Charles Martin Cosgriff, M.D.

Believe me, you do not want Marty as your kindly old MD. Even I will admit that. For starters, I doubt I'd be all that kindly. Then there's fact that I don't care for blood, which might just make being a doctor a tad difficult. But perhaps I could be mistaken for one.

I did actually play a doctor in the background of the movie Little Murder, which was filmed in my neighborhood back in 2009. I was in two blink and you miss them scenes but I was in there, lab coat and all. So there's that. I could believably be mistaken for a doctor. In fact I was once mistaken for one. Or, more precisely, the doctor was mistaken for me.

Me Uncle Frank, who lived up in Hessel in Michigan's glorious Upper Peninsula, had to have surgery. He told me that as he was coming out of it and still very groggy, a doctor came over to speak to him. He thought that the doctor was me. All the while he was answering the surgeon's questions Uncle Frank said he was thinking things like, "Marty's not a doctor," or "Marty's not here, he's in Detroit," and the like. A funny story, in a cutesy kind of way. I assured him it could not have been have been me, for the reasons he cited plus one other. "What's that?" Uncle Frank demanded to know.

"You survived the surgery," I replied with a laugh. 

You know what? When he told the story the next time he added that reason to his list. 

Not So Subtle

One of my New Year's Resolutions, and likely the only one which I will seriously attempt to fulfill, is to put more effort into promoting my scribbles. Of my books available, three in all formats (hardcover, paperback, and Kindle) and two currently only available in Kindle (I do mean to make them available in the more traditional forms this year, I swear!) my first, A Subtle Armageddon, seems to be getting the most traction, so I will concentrate on it while not forgetting the rest.

That's one hell of a complex sentence for a writer, isn't it? Five commas and two bracketed asides before even getting to word count. I need to work on that.

But so, Brian O'Callaghan says this about ASA: 

"A Subtle Armageddon: Book 1 of the Infinity Series" invites readers on a breathtaking journey into a richly imagined world that delves deep into themes of solitude, identity, and the search for purpose. This profound narrative follows 'the man' as he navigates the haunting remnants of a once-thriving civilization, each desolate landscape echoing the whispers of its past. Through his solitary quest for self-discovery and existential truth, the story artfully intertwines allegory and reflection, challenging readers to ponder the complexities of their own existence amidst the ruins of a world transformed.

Thank you Brian! Remember that A Subtle Armageddon is available here.

Reviewing Reviewers

I spent most of this morning reading reviews of my own books. It's a valuable way to measure how good or bad they may be. Of course, I like my writing. But my opinion of me is quite skewed.

The extremes you can toss off without much thought. There's the occasional one which gushes as though I've written the Great American Novel. I haven't. My books are decent enough but won't be mentioned in literature courses two hundred years from now. Then there's reviews which rip a book to shreds. I pass over those equally. I think I can honestly say nothing of mine is shallow or amateurish. Yet for whatever reason the reader was horribly offended. Oh well.

It's the ones which are constructive, or at least are obviously trying to be, which are the most useful even where I disagree. I've been told I use too many adverbs. I'm not sure that I do, but the issue comes up enough that I need to consider it. Similarly, a book is occasionally dinged as in need of a professional edit. That might be useful, I admit. Yet those things cost (one to two thousand dollars is not unusual), and I'm not sure there's a real return on investment there, at least at this stage of my literary career. As I'm doing this writing thing mostly on a hope and a prayer, I'm set to do what promotion I can on the cheap and see how it all plays out.

On the whole, things look good. Each book (five are currently available) ranks between 4.3 and 4.7 on Amazon's five star scale, and the general interest readers appear to like them. And that's my intended audience. Not grammar geeks, though grammar is far more important than we think, but folks who just like to read. Enough so to give even my scribbles a chance.

By the way, my books are available online. It's true! Just click any of the following: David Gideon A Subtle Armageddon Michael's Story The Interim Generation and Family Lore

A Serious Request

The title is serious: I'm making a serious request here. But seriously, and I will stop making this sound unserious after this, I really could use your help.

If you have an Amazon account, would you be willing to 'follow' me please? Just go to any page with one of my books on it, find my pen name (Charles Martin Cosgriff) and click follow. This will help me manage my books more closely, and will help the algorithm, the famous algorithm, to find and suggest me to other Amazon shoppers.

