Friday, February 8, 2013

Thanks for the Attention, Folks

Since I'm in the room anyway, I thought I'd link to a few reviews that some very kind folks have written about some of my little chapbooks fairly recently.

I was happy to get some book love from my adopted literary home of Canada  in the form of a review by Rob McLennan.  He was nice enough to write about THE SKY THE which came out on (the AWESOME AMAZING FUN DEATH DEFYING) Serif of Nottingham Press. Gary Barwin pilots that ship and he makes beautiful book objects. I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out. I actually still have some copies left, so if you are interested in a copy, let me know. The review is here http://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2012/12/ongoing-notes-early-december-2012.html along with many other solid ones.


I was also overjoyed when Eileen Tabios wrote about May Apple Deep which came out last year on good old Horse Less Press.  Tabios is the master behind Galatea Resurrects where a lot of fine work finds a home. Thanks to Tabios for the kind words she pens here:  http://galatearesurrection19.blogspot.com/2012/12/may-apple-deep-by-michael-sikkema.html


May Apple Deep also found its way to the great Trane Devore's eyeballs and he was nice enough to review it on Goodreads, for which I am grateful. That review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15836533-may-apple-deep


Thanks to y'all reviewers and to all the folks who bother to read weird cyborg pastoral love collages and such.

The Next Big Thing

I have been ignoring this corner of the internet, AND I was tagged by the lovely Laura Goldstein to take part in THE NEXT BIG THING.  Thanks to Laura for thinking of me and thanks to y'all for bothering to read it.

What is the working title of your project?

Right now, the manuscript doesn't have a title. Maybe y'all could suggest one. The main character is named Nel, and so I'm sure that will come into play somehow. Often I know the title of the book looooong before I even have all the poems written, but for whatever reason that is not the case this time around.


Where did the idea for your book come from?


I was digging through the detritus of old notebooks and found a couple character sketches, a few handfuls of lines. I'm sure old bad Sci Fi movies and old bad Westerns were involved, but the notebooks were just set aside and I'm not really sure where the spark came from any more. I've wanted to write something hybrid for a while and I think that was part of the impetus too.


What category does your book fall into?


Sci Fi Western Epic in Verse (and prose)


What actors would you choose to play in a movie rendition of your book?


I think we'd need Lori Petty, Gene Hackman, and the voice of Tom Waits, oh, and the original Trigger.



Can you give us a one sentence synopsis of your book?


Cloned human slave develops supernatural abilities in a sort of aural Farraday Cage kind of way, and faces violent oppression from patriarchal evil Overlord type, complete with the weird social commentary that only Sci Fi can offer.


How long did it take you to write your first draft?


This is always an impossible question for me. I work from old notebooks, and then write into what's there, collage it, chop it up, etc. In terms of focused time, I put together a solid draft in a few months time.


What else might pique readers' interest about your book?


There is a character who is physically a bird cage and birds, requiring a certain number of birds inside himself in order to walk, talk, be sentient, etc. Think hive mind. There is also a sex scene that may not make it past the censors.