Dipping My Toe Into the Short Story Pool

Once, I realized that "Own the Scrawny," my follow-up novel to "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," would have an extended development, I wanted to create something that would help keep Alexander alive for my readers, and perhaps introduce new readers to the world.

I decided to release a short story, "Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town," which sets thirteen year-old Alexander in the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California.  At first wholly unimpressed by the remains of this old-west mining town, Alexander's unique anxiety and over-active imagination turn the visit into an unexpectedly creepy adventure.

I think it's great fun, and I hope you'll give it a try. Distributing an e-book-only short story is even trickier than marketing a novel, but I think this this is a fun 'extra' that both stands on its own, and adds a little dimension to the "Food Chain" universe. Building a readership for the short story helps build awareness for the full length-books as well.

You can purchase "Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town." for only 99 cents from the usual retailers. It would also be a huge help if you would review, rate, etc. as you see fit.

Remember, you can also follow my activities on Twitter @rickflix
Alexander has a new mailing list, where you can find out the latest about all the books in the series. 

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

Today, I had the opportunity to visit a location which features prominently in my book, My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain. As part of an interview (premiering soon) I did with longtime YouTuber Curt Phillips - we'll talk about the challenges of living in Los Angeles—and about the book itself.

One of the conscious decisions I made when writing the book was to avoid too-specific descriptions of Alexander's school. My hope was that the reader would visualize the school based on their own experiences, and so make the story more personal.

Naturally, the book was inspired by my own experiences, and I did have Portola Middle School (then, it was called a junior high school) in mind. We stopped by the front gate this Sunday, a location that features prominently in the novel. It's a place of perceived danger by Alexander, and the site of a climactic confrontation.

Of course, since I walked daily through those gates, generations of kids have come and gone—and I'm sure that Alexander has been among them in an entire series of variations. Some things, including unfounded fears, are universal to kids of a certain age.

Still, as I stood there, I felt that I not only shared those experiences with all of my predecessor and successor students, but with Alexander as well. I could, if pressed, take you on a walking tour throughout the grounds of the school, and map out precisely where every action in this fictional book took place.

If you've written fiction of this sort, you'll understand: Now, this is very much Alexander's school, too!

"My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," and a short story featuring Alexander, "Why Do You Think They Call It a Ghost Town" are available from most online retailers. I'm currently working on a follow-up novel. Thanks for you support.

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Short Stories and Tumbleweeds

In the year since I published my first novel, "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I've been experimenting with a range of marketing approaches.  I've held a couple of book giveaways on Goodreads, pushed out a series of press releases when appropriate, and tried, the best I could, to encourage reviews on the various online sites where the book is sold. Though I'm working under a modest budget, I've also advertised on a limited basis, and I've given away dozens of promotional copies.

Independent reviews (those I haven't personally recruited) have been everything I could have hoped for, and the recognition I announced here yesterday (see Good Timing: My Book Wins an Award) was a great morale booster for my team (me!).

One particular experiment has been especially frustrating.  As I've been working on the sequel to "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," I thought it would be important to keep my online bookstore active with a possible series of ebook-only short stories based on characters from the book. The first in the series, "Why Do You Think They Call It a Ghost Town?" was released on the traditional sites for 99 cents.  It's a fun story (I think) about Alexander's adventure visiting the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California.

The result was something akin to many ghost towns:

Tumbleweeds.

To be honest, I knew that this was a risky proposition. This is a niche short story, aimed at an audience which may not read short stories, and wouldn't necessarily look for them online. Even so, I must admit, I haven't received a single review on any Amazon, Goodreads or anywhere.

While I'm far enough along the road now that I can say I'm satisfied with the story itself, I remain intrigued the lack of reaction. Good? Bad? Indifferent? I have no idea!  Since "Food Chain" (and it's upcoming follow-up) are really in-depth comedic character studies, perhaps the short story format doesn't work in this "world." Or, perhaps short stories, by their brief nature, don't generate a drive within readers to actually spend the time to create a review.

I had considered the possibility of creating an illustrated version of the story for an actual physical (paper) edition, but now I'm undecided.

Still, even without responses, I'm happy to have a second title available as I continue my quest as an author. I didn't want to disappear for a year and a half, publishing-wise, as I wrote the second book.

Tumbleweeds, after all, aren't obstacles after all. They might be annoying, but you can kick them out of the way pretty easily.

New Ebook Short: Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town?

I've just started the process of releasing Why Do You Think They Call it a Ghost Town?, a standalone short story featuring Alexander, the protagonist in "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain." In this story, Alexander visits the real-life ghost town of Bodie, California. At first, he thinks the trip is going to be one big bore - after all, who wants to look at a bunch of old buildings? Then, he makes some unusual new friends.

It will be launching shortly on all the usual sites for just $.99 [until then, I'm making a copy of the story available free to those who join the "Food Chain" Facebook Page and request it. If you see this notice on my blog, it's still available!].

I'm very curious to see if or how this sells - short stories do well on Amazon, but this story in particular is designed primarily for middle grade readers - and I'm not certain if that age group accesses electronic short stories. It's a fun experiment. I'll be looking forward to seeing how it goes - and what you think!


I'm still working on the second book in the "My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain," and plan to offer several other stories in the "Alexander's Short" series. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts, feedback (and reviews!).