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Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith

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Category Archives: Interviews

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A Writing Biography, Part VIII: The Exoskeleton, Archiving, Publishing, The Blog, and the Long Novels, 2011-2023

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on January 16, 2025 by Michael D. SmithJanuary 16, 2025

The period from March 2011, when The Martian Marauders was accepted for publication, to January 2023, retirement from the library, already finds expression in the blog, but I hope to pull together more insight here. It’s tempting to just narrate … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writing Biography, Akard Drearstone, Asylum and Mirage, Balloon Ship Armageddon, Book Covers, Book Daily, Collapse and Delusion, CommWealth, Double Dragon Publishing, Editing, Interviews, Jack Commer, Jump Grenade, Literary, Man Against the Horses, Marketing, Martian Marauders, Nonprofit Chronowar, Novels, Perpetual Starlit Night, Publishing, Science Fiction, Self-Publishing, Sortmind, Sortmind Press, Stories, Supreme Commander Laurie, The Damage Patrol Quartet, The First Twenty Steps, The SolGrid Rebellion, The Soul Institute, The Wounded Frontier, Trip to Mars, Twisted Tails, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Online Interviews and a Resuscitated CommWealth

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 21, 2023 by Michael D. SmithJuly 22, 2023

Where are the URLs? Over the past seven years I’ve had the opportunity to be interviewed on various online blogs and websites. Though I’d saved the original webpages as files to my computer, for some reason I neglected to note … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Comedy, Book Covers, CommWealth, Editing, Interviews, Marketing, Novels, Publishing, Sortmind Press, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

ChatGPT Edits My Elevator Pitch

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on June 19, 2023 by Michael D. SmithJune 19, 2023

One Paragraph I asked ChatGPT for a one-paragraph summary of the relevant 518 words from my previous blog post (also reproduced at the end of this post) and got these 150 words. It’s rather sobering to see this rendered in … Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Drawing, Interviews, Marketing, Novels, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

The CanvasRebel Interview

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on April 26, 2023 by Michael D. SmithMay 16, 2024

The CanvasRebel interview came out Monday, April 24, and includes lots of photos. CanvasRebel’s mission (from their website) “is to create a space for artists, creatives and entrepreneurs to be able to learn from their peers through the magic and … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Writing, Interviews, Literary, Novels, Publishing, Science Fiction, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Walter’s Farewell Soliloquy–to Himself and to Draft 1 Caspra Coronae

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on February 26, 2022 by Michael D. SmithJune 17, 2022

When I recently re-interviewed the main characters of Caspra Coronae, it became obvious to all of us that Walter’s evil machinations and his over-the-top, humiliating death were merely dull plot. And that in fact the entire Part 2 of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Dystopia, Interviews, Novels, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Interview with the Burlcron/Mercer/Singletree

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on August 3, 2021 by Michael D. SmithJune 17, 2022

As recorded May 30, 2021 at Smith Writing Studios. Alfred Moid Burlcron, a major character in my novel The Soul Institute, emerged as a recurring archetype as I prepared for the novel Caspra Coronae. I interviewed him just after speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Caspra Coronae, Character Images, Dystopia, Interviews, Novels, The Soul Institute, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

Caspra Coronae Draft One Blast-Off

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 3, 2021 by Michael D. SmithDecember 25, 2024

What is This Thing? There were no longer any issues blocking the fiction, and I began Caspra Coronae on June 24. I finally realized that although my plans are incomplete, whatever is unresolved is just going to have to come … Continue reading →

Posted in Asylum and Mirage, Black Comedy, Caspra Coronae, Character Images, Dystopia, Interviews, Literary, Novels, Tarot Cards, Writing, Writing Process | 2 Replies

The Balloon Ship Interviews: Arrogant, Desperate Characters Audition for the Role of a Lifetime

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on April 6, 2021 by Michael D. SmithApril 6, 2021

In developing Balloon Ship Armageddon, the seventh and final Jack Commer, Supreme Commander adventure, I interviewed twelve characters from the previous six books, wanting to know what motivations and energies they could bring to the project. Each character got a … Continue reading →

Posted in Balloon Ship Armageddon, Character Images, Interviews, Jack Commer, Novels, Science Fiction, Sortmind Press, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

Presenting Balloon Ship Armageddon, or, Nine Astronauts Were Walking to a USSF Meeting, or, Jack Commer Shot his Spaceship Directly into the Sun

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on March 3, 2021 by Michael D. SmithApril 4, 2021

To the Astute Reader of This Blog Certainly the reader will recognize in the “nine astronauts” phrase the fifth-grade, September 19, 1962 first line of “Voyage to Venus,” introducing space pilot Jack Commer. It’s elegantly followed, of course, by Jack’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Balloon Ship Armageddon, Interviews, Jack Commer, Novels, Publishing, Science Fiction, Self-Publishing, Sortmind Press, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

The Blank Zen Interview

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on June 27, 2020 by Michael D. SmithJuly 3, 2020

I’ve done about a dozen web interviews and I always found them like writing a midterm exam where, despite all the agonizing left-brained hassle, you felt you’d pulled something valid or interesting together. In response to these interviews I came … Continue reading →

Posted in CommWealth, Interviews, Marketing, Novels, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

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Recent Posts

  • Introducing The Benign Incursion
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus
  • A Blog Post from February 13, 1976
  • A Writing Biography, Part VIII: The Exoskeleton, Archiving, Publishing, The Blog, and the Long Novels, 2011-2023
  • The Major 2024 Book Energies
  • A Writing Biography, Part VII: Organization, Lost Energies, New Novels, Publishing, 1994-2011
  • Zarreich – Publication at Last
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  • Dreams Used in Zarreich
  • Zarreich – The Draft Covers

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Recent Comments

  • Introducing The Benign Incursion – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The Unknown Ending for The Martian Marauders
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Trip to Mars in Paperback
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The First Childhood Appearance of Jack Commer, September 19, 1962
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The Irregular Origin of The Martian Marauders
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The UR Jack Commer: A Look at the Childhood Beginnings of the Commer Saga

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Michael's books

Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions
4 of 5 stars
Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions
by Matthieu Ricard
WordPress Web Design for Dummies
4 of 5 stars
WordPress Web Design for Dummies
by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
5 of 5 stars
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
by Philip Plait
Using Joomla!
3 of 5 stars
Using Joomla!
by Ron Severdia
Serpent's Tooth
5 of 5 stars
Serpent's Tooth
by Toni V. Sweeney
On a cruise Melissa bonds with an older man, Travis, who turns out to be a famous celebrity in hiding from a once successful life. But by degrees we become aware that his enormous success came at the price of bonding with demonic forces...

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