Full disclosure: this will open you up to receive emails or other solicitations from Amazon about updates to my books or author page, and perhaps other Amazon entreaties as well. If you don't want to be subject to such, I understand. I'm throwing myself at your goodwill and tolerance, and no hard feelings if you don't want to deal with it.

I will happily reciprocate if you're on Amazon yourself, and follow you. I will put my proverbial money where my mouth is. 

Thank you in advance!

Not So Subtle?

I write things. Blogs and books and Facebook updates, you name it. I write.

My favorite book is my first one, A Subtle Armageddon. Yet I've always feared that it was too obscure, too unclear, for the general audience. Still, it's doing well with reviews on Amazon, averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars over 119 reviews. So I'm hoping that perhaps it's an easier read than I believe.

One reader said: A Subtle Armageddon paints a gripping portrait of a world devoid of emotion, where nature becomes the ultimate teacher. The prose is vivid, with moments of profound insight. Both unsettling and thought-provoking, this book questions dependence and the essence of existence.

Another remarks: (A Subtle Armageddon) is a fascinating dive into a dystopian future where human emotions have been neutralized. Following the protagonist's inner journey, the book explores the transformative power of nature and the awakening of human consciousness. The author interweaves suspense and philosophy in a compelling and thoughtful narrative. With vivid scenes and moments of palpable tension, the story pushes the reader to question control, dependence and freedom. An original and profound novel, perfect for those looking for an intense and stimulating read.

What do you think? You can find A Subtle Armageddon here and decide for yourself.

A Frustrated Man

An Amazon reader says this about my novel David Gideon:

The books journey from small-town Michigan to the presidency is both inspiring and deeply human. This book captures the essence of his life—his struggles, triumphs, and the relationships that shaped him, particularly with his wife, Diane, whose unwavering belief in his potential is truly heartwarming. The story weaves through his roles as a teacher, senator, and ultimately a leader of a nation, with moments that are equally uplifting and thought-provoking. At times, you may find yourself frustrated with his choices, but that only makes his growth and determination more impactful. A beautifully written story about leadership, love, and finding one’s purpose. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a character-driven, inspirational read.

As always, I'm happy and thankful for such reviews. What I really like about it is the reader's comment that you might be sometimes frustrated by his (David's) choices. I don't want a cardboard character. I want one where you might sometime say, 'What's he doing there? Why's he doing that?" I want a human being to come alive for you. That means imperfections, because we all have them. They have to be there or David won't be believable, and the reader won't be able to relate.

Want to find out how you relate to David Gideon? Just click this link.

Negatively Positive?

I've said before that a part of me almost likes negative reviews of my books more than positive. Yet the truly fascinating reviews are the ones which show that something I've written engages a reader even if it doesn't enthrall them.

One such reviewer of my first novel A Subtle Armageddon explained: 

The book follows a man who's in an almost dreamlike state, navigating the world, and finding enlightenment. It has thoughtful themes and unexpected twists. Despite its slow pacing, it is pretty interesting in some parts. It can be a challenging read, but it does leave an impression.

A challenging read which leaves an impression. I like that. Though the fellow only gave me three out of five stars in the Amazon rating system, I'm encouraged. It's an honest assessment, and not really negative. I like that he thought enough of it to remark on the book. 

Part of my goal is to get people thinking about the big questions: Why are we here? How are we supposed to live? What is right, really right for its own sake, and what is really wrong and why we should avoid it. I simply cannot accept the argument that we're just here, to no purpose. And that purpose must be true and valuable in itself, knowable through the natural world, existing regardless of our own thoughts and, ugh, feelings.

A Subtle Armageddon is available here if I've piqued your interest.

More Time

I read this morning where there were once societies with eight day weeks. How would that work?

Would we get three day weekends all the time? Or would the work week become six days? Holiday weekends should at least be four days, I would think.

Vacations would be longer. Maybe.

Would we be younger? I mean, longer weeks would be fewer years, right? The years would be longer too.

But that would also make life expectancies lower. Hmmm.

Ah, this is all just a bunch of nothing. But it's what you get when its Saturday and I have a blog deadline.

Oh The Humanity

I can take criticism. Oh, I have my days where I don't want to hear it. But I do try to bull through that resistance and accept what critics tell me. I wouldn't be putting my writing 'out there' if I couldn't do that.

