“Little Free Library” Release Week Giveaways

Today is the day. The Method Writers paperback has officially been released! To celebrate, the Rogues Gallery Writers with cooperation from our publisher, Dreamer Publications, are continuing with the promotional giveaways.

This week, the Rogues of the North, Bridget Callaghan and Jeff Swesky, will be giving away free copies of The Method Writers paperback by way of the Little Free Library charters in Traverse City, Michigan. The first copy was placed into a Traverse City area Little Free Library this morning. We’re not going to tell you which one, of course. Consider it an Easter egg hunt, but for books. If you do find/win a copy, please let us know what you think of our novel.

In learning that many of the LFL charters have become somewhat depleted following last week’s National Cherry Festival (seems there had been much more taking than returning,) Dreamer Publications gave us surplus copies of Rabbi Samuel Cywiak’s award-winning and best-selling Holocaust memoir, Flight From Fear, to distribute to the LFL locations as well.

If you’re not familiar with the Little Free Library program, please visit their website to learn more about this wonderful global movement that promotes literacy, community, and the love of reading.

 

Preparing for Launch

We’re only days away from our official paperback release date (July 11th, 2016) of The Method Writers. The promotional copies just arrived, and damn they’re looking good:

  

The Method Writers paperback is now available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others soon to follow. This weekend we aim to stand up our book launch page, methodwriters.com, which is currently pointing to our blog. The new site will be a responsive book launch page, which will include the option to download the first six chapters as an ebook sample.

We’ve all worked very hard on this paperback edition and are extremely proud of it. Thanks to our family, friends, and fans for all of your love and support; past, present, and future.

The Rogues

Attention Rogue Nation!

It’s been a while since we’ve been present out here (nearly two years!,) but we have some exciting news to share. This summer, the paperback release of The Method Writers will be published by Dreamer Publications! Please stay tuned for future updates both on this site and www.DreamerPublications.com.

 

 

A New Life (Part six)

Time. Surreal when I think about what just transpired a couple hours ago. I lie here, the rise and fall of my chest lending her lovely head the appearance of a yacht lazily floating a calm, rolling sea. How did I end up in the company president’s bed?

That’s the surreal part. One minute I’m a nobody who sits in on her board meetings, the next we make love and crash in her plush penthouse apartment. She probably has more cash in her dainty purse than I have in all both my bank accounts –  savings and checking.

We have connection, though. There’s a “rightness” to her that compels me to dream of more nights like this. Even more so, even as I lay here dreaming, I’m thinking of all the incredible things the two of us can accomplish.

I have some pretty cool theories on a major project that could use the power of Marci’s research savvy and, of course, her financial backing. I feel conflicted now, because I don’t want to ask for these things having just romped her around in the sack for a couple hours. That feels crass.

I can surely dream, though. I can dream at least until the softness of her body  overtakes my ability to resist the temptation to wake her up. As soon as the thought hits my brain, I’m off on the various, incredible ways to bring her back to life. But what about my research project?

I’m a mess. There’s not many men who would be too concerned about offending the beautiful, naked woman sleeping with her arm draped over me like this. Hell, I’m wondering why I don’t just get back to heating up the bed again. Tomorrow will take care of itself…right?

A New Life (part four)

Board members swim around us, hungry sharks sniffing for blood. Marci’s red dress doesn’t help erase my dark thoughts. I never noticed before. The member of IntegraLink’s board don’t much care for her. The feeling falls completely mutual from what I gather.

Marci and I went our separate ways shortly after our arrival. I relegated myself to the peons on the outer periphery of importance. Nevertheless, notable people sought me out, like Penelope, one of the VP’s of something or another.

“So. Marty. You escorted Ms. Rader to the ball. Did the two of you suddenly become an item?”

The eyebrows of my fellow bottom feeders told me I now consisted of four parts radioactivity and one part plague. The all scattered as my response stumbled from my lips. “Um, well, no, we just walked in together that’s all.” I hate it when I can’t think of anything clever to say.

“Looked like more than just a chance meeting at the door to me.” She paused, then added, “It appears I underestimated you.”

“Wow, I was never aware you’d even noticed me.” I turn and show her my back, nearly knocking over a young lady sporting a tray of hors d’oeuvres. While Penelope may hold a ton of clout, the conversation appeared headed for no good place. I caught back up with my kind, but they stood wary of every higher-up that strolled by.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Marty. You don’t understand the politics of this place yet. Ms. Rader is not someone to ally yourself with just yet. Since her old man died, she’s taken a lot of heat for changes she’s implemented.” John Merriweather from accounting. For some reason, he appears to want my friendship.

“Hey, John. I’m the least political person in this room. I don’t give a crap about all that stuff. I let everyone else play the games.”

John looked unconvinced. “You better brush up on your tact. Here comes Bathesda. You won’t blow him off as easy as Penelope.”

“I didn’t blow her off. I simply didn’t care for the conversation.”

