It's Hell To Choose (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 9) (36 page)

Snippets are the first parts of the book released every day or two for a couple of weeks before the release of the new book on Facebook or the Website.
 
This causes a LOT of discussions and some real hair pulling when they get into the grove of the story … and it stops.

Well, I used to drop a whole chapter, and that didn’t work very well.
 
Scott (T S) Paul suggested, perhaps, smaller amounts (as small as a paragraph) and I decided a minimum of 500 words or more would work.
 
Since I keep giving these little ‘bites’ out, many of the FB fans both love them, and BITCH unmercifully about them.
 
It’s a lot of fun! Oh, not the massive bitching, but how everyone has a great time with them.
 
Between the Facebook Group and the Amazon Forum group, we have a good time chatting.

Which reminds me.
 
This story has to be told (From the Forums).
 
Horrid put this up shortly after WE WILL BUILD came online (He put up a Forum Thread about ‘Book 9?’ on the day 08 came out…)

Horrid says:

Bah!

It was 100% front handed compliment. I finished We Will Build in about 4 hours while pretending to work. It was great times. I laughed, I cried, I snorted coffee out my nose...
God, that burned.

Michael Anderle says:

..."I snorted coffee out my nose...God, that burned." Roflmao!

Loved the whole quote, but that made me laugh... $&@!

arik h says:

"It was great times. I laughed, I cried, I snorted coffee out my nose... God, that burned." Best customer review ever.

Horrid says:

Michael & Arik:

I aim to please.

Except with the coffee thing. I didn't aim at all. I just soaked my keyboard.

Michael Anderle says:

I didn't sign it last time, but have to mention again that "God, that burned." And now the follow-up, "I just soaked my keyboard." Still makes me laugh!

Horrid says:

When I'm not being rude, crude, and socially unacceptable, I aim for humor.

But the coffee thing totally wasn't funny at the time. I had to request a new keyboard from my boss. Who gave me SARCASM! It was very traumatic. The next day I got to work, and he had left a sippy cup on my desk to prevent further coffee related technology failures. (I might have said I spilled the coffee rather than shot it out my nose like an anime hero with a nose bleed.)

Michael Anderle says:

Now I NEED to know which scene caused the 'great keyboard massacre of 2016'?

This just keeps getting better and better!

Michael "Yes, keyboards WERE harmed during the reading of this book" Anderle

Horrid says:

It involved a victory dance.

I read that scene once, laughed out loud, then took a sip of hot coffee and made the mistake of rereading it. At that point, it was all over but for the singed nose hair and the caps lock light flickering.

Michael Anderle says:

Horrid, if you do ever destroy your new keyboard, can we do something like little keyboard symbols on the wall or something? Like the Kills on the side of airplanes in WWII?

That would be funny as hell... ;-)

Horrid says:

Actually, they named me Samuel, but due to being my parents' first kid and getting into more trouble than they felt was reasonable, I got some variation "oh my God, you're horrible" so often that in kindergarten, when the teacher asked me my name I said, "I'm Horrid!"

Michael: I think I might be able to hook you up with photographic evidence of keyboard kills if it keeps happening. Hmm... I'll need to ask my wife to design a stencil...

Ok, other quotes are on the Forums, but that is the gist of the story :-)

Heath Felps:
 
I always enjoy your thoughts on the characters, scenes, and how the book progressed from your point of view.

Michael - Mentioned above, it SUCKED when I started out.
 
I had these great ideas and got them all setup…And I lost the spreadsheet…dammit!
 
Did it again… and it was over the top.
 
This time, it was ‘just right’ ;-).
 
If there is interest, I’ll do some sort of blog about how I write the books or video interview or something.
 
I’d feel REAL stupid If I went through the effort to put out something and then hear crickets because no one is curious …
 
:-o

Dorene Johnson:
how hard is it to kill off a main character loved by fans?

Michael - Well, I didn’t feel that Michael was loved by fans until maybe last book…Mostly this book.
 
Just when he was becoming someone to admire the bastard had to go and be all sacrificing.
 
I’m a little worried about backlash from fans who are going to be pissed about his death.
 
More because of what Bethany Anne is going to go through than Michael’s death specifically.

Diane Velasquez:
How do you choose when/how to add in new characters?

Michael - When I write the beats, I figure what has to happen.
 
Then, when I get to the scene, it could change.
 
There has been a lot of back-channel talk about how her group has to get bigger.
 
Well, I can’t write about hundreds of characters, so I have to pick someone to represent the miners, or the engineers, etc.
 
Plus, sometimes characters just ‘happen’ (think the Denver News Crew of Sia and Mark) and they stick around because they have good chemistry.
 
I particularly like the stupid Mark character and wonder when Sia is just going to whack him upside the head.

Katie Elisabeth Foster:
How to guard against rabid fans wanting more books?

Michael - We have a Wiry Haired Dachshund that barks at friends and plays nice with potential thieves.
 
So, he’s completely out.
 
We have another dog, a female chi-hua-hua that growls at everyone…but she sleeps a lot. Both are rescue dogs, so I guess they do get free room and board, and it was only for altruistic reasons we have them.
 
But really, the Dachshund humors me.
 
Anyway, I try not to stress too much, and I LOVE this part (writing the Author notes and getting to help publish), plus you and everyone else are great fans of the stories, so I love to write for all of us.

