Interview + Review

I've got my first interview (regarding some of the material in 4:Play) scheduled, and a review also -- now to send out a few more emails/stuff, to get the word out about 4:Play, heh.

P.S. Had an interesting note from a reader -- #8 under "Yay's" on the Feedback page.

A Word About Ed Drake

Photo by Joseph Brauer

Ed Drake is one of the lead characters (the "step brother") in Wicked Lovely (the second story in 4:Play). The title was "Ed & Julie" initially -- kind of was following a "Romeo & Juliet" type of vibe, but I decided to change it later.

Ed's voice might seem unedited and illiterate. I was inspired by the stream-of-consciousness narrative mode of The Rules of Attraction, by Bret Easton Ellis. I liked the unforced nature of the writing style.

Ed might sound like a whiny brat, and speak like a child (input I have received so far), but I think he manages to get his point(s) across.

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Excerpt of Wicked Lovely (Scene 1, Ed Drake) / 4:Play

Peel myself off the sofa. Ed, you sicko.

I wanna tell the voice in my head and the whole world to shut up. They can talk and talk but they’ve not been in the same situation, they don’t even know what they’re missing out on.

That. That’s the exact thing that fuels their disgust and anger. It’s a displaced frustration, that they can never have access to this deranged special kind of arrangement. Go, Ed!

Drag myself up the stairs in a weird mix of dread guilt apprehension and uncontrollable wild anticipation and excitement.

Find myself in front of Goddess Julie’s room. The door is closed but you can’t lock it from the outside. Glare at the morons on the poster. Some lame brothers emo-looking band with way too much eyeliner and black hair dye that really sucks BIG TIME, nothing but pop "rock" crap for 12 year old girls to listen to (Julie isn't 12 -- figure of speech). Their lyrics are about their love life and if those lyrics are indeed true, damn their love life blows. They don’t have one insanely hard and talented guitar solo, no drummer, no bass player, and no talent. They are just another manufactured product and who knows what their appeal is. Where’s a new Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, or Guns n’ Roses? Good music is dead. So once again, I don’t think they suck, I KNOW they suck.

Then the paranoia and urgency strikes. Hurry up! Someone might be home any minute!

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A contemporary cocktail of erotic short stories...

I've ordered the proof copy for 4:Play. This is the CS page for 4:Play.

I'll be fiddling around with the sidebar here, making sure everything is "not too much of a mess"...I've one more trailer to go. I'm tired (work-tired, not the sick-of-it type of "tired")...so I hope I can still put something together for one trailer that covers 4:Play, as a whole collection.

Personally, I prefer launching a book, and then getting (unsolicited -- it's more genuine) reviews for it. Maybe it's just me, but the concept of ARCs (and much of the traditional publishing model) seems pretty archaic to me.

Update 04/August/09 -- Sat down last night and completed the trailer at 11pm, bwahaha.

I wanted an electronica beat/music style for this one. There was another reggae fusion music track I was considering, but it was a little bit "relaxing" and laidback for what I had in mind.



Kindle & eBook editions should be available soon. With EyeLeash, I got the print copies set up first, before the digital formats. I'm doing it the other way around this time, which I think works better.