Still, reviewers are human, and themselves subject to be wrong. A recent critic of my book The Sublime to the Ridiculous: Family Lore is in that spot.

She gave the book three stars out of five because "It reads more like a blog, which the author indicates is the source material, and would work better as that."

Oh. Kay. First off, I don't 'indicate' that a blog is the source material, I say flat out in the preface that the book is made up of blog posts. That's called a compilation. Many books are compilations. It's a standard practice.

Second, she knocks a blog collection because it's a blog collection? I'm deprived two stars for that?

Sometimes I don't get people. 

Convenient Drivel

Look at this! Just click that link and see the good news!

Family Lore

Charles Martin Cosgriff's, that is, my new book, is now available on Amazon. It's only on Kindle right now, but I hope to have a paperback edition soon.

It's a collection of favorite family tales from this very blog, The Sublime to the Ridiculous. I'm thinking of you, dear reader. Why read it for free one tale at a time one day at a time, which can be pure drudgery (Quiet, Ron) when you can pay 99 cents (not even a whole dollar!) and kill a couple hours reading several at a time. You're welcome. 

A shout out to my daughter in law Tarina Cosgriff for the cover. She stays in the will. Seriously, I love the cover and really appreciate her work!

Next up: STTR II: Cloyce Encounters. Thanks to my old friend Mark Koldys for the title. Guess who it features? It'll be up and running by October, just in time for Christmas!

Orwell and Vonnegut

Michael's Story has a feel of the true dystopia, not the trendy dystopia fiction we've been seeing. This novel is satirical, cautionary, and reminded me of George Orwell's "1984" and Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron." In that regard I found the writing brilliant!

It's a good story, deep, dark, and full of twists and turns.

Well, hard not to like that. It's from a recent review of my book Michael's Story. Comparisons to 1984 and Harrison Bergeron?  Thank you very much. I've read both and must wonder whether my own efforts deserve to be mentioned along with those classics of modern literature. Yet it's gratifying to hear.

But the reviewer makes a point which I think calls for a bit more reflection. He uses the term 'trendy dystopia' as a criticism, presumably anyway, of what often passes for dystopian. I think he's on to something.

An awful lot of the futuristic worlds we see or read about fail to get at the root of what dystopian actually represents. They merely seek to frighten the audience without a true understanding of where and why the fear may gestate. They're no better than horror movies. To be sure, there are some good movies and books in that genre. And that's okay. But they aren't dystopian. Dystopias examine the causes of evil rather than just try to scare the bejeezus out of us. I think that's what makes them more scary than monsters in the mirror.

Anyway, thank you, dear reviewer, for the good words! BTW Michael's Story can be found  here and here. Thank you for your support!

By Its Cover

I really am happy to be getting so many positive reviews for my books. I really am. The response has been far better than I had hoped. Yet sometimes I get a review which puzzles me.

As a courtesy I won't name names or even identify which book. But a certain reviewer absolutely raved about how great my book was. Great characters, great writing, great background; they seemed very ecstatic about it. So much so that I was confused at only being given four starts out of five. 

Then at the end of the review they said all that makes them give it only four stars was the dull and uninviting cover. I must admit I did a wait, what? This is a spectacular book which you demote one star because of the cover? But I thought you couldn't judge books by their cover, as me brother Phil pointed out. 

Reviewer, you sure didn't seem to mind the story as it was by the way you heaped praise on it. But I'm debited a star because of the graphics? Such things have never stopped me from enjoying a book or not. I never once said or thought, great book even with that lackluster cover. Even if I were to concede that a better cover would be nice, and perhaps so (other critics have expressed the same thought), I just don't get that at all.

In Review

It's nice to be garnering the amount of reviews which my books have been getting lately. It helps that the bulk of them are positive; three tales are averaging above four on Amazon's five star ranking system while the one book below that is still 3.9, so I'm happy. And as with so many other things in life, with the results I'm getting I wish I'd taken more interest in direct promotion much earlier than this. But so it goes, and there's always a degree to which self promotion should be uncomfortable, I think.

Even some of the less stellar reviews are helpful. One person remarked that I use adverbs too often. I don't use them as frequently as she claims (adverbs are nowhere near in every paragraph I write, despite her assertion) but I do overuse them. I'll be careful about that in the future. I will readily, unceasingly, routinely avoid them.

