Life on Mars

Last night, I finished the first (and only) season of the US remake of the British TV series Life on Mars. I thoroughly enjoyed it--in fact, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I plowed through the series in four days.

For those who haven't seen it, the plot of Life on Mars is thus: In the year 2008, a cop named Sam Tyler is in an accident and wakes up in 1973. He has no idea what's happening to him, or even if it's real. The series is his journey to figure out what's going on and how to get back to 2008.

In the interest of full disclosure, one of the big reasons I enjoyed the show so much was Jason O'Mara. I mean, look at him:

Check him out. What a quality actor. He was the sole redeeming quality of Terra Nova, which I desperately wanted to like, but there just weren't enough dinosaurs. But back to Jason O'Mara. He looks so good in a jacket. Unf.

Life on Mars was supposed to be a multi-season affair. However, the series was cancelled in its first season. The writers got wind of it ahead of time and were able to wrap up the series in the final episode, revealing the truth of how Sam had ended up in 1973.

I knew the ending before I watched the series, as a friend of mine had told me about it a few years ago. No spoilers, but allow me to say that I'm very, very glad that I knew how it ended beforehand, because if I hadn't...

Yeah, that would've been my reaction. In fact, I'm still feeling kind of ripped off. With that ending, I feel like the whole series was pointless, that Sam went through all that stuff for no reason, and accomplished nothing in the end. I'm sure the ending would've felt better (and less tacked-on) if the series had been able to play out for more than a season. The ending was rushed, but there was no getting around it. Still, despite the too-quick ending, I still heartily recommend Life on Mars.

Even if retro-style police dramas aren't your thing, at least watch it for the soundtrack. I'm a big fan of '70s music, and I seriously want to download the show's full soundtrack. (At the moment, my favorite song that played during the series is probably "All The Young Dudes" by Mott The Hoople.)

Have any of you seen Life on Mars? What did you think? Oh, and if you've seen the original British version, should I watch it?

BIG NEWS: Updated Flicker Content!

(If you have a digital copy of Flicker, you definitely want to read this blog post!)

One of the beauties of indie publishing is that I can update my books as needed—upload a new cover, edit typos, fix formatting snafus. It also means that I can add content to a book that is already published.

After I first published Flicker, I got a lot of feedback from readers and reviewers. I noticed that several people were mentioning that the first chapter wasn’t quite working for them. For some readers, it was a little slow, and the “teen drama” wasn’t exactly their thing. I thought long and hard about that feedback, talked it out with my family and did a lot of contemplating, before finally deciding that I agreed with those readers. The first chapter could be faster, more action-packed. It could cut down on the "drama."

That was when I decided to rewrite the first chapter.

It’s an almost complete revamp (though, for Lee, the end result of the chapter is much the same), and I’m extremely happy with it—much happier than I was with the original chapter. I feel like the pace is better, and the chapter is just more exciting and better-written all around. Plus, it gave me a chance to explore an idea that I’d toyed with at the beginning, one that seemed to be in readers’ minds as well: What if Lee went to the party after all? What would’ve happened?

Of course, rewriting the chapter does affect the rest of the book. I had to go through and edit the references to the original chapter, updating them to reflect the new version. Still, the overall book hasn’t changed much, other than the opening (hopefully) being more exciting for readers.

You may be wondering where that leaves you, if you’ve already purchased the ebook (or downloaded it while Flicker was being given away for free on Amazon). Well, have no fear! You can get the updated edition of Flicker for your Kindle. Here’s what you have to do:

If you have already bought/downloaded Flicker and you want the updated content, you have to contact Amazon Kindle Customer Service, by phone or email, and ask to have the new version "pushed" onto your Kindle. (It helps if you have the original order number, but if you don't have it on-hand, the Amazon sales representative should be able to look it up for you.)

DO NOT PURCHASE THE BOOK AGAIN. My understanding is that buying the book again will just result in a download of the same edition you got the first time around.

Here's the Amazon contact info:

Amazon Kindle Customer Service
866-216-1072 (US)
206-266-2992 (International) 

It takes a little effort, but it’s worth it, I promise!

But the new first chapter isn’t the only reason to get the updated edition of Flicker. It’s got some other new content, as well: a sneak peek of Brightly (Flicker #2), as well as a short story prequel, “What We Can’t See.” (You may have read the short story here on my blog or on Goodreads, but now you can have it on your Kindle, too!)

(I’ll admit it: I’m especially excited for you guys to read the Brightly teaser and get a taste of what’s in store for Lee, Nasser, Filo and the gang!)

Let me know (via comment/FB/Twitter/email) if you get the updated ebook, and what you think of the new content—first chapter, teaser and all!

SpoCon 2012: Part One

After a great weekend, I'm back home and ready to blog!

Let's get the biggest part of the weekend out of the way. At SpoCon 2012, I met Peter S. Beagle! I even enlisted a random boy by the elevator to take a photo:

You are looking at one of the highlights of my life so far. (And check out that awesome shirt!)

A bit of background on this moment... I glanced around for a person to take the photo, I told Mr. Beagle, “I’m sure you get this all the time, but The Last Unicorn has meant so much to me…”

And it was right about then that I started to cry.

