Summer colds, MFA residency, 30k copies sold, and some poetry
June was busy.
Hey everyone! I’m back! Not that I went anywhere. But I spent the past two weeks suffering from what I think in retrospect may have been the Plague. Today I finally feel human again, so it’s back to the grind…
The sickness set in while I was headed to Seton Hill University, where I’m a mentor in their MFA program. The whole time I was there I thought it was just a mild head cold, and I was testing negative for the really nasty shit, like flu and COVID.
Then I got back home, and I think I might have been running on adrenaline. Because once I was settled I was reasonably certain I was going to die.
But I didn’t! Anyway. Here’s some stuff that happened:
Medusa launch + the future of AA
We had a great launch for The Medusa Protocol. I did events on Staten Island and in Manhattan, both of which had great turnout despite the brutal temperatures. Thanks to
for co-hosting the Manhattan event! Have you gotten your copy of Medusa yet? If not, why not? Fix that.The book has gotten some nice press in places like The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune. I’m getting tagged a lot on social media, which is always fun. The biggest question people are asking, especially those who’ve read both books, is will there be another entry?
Yes! I’ve talked about it here already. It’s called Three Hitmen and a Baby, and it’s coming next June. Today I can tell you that my editor just got back to me with notes, and she’s very pleased with how things turned out.
Will there be a fourth? I’m not sure. I have one more book in my contract with Putnam. Maybe I do a standalone next… I’ve got some ideas I’m itching to tackle. But maybe there’s enough momentum for a fourth. We’ll see!
I can tell you this: If you really want to see more adventures from Mark and the crew, make sure to tell your friends to check them out. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to sell books!
B&N monthly pick
Speaking of selling books… remember how the Assassins Anonymous paperback was the Barnes & Noble monthly pick for June? I talked about it on the ‘stack, but also a little more in-depth over at
.The numbers are (mostly) in, and it looks like we sold around 30,000 copies over the course of the promotion. Which is bonkers.
And I think it helped Medusa, too… it’s hard to get people to pick up a sequel, but the sales numbers for the second book are comparable to what they were for the first.
I’m curious to see what this means in the long term. What kind of drop-off will there be for the AA paperback? Will this bring more people over to Medusa? What are those sales fluctuations going to look like?
If there’s enough interest maybe I’ll do a longer post, down the line, comparing the sales trajectories of both books…
I’d like to say, again, how deeply thankful I am to Barnes & Noble for giving Assassins this boost. I visited more than a dozen stores—maybe close to 20, just to sign stock—and at each one the staff was excited and engaged and just so damn kind. They’re out there fighting the good fight, and I appreciate them.
Buy books from stores, not corporate online behemoths.
AI continues to be bad
In the latest issue of Writer’s Digest (the one with Riley Sager’s handsome mug on the cover), I’ve got a piece about how stupid and terrible artificial intelligence is, and you have no right to call yourself a writer if you use it.
Sorry but not sorry.
It’s bad for the environment, it’s creatively bankrupt, it’s main goal is to dismantle and devalue creative industries, but worst of all, it’s built on stolen work. Copyright-protected material is fed into a grinder, providing no compensation to the original creators. It’s effectively a plagiarism machine.
Which is why it bummed me out so much to see AI become a flashpoint at Seton Hill. I don’t want to name and shame anyone because the people in the program are students, and deserve a little grace as they try to navigate this silly industry.
But two students utilized AI in their work, and it just bummed me out. I’m part of a class action suit against AI companies that stole my books (as are all the other authors whose books were stolen). Using AI means you’re buying into the system that ripped us off.
And for what?
Overall my experience at Seton Hill (despite the cold) was amazing. I love teaching; not just sending the elevator back down, but it sharpens my own craft by talking about it and working with other writers.
But, please, don’t use AI. Just, don’t.
NYC Poetry Festival
My brilliant (and beautiful) partner
is presenting an art installation at the New York City Poetry Festival, this weekend on Governors Island.From her Substack:
The theme of the festival this year is POETOPIA, which encourages attendees and poets alike to reimage the poetic future. My installation will be a fortunetelling tent of old, reimagined as an interactive collective poetic fortune system, where participants will be able to take poetic fortunes and deliver poetic fortunes throughout the festival.
She’s also reading on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Algonquin Stage, as part of JC Writers. So I’ll be floating around definitely on Sunday, maybe on Saturday, but either way, check out the installation, come listen to Cyn read, or just say hello if you see me around.
And if you head over to her Substack you can add a fortune to the crystal ball!
What’s next?
I’m taking a little time off this summer (and by time off I mean I’ll be doing more writing than attending events). That said, I’ll be at the Writer’s Digest conference in Baltimore, July 24 to 27, giving some presentations. It looks like you can still register for that.
I’ll also be at the RJ Julia summer luncheon at the Madison Beach Hotel in Connecticut on July 28. The event is being moderated by my pal Margot Douaihy and it should be a good time. Details here.