COFFEE WITH A WRITER! Frostburg Center for Literary Arts, Saturday, October 3

Hosted by the Frostburg Center for Literary Arts

22 East Main St, Frostbugh

Mt. Pleasant Writers Circle to host award-winning author

Thursday, March 19
Book signing at 4:30
Discussion at 5:30 
At the Mt. Pleasant Public Library

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmtpleasant/7836081-74/miller-circle-local#ixzz3Ue2fDNKg

Uniontown's Jason Jack Miller will serve as the guest speaker for the Mt. Pleasant Public Library Writers Circle session at 5:30 p.m. March 19. He will also conduct a book signing beginning an hour prior on that date at the facility at 120 S. Church St. in the borough.

By Marilyn Forbes

Award-winning author Jason Jack Miller of Uniontown will serve as the guest speaker of the Mt. Pleasant Public Library Writers Circle at the group's meeting March 19.

Miller will be at the library at 120 S. Church St. at 4:30 p.m. to sign books. He will then conduct a discussion and reading at 5:30 p.m.

He will talk to members of the circle about his own works and the art of adding local color and flair to their work.

Read the rest: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmtpleasant/7836081-74/miller-circle-local#ixzz3Ue2fDNKg

MURDER BALLADS AND WHISKEY IN SF SIGNAL

John DeNardo, Managing Editor at SF Signal and columnist for Kirkus Reviews, researched this great list of 385 Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror eBooks Priced Less than $5 Each. He has generously included my novels--The Devil and Preston Black, Hellbender, The Revelations of Preston Black--as well as Heidi's Marked by Light, the first book in her Ambasadora space opera series.

Other authors include fellow Seton Hill Writer Tim Waggoner as well as Brandon Sanderson, Paul S. Kemp, Michael Swanwick, Tim Powers, Peter Straub, Lilith Saintcrow, Gail Carriger, Philip Pullman, Marissa Meyer, Justin Gustainis, Chuck Wendig, and about 270 more, give or take.

MIX TAPE: (MOSTLY) ALIVE IN THE NINETIES

I'm not sure if the moment for Nineties nostalgia has passed quite yet, but I'm going to keep it going in my little corner of the internet for just a little longer (i.e., as long as I want.) I've had to hear about the Sixties for most of my life, so a little love for the Nineties shouldn't hurt anybody (any more than, say, a Slap Bracelet would.)

Over the last few weeks I've gotten quite a few Nineties 'jolts' from unexpected places. Most of them came from '20th anniversary' something-or-others. Movie and CD re-releases, TV reunions, like Jimmy Fallon's SAVED BY THE BELL skit. The best came from Heidi when we were discussion something on Netflix that had been described as 'quirky.' She said, "...everything in the Nineties was 'quirky.'" And she's absolutely right. I mean, just look at Cake, which was basically OK Go before the internet created them like some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy/quirk Frankenstein, right?

And she's totally right. In a way, it felt like alternative culture had finally entered the mainstream, probably right around the time U2 did. With THE JOSHUA TREE they burst out of their little patch of real estate on alternative radio, paving the way for the moody surge that followed. (Remember when they were just a 'quirky' little band from Ireland? (So, maybe that descriptor doesn't hold up to bands originating in the Eighties.)) U2 recorded their next album, ACHTUNG BABY, in Germany (quirky) and shifted their influences from Americana to industrial/electronic dance (extra quirky.) That tour saw Bono adopt multiple persona (The Fly, Mirror Ball Man, MacPhisto) and prank-calling sex lines and local politicians from stage. (The White House would NOT take his calls.) The even quirkier PopMart tour came later in the Nineties. The electric spectacle included Golden Arch and giant lemon mirror ball set-pieces.

Between the fall of communism and the election of Bill Clinton, the stage had been set for a new wave of idealism to replace Eighties Gen X cynicism. Silent protests gave way to activism and social and political involvement on a much broader scale. The environmental movement swelled--Al Gore had just published EARTH IN THE BALANCE and 'tree sitting' became a thing. Rock the Vote got young people to the polls in greater numbers. In 1992, youth voter turnout was twenty percent higher than it had been in the previous twenty years, in in 1996, Rock the Vote registered over 500,000 new voters. 

Somewhere, I saw the definition of a bluesman as one who is a '...prisoner of hope.' And that's what the Nineties did to make. Take my Gen X cynicism and add two parts idealism, and you get what's described above. And I suppose that blind idealism has been the source of some of my happiest moments and greatest successes, both personally, professionally, and artistically. So I put this little playlist together to give me a little jolt of something I'm fighting to hang onto when the cynicism and sarcasm start to overwhelm the blue light of hope that fades in a dark corner of my mind. Hope it does something similar for you.

Enjoy. 

LIEBSTER AWARD blog meme!

Sir Michael of Mehalek tagged me in a ten question blog hop known as the LIEBSTER AWARD. So I'll answer the ten questions then nominate a few other people.

