- Bertrand Russell
- Bertrand Russell
I've been thinking about passion a lot lately.
Not a shocker, I know, for someone who – shall we say – has been swimming in a literary pornographic pool for quite a bit of time. But, bear with me, this pondering on my part may be worth your time.
Passion, in this case, has a lot to do with writing – but not necessarily about sex writing. Sure, I've written more than my fair share of bow-chicka-wow-wow fiction [see bio at the end of this] but having a passion for writing has zero to do with writing about ... well, passion.
Maybe it's where I've found myself but I'm concerned about passionate writing – not on my part, per se, but in lots of other places.
This all came to find when I put together my own humble contribution to the Coming Together project: Coming Together Presents M. Christian. Reading over all of the stories that make up the book – proceeds from, by the way, go straight to Planned Parenthood – I had a very odd feeling of ... coolness.
It's not that I'm not proud of what I write – far from it: in fact, many of the stories in my own collection for Coming Together I really consider to be my best. It's just that looking backwards at anything, let alone my writing, has never had any great allure. Every blue moon someone asks me to name my favorite story and, to be honest, I am totally flummoxed – usually resorting to the cliché, though very true in my case, "the one I haven't written yet."
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The things a writer has to do to get people to buy a book these days! According to a press release I just received, "In what is clearly an act of pure desperation," M. Christian has threatened to have part of one of his fingers amputated to publicized his novel Finger's Breadth. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with bookstores vanishing from the face of the earth, and with everybody who can type an email message putting out an ebook. I guess it's a wonder that it hasn't happened before.
Yeah, William Burroughs cut off part of one his pinkies, but that was a Van Gogh bid for love, not to hawk any books.
In a sane world (is that even possible?) this sort of thing shouldn't be necessary. Finger's Breadth is a sensational read "about a mysterious figure cutting off the tips of little fingers in a near-future noir San Francisco." It's packed with more thrills than you can shake a detached body part at. It should be selling like hotcakes. Filmmakers should be fighting duels over the rights to make a blockbuster movie of it.
So buy and read Finger's Breadth now, before we see missing fingertips all over the place.
I only hope that this doesn't mean that Christian has made some kind of deal with the yakuza.
It is amazing what we have to do nowadays to get noticed, even people who already get press on a regular basis. In the world oferotic literature it’s probably even harder then usual to get a little look-see. Sure artists have their Twitter and Facebook accounts, and at super wonderful sites like shortandsweetnyc.com we do our best to get the word out about all that is out there, but there are still othermethods writers/film makers and musicians might have to consider in getting the word out.
For instance..
With over 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica and in magazines and Web sites; editor of 25 anthologies including the Best S/M Erotica series, Pirate Booty; collections that include Dirty Words, Speaking Partsand Rude Mechanicals and the novels Running Dry, Me2 andPainted Doll infamous scribe M. Christian has announced an act of pure desperation in his latest press release…
M. Christian has threatened to amputate part of one finger to publicize his new novel, Finger’s Breadth!
Finger’s Breadth– a gay erotic science fiction horror thriller – has garnered respectable reviews, still the wily M. Christian is not satisfied. When I asked the man if this is a publicity stunt, he said:
“A stunt? A STUNT?! Of course it’s a publicity stunt. We writers have to be more than a bit outrageous if we’re going to get noticed! Hell, the book’s about a mysterious figure cutting off the tips of little fingers in a near-future noir San Francisco, so a pretend self-amputation is perfect I think!”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I don’t want to see anybody ‘suffering’ this much for his art. But the author did ad: “They say that a good writer has at least a few good books in them, so if a finger is all it takes to get the word out about this novel … well, I have 19 more fingers and toes to go. Seems like a small price to pay.”
We shall see what the future holds for M. Christian and how well he’ll be holding it in the future. In the meantime you can visit the writer at http://www.mchristian.com and you can buy Finger’s Breathdt here.
You know me, I like to champion the Von Gutenberg extended family when I get the chance…and we have lots of people in the family (if you’re not part of this marquis club, join us at the Von Gutenberg Facebook Fan Page here. One of the folks/friends/fans/professionals featured in our latest issue is none other then writer M. Christian. Chris (to his friends, and who isn’t Chris’s friend, the guy is just so damn likeable!) is having fun prompting his latest book, Fingers Breadth.
I’ll let Chris tell you what’s he’s up to in his own imitable style. According to the latest PRESS RELEASE:
In what is clearly an act of pure desperation, author M. Christian has threatened to amputate part of one finger to publicize his new novel, Fingers Breadth (Zumaya Books).
“The fact is, it’s getting harder and harder to get the word out about anything new, especially novels,” says M. Christian, whose biography includes over 400 short story sales, nine author collections, the editing of 25 anthologies, and six previous novels. ”Is it no surprise that writers are having to resort to obvious stunts to try and get their work noticed?”
When asked if the planned amputation is simply a publicity stunt, Christian responded with faux outrage: “A stunt? A STUNT?! Of course it’s a publicity stunt … these days writers have to be creative and, let’s be honest here, more than a bit outrageous if they are going to get noticed. The book’s about a mysterious figure cutting off the tips of little fingers in a near-future noir San Francisco so a pretend self-amputation is just too damned perfect!”
No I know Chris, he’s one of those guys you would as much see at any of the industries fantasy events (listed on ourFantasy Even List at Twitter) as you would sit down and have over-priced eggs with. When it comes to what he is capable of you better believe as sure-as-shootin’ that those damn Zanti Misfits we’re gonna crawl up ol’ Bruce Dern’s leg, Chris has got enough other appendages (and the story is quite a few are very impressive…if you know what I mean) to not miss a digit or two in the selling of his art.
If you’re up for a good read check out Fingers Breadth here:
Paperback: $15.99
ebook: $6.99
You can reach M. Christian at his website: http://www.mchristian.com
and check-out the piece he did for us at http://www.vongutenberg.com/shop