All We Used To Know

I have long been a fan of Alicia Witt's music. Many people know her as an actor; but it's her music that I am fascinated with. And yes, she started her acting career in 1984 as a child actress in the movie Dune. Her television and movie credits are almost too numerous to mention with some of the TV spots alone including Friday Night Lights, Cybill, Twin Peaks and The Walking Dead.

The first time in more recent memory that I recall paying attention to Alicia was when she appeared, on perhaps half a dozen episodes of Law and Order as Detective Nola Falacci, the temporary partner of Mike Logan (played by Chris Noth) in the mid aughts.

It was a couple of years after that, I think, that I somehow stumbled upon her cover version of Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al. Simon's Graceland is among my all-time favourite albums, and Witt's piano-forward stylistic rendition of the song made me sit up and take notice. I wanted to know who that was; and when I saw, I recognized her from Law & Order.

Alicia Witt in a still from her "Anyway" music video

At that point, I started to check out the self-titled album the song came from, bought it on iTunes and fell in love with the powerful song Anyway. (Her talent as an actress helps with the dramatic presentation of that video as well)

Since then I have been following along and purchasing all of her music. She is a fave of so many of the indie musicians that I adore.

Her song "I'm Not Ready for Christmas" which she wrote to accompany a Hallmark Christmas Romantic Comedy of the same name that she starred in, is among my favourite Christmas songs. (And not just because of lines such as "I don't give a sh*t how many shopping days are left" and "I need a f*cking holiday" - BTW, here's the "radio safe" version of that song if the explicit version is too much for your sensitive ears)

And not all that long ago, when I saw she was launching a Kickstarter for her 15,000 Days EP project, I knew I wanted to be among the fans who contributed to helping make it happen. (15,000 Days was a reference to her age at the time of initially planning and recording the album)

It has been exciting watching Witt in the lead up, the process and the forthcoming EP release, particularly since, as a Kickstarter supporter, I've had the pleasure of regular updates on how it was working. It was so fun to get a behind-the-scenes look.

A few weeks ago, the first single, "Younger" was released. And just yesterday, the official music video was released.

The song itself is a beautiful one and alludes to the incredible power, adventurousness and spirit of youth. Something that we all either lose, or allow ourselves to let go as we embrace the restrictions and cages and chains that apparently come with maturity. I have listened to it multiple times and I do quite love the song.

And then the video was released. And the video, directed by Paula Kay Hornick, adds in a heart-warming lifelong love story visual that brings out a unique flavour to the song. It opens with the brilliant magic of imagination and youth, which, on its own is pure and delightful, but then, as the video moves along, you see these children who have grown up, have married, had children, and have lost that magic they once had.

As the song and the story ends, I will admit to shedding a tear of happiness at the beautiful story, and I marveled at how, though I had already thought the world of the song, that the video could allow me to re-appreciate it on a whole new level.

Compilation of images from video for "Younger"

The song, written by Alicia Witt, Catt Gravitt and Tofer Brown includes these following amazing lyrics . . .

let's be honest
   it's not too late
to fade away
and disappear into the stars
  above the noise
and rise the silence like a wave
you have the choice to
     reveal the quiet that you're hiding in your voice

let's take the world and discover
all we used to know.... I
wanna find a way to the wonder, like
when we were younger

It is a great look at the importance of so many of the things that make our youth so magical, which include open-ness, acceptance, imagination and all that comes with that. Perhaps the reason I write speculative fiction is my desire to want to continue to capture and share that sense of wonder I first experienced when reading that type of fiction in my youth.

Of course, part of the brilliance in this song isn't that it's "when we were young" but "when we were younger" - meaning it's never too late (which the song also says) for us to use any of our previous experiences, and not just the earliest ones, to learn and grow and reflect. After all, we always have that choice no matter how old we grow.


With these introspective lyrics that make one reflect back on the power and magic of our own pasts, with the beautiful accompanying music and the powerfully produced video, I have to say Kudos to the amazing collaboration of talent that made that happen.

