I just posted a new poem that is hot off the presses. It’s entitled “Unwanted.” Admittedly, it is a sad one, but I like it anyway.
In other news, I recently finished a short story for a project I’m doing with my writer friends. It takes place within the universe of my novel, Pandora’s Box. It will be part of a short story compilation called The Day After, which we hope to self-publish soon. I’ll write more updates as the project progresses.
Unwanted
by Nathan Marchand
By sweat and toil,
I dug through rock and dirt
Until at last I found the gem,
The rarest and most precious jewel.
I rushed from the cave, overjoyed.
I hurried to meet my Beauty,
And gave it to Her.
But with sad eyes, She rejected my gift.
So, I watched Her walk away,
Leaving me all alone
As my tears fell, staining the cracked gem.
Recently, I was contacted by Peter Semple, a fellow graduate of Taylor University Fort Wayne’s writing program, who wanted to start his own writing business. So, I jumped on-board. It is Breakthrough Writing Services, and it offers businesses and individuals writing and editing assistance. Pete plans to expand its services eventually, but this is a great beginning. If you need help with writing in any way, give him a call. You may even get yours truly to help you out.
You can check out Breakthrough Writing Services’ website here.
I just talked with the gentleman in charge of the alumni center at the former campus of my alma mater, Taylor University Fort Wayne. He is holding an event that is essentially homecoming September 23-24. I will be having a book signing that Saturday. Details will be forthcoming.
Things are moving along for Destroyer, a pulpy science fiction novella I co-wrote with some writer friends a few years ago. After much deliberation, I have selected a cover artist. Hopefully in a month or so, he’ll have it finished. I plan to self-publish the book using Lulu.com for print copies and as an ebook on Smashwords.com.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Remember my short story, “Baptized in Fire“? Well, I’ve added something new to it, something I want to keep adding to the other stories on my site: illustrations. I commissioned my brother Jarod Marchand, a young aspiring artist, to create some artwork of the battlemech designated Achilles in the piece. He gave it to me recently, and I posted it just now. Check it out.
My goal is to use artwork and photographs done by myself or other aspiring artists I know as illustrations for my stories (FYI: I myself can’t draw, but I do love photography). Stay tuned to see more work from other great artists you don’t know (yet).
Guess what, readers? I finished my second novel, Ninjas and Talking Trees! Well, the rough draft, anyway. There’s gonna be a lot of editing and/or rewriting ahead of me now. But it’s done. Some say writing the second novel is the hardest. If that’s true, my writing life should be easier here on out (maybe).
Now to write a short story for a special project I’m doing with my writer friends…that’s “due” in three weeks. Oy vey…
Some of you may have noticed I’ve had a “Novellas” page within the “Nathan’s Works” tab since I started this website nearly a year ago, and that there was a title listed there. It said, “Destroyer – Coming Soon!” That was in reference to a novella I co-wrote with two writer friends over the course of a year from 2008-2009 as part of a writers’ project. It is a pulp science fiction tale. I was very happy with how it turned out and even looked for a place to publish it for a short while, but to no avail. So it’s been left on the drawing board ever since.
Until now.
Having tasted some success with Pandora’s Box, I’m thinking about venturing into the world of self-publishing with this story. The length and genre make it difficult to market to prospective publishers, so I believe this is the best route to take. Not only will I get a byline, but so will two of my friends. I’m even toying with the idea of recording an audio version and posting it on iTunes.
But this is all down the road a bit. Currently, I am considering artists to create the cover. Then I will talk with Nick Hayden, who has some self-publishing experience, about how we might go about it. I still have no idea when or if this book will be published.
Stay tuned.
A month ago, I was talking with my friend, Laura Brooks, a college freshman from Michigan, who told me she dreamed a sequel to my novel, Pandora’s Box, after reading it. I asked her to write this dream down so I could post it here, calling it a “fanfiction” (you know you’re successful when people write fanfiction related to your stories). What follows is a synopsis of that dream, written much like a story treatment for a movie. Now, believe it or not, I have been mulling over ideas for a sequel for a year, although this bears little resemblance to it. Regardless, this dream is entertaining. Enjoy!
(WARNING: If you haven’t read Pandora’s Box yet, there are some spoilers in this).
Pandora’s Box Dream
by Laura Brooks
It started after Hope went to visit the place she was found. After they had used her blood to discover the cure, she left to join to the armed force her mother was in. After one year of training, she could take down any enemy put in front of her despite the fact that she was just a simple recruit. She went out with her superior officer on a mission. They were attacked by strange black creatures. They took down the creatures and were amazed by what they saw. They looked like people but had pure black skin, and bloodshot eyes. News struck of another infection.
Her commanding officer said that they needed to return to base immediately. When they got there, they discovered that the base had been attacked, and everyone had been turned or slaughtered. They saw only one survivor, their general. The general told them to escape, but her commanding officer said he wouldn’t leave him behind. Instead he told Hope to run, but she refused and started fighting. With her blade and fists she knocked down or slashed every creature that tried to kill her. Both of the commanding officer and the general shouted at her for staying and kept trying to get over to her to help. That’s when she came across her best friend from training. She had been turned.
Hope didn’t want to fight her, but knew she had no choice. She charged and took down everyone in her path. Receiving wound after wound she looked to her friend and sadly said, “Goodbye.” She slashed at her friend but received a deep cut in the side as a result. She knew the only way she could survive was to kill her so she did what she had to. She stabbed her friend down. She had no time to cry over her friend for her commanding officer was being overpowered. She rushed over to his side and slashed one of the creatures across the stomach with her blade. But just when everything seemed to be going their way they were surrounded. The general said, “Looks like we’re not getting out of this one.” She responded, “I’m not done yet!” The creatures lunged towards them from all sides. There was no escape. (This is when I woke up).
I just posted a new short story a few minutes ago. It’s entitled, “Love and Pac-Man” (click the title to read it). It is the combination of a flurry of ideas.
First, after watching the original version of The Karate Kid some months ago, and seeing the scene where the protagonist, Daniel, meets the girl he likes at an arcade, I had this idea to write a story about a young man who finds love while at an arcade (this was later reinforced while watching Tron: Legacy). It’s a location almost never used in a romance story.
Second, last month’s assignment given for the Writers’ Corner, a writers’ club that meets at the North Webster Community Public Library, involved writing a story that used certain words. Each person was given a short time to write things pertaining to several categories and questions given by the club leader, Beth. Here’s the list I wrote:
Two Things That Annoy You:
-Lying
-My old laptop
Two People You Admire:
-Abraham Lincoln
-C.S. Lewis
The Names of as Many Horses as You Can Think of:
-Black Beauty
-Silver
-Seabiscuit
-Secretariat
-Quick-Draw McGraw
-Gunpodwer (Ichabod Crane’s horse in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”)
Would You Rather Live Rural or Urban?:
-Rural
Three Things You Associate with Summer:
-Hot weather
-Blockbuster movies
-Swimming
Pay close attention, and you’ll see that I managed to work all of these into the story, which is surprisingly only 1,000 words long.
Readers who live or have lived in my area may notice a few “local references,” even though it takes place in a fictional small town. There was once a theme park in North Webster, Indiana, called Adventureland, and it did have a small roller coaster called the Wild Mouse. The name of the arcade, Tilt, was taken from an arcade that used to be at the Glenbrook Square mall in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Anyway, I read the piece at the Writers’ Corner’s meeting Monday, and everyone enjoyed it. I hope you will too.