Science Fiction for Thinkers
Your world may never look the same.
A short biography of Michael Casher...
Michael Casher is a science fiction author whose six novels include The Evermore Trilogy. Each sci-fi thriller is part of his Science Fiction for Thinkers collection, published by Lulu.com and sold at Lulu.com, Amazon.com, Target.com, Blackwell.co.uk and other online bookstores world-wide.
Michael Casher completed his seventh book in January 2009. "Blind Fool Running" is a literary novella written under the pen name Jonco Bugos. Because of this novella's metaphysical themes, he published this book as part of his Science Fiction for Thinkers collection, even though it is categorized as "Fiction and Literature".
The author is currently working on an eighth book under his real name, Michael Casher. This will be his seventh sci-fi thriller and another full-length novel.
In this Bio, Michael Casher responds to questions that he, in fact, asked himself.
Why wasn't there a photo of you on this bio page for the first year?
I was hiding.
What is that supposed to mean?
It means that I don't look like a science fiction writer so I used to stay hidden. I look like a farmer, which is just fine with me, but I'm not a farmer. Sometimes I look like a handyman from the 1950s. Quite often I look like the old guy who sells you cracked corn down at the feed store. Actually, I look like all three. At one time I figured, Who would want to read a sci-fi novel written by someone who looks like this? But I don't care about any of that superficial stuff anymore.
Where were you born?
Philipsburg Hospital, Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
What year were you born?
1951. Yes, there was electricity and television and even Kool-Aid.
Where do you live?
I currently live in Snow Shoe, Pennsylvania, in the United States. My hometown. I left town when I was 20 but returned when I was 49. (There is no accounting for taste or judgment). That was eight years ago. My, how time flies when you need to get a life.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Writing, reading, blogging, SETI@home, painting (fence posts, lawn furniture, "Keep Out" signs and things like that), bicycling (no serious stuff, I just jump on the Huffy and start pedalling), target shooting (not so much paper targets as things that splinter and/or fall over when hit), tying yellow ribbons on the tails of stray cats.
When did you start writing science fiction novels?
In 2002. I needed a break from the service industry where I was constantly being downsized. The advent of Windows 95 also had a lot to do with the spiraling demise of my service-industry career. I struggled a lot with DOS before Windows made its debut, barely keeping my head above water with green words and numbers on a black screen. Then along came Windows and chopped it off with a single stroke. Windows spawned multi-tasking which is a slick little service-industry term that was invented to mask the trendy practice of making employees do a lot more things each year for the same pay.
Why did you publish your own books?
So I could have control over their content, price and distribution. Another reason is so they would be published before the year 3000.
Why is Lulu.com now listed as the publisher of your books instead of you?
Because I decided to reformat my novels in 2008 so that Lulu.com could be the official publisher and distributor of my six science fiction thrillers.
Why did you do that?
I wanted to do whatever it took to get my novels listed by Nielsen Book Services, Bowker's Books In Print and Ingram Book Company so online booksellers like Amazon.com and regular bookstores like Barnes & Noble can sell them.
Why is your seventh book literary fiction instead of science fiction?
I wanted to see if I could write a literary novel in the first person, present tense. As the book reached novella length, I realized that the story was being told at novella length (17,500 to 39,999 words is the publishing industry's accepted range for a novella). Stretching it out to novel length would have done the story an injustice. As a novel, it would have been laborious and redundant for the reader. But, as a 31,000-word novella, it's a comfortable read.
Why did you use a pen name for this novella?
Because Michael Casher is "branded" as a science fiction novelist. Jonco Bugos, my alter ego, is not.
Will there be other literary novellas written by Jonco Bugos?
No doubt about it. When I'm not using the keyboard, Jonco will be keeping it warm for me.
Does that mean that Michael Casher will keep penning science fiction thrillers?
That's the plan. Some people live to eat, drink and shop. I live to write.
Your official website is "Science Fiction for Thinkers.com", which you simply call "Science Fiction for Thinkers". But that wasn't the original name, was it?
