william mizeThe Series | william mize

Sunday Morning Plotting Session at Panera

William Mize — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 13:42:39 +0000

I’ve always considered writers block to be a condition where you don’t have enough information.
Enough information about the characters.
Enough information about what needs to happen.
Enough information about what you want to say.

The above photo is me, trying to correct this situation.I need to immerse myself in this world, this book, these characters, until I feel comfortable and instinctively know that all is well and all will be well.

Music From “Everlasting Life”

William Mize — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:15:34 +0000

If you’ve read my second book, Everlasting Life, you know that there’s a death in the Denton and Monty family.
During those hospital scenes, I take great care in inserting music and lyrics into to the story.
I heard this piece of music decades ago, when it first came out and immediately became one of the best selling classical recordings of all time.

The music is by Polish composer Henryk Gorecki, it’s his Third Symphony, or “The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”.
The 1991 version with the London Sinfonetta and vocalist Dawn Upshaw sold over 700,000 copies in less than two years. This was the beginning of the compact disc era and the end of the cassette and this recording is especially thought of as a victory for the CD format.

The Wikipedia link is here, where you can learn more about the piece.

The direct link to the YouTube video of the complete piece is here, just in case you can’t see the embedded video above.

I truly hope you enjoy it, perhaps even if you don’t normally like, or go for, classical music.
It’s beyond Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart – this is a modern piece, by a modern day composer.
It’s like nothing you have ever heard, and now that you have, I hope it brings greater enjoyment to your reading of Everlasting Life.

Denton and Monty Now Best Friends With Steve Jobs

William Mize — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:15:35 +0000

That’s right!
Your favorite detectives are now available as eBooks in the Apple iBookstore.
If you’ve got an iPad or iPhone or Apple computer that needs some good books on it, you need to hustle over here.

As promised, Resurrection Angel is still 99 cents and Everlasting Life is $2.99.

Forever!

Everlasting Life Now On Sale! Forever!

William Mize — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:27:30 +0000

As I aggressively move forward into the realm of eBooks, one of my main struggles has been to come up with a coherent and consistent pricing plan.
Wandering through amazon, the 300 pound gorilla of eBooks, I see thousands of eBooks for free, thousands upon thousands for 99 cents, and a great many that are just too damn expensive.

By “too damn expensive”, I mean that if you look at the print price and then the Kindle price there isn’t that great of a disparity.
And I believe that there should be.
For my first book, Resurrection Angel, the print price is $18.95 and the eBook version is 99 cents.
That’s a 95% disparity.
For my second book, Everlasting Life, the print price is $17.95, and the eBook version WAS $7.99.
That’s a good disparity, but I believed that it should be better.
Why? How?

By looking at the numbers.
During the first month of Resurrection Angel’s price change (from $7.99 to .99), sales were up a thousand fold, but those sales didn’t roll over to Everlasting Life.
They were willing to pay the 99 cent admission fee to the journey of Denton and Monty, but unwilling to pay the $7.99 fee to continue the journey.
I refuse to believe that’s because they thought the first book sucked.
I chose to accept that it was because the eBook price was too damn high.

So I am lowering it.
Everlasting Life, and all future eBooks will be priced the exact same, irregardless if they’ve been out one day or out five years.
They will all be $2.99.

Why?
Because I have made a conscious choice.
A conscious choice that will affect my future, both creative and financial.
I have made a conscious choice to choose readers over dollars.

If you think dollars, and price your eBook too high, you will lose readers.
If you think readers, and price your eBook just right, you will gain readers and you will gain dollars.

I want readers who are in this for the long haul, because I certainly am.

No matter how much money I make, no matter how many readers I gain, I will, at the end of this creative journey, have a set of 12 books that tell the story of Denton Ward and Monty Crocetti on my bookshelf.
That will never change.

I hope that you will tell others about this drastic price drop.
I hope that you will email this, tweet this, share on Facebook, do whatever you can to let folks know.

Thank you, as always for your love, your support and encouragement.

Got A Buck? Get A Book!

William Mize — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:02:14 +0000

Dollar © by MoneyBlogNewz

That’s right!
If you’ve got a buck, I’m going to give you the Kindle version of “Resurrection Angel” for 99 cents.
For less than a buck, you can read the Shamus Award nominated Best First Novel that started it all. Meet Denton Ward, meet Monty Crocetti and find out just what keeps readers coming back for more.
Don’t have a Kindle?
No excuses, baby!
You can read Kindle books on your iPhone, iPad, PC, Mac, Blackberry and Android phone.
If you don’t have one of those, just how are you reading this message again?

If you need Kindle software for your computer, go here.

If you’re ready to get that book, then you scurry over here.

As always, I truly hope you enjoy the book and I hope that if you enjoy it, you’ll write a review on amazon, or more importantly, tell everyone you know who loves good mysteries, great characters and a captivating series.

