If you enjoyed Regret, With Math, you might also be interested in Shrimp, my current Kickstarter project.  Like Regret, it touches on ordinary people training in the traditional fighting arts of Japan, and it similarly uses an extraordinary interest as a hook for shedding new light on common problems -- in the case of Shrimp, problems of divorce and child care.  It doesn't get as violent as Regret, but I hope parts of it are just as heartbreaking.  Take a look!

-G.

If you enjoyed "Regret, With Math" and the other stories I've released for free using Kickstarter, you might also enjoy something in a longer form.  My novel SWITCHFLIPPED is currently available for e-readers, but I'm also trying to fund a print version.  If you'd like it as a bound and printed volume, now is the time to get it cheaper by pledging for it.  

Thanks for your time and attention.

-G.

By which I mean, I've got another story up for ransom.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregstolze/a-hole-in-the-darkness

This one's hardboiled crime fiction (with savage beat-downs), instead of character-driven interior exploration (with savage beat-downs). There's no philosophy in A Hole in the Darkness but, like Regret, with Math it digs deep into the painful parts of people's lives, and in this story, the protagonists only get one ending.

Hope you're interested!

-G.

...when I'll stop feeling vaguely embarrassed about posting links to the stories I hope get funded on the project pages of stories I already funded. Soon? Is it soon? I just don't know.

Here's that link, by the way. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregstolze/wind

It leads to the page for "A Wind at the Window," a story about smokeless fire and Finnish winter.

-G.

The system works, and I for one am grateful. The support you gave "Regret, With Math" has permitted me to put up other stories -- all available at http://www.gregstolze.com/fiction_library/index.html by the way -- and offer another one right now. "Zombis Blanc" is horror, red and ripe, and it's only $128 away from release. That may sound like a lot, but it's been skyrocketing in the last couple days. Can you help me keep the momentum going?

Thanks.

-G.

Hello. If you're reading this, odds are good that you're one of the backers for "Regret, With Math." That project turned out splendidly, being now available on the internet for all and sundry to enjoy. I'm going to be a little daring and assume that you weren't disappointed and, maybe, might be interested in doing it again. If so, here's the opportunity.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregstolze/icke

This time I don't have the advantages of it being award-winning, but it is completely new, fresh... and, in my opinion, just as good as "Regret." Here's hoping you have a chance to enjoy it too.

-G.

The pledges are in, the thanks have been thanked (though I'll thank you again, of course) and the story is off in the wilds of the internet, stumbling and blinking. All that remains is to make SURE everyone who pledged got the podcast - I sent a query, but I figure it doesn't hurt to ask in more than one place.

Oh, and to answer a question from the last post's comment...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregstolze/these-people-mean-nothing-to-each-other-an-ete

-G.

The story "Regret, With Math" has now been funded and is now available. You can get it at the following url.

http://www.gregstolze.com/RegretWithMath.pdf

Of course, if you haven't contributed yet and still want to, you can get access to the podcast. Or if you just want to enjoy the story, well enjoy. Feel free to send me a private message with your email address if you want to be notified the next time I fund a story like this, or the next time I release one.

-G.

In case you're wondering what kind of story you're getting, I've excerpted a bit from the beginning discussing just that. If you're wondering whether I sound as nasal and pedantic as you'd expect -- well, listen for yourself.

-G.

What follows is unedited explanation from the judge for the Richard Eastman prize.

"I thought it would be so easy. When the Naperville Writers Group asked me to choose the winner of the first annual Richard Eastman Prize for prose pieces in RIVULETS, I thought it would be a piece of cake--good cake, maybe like chocolate fudge. After a cursory reading, the winner would just jump out.

"Yeah, right.

"After three or four readings of the 50-odd entries I'd narrowed it down to about seven finalists. Each time I read them, I liked something different about each. Of course it was more complicated because I was judging fiction and non-fiction, stories and memoir.

"Another reading helped me get it down to four: a narrative non-fiction piece and three stories, including Greg's story, REGRET, WITH MATH.

"But the pieces were strong in different ways. So I realized I had to come up with a criterion, a scythe to cut through it all. Finally I did: it had to be something that I thought was so ingenious and engaging that very few writers--maybe even no one but the author--could have written so well.

"The next morning, the winner jumped out at me: REGRET, WITH MATH.

"Meticulously structured, witty, and with a great message (i.e., don't worry too much about this life, because you're probably even more screwed in several others; oh, and try not to think too much about the ones where you're better off), the story delivers.

"I was judging the pieces blind, because I knew many NWG members from my time with the group. But when they took the blindfold off, I wasn't surprised at all to find out it was Greg's story. He always nails the writerly trifecta of voice, story, and wit.

"I loved REGRET, WITH MATH. It stayed with me like few stories do. I'm sure you'll feel the same way.

"And a bit about me:

"Sachin Waikar’s writing has appeared or is forthcoming in two Seal Press anthologies, South Asian Review, Parents Magazine, and children’s magazines including Highlights, and Kahani. His screenwriting has placed in HBO/Miramax’s Project Greenlight and been nominated for an ABC/Disney Writing Talent Grant. Sachin holds a BA from Stanford University and a PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA. He is a freelance writer in the Chicago area, where he lives with his wife and two children."

A valid question for these sorts of trust-based financial exchanges is "Why?" What have I, the author, done to assure you that you won't pay up and receive a shiny dump of a tale, poorly paced and punctuated, defaced by self-indulgence or, worse, thinly veiled spiritual propaganda?

So far, not much. I'd love to think you watched the video and thought, "Wow, it's like the sincerity is radiating from him like warmth from the sun!" (After all, I did wear a necktie and everything.) But a more telling guarantee might be access to my track record. I can't guarantee "Regret, With Math" will illuminate your life with meaning, or even amuse you, but I can offer three resources that indicate it's a good bet.

1) According to Google, I'm a good writer.

If you enter "Greg Stolze" "great writer" as your search terms, you get 544 hits.
If you enter "Greg Stolze" "bad writer" you only get 4 hits.

2) You can read a creepy story I wrote about ghosts.

It's called Ghosts: The Straight Dope. Its tone is pulpy and cynical, in contrast to the drier and straightforward style of "Regret, With Math." On the other hand, I wrote that one over ten years ago and I think my skills have gotten sharper since then.

3) You can hear me read a fantasy story.

Here's my story, The Doom of Swords, as read by me and three people from my writer's group. (I voice the crabby musician.) There are a few production glitches, but I've got a better microphone setup now. More importantly, the tone and focus of the story is different from "Regret, With Math," but I think this shows I can craft a plot and present it.

There they are, then. If you're undecided, get a taste before you commit. If you don't like the freebies then, yeah, you probably won't like "Regret, With Math." But at least I can console myself with an informed rejection.

On the other hand, if you like 'em? You know what to do.

-G.

Okay, the little vector art thing I threw together -- what do y'all think? Good? Bad? Intriguing? Amateur-hour? Let me know, particularly if it either made you MORE likely to support or LESS. If enough people dislike it, I'll see about replacing it with some kittens. Or a more relevant picture involving the martial arts.

-G.