MFA Thesis Novel Book Club Guide & Author Interview

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Cool news from the MFA Thesis Novel front: this month Vine Leaves Press and I released the MFA Thesis Novel Book Club Guide, which includes an author interview with yours truly and discussion questions for the novel.  It’s free for download from the link above, and starting this month, it’s included with the eBook version of the novel as a bonus.

Here’s a quick snippet:

Q: What inspired you to write MFA Thesis Novel?

A: As the novel itself hints, MFA Thesis Novel sprang from my experience in graduate school at the University of Nebraska, though my program was technically an MA. I was workshopping a novel based on my time working in Japan, but the subject matter and the style I was writing in were so foreign that people around me couldn’t relate to the book. At the same time, the program seemed to be pushing us to build up longer and more impressive CVs rather than improve our writing, which I found disconcerting. Like Flip, it took me a long time to realize which parts of the program were helpful and which parts weren’t conducive to the career path I was looking for.

Read the rest of the interview here. Continue reading »

A Signed a Contract for My Second Novel!!!!!!!

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Big news! Last month I signed a contract with Vine Leaves Press to publish my second novel, Carcrash Parker and the Haven of Larpers, in 2025.  This is the Secret New Novel I’ve been talking about on this blog for literally years.  Vine Leaves published my first novel, MFA Thesis Novel, in spring 2022 and were super-great to work with, so it was only natural that I wanted to publish Carcrash Parker and the Haven of Larpers with them as well.

What’s Carcrash Parker and the Haven of Larpers actually about, you ask?  Well, LARPing (a.k.a. Live-Action Role-Playing) for one.  More specifically, it’s about fantasy role-playing in the real world, with a group of twentysomethings on a quest to rescue a lost Commodore 64 from some bullies in the New Hampshire woods.

Also, it’s narrated in ye olde fantasy English speak, with wizards and maidens and stuff, even though it’s the real world. And the characters talk a lot about ’80s movies.

That’s the bare-bones gist. If you’re wondering why I waited so long to mention the deal in the age of same-day instant internet news, the answer is that I’ve been held up with a little Non-Creative Work Issue that I’ll be talking about in another post.  For now, if you want to know more, read on to find out how the deal happened and what comes next. Continue reading »

The MFA Thesis Novel Pre-Order is Done!!!

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MFA Thesis Novel launches TOMORROW (!!!) and I spent most of last week shipping out copies from the Special Pre-Order period.  I was no stranger to bulk mailings from the Art Swap days, but this was my first time tackling a mailing this big.

After the pre-order period I crunched some numbers and realized that with all the pre-orders, copies I’d need for future events, and probable future webstore purchases, it made sense to order 250 books and get an extra 10% bulk discount on top of the regular discount.

Continue reading »

Novel Events: Come See My Online Readings in March and the MFA Thesis Novel Launch in April!

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It’s that time!  I’m kicking off an actual, for-serious book tour promoting MFA Thesis Novel (!), with events both online and in person!  This includes the actual novel launch party (!!!!!!) that’s sure to be an amazing time:

Interested in coming to see me?  Read on for the event descriptions, plus some info at the end about how I got involved with each one…. Continue reading »

HUGE Thanks to Everyone Who’s Pre-Ordered MFA Thesis Novel So Far!!!!!!!!!11

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Update: The Special Limited Pre-Order for MFA Thesis Novel is over, but you can still order a signed copy and get a free bookmark! See my webstore for updated info.

Last week I posted to this blog about the Special Limited MFA Thesis Novel Signed Pre-Order and sent out a few social media posts.  To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect: if the pre-order went well, I’d be happy, but if it didn’t, I resolved not to be disappointed or angry.  As a way of not building up my hopes too much, I told myself that maybe people wanted to buy the novel somewhere else, or maybe they’d wait until it actually came out.

It’s always a nerve-wracking experience putting a part of yourself out there and risking failure.  In my darker moments, I worried no one would be interested, or that people would be willing to Like a post but not actually order the book.  Worst of all was the fear that I’d come across as some sort of pestering MLM Ponzi-scheme jerk making money off of the people in his social network, like those people who get sucked into nutrition supplement scams.

As it turns out, I shouldn’t have worried. Continue reading »

Special MFA Thesis Novel Signed Pre-Order With Bookmark and Sticker!!!!

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Update: The Special Limited Pre-Order for MFA Thesis Novel is over, but you can still order a signed copy and get a free bookmark! See my webstore for updated info.

Many of you have been asking about the best way to get a signed copy of MFA Thesis Novel when it comes out on April 19th.  Others have been asking how to buy the novel in the way that gives me the largest amount of royalties.

Whelp, you can kill two birds with one stone during the Special Limited MFA Thesis Novel Pre-Order Period!

Order a copy of the novel through my webstore by clicking here, and not only will I sign it and write you a cool personalized message (if you want one), but you’ll also get some super-cool FREE swag, including…

  • A limited edition MFA Thesis Novel bookmark designed by Jessica Bell!
  • A 3″x2″ You Don’t Pay Me to Care sticker inspired by the But I Also Have a Day Job blog!
  • The satisfaction of knowing that more of your money went toward supporting me as a small-press indie writer and not toward Jeff Bezos sending billionaires into space! (Technically not swag, but still important!) Continue reading »

How MFA Thesis Novel Went From Word File to Actual Published Book

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Most people never consider how books get made.  We have that idealized image of the grizzled writer sitting at a typewriter then delivering a hearty stack of clean pages to the publisher, who waves a magic wand and PRESTO, out pops a cleanly printed book with cover and crisp inside pages.

Nowadays, that fantasy involves a Word file and email instead of a typewriter, but the disconnect between writing and bookmaking still seems to be there for a lot of writers.  Truth be told, I had no idea how much work and how many steps go into publishing a book, which is why it was cool to learn the process when my own novel got made into an actual hard-copy book (Spoiler: I’ll show pics at the end!).

Here’s a rundown of how that process went, how much work it took from me and the others at Vine Leaves Press, and where the novel stands now. Continue reading »