ALL A-QUIVER: WALKING THE STRAIGHT ’N ARROW

Word of the week: antiestablishmentarianist (sic) – noun - [derived from: antiestablishment – adjective] – [one] opposed to or working against the existing power structure or mores, as of society or government – Dictionary.com

Indie Author of the Month: Come Meet . . . Tyro Vogel!

Through my years of writing and editing (and the year and a half I’ve been blogging), I’ve had the chance to meet so many wonderful writers with a host of gifted minds.

Stories of all genres written by ambitious, talented authors have captured my eye, and I love highlighting them here at The Ether of my Imagination with the high hopes that someone else—or many, many someone elses!—will learn more about those whom I’ve had the distinct pleasure of meeting, getting to know, and oftentimes gaining as repeat editing clients.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to one of these particularly gifted minds who takes his readers on journeys of wild fascination through his science fiction and edgy cyberpunk stories. I enjoyed editing Extatica [part one], and proofreading his short story collection, Double Five, both of which are very engaging and very creative. Not for everyone, mind you—and certainly not for younger readers. But for an open-minded adult searching for some reads out of the mainstream, something with just that unique flair . . . I highly recommend checking out this author’s works!

Best of all (at least I think, in my humble opinion): Any money he makes on Extatica will go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. All the more reason to help support this excellent budding author!

And so now, without further ado, here’s Tyro Vogel to tell you about himself, and his current and future projects! (And yes, the font change is deliberate. :-) )

* * *

Who?

My name is Maxim, but I (mostly) write fiction as Tyro Vogel, which stands for "Beginner Bird."

I am an antiestablishmentarianist who works in an office.

When nobody's looking, I also run a copywriting business.

What?

Human being, just like you.

As to what I write ... well ...

For copywriting projects I'd written everything from Facebook game quests to texts for a hotel chain on the Seychelles Islands. Which can be fun if done right, and is (or can be) financially rewarding, but it's not where my heart lies.

When I write for myself, I write short stories. I'd written more than two hundred of those little suckers between the ages of 13 and 27, and some of them I still have the audacity to like. Horror stories, detective stories, at least one Western, erotic stories, flash pieces without real beginnings, middles or ends, science fiction stories ... mostly science fiction stories.

In 2013, I've started working on my first novel Extatica, which is scheduled to come out August 15. Writing the first half had been an immensely rewarding experience through which I've made new friends and had a chance to work with some wonderful people (including the owner of these electronic pages), and I can't wait to see what will come out of it when it's finished.

While I'm not the biggest supporter of the self-publishing model, working on Extatica had taught me that it's not without its merits, especially after I'd accepted that I will make no money on it whatsoever (and whatever money I will make will go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation). But guess what! You don't need to wait until August 5 to help them sponsor new advancements in cancer treatment, you can always go to http://www.bcrfcure.org and pledge a few dollars (pounds, rubles, euros) today.

Since finishing my work on the first half of Extatica, I'd released a free Sherlock Holmes / Star Wars / Doctor Who crossfic The Girl with the Scarab Necklace to Smashwords and a collection of short stories called Double Five to Amazon.

I am currently writing my second Fallout fan-fiction story (stop looking at me funny, I love writing and I'm a fan, what else would you have me do), writing the entries to the third and fourth quarters of Writers of the Future competition, and, of course, working on my pseudo-erotic cyberpunk thriller, Extatica.

Where?

Budapest, Hungary. The land of good wine, home to Ernő Rubik and cheap pornography.

My website is www.tyrovogel.com; moreover, I regularly post stolen art and music to my Google+ stream, which you can find at https://plus.google.com/+TyroVogel (clickety click).

When?

Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

How?

I have a real-to-God paper notebook into which I write story notes, draw crazy business plans and website layouts, write poetry (with varying results), and sometimes plain prose when the laptop's battery dies.

I read a lot; sometimes I read about writing.

When I write, I want to try what I haven't tried before. Usually I fail, and end up procrastinating, just like I did before ... enter Yoda: DO OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY.

I try to finish what I start because I believe that one finished "okay" story is endlessly better than a hundred "great" stories which I will never write.

Sometimes, I exercise.

Other times, I get annoyed at repeating the word "I" too much.

Why?

One person can change the world; we've seen it happen numerous times, and one time too many, the change had been for the worst. Sometimes, the change had been for the better.

To change the world, you need to change the way people think ... but I don't think you can really change a person. You can only help them change themselves. All you need is an idea.

For me, that's what stories are: ideas.

And I believe in the power of stories.