Wow! It’s been an amazing last few weeks! With my book, GHOSTS OF SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA, officially out in all of the Barnes and Nobles across Minnesota, things have become insane. Apparently lots of people are buying the book. So much so that B&N warehouse has sold out! They’ve ordered more, of course, but right now I have a couple book signings at B&N that, sadly, won’t have any books! Still, I have one at the downtown Rochester location this week, Friday 10/17 from 11am to 2pm. Stop out and say hi! And of course, buy a book!

I have several other signings throughout the month, in particular, one in Mantorville on Saturday 10/25 from 11am to 2pm at a local coffee shop, and one in Lanesboro on 10/18 from 11am to 1pm at Mrs B’s Inn, home of the Buffalo Bill haunting. Should be way cool. 

I’ve also stopped in and signed some books for the shelves at a few B&N stores. And the good news is, most of the books are sold! I’ve gone into some of the stores to drool over my book on a shelf, only to find out there aren’t any! Or only one or two left. It’s also been nice to get great visibility - do to it beeing October (aka spooky month), my ghost book is out on a table with other spooky books - out in the main isles! Way cool.

In other news, I just finised helping at the Minnesota Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators (MNSCBWI). I also got to meet some great agents, editors, authors, and author-wanna-bes! The highlight for me was driving the founder of SCBWI (our guest speaker), Lin Oliver to the airport. She wanted to tour Summit Avenue, to look at all the fantastic houses, so we spent thirty minutes driving around and talking about all sorts of things. She’s a fantastic person, unbelievably nice, and wonderful to talk with. Thanks Lin for an awesome drive!

In the mean time, I’m busy trying to finish up work on a new manuscript, INFINITY BLINKS. Basically a middle grade adventure story, with a touch of mystery and a hint of urban fantasy. Once I’m done with that, it on to finishing up KIDS OF UTOPIA. Then it’s SHOULDACOULDAWOULDA BEAN. Then finally I can get to work on THE GIFTING TREE.  I’m hoping to have all four of these projects done by the middle of next year. Then, who knows? Maybe I’ll write another nonfiction spooky story book. Monsters of Minnesota, eh?

Well, maybe not ghosts, but ghost books! I’ve been informed by my fan club that my ghost book, Ghosts of Southeastern Minnesota, is in all of the Barnes and Nobles in Minnesota. It’s even in Borders, and many of the libraries! Cool. I have an author signing setup at the downtoan B&N in Rochester, Friday October 17th from 11am to 2pm. I’ll be having several more in the month of October - more to come on that.

Also, I took the liberty of setting up a storefront for all of my fans to buy a fan club t-shirt. It says “I’d rather be writing” on one side, and “Got Book?” on the other. Of course, it also has www.cslarsen.com on it. So, don’t hesitate to buy a shirt ( or three) and support your local author! The website is: http://www.printfection.com/cslarsen. Oh, and you can even buy a mousepad! Cool, huh?

I just got word that my ghost book has been nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. Perhaps I’ll be one of the finalists, eh? No doubt with a little help from my spooky friends…

Still plugging away on the manuscripts, Kids of Utopia, and Shouldacouldawoulda Bean. There has been some new interest by publishers (and agents) in seeing the completed version of them, so I anticipate getting that wrapped up before the snow flies. Which is coming soon in the land of 10,000 frozen lakes!

TTFN,

Chris

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted last. Okay, a few months. But I’ve been busy! My ‘day’ job as computer consultant has taken me to the far reaches of Earth - on the road to Reno. Yep. I’ve been hanging out in Reno the past couple month - during the week. So blogging and writing have not been a top priority while I get used to the new work environment, hot weather, and gambling. Okay, no gambling for me, there’s plenty of others doing it for me. I’d rather watch them lose their money, than watch me lose mine.

Lot’s of things happening over the summer for me. Most importantly, Ghosts of Southeastern Minnesota (Schiffer) is out in bookstores as we speak, er, write. I went out to the one in Rochester over the weekend and stood by the shelf, beaming wildly. I thought about jumping up and down, running around while pointing to my picture on the inside cover yelling ‘It’s me! It’s me!’ Instead, I chose to quietly sit there in front of the shelf and meditate for customers to buy the book. Okay, maybe I didn’t sit there, but I stood for a few minutes. It was a cool feeling. I plan on having a book signing there in a few weeks, and several more around Southeastern Minnesota - before Halloween.

My short story is out in print, Adam of Argotha (Tyransaraus Press), in an Anthology. Check it out at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

And my final Advance check has come through for Crust and Spray (Millbrook Press/Lerner Publishing). That was a fun project. Nothing like getting paid to write about boogers, snot, and earwax. The book will be out in 2009.

