This weekend, I got my edited copy of Whizzers back from editing and sent out my monthly newsletter announcing the formation of the Whizzers Launch Team. Stuff is a-happening! As Mike Ehrmantraut once said to Jessie Pinkman, “Big doings today.”
Of course, that reference was the prelude to a massive Breaking Bad firefight, and Whizzers is nothing like that. As I say on the Launch Team signup page, not only is it my most personal work yet – I truly believe this novel is the best thing I’ve ever done. And don’t worry, it’s not a violent novel.
In fact, Whizzers is a bit of an anomaly for me, which is why I want to tell you more about it before it comes out. For a while, I was referring to it as a novella, because it’s not a lengthy work. But at just under 42K words, it’s really a very short novel (a novella, technically, is defined as a novel between 20K-40K).
The other aspect of the book that makes it something of a change of pace for me is that it is actually categorizable! Whereas most of my other fiction falls pretty firmly in the category of literary fiction – not really a category in the minds of most literary fiction readers – the Whizzers book falls more into something called speculative, or spec, fiction.
So, Mike, What the Heck Is It?
For the uninitiated, speculative fiction can be a confusing genre indeed. According to Wikipedia,
“Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre encompassing fiction with certain elements that do not exist in the real world, often in the context of supernatural, futuristic or other imaginative themes. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, superhero fiction, horror, utopian and dystopian fiction, fairytale fantasy, supernatural fiction as well as combinations thereof (e.g., science fantasy).”
So, Mike what the heck is it?
It’s unlike anything I’ve ever written, and it’s got elements of the supernatural. Oh, and of historical fiction, too, since my little cousin David and I visit various historical figures in various historical eras!
Did I mention it’s the best thing I’ve ever done? Seriously.
Of course, I’d love to have you on the launch team, and you can go here to join up. You’ll get a free book, all sorts of cool updates, and the only thing I ask is that you leave a review in time for the launch – which will be later on this year. (A review, by the way, does not have to be a big, long post. It can be as simple as five stars and the words, “I love this book!” That’s how Amazon works, people.)
I can’t wait to get this thing formatted and out in the world. The launch team already consisted of 25 people before I even announced any of this, but I’d like to see that number reach at least ten times that. To sign up, just send me your name and your best email address for launch updates. Let’s do this thing!