Get In Touch, Keep In Touch

William Mize — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:24:15 +0000

It seems as if it’s been a million years since I’ve updated this blog.
But I figure you can’t miss me if I don’t go away :)

Sure, I’ve been busy, but I’ve also been kind of rethinking my whole Social Networking scheme for world domination.
I went back to Facebook.
I know, I know.

I ran away like a scalded cat about a year ago, but went back recently after discussing with friends and confidantes the best way to really promote the series and some new works I’m planning.
And, like it or not, Facebook has become the kudzu of the Internet.
Their creeping, clinging tendrils are everywhere.
And, everyone is pretty much on Facebook.
Gotta go to where the action is, privacy be damned.

So, in keeping with that theory, here’s where we stand:

First, I have a fan page here.
This is going to be a low traffic page strictly used for promoting the series, talking about writing, listing convention appearances and answering questions from fans.
Everything that I post here on this blog will automatically be posted over on the fan page, so if you prefer getting your Denton and Monty news via Facebook, this is the way to go.

Second, I have a personal page here.
This is going to be a high traffic, stream of consciousness page used for me to communicate, play, talk with, entertain and just generally have fun with my friends.
My friends.

Let us discuss that word briefly, shall we?
In this age of the internet, Live Journal, Facebook, Twitter and other social websites, the word “friend” has become diluted, warped and misunderstood.
My personal page is going to be for folks that I’ve met, for folks that I know, for folks that I trust.
I trust my friends.

Too often in this modern day and age, we say “friend” when we actually mean acquaintance.
If you’re an acquaintance, that means we may or may not have met in person, but we know of each other, and you’re interested in getting to know me better.
And that’s totally cool.
If you’re a friend, that means we’ve met, we’ve bonded, we’ve shared thoughts, had discussions, bought each other beers and generally gotten to know each other.

This above is my measuring stick when it comes to Facebook Friend Requests.
If you’re a complete stranger or a cursory acquaintance from my past, go to the Fan Page. Click on “Like”, and let’s get to know each other.
When I post, you comment on the post.
I comment on your comment.
We discuss, talk, play, joke back and forth.
That’s how acquaintances become friends.

If you’re a friend, get your ass over to my personal page and do that whole Friend Request thing, and let’s get caught up.
Tell me what you’ve been up to.
Look over my posts and see what I’ve been up to.
When I post, feel free to join in the discussion.
Tell me I’m right, tell me I’m wrong, tell me I’m crazy, it’s all good.
Because friends can tell each other those things.

I look forward to seeing you on Facebook.

No related posts.

The Many Faces of Amazon’s Kindle

William Mize — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:05:17 +0000

As I mentioned in my last blog post, my first book, Resurrection Angel is available for amazon’s kindle. And as of right now, my second book, Everlasting Life, is also available in e-book format.

But just what does that mean to you?
What if you don’t have a Kindle?

Here’s a surprise – you don’t need one!
That’s right. You can take advantage of the many thousands of e-books on amazon, right now, and all you need to do is download the free Kindle app (for your iPhone, iPad or Blackberry) or software (available for both PC and Mac) and you’re ready to start reading!

Just click here and look on the left hand side for the application or software that you need.
After that, you can go to my author page on amazon and there are my books!
Click on the one you want, look for the Kindle version, then look on the right hand side for ‘Buy Now With 1 Click” or “Send Sample Now” for a free preview!
That’s pretty sweet, right? Right.

What’s also very cool is that there are thousands upon thousands of free e-books that you can be devouring within minutes. Classics, poetry, mystery, science fiction, horror, self-help, philosophy, religion – you have an interest in it, I’m sure amazon has an e-book available to whet your appetite.

I personally downloaded the complete works of noted horror writer H. P. Lovecraft in a matter of minutes, for only $4. Sure, I could have gotten certain ‘printings’ for free, but I like downloading the free samples and looking at different formatting, different cover designs, and finding one that I like best aesthetically.
I recommend that you do the same. Its literally like going into your favorite bookstore, taking the book off the shelf and flipping through it before you buy it.
Freakin’ genius, that’s what it is.
Next, I got the complete Charles Dickens for free. FREE!
And Lord knows I love me some Dickens; and now I have his entire body of work, any time I want it, on my iPhone or on my home computer or my little netbook.

I guess my point here is that you don’t need a fancy Kindle, iPad or iPhone to get started in the e-book revolution. All you need is your computer and a few minutes of time and you’ll be ready to start exploring.

I wish you the best! Have fun! Discover something new!
And as always, thank you for your support of the series, Denton and Monty.

Resurrection Angel Now Available As eBook

Resurrection Angel Now Available As eBook

William Mize — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:35:40 +0000

That’s right!
I’ve joined the 21st century, and have decided to make my first book, Resurrection Angel available as a non-DRM e-book for amazon’s Kindle reader.
If you’re a Kindle owner, now is your chance to take Denton and Monty along with you.
You can check it out here.
The second book, Everlasting Life, should also be available for the Kindle soon. Keep watching here or on Facebook or Twitter for that announcement.
As always, thank you to you all for your love and support for the series.

