Mark Jeffrey

Bibliotech Episode 2: Author J.C. Hutchins

This Sort Of Thing In My Inbox Never Gets Old ...

Mr. Jeffrey, last year I did Americorps NCCC, a disaster relief organization. I made 11 dollars a day and did a lot of amazing and fun things like fight wildfires, run shelters in the midst of hurricanes and run operations centers where we got to order FEMA around. Often I was stressed, anxious and worried that I would let people own or maybe get set on fire. ince I'm a reader and didn't have much money, I listened to audio books on a 30 dollar mp3 player that I filled with the occassional library computer I came across. Max Quick was one of those stories that I found that took the edge off my anxiety and let me get back to my job the next morning so I could continue to help people. Thank you,
Gatien
PS Good Luck with the third book, I can hardly wat.

Bibliotech

My new vidcast, Bibliotech: The Evolution of Digital Publishing just went live today.  Site: http://bibliotechshow.com ... and here is the show:

 

Mahalo Max Quick Pages

Over the last few days while testing Mahalo 2.0 (which Teh Awesome, btw -- you should check it out: Mahalo.com) I have been building Max Quick - related pages.  Any Mahalo page can now be embedded in a blog, website, whatever ... so ... have a look: (and -- interestingly enough, I included NEW INFORMATION on these pages that has never been in a Max Quick book before -- stuff from 'Bondsman', etc. -- exclusive Mahalo content!

The Max Quick Series

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Jonathan Roseblood Cyranus

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Max Quick

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J.C. Hutchins: 'Personal Effects: Dark Art'

Behold J.C. Hutchins new horror masterpiece, Personal Effects: Dark Art.  Below is a 'supervlurb' video for the book by twelve podiobook authors, including myself (I do my bit of spooktification around 3:57).  I will now wait while you watch it (advice: leave the lights on!!!!!!)

I read this book and I endorsed it because it is damned good.  Besides being splash-ice-down-your-spine frightening, time and time again I found myself saying, Damn, that was one nice bit of mind-candy: this kid can write!  Hutch chucks slab after slab of word-morsel at you throughout the read.  Buy it, read it, become it: highly recommended (but it IS scary, so be warned! :) )   You can also get the source video here: http://media.libsyn.com/media/jchutchins/PersonalEffectsDarkArt_Vlurb11a.m4v

Information about PE:DA -- http://jchutchins.net/site/personal-effects/

Other PE:DA "vlurb" trailers -- http://jchutchins.net/site/personal-effects/trailers/

Order the book -- http://jchutchins.net/site/order/

Also in the video:

Philippa Ballantine -- http://PJBallantine.com

Chasing the Bard, Digital Magic, Weather Child

Scott Sigler -- http://ScottSigler.com

New York Times bestselling author of: Infected, Contagious, Ancestor 

Seth Harwood -- http://SethHarwood.com

Author of: Jack Wakes Up, Jack Palms 2 & 3, Young Junius 

Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff -- http://WordSushi.com

Author of: Number One with a Bullet, Shadow Falls, Diary of a Madman 

Christiana Ellis -- http://ChristianaEllis.com

Author of: Nina Kimberly the Merciless, Space Casey 

Matt Wallace -- http://Matt-Wallace.com

Parsec Award-winning author of The Next Fix, The Failed Cities Monologues 

James Melzer -- http://JamesMelzer.net

Author of: The Zombie Chronicles - Escape 

Stephen Eley -- http://EscapePod.org

Editor of Escape Pod, and publisher of the horror fiction podcast Pseudopod 

Mark Jeffrey -- http://MaxQuickSeries.com

Author of: The Pocket and the Pendant, The Two Travelers 

Mur Lafferty -- http://Murverse.com

Author of: Playing for Keeps, the Heaven series, co-founder of Pseudopod 

Phil Rossi -- http://CresentStation.net

Author of: Crescent, Tales from the Vault, Eden 

Matthew Wayne Selznick -- http://MattSelznick.com

Author of: Brave Men Run, Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights

Did you know ...

