing by at the time and saw you inside… in rather familiar clothes,” Bernedette backtracked.
“It was a joke.”
Bernedette chuckled, then added, “Bernedette, by the way.”
Hannah looked at the old woman’s outstretched hand. Shake it. Eh!
Changing her mind, she smiled and said, “Hannah.” Hannah believed Bernedette had a diary face. The kind of face that made you want to spill your secrets even when you hadn’t known her for any time. Beyond matronly, motherly kindness. She had a warmth about her that reminded of a roadside inn in a torrential storm. Her spirit a safe haven for wayward travelers caught in weather’s fury.
“Hannah, it’s nice meeting you. So, you spent some time with Darien? You know his wife, too?” Bernedette resumed faux-browsing.
“Darien? Hm? So that’s his name? I thought it started with an M. Anyway, no I never met her,” Hannah explained.
“You didn’t know his name?”
“Couldn’t quite remember. It was foggy.”
“Hm? No offense, but it seems like you would know the name of your date,” Bernedette led the witness. Come on, honey. Confirm it was a date.
“Date?”
“Sorry, it looked like a date, what with the dancing and all.”
“No. No, it definitely wasn’t a date. He… I probably shouldn’t tell you this,” Hannah said, resuming perusing.
“It’s fine. I guard secrets.” Hollow, ghostly words. For a brief second, Bernedette sounded guilty of something heinous. Like she already knew what happened to Darien’s wife. Like she needed to hide her own secrets. “Well, he hired me for a job. God, now that sounds sketch. He didn’t hire me for that kinda job. I’m not a woman of the night or a street vixen—”
“A hoe?”
Taken aback by the old woman’s blunt verbiage, Hannah pointed at her and nodded. Bernedette then asked, “Then what are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“An actress. Plain old actress. He hired me to act like his companion for a few hours. Didn’t wanna be alone.”
“Alone. Hm?”
“Said it was for some therapy. Looked a little depressed and I had sympathy for him, so I did it. Money helped, too.”
“What about his wife? What’d he say happened to her?”
“Not much. He simply said she was gone.”
“Gone?” Bernedette said with a smile and a lilt in her voice.
“Yeah. I got the feeling she was dead.”
“Dead?” The word saddened her into a new low. My god, Darien, what were you thinking? Three minutes of standing silence. Contemplation overtook her muscles. She ran through every scenario that could lead to Darien’s expressed status about his wife. She had suspected ill of Darien. This helped cement her feelings.
Bernedette stood in that catatonic state for so long that she didn’t hear Hannah’s calls to her. The girl finished shopping and departed with one purchase. When Bernedette looked up again, she spotted Hannah exiting into hard rain. “Wait.” She sprinted after her.
Hannah stopped in the thundering wetness, keeping dry beneath her umbrella. Her older counterpart had no covering. It didn’t matter. She needed only answers. She asked, “Those clothes, they weren’t yours, were they?”
“No. They were his wife’s. He wanted me to wear them.”
“Why?”
She held up her hands and did air quotes as she said, “‘To be more convincing’ – His words. I guess he wanted me to look like her. Sorta wanted me to act like her, too.”
“To look and act like her?” Bernedette mumbled to herself. It made no sense. None of it made sense. She’d think about it all the way home.
At home, she stood on her front stoop looking across to Darien’s house as she saw one light on in his bedroom. What had he done? What hadn’t she done?

To Be Continued In… 

The Ones That Stare 

Out now!

* * *

It’s Finally Here!!! #TheManOnTheRoof #TMOTR #BookBlogTour

It’s Finally Here!!! #TheManOnTheRoof #TMOTR #BookBlogTour 

It’s finally here, people. This Friday, June 22nd, my psychological mystery-thriller The Man On The Roof will release in ebook Kindle format on Amazon Kindle. It’s been in review for a few months now and, I’m not gonna lie, some people are loving it. I have been comparing it to Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train meets Big Little Lies. Others have seen hints of the once-popular TV show Desperate Housewives. It has complex male and female characters and a narrative that draws you deeper and deeper into its mystery. It will captivate you. 

