Flash Fiction Featured in Issue#78 of Red Fez

My short short story, "Invasion," is in the current issue of Red Fez. Please check it out, as well as the rest of the issue. This is a great magazine, and I feel honored to be included in it. Thank you to the editors!

Update on Escapes/Out in the Garage

Just thought I'd give an update on Escapes, the third and final edition of my first novel. In case you hadn't noticed, I (just slightly) altered the description of it:

Some people escape from life’s track to avoid confronting the hurdles. For Lance Adamson, anyway, that is the case—although, he comes by it naturally. Born poor in the Republican stronghold of Nodtown, Ohio, he quickly realizes that life for some people is more difficult than it is for others. For some, there are problems you cannot escape, no matter how hard you try. In fact, most catch up with you sooner or later, and when they do, your life really gets turned upside down. For Lance, that’s when his main escape becomes his greatest passion.

I did this for clarity and brevity. I wanted to say just enough but not too much--lead the reader on just the right amount and entice him or her to read the sample or even  purchase the book outright.

For this edition, I am going to seek out criticism and see how it goes. It couldn't go any worse than it already has. Bad reviews happen, but so do good ones. People have varied tastes, and I believe I have something to offer. I believe I can get good reviews if I seek the reviewers that cater to my specific audience. I have taken the criticism I have gotten over the years, considered it all very carefully, compared it to my intentions and my goals, determined the necessary changes, and incorporated them into the text.

Personally, I also believe that this is the best version of the story, and the one that I will be satisfied with to come. I have come full circle with it: I have worked to clarify the story and achieve the effect I was intending from the beginning. It has taken many twists and turns, but I feel confident about what I have learned, and how it has affected my writing and editing skills, and how those skills have in turn affected my ability to produce this text.

Additionally, I have learned a lot through my experimentation with publishing, and I am always looking to improve the quality of the paperbacks and eBooks themselves. Also, for the best ways to market them.

While I still might have much to learn, I believe I have gotten what I can get out of this current project, or, rather, that I am going to get out of it what I am going to get with this latest edition. I, of course, still have much else in the works, so all further experimentation will be with those projects.

I do believe that the third time is the charm, or at least it is in this circumstance. While it might be superstitious to believe so, if I am careful, I can prove it to be true.

Try Me.

Underground Following?

So apparently the second edition of Out in the Garage is being downloaded and read off of some illegal sites somewhere, which, upon first finding out, irritated the shit out of me.

But then it occurred to me: people are actually reading and liking the damned thing, which is what any author wants, really, isn't it?

It still bothers me that people are getting it illegally, but I am happy that people are posting comments like this one:

"It is easy to characterize this book in one word – masterpiece!"

I am not sure what part of the web these forums exist on, but I don't think it's on the surface side, if you know what I mean. 

So, as I sit here in a bit of shock, even though it is not my favorite edition, I have opened the second edition for sale as an eBook on Smashwords and Amazon.

Maybe there are people out there willing to pay 99 cents for it.

UPDATE:

I have also decided to re-release the second edition as a paperback. The process usually takes about 24 hours before Createspace will release it for sale after I click the button.

Also, just FYI, I am still releasing the third edition, Escapes, but I might just keep all three editions open for sale.

A Book Description, A Bio, and a Fun Fact

In case you were wondering,  here is the book description, the bio, and the fun fact from the back of the last edition of my first novel, Escapes (formerly Out in the Garage). I am very excited about this project, and I think that people are going to really like this final version. After a lot of careful thinking and some effort, I have been able to transform it into its best version. Over the past year, I have really grown as an editor, thanks to being a grad student and working as an adjunct. This is by far my favorite version, and I am proud to say that it is finally the satire I intended when I started writing it ten or eleven years ago. The first two versions had some good qualities, but they both also fall short in a number of ways. The novel is now more focused and cohesive than ever, and it is organized how it needs to be to give people the effect I was intending while playing on my strengths (and hopefully minimizing my weakness) as a writer. Please take the time to check this out on JUNE 1 when it comes out:

Some people escape from life’s track to avoid confronting the hurdles. For Lance Adamson, anyway, that is the case—although, he came by it naturally. After all, like anyone, he is the product of his upbringing. Born poor in the Republican stronghold of Nodtown, Ohio, he quickly realizes that life for some people is more difficult than it is for others—some people just have more shit to deal with. Some, like Lance, find out that there are problems you cannot escape, no matter how hard you try. In fact, most catch up with you sooner or later, and when they do, your life really gets turned upside down. Fortunately, someone as resourceful as Lance can always find a new distraction.

Gabe Gott is a husband, writer, human being, music geek living in Akron, OH. He has degrees in literature from Kent State University and The University of Akron. You can find his short story collection, his blog, and his flash fiction in various locations around the web. Fun fact: he prefers creamy peanut butter over crunchy.

A Chicago Story: Writing While Riding

Having to spend twelve-plus hours this weekend riding in a car to and from Chicago, I figured it was an opportune time to work on novel number two. While I did not work on it as much as I could have, I did roughly double the length of my manuscript, and I finally was able to get through that scene that was giving me trouble and preventing me from moving forward. Sometimes, you just have to take the time that you have been given and get the idea out no matter how it turns out, because you can always go back and make it better later. After all, that's why it's called the rough draft.

Since the novel is set in Chicago, and has some relation to my personal experiences (although it is not directly based on them), spending some time in the Windy City and retracing my steps around my old neighborhood gave me just the inspiration I needed. While I haven't forgotten my experiences, it was a good idea to refresh my memory and keep the pictures that I have in my minds eye sharp and clearly focused.

However, it not only helps for describing the scenery and the people, but also for reminding myself that I have done it before and can do it again: I wrote my first novel while riding the El to and from work. Going back and riding the trains and seeing the sights, and feeling echoes from the experience of going on an adventure with the woman who became my wife, helped me to get back into the right frame of mind. 

It is kind of funny that I wrote my Ohio book in Chicago, and that I am writing my Chicago book (mostly) in Ohio. I have a feeling that this won't be the only time that I will need inspiration to continue writing before I am done with this book. I would like to make it out again sometime this summer--maybe next time the trip won't be so last minute and I will actually have time to visit some old friends.

Because my TV and internet are out at home (a fun surprise when we got home last night), and AT&T is sending a new router overnight, I suppose I will probably spend my night adding what I wrote over the weekend to the manuscript file. I do this regularly so if a tragedy happens and I somehow lose the notebook I won't lose everything. 

As always, it won't be an exact transcription. I often add and change things--make improvements--as I am typing it out. In that way, I suppose, I am technically, to some degree, editing as I am writing, which is why I like writing my first drafts by hand and then going back and typing them. I often do this with my short and short short stories, as well.

That's why I am a strong proponent of doing what works for you and not following some formula, which is what I teach my students. I, of course, suggest different ways of doing things, but I leave it up to them to figure out what works. Different strategies work for different people, and no one way is truly correct.