Author Topic: "Distortions" is Here! (Read 41440 times)

ShadowBrain · « **on:** April 23, 2010, 11:02:07 PM »

Now remastered exclusively for Amazon Kindle!

Also available in physical form through my blog, Notes&Sketches.

For those who haven't heard, I wrote a book; as an aspiring author, more shall come, but this is my self-published debut: Distortions, a collection of Twilight Zone-esque short stories. I waited a while to announce this because I wanted to make sure close friends and family would have a chance to procure first-edition copies, but I feel confident I can step up my advertising campaign now. The going price--which covers shipping and handling--is... Alright, I've been hunting for the cheapest shipping options, and it looks like they'll be mail-selling for $11!

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These were all written over the course of my time in high school, and so I'd say they're somewhat above, say, Neal Shusterman, but well below Stephen King, in terms of content/intended audience. Here's some teasers:

The Mall
“Hey, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again,” Nick insisted, “A monster lives in the downtown mall. Case closed.”

Down for the Count
I don’t know what I did to make them mad—the numbers, I mean.

Dimension for Rent
He walked up toward the large, dirty panes, where a sign was propped up from the inside in front of the curtains. It looked like thick, white cardboard, and on it was scrawled:

DIMENSION FOR RENT

In red permanent marker and, beneath it,

INQUIRE WITHIN

Power of the Day
You see, I have just about every superpower there is. But, for one reason or another, I just can’t have them all at once.

How to Stop Time
He felt the irritation that had compounded throughout the day hit all at once. Balling his hands into fists at his sides, Shane stomped his foot, looked up at the sky, and screamed, “Why can’t I just stop time!?”
“Why not, indeed?” said a voice behind him, and Shane spun around so fast he almost twisted his ankle.

People of the Paper
Daniel extended his hand to rub away the drawing and there was the quick scratch of pencil-writing as the stick figure threw up its arms.

The Lunchtable of the Apocalypse
I shrank back as Warra banged a fist on the table. “Bomb ‘em all, I say!” she hollered explosively, “either you’re with us or you’re a stain on the ground!” Then, to drive the point home, she swiftly pulled a large knife from somewhere in her pockets and stabbed it into the table, hard enough for it to splinter the wood and stay upright. Breathing heavily, she resumed eating.

Abandoned
He looks to the massive windows that complement the double doors, hoping like a child on Christmas morning for a present, a reward for his hardiness and determination. Darkness shrouds the parking lot and a thick fog obscures all beyond it, but all he must do is look to the empty sky to know his purgatory must continue.

Lizard Dude · « **Reply #1 on:** April 23, 2010, 11:21:00 PM »

Do you accept PayPal?

Weegee · « **Reply #2 on:** April 24, 2010, 02:21:02 PM »

Would it be too much to ask to have you post a sample here?

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2010, 09:18:10 PM »

Well, I must confess that I've yet to set myself up with PayPal yet. As for some samples... Added above!

Toad · « **Reply #4 on:** May 15, 2010, 12:16:57 PM »

I am intriuged. Let me know when you get your Pay Pal set up.

My sister (possibly me too) wants also to be an author. She's closer to being published than I am though, but anyway, I feel the need to support other aspiring authors.

Trainman · « **Reply #5 on:** May 15, 2010, 02:51:21 PM »

I'm on board. Like the others, lemme know the PayPal situation when you figure it out.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #6 on:** August 02, 2010, 10:13:41 PM »

Oh, yeah, I forgot there were people waiting on me... Yeah, PayPal's up and running! A link to my blog has been appended to the above post.

Oh, and nenson! Has anybody seen nenson? He's the only guy here who's bought it so far; I need to know what he thought of it!

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #7 on:** November 01, 2010, 09:03:09 AM »

http://notesandsketches.wordpress.com/

Turtlekid's read the latest story... why not do the same?

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #8 on:** March 22, 2011, 12:26:06 PM »

Distortions is now available at a discounted price via Barnes & Noble's NookBook service! See the updated post for the link.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #9 on:** July 11, 2011, 05:14:44 PM »

In a few days, the same thing as the previous post will hopefully be the case with Amazon's Kindle store. So... keep an eye out!

nensondubois · « **Reply #10 on:** July 23, 2011, 01:48:25 PM »

I thoroughly read and enjoyed every chapter. Highly recommended.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #11 on:** July 30, 2011, 05:50:04 PM »

Hey, thanks! But wait... I sent that to you over a year ago, right? Well, in any case, be sure to give me some official feedback on one or both sites if you get the chance.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #12 on:** November 02, 2011, 05:06:51 PM »

New everything! Check it out! Boomark it! Shout it from the rooftops, etc.!

http://notesandsketches.wordpress.com/

Luigison · « **Reply #13 on:** November 05, 2011, 05:07:26 PM »

Judging a book by its cover
Distortions arrived today. The front cover is a high gloss image that uses radioactive ink (possibly for tracking purposes). The back cover is also high gloss black and seems designed for easy fingerprinting of suspects/readers like many current handheld electronics.