I mean, I wasn’t sobbing or anything. But my voice sort of cracked, and I could feel myself working up toward crying. I apologized and tried to get control of myself.

It was the strangest thing! I really didn’t expect to get emotional like that, not for any author or celebrity. Going in, I knew I’d be excited and nervous—but all of a sudden, there I was, standing right next to the person who had done so much for me. The Last Unicorn was a huge part of my childhood; to this day, I have whole chunks of it memorized. The novel is a daily inspiration to me. All those feelings (gratitude, especially) just welled up in me all at once. In that moment, I realized there was no way I could express all the ways he’d helped me, the ways he’d affected me. There was no way to properly thank him. And that’s when I started getting emotional.

He was so nice about it. He told me that my words were a fulfillment of a dream of his, one that he’d had since he was fifteen years old—which, of course, only made it more difficult for me not to cry. But as he told me a lovely little anecdote about when he met a certain writer he admired and devolved “into a fourteen-year-old fanboy,” I got a hold of myself, and we took the picture. 

Like I said--a highlight of my life so far.

The next day, I had the opportunity to go to a screening of The Last Unicorn, where Mr. Beagle himself gave commentary. It took all my self control not to melt into a puddle of goo. What an amazing experience!

Later that afternoon, I stopped by Mr. Beagle's table in the vendors’ hall and asked him to sign my books (and DVD sleeve). He did—and he remembered my name from the night before! (He actually said, “It’s Kaye, right? With an ‘E’? That’s what I thought it was.”) I almost died of happiness, but you'll all be proud to know that I did not cry that time.

(I'll update this post with some photos of my beautiful, beautiful signed books and DVD sleeve.)

Up Next: SpoCon 2012: Part Two! (This is where I'll blog about some really wonderful folks.)

Preparing for SpoCon 2012

This weekend, I'm going to be attending SpoCon (the local sci-fi/fantasy convention in Spokane, Washington). I leave for Spokane in the morning, and I'm utterly thrilled to be going!

The guest of honor this year is Peter S. Beagle.

Peter S. Beagle.

PETER S. BEAGLE.

In case you can't tell, I consider this a Very Big Deal--a Huge Deal, even. The Last Unicorn was my favorite movie as a child, and to this day, I retain my passion for both that movie, and unicorns in general. (The Last Unicorn is also the reason why I've spent my whole life subconsciously responding to Jeff Bridges' sweet, sweet voice. He's the voice of Prince Lir!)


Of course, the original novel is pure poetry. Its beauty makes me weep. (Literally--there have been tears.) Even the graphic novel is absolutely stellar.

So imagine my delight when I found out that Peter S. Beagle himself would be at SpoCon:

I was totally floored. In fact, for the last few months, I've found myself gazing dreamily into the distance and whispering, "Peeeeter S. Beaaaagllleeee..." in an awed tone.

Oh! Before I forget, I'm also going to be on several panels at SpoCon! Three cheers for that! You can see my schedule here.

If you're around this weekend, be sure to say hello!

Bonus Story: "What We Can't See"

As a special treat, I'm going to post a short story that I originally wrote for a guest post on For What It's Worth. The story takes place about one year before the events of Flicker, and is dedicated to my friend Jordan, who wanted to read more about Alice. Enjoy!

Summary: When Filo and Alice face a poltergeist, they have another ghost to deal with—one that won't disappear so easily.

Successful Saturday (and Friday)!

The Kindle promotion was a greater success than I dared to dream...

Between 6:40 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. last night, Flicker was #1 in sci-fi/fantasy in the free Kindle store!

*throws confetti everywhere*

I am astounded. I never thought I’d see the cover of my book in a #1 slot (not even in the “free” category), right next to Catching Fire and The Hunger Games. I’m still wigging out over here!

At the end of the giveaway, Flicker peaked at #3 in the romance category, and #69 overall in the free Kindle store!

Look! Flicker was downloaded more times than A Tale of Two Cities and the Bible!

This is, more or less, how I’ve been feeling since last night:

Now, I never could’ve hit #1 without the help of some exceedingly lovely book bloggers, who promoted the giveaway via their blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts. Special shout-out to the fabulous folks at The Reading Café, Novel Nerd Bailey, Kindle Fever, The Book Whales, Hey Tara, and everyone else who blogged, Tweeted, Facebooked, or otherwise spread the word about Flicker and made this possible. Thank you so much for your help and support! You guys rock!

And to everyone who downloaded Flicker this weekend… THANK YOU!!! I honestly can’t thank you enough. You—yes, you—are beautiful and perfect. Never change!

I hope you enjoy Flicker. Feel free to hit me up via blog/email/Twitter/Goodreads/etc. to let me know what you think!

FREEBIE FRIDAY (and Saturday)!

Today and tomorrow, (July 20 and July 21), Flicker is FREE ON AMAZON KINDLE!

If you haven't gotten your copy of Flicker yet, now's your chance! Download a copy, tell your friends, and enjoy! Feel free to hit me up on my blog/email/etc. and let me know what you think!