“Everlasting Life”: The Movie

William Mize — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:14:10 +0000

Well, the first imaginary movie based on my series “Resurrection Angel” was such a hit, broke so many box office records that Hollywood immediately gave the green light to a movie based on the second book, “Everlasting Life”.

As before, if you don’t wanna know now, turn away. But if you’d like to see who I cast, who I think would make a great cast, then read on, MacDuff.

The Cast of “Everlasting Life”

Denton Ward: Because this is my fantasy, I decided that Val Kilmer was too difficult during filming and we, in those famous words ‘decided to go in a different direction’ and signed Guy Pearce to play the tormented psychic Denton Ward in the second movie. I think he would play better off of Petty’s Monty Crocetti, and would bring the real wounded animal out in Denton that is necessary for this second movie.

Montgomery Crocetti: Of course, I went back to the well on this one; there will never be another actress that could play Monty Crocetti besides Lori Petty. I just think that she would get the character, get the part, get the combination of mother, nursemaid, punk rocker and ass kicker that is my Monty. Can you tell I have a crush on my own fictional character? How pathetic is that? (Answer: very)

Nicholas Shanley: Robin Williams was not difficult nor manic nor zany nor any of that other crap during filming, so he gets the callback as dying lawyer Nicholas Shanley. Again, I really think that he would do this part up right. He would lose the weight required, would portray the frail barrister as the hero he truly is, but sometimes fails to recognize. I can totally see the scenes between Williams and Pearce in my mind, and they would be brilliant together.

Emilio Gonzalez: I know who and what Emilio is in my head, so I went with that image when writing it, but when it came to casting for this entry, I realized that my knowledge of young Latino actors was woefully inadequate. But a stroke of luck had the movie “Crazy/Beautiful” on this weekend, and I found Jay Hernandez quite a good young actor. I think he could bring the necessary swagger and fragile facade to the role of the young untested lawyer.

Jean-Baptiste LeRoi: Okay, so I have no idea who this actor is. I remember vaguely seeing him in a sitcom years ago, and I grabbed this picture immediately to put in the binder for this book, but I didn’t write down the guy’s name and that’s a shame, because he would be the proud, reclusive, Jean-Baptiste. He’s got the accent, the looks, the dreads, the air of royalty. If you know who he is, drop me a line in the comments, I’d like to at least give him credit.

Rico: Proud, impulsive, brash, dangerous, with a certain feral sexuality – that’s our boy Rico, played by Antonio Sabado, Jr. If Jean-Baptiste is Gandhi, then Rico is Malcolm X. A hand grenade with the pin pulled. You never know when it will explode and blow off your hand. I think Sabado, Jr. could do that easily. And yes, he does look like Emilio/Hernandez above. Do you think that’s an accident? Discuss.

Adrienne Flaherty: There’s nothing like a good Irish girl to play a good Irish girl. This is Andrea Corr, from the Irish band, The Corrs. She’s got the tough, slightly rocker/goth chick look going on here, and I think that’s a good thing. There needed to be similarities between Adrienne and Monty and this works for me. She’s a small part of the story, but she’s the catalyst to everything that happens afterward.

Detective Williams: I forgot about him in the “Resurrection Angel” movie. The ex-NFL running back turned police detective, who had to serenade his daughter with a thoughtful, kind, rendition of “Hush Little Baby”. This is Roger E. Mosley, whom I am sure that most of you will remember from his stint as Tom Sellick’s sidekick on “Magnum P.I.”. Well, he’s assisting another private investigator and this one is better looking than Sellick.

Miss Charlotte: I tell you, sometimes I get more emails about my secondary characters than I do about Denton and Monty. With “Resurrection Angel” it was the Andersen family. With this book, it’s always Miss Charlotte. Everyone loves her. And of course, I have found the perfect actress to play her. Her name is June Gable, but several million of you will remember her as Joey’s agent Estelle from “Friends”. Who didn’t love Estelle? Who doesn’t love Miss Charlotte?

I hope you enjoyed this little casting session and I truly hope that it has brought some more enjoyment to your reading of the series. I certainly had fun doing it. It’s very satisfying to communicate with the fans of the series, show you a bit more behind the scenes. This is my equivalent of a DVD commentary track. I’d love to reveal more, but I think I’ll save that until after book twelve.

Thanks for your love, your emails and your support.

- Bill

“Resurrection Angel”: The Movie

Autographed Copies Now Available on Amazon

William Mize — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:28:31 +0000

A bit ago, I announced that you could buy autographed copies of my books directly from me.
Figure you want, add up the charges, send me some money via PayPal, and hey presto – you are done.

But then I thought that folks might not be comfortable sending me money or might not have a PayPal account, or perhaps are living in a cave and can’t read this right now.

So, I’ve started selling new, personally autographed copies via amazon.

Maybe you’re more comfortable using amazon, maybe you’ve got some gift cards burning a hole in your pocket – who knows?

All I know is that I’m all about the ~~enabling~~, er, helping.

Perfect for gifts, holidays, wish lists and midnight impulse buying.

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