Michael Curtis Ford

You Know You're Famous When...

Michael Curtis Ford — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:54:00 GMT

Reader Ian Hopkinson has very kindly started a Facebook group for fans of my books, for which I am very grateful, if somewhat bemused. Help support this merry band of admirers of fine literature and ancient mayhem, by joining the group yourself and contributing to its discussions. You might even get "poked" by a new friend! The URL is http://hs.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5673788449

"Michael Ford" is the new "John Smith!"

Michael Curtis Ford — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:31:00 GMT

In response to multiple requests from readers regarding the subject matter of my "next book," The Fire of Ares: Spartan Quest: very sorry to disappoint, but that is not my next book! After some investigation, I have found that Fire of Ares is apparently a "young adult"-level book written by a British author with a name disconcertingly similar to my own, Michael Ford. I'm quite glad, now, that when I first began writing novels I decided to use my middle name, Curtis, even though never in my previous life had ever used that name for anything. At the time, using Curtis was an effort to distinguish myself from yet another similarly-named author, Michael Thomas Ford, whose subject matter I definitely did not want confused with my own! I offer best wishes to the "other" Michael Ford with his new book — perhaps one day we can meet and exchange war stories...

It's Here!

Michael Curtis Ford — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:43:00 GMT

Whoops, caught me by surprise. I seem to have lost track of time, and thought The Fall of Rome would be released later this month (since I haven't even received my own courtesy copies from the publisher yet). But a reader just alerted me that he found it at his local bookstore, and upon checking, I found that as of today, it is now available online at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Indeed, one kind soul has already posted a reader-review on Amazon (from England, no less! Where did he get a copy?), and the formidable Harriet Klausner reviewed it on B&N. I've been writing novels for, what, seven years now, and I still can't figure out how this industry works.

In any event, I'm glad The Fall of Rome has finally emerged from the recesses of my mind and the publisher's print warehouse. May I humbly (shamelessly?) suggest that this book would be an ideal Father's Day present for that inspirational male in your life, or would make for some action-filled, yet educational, beach reading for yourself this summer. And ask your friendly bookstore owner to order copies, if they're not already stocked on the shelves. Tell him I sent you.

And thank you, thank you, for your patience during the long wait since The Sword of Attila.

More on "Becoming a Writer"

Michael Curtis Ford — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:31:00 GMT

I just received a letter from another young fan who had a question I thought was fairly universal, so I thought I would post it, along with my response, in case it might be helpful to other aspiring authors.

Q. Hello, I am 16 years old. I am in love with history, mainly military history, especially Greek and Roman, but also medieval, and 16th-20th century warfare. I just finished one of your books, The Last King, and I loved it, I look forward to reading just about every other book I read about on your website as well, but my real reason for writing this is the following: I write stories. Rather I try, they are pretty much just large battles with heroes and such, and while I have gotten good reviews, and I myself enjoy my short works, my favorite is only 4 pages long, and my longest only 9. How do you take what you do and go and write hundreds of pages on it? I am positive I could pull my stories out to be dozens of pages longer, but I could never fill one, not to mention four hundred pages....
A. You know, your question is one I hear a lot, and I think there's an easy answer. The fact that you are already a writer of short stories means that you're already 90% of the way there. Most of the key lies in picking a topic that's big enough to sustain you for 400 pages. If you notice, the topic of "The Last King" was not just "a battle," but rather an entire life of a single man, which comprises maybe a dozen or so battles, a couple of wives, wild parties, hunting expeditions, political scandals, fights with relatives, etc. Look how my book is constructed: it's very episodic, meaning that it's really a series a short stories all strung together into a longer book, with connecting sequences in between to make it hang consistently. Indeed, that's even how I wrote it: the battle scenes first (my favorite), followed by other individual stories, then arranged in chronological order, with the gaps filled in.

When you break a man's entire life up into chunks like that, or into a series of maybe 40 short stories, it all seems much less daunting, and more manageable.

The key is to pick a topic, like the life of Mithridates for me, that can sustain your interest for the many months it takes to research and write all those small stories. To me, that's the hard part. Many characters of antiquity had one or two good battles, or an interesting political scandal, but that's it, and there was either nothing else of interest in their life, or the research is just too obscure.

But look, you're still very young, too young to be writing a full novel. For now, work on your craft. Read the little essay I posted on my website, "How to be a writer," and keep on pumping out your short stories and improving your style and technique, and focusing on your schoolwork. The ability to produce many pages will come later. You know, a man's physical peak comes when he's about 18 or 20. But the winners of top endurance races (like the Tour de France, or the Hawaii Ironman, or ultra-marathons) are rarely under 30, and are often in the 40s and 50s. Authors are the same. You have to have a few miles under your belt before you have the patience to sustain the pace for a long period of time. Hope that helps, and keep on reading!

