As you all know, this blog – Brainpan Leakage – is mostly for me to blow off the silly that runs around in my head, along with the occasional opinion piece. However, since the #COFFINHOP only has a couple of days left, I thought I’d post about it over here as well…

AND SO, LET’S GET TO THE #COFFINHOP!

1. Links for a free e-book, discount codes on other e-books, and entry into the book giveaway can be found after the daily Halloween picture…

In honor of said bouncing about betwixt coffins – what with this being all about Halloween and such – I am going to toss some silliness out there each day. It may be a picture of costumes from some of our more legendary parties, or it may be something altogether textual… say, for instance, why I actually like candy corn. You just never know. HOWEVER, there are a couple of things which shall remain the same throughout:

1. The strong – and I do mean STRONG – suggestion that you HOP around to all of the coffins on the circuit. You can do this very easily. Simply click on the COFFINHOP Badge below (the pumpkin impaled by a stiletto, courtesy of my wife) and there you will find all sorts of information, including a list of the COFFINS (author blogs) on the web tour. Each of these fine authors has something to say about Halloween – maybe scary, maybe informative, maybe funny… you just never know. However, you owe it to yourself to swing by and scream trick-or-treat, because not only will you discover a whole slew of new authors, most – if not all – of the stops will have a chance to enter contests for spectacular prize type stuff: Autographed books, swag, and what have you… So, DO IT, or I’ll let my wife get hold of you, and you can already see what she’s capable of doing to a poor, defenseless Jack-o-Lantern that she liked. Just imagine what she might do if she’s angry…
2. I will be running a contest here on M R LAND as my part of the COFFINHOP. See details after each day’s Halloween oriented post (as in, keep scrolling down). Right now I will definitely be giving away an ARC of IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER (due in bookstores 11/18), and even some selected books from the Rowan Gant Series, both paperback and electronic.

COFFINHOP HALLOWEENAGE FOR BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

COFFINHOP CONTEST DETAILS FOR M R LAND

Enter the random drawing for a chance to win an Autographed ARC of In The Bleak Midwinter, my latest novel, which will be released 11/18 – To enter, email me by clicking this link: COFFINHOP CONTEST

And…

• If you have an e-reader, be sure to check out the special discount codes for epub and mobi versions of all the Rowan Gant Investigations novels HERE
• Get a FREE e-novella – MERRIE AXEMAS: A Killer Holiday Tale HERE – Use Coupon Code: MS74K
• Check back often. More cool stuff could happen… Seriously.

There you go… Make sure you visit all of the other CoffinHoppers!!

More to come…

Murv

One of the questions I get asked on a regular basis is –

Murv… Sellars… How is it… That you… Are able to keep… Things straight… When you are… Writing?

As a rule, the odd hesitations between words and phrases sort of freaks me out, but I just figure the person asking was doing way too much Uncle Cidney in their teens while listening to Steve Martin comedy albums. All of us old farts will get that reference, trust me.

But anyway… (No, not a Blues Traveler ref, although it could be)… I usually explain that I am what’s called a “Seat of the Pants” writer. That means I have an idea, I know how it starts and kind of know how I want it to end. I might even know a couple of things I’d like to have happen in between, but the journey to get there isn’t really plotted until I sit down and start taking dictation from my characters.

Now, to keep things straight for them, I have books. As in binders that contain biographical data, etc. Mostly because since I write a series I have to be able to stay in touch with the arc and maintain canon (one n, not two, meaning it doesn’t go boom unless I screw up.)

However, I have to stay on track for a given story arc within a novel as well. That’s where rectangles come in.

“Rectangles?” you ask.

“Yes, rectangles,” I answer.

Behold – the incredible, versatile, and really especially cool, Index Card…

Don't bother trying to enlarge it. I blurred all the info, mwuhahaha...

So there’s your answer… I have a corkboard, a pencil, some pushpins, and a whole lot of index cards…

Bet ya’ thought I was talking about dextroamphetamine when you saw that title, didn’t you? Awww, c’mon Eileen. You know better than that…

More to come…

Murv