Author Archives: Michael

Many Glacier and other things

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Well, the first draft of my new novel is complete at 98,000 words. From here it will sit in a virtual drawer for at least a month so I can return to it with fresh eyes. I have a title for the novel already but I’m paranoid when it comes to titles unless everything is set in stone. However, this paranoia does not extend to short stories. I really dislike not having new content to write so after finishing the novel I wrote a rather demented 5,000 word short story called “The Crazy Mountains”.

If you want to catch up on my “latest” writing, check out my Chicago-based story “Big, Blue Steel” in the new Sparks Fantasy Anthology (released last week):

Sparks: Exciting New Fantasy from Today’s Brightest Stars

Oh yeah, the Many Glacier thing. Well, it’s one of the most scenic places you’ll ever see. Below are a couple images from the valley. I’ve had grizzly bears inches from my tent, moose sleeping next to it (waking up at two a.m. to moose digestive noises is not fun), and bighorn rams knocking horns during the rut. For nature-lovers, it’s the apex.

Opossum. Yep. Opossum.

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This little fella wandered into my yard the other day. The temp was seven degrees, with a “feels like” of zero. Ouch. He seemed alright, but I was surprised to see an opossum out in the day as they’re primarily nocturnal. A bit of research revealed that opossums are known to adjust their schedules during cold snaps.

I hope he wasn’t too camera shy, because he wandered right into the yard of a guy who loves photographing wildlife. I was filming a cardinal at the feeder when he sauntered right past me. Lucky.

After sniffing around the opossum shambled under a neighbor’s deck and that was the last I saw of him.

Big moon.

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This image was captured on the evening of February 8th, 2012. The sky was incredibly clear, so I busted out the tripod and my long prime lens with a teleconverter. Click the image for the full size.

Sparks Standout Fantasy Anthology

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The cover art for Sparks has been released. Pretty cool:

The release date is February 14th, so grab a copy on Amazon if so inclined. My story is “Big, Blue Steel”, and offers a different twist on shape-shifting. The setting is downtown Chicago.

In other “news”, my new novel is just about finished. I’m sitting at 84,000 words with a wrap up date by next Thursday. I tend to write a hell of a lot more per day toward the end of the first draft. Usually I start with 1200 words per day, and at the 60,000 mark tend to ratchet that up to 2000 per day. The key is to not miss days (or one at the most). If I do, I get all discombobulated.

Yosemite time-lapse HD video with M83 soundtrack

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This is so cool. Supposedly filmed with a Canon 5D II DSLR. And how can you not love M83? The track is “Outro” from the outstanding 2011 release, Hurry Up, Were Dreaming.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting Yosemite National Park, and it offers some of the most mind-blowing, surreal landscapes you could ever imagine. If you ever get a chance, go.

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.