That's an adverb joke. Seriously, though, if you want to have fun with adverbs, look up Tom Swifties. Some of them are hilarious.

The compliments I'm receiving are nice ego builders but are fraught with peril for exactly that reason. They can go to your head. I know me well enough to know that that's dangerous. I suppose the best idea is to take the positives with a grain of salt and the negatives with a reasonably thick skin.

Anyway, I'll stick to the plan and see where it leads. It's been a fun ride so far.

Subtle God

A Subtle Armageddon is a well-written and highly imaginative page-turner that provides readers with an interesting and insightful examination of a dystopian future. The book's main character, despite his emotions being neutralized, learns from the natural world around him the real meaning of existence. The book is tense and emotional, thought-provoking, and has well-developed characters that readers will enjoy. It is also a spiritual and optimistic book that offers unexpected twists and learning moments.

Above is another review of my first book, A Subtle Armageddon. I've mentioned before that I worry the book is obscure, that the point may be difficult to grasp. Indeed, I have had at least two reviews from readers who, in their own words, gave up on the book because, again by their own admittance, they couldn't figure it out.

Then I read commentaries like this one and feel, hope, anyway, that just maybe I've gotten the point across well.

God is everywhere. We cannot hide from Him. He is woven all through nature; this should not surprise as nature is His creation after all. But one of the ideas I was trying to put forth in ASA is that no matter what humanity tries, they can't replace Him. We cannot hide Him; we cannot obscure Him, we cannot relegate Him to past history, as me Grandpa Joe might say. Try as we might, He will be there. Right in front of us.

That's the essential point of A Subtle Armageddon.

Taking a Chance

Well, I've gone and done it. I've contracted with a publishers service to help me improve my book sales. It's a bit of a shot in the dark, and certainly a leap of faith. But I figure you gotta try something, and why should I expect someone else to pay for my writing if I'm not willing to invest in it? 

They will soon have a website up and running and increase my social media presence. I can walk away at any time, and it leaves me the ability to write while they handle the promotional end. It seems to me worth the risk.

Here's hoping. I'll keep you-all informed as things develop. Wish me luck!

My first MRI: on a holiday Sunday night no less!

Now that I've experience my first MRI, I can understand why me Pops didn't care for them. You are in a tightly enclosed space.

I knew going in that I would be told I couldn't move my head. So I wasn't surprised that there was a mold which I laid my head into which would help keep it still. I was even okay when the technician placed a folded towel around my head as well. I did not however expect the Hannibal Lechter face mask which was fit into place on top of the mold. "Hello Clarice," I joked to the attendant, who by one of those strange coincidences in life was actually named Clarice.

Okay, that wasn't true. Not that I joked, but that her name was Clarice.

I never actually became claustrophobic, although I did follow not-Clarice's advice and keep my eyes closed during the exam. There was a lot of popping and whirring and odd mechanical sounds, as those of you who have enjoyed an MRI will know. It actually reminded me of a scene I wrote into my first book some thirty years ago. If you've read A Subtle Armageddon, you'll get what I mean. If you haven't, help me out and buy the book would you please?

Be that as it may, I got through the exam all right. I see my doctor tomorrow for the results, and then an ear, nose, and throat specialist (otorhinolaryngolist; say that three times fast, I dare you) next Tuesday. And all joking aside, I find myself at times worried about where all this will lead. I've been dealing with vertigo for several weeks now, and not knowing why becomes rather scary if I dwell on it. Here's hoping tomorrow brings good news.

A Subtle Armageddon

This is what a kind reviewer said about my first book, A Subtle Armageddon:


A Subtle Armageddon follows in the tradition of C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien in defending traditional values in an increasingly secular culture. It deals with the plight of the last man on Earth, who ought to have had it easy. But he is not the last being on Earth, and the battle for final control of humanity rages around and within him. Inevitably, he learns from rather than controls his environment as intended by his creators. He becomes the opposite of what he was intended to be, as the natural world teaches the lessons it was meant to teach without regard for whatever order humanity attempts to force upon it.

I hope that this blurb may pique your interest enough to follow it up and check out my little effort to place humanity in a proper context. Cheers!