And I can't wait for the rest of the EP's release and to enjoy more of Alicia Witt's incredible music.

Mining for Ghosts

Last week I was back in my home town of Levack, Ontario, helping my mom with painting a few rooms in her home. Because Alexander had a PD day off school, we managed to get up there earlier in the week so I could get the work done.

So when I was in town, I recorded a short video at Levack Mine, referencing a chapter from my book Spooky Sudbury. I did this as part of my ongoing #FreeFridayFrights weekly series of live Facebook videos where I either read a story (FICTION) or relay a true tale (NON-FICTION).

In the short video I recalled, mostly off the top of my head, the tale about an eerie encounter from the 1970s at the mine in Levack that I wrote about in a chapter called "Haunted Level 2650 at Levack Mine"

I was startled to find that, within just a few days of posting it, the video has already had more than 2,600 views. I also, of course, realized I had goofed up and used incorrect terminology when relaying the story. So, when I did the post-live video upload (where I add sound effects, graphics and other enhancements to the video, I thought it best to record an introductory apology for getting the terms wrong and then also a conclusion where I read part of that chapter to share the proper and more full story.

I have been doing the Free Friday Frights videos every week since April 6, 2018, but this one, by far, has been the most watched video of all. I was delighted to see how many folks from my home town area commented, shared and then re-shared the video.

It reminds me of an old adage that my friend, fellow author Robert J. Sawyer said years ago and which stuck with me. He said it was important, when marketing yourself as an author, to define yourself as a big fish in a small pool.

The idea is that, as a writer of thrillers, horror and ghost stories, if I compare myself to Stephen King, I barely make it onto the radar. But if I compare myself to all the other thriller, horror and ghost story writers in the Sudbury area, at least I rank a spot on the charts. (There actually are a few authors who write those same things, but at least my presence, compared to them, is a lot more even than my comparison to Stephen King)

I find it fascinating that my largest success from writing always related back to my home town. When I launched my first book, One Hand Screaming there in 2004, there was a line-up of people, the newspapers and radio featured the release. And then, of course, in 2013, when Spooky Sudbury was released, the support from local media and the local public was truly overwhelming. Jenny and I sold out at both the Chapters and the Coles on the day of our book launch, and the following day, I spent 8 hours at the local Costco and sold most of a skid of books.

And, reflecting back on the comparison to Stephen King, it was awesome to see that, at least in one city in one afternoon in one store, I outsold the master of horror. (Of course, I was there signing copies, and he wasn't. Let's ignore the fact that, if King had been there signing copies of his book the only thing people might be looking at me for would be directions to the restrooms or where to find more copies of his books, because the skid sold out yet again. But best NOT to focus on that.)

Sales on that particular title continue to dominate my annual royalties, even though the local population of the City of Great Sudbury (about 165,000) is far smaller than the cities of Hamilton (550,000) and Ottawa (950,000) where a couple of my other books are set. A smaller community seems to take much more pride either in celebrating the accomplishments of a home town boy, or wanting to read about their home town itself.

For writers, the lesson is important. Focusing on defining a smaller and more focused target audience seems to be a consistent key for larger success.

Cashing In On Creativity

I was recently a guest on the Cashing In On Creativity Podcast, hosted by Bruce Outridge, a speaker, cartoonist, podcaster and writer that I met through CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers).

I was in Episode 80: Haunted Tales with Mark Leslie

In the interview, I talk about my passion for sharing ghostly tales, ring ghostly tales, strategies on how to pitch to a publisher, how that is similar to identifying your target audience when self-publishing, how I believe in ghosts but not in writer's block, the joys of visiting bars and breweries and the friends made there, and more.

It was a great chat with a great guy.

Because we 1) Enjoy craft beer and 2) Adore efficiency, Bruce and I met for lunch in a great Hamilton bar called The Ship, had lunch and then took turns interviewing one another for our respective podcasts.