Lisa Lamb Diggs:
I like the future snippets you do occasionally! Anything on a personal level with characters like when you had John help his cousin before you did a short story on it. What you like about your fans/ and being diplomatic here what "you love to hate about your fans"! How in the world are you able to keep up with your responsibilities, to family, friends, work, fans, other authors and still stay semi-sane and functioning without crashing and burning in exhaustion! I am thankful you manage it but scratching my head on the level of energy that has to take!

Michael - Well, we have the Epilogue here because I wanted to make sure everyone realizes she isn’t “without love” the rest of her life… Does that count? :-)

I couldn’t fit in a short story for two reasons; I just couldn’t figure out a story on Tabitha and then w/ Stephen Russell out, I couldn’t do it since he helps me so much, as well.
 
Further, helping the authors have eaten a lot of time, and I did get emotionally drained.
 
So, for about the last week and a half, I’ve been hiding like an introvert.
 
My wife and I have two soon to be Seniors in High School, and they are both awesome young men (we have another grown and living out of the house).
 
They each have jobs and keep their grades up w/ some pretty advanced courses and are very responsible.
 
So, that part is easier than for some.
 
Could it be easier?
 
Sure!
 
Their good grades are because we stay on top of them to keep them up, not because we hit the Teen lottery.
 
However, they are respectful and hard workers and good young men that we are very proud of.

Fans are easy because most everyone I’ve dealt with are AWESOME!
 
I think that the stories resonate with certain personalities and readers aren’t trolls. :-)

On friends, no big issues here as I only have one friend I keep up with here in Dallas / Fort Worth.
 
I’ve always been busy and never made a lot of friends.
 
So, now have new author friends and a lot of my fans ARE now friends, and getting introduced to more all of the time.
 
It’s just you guys and gals live all over the damn world… I can drive to three other states closer than I can drive to meet with a fan in Corpus Christi here in Texas.
 

That’s a note: Texas (my state at the moment) is as big as the country of France (and Germany).
 
But, Australia is damn near as big as the whole United States!
 
(Did not know this until Paul Middleton pointed it out).
 
Australia looked so small on my globes.

Steven Hewgley:
Maybe some remarks on where the story arc is heading?

Michael - I expect a fair amount of a very unhappy Bethany Anne in book 10.
 
Plus, bad corporations, assinine politicians, awesome characters, fun spaceships, aliens, fighting, love, loss, the first bar in outer space (Team BMW!), births (eventually) and death (unfortunately).
 

Bethany Anne, I don’t think, can ever be someone always in a down mood - even working through what she has to go through, now.
 
I suspect she is about to go hit up a certain food trailer over in Florida…As well as getting accosted by some incredibly stupid congressmen who think they ‘are’ the shit.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

We had more questions, but one was answered in the book (no vampire baby, unfortunately) and a bunch were people harassing Earl because he asked if I was on book ten yet.
 
Yes, Earl, you get eaten by a shark.
 

Just saying.

—

Thanks for the quick ‘last minute’ questions!
 
If you would like to help indie authors, come to a forum I helped start at
http://www.20Booksto50k.com
where very cool authors hang out with fans and become a beta reader, Subject Matter Expert, Beta Editor and join in the conversations (or start one).
 
We are a new group, so come help us grow!

Just sign up, specify you want to help as a beta reader and if you have any questions, hit me up.

Stop by and say ‘hi’ sometime!

Want to comment on the best (scene, comment, event, shoes or gun for Bethany Anne, weapon Nathan would prefer…you name it) join us on Facebook and hang out with the other pitchfork and matches fans.

https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/

Want to know when the next book or major update is ready? Join the email list - Receive that $0.99 24-hour bonus knowledge in time to SCORE.

http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/

Software used to write this book is Scrivener (Windows and Mac):

https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

Book Cover Images purchased at PhotoDune.net: http://photodune.net & http://www.dreamstime.com & 123rf.com

(Sometimes better selection on www.dreamstime.com - TKG07, 08, 09)

Image software to make the cover (Mac): http://www.pixelmator.com/mac/ (1.6 ratio @ 300dpi)

Image software to make the 3d book Covers: http://www.Adobe.com/photoshop

3d Template Script: http://www.psdcovers.com

Thank you,

Michael Anderle, May 2016

*All credit for me having ANY shoe knowledge goes to my wife, who still works to provide me with even a finger’s amount of fashion sense. Why she asks me to comment on her outfits in the morning still confuses me to this day.
 

Second note, the suggestion to include special canines also came from my wife.

Third note: I’ve now had the pleasure of a trip to a Christian Louboutin store and watch my wife buy two (2) pairs… Oh H@LY Crap… I needed a root beer float to deal with that.

Third note:
 
She couldn’t find the Snoopy video clip where he was typing and crying at the same time, so if you know of it?
 
Please send it to me at the FB page above!

;-)

Blah Blah Blah…

Are you still here?

Marvel Exit (Names subject to change in the future):

First Arc: (Red)

DEATH BECOMES HER
 

QUEEN BITCH

LOVE LOST

BITE THIS

NEVER FORSAKEN

UNDER MY HEEL

KNEEL OR DIE

Second Arc: (Blue)

WE WILL BUILD

ITS HELL TO CHOOSE

THE DOGS OF WAR

SUED FOR PEACE

AMONG US

LIFE IS A BITCH

YOU SHALL NOT PASS

Third Arc: (Orange?)

NEVER SUBMIT

NEVER SURRENDER

FOREVER DEFEND

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT

AHEAD FULL

CAPTURE DEATH

LIFE GOES ON