For the past several years, I’ve been languishing in a disorganized online menagerie of social media and websites. This site has suffered as a result, particularly my blog. After returning from my trip to Europe (about which more blog posts will come soon!), I decided to bid Facebook farewell and put my energy here. I have mixed feelings about this decision, of course. On the one hand, I have a network of fine friends with whom I have maintained varying levels of communication, and I suspect that I’ll fall out of touch with more than a few of them. On the other hand, I have also realized that the cost of using Facebook outweighs its benefits.

I plan on reorganizing this site slightly so that the blog comes to the foreground. I’ll ensure that the links to my books remain easily available, of course. Stay tuned!

There’s a countdown deal for “The Soul Thief” on Amazon right now!

The Soul Thief

For those who’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, both this and “The God of Battles” are free to read.

The God of Battles

Enjoy!

In the midst of the fires rampaging across Trinity County, I could have decided not to focus on art. However, this would have been a mistake; doing art is a relief from stress, and the less stressed I am, the more helpful I can be.

Therefore, I would like to report that we’ve rehearsed a number of times for the new short film, “Straja,” featuring Dr. Angela Cooper and a deeply conflicted patient. This film is set on both earth (at the patient’s home) and in the Otherworld, and is shaping up very nicely. It will include special effects (primarily green screen work) and is going to be a blast to shoot.

Meanwhile, “Falling Rock” is in post-production, and though there may be a delay I am still aiming for a September release. I’ll post updates as they occur!

Early this year I decided to produce a book trailer for “The Soul Thief.” My motivation was purely commercial: I wanted to experiment with promotional tools, and this was one that I thought I should use. I had no strong compulsion to work with video tools, no desire to explore visual storytelling, and absolutely no inkling of how much I would enjoy making that video.

It was fun.

In fact, it was so much fun that I began to consider doing more video work. At first, I considered just making a series of book trailers, using special effects and, perhaps, a limited amount of footage with actors. Then I shot that footage with actors, and my world turned upside down. Here were people, real flesh and blood people, playing the parts of my characters. I had to have more.

I spoke with a friend who had been making a short film of his own. He became excited when I told him I was considering getting into filmmaking in a limited way, and he urged me to skip the pretense and make films, period.

Now, four months later, I’ve just wrapped up production of my first short film, “Falling Rock.” This film is not part of my “Gypsy Dreamwalker” series; it stands alone, a dark little story involving two brothers, a form of resolution, and a nasty twist at the end. If all goes well and the footage isn’t completely unusable (so far, it looks quite good), I will edit it, score it, and screen it by September. If it’s particularly good I may submit it to festivals; if my camera work isn’t up to par (by my standards), I will release it to YouTube, and I’ll be sure to post a link!

However, Angela fans rejoice: I will soon be shooting a “Gypsy Dreamwalker” tale, starring Dr. Angela Cooper and a small (miniscule?) cast. It will be a short film, and I plan on starting production in a couple of months if all goes well.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a deeply immersive story. The setting and characters possess a texture that I rarely find in “fantasy” fiction. The titular characters are, naturally (supernaturally?), extraordinary, but they are immediately relatable because of the author’s attention to detail and the unique voices she gave them. About the only thing I can critique is the ending, which seemed somehow abrupt. It certainly completed the story, but I wanted a little bit more.

All in all, this is well worth the read. Prepare to linger over this one!

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The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide: Part One Making the Extreme No Budget Film by Kelley Baker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Aside from laugh-out-loud, brutal comments on some of the foibles of modern filmmakers, this book is stuffed full of practical advice. Written by someone who has been in the trenches for many years, it’s a welcome addition to any aspiring filmmaker’s shelf, but it’s especially useful for those of us who are operating on a shoestring budget. The numerous, dated references to (non-digital) film don’t detract from the work. Rather, they offer insight into the problem-solving skills that are generally useful in this work.

“Hire a publicist? You have got to be f***ing kidding me! I’m making a movie here.”
– Kelley Baker, “The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide Part One: Making The Extreme No Budget Film”

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The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nanotechnological mythmaking

Starting out as a “conventional” dystopian cyberpunk novel, the story began to acquire a mythic depth as the key characters of Nell, Miranda and Hackworth entered the stage. I was swept inexorably into the parallel story lines of Nell and Princess Nell, each of which illuminated and impelled the other. This is a fantastic story that repays careful attention. If you buy the Kindle edition, be sure to include the audio book, which is narrated beautifully.

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An explorer on an archaeological dig

About this time last year I was building toward the release of “The Soul Thief.” However, I was also working on its sequel, the just-published “The God of Battles,” and this year is no different, as I’m hard at work on the next story. It’s actually going to be a series of stories, acting as a “bridge” between Book Two and the final novel in the trilogy, tentatively entitled “The Lady of Light.”

I had started the stories as novellas, as I could not see how each one could fit within a shorter format. However, as work progressed, I realized that I did not want a long break between the Books. These “bridge” stories do not put Angela and her pals front-and center, after all, and they are ultimately the stars of this series. I’ve decided, therefore, to release the next stories as a short-story collection. I have considered publishing the stories in small groups, perhaps purely in e-book form as a serial. Once they’re all done, an omnibus in both e-book and print editions would complete the bridge.

The next story’s working title is “The Explorer.” I might wind up with a more imaginative title, but as the name suggests it is about an explorer. ‘Nuff said!

“The God of Battles” is available in paperback and Kindle editions worldwide! The second installment in the “Gypsy Dreamwalker” series, this continues the story of Angela and Cassandra begun in the first book, “The Soul Thief,” which garnered rave reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.

For those living in northern California, stop by Tammie’s Books in of “The God of Battles”of both novels, as well as “Poems de Terre,” the poetry collection I co-authored with my partner, Rachel Anderson. For everyone else, you can find my Amazon author page here:

Dave Menefee’s author page