For those who are interested in learning more about Bruce, I interviewed him on my Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Podcast for Episode 19.

Pete's Blog & Grille: Top 10 Iris Cat FAQs.

I have to share this.

I've been reading and laughing about this amazing series of signs. Too funny.

A couple of recent examples . . .

Here is Peter's FAQ about it:

Pete's Blog & Grille: Top 10 Iris Cat FAQs.: A PEEK BEHIND THE SIGNS Instead of a regular card this past Valentine's Day, I bought my wife Helena an electric sign. It went on th...

Great review of Unexpected Strangers

Because I missed getting my stories out into the world, I started collecting a few of them in small themed packs of work under the "Nocturnal Screams" banner.

Each of the mini-books in the "Nocturnal Screams" series has between 12,000 to 16,000 words of stories (usually three tales), along with the "behind the story" notes - something I enjoy reading myself in other authors' works and have received compliments about in the past.

While I normally enjoy seeing that one of my books has been reviewed (social proof is great), I tend to not put a lot of stock into them (other than that it is important to have reviews). Reviews mean that people are actually reading the books. The reason I try not to focus on reviews is I find that many reviews are vague little "it was okay" with two or three stars, and if you start taking those things to heart, you'll drown in writerly self-doubt. And writers have more than their share of that.

And if you pay too much attention to one star reviews, well, that's a death knell. Not every book is for everyone, and, rather than take those to heart, I usually just have to consign myself to the understanding that I or my publisher or a bookseller (or however it happened), did something wrong to get the book into the absolute WRONG reader's hands. IE, the targeting was somehow off and the wrong person (ie, NOT the ideal reader) picked it up and had a bad experience with it.

In any case, reviews are necessary, but not something one should focus on.

Heck, if I get just a handful of three or four star reviews, I consider myself blessed.

But this morning I woke to find a wonderful four star review of a recently published collection called Unexpected Strangers. Volume 5 in my Nocturnal Screams series. And I couldn't help but bask just a little bit in that.

This in depth and well-thought out review from Silver Screen Videos is quite complimentary, while recognizing imperfections, etc. was six full paragraphs.

Here are some excellent pull-quotes from it:

In addition to the three short stories in “Unexpected Strangers,” author Leslie provides several pages of “behind the scenes” material. For each story, he describes how he came to write it, including a description of his creative thought processes in detail, as the three stories gradually took shape from rudimentary early ideas. For anyone who is interested in possibly becoming a writer, or in the writing process itself, this extra material is a solid companion piece to the stories themselves.

. . . and also this . . .

All three are well constructed, well written, and quite entertaining. Further, most people will probably be able to finish all three stories, with bonus material, over the course of a lunch hour. And, while it didn’t bother me that none of the stories were really scary in any sense, that shouldn’t deter anyone who likes either horror or suspense fiction. You will probably find that “Unexpected Strangers” makes for unexpectedly good reading.

Of course, one of my favourite lines from the review is this delightful compliment about the story "Captive Audience."

The author contends that his stories are reminiscent of old “Twilight Zone” episodes, but this one could more easily have come from the pages of “Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine,” and I mean that as quite a compliment.

For those who aren't familiar, Hitchcock is, and has long been one of the most prestigious thriller/mystery/dark fiction magazines available.


And, for the sake of 100% transparency, so you can read, the good, the bad and the ugly, (the reviewer does a great job of calling out things that they don't like about some of the writing - all quite valid points that I can appreciate - here is a link to the item page where you can read the full review.

If you're curious to check out the first in the Nocturnal Screams series, Night Cries (pictured below) is free on all major retail platforms.

My Evil Reaction To LAUREL vs YANNY

I'm not sure where that dark part of my imagination comes from.

But ever since I have been writing, my mind regularly turns to the shadows, pulls something either darkly humorous or perhaps just dark in general.

Below are two examples.

During the recent LAUREL vs YANNY audio debates (where, based on a released file, some people hear "Laurel" and other people hear "Yanny") I had two different, yet somewhat similar reactions.