A.  That is was national donut day?
B.  That you can embed Mahalo 2.0 pages anywhere, like below?

National Donut Day

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The Pocket and the Pendant: 2009 Edition

So three months ago, I recorded this video (below).  Basically, it says that I have major publisher interest for the Max Quick Series, but a detailed rewrite was requested. 

Now.   I have finished said rewrite.  It has been sent to my agent; she is dealing with the publishers.

So what changed?  Well, it is still the same story.  So in that sense, nothing has changed.  But it is now around 55,000 words (more commercial) as opposed to the original 97,000 words.  It is a LOT tighter.  The grammar has been cleaned significantly (it needed that in a big way). 

And .. I was able to add new scenes :)  And new details to old scenes: things which relate to Max Quick 3: The Bane of the Bondsman (you'll know when you see it -- and scroll down for the first few pages of BoB) as well as some new bits in Pocket itself. 

I know, I know.  People don't like change.  If  you're used to the original version, this is definitely different in many ways.  But I think it's better and much more readable to the new reader. 

One change in particular that was requested was better characterization in the opening pages of both Max and Casey.  So ... without further ado ... have a sneak peak at the first two chapters, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Max Quick 1: The Pocket and the Pendant, 2009 rewrite, first two chaps

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Fiction Books novel fantasy

The First Few Pages of 'Max Quick 3: The Bane of the Bondsman'

Since you are all being so very patient, I thought I would drop a little surprise snack for you ... enjoy!

One: Patchwork Boy

     HE WAS a handsome man.
     You might even call him a dandy.
     His broad, easy grin threw jangling joy at everyone he passed.  Adoring eyes hung on him with child-like wonder.  Love beamed from every face as his tall, lanky form snapped by.    
    And why not?  This was his village, after all. 
    The world was a smile. 
    In his wake, children danced with squeals of delight.  Women stole sly glances.  They admired the smooth perfection of his dark olive skin, his thick ink-black hair, and his strong, sharp-chiseled features.
   He was a lucky man.  He was one of those people who glided through life with a snappy dash.  Yet he was not off-putting, and this was an important point:  You didn’t hate this man.
    You loved him.  You cheered for him.  You couldn’t help it. 
    Because he genuinely wanted to help you.  He wanted everyone else to be just as lucky as he was. 
    He really did!
    His village was much like him.  It was situated on the Italian coast, and was straight out of a picture book.  Tangled trees snuggled thatched roofs.  Cobblestone paths wound like meandering thoughts.  And for miles around, hills of healthy crops swished happily under a blue slate sky dabbed with creamy clouds.
     There was only one thing wrong.  Only one mote of imperfection soiled the serenity.  When the man saw it, his nose crinkled with annoyance.  A twinge of anger bloomed in his bosom.
     A broken boy lay in the street. 
     His street.
     The man frowned.  His face actually hurt from the act: he didn’t frown often.  But the plight of this boy was an abomination.  Such things did not happen here, not in his ancestral home!
    The man stooped for a better look.  The boy was not Italian.  That much was obvious immediately.  Smiling that radiant smile of his, the man pulled the red-and-purple cloak from his shoulder and covered the shivering boy with it. 
    “Hello,” the man said in Italian.  “Can you understand me?”
    Weakly, the boy nodded. 
    “Ah.  You speak Italian.  That is good.  Are you hungry?” the man asked.  “Thirsty?”
    Again, a nod, but this time with a glint of hope.
    “Water!” the man snapped.  Several villagers sprang into action.  Within seconds, the boy was drinking cold mountain water from silver ladles, gulping it greedily down.
    “Now, then,” the man said smiling warmly.  “That’s better.  I see color returning to your cheeks already.  You will come to my house, and dine with my family.  You shall eat your fill!  Then, you shall have a hot bath and sleep in a featherbed.  And when you are yourself, then we shall have a talk, I think.  You and I.  To see what is to be done with you, yes?” 
     The boy nodded meekly.   Utter disbelief at his sudden good fortune was plain in his hazy gaze.  The man laughed uproariously.   His clean, pure joy was the purest music in the world. 
     The boy dredged his voice to life.  The man had to lean in close to catch his words.
     “Who … who are you, sire?” the boy asked.
    The man sprang upright and bowed as a servant might.  The boy noticed the luster and sheen of the man’s dark complexion.  It was impossibly clean and smooth, and radiated almost unheard-of health, especially for Renaissance Italy in 1503. 
    With a rich twinkle in his eye, the man answered, “I am Giovanni di Cyranus, young master.  And I am very pleased to meet you!” 
    And that was how Max Quick first met Johnny Siren.

