This gratitude extends to Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, the first agent who ever took the time to offer detailed feedback on one of my submissions, and gave me advice that transformed this story from good to great. Alas, she opted in the end not to become my agent, but I’m exceedingly grateful for taking the time to work with an aspiring novelist—something I wish, for the sake of other struggling writers everywhere, agents and editors would do more often.
The artwork gracing the cover of this novel was provided by Patricia Lupien, a longtime friend, a talented artist, a geek girl before geek girls were cool, and someone who deserves the title of co-creator. A couple of the characters in this novel were born during a party game in which we brainstormed ridiculous superheroes and, over the years, were integrated into the concept that eventually mutated into this story.
A word of advice for anyone considering self-publishing: if you can get your hands on a professional editor to give the manuscript a once-over to find all the little flaws and typos you’ve missed despite your repeated readings, do it. I was fortunate enough to have such a person within my extended family in the form of my sister-in-law Tori Fullard, so thanks to her for goof-proofing my manuscript.
A thank-you goes out to Suzanne Collins for some indirect inspiration in the form of her excellent Hunger Games series. It was while devouring the first book that
something clicked in my head and I decided to try writing the story from Carrie’s perspective—and that, kids, is why it is more important for writers to read than it is to write.
(A brief aside: it was Harlan Ellison who first remarked that a writer who writes more than he reads is an amateur, and I wanted to make sure I credited the man properly, because I’m pretty sure Ellison could take me in a fight.)
Finally, thanks to friend and fellow writer Justin Aucoin, whose own experimentation with self-publishing proved the final push I needed to give it a go myself. If you’re a fan of historical fiction with a swashbuckling flair, go online and pick up a copy of A Pirate’s Honor – A Jake Hawking Adventure to get started.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Bailey was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts and raised on a steady diet of comic books, Dungeons & Dragons, Saturday morning cartoons, sci-fi television, and horror movies…which explains a lot.
An effort to parlay his love of geek culture into a career as a comic book artist failed when he figured out he wasn’t that good, so he turned to writing as means of artistic expression. Since then, Michael has written several scripts for New England-area renaissance faires, as well as a number of articles based on faire culture for Renaissance Magazine, and pays the bills working as a staff reporter for his hometown newspaper.
Michael lives in Massachusetts with his wife Veronica, three cats, an English bulldog, and a comic book collection large enough to warrant its own room.
Visit Michael online at www.innsmouthlook.com.
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