Advance Review of THE FALL OF ROME

Michael Curtis Ford — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:55:00 GMT

The book is not due to be released for a couple more months yet, but we just received our first advance review, which has the useful effect of giving you a synopsis of the story (so I don't have to write one myself...)

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of The Sword of Attila will open this follow-up with happy anticipation. Since it begins with the unexpected death of the great Hun conqueror in A.D. 453, readers unfamiliar with the previous work will not suffer. In the chaos following Attila's death, Odoacer and Onulf, sons of a leading Hun general, flee after a greedy rival kills their father. They split up, with Odoacer traveling across Europe to Noricum, his dead mother's homeland. Although he arrives in rags, he soon learns he is the grandson of its king. A talented soldier, he reorganizes the army and wins a victory against marauding Huns, only to see a Roman invasion destroy his people six years later. He flees to Italy where he again rises to military prominence and reunites with Onulf, also serving in the Roman army. Encountering their father's murderer, now a leading figure in the crumbling empire, the brothers lead a revolt. History buffs will admire the author's research as he recounts the final bloody decades of the Roman Empire. Though Ford's heroes are more convincing on the battlefields than when negotiating the plot that leads from one clash to another, there's more than enough action to sate fans of the genre. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter One posted

Michael Curtis Ford — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:51:00 GMT

We're making headway here — Doing the final touch-ups to The Fall of Rome before the manuscript heads into production (which is a surprisingly long process). For anyone who's curious, I've posted the first chapter here for you to read.

FALL OF ROME cover art

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:51:00 GMT

Work continues apace on FALL OF ROME, and my editor recently sent me a sample of the proposed cover art. You can view it here. Keep in mind that this is just a mock-up, and that at least the details (font size, background colors, etc.) are likely to change considerably between now and launch. Nevertheless, I'm really pleased with the classical painting they chose, especially as it closely reflects one of the key battle scenes in the book itself.

How to become a writer

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:52:00 GMT

I am often asked for advice on becoming a writer. I must confess that I truly don't know — each writer's experience is unique, and if there were a pre-set formula, then everyone would be able to follow it and achieve their goals (and clearly this is not the case). I was most recently asked for guidance by a young reader in Huntington, NY, who wisely narrowed the scope of his question by specifying "tell me anything BESIDES 'keep working, and your dreams will come true.' I'm sick of that."

I beg my young friend's indulgence in allowing me to reprint below the answer I gave him, in the hopes it will be of use to other aspiring authors.

Thanks for writing! I'm delighted you're enjoying Sword of Attila, and flattered that you would ask me for advice, though I'm not sure how helpful I can be. You know, writing for a living, if that's your goal, is really random, very much a "luck of the draw." So here's my advice:

Before becoming a writer, I was a professional translator (business documents, contracts, etc., from various foreign languages into English. Really boring stuff). And before that, I was a banker and business consultant. That earlier experience in finance made me a very good translator, even though I had no formal language qualifications, besides being able to speak what I had basically learned "on the street" while traveling around
the world.

In fact, it made me a much better translator than people with actual degrees and licenses in translation, because unlike them, I understood the subject matter. I understood banking and finance, and could provide an intelligent translation, rather than just a "dictionary" translation, which is what translators who knew only the language could provide.

So where am I going with this? I just wanted to make the point that I think writing a novel is much the same thing, and that you will be able to draw into your story all the experiences and emotions you have had in your life, and make it a much better, and more moving, story. Not that young people without experience can't write novels--of course they can, and many have. But the likelihood that their novels will be good is much slimmer. All too often, I read a novel, and I realize the author is really faking it, just mouthing experiences he has read about. The writing may be technically good, but it rings hollow and false, like one of those translations of instruction manuals for Japanese appliances, where the English may be more or less correct, but it still makes no sense because the translator himself doesn't know, and doesn't care, how to operate the darn machine.

So here's what I suggest. For now, write for yourself only--write for enjoyment, write for catharsis (look it up), write for practice--but don't worry about publication and "success" until much later. In the meantime, go to college, fall in love, get a job, hitchhike around South America, get your heart broken, take a skydiving lesson, train hard enough in some sport that you really have to suffer, work for a terrible boss (and then, hopefully, find a good boss), get religion, learn a foreign language, lie on a beach for a summer, be sad because someone you knew died, own a pet, do manual labor, get injured (not too seriously, I hope), win a lottery, get rejected for something you really wanted, get married and start a family--in short, collect life experiences, both good and bad. And while you're collecting them, think about them and write them down and keep them in a safe place.