And on a sad note, my agent, Pamela Trayser, has folded up shop with her agency (Phenomenon Books). So, i’m currently agentless and shopping around. No worries. An award winning published author should have no troubles getting a great agent, right? We’ll see…

Before I forget - the Minnesota Chapter of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators) is having there annual fall conference in October. I’ll be there, taking pictures for the Cygnet newsletter (of which i’m editor). All you writer people, don’t hesitate to signup for the conference - it’s a blast and you meet lots of other cool writers & illustrators. Check out their website at www.minnesotascbwi.org

Finally, I’m finishing up my manuscript, ShouldaCouldaWoulda Bean (we won’t talk about the other manuscripts - The Gifting Tree, Kids of Utopia, and Cold Turkey - needless to say they’re at a standstill, at least until the end of the year). ShouldaCouldaWoulda Bean should be a good tween reality-base fantasy novel. Basically it’s about an Amish boy, his talking sheepdog, and his girlfriend battling demonic creatures of the Netherworld while trying to rescue his father. Oh, and I think there’s a few space ships involved. You know me - nothing like mixing fantasy and science fiction together - just to keep the librarian busy with trying to figure out where to put the book on the shelf.

Well, I think that’s all for now. 

TTFN,

Chris

Yep. It’s finally here. The cover of my ghost book, Ghosts of Southeastern Minnesota.

I’m pretty excited about it, and happy with how it turned out. A special thanks goes to my editor, Dinah, for her help in the process. Right now the book is being printed and my arcs (Advanced Review Copies) should be here within the next month. The books are scheduled to be available by October of this year - just in time for Halloween! I think they’ll make a great halloween present, don’t you?

On other notes, my Cold Turkey book is moving along slowly. I kind of hit a snag in the diet plan. Oh, sure, I’ve lost thirty pounds, but the last several weeks I’ve hit a plateau. Not much weight dropping - I’ve been hovering around 196 pounds. According to my Cold Turkey Plan, I have another thirty pounds to go - by the end of June. Not sure if that’s going to happen, but I’m okay with that. The book is about reality - the trials and tribulations of weight loss. This plateau I’m camped on will be a good discussion point. And if it takes me all year to lose the weight, fine by me.

Kids of Utopia has been put on hold while I work on finishing up Shouldacouldawoulda Bean. My plan is to get Shouldacouldawould done by this fall. Then I’ll start up on Utopia again, finishing that over the winter. Then, finally, I plan on completing the sequels to the Magic Krystal and the Chronicles of Marvin Archibald Trekker. Of course, Shouldacouldawoulda Bean is turning into a trilogy, so I’m not sure where things will be going.

And finally, Crust and Spray is with the editors. I’m waiting for feedback on it. I’ve recieved a couple advances already - it’s very cool to get paid! I’m working on another non-fiction Middlegrade reading level book, dealing with computers. Go figure. After 20 years as a computer consultant, I figure I should be able to handle a computer book for kids. We’ll see if publishing companies would agree. 

I recieved the Galley from my Editor, Dinah, at Schiffer Publishing for the Ghosts of Southeastern Minnesota book. I’ve heard of galleys before, but I thought it had to do with a kitchen on a ship. In the publishing world, it’s basically your manuscript in book form, prior to the final print. It’s your last chance to catch typos and make any last changes to the book. So I’ve been frantically reading and rereading the book. Spooky fun indeed.

I’m definitely excited to go on tour this fall with the book, doing lots of book signings. It’s the perfect time of year for a ghost book - around Halloween. I’ll have to come up with a great costume I suppose. Wait, I know. I’ll go as an author!

Seriously, book signings are important. It’s one of the few times an author can get in front of real people, to get real feedback. Without it, you end up writing in a vacuum. Which can really suck (pun intended).

Email and blogs are another great way to connect with your fan base. I answer every email I get.  All three of them. And that includes the one I got from my wife. Of course, she wasn’t interested in my book, except for when the next advance check comes in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m interested in that too. Getting paid to do something you love is awesome.

To me, it’s most important to provide a great read to a few kids out there. I’ll never forget the feeling I had growing up when I found a great book to read. It took me away from all the pain and misery, and evil clowns. Oh, wait. They were evil chihuahuas with beady red eyes that yipped all night long in a strange and obscure foreign language.

Honestly, it’s important to me that these crazy stories I find floating around in the ether get put on pages - for kids to enjoy. And if they’re written well, adults can enjoy them, too. I’m surprised at how much fun I’m having reading middlegrade and teen fantasy books, from authors like DJ MacHale (Pendragon series), Suzanne Collins (Underland Chronicles), Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson (Peter and Starcatcher trilogy),  Eoin Colfer (Artimis Fowl series), and of course, what’s that other author - JK Rowling? Ah, yes. She wrote Larry Potter and the Chronicles of Farnia I believe. A truly masterful piece of literature, filled to the brim with wit, quip, and evil clowns.