One was dark humour.

The other was just dark and a bit mean and evil.

Depending on your own preferred poison, I present, for you, a choice from two videos that display how my twisted mind works.

Here is the dark humor one:

 

And here is the more evil one:

You may not want to watch either one.

As I said, I can be twisted. 

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Talk at Kitchener Public Library: Success in Self Publishing

[UPDATE:  This event has been cancelled in May and re-scheduled to later in the year]

I'll be giving a talk at the Kitchener Public Library in a few weeks.

It's called SUCCESS IN SELF PUBLISHING and it'll run Saturday May 26th from 10 AM until Noon.

I love being able to share with writers the fact that they have more choice, more options and more control over their writing journey than ever before. Yes, I embrace and celebrate self-publishing and I enjoy reminding authors of just how empowered they can be; but I'm also cautiously optimistic in my approach and also like to ensure writers recognize that there's no single path for success, just like there are multiple publishing paths that a single author can take.

After all, I have made conscious business-driven decisions to embrace both self-publishing and traditional publishing for different book projects.

During the two hour session, we'll take a look at some common themes and patterns that successful self-published, hybrid and traditionally published authors have in common. We'll explore how authors can get started, strategies for optimizing your author brand, the importance of understanding the business of writing and publishing and much more.

[VIDEO REMOVED]

Below is a description from the website where you can register for one of the limited spots available: Register here


With Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Natalie Gibbons, Manager Collections KPL, and Rob Dawson, Georgetown Publications

Your writing is great, but where are you going to publish? Join industry professional Mark Leslie Lefebvre for top tips to self-publishing success. Under the name Mark Leslie, he’s published more than a dozen books, including fiction paranormal explorations for Dundurn. He has worked in every type of bookstore and has thrived on innovation in digital publishing. Mark also worked for six years as the Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations for Kobo where he was the driving force behind the creation of Kobo Writing Life, a free and easy to use author/small-publisher friendly platform.

Following this event, meet with other writers in a reception room.

Registration required

How To Annoy a Science-Fiction Nerd Today

It is May the 4th! Star Wars day!

May the 4th be with you!

Of course, if you like to have a little fun, either in an attempt to annoy science-fiction nerds or perhaps just to throw a little confusion into the mix, you can share one of the many silly memes that involve mixing memes or confusing popular quotes from a variety of sources. And, of course, providing fictional attribution at the same time.

Here's one I was toying with earlier today.

 

If I counted correctly, I think this visual meme refers to thirteen different movies or television shows. I suppose I could have tried to add more, but I was already getting dizzy. Can you name the thirteen that I referenced?

Tell Me About The Early Days of Self-Publishing, George

The other day, while putting together material for my forthcoming Free Friday Frights, I was looking into the origin of the chapbook Active Reader that I had initially created in print.

It led back to 2008 when I had purchased an Espresso Book Machine for the then-bookstore at McMaster University which had been called Titles Bookstore, and we launched a "Titles on Demand" business using a large print-on-demand machine from On Demand Books.

We were the 2nd location in Canada and the 9th in the world to own an Espresso Book Machine. Exciting times.

And, of course, it was the early days of what was about to become the large self-publishing "Gold Rush" of 2011 / 2012. (To be honest, we're still in the early days of self-publishing, as, each year, thousands of more authors learn about the amazing possibilities of what they can do related to selling eBooks globally)

An article from the Dec 2008 McMaster Times

It was my work helping local authors who were interested in print (POD) self-publishing that eventually led me to my role as Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations at Kobo. Because, as amazing as the machine and having print-on-demand access was, I was still running into the issue of people in countries on the other side of the globe wanting access to locally produced books. So I helped the authors create eBook versions to load to Kindle and Kobo, so we didn't have to worry about shipping costs or logistics.

Pic from Hamilton Spectator article - The EBM, Donna (Bookstore Director) & me

Because the machine required a lot of testing; and, particularly in the early days of the machine, we were doing dozens of tours and demonstrations of it, we needed to create some smaller books so that we could go through the demonstrations quickly (also, without using a ton of paper - ie, printing a 300 page book). So I created a chapbook of about 50 pages that contained three of my previously published short stories. It was easier to use one of my own pieces of writing that I had the rights to than to worry about violating some sort of copyright.

I called the chapbook Active Reader: And Other Cautionary Tales from the Book World.

Of course, once I moved from McMaster to Kobo, and needed to have files to test the eBook self-publishing system (Kobo Writing Life) I had been responsible for creating there, I converted the book into eBook format.

 And, in mid 2017, I then had the book converted into audiobook format using Findaway Voices.
 

It was interesting how, when doing a book in print, you needed to have a minimum page count in order for the book to be properly bound using certain binding technologies. (For POD, I think the minimum page count that worked well might be somewhere between 30 and 40 pages). The maximum page count for an Espresso Book Machine was somewhere in the 550 to 600 page range. Of course, for ebooks, there's no minimum and no limit. As I have enjoyed sharing when talking to audiences who aren't familiar with ebooks, "you aren't limited to the standard format of 300 pages bound between two pieces of cloth."

Funny to look back about ten years ago and see what I had been up to.

Remembering how cutting-edge this POD machine in a bookstore was, I was only beginning to understand the power of digital publishing.

Who would have guessed what these past ten years have actually entailed?

In many ways it feels like only a few years have passed since I was cranking out POD books at the bookstore at McMaster and sharing the possibilities of that brave new world with anyone who would listen; in other ways, it feels like at least twenty years ago.

The Ghost of Jack Kerouac

Yesterday's live talk part of my weekly Free Friday Frights included a talk about the chapter "Kerouac's Favourite Haunt" in my 2014 book Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries.

Once you get me talking about the things I am most passionate about, I will go on and on. In the chat, I not only share the stories I had heard about the ghost of the famous author who allegedly haunts this bookstore, but my love for visiting bookstores, especially a place like Haslam's which is the largest and oldest independent bookstore in the state of Florida. (Not to mention that today is Independent Bookstore Day)

I also, of course, introduce other things I am passionate about, such as the discovery of local beers. And there are at least three local beer spots in the neighborhood of Haslam's. One that I visited a few years ago (Urban Brew & BBQ) and two more that I just discovered (Taphouse 61 and Cage Brewing)

Hmm, with Novelists Inc, Haslam's Bookstore and at least four great beer spots to check out (I discovered Mastry's Brewing Co. a couple of years back), I have more reasons than ever to look forward to this fall in St Pete, Florida.

Don't Judge My Love of Sharing Ghost Tales

In my weekly Free Friday Frights adventures I have enjoyed the combination of sharing live videos of reading my fiction or just sharing a ghostly tale from the research I have done for many of my non-fiction books on the paranormal.

 

And last Friday (Friday April 13th), while I was enjoying a couple of pints at The Winking Judge in Hamilton, as part of a quick teaser video that I had originally posted live to Facebook, I walked about the 2nd floor of this haunted bar and shared a few of the ghostly tales I had heard over the years.

I re-edited the original live video to add in a few fitting visuals as well as some haunting background music.

Here is the revised and enhanced video:

You can read more about this in a post on my Spirits Untapped blog entitled "Ghostly Tales From A Hamilton Bar," which also focuses more on the "beer" and "beer culture" aspects. (IE, if, after seeing the beer I'm holding and wanting to know what it was)

Going Your Own Way

"If I could, maybe I'd give you my world
How can I when you won't take it from me?"

These lyrics, near the opening of the Fleetwood Mac song "Go Your Own Way" might be familiar to authors who are trying to share their words, their worlds with an audience.

Sometimes the desire to give and to share is there, but perhaps the audience isn't, or isn't receptive to it.

But elements of the song, particularly the main words of the chorus also related to an interview I recently did with author T S Paul for my Stark Reflections Podcast.

