Musings From A Writer's Perspective

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Sale Is ON!

It’s official! The sale is on!

Now through 9/25/2014, you can buy two of my novels on sale for 99 cents each at most major eBook retailers!

If You Could Read My Mind – A Nicholas Turner Novel is one of the two books that are on sale. This was my first novel, and my first publishing venture. It has been available since 2009, and holds a special place in my heart. Here is the description:

“What happens when a young, fast-rising cop, married to the love of his life, suddenly loses his unborn child to miscarriage, loses his wife to cancer, and loses his job because of a violent incident with a suspect?

He decides to have drinking binges to try to forget.

That’s what happened to Nicholas Turner ten years ago.

Now, thanks to help from his sister, Melissa, and his best friend, FBI Agent Marcus Moore, Nicholas has almost conquered the drinking, and has become a private investigator that specializes in cases concerning children.

Meredith Richardson’s daughter, Karen, has been kidnapped, and the city’s police department doesn’t seem to be much help. At the suggestion of Marcus Moore, Meredith hires Nicholas to find the girl.

But Nicholas has unexpected help. A little girl, that apparently only Nicholas can see, is helping him with the case. She appears when Nicholas needs a clue, then disappears just as quickly.

Who is this little girl? Why is Nicholas so attracted to his client? Who kidnapped his client’s little girl? And why has this case become so deadly?

Inspired by the classic song by Gordon Lightfoot, If You Could Read My Mind is a heartwarming story about redemption, romance, and second chances.”

The second novel that is on sale through the 25^th is Junior’s Farm – A Tale Of Sardis County. This is my latest novel, and here is the description:

“From an idea inspired by the classic Paul McCartney song comes Junior’s Farm, the new novel in the series Tales Of Sardis County!

Laid off from a job in the city, Katie Montgomery and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Carol Grace, move home to Sardis County…to the farm that had been owned by her grandfather, Arthur “Junior” Ballantine, with the hopes of raising her daughter in the relative safety of rural America.

Alan Blake is a cop. He also leaves the city to go to Sardis County…but not for the same reason. Alan arrested one of the Giambini crime family’s star gamblers: poker expert Moses Turley. Alan also grew up in Sardis County, but no one in the city knows that except his partner. Alan must hide out and stay alive long enough to testify against the mobster.

Katie lets her former high school classmate, Alan, hide out with her and Carol Grace. But, in order to lie low on Junior’s Farm, he has to work as Katie’s farm hand.

Then Katie discovers two things: She’s a descendant of the Sardis family, and she’s head over heels in love with Alan!

Has Katie inherited the Sardis magic? Will Katie and Alan live happily ever after? Or will the Giambinis wipe out any chance of happiness? Find out in Junior’s Farm - A Tale Of Sardis County!”

If you subscribe to eBookSoda’s daily email, you’ll see one in Friday’s email, and one in Saturday’s email. You can go to eBookSoda’s website to subscribe by clicking here.

Take advantage of this sale now! Both titles are available at all major eBook retailers, including Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Inktera, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble, so you can…

Keep reading!

Michael (T. M. Bilderback)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Sales And Translations

I haz newz! Lotsa newz!

Sorry. I love playing with words, hence the misspellings.

The first bit of news is that I’m having a sale on two titles, and both titles are going to be featured by eBookSoda. If you’ll click here on eBookSoda, you can go check them out. They feature deals, and will email deals to you every day.

The two titles that will be on sale are: If You Could Read My Mind – A Nicholas Turner Novel, and Junior’s Farm – A Tale Of Sardis County. The two novels will be on sale for 99 cents from September 19^th through September 25th, 2014, at Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Inktera, and Smashwords. If Barnes & Noble hustles, and gets the price changed in time, both books will be on sale there, too!

So, here’s your chance to get my first novel and my newest novel at a greatly discounted price! And subscribe to eBookSoda’s newsletter today, so you’ll get the emails featuring my books!

The other news is huge: I mentioned here before that I’ve signed my stories and novels with Babelcube, in the hopes of getting them translated into other languages. That is well under way, and two titles are publishing as I write this! Actually, it’s the same title, but in two different languages.

Someone Saved My Life Tonight – A Justice Security Short Story has been wonderfully translated into Spanish by F&L Translation Services. It’s already showing up in eBook retail outlets as ANOCHE, ALGUIEN ME SALVO LA VIDA. The Italian language edition has been translated beautifully by Francesca Marrucci, and is titled Stanotte Qualcuno Mi Ha Salvato La Vita – Un racconto da ‘Justice Security’. It should begin showing up in various eBook outlets later today.

