Musings From A Writer's Perspective

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)

Friday, September 5, 2014

Better Late Than Never...Maybe...

My apologies to you for being so quiet this week.

I haven’t been quite up to speed.

I work part-time at a local community college, and classes began a couple of weeks ago. The first part of a semester is a harrowing experience when you’re dealing with so many students!

Anyway, here’s what’s going on in the T. M. Bilderback universe.

Work continues on Hell’s Bells – A Nicholas Turner/Justice Security Novel. The story is the team-up between the two series. I’ve posted on my Facebook Author Page about this new novel, and here’s what I said: “I'm working on "Hell's Bells - A Nicholas Turner/Justice Security Novel" right now. This book is the long-awaited sequel to my first novel, "If You Could Read My Mind - A Nicholas Turner Novel", and is the big team-up between the two series.
When this book is over, there will only be one of the two series left, and not all of the characters in these two series will make it to the end of the novel.
Who survives? I can't tell you. Why is it named after the AC/DC song, "Hell's Bells"? I can't tell you that, either. But I CAN tell you that it will be one of the most unusual entries in either series!”

And, with that said, I’m hoping that I can find time to write faster with this one.

The “Secret Justice Security Story” is still a secret. I’m hoping that I have news about it soon, because things happen in it that are referenced in Hell’s Bells. And the “Secret” story is going to be a blast!

The next story in the Tales Of Sardis County series is titled, I’m Your Boogie Man. This story explores more of the details of events that happened in Junior’s Farm, and there is a serial killer loose in Sardis County. Sheriff Napier has to figure out what’s going on pretty quickly!

Even more interesting news: I have signed up most of my stories to Babelcube. Babelcube teams authors with translators, who agree to translate stories into other languages. My short story, Gold, is being translated into Spanish right now by María Laura Castro, and my short story collection, Greatest Hits, is being translated into Portuguese by Vitor Mendes!

I’m excited about this development, because I experimented with a translation program for The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and while my multi-lingual friends have assured me that the translations are close enough, I feel better working with a real translator.

Here is the link to Apple’s iTunes version of Don’t Come Around Here No More – A Tale Of Sardis County. It’s narrated by Patrick Peterson, and is a fun listen!

Also, here is the link to the Apple iTunes eBook version of Junior’s Farm – A Tale Of Sardis County. It’s available at lots of places that sell eBooks, so check it out – I think you’ll enjoy it!

Have a great weekend, and…

Keep reading!

Michael (T. M. Bilderback)