Currently, I am on a book-blog tour across a slew of lovely book blogs on these-here interwebs! If you join me, along the way you will be gifted with author Q&As, interviews, guest posts, book excerpts, and reviews. And the tour doesn’t stop on June 22nd. It keeps going into July. After the main launch tour ends on July 6th, I have a special Spoilers Q&A planned for July 22nd, and another interview on the 24th! You are going to want to be there. 

You like a good book. You love a good mystery. Hell, you love good TV and film based off of good books, which means you’re probably anticipating HBO’s Sharp Objects coming out in July (post on that later). But sometimes you feel that you’ve seen it, been there, done that. How many drunk women are going to solve a murder? You want to be entertained this summer, right? Not just to be entertained, but a bonding experience, something that will get you talking with your fellow readers. And chances are high that you’re going to risk your time and pocketbook on buying some over-hyped book that comes from the bigger publishing houses and that will cost you near 30 dollars, then regret it when you can’t get into it. A digital copy of my book will only cost $7.99. That’s about as much as you’d spend on two specialty burgers at a fast food place, only my book lasts longer and doesn’t give you high cholesterol. It's even cheaper than the digital copy of that $30 book (12.99 to download a file? You're kidding me, right?) Is it self-published? Yes. But, at one point, so was Fifty Shades and Andy Weir’s The Martian. When you buy my book instead of that other expensive book, one day you’re gonna look back and say that you were part of something great before anyone knew about it. And you want to be part of something great, right? 

Then take the risk. Order my Kindle book. Be entertained! Solve the mysteries! You're not just buying a book, you're buying an experience. You are buying a bond with others who have read the book. And if you don't like it, you'll still have $22 left to buy that other, more expensive book. But I think you're going to feel glad that you got your own copy of The Man On The Roof. 

Well, what the heck are you waiting for? The book is currently on preorder here: The Man On The Roof. 

You’ve read the comparisons: Gone Girl, Sharp Objects, The Girl on the Train, Big Little Lies, Desperate Housewives. Mysteries await! Go buy a copy. 

Still not convinced? Then start following the tour! It’s already started. Click on the tour graphic to make it bigger. Catch up by clicking one of the links below! 

13th: Duffy The Writer blog interviews me here: DuffyTheWriterBlog

14th: Jan's Book Buzz gives you a cool review: JansBookBuzz

15th: Snazzy Books has an interesting Q&A: SnazzyBooks

16th: Reel Literature Should be THE blog for film & book lovers: ReelLiterature

17th: Princess and Pen has an interview for you: PrincessAndPen

20th: Sarah Rieveley has an interview for you here: Sarah'sBookCorner 

Until next time, see ya! 

P.S. Oh my god! You haven’t blogged in so long that... Did you forget how to blog? Michael, you were supposed to have a quirky, ridiculous, humorous, referential, eye-roll-inducing sign-off for your readers. Why didn’t you reference any cool pop culture in a sarcastic way? Frickin’ Ted Cruz just beat Jimmy Kimmel at basketball. You’re wasting that opportunity!! “Uh... I’ll come up with a better, more creative sign-off next time, maybe?”

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NEW Episodic Novel/Novella Series: The Writer

NEW Episodic Novel/Novella Series: #TheWriter #WhyIWrite #cheapreads

Hello again people out there in the blogosphere. Yes, I have not one, but two good reads that have come out just yesterday. The first I already told you about below, DARKER (#DARKER). Hold on to your butts (Samuel L. Jackson voice) because this one will take a little more explaining. Read below for a synopsis and a description of how I tackled this project and what to expect from it.

Michael Singleton, 26, is a writer struggling to make it out in Hollywood. Homeless and down to his last dollar, he has a final meeting with a production company interested in hearing his pitch on a show about a writer. Their response? Who wants to watch something about a writer. Years spent pursuing his dream come to an end when he finally decides to return home to Cleveland, Ohio a failure.

Alek Vitsin, a 51-year-old business owner in Cleveland finds his life lacking. He has a smart and beautiful wife, great kids (they're teens, so they can get on the annoying side) and a thriving business empire, still he can't manage to see it for what it is—perfect.