It's what's inside that counts
Except for the pages that aren't numbered. A couple of those are beyond counting--the personal note and dedication/thanks pages. The little bookmark/card included was a nice touch, but I'm one of those horrible people that dog ears the pages. The pages themselves are bright white with high contrast bold black text. So far the stories make me think of a young version of Damon Knight or Harlan Ellison with a touch of Robert Silverberg or Orson Scott Card.

Edit: See below.

Weegee · « **Reply #14 on:** November 05, 2011, 05:11:10 PM »

Quote from: Luigison on November 05, 2011, 05:07:26 PM

it's

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #15 on:** November 06, 2011, 09:12:04 PM »

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, Luigison... I think?

Oh, and in case anybody's worried they got ripped-off, the card was a spur-of-the-moment thing, seeing as I had some incorrectly-sized ads for my next book (Love&Darkness) and I figured I'd toss one in.

Lizard Dude · « **Reply #16 on:** November 06, 2011, 10:00:31 PM »

I think WeeGee's post was less pointing out the lack of a capital letter and more of a reference to how he doesn't read fiction or whatever.

Weegee · « **Reply #17 on:** November 06, 2011, 10:13:08 PM »

Neither: I was pointing out his improper use of "it's".

I rarely read fiction because learning that all polar bears are left-handed is more interesting than The Adventures of ***** [bundle of sticks]gins.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #18 on:** November 07, 2011, 09:26:42 AM »

Somehow, that's now the most surreal thing I know about you.

Luigison · « **Reply #19 on:** November 07, 2011, 04:09:23 PM »

Quote from: ShadowBrain on November 06, 2011, 09:12:04 PM

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, Luigison... I think?

I am enjoying it. The second story is cool. It reminds me of R. A. Lafferty and Fredric Brown's short short stories.

It may take me awhile to get through all your stories because I have a habit of reading several things at a time. I am currently on the third novel in a five book trilogy and reading a nonfiction book for school, not to mention the numerous magazines, websites, and the children's stories I read to my daughter.

Quote from: Weegee on November 06, 2011, 10:13:08 PM

I rarely read fiction because learning that all polar bears are left-handed is more interesting than The Adventures of ***** [bundle of sticks]gins.

But reading fiction increases your social skills. That's nonfiction.

CoconutMikeNIke · « **Reply #20 on:** November 07, 2011, 09:41:52 PM »

Well, that explains a fair bit.

Turtlekid1 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 08, 2012, 05:50:19 PM »

So I finally got around to buying this, and then I was able to start it when I got home (where I had had it shipped) this weekend. I finished the first story so far. I like this. I like the cover, I like the language (which is well-crafted, but not so heavy that it drags the plot down). The first story held my interest through the whole thing, and that's more than I can say for certain books. As far as "The Mall" itself goes, the ending seemed a bit rushed, with the explanation of what the heck had just happened spanning no more than a paragraph. That said, you clearly know what you're doing. I definitely look forward to continuing with this one.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #22 on:** April 09, 2012, 09:08:55 PM »

All right, glad to hear! Let me know what you think of the whole thing in time, of course.

Turtlekid1 · « **Reply #23 on:** April 24, 2012, 07:31:32 PM »

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that I finished this a few days ago. *Is sheepish*

Anyway, I really liked it. So many great premises, which were well-executed. I especially liked "Dimension for Rent" and "People of the Paper." Which is odd, since I'm not usually a fan of downer endings. But yeah, all of it was nicely done, and I didn't find myself wanting to put it down when I had other things to get done - and trust me, a sure sign, in my book, that you've got good writing is that it's engaging.

Would recommend, for sure.

Bigluigifan1.0 · « **Reply #24 on:** April 24, 2012, 08:47:56 PM »

I think I'll try to buy this in eBook form when I get the chance. I'm a big fan of crazy Twilight Zone-esque stories so I believe I'll enjoy this one a lot. Also, I have a book of my own in the works, and I'd be very interested in hearing how you got your self-publishing off the ground; I'm looking at a few prospective options, but I'm not sure I've settled on where to start when my book is finished.

Good luck in your continued efforts, nonetheless!

