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Sean the misogynist writes about tender love

I make no apologies for creating Sean McNabb as a narcissistic, misogynistic main character. An author doesn't have to present a saint as protagonist. The MC can be downright objectionable, but he or she must be real. Are all misogynists loathsome all the time? Of course not. Sean is no different. But how do I let those small bits of laudatory humanity show through? In my case, I make Sean write chapters featuring his main character, Darrington Circe, in my novel The Search For Circe. He makes Darrington approachable and understandable. I just finished showcasing several snippets from one chapter called simply Ommi, about Circe's meeting with an interesting young woman named Ommi Martin. Circe is a marketing specialist based in Denver. He sees Ommi walking along the 16th Street Mall and asks her if she would be willing to be a source for his marketing efforts. She greets his offer with a witty reply that either he is honest in his approach or else it's the worst pick-up
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Understanding my weird, wild first chapter

Every author is advised to have a great first chapter. Begin that with an excellent first sentence. Unless your work is nothing but a character study, include action. Violent action always works best, even if your work isn't a thriller (that slam-bang genre occupied by Jack Reacher and the like). Maybe you have your female character face a beating by a spouse. Maybe have a child cower in the corner against an unseen threat in a dream. I didn't do any of that in The Search For Circe (beyond having a great first chapter and an excellent first sentence, of course.) Action? Mental action is all, and there's lots of that. Let me present my case by explaining the impetus behind my choice of subject matter. I read a Stephen King article about the best things an author can do. The one that struck me the hardest was to write what YOU want to write. Don't think about other popular novels. Don't temper your work by what others might think  about your choices. Make it your wo
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My main character is a bad boy (or is he?)

I thought about how to properly talk about this subject a lot in the past few days. I could be direct and trace my reasons for making Sean McNabb who he is. That's straightforward in the way a journalist does it. That level of directness didn't seem quite right. I needed something else on which to base my thoughts. The best way came to me this morning as I watched a movie. The movie: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Tom Hanks' portrayal of the lovable Mr. Rogers. The parallels between subject matter of the movie and The Search For Circe are numerous. Before getting into those details, I'll first examine my initial reactions about McNabb. The first impression could be upsetting to many, particularly women. He's a sexist cad. (More on that later.) That's obvious from the opening paragraph. (That first chapter is available on the Excerpts page of my website  chris-the-author.com .) I knew that could present problems in selling my idea. That part of McNabb&#
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Smashwords Holiday Sale ... 50% off

There's nothing like a bargain for the holidays. Hey, I'll give you a bargain that is amazingly inexpensive, too. The Smashwords Holiday Sale is underway! This is a volunteer effort for authors, and they agree to reduce the price of their novels. That's right, we agree to get lower profits and you (yes, YOU) reap the benefits. Here's the deal for my novels from now through New Year's Day. The Search For Circe is available for $3, a true half-off offer. It's a rich mixture of wounded emotions, walls to hide behind, family drama, family trauma, the drive to right wrongs, and even some heavyweight science fiction scenario. Yes, it's all that, and it all makes sense. Just read the novel. One Summer Season: A Young Man's Brutal Baptism Into Love And Baseball, is available for $1, a 75 percent markdown from its original price. The novel, released in 2016, is an homage to baseball, my old hometown of The Dalles, Oregon, young love, shaky relationships,
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I survived the Smashwords Meatgrinder

Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Going through a meatgrinder is never a good idea (although I can remember several deadlines in journalism that definitely qualify). But to publish on Smashwords, I had to go through the Meatgrinder. It's a tough-sounding term for a friend to anyone who wants to self-publish. The Meatgrinder is Smashwords' whimsical term for the program that will take a full manuscript and convert it into an ebook that matches the company's parameters. The Meatgrinder is painstakingly detailed. Mess up on those details and the Meatgrinder can turn your precious work into pulp. Here are some convenient tips for anyone who wants to publish on Smashwords or simply wants to know the process. 1. Read the Smashwords Style Guide. Follow the guidelines religiously. The Meatgrinder likes those who follow the guidelines. 2. Make sure your manuscript is a Word.doc file and not .docx. The Meatgrinder rejects .docx. 3. The biggest time consumer I faced in following
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My Kirkus Review came back today

I decided to wait until a Kirkus Review was returned before I self-published  The Search for Circe. That review is now in my hands, and it's available in full now on the Kirkus website. Here's my thumbnail analysis of the review. It is uneven if an author is looking to earn Kirkus stars and imagine the reviewer doing handsprings across the living room floor. The final analysis misses the mark, but it misses the mark because there are assumptions that are simply not true, and those assumptions are a foundation for much of the reviewer's final analysis. I'll accent two areas of disagreement. The reviewer includes this near the end of the analysis: "One can imagine the Chuck Palahniuk-style mind-bender that the author was envisioning ..." That assumption is objectionable. I wasn't trying to copy Chuck Palahniuk's style or goals. In fact, I make it a point to avoid cliche characters and story lines. Many indie authors do their damnedest to color with
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Yikes, I challenge the great Don Maass

I hold Don Maass in high regard. He's a great agent and the best of the teaching agents out there. I attended his Breakout Novel Intensive workshop and walked away with a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration. If you want to learn from the best, attend one of Don's workshops. That doesn't mean I don't take a different view than Don on a point or two. I keep Don's The Breakout Novelist at hand whenever I sit down to hammer on my keyboard. The book is full of step-by-step advice, the kind that authors with more street credentials than I take to heart. But here's where I have a problem. In that writing guide, Don has these words; "Now think about the people whom you deeply admire, who stir in you awe, respect, humility, and high esteem. Are these regular people, no different than anyone else? They may be everyday folks like friends or family, true enough, but you see in them what is exceptional, strong, beautiful, and brave." Those are all gre
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