Neil Gaiman, Storytelling and the World Weird Web

Warning to the folks who come here looking for bicycle stories. There is very little bicycle content in this long, strange, true tale. But, for better or worse, this is the main place I tell stories on the internet and I think this is a tale worth telling, if only so someone (myself perhaps) can point to it from some other place and remember how odd the world was in 2012.

At some point in my life I became aware of Neil Gaiman. I'd see his books in bookstores and I'm sure I picked up at least one and read the back cover, but I didn't buy the book then. Sometime later, I recall being on a bike ride with Mark Vande Kamp, one of our rides where we talk of a good many things, and Mark mentions Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. "It's very good," Mark says, "I think you'd really like it." The book makes its way onto my mental list along with hundreds of others. My brain is full of unread books. It is large, it contains multitudes.

In one of my 6 Books in a Backpack sessions last year I get a copy of "Good Omens" a collaboration of Neal Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Again, I don't get around to reading the book. My physical collection of unread books is not as large as my mental collection, but it is still large and contains multitudes. Pratchett is another fellow who is still on my "I've heard good things, I should read his stuff" list.

Somewhere along the line, I start following Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) on Twitter. I still have not read any of his books, but I read his tweets. Neil tweets that an episode of the Simpsons in which he appears as a character is available for view online. I basically stopped watching TV several years ago so I'd have more time to read books, but I always enjoyed the Simpsons, so I watch "The Book Job". It is clever & fun but it doesn't make me think "Oh man, I have to read this guy's stuff right now."

A few weeks ago Neil tweets something like "Hey the 10th Anniversary Edition of American Gods is $2 for the next day or so on the Kindle." I download it. Then we get hit with a big snow and ice storm here in Issaquah and our power is knocked out. The streets are icy & no power means the bike shop is closed and I'm not going to work. I readAmerican Gods by headlamp on my Kindle. Neil describes his book as being a long piece of prose with something wrong with it, but I can't quite figure out what that thing is. My overall reaction is "Dammmnnn that was good."

Our local library has Kindle downloads so I download Anansi Boys. More fun than American Godswith a lighter story. I like it better in some ways, but American Gods seems like the better book.

Next from the library, M Is for Magic. Holy crap, this man can sure write a short story. Somebody do a DNA test because I'm pretty sure Ray Bradbury is this fellow's father.

One of the stories in M Is for Magic is something that becomes the core Neil's novel The Graveyard Book. All of the copies of The Graveyard Book are checked out of the library and I don't even pause for a second before downloading it at full price full price from Amazon. It was that or Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book is a bit cheaper. And I want to see where the story goes.

While I'm reading The Graveyard Book, Neil tweets something like "Hey Amazon just knocked the price of Neverwhere to three bucks on the Kindle." Again, zero hesitation. Neil and Amazon get my money.

I finish The Graveyard Book. It's my new favorite. I immediately buy another Kindle copy for Christine. So glad to send Neil some more of my money, glad to find a book that makes me go "Christine will love this." It is, as I tell her, "a sweet, wonderful, dark tale that begins with pretty much an entire family being knife murdered."

Authors get most of their readers through word of mouth and I've become a big mouth fan of Neil Gaiman. My friends are getting the "Whoa, you should read this guy's stuff" raves from me. Yeah, I know I'm late to this party, but I don't care. Think of this blog post as more of that rave.

Now here's where the story gets weird and pays off in a weird way. If you've been keeping score, my Gaiman fandom up to this point in my story has cost me a grand total of about $21 plus some tax ($2 forAmerican Gods, $16 for two copies of The Graveyard Book, and $3 for Neverwhere). The enjoyment I've gotten from these works, plus the others I've gotten from the library is far, far greater than the meager sum I've paid.

But we live in a very, very weird world. On a much smaller scale than Mr. Gaiman, I also tell stories and I don't tell them nearly as well. And I mostly write non-fiction but I do a bit of fiction now and then and it almost always involves bicycles. And I've got a story now that will be something, not this story but another one that you'll get to read another day and it involves bicycles and graveyards. And I think it is a story worth telling and it is what it is in part because of Mr. Gaiman's odd stories. So I'm getting value there as well.

But that's not the weird part. The weird thing is how that $21 has already come more than come back to me in just plain old, crass American dollars. And as @neilhimself will tell you, the American Dollar is one of the American Gods.

I'm an Amazon affiliate and if somebody buys something from Amazon after following a link on my blog or something I've tweeted, Amazon knows I sent you. Amazon knows a really spooky number of things. Amazon doesn't charge you more but I get a small percentage of the purchase price as a referral fee. depending on the item it may only be 1.5% or as much as 10%. In the case of books & ebooks, it's usually 6 or 7%.

