Michael Alan Peck

Author of The Commons Books

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Thumbs Up from AIA: Two Great Reviews and a Seal of Excellence

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Thumbs Up from AIA: Two Great Reviews and a Seal of Excellence

I’ve been very happy with the generous and kind reviews The Commons 1: The Journeyman has been getting on Amazon and Goodreads, among other other places. But the folks at Awesome Indies have taken it to another level entirely, with one write-up that gave it “an extremely enthusiastic five stars” and another that called it “something truly extraordinary.”

Now they’ve got me dancing a little jig in my living room, having awarded the book a Seal of Excellence.

That is why we write.

Image credit: Thumb-up by TTsuruda under a Creative Commons license
Concept Art: Ken the Mummy

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Concept Art: Ken the Mummy

My friend Michael Visnov and I grew up trading comics, superhero Slurpee cups, and just about any other comic-related item you can imagine with each other and with like-minded friends. We couldn’t get enough of those worlds and still can’t. So when Mike offered to try his hand at some character concept sketches for The Commons 1: The Journeyman, I was only too happy to set him loose on it.

The best part is that he got started without reading the book and after reading only a few of my character notes, which means that some of his stuff looks nothing like my imagined version of Ken and doesn’t really fit the character. But it doesn’t matter because it’s so much fun, and we’re all left to picture our favorite characters however we like. (That’s one of the reasons I’m always annoyed when book covers adopt the art and cast of their movie adaptations. I like seeing my versions of the characters while reading, and I don’t mind if my imagination alters them as I go.)

I’ll say up front that my favorites are in Concept Sketches 2, seen in the gallery above (click on it for a larger version). I see Ken as number three with number one’s Wayfarers and number two’s eyes when the shades are off. But the rest is a blast. Skeletal Ken (who really would make a great boyfriend for Barbie, no?). Billy Jack Ken. Ben Grimm Ken, even though Ken doesn’t smoke. Just because. And Ken played by Ted Cassidy (who is best known as The Addams Family‘s Lurch, but who will always be treasured for appearing in one of the best fight scenes ever filmed); Abe Lincoln Ken (because I mentioned to Mike that Ken could be thought of as the late president with a willingness to break bones when all alternatives are exhausted), and Liam Neeson Ken (who would crush the role, I think).

Number three comes the closest to illustrating Ken’s character. He’s the philosopher who dispenses relationship advice to a waitress when she wonders if she might deserve better than her current boyfriend. He’s a master of diner puzzles, despite his mitt-sized hands. And when we first meet him and the angry monk Po in a truck-stop restaurant, he does his best to convince the gang of bullying skinheads targeting him and his friend that the brawl they seek will not go well for them. When the skinhead leaders insist, Ken and Po are forced to prove their point with pain.

But all of this art is wonderful, as are the other sketches I’ll highlight in future posts.

What do you see?

We Are a Long Way from Anything

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We Are a Long Way from Anything

‘We are a long way from anything,’ I told him. ‘Up ahead turn left and we’re fifteen or twenty minutes from Cancún. Turn right and you’ve got a batch of sixty miles of nothing. So who are we seeing, where is he and how do you get in touch?’ — John D. MacDonald, The Lonely Silver Rain

Image credit: Geraint Rowland under a Creative Commons license
“[W]ith His Beady Little Eyes”

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“[W]ith His Beady Little Eyes”


“Question: Help! Many years ago there was a TV program called Maverick, which was about two brothers, Bret and Bart. One was played by James Garner and the other by…? It’s driving us nuts. Please try to help. I can see his face, but not his name. Thanks.”

One of my old Televisionary columns. The question was made up to give me an excuse to write about whatever show I wanted to focus on. (I nearly always did that with the first question.) It was about Maverick co-star Jack Kelly, but James Garner’s charm claimed at least half the answer.

Adios, Jim Rockford. No one ever pulled a Firebird J-turn or handed a security guard a stack of phone books, only to then punch the hapless guy in the jaw, like you.

The Journeyman and Me in Sun-Times “Our Town” Blog

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The Journeyman and Me in Sun-Times “Our Town” Blog

Journeyman Sun-Times Our Town

Got a nice gift today from Chicago Sun-Times blogger Sarah Terez Rosenblum: an interview feature in the “Our Town” blog. Not only did I answer questions about The Journeyman, but I was also able to touch upon a topic that’s critical to humanity’s survival and doesn’t get nearly enough attention from the mainstream media: The Island of Misfit Toys.

Much appreciated, Sarah.

I thank you. King Moonracer, Dolly, and The Spotted Elephant thank you. Even the jelly pistol thanks you. He just has a funny way of showing it.

“Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time.”

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“Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time.”

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

In 1973, a despondent man who’d lost faith in humanity wrote a letter to author E.B. White.

White wrote back.

Image credit: Alex under a Creative Commons license

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Agreed.

The condition every art requires is, not so much freedom from restriction, as freedom from adulteration and from the intrusion of foreign matter.

— Willa Cather

[H/T The Passive Voice]

“Read a Lot of Stories”

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“Read a Lot of Stories”

Read a lot of stories, listen to a lot of music, and think about what the stories you encounter mean for your own life and lives of those you love. In that way, you will not be alone with an empty self; you will have a newly rich life with yourself, and enhanced possibilities of real communication with others.

— Martha Nussbaum, quoted on Brain Pickings

Image credit: Thomas Leuthard under a Creative Commons license

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“Go Do It Anyway.”

At this point, I should consider putting Hugh Howey on auto-retweet:

If you are twelve, and reading this right now, know that I was twelve once, too. I was twelve, and I dreamed of being a writer. I filled composition books with stories, but I never finished them. Part of that was because there was no youth NaNoWriMo group showing me what was possible. And there was no KDP or Smashwords to give me the freedom to turn my stories into books. There was no easy outlet for my rampant imagination. Now there is, but it means ignoring those who say you shouldn’t go for it.

Remember that it’s okay to write and publish just to make yourself happy, to make yourself fulfilled. There will be authors out there, readers, publishing experts, and booksellers who say that this outpouring of unprofessional drek is ruining the industry, which makes me wonder if these same people drive through neighborhoods yelling and screaming at people gardening in their back yards, shouting at them that, “You’ll never be a farmer!” Or if they cruise past community basketball courts where men and women unwind with games of pickup and shout at them, “You’ll never make it in the NBA!”

There is a kid learning to dribble a basketball right now who will go on to play shirts-and-skins, lead their high school to a national championship, get drafted in the first round and make millions, and this is no reason for the rest of us to not go out and experience the thrill of a 3-pointer heaved up and swishing right through the net. There is some parent teaching a child how to grip a putter right now and take aim at a clown’s mouth, and that kid will get a $50 million endorsement from Nike, and this is no reason not to go whack a bucket of balls after work. Implicit in the message that only some people should publish is the stance that all publishing is commercial, it’s all about making money, about being a bestseller, a pro. But that’s not the reason I do it. It isn’t why I celebrate writing and encourage people to self-publish. I’ve been doing both for a long time. So if anyone tells you that you can’t do it, that you shouldn’t do it, that you’ll never make a living at it, I urge you to agree with them. And then go do it anyway.

The full column at HuffPo is definitely worth a read. [H/T The Passive Voice]

“Weird is Okay, Strange is Okay”

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“Weird is Okay, Strange is Okay”

‘I’ve reviewed the ninth grade English syllabus and reading list prescribed by the Montgomery County Board of Education,’ he said, ‘And, after careful consideration, I have decided to dispense with it.’

There are many teachers I wish I’d had. This is one.

There are many reasons I love Cowbird as much as I do. This is one.