In preparation for a new publisher for Shooting Shrink v2, Big Island Play, I have recently secured the rights to Gun Play, the series logo, and series title, Shooting Shrink.  For a short period of time, Gun Play will be out-of-print and available from Amazon Kindle, Signed First Editions at this website, and various booksellers on-line and in-store who have stock remaining.

LIMITED TIME OFFER  Email  me a copy of your Kindle receipt for Gun Play  dated in 2010 and I will send the first fifty (50) folks a Signed Copy of Gun Play (not 1st edition.) Please include your name and mailing address.  michaelthompkins@shootingshrink.com

As a spin-off from the Shrinking Fiction Workshops at Southern California Writers Confereence , a number of students approach me to help them with their writing projects. My work with them has been highly enjoyable for me and, hopefully, for them. My work with these first students is falling into a pattern where we divide the projects into three parts: Act One, Act Two and Act Three of their novel. The work is taking place in Seattle, where I live and Palm Springs where I have a condo. 

If you are interested in this work, please listen to the following podcast which is a discussion between Claudia Whitsitt and me in Palm Springs in July. Need I say in advance, the weather was hot, 106 degrees. You can hear the fountain in the background helping cool the patio. In the podcast, we discuss progress on Claudia's novel, The Wrong Guy.

February 2010: This just in from SCWC: "SCWC21, 22, 23 and 24 conferee Claudia Whitsitt has inked the deal for her debut novel, The Wrong Guy, with Echelon Press. This makes for the sixth or seventh author discovered by Echelon publisher Karen Syed at the Southern California Writers Conference. Congratulations, Claudia!."

Listen to the Video Podcast Here!

The podcast from Saturday at the Southern California Writer's Conference San Diego SCWCSD#23 is here:

Download to your desktop

If you didn't attend the conference and want to learn what we covered in the Saturday workshop, Shrinking Character II-How Psychology Can Help You Write Character simply download the Windows Media File to your computer desktop and it will automatically play for you. (Or save it for later viewing.)  This podcast covers the Saturday workshop Part II, where I discuss the various somatic maps in depth and work with various character developments issues from student projects. Enjoy and, as always, leave your comments. If you attended these workshops, the entire two day workshop will be available from me for downloading as soon as I complete editing. Email me and leave your email address if interested. If you were not a conferee but are interested in the full sessions, they will be avaiilable for a small fee to be determined.

Listen on Newstalk 920 KPSI-AM, Palm Springs, California. Each week Elli interviews the mover and shakers in Palm Springs.  Listen to the podcast of her interview with Michael Thompkins.  The discussion ranges from Gun Play, v1 Shooting Shrink, the next novel in the Shooting Shrink Series, and the criminal mind to politics and Palm Springs. Elli is a talented interviewers and the questions she asks are stimulating. She is also a substitute newscaster for Newstalk 920 KPSI-AM.

Listen to the podcast

Three years ago this week, I was busy setting up a booth at Village Fest in downtown Palm Springs to give away promotional t shirts with the Shooting Shrink logo along with the first copies of Gun Play. I reflect with gratitude on the hundreds of fans I have met since that night. Sales of Gun Play have been extremely rewarding for a first novel and Big Island Play, v2 Shooting Shrink Series, will be published soon.

Thanks to all my fans and folks who have helped me begin this series. Special kudos to my editors and police officer friends. Salutes to two Palms Spring's police officers for their unfailing support of a rookie author. Finally, bouquets of appreciation to a friend, who I refer to as my Palm Spring's CIA station chief, because she knows everything and everyone in Palm Springs. I hear the expression 'self-made man' often. In my opinion there are no self-made writers--it takes a village to raise a writer. These friendships are priceless.

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Plans for this website are expanding. In order to create room for my growth as a writer, the URL of this site will stay the same and change. The soon-to-be new  URL will be michaelthompkins.com, the website for author Michael Thompkins. The shootingshrink.com URL will still get you to the website. This move will allow me to start a new series of novels TBA, and expand the site to include any topic that relates to my writing. Enough for now-- more later.

Judith at 7500 feet at Pebble Creek beneath the Muir Snowfield

Finally, this is a picture (sent to me by Irish relatives) of my grandfather, Michael Reynolds, who was an Irish police officer before immigrating to the US in 1904. Considering I write crime fiction, I think it is safe to say that it's in my genes.

I was cleaning out a closet last week and discovered another 50 copies of Gun Play vol.1 Shooting Shrink, left over from the launch at Book Expo. I am offering these copies at cost plus shipping: $18. The last time I saw a Signed First available on Ebay, it went for $50. Some folks apparently think the Shooting Shrink Series will be successful and the value will rise. The First Edition of Gun Play differs from the following editions: the blurb on the back cover reads "reluctant detective" not "reluctant Palm Springs detective." The first 50 emails I get from fans get the copies signed by me in anyway you like and a picture of yours truly.  Limit one copy per address. Email me at michaelthompkins@shootingshrink.com

"Following his packed workshops at our L.A. and Palm Springs events, back to SCWCSD http://www.writersconference.com/scwcmain.html, by popular demand is 'Shooting Shrink series author and semi-retired psychologist Michael Thompkins." 

HERE WE GO AGAIN IN SAN DIEGO!

I will be repeating for the fourth time at SCWC my workshop Shrinking Fiction, How Psychology Can Help You Write Good Characters. We will be videotaping the workshops and a syllabus is available now by emailing me at michaelthompkins@shootingshrink.com. The workshop is divided in to Part 1 and Part 2. On Friday afternoon in the first session, using film clips, we will go over the general framework of concepts from Somatic Psychology and Emotional Anatomy that we will be using in the second session on Saturday morning where we will dissect some of your characters for their believability.  You are welcome to atttend either or both sessions; my students report that the most value is found in attending both sessions. I will be available at the conference to answer your questions so don't be afraid to come up and talk to me.

 Join us in San Diego on Presidents Day Weekend February 13-16, 2009.

Sunday May 4th

TIME 11:30PM - 12:30PM (BOOK SIGNING After Panel 12:30PM - 1:00PM) Palm Springs Book Festival
PANEL:  MYSTERY, LAUGHING IN THE FACE OF DEATH:
Using Humor in Mysteries  MODERATOR: Mr. Rick Copp, AUTHOR(S):  Ms. Harley Jane Kozak & Ms. Patricia Smiley & Mr. Michael Thompkins LOCATION:Palm Springs High School   2401 East Baristo Road   Palm Springs, CA 92262   Information (760) 564-3112
 

MICHAEL THOMPKINS, www.shootingshrink.com, is a retired psychologist who devotes most of his time to writing detective fiction. Gun Play, the first novel in his "Shooting Shrink" series set right here in Palm Springs is out from Sterling House  (read the review or listen to the radio ad). Michael has studied under legendary screenplay doctor and author Chris Vogler. Michael was a finalist for the prestigious Rupert Hughes Award at the Maui Writers Conference. He is currently working on his next book in the series, Big Island Play. His workshops on Shrinking Fiction, How Psychology can help you write Fiction, play to packed rooms at Southern California Writers Conferences in Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Diego.