1. Where did the idea for your current Work-in-Progress (WIP) come from? 

Interesting question, because this one's been with me for a while. Probably since 1998. I was leaving UNIVERSE OF ENERGY at Disney's EPCOT, which was sponsored by Exxon at the time. (Could still be, haven't checked it out in a while.) On the way out, they had a bunch of stuff about tiger conservation, and I had an idea about a researcher in Siberia realizing that the subject of his study was hunting him. I know, it's brilliant.  Calm yourselves.

Fast-forward to 2015, and I have a LIFE OF PI meets THE THINGS THEY CARRIED thing going on. It's about a veteran of the war in Afghanistan coming to terms with his PTSD as the magic of Dia de los Muertos unfolds around him. So this book has been 17 years in the making, and I am very happy with the way it's developing.   

2. Quote a favorite line from one of your favorite books.

There's a lot that comes to mind, most notably the always-quotable Kerouac, but nothing that jumps out as a 'quotable line.' Sorry. I wish I had a favorite line that I could whip out at parties, but I don't. Does that disappoint anybody?

So here's my Kerouac quote: My witness is the empty sky. 

Now I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one of my OWN quotes as a favorite. After all, I wrote it. Most of my 'quotes' come from passages people have highlighted in the Kindle versions of my books, and I get a kick out of see what they did or didn't dig.

My favorite quote is one nobody's highlighted yet:

Here's how I'll tell you what I think—if you see white smoke then you know I picked a new pope. And if I'm drinking a Snapple then you know I don't give a shit. 

Fucking brilliant.

3. Now quote your favorite line from your current WIP. 

How about this, without any context at all:

I know horse shit when I smell it and this is horse shit.
 

4. What unique challenges has your current WIP had that your previous ones did not?

The fact that this has evolved over the last seventeen years is a unique problem. I finished a few drafts, sent it out to agents and editors, then put it in a drawer. And I'm glad I did, because this book is the most ambitious thing I'd ever attempted, and I'm really happy with the way it's going. The Beatles couldn't have attempted REVOLVER on their first outing because the ideas were too big, the sound too ambitious. That's where I'm at with this.

Of course, your natural inclination is to ask Is this your REVOLVER?

Fucking-A right, it is.

The ideas are bigger than anything I'd ever attempted. I'd gotten close with some of the stuff in REVELATIONS, but the setting and scope of this blow REVELATIONS away, and I love that book. So if you haven't read and reviewed it yet...

Have I told you about THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK yet?

5. If you saw your main character at a party, how would you react?

This is a great question, because Heidi and I returned to Yucatan after I'd written a draft of this and it freaked me out a bit. Imagining my characters out there in the Mexican scrub made me a little nervous, because it had never occurred to me that by writing them, I'd made them real.

I'll never have the chance to encounter one of my main characters at a party. But if you've ever been to a party with me...

6. Who would play your main protagonist/antagonist if your current WIP were made into a movie?

I'd always imagined Paul Walker as Ben Collins, and that's all I'll say about that.

And I imagined Danicka Petráková Prochazka as Mila Kunis, of course. Who else could play this Slavic femme fatale?

7. What are your biggest inspirations for writing?

My wife, Heidi Ruby Miller, got me into this, and one of the biggest reasons I keep going with writing is that it lets me live many lives with her instead of the one I was given.

8. Summarize your WIP as a haiku.

Life gives us one shot, 
We squander it by living
As if it never ends.

9. What role does music play in your writing?

Music is the heartbeat of what I write. In essence, it drives me when I've lost my way. By knowing the themes of what I'm working on, I can construct a playlist that accentuates the emotions of the novel. If I get lost in the story, the music I've chosen can bring me back into it.
 

10. What’s one thing you’ve learned about the craft that you wish you had learned earlier?

That it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.


Tagging Lana Hechtman Ayers, Jay Massiet, Stephanie Wytovich, and Matt Betts. Your turn. 

Introducing the JASON JACK MILLER MIX TAPE!

For a while I'd done a really good job (if I do say so myself) of 'curating' content from a wide variety of sources for this blog. Free material, cool stuff, hidden gems, and esoterica that appealed to me in some ways, which I felt compelled to share with people who enjoyed my books or stumbled upon the blog from elsewhere on the net. I'd done a few BEATLES COVER PROJECTS, where I'd scour YouTube for the best versions of Beatles covers for each album, starting at the very beginning and working toward ABBEY ROAD. For a while I was big on the 'Top 9' list, where I'd shared links to videos based on a particular theme, like Veteran's Day or guitar solos. I'd compiled essential concert bootlegs as a way to connect readers to the music in my books, AND to share some of the things that I love in an attempt to expose interested parties to new artists. The net is full of free, high quality shows that a lot of people don't know about, or have the energy to seek out on their own. (Usually a bit of 'digging' is involved, in order to avoid crappy recordings.) When I figured out how to embed Spotify playlists into the blog, that became one of my favorite things because I didn't need to stick with a specific artist or theme. I'd linked to PDF downloads that I'd found when I thought they might be of interest to writers and/or readers. My most favorite things ever are some of the self-mocking mash-ups and memes I'd begun to compile on this page: WRECK THE NET! The best was the 'Virtual Halloween Costume' I did this year. It even took my mom a moment to figure it out.

(Sorry, Papa.)