“If you want to keep your job, you better give this conversation a better shot.”

John walked away just as Mr. Bathesda stepped into my field of vision. Hell, he took up my field of vision. He had to be six-eight and all muscle. His forty-ish look told me he most likely nestled into fifty a couple years ago. He works hard at appearing virile.

“Good evening Mr…ah, my apologies, I didn’t quite get your name.”

“Funny, you had it the other day in the board meeting when you shot down my idea.” Off to my right, John shook his head and frowned at me.

“Yes, that’s right. Pitchford. Let’s walk.”

“No thanks.” I didn’t care for his tone. John’s now red-faced and storms off into the crowd.

“You don’t care for me much, do you Pitchford.” Bathesda’s steel gray eyes attempt to bore through me.

“Why should I Bathesda? You’re pushing some political power play on me like an actor from some bad B-movie. If you don’t have the balls to say what’s on your mind, then let’s go enjoy this soiree.”

The slight tinge of color to Bathesda’s face rewards me for my efforts, although I’m sure I’m in deep shit now. I suppose I drifted a bit too far from my old ass-kissing persona. “Pitchford, whatever you’re up to, you better hope you have someone covering your back.”

“And why would that be, Dan?” Marci slipped in beside me. “Go plot your little power games elsewhere. Father told me you’d be a pain in the ass.”

Bathesda turned on his heel, his face now a bit brighter.

“Marci. I, uh, I apologize for stirring him up…”

“Have you had enough of this party yet?”

The question didn’t sound like a question, and by the tug on my elbow, I didn’t need a map to figure out what she meant.

Fictitious Characters’ Office Romance

 

Jessica Pitchford from "The Method Writers"

This Method Writers blog posting comes to you from the hands of  Marty Pitchford, one of the characters in the book “The Method Writers”. The fictitious characters from the book continue to work on final edits of their own book – “Fictitious Fiction”.

Back in the day, Jessica and I were quite the item. I never felt like our love mimicked the typical office romance. Our passion for each other transcended the vicarious thrills of possibly getting caught in the cleaning closet. The office we worked in did not allow internal ‘fraternization’ so we kept things as cool as possible.

One time, when the company president left for an afternoon luncheon, Jessica decided we should commandeer his office. I thought she meant to use the nice soft, cushiony couch to the right as  one walks into the office.

No, no. She had her sights on something else – his desk. I suppose I was like a puppy being fed tasty morsels by someone who wanted to lure me into a carrying cage to go someplace scary – like the vet. In my similarity with the puppy, I sensed this desire for the desk  said something about Jessica of which I should beware.

But the morsels she handed out made the word ‘allure’ dull and dingy. I could not resist her energy. On that desk I swear we conquered the world. Looking back, I see the situation more along the lines of she conquered me with her daring-do. She established herself as the risk-taker – the person who feared nothing and who got what she wanted.

I suppose I was smitten by the apparent desire she showed for me. I stepped out and did things I would never even think of on my own. Other than the president’s desk and the cleaning closet, we often worked after hours. We would push hard to get an abnormal amount of work accomplished, then spend the next two or three hours finding new places to christen in the professional highrise where we worked.

Near the end of this madness, about three weeks before Jessica had to quit and we got married, she got into putting a show on for janitors and anyone on the street who happened to look up. In fact, she insisted we use the less plush offices on the second floor to see if we could attract attention from people in the street.

Being with her during this time was like becoming a live mannequin except we didn’t dress the window, we undressed it, so to speak. Around this time I began to sense Jessica’s dark side. Unfortunately, this simply propelled me further into her world of chaotic passion. I never met anyone like her. I wanted to be with her all the time and she responded with open invitation.

What a wonder that I did not get fired in those last weeks of her employment. The Human Resources person actually sat us down and gave us an ultimatum – one of us quit or we both get fired. Since I made significantly more money, Jessica bowed out. Gracefully.

That act of her not making a scene, of her simply stating she understood how the company could not allow us to continue on, endeared me more to her. This level of responsibility looked like the entire package to me. She’s wild beyond my craziest crazed dreams, she could be humble and respectful, and she wanted me.

I proposed as we walked out the doors that day. A little background for you, the reader, of how Jessica and I came to be.  As a character, existing in a book is great – getting to write a book is divine. Be sure to keep up with what is going on with The Method Writers to see what happened in our lives next…

Thanksgiving, You Kidding Me?

Ok. I know writers have it tough. Hell, I play a writer in the new novel The Method Writers. But isn’t it carrying things a bit far by making me, Marty Pitchford, a character in a book, write this blog?

I should have known. Michael Ray King, my MASTER, my CREATOR, decided to spend time with his family and left me to do the writing again. Like I’ve said before, I suppose I shouldn’t complain.

I’m getting more exposure than he is these days. I even wrote a kick-ass short story for our new book. Yeah, the one all the characters from The Method Writers are writing. I’m enjoying loads of fun on this one.