Nope. In 2005 my official website was called "michaelcasher.com" with the tagline "Science Fiction for Thinkers". That name matched the Lulu store I opened in 2004 called "Science Fiction for Thinkers". I updated the name of my Lulu store in 2009 to "Science Fiction for Thinkers...at Lulu" to keep them separate in the search engines as different websites altogether. My official signature has always been "Fiction is real life without its mask."
In April 2007 I changed the name of my official website to "Science Fiction for Thinkers" at the Internet address of "sciencefictionforthinkers.com". My tagline became "Your world may never look the same." The dot com is the web address, the name of the site is Science Fiction for Thinkers. Just like when you're at Sears.com. You're shopping at Sears.com but you're buying from Sears.
It's all a matter of semantics. I am Michael Casher. As an author, my books have always been a collection that I called Science Fiction for Thinkers. My first Internet domain was michaelcasher.com, which was about me and my books. Now my official Internet domain is sciencefictionforthinkers.com, which is all about me and my books.
Science Fiction for Thinkers is me and michaelcasher.com and sciencefictionforthinkers.com and I am them. We are inseparable. It's not duplicity. It's all about "branding". I branded myself with an official worldwide presence. The steps and the time it took me to achieve that brand I chalked up to experience and personal evolution. Just like a shark, a writer must constantly move forward or die.
I see. So, do you write anything besides novels?
I write several blogs under several different names and one monthly newsletter, mostly for therapy. My first blog was "Thinker's Corner", which I started writing in May 2005. I figured blogging would be a better outlet for disappointment, frustration and bewilderment than running naked through the back yard and screaming, "Why me? Why me?"
I also believed back then that my blogs would eventually generate some interest in my books. But that doesn't seem to be the case. So, I'm not really as enthusiastic a blogger as I used to be but I still blog regularly. Just not as often.
Just like life, itself, writing is a "learn-as-you-go" experience.
Why did you join "Amazon Connect" in February 2009 as an author?
I figured Amazon would be selling more of my books than anybody else so I wanted to have the best exposure there that I could have. I also wanted to be available to readers, potential readers and Amazon.com customers who might want to know more about me and my books. But Amazon scrapped "Amazon Connect" in May 2009 and began a new program called "Author Central".
Did you join Author Central?
I didn't want to, at first, because I knew I'd have to re-establish my presence at Amazon.com all over again. And that reminded me of what General George Patton said about retreating, which is how I feel about jumping through another hoop just to wind up in the same spot. He said, "I don't like paying for the same real estate twice." For General Patton, American lives were at stake. But, for me, it's just another hoop in the author-and-pony show that everyone seems to love so much, so I figured what the hell.
So, if you didn't pen your first novel until you were 50 years old, what were you doing before that?
Gathering data.
Would you ever want to be published by a traditional publisher?
In fact, between 2002 and 2004, I queried a total of 47 literary agents and 45 publishers, all of whom rejected me and my particular brand of science fiction, without even taking a look at my manuscripts. So, I did give the traditional publishing "community" the first option to publish my first three books but they turned a blind eye on me and never looked back. But I might consider giving them a second chance. On my terms, of course.
You might be inclined to think that I write what I want to write and then try to shape a market around that. But that's not really the case. A market for the kind of crossover, non-traditional science fiction I write has always existed. The traditional publishing "community", which is controlled by six major global-media conglomerates, five of which have headquarters in New York City, just pretends that it doesn't exist because they haven't tapped it yet. But I have. That's what I do.
So, writing what you want and finding your own following is a big deal for you?
That's a very big deal for me. I have no desire to be a writer on anyone's payroll but my own or to write the kind of market-driven, sensationalist, copycat stuff the world had been duped into reading.
What are the three biggest reasons you chose to be a science fiction author?
I wanted to entertain people, make them laugh and get them to think.
I wanted to write books that would make readers want to be better people.
I wanted to make a positive difference in the world.
Yeah, I'm all booked up. Unfortunately, most of my upcoming public appearances will be in local supermarkets and hardware stores as a customer.
What advice would you offer aspiring writers?
Go fishing instead.
