Free Today - "Last Night"

That's right. Today my short story "Last Night" is free on Amazon. It's a fast read so feel free to pick up your copy today before it goes back to it's regular price! Did I mention I love reviews? Well, I do. Literary reviews are always welcome so feel free to post those to Amazon after you give it a read. Thanks again for your support.

"Last Night" Will Be Free Friday

Just putting it out there that "Last Night," my short story that asks you to reexamine what friendship really means will be free for one day only on Amazon. It's usually $.99 since it just a short, but on Friday March 16th, 2012 it will be 100% free. Reviews of the story posted on Amazon will be welcome as well. Thank you again for the continued support.

Last Night - Version 2.0

There seems to be a resurgence of interest in my short story Last Night so I went ahead and reposted links to it on the books page and redid a couple of edits in it as well as reformatted it. Since it's a short, it's available for just $.99 from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. Interestingly enough this book was the target of a troll attack on Amazon which is kind of what is stirring up the interest. I guess people actually read the troll reviews and realized the reviews themselves are so terrible written that they couldn't possibly be true.

I stuck a +13 rating on it because there are some undertones to the story that most younger readers simply will not pick up on so they won't fully grasp the message. Other than that, it's actually work and school safe. It's a work I am especially proud of because I initially did it as a dare when I said I could write and edit a short story in less than 2 hours. Needless to say I was able to do it. Enjoy.

EDIT - As of last night (ironically) this title is now available on Amazon Prime Lending so if you are a Prime member, you can borrow it for no charge!

On Amazon. 

Shelfari Link

[caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="215" caption="Cover of Last Night"][/caption]

Emily Martin and Last Night

All Links are live. You can access them here.

Ty all for the continued support. I've found that even now, I have a few people lingering around that would rather see me fail in my attempts to make something of myself. I also know there will always be people who hate me because I am able to do something they are not. I will not recognize their attempts at trying to derail my passion by mentioning them by name. All I will do is just keeping doing what I do. As the old internet saying goes, "haters gonna hate."

The development of my short story into a film is proof that persistence can pay off. I spoke with the director last night and we have come up with some very workable ideas and it looks like we can really make it happen. It may not be tomorrow or next week or even next month, but it will get made. It will be taken to various film festivals and hopefully, we will gain some recognition not only from our peers, but also from those who never stopped believing in us.

We may not become rich or famous, but we will change people's ideas about the subject matter that we cover. I think when all is said and done and our film is made, I can look back at all the hate that's come my way and laugh a little, knowing that all their harsh words did was strengthen my resolve.

Not everyone can write a poem or a short story or a full novel for that matter. It takes endless nights of tedious editing and corrections to get the story exactly the way you want it. Not everyone can pull that off. I've done it now for the third time. There will be at least one more. I find it funny that people who say my work is terrible have never even read it so...how could they possibly know? I can understand criticism if you'd read at least one of my works, but to say my material isn't any good when you've not even looked at it shows only a lack of self respect. I feel sorry for people like that because those same people who hate me are the ones that know deep down they could never do what I do. I'm not saying these things to show off my ego because I really don't have one. Just as I do not hate those who work in other professions and do their jobs well, I would hope that others would at least do me the courtesy of being decent, but that's people for you. People fear what they do not know and they hate others for no other reason than that they possess or have accomplished things they never could.

I may not end up with an Academy award or a Pulitzer in my hands, but I will still have my books. Even after I am gone, those will still be here. For generations to come, my words and stories will echo through time. What will you leave behind? What will be your legacy? Bitterness? Hate? Obviously, those are not very admirable traits. I know I'm not nearly a perfect person, but I do have things most yearn to have: passion, love, persistence, patience, and plenty of stories to tell.

You have a choice. You can either listen as I tell them or hate me as I move forward and write more. Heck, even ignoring me shows more than standing around and hating me. When you stand there and speak badly of me, it only goes to show that I've got your attention so I must be doing something right.

Maybe one day people filled with hate will be ready to move on and do something more with their lives. I don't have the greatest life and I do not claim to be famous or rich or even popular. I am just me. A writer's life isn't all that glamorous. I sit in a room in front of a screen, typing out endless ideas and making them into something that might touch people...and I am ok with that. If I choose to give my art away, that's my choice. After all, it's my talent and not yours.

Who knows really when all this writing will end. Ultimately, that's up to me. I've openly stated that I may not write another novel after the final RH installment. Maybe that's all I have to give. Maybe I've said what I needed to say. Only I can make that decision. Know this though, when I'm heading out the door, I want to leave my work with people who will protect it's artful quality and do something meaningful with it.

[caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="107" caption="Cover of Last Night"][/caption]

Last Night - The Movie

I've spoken to a director about some of my work and we are currently discussing taking one of my stories and turning it into a short feature film. While the talks have just gotten underway, it is still a very exciting idea that one of my works could be made into something more substantial that just a few words on a piece of paper. It's still very early, but we will continue our dialog as the weeks progress and hopefully, it will take us somewhere. Sometimes things like this can take a lot of time, but I am hoping we can get the ball rolling fairly quickly. With time, the two of us plan to sit down and rewrite the story into a workable script, something that can be converted into film while still getting the message across. Depending on the length of the script, we're not quite sure at this point just how long the short will be. I'm not a film director by any stretch of the imagination so I will leave those estimates up to them.

Still, the prospect that this could turn into something more is very exciting as I'd love to have one of my works expanded upon like this. While I was hoping that Rumbling Heart would be looked at, I have no problem starting small as Last Night is a much smaller, easier story to turn into a film as the production costs will be very light and workable. RH on the other hand would require possibly millions to produce.

We all have to start somewhere. I hope this pans out.

You can check out the short story for free over at Smashwords.com or by clicking here.

[caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="442" caption="Cover of Last Night"][/caption]

Emily Martin - 2nd Draft Done

Got through the 2nd draft really quickly. Was happy to see that I only had to cut a few sentences here and there and of course fix grammatical errors. I added a couple of small story parts, but that was expected. Maybe 2 things about the overall story don't flow well so I am working on those, hoping to get them done ASAP. I've actually already gotten about 4k words into the work that is expected to come after EM which will be my last, at least in the foreseeable future. At this point, I just want to get this series done because it was all I ever really planned to write anyway. A few short stories aside, I don't really plan to write anything else, but of course; things can change. With my impending move back to Austin, I will be tied up taking care of those things and trying to get a good start back there. All I want is to have a job where I won't eventually kill myself and that pays me well enough to where all my bills are paid. I want my own place where I can just rest and not have to worry about roommates or anything of that sort. I will continue to push the books, but I also have to accept that they aren't very good. They were mostly just something I felt I wanted to do before I died so at least when it's all over, I can say I left something behind.

All that being said, I am going to get back to work on EM so I can get it finished up and ready for publication.