THEN you will have the raw materials and the emotional discipline to write an awesome, and heart-felt story. And in the meantime, you will have really lived a life, which is infinitely more important.

I hope that helps. Best of luck to you, and feel free to keep in touch.

Mike Ford

A draught, for the draft!

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:53:00 GMT

I'm raising a glass to myself tonight for finishing the first draft of The Fall of Rome, which was due to my editor 60 days ago. Hey, it's my fifth novel, I'm entitled to be late now and then. Re-writes will start soon, then proofing and production, and I imagine it will finally be published about this time next year. In the meantime, I'm going to take a couple of weeks off and actually do some reading, for a change. I'll post Chapter One on this site as soon as I get clearance, probably within the next couple of months.

Against the Tide

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:57:00 GMT

I'm often asked what happened to my book entitled "Against the Tide." Its first chapter was excerpted in the back of the paperback version of "Gods and Legions," and many people have searched the bookstores for it, to no avail.

"Against the Tide" was actually the working title for "The Last King." That excerpt was printed at a very early stage in its editing process, and in the six months or so before final publication, the name was changed to "The Last King." Changes like this are fairly common in the industry, especially in the later stages of a book's production cycle, when the publisher's marketing people begin having input into the process. That was the second time one of my book titles was changed suddenly. The original title for "Gods and Legions" was "The Last Pagan." (I apparently underestimated how many pagans still exist!) Hope that clarifies things.

Need an autograph?

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:59:00 GMT

I'm often asked if I will sign books for people. I actually do that quite often, and if there are no convenient readings scheduled, I'm always happy to sign books by mail. Most people just mail me a book, with enough stamps or cash to cover return postage, then I sign it and return it in the same box. If you don't want to go to the trouble of packing boxes, you can order a book by Amazon or some other mail-order house, have it shipped to me directly, and then I will just sign it and send it on to you in the shipping box. If this is something you're interested in, shoot me an e-mail and we'll exchange addresses.

Google's not afraid...yet

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:59:00 GMT

A milestone, of sorts, was reached last month when I received over 1,000 visits to this website. Admittedly that's not a big deal by eBay or Google standards, but still, I am very pleased to be reaching that many people. I'm puzzled, though — according to my statistics page, the country accounting for the largest number of visits (outside North America) was Sweden, of all places. Now don't get me wrong — I've been to Sweden, and I love Sweden. But it has a relatively small population, and my books aren't even published in Sweden. So if you're Swedish, and you read this, please contact me and let me know how you heard of my books--and what language you're reading them in. The first Swede to contact me about it, with a Swedish e-mail address as proof, will receive a free autographed copy of any of my books they want.

More foreign jackets

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:00:00 GMT

Haven't posted any news items lately, as my son, Eamon, has been re-coding the website, to make it cleaner. In any case, some interesting new international editions have recently been issued. Check out the Portuguese cover of The Ten Thousand, which was released last month — I think it's one of the most beautiful dust jackets ever. Sword of Attila will be published shortly in Italian, and also has a striking cover. The Ten Thousand has also been re-released in Spain in a new hardcover edition by the publishing house Planeta DeAgostini; much of its print run, I'm told, will be directed to Mexico.

Czech it out

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:01:00 GMT

Well, the cover art for the Czech edition of THE LAST KING is ready, and you can see it here. The translator, Mrs. Vera Klásková, comments that it is "a little bit fierce." I'll let you be the judge. She also reports that the final Czech text, fortunately, contains no major bugs — only a few "fleas", as the Czechs call them...

Guestbook abuse

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:01:00 GMT

I'm sad to say I've had to take the Guestbook offline. I've enjoyed comments and visits from readers, but unfortunately the page has been discovered by spammers and sellers of unsavory products, and I've been having to purge 20-30 bogus entries per day. I'll refrain from bemoaning Internet etiquette and morals, but feel free to continue to contact me by e-mail.

Búscame en España

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:03:00 GMT

I've been invited to attend the "Semana Negra Festival" in Gijon, Spain, on July 12 to 18, to launch the Spanish edition of "The Last King". This is one of Europe's biggest book fairs, with some 2 million visitors expected to attend. If you plan to be there, look me up.

Hawking wares

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:04:00 GMT

We now have a giftshop! Mugs and T-Shirts available with The Sword of Attila book cover.

Great cover

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:05:00 GMT

Just received a copy of the proposed dust jacket for the Portuguese version of "The Ten Thousand" — one of the most awesome book covers I've seen. Take a look here and let me know what you think.

Where's my guide-dog

Michael Curtis Ford — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:05:00 GMT

Completed the review of the Italian translation of "Gods and Legions", which will be released in the summer of 2005. That makes three translation reviews in two months. I think I'm going blind.