A series of strange events and even deadlier circumstances bring these two men on differing journeys together and bonds them in unforeseen ways that challenge the paradigm of fan and artist. As they each seek a legacy to call their own, they must discover how to navigate each other through the twists and turns that life throws their way, a feat made all the more difficult because of Alek's main occupation—the biggest drug lord in Ohio.

A gripping drama/action/suspense/thriller/literary hybrid in the vein of Breaking Bad, Hannibal and Death Note, The Writer takes the reader through a weekly episodic journey through the increasingly perilous and gruesome lives of Michael and Alek as they become more interwoven, dragging the titular character through a morally ambiguous descent into the macabre all in the name of art.  

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Here it is, my Episodic Novel (or novella) series. What is that, you ask? Let me explain.

All my life I’ve always been a fan of entertainment. I love it all: books, music, movies, TV, video games, etc. One of the things I also love is how we used to consume these things. I’m not too young to realize that books (bestsellers especially) have gotten a bit on the long side in recent years (Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl was like a bagillion words, or 130,000 something at least). And while I have plenty of works that match that (most of my books come in somewhere around 100,000 words), I know that not everyone has time to consume that.

That was when I had a thought. While I still use a DVR for most of my television watching, I try to imbibe episodes one at a time. This way, I don’t get binge-watching fatigue. So I thought, why not apply that same thought to reading? Lord only knows how many books that might have been good I gave up on because they either started slow or they just felt way too long. Reading is great but sometimes it can be mean to us.

For those who may feel that way even when they love reading, I present to you The Writer (#TheWriter). So again, what is it. It is an ebook weekly episodic novella/novel (whichever you want to call it). It consists of 60 digital pages (pages measured on the Kindle Fire in Georgia font, lowest pt, to fit all on one page) per week or one episode of a full season. You say, well that sounds like a comic book or a serial from old. Not quite. For one, most comics are monthly or bi-weekly these days, and run until whenever. Serials back in the day usually did the same. The Writer has seasons, thusly a set time each year, just like a TV show. This is season one that is slated to end in late September just before or after the official start of fall. It will consist of between 13 and 15 episodes, all of which will be between 55-68 pages, and will have a proper season finale.

Why do this? In some ways, I miss the days of the watercooler talk. With everyone bingeing shows (I just binged Game of Thrones on an HBO free preview weekend) some of that great watercooler feel has been lost. Even with book clubs, it’s more often than not an all in kind of thing where you meet once every month or however many weeks and you are expected to have finished the entire book, and you’re freaking out because last month’s book was way shorter than this month’s. This way, the casual reader can gobble down one episode at a time and get on with their day. More voracious readers can read an episode, mentally mark what happened and move along to another book between episodes. Book clubs can meet on a weekly or every other week basis and no one have read farther than the other (don’t those people grind you sometimes?)

My point is that I’d like to encourage short reading while giving more power back to the reader to have a freer schedule. Also, with the price going to be kept low (no more than $1.50 for any individual episode; usually starts at $1.00) readers can more easily sample pieces of the season before committing 20-something dollars to a hardcover book by some author that they usually love but just put out a rare miss. It’s also easier than going to the library. 

OK, to wrap it up because this is getting long and feels like it’s nearly a quarter the length of an individual episode, this is season one of The Writer. If you go to my author's amazon page you will see that I am selling a compilation of Episodes 1-3 as well as each individual episode, though I recommend getting the compilation because it's one cent cheaper (hey, a penny earned and so forth). I hope you enjoy the start of this journey as it will explore the roots of how legends are made, and become the stories that entertain us all. Next week's episode 4, "The Sound and The Fury" will be out on Friday or maybe even late night Thursday and this will continue until late September. I won't always blog for each episode, but for those that are going to be really big, I might write a blurb or mention it. Anyway, Happy Reading! 

Again, purchase the compilation here: AMAZON. As always, follow me on Goodreads, Tweet about the book #TheWriter on Twitter, and join the Goodreads group. Until next time.
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