English Historical Fiction Authors!!!

Today, I’m hanging out over at English Historical FictionAuthors – the home of everything regarding English Literature in Fiction! 

I recently joined the great crew at this shared gathering place, where fans of fiction set in Britain can get together to discuss all their favorite eras throughout history. I’m proud to be the newest addition to their long list of awesome authors.

Go check it out, and let me know what you think! Thanks!

 http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/

A Moveable Feast

Paris is a Party. That’s what Hemingway’s memoir about living in Paris is called in French. But today this little autobiography has taken on a new meaning in the City of Light after the most recent terrorist attacks.

I meant to post something about this a while back, but didn’t get to it until now. Basically, Parisians have been buying up Hemingway’s book like crazy and leaving copies of it all around Paris as a symbol of hope and solidarity against the forces of evil and terror. In my opinion, that’s a pretty rad way for art to influence life and fight the good fight for liberty and goodness all at once.

I bet Hemingway would be proud.

  

So what books have had a profound impact on the way you see the world? What stories continue to inspire you and give you hope?  

My Amazon Author Page!

Finally, I got this baby up and running. When my publisher released the cover for Between Two Fires and made Amazon preorders available online, several of my awesome fellow bloggers started pinging me and saying…“dude, where’s your author page at?”

Well, here it is: amazon.com/author/marknoce.

Needless to say, I’m definitely psyched to have a name and face to go with my book. Now the experience has gotten me all curious about looking at other authors' pages on Amazon, checking when their books are available and what events they may be at. I know, I know…welcome to the 21^st Century, Mark.

Anyhow, I’m curious how others out there typically look up their favorite authors. Do you usually search Amazon first or do you go to Goodreads? Or somewhere else?

The Fun of Fan Fiction

Lately, I’ve been indulging in the addictive vice of fan fiction. But I like to take things a step further by inserting my friends into these little short stories. I’ve been particularly enthralled with some fan fiction in the Star Wars universe, making every character some Star War-ish version of one of my real life pals.

Needless to say, it’s pretty low pressure, and all fun, which is what writing’s supposed to be in the first place. Also, my friends get a kick out of seeing themselves in print as they wield lightsabers or fly X-wings through perilous dangers and whatnot. The side benefit is that this type of writing every once in a while helps recharge my creative batteries for larger writing endeavors.

So how are you trying to unwind and let loose with the start of the New Year? Have you seen The Force Awakens? What do you think?   

Cover Reveal for Between Two Fires!!!

Checkout the new cover for my debut novel, Between Two Fires!

A big thank you to Thomas Dunne Books and St. Martins’ Press for putting together such awesome cover art! The first of my historical fiction series coming out next August, it’s already available on Amazon for preorders. It’s also available on the UK, French, German, Italian, and Japanese Amazon websites so far.

But don’t take my word for it, you can read the blurb on my novel as well as get a better look at the cover here on Amazon. At the moment, preorders are only available in hardcover, but will eventually be available in paperbacks and eBook versions too.

Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped at seeing my work getting a visual “face,” especially after all the heart and soul I’ve put into this book over the past few years. I’ll definitely be counting the days until Between Two Fires comes out in August 2016!

You can also checkout the cover on my revamped website here and here!!!

One Lifetime Isn’t Enough

I’m always intrigued by artistic output. How many songs does a musician generate over a lifetime? How many sonnets does a poet dream up?

As an author myself, I know many fellow writers and I can certainly pen 2-3 full length novels a year. Obviously, we’re not doing it just to generate words, but to create something truly beautiful. But it still begs the question, what happens to all those books? All that art?

It’s certainly way more than any publishing house can handle, and it explains how authors long dead still continue to come out with books (just look at Michael Crichton, Mark Twain, and Irene Nemirovski). Heck, there’s a new Frank Sinatra album coming out this year with 100 songs, 91 of which have never been heard by the public before, and that guy’s been dead for seventeen years!

My conclusion is that one lifetime simply isn’t enough for any single artist. An individual can generate so much art over the course of a few decades that it ends up taking many more decades after their death just for all of it to reach an audience. Food for thought.

But the bright side is, there’s more than enough books, music, and art in this world for the rest of us to last a lifetime.    

Mention in Alma Mater Magazine

So a friend of mine sent me this yesterday. Apparently, my university mentioned me in their magazine, which is pretty cool considering I didn’t solicit them and they didn’t contact me about it. Needless to say, it made my day.

Of course, they’re a bit off on the publication date. My debut novel, Between Two Fires, doesn’t come out with St. Martin’s Press until September of 2016. But hey, I’m still happy just to get the mention. Go Cal Poly!