One of my favorite bloggers, Michael Offutt, is a talented writer and illustrator. He has an EPIC blog tour going on now. He’s offering a free short story. You can also win bookmarks and signed books. You can even win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! Read on to find out more.
The tired clichés that I break in Oculus by Michael Offutt
There are many clichés in fiction, so I set out to break a few of
them in my writing. I do kind of wonder if it will annoy readers or not. Thus
far, the reception has been great. Anyway, I’ve compiled a list of things that
I tried to do differently with Oculus.
Here they are:
1) All jocks are
stupid. In Oculus, Jordan is a jock,
yes, but he’s also incredibly smart as well as loving.
2) All gay guys are
really promiscuous and sleep around. Jordan is happily monogamous with his
boyfriend, Kolin.
3) All gay guys are
effeminate like Kurt in Glee. Not true.
The only difference between Jordan and a straight guy is who he sleeps
with at the end of the day. That’s
just his identity, and he’s comfortable in his own skin.
4) Every Excalibur story has basically been told.
Not true. I think by the time I get done, people will say, “I never thought of
this angle on the whole Excalibur
myth.”
If you would like to check out more about my books, please visit my
page below:
Also each stop can give away a bookmark, also open to international shipping. Please choose a winner and send me the name, email and mailing address.
Oculus
Michael Offutt
Genre: Sci-fi
Book Description:
Autumn has arrived in
New York, and Jordan Pendragon attends his first classes as a freshman at
Cornell. Born with a brilliant mathematical mind, he balances life as a
research assistant with that of a student athlete.
But Jordan also has a
quest. He must find the Black Tower, a monolithic edifice housing a thing that
defines the very structure of the universe. Jordan believes it is buried
somewhere in Antarctica under miles of prehistoric ice.
October finds Jordan
earning a starting position with the Cornell hockey team. But a dark cloud
gathers over his rookie season. Unexplained deaths, whispers of a cannibal
cult, a prophecy, and a stone known only as the Oculus, cast a shadow over his
athletic ambitions. It is the start of a terrifying journey down a path of
mystery, murder, and to a confrontation with an Evil more ancient than the
stars.
Free short story that's
a lead-in to this book series: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/236636
About the Author:
Michael Offutt writes
speculative fiction books that have science fiction, LGBT, and paranormal
elements. His first book, "Slipstream" has received some critical
acclaim and was published by Double Dragon in the spring. The sequel,
"Oculus" came out in November 2012. He has one brother, no pets, and
a few roots that keep his tree of life sufficiently watered. By day, he works for
the State of Utah as a Technical Specialist. By night, he watches lots of t.v.,
writes, draws, and sometimes dreams of chocolate.
Michael Offutt graduated
from the University of Idaho in 1994 with a Bachelor's degree in English.
He keeps a blog and
would appreciate a visit or two even if all you want to do is say hi.
Art relating to
books: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/my-artwork.html
Twitter: @MichaelOffutt
One lucky commenter will win a bookmark. Good luck!
Visit Michael's blog and leave a comment
to be included in the $50 drawing!
to be included in the $50 drawing!
Congrats Michael! Wishing you all the best with your books!
ReplyDeleteAll the best- you've have some amazing success already!
ReplyDeleteTheresa, you are always so good at hosting other authors- thank you!
I always appreciate a writer who breaks through cliques. I love to do that. It makes for more interesting and thought-provoking characters and stories. (...at least, I think so...)
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate it when a cliche is turned on its head. Can't wait to read Oculus.
ReplyDeleteMy cubicle partner at my last job was nothing like the dude from Glee. He did like to party though.
ReplyDeleteBreaking through clichés can be a real breath of fresh air.
ReplyDelete@Karen: Thank you.
ReplyDelete@Shelly: Thanks for the well wishes.
@S.A. Larsen: :)
@Liz: O really?
@Alex: Interesting.
@Elise: I agree.
You guys should leave a comment on my blog so that I can count you in the $50 drawing. Oh well. I think I'll have to just keep track of all the names on a separate word processing document.
Michael, I just updated to let people know to go to your blog. Hope it makes it easier.
DeleteI think there's too many one percenters that follow me on twitter, Theresa. I can hear their groans when I say, copy and paste the tweet and then leave a comment and that enters you in the drawing.
DeleteBy one percenters, I mean people who wipe their ass with $100 bills like P.T. Dilloway below my comment.
He might be happily monogamous but he does kiss that Joel guy. I'm just saying.
ReplyDeleteJoel was a demon.
DeleteAh. Spoilers. Sh. ;)
DeleteWay to blast those cliches out of the water, Michael! I'm excited for you and the Oculus book tour!
ReplyDeleteJai
Why thank you.
DeleteI love breaking cliches. It's just so much fun. :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome! Smashing cliches is so much fun.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Michael! Your book sounds really good. And Theresa, Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you. I'm rather fond of it myself :)
DeleteI like a good retelling on the Excalibur myth. :) Congrats, Michael!
ReplyDeleteI think I was pretty clever about it if I do say so myself.
DeleteYay, Michael! I've been looking forward to this sequel. ;)
ReplyDeleteI would say you're a diamond in the rough, but you already knew that.
DeleteCongrats, Michael! And you definitely break the cliches. Can't wait to read book three!
ReplyDeleteLOL I'm on like Chapter four. I figure at this pace I should have it done by 2014. So I hope you don't mind waiting...
DeleteSounds like an interesting book! And I like your list, especially the part about Excalibur. There's a reason (actually, there is more than one) that people continue to be fascinated by that story.
ReplyDeleteI like the title "neurotic". I used that once on a card in one of those sit around groups at work where we use one adjective to describe ourselves.
DeleteYay Michael! All the best with your new book. It sounds great (I pretty much like all stories with Excalibur).
ReplyDeleteI do too. Especially since Bradley James looks so hot in Merlin. Holy cow...and they cast him shirtless in every episode.
DeleteMichael is so awesome! I love how he defies the stereotypes! I wish him so much luck and success with his book.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. *hugs.
DeleteHuge congrats to Michael, he really is amazing. I love how he breaks cliches. I have to remind myself sometimes that cliches need to be broken!
ReplyDeleteThey're easy to fall into in our line of work.
Delete
ReplyDeleteI really liked your article as it is very interesting to read thank you
Are you a spammer?
DeleteI really like that you address stereotypes like dumb jocks and promiscuous gays. Taking such unfair images and flipping them upside down can reveal real truths. Good for you and Oculus!
ReplyDeleteHelena! You've visited everywhere! Thank you :)
DeleteAll sound like good cliches to break. Best of luck with your book, Michael.
ReplyDeleteHi, Theresa :)
Thank you Miss Tiki Hut.
DeleteCool! Gave the contest a tweet! :)
ReplyDeleteAlways a good thing to break the old cliches. Some scary stuff in this story, though. This is why I'm a reality contemporary story writer, but as I said, always good to rid one's work of cliches.
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Michael, and thank you Theresa for helping us all to become aware of this great writer's work.
Hi Theresa and Michael - it's great to read more about Michael's writing .. so thanks for posting up - good luck to you both in 2013 -
ReplyDeleteI'll be broadening my reading horizons via the Kindle and getting my act together .. new genres, anthologies et al ...
Happy Christmas and New Year ... cheers Hilary
Congratulations, Michael!
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