     ON THE SHORE of a windy world that had been shattered and shorn stood the lone figure of Max Quick.
     His memory was returning.
     Not all at once.  It came in jabs and flashes.  This latest bit where he’d recalled Siren’s face (before it had become horribly disfigured) peering down into his own was only the latest example.  
      His cryptomnesia had been designed to mute his power.  But Max had found a way to unleash that power anyway.  His fist clenched involuntarily as he recalled tearing the Machine apart … 
      The Niburian memory block had never been designed to contain a mind filled with such power.  The cryptomnesia was melting away in chunks, like warming glaciers calving off into the ocean.
      Faces, names, and places from lifetimes spanning millennia were pouring into Max’s consciousness.  Even different personalities, different versions of himself, were intruding on his thoughts.  At times, it was overwhelming and impossible even to focus. 
      He knew that at some point, he would remember absolutely everything.

Mahalo Looking to Contract Out iPhone + Facebook Apps

I'm looking for someone ASAP to build Mahalo an iPhone App and a Facebook App for Mahalo Answers.  (not necessarily the same person for both, of course, different skillsets)  We'd build it ourselves but you know what?  We're just too darned busy making other cool stuff, and this keeps getting kicked out on the schedule.  Enough is enough, I capitulate to the contracting world.

So, send me an email at mark at mahalo dot com if you're interested -- looking to get this going ASAP as I said. 

The next time someone asks how to use their iPhone with Mahalo, I want to be able to say, "Yeah, there's an app for that."  :)

Yes, We Kindle!

Just got a new Amazon Kindle 2 this week ... must say I am *very* impressed.  WAY way better than Kindle 1.  I do not know how it compares yet to the Sony Reader, going to check that out next week (both Chris Miller and my literary agent have them). 

Yeah, it costs $350 ... BUT, Kindle books are only like $7 - $10 average (compared to $24.99 or whatever in a meatspace bookstore with, like, ink and binding and atoms and stuff).  Seeing as how I went nuts and bought 20 books already (it's TOO EASY, trust me), I've saved probably $200 already on book costs.  (I got me some Jung, Sigler, Jeremy Robbins, Vernor Vinge, Fight Club, Philip K. Dick, Stephenson, Dawkins, Haldeman, Borges, Stephen King and some me.)

Also, you can get the first chapter of any book free.  Let me repeat that.  YOU CAN GET THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ANY BOOK, FREE.  Wirelessly.  You just say, Give To Marcus.  And it does.  I like them apples. 

I know, I know: I've dissed the Kindle in the past.  I repent!  I forswear!  This is one awesome little device, I am a convert.  My iPhone is no longer quite the bundle of electronic joy that it once was.  What can I say?  I am technologist-slash-author, this thing is like custom-made (insert drug of choice) for me. 

Finally, Max Quick 1: The Pocket and the Pendant is conveniently available on the Kindle!  (See?  That's what's on the screen I'm holding up.)  How could I not love that?

Get a Kindle.  Then get some Pocket.  You'll dig both, promise.  ;)

Also, here is a drawing of Sasha Fwa: