Influence Part 1 (of an indeterminate number)

Influences make us who we are. The people, ideas, and works of art that inspire us to a higher plane of existence are quite indispensable, and without them we would know nothing but this little place we call madness that is our mind. I want to take a few posts to discuss the influences on my life, beginning with the book that reminded me that I loved telling stories.

Before Bag of Bones, I had never read Stephen King and I'm pretty sure I never saw any movies based on his works. I have this odd quirk that keeps me from following something popular just because it's popular, and so I think that perhaps knowing I was "supposed" to like him kept me from actually liking him. Yet, when my stepdad gave me his used copy of this book while I was in college, something about it intrigued me. I opened the book and could not put it down. I think I probably read the entire novel in about three days, forsaking much-needed sleep (I was a Senior after all) to satisfy my curiosity about what would happen next. I was hooked in all the right ways, and it was then that I realized that I, too, could write stories that not only frightened people but also encouraged them to enjoy life. Bag of Bones is a romantic ghost story that transcends its genre and is my very favorite of King's works (although, admittedly, I haven't read them all). I don't think I have to tell you that King is an amazing writer because let's be frank: you either know this to be true or you will never know how true it is.

The miniseries starring Pierce Brosnan is top-notch as well should you be more inclined to watch than read (although I certainly hope that's not the case. The world already has too many watchers and not enough readers, but I digress). If it weren't for this book, I never would have started writing Immolation, my soon-to-be-published novel. But above all that, I never would have understood what Mr. King says about writing: that writing is not actually what a writer does. A writer simply acts as the psychic in a seance with imaginary characters who use him/her as their amanuensis to tell the world what it needs to hear. If you are a writer, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you are a reader...thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for taking the time to lend me your eyes and your heart. I will try my best to treat it with the dignity it deserves.

Until Death is defeated...

Sam

Patience

My mom used to always tell me that patience is a virtue, and I believe what my mom tells me (she's pretty smart). The problem with virtues is that they are like grasping oil: just when you think you've got it, you realize you only have a little bit and the rest has slipped between your fingers. I thought I was a patient person, but the past few days have been the longest days of my life. I'm waiting to hear back from the publisher about the next step for Immolation and a few days has turned into years of torture and mortification in Purgatory.

While I wait, though, I have been amazed at the encouragement from many of my friends. My good friend Russell Schmidt informed me of some most excellent news (and no, I haven't watched Bill and Ted recently, why do you ask?) and when the time is right I'll share it with you all. In the meantime, let's go support him and read his ridiculously awesome blog here:

On the "amazing friends" front, my friend Judah McNiel has offered to help me with an author website that actually looks like it wasn't made by two "Nigerians" trying to give me 15 million dollars. I'd give you his website, but I don't know it, so just pretend you went to it and enjoyed it very much.

Finally, in this installment of "amazing friends" (I feel like I should copyright that before DC Comics gets an idea in their heads) go harass my friend Mark Carver by buying his books, the first of which can be ordered here: Ignore the reviews that call his book "a miss" or other such nonsense. I suspect this was written by forty-year-old men living in their parent's basements who look suspiciously like this guy:

Though I've mentioned a few people here, I can never thank all of you enough for all you've done to help me, even if it was just encouraging me to keep going. You all mean the world to me.

Sam

Being published

For those of you who may not know, I was recently offered a publishing deal, so I'm kind of a big deal. Well, once things get rolling. Check back here as I am going to be updating the blog much more often, especially as the ball gets rolling. I took down most of my past posts and only left up a few that I felt were either important or too cherished to delete.

Thank you again to all those who have supported and believed in me. It is truly humbling to realize what wonderful people are out there.

Sam