So a few days after Neil's tweet about Neverwhere, I notice it's still at the low price. I tweet:

Neverwhere by @neilhimself is still only $2.99 on the Kindle. A great price for some really great writing. amzn.to/zGrvSs

If any of the 1600 or so people who follow me on twitter follow that link and buy the book, I'll make a few cents. I'm happy to spread the word about a good book and if I make a little money in the process, that's fine too.

@neilhimself noticed my tweet and retweeted it to his 1.6 million followers. It only takes a small percentage of 1.6 million people to buy something for it to be noticeable. Amazon tells me that at least some of those people didn't already have a copy of Neverwhere.

And that, my friends, is how you sell books in the 21st century. In that one click, Mr. Gaiman has paid for every book of his I'll probably ever buy. And I have this strange, true story to tell you.

By the way, I'm reading Neverwhere now. It's fabulous.

Keep em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah, WA USA

Fat Cyclist: Media Mastermind

If you are sharp of eye and mind you might be thinking "Hey Kent, you got the title of Fatty's book wrong in your review, it's Comedian Mastermind, not Media Mastermind." Well, sharp reader, you're right about the title but I'm not making a mistake, unless the mistake is in calling attention to Elden's vast media empire. And believe me, it's a vast empire. The man has a blog, he has a twitter account, he has a line of clothing, hell he's got a whole team of people who dress like him. And now he has a book and an ebook and who knows what else. I bet he's gonna buy up Google and Facebook next week.

Now if you check the reviews for this book, you find nothing but five star reviews. OK, there is one 4 star review but it's because there is a glitch in the ebook version if you try to read it with a black background. I'm sure Fatty will fix that when he buys Amazon next week. So the book is basically perfect, right?

How is that even possible? I mean, gosh it's basically a rehash of stuff you could read for free on his blog, isn't it?

Well here's the scoop. Yeah, it's a rehash and yeah there's some new stuff. It's got a preface and SIX forwards. The forwards are written by Fatty's friends and guess what? The funny man has funny friends. And about those friends, Fatty got all those great reviews because they are pretty much all written by his friends. Including this one.

Fatty keeps his friends by bribing us. He sent me a bribe to write this. The bribe I got looked like this:

He made sure I couldn't sell it or re-gift it by scribbling in it:

So I read the damn thing. Even the parts I'd read before, on his blog, for free. And it's still funny. Really funny. Shoot coffee out your nose funny even when you know what's coming.

And this is why he's a genius. Because he's not just funny, he's a genuinely nice guy. The kind of guy you'll want to ride with. Because he'll bring snacks. And tell stories. And you'll want to be his friend, cause he's a funny, friendly guy. And then, even though he gave a lot of the great stories away on his blog or maybe he's even given you a copy of his book, you'll buy copies of his book to give to your friends. That's what I did.

And then you'll tell everybody about it on your blog. Like I just did.

And that's why Fatty is a Media Mastermind. He's going to sell a zillion of these damn books. If just each of his friends tells two of their friends...

It's a really good book. Buy the damn thing before Fatty gives you a copy. Or one of his friends buys it for you.

And don't read it while you're drinking coffee.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson

Issaquah WA USA

RIDE: Short fiction about bicycles

If you are reading this blog the odds are pretty good you're a fan of bicycles and if you're a fan of bicycles, I think the odds are good that you'll find something in Ride: Short fiction about bicycles that you'll like better than the money you'll spend to buy it. Please DON'T buy it just to get a story from me, I give stories away for free all the time here and my little bit of fiction included in Ride will be familiar to my readers. Buy Ride for all the other stuff in there.

The stories in this collection span the world in terms of settings and scenes. Moods range from the darkest nights to the sunniest of days. Some characters are folks you'd want as friends, some you'll hope to never meet. Each story is a ride down an interesting road and every reader will find his or her own favorite. The book opens with a sucker punch to the gut with Paul Guyot's dark masterpiece "I'm Bob Deerman" and many clicks later I read the final screen of Barbara Jay Wilson's "Red Dot" with a big, dumb smile on my face. And Taliah Lempert's illustrations show that books don't have to be printed on paper to be beautiful.

Currently Ride is available on the Kindle or the Nook for $3.99. Kindle software is available for free on wide range of devices and phones, so even if you don't have an e-reader, you can buy and read Ride. And for those of you who want a real paper book with pages, it's available inpaperback for $7.99.

To date I haven't written much fiction but I'm proud to have my story included in Ride. Keith Snyder did a great job putting this collection together and reading these stories has set some more wheels turning in my head. Thanks Keith, for taking us along on this Ride.