Until now, I never really thought about unifying all of that stuff under one header, if only to make it all easier to find. That's where the MIX TAPE idea comes in. Here's where I'm going to curate in one place the items I'd been scattering throughout the blog over the last few years. It's all going to be material that I love, or things that are very personal to me. The idea of a 'mix tape' gives me carte blanche to move beyond the realm of digital media, and I hope to review books, movies, museum exhibits, restaurants here as well. (I could've called it STUFF I LIKE) but the idea of a mix tape is a little more dignified, a little more Gen X, whatever that means.

Please note that I don't own, or host much of what I'll be sharing here. I'm simply collecting the things that please me.

I'm going to start with a little gem from Pearl Jam. Listening to it now, and it sounds great through headphones. I picked it because it was a soundboard, and because I'm thin in Pearl Jam stuff from the late 90s.  

Confession: I'm also in a bit of a PJ kick because the writing things are beginning to evolve in a number of different ways. I'd always admired the way PJ treated their fans, and the way they've fought, and changed, the system.

http://wegotshit.blogspot.com/2010/02/mansfield-ma-091698-soundboard.html

Disc 1:
01. Throw Your Arms Around Me (Ed pre-set)
02. Release
03. Brain Of J.
04. Hail, Hail
05. "To John"
06. Given To Fly
07. Dissident
08. MFC
09. Corduroy
10. Wishlist
11. Even Flow
12. Faithfull
13. Spin The Black Circle
14. I Got Shit
15. Improv
16. Habit
17. Off He Goes
18. "Lawn Orgies"
19. Present Tense

Disc 2:
01. Black
02. Do The Evolution
03. Porch
04. Go/Quarter Rant
05. State Of Love And Trust
06. Better Man
07. Alive
08. "Thanks"
09. Last Kiss

Check out the how here: We Got Shit...A Pearl Jam Bootleg Site

For some of these shows you're going to need a RAR extractor. I've been using this one: RAR Extract Frog

Amazon Countdown Deal is in full swing!

Get it on Amazon for your Kindle!

The PRESTON BLACK MIX TAPE bundle is a literary box set! (Almost 220,000 words of Preston Black goodness.) You get both Preston Black novels—THE DEVIL & PRESTON BLACK and THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK, plus two short stories that were only available in other anthologies. ALMOST A NEW YEAR is a vignette that shows how family and friends deal with the loss of a deployed soldier, in this case Stu Croe. RHYTHM OF WAR is Ben Collins’ first person account of his role in the Battle of Fallujah.

In addition to the stories above, you get the following essays, articles, and non-fiction bits I’ve published in various places over the course of writing the first two Preston Black novels:
THE DEVIL & PRESTON BLACK Reading & Resource Guide
THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK Reading & Resource Guide
THE MUSIC OF THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK
JASON JACK MILLER’S SOUNDCHECK: DON’T BE THAT GUY! THE FINAL SAY IN THE CONCERT T-SHIRT DEBATE
JASON JACK MILLER’S SOUNDCHECK: THE MUSIC AND THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK
Because You CAN’T, You WON’T, You DON’T Stop: ADAM YAUCH
Murder Ballads and Old Magic
A LOOK BACK, A LOOK AHEAD
AMERICANA MUSIC: THE ROOT(s) of (SOME, NOT ALL) EVIL
PATHS TO PUBLICATION: Preston Black
PUTTING THE BOOK TO BED
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRESTON BLACK!

MIX TAPE COUNTDOWN DEAL STARTS TOMORROW!

Get it for your Kindle at Amazon.com!

I LOVE THESE VINTAGE ADS!

Get the PRESTON BLACK MIX TAPE at Amazon!

THE PRESTON BLACK MIX TAPE IS HERE!

See it at Amazon!

The PRESTON BLACK MIX TAPE bundle is a literary box set! (Almost 220,000 words of Preston Black goodness.) You get both Preston Black novels—THE DEVIL & PRESTON BLACK and THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK, plus two short stories that were only available in other anthologies. ALMOST A NEW YEAR is a vignette that shows how family and friends deal with the loss of a deployed soldier, in this case Stu Croe. RHYTHM OF WAR is Ben Collins’ first person account of his role in the Battle of Fallujah.

In addition to the stories above, you get the following essays, articles, and non-fiction bits I’ve published in various places over the course of writing the first two Preston Black novels:

• THE DEVIL & PRESTON BLACK Reading & Resource Guide
• THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK Reading & Resource Guide
• THE MUSIC OF THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK
• JASON JACK MILLER’S SOUNDCHECK: DON’T BE THAT GUY! THE FINAL SAY IN THE CONCERT T-SHIRT DEBATE
• JASON JACK MILLER’S SOUNDCHECK: THE MUSIC AND THE REVELATIONS OF PRESTON BLACK
• Because You CAN’T, You WON’T, You DON’T Stop: ADAM YAUCH
• Murder Ballads and Old Magic
• A LOOK BACK, A LOOK AHEAD
• AMERICANA MUSIC: THE ROOT(s) of (SOME, NOT ALL) EVIL
• PATHS TO PUBLICATION: Preston Black
• PUTTING THE BOOK TO BED
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRESTON BLACK!