I’m just so excited about all of this!

I hope you’ll check out both eBookSoda, my sale on the two novels, and the translations of the short story! I think you’ll be pleased, and it will let you…

Keep reading!

Michael (T. M. Bilderback)

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Time For A Decision

Since I’ve blown my secret of being an introvert, I’ve made a couple of decisions.

One of the things about being a writer and an introvert is that I can hide behind my books, my blogs, and my posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

But, I’m taking it a step further.

I’m going to start writing a few stories under a pen name.

My normal stories are basically written with my real name. The “T. M.” initials in “T. M. Bilderback” stand for “Thomas Michael”…basically, my full name. My dad writes as “T. Whitman Bilderback”, and the T. there stand for Thomas as well. We have the same first name, but different middle names. I’ve always been “Michael” because of it, and that’s why you often see me sign things as “Michael”.

But my new pen name is totally different than my real name.

I’ve created it for a reason, of course. I wanted to write things other than my normal stuff. I wanted to explore some projects that have nothing to do with Justice Security, Sardis County, or Nicholas Turner. I love those series, by the way, and those that have read them mostly love them, too. Most of my novels have at least a 4 stars out of 5 rating from those that have reviewed them, and I’m quite proud of that. And it’s usually easy for me to write one of the series books, because I know the characters so well.

But, along the same lines, I’d like to write a few things that aren’t series-related, and I want to write those for two reasons.

The first reason is that I won’t be naming them after song titles. They’ll be named after something in the stories. Naming stories and novels after song titles is what T. M. Bilderback does, not what the other name will do.

The second reason is that I want to write one-shot stories in different genres. Maybe I’m writing a historical fiction piece. Or a romance. Or a western. Or…well, you get the idea. I want them to stand alone, on their own merits, with a new name…that won’t be pre-judged, if that makes sense.

So, there you have it. And, no, I won’t be hinting at the new name, and I won’t be promoting the stories written under the new name in this blog.

They will sink or swim on their own.

And the writing will keep going so that you can…

Keep reading!

Michael (T. M. Bilderback)

Thursday, September 11, 2014

A Glimpse Into T. M. Bilderback

Have you guessed that I’m an introvert?

Close your mouth, please. It’s not that astonishing.

I know, I know. You’re asking yourself, “How can an ex-radio announcer be an introvert?” and “How can a guy that jokes and smiles and cuts up with people so much be an introvert?”

You’re also asking, “Aren’t introverts shy and quiet?”

The answer is yes. Introverts usually are shy and quiet. But not always.

I loved the twenty off-and-on years that I spent in radio. And, let me tell you, there’s a big difference between sitting alone in a broadcast studio speaking into a microphone, and standing on a stage in front of an auditorium full of people speaking into a microphone.

While I have done both, only one makes my stomach feel funny, and that’s the part where people can see me. I was very young when I appeared in front of people, and had to focus on a seat in an auditorium or some other inanimate object, just so I could get the words out that I had to say.

In radio, I hid inside a studio, behind a microphone that I could turn on and off. I felt comfortable, and the experience was an intimate one. If I got hit with the nervous stomach cramps, I just drew a picture of a stick figure, and pretended that the stick figure was the person I was talking to.

Or, I just played music.

The last few years of my radio career, I avoided “live” broadcasts from the community, because I didn’t want anyone associating the voice with the face. That way, I could still retain my anonymity.

Yes, I crack a lot of jokes when you see me in person, and I talk to you like you’re the most special person in the world.

But, you frighten me. I feel like you’re judging me based on my appearance. I use jokes to keep you at arm’s length, so you won’t see how shy and vulnerable I really am. I try not to go out into crowds, because crowds terrify me. Christmas shopping online is such a blessing to me, because I don’t have to go out. I don’t like to shake hands, and I’ll avoid it when I can. If I can’t, and you see that it makes me nervous, please don’t offer, and don’t be offended.

That’s one of the reasons that I enjoy writing so much. I can tell you stories, with the hope of entertaining you. With those stories, you can learn a little bit about me, because every single one has a piece of my personality…a piece of my soul, perhaps…inside it somewhere, for you to judge.

But, I don’t have to see you judge.

And, to an introvert like me, that makes all the difference in the world.

There you have it…something that only a handful of people know about me.

So, while you ponder all of that, let me remind you to…

Keep reading!

Michael (T. M. Bilderback)