March has been good to me, so far. I recieved my first advance check for the nonfiction work (Crust and Spray). It’s a nice feeling to get paid for something you love to do. Just like being a dad. Oh, wait. I don’t get paid for that. At least not with money. It’s way more profitable to recieve dirty diapers, clean up puke, coaching sports I’ve never played, shuttling them around, helping with homework that I can’t remember how to do, fork out money for movies - video games - summer camps. Way more fun. Seriously. You really don’t feel alive until you’ve spent time cleaning up puke at two in the morning.

An update on my Cold Turkey: Diary of a Fatman and his Hunger for Enlightenment book. I’m still fat. But I have to say it’s nice to have lost 4 inches off my waist. But I’m still fat. With 25 pounds lost, I still have 35 to got. Unfortunately, I feel as though I’m losing the battle.  The pounds aren’t coming off as fast as they were when I started. Perhaps it’s time to get serious about this diet plan. Nah. Why start now? Afterall, it’s not about losing weight. It’s about gaining life. With all the exercise, eating right, stretching, and overall positive attitude, I haven’t felt better. Except maybe when I won the lottering. Oh, wait. That was a dream.

My writing lifestyle has been cramped by my ‘real’ job. I feel as though my word count per day has gone into the negative. Thankfully, my ‘real’ job as a computer architect includes lots of writing via technical documents and funky, pretty diagrams. So the process is still there, just not that creative as fiction. Well, except for some of the paragraphs in a few Technical Solution Documents that I had no clue what I was talking about. A little fluff and bluff never hurt anyone, right? At least not until they try and implement the solution. By then I’ll be on the bestseller list and chatting with Oprah, right?

Hopefully April will be very fruitful in the creative writing department. I’m still trying to push for a first draft of ShouldaCouldaWoulda Bean, and Kids of Utopia by the end of summer. We’ll see. It’s a pretty aggressive plan, but I think doable. I have another book, The Gifting Tree that I want to start on this fall, so it’s important to keep moving forward. Then there’s the sequel’s to Marvin Archibald Trekker, and The Magic Krystal books. I have numorous requests from fans to get those out the door. With a little luck and a lot of writing, I’m hoping to have those done spring or summer of 2009.

But enough about me. What about you? email me at chris@cslarsen.com and tell me your life story. Or tell me somebody else’s life story. Or make one up. The crazier the better!

Tempus Fugit. Time Flies. I’m not sure where time goes, but it certainly doesn’t slow down. I suppose it doesn’t speed up either. Perhaps I’m the one flying around, oblivious that I haven’t done any blogging for over a month.

In order to smooth things out, I’ve decided to make this blog my February entry. Yeah, I know. It’s March. But I’m the adminstrator for this site, and the author of this author blog. So I can do anything, right? I can probably figure out how to change the date on this entry so it ‘looks’ like it was entered in February. Of course, then it wouldn’t make sense for me to mention I wrote this in March…

My final draft for the nonfiction work at Millbrook is done and should be to my agent by the end of the day. It’s definitely been a blast writing it. Gross, too. Which may not make sense until you read the book, which will be out sometime in 2009.

I haven’t heard from my editor on the ghost book yet, or at least haven’t been given any edits to do. Perhaps the book is perfect, a flawless literary work of art. Yeah, right. I’m sure they’re just as busy as I am, and the rest of the world. The book should be out in time for Halloween this year, a perfect time to get spooked by all the true ghost stories in it.

My ‘diet’ book called Cold Turkey is running right along. I’ve lost about 25 pounds in ten weeks, which is about what I expected. No, I’m not trying to drop 10 pounds a week, like the people on Biggest Loser. Besides, if I did that my weight would be at 127, which I don’t think is too healthy for me. At least that’s my excuse.

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully I can get my March blog entry in March. Then maybe I’ll be proactive and get my April entry in March as well.

Oh, right. It’s already the 10th of January. Well, better than the 10th of December I suppose.  Sometimes you can get a little too busy to do blogs. I know there’s a lot fo blog enthusiasts that make it a priority to get their daily fill of blogging. What’s interesting as a writer, you’re already blogging outside of the blog, but it’s not a real blog I suppose. Did that make any sense?

Writers write. Pretty simple concept. But after hammering out a couple thousand words each day for a book or short story, adding to a blog seems like a low priority. I know it shouldn’t be. A lot of times it’s the main way writers communicate with their fans (outside of book signings and email).

I have another project I’m working on. Well, actually it’s two projects, although only one of them has to do with writing. Project one (more important of the two) is to lose some weight. Yeah, father time and my lack of mass awareness has tipped me over the 200 pound mark. Which wouldn’t be bad if I were six foot eight. But I’m five foot ten, and I’m pushing 230. Not good.

How do I fix this problem. Simple. The writer in me says write a book! That’s project number two! I’m putting together a diary of my diet process. But it’s not just about dieting. Sure, I plan on losing 60 pounds, but I don’t just want to lose the weight. I want to lose my old eating (and lack of exercise) habits. For that it’s going to take major changes. Mind, body, and spirit changes. That’s what the books about. Actually, I’ve already started the journey (on 1/2/08) and have lost 15 pounds! Woohoo! There’s lots to talk about in my journey. You’ll have to read the book when I’m done, eh? Working title for now is, Cold Turkey: Diary of a Fatman and his hunger for Enlightment.

Well, that’s all for now. Gotta go exercise.

In all the hubbub of the Christmas festivities, I forgot to mention that my ‘ghost book’ has been sent off to the editors at Schiffer Books. I certainly had a blast putting it together, complete at just over 70,000 words and 20 spooky ghost stories. Real ghost stories. I interviewed lots of eyewitnesses that have experienced many supernatural events. I even got to go on a real ghost hunting expedition with Twin Cities Paranormal Society. That was way cool. Nothing like stumbling around in the dark during the witching hour looking for things that go bump in the night.

Although I’m no paranormal investigator, I find the subject of ghosts quite fascinating. And have even experienced a few wierd things myself. It’s all in the book, currently titled, Ghost Stories of Southeastern Minnesota. It will be out in the bookstores fall 2008, or sometime near then. The timing depends on how well/fast the editing process goes. I imagine I’ll get the first round of changes from my editor sometime in January. I’ll post more then on how it turns out.

For now, it’s back to Kids of Utopia, my YA scifi novel. I’m planning on having the ms done by the end of the year. And I have another book I’m thinking of doing, dealing with weight loss (a novel subject this time of year, as I stuff my face full of freshly made fudge). Working title is, Cold Turkey: Diary of a Fatman and his Path to Enlightenment. Should be lots of fun to write, and hopefully I lose a few pounds during the process.

Although this blog thing has been around for several years, and I’ve been a computer consultant for nearly twenty years, It’s been quite a dog (sorry Sophi) to get working. Yeah, I’ll admit it, being the computer geek that I am, I had to modify all the PHP scripts, HTML, and JPG files. It’s not like I don’t know what to do with them (I was working with HTML before it was HTML - back when it was the original markup language IBM used in the 80’s, I believe called GML tags). But it doesn’t matter what technology or language you use, either way, it’s still work.

Hopefully the blog works well for those reading and commenting. As well as my website (yep, I’m the webmaster for it too!). I have no complaints - computer geeking stuff is fun. Not as much fun as writing, though. And writing isn’t as much fun as talking with the kids who read the books. That’s a true gem of an experience. Although I’ve been writing on and off for over ten years, only recently have I had the opportunity to write for kids (before that it was big, ugly computer books for IBM that left little room for plot development and character building).

To make a long story even longer… Okay, to make it short, I’ve been working on finding the enlightened path to publishing. It’s taken me over two years, but I think I’m finally on the right Zen track (still listening for the sound of one hand clapping, though). Last month I finally found an agent! Phenomenon Books Agency has agreed to represent me, and I can safely say it’s made my writing life happier and easier. In fact, I’ve recently obtained a contract with Millbrook Press (division of Lerner Publishing) for a nonfiction children’s book. Kudos to my agent Pamela for that deal. Now I just need to figure out how to celebrate with the $$ from the advance…

Other things in the work are three manuscripts out to several editors: The Magic Krystal and the Secret of Banderville, Penguins of Choice - The Chronicles of Marvine Archibald Trekker: Boy Magician, and Freakish Fried Boogers. A full MS has been requested at one of the editors for The Magic Krystal. It’s very exciting to think about the ms sitting in the hands of an editor at one of the big publishing firms. And he’s seriously considering it. Wow. Cool. Jon and Ben would be very proud of me. Who are Jon and Ben? The main characters in the Magic Krystal book. Would you like to learn more about them? Cross your fingers and toes for an editor to pick it up and publish it! Then buy a couple dozen copies when it comes out, please (I said please, ya know).

I have several other projects I’m trying to get off the ground (including sequels to Magic Krystal and the Marvin Archibald Trekker novels). Working titles for two Young Adult books are, The Kids of Utopia, and The Gifting Tree. The first one is SciFi, the other a supernatural thriller. I have several other projects (MG) as well, but I feel it important to try the YA market, seeing if my voice stands out there better than with Middle Grade. Personally I prefer the MG market. The writing is simple yet exciting. And no heavy themes required. I’m a big find of K.I.S.S. (no, not the rock band, although there was time when they first came out…) In my book K.I.S.S. stands for, Keep It Simple Silly. Some people use Stupid instead of Silly. I prefer to be a little more optimistic (I’d rather be silly than stupid).

That’s enough for now. Check back later for where things are, and where things go.

Yours in writing,

Chris