Mr. King wrote an award winning short story titled Why Me? last year. Click on that link to buy the book the story appears in. Hey,  come on! The book’s only $2.99. I know you can afford that!It is in Kindle format. Remember, you can get a free Kindle App out there!

Anyway, what I did was take that story, which was written from the guy’s perspective, and I turned it around from the woman’s perspective. What a great exercise in writing skills! I loved the story too, as it was pretty hot and steamy.

My fellow characters are pretty close to being done with their stories. Our plan is to get our book out before the Rogues Gallery Writers can get The Method Writers novel out. We figure, if we show people what we can do, maybe we’ll make a name for ourselves before the Rogues.

Of course, there is the problem that we call ourselves the Rogues Gallery Writers too. What’s up with that? I think our creators didn’t entirely trust us. I mean, why else would they do that?

Now, if we get our book out, people might think we’re the real Rogues. I mean, we are the real Rogues, but I mean the real, real Rogues. Ok, the Rogues that exist in your world. We’re damn good writers in our own right (and world), so we need some love too, you know.

We have a trick up our sleeve, though. When we release our book on ebook, guess what we’re going to do. Ninety-nine cents. Yep. We’re going to undercut our creators. We’re going for volume, baby! We have some great stuff in this book too.

I think I’m just going to reconcile myself to writing this blog every week. Like the babe I slipped into the blog? Hey, like I said, I just wrote a steamy short story based on Mr. King‘s award winning story. I needed some inspiration, you know?

Until next week…

Just Past All Hallows Eve

Writers take their gigs where they can get them. The author who created me doesn’t appear to have the time to write his own blog, so

Annabelle's Treasure

what the heck, I’ll cover his posterior. Yep, Marty Pitchford here. I don’t know how I get myself into these positions. I try to do what is right and good and I end up in trouble somewhere. By the time this post if over, Mr. King will probably come and wipe my words away, replace them with his own, then scold me for stepping out of character. (Heh, heh, like that? Stepping out of character? … Oh well, blame it on him, it’s his blog, right?)

My thoughts still wander around the streets of this town, wending their way alongside my lovely daughter Annabelle. Halloween night, we went from house to house, monster to monster, jack-o-lantern to jack-o-lantern, searching out

the sweet riches that would pour forth from within each dwelling. I stood back at the road and watched as my precious little wizard rung doorbells, trick-or-treated in that soft voice, then engaged most with more than a simple thank you. One lady received a, “I love your decorations. Happy Halloween. Thank you.”

I smiled at her incredible innocence. That same innocence threatened by the callous, careless actions of my wife Jessica. Look her up here on this blog. Don’t let her looks fool you. She’s as frightening as anything you will find at night on Halloween. In fact, simply writing about her causes trepidation to ricochet throughout my nervous system. If you want to see for yourself, pre-order a copy of The Method Writers. That’s the book I reside in as Marty Pitchford.

Annabelle and I had to walk for miles and miles. We started at 6:30pm before the sun went down and returned home at 9:30pm. My feet hurt, I was hungry, I had to carry Anna for a few blocks because she was exhausted, but when she dumped her spoils on the table, all was well in the Pitchford family.

My next task was (and is) to keep my little girl from doubling over with candy-induced stomach cramps. I wouldn’t trade the grueling three hours we spent tromping the streets of Palm Coast for all the chocolate in Hershey, PA. I realized many times that night how absolutely rich I am to have such a tender and kind young daughter. I will protect her with my life.

And I will cherish our time together as pure gold.

Before I go, make sure you click on the book cover in the upper right hand corner of this blog. The Rogues Gallery Writers are giving away a free copy of their book, More Writing is Easy. It’s a simple PDF download, and hey, it’s free! Go grab a copy today. Also, click on this link and pledge a few bucks to our project The Method Writers on Kickstarter.com. We want badly to be able to fund a proper release for the book. Oh, by the way. If you see that scoundrel Michael Ray King, tell him to get back here and write his own blogs! I’m sick of covering his ass!

Motivations…

While David is spurred on by his alter ego Kenny Black, Marty is writing as an outlet for his creativity, and Georgie Mae writes because she must, my motivation is something of  a hybrid – I must explore the reasons behind events or actions and then write them  so others can understand.

Like Georgie Mae, since I can remember, I’ve loved to read and write. And, a passion for finding out the answers to my questions, especially those no one else wanted to answer, always drove me to do my own research and make inquiries that would satisfy that burning need to know.

I consider journalism and writing a privilege. I’m able to do something that I love to do, learn about things that I feel are important to us all, and in my spare time, write stories that I sure hope will be entertaining to the readers.

Like Kenny Black and Georgie Mae, I’m sort of out for justice too; like Marty, I’m looking to understand that which I don’t understand now.

And so, being a Rogue is a wonderful thing. I make things up or tell the truth – hard to tell the difference some days. Maybe that’s what the magic of writing’s all about.

What do YOU think?

Dorian Nettles