Scott, like the person being sung to in this classic pop rock song, went his own way.

Specifically, he didn't listen to people who told him that he was crazy or out of his mind with the ideas he had for his own writing plan and the path he was determined to follow.

Friday the 13th: The SUPER Superstition

There are plenty of things in western culture that we associate with superstitions and luck.

A broken mirror brings seven years of bad luck. Don’t let a black cat cross your path. Walking under a ladder also brings bad luck. But of all the superstitious beliefs even those who are skeptic regularly acknowledge, the superstition surrounding the fear of Friday the 13^th is compiled up an intriguing selection of different fears and beliefs which form a recipe for a super superstition, if you will.

According to Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained, it has been estimated that as many as 8 percent of Americans actually suffer from the crippling fear of the day Friday the 13^th, known in phobia terminology, as paraskevidekatriaphobia. Say that one five times really fast!

Let’s take a look at the two main ingredients that helped to create the commonly dreaded day of Friday the 13^th.

5 Ways To Use Free As An Author

When I was recording a recent episode of the Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing podcast, I began reflecting on the various ways that an author can leverage FREE in order to build their author platform.

Below are those points, quickly summarized.

1) To Get Readers Hooked on a New Series

Offering the first book in a series free can bring a large funnel of new readers to your books. And, for authors who perhaps don't have more than a few books in that series, sometimes offering a free short story that is linked to that series is a great way to get people to try out your characters and their unique world/setting.

Examples:

Finding Inspiration in Everything

I was pretty pumped to be interviewed by USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn on her relatively new podcast that focuses on readers.

AUTHORS LOVE READERS is a conversation between authors about how and why they create stories.

 
It was a heck of a lot of fun! 

The episode was entitled FINDING INSPIRATION IN EVERYTHING WITH MARK LESLIE.

I know Patricia from author circles and usually see her once a year at the annual NINC (Novelists, Inc) writer's conference in Florida. It was great to be able to catch up with her and to share some insights and reflections on the writing part of my life, which I have recently returned to with new dedication and conviction.

Patricia asked some great questions and pulled some interesting tidbits out of me as well, including why I chose to market my work as "horror" even though most of the material, though dark, doesn't quite go into what most people think of as horror.

What's In An Object?

It's funny how a simple inanimate object can have such an effect at bringing back a flood of memories.

This past weekend, my son and I spent the long Easter weekend with my Mom back in Levack.

Because my Mom had given Liz and I Baba's long-standing recipe for pierogi last December, and we had gone through at least a couple rounds of making them on our own with Liz's girls and Alexander, I told my Mom that Zander and I would make some pierogi for her.

My Mom hadn't made pierogi since her mother, my Baba, died in February seven years ago. She keeps buying them from Costco. So I thought it might be fun for her to have some home-made pierogi. No, not as good as Baba's (nothing could ever replace those) - but home-made and, like Baba's, made with love and just a touch of calamity in the kitchen.

When, back in December, Liz and the girls and I had been making pierogi, I remember being quite particular about the vessel we used to cut the dough into the round shapes for crafting the little Eastern European dumplings. I likely went overboard in my desire to find just the perfect glass or cup to use, and was never quite satisfied with what we ended up using.

It was because Baba had always used a particular little tea cup for cutting her pierogi dough with. A small white cup with red roses and green-silver stems and leaves; complete with a couple of chips in it that suggested it had been long and well used.

Baba's pierogi tea cup

Looking at that teacup brought back a huge flood of incredibly powerful memories.

Better Keep Listening. There Might Be A Bit About Blessed Are The Big Noses

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a big fan of Monty Python and that LIFE OF BRIAN is one of my favorite films.

They might also know that I enjoy quoting lines from the film. Lots of lines. At almost any opportunity I can get.

And, of course, one of my fave characters to quote is Brian's Mom, Mandy.

For example, almost ANY time some says "Speak up!" I usually follow it with this (in the appropriate voices, of course):