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #25 on:** April 28, 2012, 12:10:56 PM »

Glad you enjoyed it, Tk! As for Bigluigifan, you might be interested to know that I'd just caught word of there being a printing company in my town, and went through with that. I'm a bit embarassed to confess that, as busy as I was wrapping up high school at that point, my ever-generous grandmother handled the fees and actual process after I finished the whole book and consolidated it into one document. As I understand it, they just took what I had, ran it through this that or the other computer thing, and BAM, fifty copies, right there (first shipment, of course). No more publicity than I can drum up on my own, of course, but it's better than sitting on the thing forever and then losing a lot of money and creative rights to some publisher -- besides, I think indie's really the way to go these days. Sorry I can't be much more specific than that at the moment, though. :/

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #26 on:** November 18, 2012, 11:26:37 PM »

Next book's finished! "Love&Darkness": more stories, more poems, twice as long and hopefully equally better than its predecessor. There's editing to be done, a cover to be fashioned with my graphic designer accomplice, and a legitimate effort at low-cost advertising to be made this time, but it ought to be out by the end of the year. As always, keep yourself updated, at http://notesandsketches.wordpress.com/ or my Twitter: @TrevorNWhite

Also, I kinda want to use people's positive remarks here for promotional purposes, seeing as everybody else who's had something good to say about my writing has been a close friend or relative, which skews the results a bit, but I don't know what legal issues that could theoretically entail. Also, it would look like this:

PRAISE FOR DISTORTIONS

"I thoroughly read and enjoyed every chapter. Highly recommended."
--nensondubois, Guy I Know On The Internet

Luigison · « **Reply #27 on:** June 20, 2013, 04:08:19 PM »

I just got an email about a new Sci-Fi anthology that is taking submissions and I thought of you, but can't decide what should be submitted.

KickStarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2144873007/gigantic-worlds-science-flash-fiction-anthology <-- I paid $10 anticipating a Kindle edition.
Submissions: https://giganticmag.submittable.com/submit/69f649cf-bb4e-433a-9900-9200aaa7c074 <-- I'm not sure if the code at the end is specific to me or not...

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #28 on:** June 20, 2013, 09:58:56 PM »

Hey, cool! Thanks for the heads up--I'll check it out.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #29 on:** June 30, 2013, 10:05:27 AM »

So seeing as this is an unofficial organized page for my writing progress, I thought I'd spread the word that I have joined in on a write-a-thon! It's orchestrated by Clarion West, a Pacific Northwest scifi/fantasy writers collective currently running an intensive workshop in Seattle. Circumstances prevented me from actually joining the workshop, and while there's no actual competition, the write-a-thon has motivated me to make comparatively rapid progress on my long-dormant novel, There's Something Wrong with the Neighbor's Cat! (trying for 1000 words a day, but it's been more like 600 lately)

You can see my author's participant page for the event here: http://clarionwest.org/writeathon/trevorneilwhite There's even a Paypal donation button! (hint, hint)

BriGuy92 · « **Reply #30 on:** September 11, 2013, 12:27:15 AM »

Until two hours and 25 minutes ago, it was my birthday. Someone on the internet (honestly I'm not 100% sure who) took note of this fact, as my birthday is the same as his/her birthday, and bought me a copy of Distortions as a gift. So, I have it now. I'll likely read it tomorrow, once I'm awake again.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #31 on:** September 11, 2013, 06:15:49 AM »

Is that so? Cool! And happy birthday, of course.

Luigison · « **Reply #32 on:** September 11, 2013, 03:22:53 PM »

Luck of the Irish...

At least he didn't write a story about the potato famine...

BriGuy92 · « **Reply #33 on:** September 11, 2013, 06:17:49 PM »

I'm not even Irish. I'm not sure why I have this CT at all.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #34 on:** September 26, 2013, 07:10:12 AM »

^ Hey, uh... do you know how/where they bought it from? 'Cause I haven't gotten any messages from Paypal/Amazon/anything like that about someone placing an order...

BriGuy92 · « **Reply #35 on:** September 26, 2013, 03:53:38 PM »

It came from Amazon. It was the Kindle version.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #36 on:** September 26, 2013, 06:36:18 PM »

Ah, gotcha. They don't pay me till I sell $5 worth of them, and only a friend of mine has bought one so far besides you. Gotta get that third purchase in somewhere so I can make bank!

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #37 on:** April 10, 2016, 12:03:54 PM »

Mega-bump: Hey, I finally got off my bum and actually put some effort into formatting these for Kindle! Also, fixed grammar and cut the fat from Love&Darkness. Check it out, y'all--tell your friends.

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005DGG0TQ