50 More Good Bicycle Books

Last week I published a list of 50 Good Bicycle Books and I knew it was nowhere near an exhaustive list. Today I present 50 More Good Bicycle Books and the quality of the titles on this list are just as high (or maybe higher) than the books on my first list. In some cases titles and authors are in the "Oh God, I can't believe I forgot so and so" category and in other cases they are titles or authors sent to me by people saying "Oh God, I can't believe you forgot so and so". And some titles are gems I've uncovered by following other links or tips.

Not every book on this list will appeal to everyone but I think anyone who shares a love of bicycles and bikes will find something of value on this list. This list is presented in the same format and with the same caveats as my previous list.

I don't describe the books, but each title links to an Amazon page with description, reviews, etc. If you hate Amazon and want to support your local bookshop, go find these books at your local store. I am an Amazon Affiliate so if you do wind up buying one of these books on Amazon after clicking a link from here it will not cost you anything extra but about 6% of the purchase price goes to me. That's the main way I keep the bits flowing through this blog, so if you choose to do that, thank you very much.

While I doubt that I'll compile a third list (a hundred books seems like a nice round number) please feel free to continue to leave comments pointing out more good bicycle books.

And now, without further ado, here's my list of 50 More Good Bicycle Books:

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Atomic Zombie's Bicycle Builder's Bonanza by Brad Graham and Kath McGowan

Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide by Jill Homer

Bicycle History: A Chronological Cycling History of People, Races, and Technology by James L. Witherell

Bike Tripping by Tom Cuthbertson

Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham

Curious George Rides a Bike by H. A. Rey

Cycling Home from Siberia: 30,000 miles, 3 years, 1 bicycle by Rob Lilwall

Cycling the Great Divide: From Canada to Mexico on America's Premier Long Distance Mountain Bike Route by Michael McCoy

Eat, Sleep, Ride: How I Braved Bears, Badlands, and Big Breakfasts in My Quest to Cycle the Tour Divide by Paul Howard

Every Woman's Guide to Cycling: Everything You Need to Know, From Buying Your First Bike toWinning Your First Race by Selene Yeager

French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France By Tim Moore

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy

Ghost Trails by Jill Homer

Heft on Wheels: A Field Guide to Doing a 180 by Mike Magnuson

Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World by Amy Snyder

Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America?: Five Kids Meet Their Country by John Seigel Boettner

Hungry Cyclist by Tom Kevill-Davies

Into the Remote Places by Ian Hibell and Clinton Trowbridge

Iron Riders: Story of the 1890s Fort Missoula Buffalo Soldier Bicycle Corps by George Niels Sorensen

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Richard & Nicholas Crane

Moods of Future Joys by Alastair Humphreys

Mud, Sweat, and Gears: A Rowdy Family Bike Adventure Across Canada on Seven Wheels by Joe Kurmaskie

Need for the Bike by Paul Fournel

On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Lifeedited by Amy Walker

Richard's 21st Century Bicycle Book by Richard Ballantine

Riding Outside The Lines: International Incidents and Other Misadventures with the Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie

Rough Ride: Behind the Wheel With a Pro Cyclist by Paul Kimmage

Round Ireland in Low Gear by Eric Newby

Sloane's Complete Book of Bicycling: The Cyclist's Bible (25th Anniversary Edition) by Eugene Sloane

Spokesongs: Bicycle Adventures on Three Continents by Willie Weir

Stealing from a Deep Place: Travels in Southeastern Europe by Brian Hall

Super Grandpa by David M. Schwartz

Ten Lessons from the Road by Alastair Humphreys

The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt

The Bike Lesson by Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling: Build the Strength, Skills, and Confidence to Ride as Far as You Want by Edmund R. Burke and Ed Pavelka

The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography by Matt Rendell

The Happiness of Pursuit: A Father's Courage, a Son's Love and Life's Steepest Climb by Davis Phinney

The Lead Goat Veered Off: A Bicycling Adventure on Sardinia by Neil Anderson

The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa by Neil Peart

The Quotable Cyclist: Great Moments of Bicycling Wisdom, Inspiration and Humor edited by Bill Strickland

The Six-Day Bicycle Races: America's Jazz-age Sport by Peter Nye

The Urban Biking Handbook: The DIY Guide to Building, Rebuilding, Tinkering with, and Repairing Your Bicycle for City Living by Charles Haine

The Wind in My Wheels: Travel Tales from the Saddle by Josie Dew

The Wonderful Ride by George T. Loher

Thunder & Sunshine by Alastair Humphreys

Travels With Rosinante: 5 Years Cycling Round the World by Bernard Magnouloux

Travels in a Strange State by Josie Dew

Two Wheels And A Map: A Solo Bicycle Journey Down The East Coast by Bob Neubauer

Wheels Within Wheels by Dervla Murphy

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Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA