tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19967316552616086412024-03-05T00:25:28.376-08:00rjspears<b>R.J. Spears</b><br>
Author of Crime, Mystery, <br>and Horror FictionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-32204882485198236652014-12-21T13:12:00.003-08:002014-12-21T13:15:59.123-08:00Books of the Dead 1 - 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-64345077097645820472014-11-25T10:23:00.001-08:002014-11-25T10:23:29.791-08:00Feed the Zombies 2 - Facebook Zombie Fiction Extravaganza <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVf7AtfEbEO9CZ-2vWEfU0P3WCCtb0Hrh8F70EISnmguJZyJ5Fc-tuJXr7duogC5Wqu47hsOTN2u7C18yJitP9Avcaxgv-L-8ReuQ1clbHnHarbU-V8LJJy0mmBPhu549Q-wHJfFJua4EL/s1600/FeedtheZombies2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVf7AtfEbEO9CZ-2vWEfU0P3WCCtb0Hrh8F70EISnmguJZyJ5Fc-tuJXr7duogC5Wqu47hsOTN2u7C18yJitP9Avcaxgv-L-8ReuQ1clbHnHarbU-V8LJJy0mmBPhu549Q-wHJfFJua4EL/s1600/FeedtheZombies2.jpg" height="121" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/317800031677885/" target="_blank">Feed the Zombies 2</a></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-align: left;"><b>24 Hours of Zombie Fiction</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-align: left;">Michelle Kilmer, C. E. Robertson, Darren Wearmouth, Katie Cord, Jack Wallen, Rachel Tsoumbakos, Claire C. Riley, A. Carina Barry, Randy Spears, Dan Eagles, Timothy W. Long, S.P. Durnin, Tonia Brown, Rhiannon Frater, Owen Baillie, K.R. Chin, Mark Tufo, John O'Brian J.L. Bourne, Aramand Rosimilia, Jonathan Moon, Joseph A. Coley, and David Moody. There will also be a special offering from Craig DiLouie, Jackie Druga, Eloise J. Knapp, Rhiannon Frater, Stephen Knight, and Joe McKinney. Get ready, we're going to rock this town with zom-apoc!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-89375139163109352432014-11-21T14:23:00.000-08:002014-11-21T14:23:51.247-08:00Edward P. Cardillo - Author InterviewEdward P. Cardillo is an inventive author, coming at horror and science fiction from exciting and oblique angles. His Automaton series is truly ingenious. Personally, I've gotten to know Ed through our shared relationship with J. Ellington Ashton Press. He never ceases to amaze me with his intelligence and wit. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Author's Featured Works</span></b><br />
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I Am Automaton (Severed Press) has won three Reader's Favorite International Awards and was also selection for Zombie Book of the Month in 2014. He has written two additional follow-up books.<br />
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His book, The Odd Tales of an Old Man (J Ellington Ashton Press), has received effusive praise from critics and readers alike. Midwest Book Review gave it 5 out of 5 stars. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Why do you write about dark and
scary things?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s just the way I’m wired.
Some people like roller coasters, some like haunted houses. I like writing and
reading horror…and haunted houses. Not roller coasters, though. As a clinical
psychologist, I’m fascinated with fear. It’s an emotion that’s crucial to the
survival instinct, yet in excess it can bog down one’s life. Horror fiction is
a safe way to feel the exhilaration of being the object of the hunt, the chased
pray facing a superior predator.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What is your latest
project/release and what is it about?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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My latest release was “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feral-Hearts-Edward-P-Cardillo-ebook/dp/B00M9SSVYI/ref=asap_B00BOB0F7M_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416605503&sr=1-1" target="_blank">FeralHearts</a>” (J. Ellington Ashton Press), an epic 6-author vampire collaboration
with 6 characters and 6 alternate endings. Co-authored with Amanda M. Lyons,
Michael Fisher, Jim Goforth, Mark Woods, and catt dahman, this was my editorial
debut.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Six
young people from different walks of life embark on a singles’ tour in Derosso,
Italy, only to encounter a strip club in town that preys upon the men. Warned
to stay away by their guide, two of the tourists give in to their curiosity and
encounter the undead exotic dancers within. Lured by promises of untold carnal
pleasures, these lonely hearts invite disaster on their group and the rest of
the town. Wild and erotic, manipulative and vicious, these feral vampires are
not at all romantic…they’re predators. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Six different characters and six different endings, this tale is not for
the faint of heart. <br />
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It is only for Feral Hearts.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">When did you know you wanted to
be a writer and how do you go about the writing process?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve known I wanted to be a writer
since I’ve been a kid. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It depends on the genre. For my
more sci-fi oriented horror, I like to plan plots and subplots, and outline.
Plot twists and action scenes need to be choreographed and red herrings
convincingly executed. Then, of course, there’s the research on technology,
weaponry, military protocol, politics, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My pure horror/dark fantasy
tends to be more organic, the source of my most potent elements being actual
nightmares I’ve had. I appreciate a good nightmare. When I wake up in a cold
sweat, I write everything down for use later. My wife can tell when I’m “on the
jazz” with a good idea because I toss and turn and cry out at night. But make
no mistake…I actually love a good nightmare. Once again, it’s the way I’m
wired.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What advice do you have for
other writers?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Write, submit/query around. As
you’re doing that, write and submit the new stuff while submitting the old
stuff. Keep writing. Submit that new material, and so on and so on, ad
infinitum. Unless you have aspirations to publish through a big 5 house, if you
write genre fiction, don’t worry so much about chasing agents. Query publishers
directly if they allow it, but make sure you follow their submission guidelines
to the nine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Don’t be afraid to submit your
work to contests. You never know. What’s the worst that can happen—you don’t
win? My first two books in the “I Am Automaton” trilogy won Reader’s Favorite
International Book Awards as unpublished manuscripts, the first book finishing
in the same category with a NY Times Best Seller. That got me attention and
helped me land a book deal with Severed Press. Book 3 won as a published book,
making it an award-winning trilogy. While promoting “I Am Automaton,” I
attracted the attention of J. Ellington Ashton Press, who snatched up “The Odd
Tales of an Old Man” and commissioned “Feral Hearts.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What is your favorite zombie
movie and why?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The original “Night of the
Living Dead.” I loved the stripped down, realistic sensibility. The movie
wasn’t overproduced with uber special effects laden zombies with state of the
art gore effects. The zombies looked very human, which I find terrifying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What’s up next for you?</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m wrapping up book one in a new zombie series for Severed
Press that should be out the beginning of 2015. I’ve been teaching a fiction workshop
leader at the Bronx Loaf Writer’s Conference for inner city youth, helping them
develop their work and identity as writers. I’m continuing to grow my
readership, and I’m enjoying interacting with old and new fans.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">His Featured Works</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Automaton-Edward-P-Cardillo/dp/0987602306/ref=asap_B00BOB0F7M_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416605503&sr=1-2" target="_blank">I Am Automaton</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Automaton-Kafka-Rising/dp/1925047083/ref=asap_B00BOB0F7M_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416605503&sr=1-3" target="_blank">I Am Automaton 2: Kafka Rising</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Odd-Tales-Old-Man-ebook/dp/B00EL0J33U/ref=asap_B00BOB0F7M_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416605504&sr=1-6" target="_blank">The Odd Tales of an Old Man</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feral-Hearts-Edward-P-Cardillo-ebook/dp/B00M9SSVYI/ref=asap_B00BOB0F7M_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416605503&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Feral Hearts</a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Find Out More About Ed</span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.edwardcardillo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.edwardcardillo.com/</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/edward.cardillo" target="_blank">Find Ed on Facebook</a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/EdwardPCardillo" target="_blank">Follow Ed on Twitter</a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-37525172731944302762014-11-21T12:51:00.004-08:002014-11-21T12:51:39.722-08:00Claire C. Riley Author InterviewClaire C. Riley says she is best characterized as an old-school horror writer, creating unique modernizations of classic horror themes. She likes fusing elements from different genres while making them cutting-edge and fresh.<br />
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I'm most familiar with her Odium series. This is fantastic series with engaging ideas and settings along with real characters that you can care about. It was my pleasure to interview Claire to get her perspective on horror stories and writing.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">What are your works and what can you tell us about them?</span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />My <b>Odium
The Dead Saga series</b> is my most popular work so far. Of which there are
currently 2 full books and 2 novellas, with both the third full length and
novella in the making.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Think zombies, apocalyptic worlds,
dystopian landscapes. It focuses more on realistic characters than just the
blood and gore though. Though of course
there’s gore a plentiful! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My other series is <b>My Obsession Series – Limerence – </b>that’s based around old school
gothic style Bram Stoker-esq vampires. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I also have several anthology
contributions under my belt such as, <b>Fading
Hope: Humanity Unbound</b>, <b>State of
Horror Illinois, </b>and<b> Let’s Scare
Cancer to Death A charity zombie anthology.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Why do you
write about dark and scary things?</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I honestly don’t know why. Every time I
have tried to write something, shall we say, normal (?) I end up killing
someone or having them be a monster of some sort. I’ve no idea why it happens
haha. From a young age I was fascinated with movies like The Lost Boys and Bram
Stoker and Night of the Living Dead, so it’s obviously stuck with me through
the years. I read pretty much any genre though, so I’d really like to be a
genre hopper myself and branch out…whether I can do that without killing
someone off is another matter though.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What is your
latest project/release and what is it about?</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
currently hard at work on two full length projects and two anthology
contributions. I’m working on the third in the Dead Saga series, which I’m
hoping will be out January time if all goes well, and I have a Super Secret
Project that I’ve been working on also. It’s 90% complete as I write this, but
I’m certain once this interview airs it will be completed and with the edited.
I can’t say much more about it than it’s a zompoc book and I love it. It’s so
far 85’000 words (again, only 90% complete) and has only taken 3 weeks to write
it so far., THAT’S how much I've loved writing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">When did you
know you wanted to be a writer and how do you go about the writing process?</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write. I have
notebooks and pads filled with horror stories that I wrote when I was only ten
or eleven. (Seriously, why were my parents not more worried?) For my twelfth
birthday I got a typewriter but it only lasted a year because I went through so
much ink for it my parents refused to buy me anymore and I went back to my
trusty pen and paper! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My
publishing journey actually only started in 2012 when I joined the writing site
Authonomy. I put online a couple of chapters of the book I was currently
writing – Limerence and got talking with other writers and learnt a lot about
my skill and how to mould it into something useable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
normally find an image I like and from that image I come up with the plot. I
try to write an outline, and in all honesty when I have done it’s made things
so much easier. BUT I really struggle with writing them. I’m a seat of your
pants writer and my plot changes as my characters become reckless assholes who
decide to ignore my demands of staying on one plot path, so I have to
constantly alter it as I write.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What advice do
you have for other writers?</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Keep going, keep writing. DO NOT under
any circumstance, write one book and put all of your energy into promoting and
pushing it for the next two years. You’ll waste your time and your readers. A
reader wants to become invested in a writer, and to do that they need more than
one book. So write, write, write.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And
I mean that literally. Write every day. I aim for a minimum of 2k a day
regardless of if I’m at my boring day job, or my three kids are on school
holidays and I have to work until midnight. Write every day, hone your craft
and enjoy it. Because it shows in your writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What is your
favorite zombie movie and why?</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Well I have two. Night of the Living
Dead because I love the old school zombies, and they are what I write about.
But I also love 28 Days Later because it scares the crap out of me! I freaking
hate that film, and 28 Weeks Later made me scream and run for my car after me
and my husband went to watch it at the movies hahaha! Don’t judge haha, it was
midnight and dark, and I would be dead within the hour if the zombie apocalypse
began and they were fast zombies!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">What’s up next
for you?</span></b></span></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText2">
<span lang="EN-GB">Well, like I said I have my Super Secret
Project coming out Jan/Feb and Odium III The Dead Saga around the same time.
Then Odium Origins A Dead Saga Novella Part Three May2015 ish. I also have
several other anthology contributions coming up also, so I’m very busy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
2015 I’m also at my first book signings. One in London UK in April and another
in Birmingham UK in July, so I’m nervous and excited for those.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Odium-Dead-Saga-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00FLUTJ74/ref=asap_B00CCCSF06_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416594205&sr=1-3" target="_blank">Odium</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Odium-II-Dead-Claire-Riley-ebook/dp/B00K7JDIX0/ref=asap_B00CCCSF06_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416594205&sr=1-4" target="_blank">Odium II</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Limerence-Obsession-Book-Claire-Riley-ebook/dp/B00BWUILDU/ref=asap_B00CCCSF06_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416594205&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Limerence</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Find Our More about Claire</span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.clairecriley.com/" target="_blank">www.clairecriley.com</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-21149463736577371872014-11-20T11:05:00.001-08:002014-11-20T11:05:04.546-08:00Stories of the Dead - The Undead Works of R.J. Spears<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/R.J.-Spears/e/B00APKD4BC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1416510042&sr=1-2" target="_blank">R.J. Spears - Amazon Author's Page</a></b></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Below are all the long and short zombie works of R.J. Spears</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhjMCr8-yWTSGiMoW0aAS3pMrehspOj4R0neLiqqKGYBD8qrvCZPW7lZ0wE8Hd9PsuyOjXPj52EqVwA6bWRwl74RyQ1c2L5RjACalfpE2DUp5zw1Mqa7ysr6lW2m_bK38q3fmw9LbKoly/s1600/StoriesoftheDead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhjMCr8-yWTSGiMoW0aAS3pMrehspOj4R0neLiqqKGYBD8qrvCZPW7lZ0wE8Hd9PsuyOjXPj52EqVwA6bWRwl74RyQ1c2L5RjACalfpE2DUp5zw1Mqa7ysr6lW2m_bK38q3fmw9LbKoly/s1600/StoriesoftheDead.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-33177821938515869872014-11-14T18:12:00.002-08:002014-11-14T18:12:38.759-08:00Double Dead Book Release - 2 New Zombie Books On November 21 (from 6:00 to 10:00 PM ET), I'm releasing Dead Man's Land and Forget America.<br />
<br />
Dead Man's Land is the 3rd book in my Books of the Dead series and Forget America is the 3rd and final book in the Forget the Zombie series. <br />
<br />
Dead Man's Land follows Joel, the reluctant hero, as he leads his group of survivors as they face off with an army of the dead and and one of the living. The odds of survival are slim.<br />
<br />
Forget America picks up with Grant and his group of zombie refugees on the run again just ahead of the zombies. On their way to salvation, they encounter a scary group of living and a horde of undead. <br />
<br />
Everyone is welcome. There will be free books, contests, and author interviews<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/743797852380429/?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">Double Dead FB Release Party</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ERL2gtpo_WxvLIyIobNUf28HKH73_HICLQ9IH6hdcWnqyrVbayrUKsAuay3GeI3jTiDx95W7DC_I55Oz4P-xjKI2Erqg2EDnyOjbjqpllGmgVO_77AZLmWvqHHzUoAnaTaqTThs7ElZ8/s1600/DoubleDead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ERL2gtpo_WxvLIyIobNUf28HKH73_HICLQ9IH6hdcWnqyrVbayrUKsAuay3GeI3jTiDx95W7DC_I55Oz4P-xjKI2Erqg2EDnyOjbjqpllGmgVO_77AZLmWvqHHzUoAnaTaqTThs7ElZ8/s1600/DoubleDead.jpg" height="118" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-80589238379130522772014-09-30T18:16:00.001-07:002014-09-30T18:16:35.739-07:00Feast or Famine AnthologyI just received my contributor's copy of Feast or Famine, released by Zombie Fiend Press. My story, Ticket Out the Deadlands, appears in the anthology. I both proud and pleased to be a part of this fine anthology of zombie stories.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2EgcMrhR3QugKhrl8PRRAPaJWUKNKZkDCmXSA-lp8Dj7Gcc1nOM-n9eX2aLtbu2GUT0nCyaSW-Xds6qW3JVXJO6yX4NfZIPe_nv_3MKoOMuM_IL2m5OTm4i99DxWcGijYH499q9Z-4wO/s1600/Screenshot+2014-09-30+at+7.59.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2EgcMrhR3QugKhrl8PRRAPaJWUKNKZkDCmXSA-lp8Dj7Gcc1nOM-n9eX2aLtbu2GUT0nCyaSW-Xds6qW3JVXJO6yX4NfZIPe_nv_3MKoOMuM_IL2m5OTm4i99DxWcGijYH499q9Z-4wO/s1600/Screenshot+2014-09-30+at+7.59.58+PM.png" height="320" width="244" /></a></div>
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You should check it out:</div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feast-Famine-Banquet-Zombie-Prepper-ebook/dp/B00KXCRH2E/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412125946&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Feast or Famine</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-27570098112378076472014-04-25T14:00:00.001-07:002014-04-25T14:00:51.429-07:00A New EndeavorWriting has been a way to satisfy my creative aspirations, but I know that my creative extends past words. <br />
<br />
I went to film school dreams of becoming a great director, but that dream didn't pan out. I've always created visual products such as videos for educational and promotional uses. <br />
<br />
As a part of my new writing career, I started creating my own covers both out of economic necessity and for an added creative outlet. I think over a year of developing covers and studying other successful covers I've developed an eye for what works and doesn't work.<br />
<br />
With that said, I'm about launch my service of providing eBook covers for other authors. I've done a few for friends at my press, but I saw a greater need. As an indie writer, I know how stretching your dollar has to be done. So, I thought I could help out.<br />
<br />
So, here it is:<br />
<a href="http://ebookcovers4you.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">ebookcovers4you</span></a><br />
<br />
Here's a couple of the covers I've created.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFmKVrFsvu26uVJeKuZ2IEr0ExQCmKuLKKfIBMbeUwpBj0ZaXpgvmw4tBDpwKi-HC8jmI3j0SQC6Uxzx7xLWOYE3kR1jwrsdpqQyT3pbBKICSjLryZpsyvxrlDgSDnLi4MM05uiKBWs1a/s1600/OpenRevolt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFmKVrFsvu26uVJeKuZ2IEr0ExQCmKuLKKfIBMbeUwpBj0ZaXpgvmw4tBDpwKi-HC8jmI3j0SQC6Uxzx7xLWOYE3kR1jwrsdpqQyT3pbBKICSjLryZpsyvxrlDgSDnLi4MM05uiKBWs1a/s1600/OpenRevolt.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-yVfxGLRmBLg-UFkalYFyN-pytHqFDWHphIZsUG14zhx-sg3-WdGhloCku1j0h2TbhivNLBV-R4_LzmxwMiJdueAPCjr2jnPRb7lku5iH3Nqpg1ClLBeOJRWgEGVM2fLrZGI3VbPhN3m/s1600/EndGame1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-yVfxGLRmBLg-UFkalYFyN-pytHqFDWHphIZsUG14zhx-sg3-WdGhloCku1j0h2TbhivNLBV-R4_LzmxwMiJdueAPCjr2jnPRb7lku5iH3Nqpg1ClLBeOJRWgEGVM2fLrZGI3VbPhN3m/s1600/EndGame1.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
So, if you come across the blog and need a cover, check out my premade covers.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-55272509226470091052014-04-09T13:54:00.001-07:002014-04-09T13:54:57.051-07:00Cover FunI've been working to refine my design skills in cover design. I feel like I'm maturing and also knowing my limitations. <br />
<br />
I recently did a cover for my friend T.L. Decay for his new horror poetry collection. It's called More Scary Writing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK5kEka6PHUmhbuEuenjteKBopHMkyjhiuSKf3z4ike8Da8btOqHr4i1df0vjInsoBeuDTnjstCzQ2kGWfmtKXYY2wSuBYIKS4srpFhJzeJdBZXYFiD6NgjFbuYOpbeLrshOCtGQHAqfv/s1600/RandomScary3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK5kEka6PHUmhbuEuenjteKBopHMkyjhiuSKf3z4ike8Da8btOqHr4i1df0vjInsoBeuDTnjstCzQ2kGWfmtKXYY2wSuBYIKS4srpFhJzeJdBZXYFiD6NgjFbuYOpbeLrshOCtGQHAqfv/s1600/RandomScary3.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
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T.L. and the other folks at my publisher all loved it. Most said it was creepy. <br />
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By the way, it has two poems about scary clowns.<br />
<br />
I'm also refining the cover my upcoming release, Dead Man's Land. It's the third book in my Books of the Dead series. The first draft of that book is just about completed. I just looked and I have been working on that book for seven months. I found that shocking. I have fitted in several other projects while I've been writing this one. <br />
<br />
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Here's the cover. I decided to go with a spare design. The initial reaction has been very positive.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-49743122384555787412014-03-18T06:13:00.000-07:002014-03-18T06:13:04.788-07:00New Short Story Release - A Monster in the WoodsLast week, upon the release of my latest novel, Lord of the Dead, I also released my first short story targeted at young readers. It is titled, A Monster in the Woods.<br />
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I've had this story floating around in my head for awhile. If you like the movie Super-8, you'll like this story. It's the tale of Todd Evans and his life-long wish to see a monster. He learns that it isn't always good to get what you wished for.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Woods-R-J-Spears-ebook/dp/B00IZ3Y2JE/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395148314&sr=1-14" target="_blank"><b>A Monster in the Woods (Amazon)</b></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-3937259109038925112014-03-15T09:23:00.002-07:002014-03-15T15:01:39.163-07:00Interview with Owen Baillie<br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Owen Baillie</span> <span style="font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and three children. He grew up reading Stephen King, Richard Matheson, and Jean Auel, amongst others. He loves hearing a good story, particularly with a fantastic element and his bookcases are filled with an eclectic mix of authors. His writing is the first priority of the day before he heads off to my full time job!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Why do you write about dark and scary things? </b></span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I love a good scare, and am heavily influenced by Stephen King and Richard Matheson. I the idea of spooky things of which we don’t know too much, is appealing. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>What is your latest project/release and what is it about? </b></span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I currently finishing off book II in my Invasion of the Dead series - Aftermath, book I, was released in November last year to more success than I ever anticipated.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>When did you know you wanted to be a writer and how do you go about the writing process? </b></span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I realised I wanted to write a long time ago after reading the Green Mile. For me, writing a story is an ongoing process. It starts with an idea, then more ideas that I have to connect. I then form a rough outline, and start writing. It never ends up the way I expected.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>What advice do you have for other writers?</b> </span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The only way to do it is spend time crunching out words, good or bad. The more you write, the better you’ll become. It’s like when swimmers talk about needing a certain amount of time in the pool, or runners on the track - writers need time in the chair, and everyday, without fail. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>What’s up next for you? </b></span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Book III in the series, then a sci-fi thriller I’ve outlined, which I’m quite excited about.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>What is it like being a writer in Australia?</b></span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It’s a minor point of difference being from Australia, as there aren’t too many of us. Placing my story here has helped sell books, I’m sure.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><span style="color: white;">Owen Baillie Bibliography</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Invasion-Dead-BOOK-1-ebook/dp/B00GXS7YSE/ref=la_B00CW1BIJ2_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394900322&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Aftermath: Invasion of the Dead</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Inc-SF-Thriller-Part-ebook/dp/B00FLDV4P6/ref=la_B00CW1BIJ2_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394900322&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Murder Inc.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Perils-Adultery-Owen-Baillie-ebook/dp/B00D52X2X2/ref=la_B00CW1BIJ2_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394900322&sr=1-3" target="_blank">The Perils of Adultery</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-58413784644165342592014-03-14T14:55:00.000-07:002014-03-14T14:55:12.440-07:00Interview with Catt Dahman<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: white;">Catt Dahman Interview</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Catt Dahman is an eclectic author of over 20 books cross several genres -- be it horror, sci-fi, and crime. Her work career is just as diverse as her fiction as she has been a teacher, private investigator, author, and owner of a small press (J. Ellington Ashton Press). Along with work, she also is interested in scuba diving, gardening, and reading.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><b>Why do you write about dark and scary things?</b><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span>* My grandparents' home was always considered to be "haunted" so I grew up with spooky experiences that were "the norm". I think life, in general can be scary with the unknown, cruelty of humans, nature, science, and history. I mean, I watched a show about ants and termites and it was very scientific, but it was scary to think tiny creatures have such abilities and interesting lives. I guess we all define 'scary' as different. I write about what I find normal or interesting, with a twist and it becomes scary; I think it's how I examine my feelings about different topics.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.15;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><b style="line-height: 1.15;">What is your latest project/release and what is it about?</b><span style="line-height: 1.15;"><br class="kix-line-break" />*Right now, I am pretty heavily into a 1970s crime/mystery/thriller series. it's really just like zombies or vampires or apoc-stories...it's a vehicle...but I still explore things. In this series, I have gotten to look at history, women's roles, science, and the beginnings of the FBI. I studied criminal psychology and law so this is my chance to use my education. We've come a long way in the last 30ish years and I am having fun with exploring how criminology has changed.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" /><b>When did you know you wanted to be a writer and how do you go about the writing process?</b><br class="kix-line-break" />* I loved writing scary stuff way back when I was in about 6th grade but didn't have maturity. I really didn't have the life skills and experience until I was over 30. I hand wrote things...westerns...a huge zombie series...but didn't do anything with it, really, until about 2 years ago. Out of no where, I decided to write after seeing the changes Kindle was causing in the writing world. I landed a writing contract for 9 books in a series within a half a year and have produced about 25 books now. I still have 10 or so I have not typed yet to release. As far as writing, I get a weird interest or idea, research and find weird and amazing connections to other areas and begin to write. I never plan endings or outline; I just type and tell beginning to end and do very few content edits afterwards.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" /><b>What advice do you have for other writers?</b><br class="kix-line-break" />*Not helpful advice. I say to expect to spend for a good editor, pay for a good cover, learn or pay for formatting, and go first with presses. Listen to presses and what they suggest. Not everyone is a writer, but learning rules of grammar can help. Read everything. Always be gracious.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" /><b>What’s up next for you?</b><br class="kix-line-break" />* More horror, westerns, historical horror, maybe sci-fi based horror. The best part, like when I write a book....I never know where I will go and what I will find. I like that. Not knowing is kind of fun!</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="color: white;">Catt Dahman Bibliography (Partial)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="color: white;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Water-McLendon-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00IKCRWYC/ref=la_B007N5843K_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394820597&sr=1-7" target="_blank">Of Blood and Water</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alice-circles-Wonderhell-catt-dahman-ebook/dp/B00DF551Y2/ref=la_B007N5843K_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394820597&sr=1-6" target="_blank">Alice in the 9 Circles of Wonderhell</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Smooth-catt-dahman-ebook/dp/B00BLMNV5M/ref=la_B007N5843K_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394820597&sr=1-8" target="_blank">Smooth</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Titanic-1912-Lovecraft-Mythos-Novel-ebook/dp/B00HNOXXKA/ref=la_B007N5843K_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394820805&sr=1-14" target="_blank">Titanic 1912</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-4952058082502212092014-03-14T13:45:00.000-07:002014-03-14T13:45:33.936-07:00Interview with Eloise Knapp<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Eloise Knapp Interview</span></span><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-73aeacd7-c1bc-7f20-2e92-18bb8e48d752" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Eloise Knapp is a multi-talented designer and author who makes Seattle her home. Her breakthrough book, The Undead Situation (published by Permuted Press), takes a unique perspective on a zombie outbreak. Her latest book, Pulse, is a leading seller on Amazon in Post-Apocalyptic fiction. She has an eclectic set of hobbies which includes guns, baking, and quilting.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGd8Eb3irkuijay5kvsP3jy5UJ31ljz3xiCpwVlXIvPLuo1qWisy9Iggyi-ynkzgkuNz1O0fVBcofCjONDkowVBTpH9pucwl-U5OQ6zAHDL5rzYODfbbx_QfOM5prCMItSCP033_EAjNfp/s1600/EloiseKnapp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGd8Eb3irkuijay5kvsP3jy5UJ31ljz3xiCpwVlXIvPLuo1qWisy9Iggyi-ynkzgkuNz1O0fVBcofCjONDkowVBTpH9pucwl-U5OQ6zAHDL5rzYODfbbx_QfOM5prCMItSCP033_EAjNfp/s1600/EloiseKnapp.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Why do you write about dark and scary things? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I've been infatuated with things that scare me since I was a little kid. All my aunts and uncles loved Twin Peaks and X-Files. My grandpa would tell me classic horror stories like "the hook hand on the car door" and such. It definitely stuck, and here I am! </span></span><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">What is your latest project/release and what is it about? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">My latest release is a book called Pulse. It is about a deadly parasite that makes people go insane and become extremely violent</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3e454c;">.</span><span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij0RCthZw565lag61y-lXYQCjDfQf3MYxkoNWWcKpeT5dZsujVvCwYA4I5bXhtjuSfsv4i0iz-t9V2upUwQS5Ym4VgmpJFmqouhUBkErMSfVq6LXV-p95okUsUeORQ5DM1jyoMwHYUQDX/s1600/Pulse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiij0RCthZw565lag61y-lXYQCjDfQf3MYxkoNWWcKpeT5dZsujVvCwYA4I5bXhtjuSfsv4i0iz-t9V2upUwQS5Ym4VgmpJFmqouhUBkErMSfVq6LXV-p95okUsUeORQ5DM1jyoMwHYUQDX/s1600/Pulse.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #3e454c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">When did you know you wanted to be a writer and how do you go about the writing process? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">I've always written little stories here and there. I didn't know I wanted to write whole novels until one of my family members did. I felt inspired, and like it was something I could do. For my writing process, I usually let an idea percolate for a few months before I start to write. I do outlining, and a bit of writing by the seat of my pants.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What advice do you have for other writers?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Write every day. Even if you only write a couple hundred words, you have to get into the habit. Writing is a muscle you have to work out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s up next for you?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">I'm finishing the last book in my Cyrus V. Sinclair trilogy, then after that... the world!</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eloise Knapp bibliography:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-73aeacd7-c1bc-c4bf-415d-5c2b78eb8446" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Undead-Situation-Eloise-J-Knapp-ebook/dp/B005OTD2OI/ref=la_B00AS66BH2_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394819634&sr=1-2" target="_blank">The Undead Situation</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Undead-Haze-Situation-Book-ebook/dp/B00CDYMHE8/ref=la_B00AS66BH2_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394819634&sr=1-3" target="_blank">The Undead Haze</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pulse-Eloise-J-Knapp-ebook/dp/B00ICUAVAO/ref=la_B00AS66BH2_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394819634&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Pulse</a></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-50649596252675249612014-03-11T16:40:00.001-07:002014-03-11T16:40:59.332-07:00Lord of the Dead Launch Party<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="text-align: start;"><span style="color: white;">Launch Party This Friday, March 14, starting at 4:00 PM</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAi9jNJkVvVL7Vws5i-XumR-UMPS6X9_NAHGr_6JHoO-Q1FQAm8M0lh4J3w04pQ9oXSzjX_vSTYjgtjnW79x9HBdnMJpvxmzuflntskdrbcVfvUqldqjwcXgGC2nngqWS79BvH-WyOOzoy/s1600/LordDead2.5sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAi9jNJkVvVL7Vws5i-XumR-UMPS6X9_NAHGr_6JHoO-Q1FQAm8M0lh4J3w04pQ9oXSzjX_vSTYjgtjnW79x9HBdnMJpvxmzuflntskdrbcVfvUqldqjwcXgGC2nngqWS79BvH-WyOOzoy/s1600/LordDead2.5sm.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
</b></span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;" /><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lord of the Dead, the long awaited sequel to Sanctuary from the Dead, gets its official release on Friday, March 14 starting at 4:00 PM ET and running until 9:00 PM. This sequel picks up a few months after Jo</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">el and his fellow survivors have found a new home away from the city and the hordes of undead. Just as they start to settle into a routine of daily survival a new and deadly enemy appears to threaten everything Joel and his friends hold dear.<br /><br />It all happens here on my writer's Facebook page:</span></span></span><div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/RjSpearsWriter" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/RjSpearsWriter</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;"><span style="color: white;">They’ll be free short stories, other giveaways, trivia, and author interviews. Please plan to come</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><br /></span></span><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-37964258140902561472014-02-14T08:48:00.000-08:002014-02-14T08:48:23.495-08:00Eat Your Heart Out Facebook Zombie Book ExtravaganzaThe Eat Your Heart Out Facebook Zombie Book Extravaganza is Feb. 14, 2014. It features 30 zombie/horror writers and 30 of their works. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mBKM8fbtOue2HAiTmUWYZAt98ejqLo0spJ-3ipXPbkEDJp1fpAoqvv9vSBF0ruB6sfI7KmvZsdHltRGhDcRJospHJ_Imy88qVAaFYw1-9ixNT795wIFjPVnVbzt7n59KyxIPisRnskhM/s1600/EatYourHeartOut2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mBKM8fbtOue2HAiTmUWYZAt98ejqLo0spJ-3ipXPbkEDJp1fpAoqvv9vSBF0ruB6sfI7KmvZsdHltRGhDcRJospHJ_Imy88qVAaFYw1-9ixNT795wIFjPVnVbzt7n59KyxIPisRnskhM/s1600/EatYourHeartOut2.jpg" height="117" width="320" /></a></div>
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All the books sold that day will cost <b>ONLY $.99</b>. (Omnibuses or boxed sets will be $1.99)<br />
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There's a great array of talent ranging from seasoned and respected veterans to some up and comers in the field of zombie writing.<br />
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<b>Here's a partial list:</b><br />
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<ul>
<li>Tim Long (Author of Among the Living)</li>
<li>Rachel Aukes (Author of 100 Days in Deadland)</li>
<li>Darren Wearmouth (Author of First Activation)</li>
<li>Rhiannon Frater ((Author of the As the World Dies series)</li>
<li>Craig DiLouie, Stephen Knight, and Joe McKinney offer up their series the The Retreat</li>
<li>And many, many more</li>
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I'll have a book in the event, Forget the Alamo<br />
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Come one, come all. Great zombie writing for great prices. You can't afford to miss it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-43534130929213267402014-02-10T13:39:00.001-08:002014-02-14T13:12:43.549-08:00Lord of the Dead - Launch Coming SoonI will be officially launching the sequel to Sanctuary from the Dead, Lord of the Dead very, very soon. It is an epic book at over 110,000 words and picks up after Sanctuary from the Dead left off as Joel and his fellow survivors try to find a new home. In this book, I introduce an ingenious and frightening new villain and there will be a sad body count.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-52710025657966391752014-01-24T09:37:00.003-08:002014-01-24T09:45:38.456-08:00Dark Matters ReleasedI just released my first collection of horror short stories, Dark Matters. It contains 15 stories with seven of them being previously released content and eight stories being never before being published.<br />
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The stories cover a gambit of topics and creatures ranging from zombies (of course) to vampire to ghosts to other monsters. Zombies lead the pack, though, with seven stories being about them. The stories also vary in length. There are four flash fiction stories and two extra long short stories and the rest in between. The collection also includes the premiere of my first youth oriented short story, A Monster in the Woods.<br />
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On the whole, I'm pretty satisfied with it. So, if you're looking for some short scary stories, you should can check it out. <br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matters-15-Frightening-Tales-ebook/dp/B00HZLCTUQ/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390479313&sr=1-13">Dark Matters on Amazon</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-33203336672107348822013-12-29T15:02:00.000-08:002014-01-14T15:12:34.958-08:002013: A Year in Writing<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2013 was my first full year as a writer. I have written in the past and actually had my first short story published in 2011. I did write a great deal in 2012, but also had a few months where I wasn’t so disciplined. 2013 is definitely my first real year in terms of publishing, though. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-73fca11b-4096-ebdb-1aef-468782f1a980" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In many ways, I’m awe of what I did accomplish. In other ways, I wished I had been more disciplined. While I didn’t write (or do something significantly related to writing) everyday, I rarely missed writing for more than two days in a row and kept my output consistent. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">n terms of numbers, here’s my output:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">1 Novel</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 Novellas</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 Short Stories Published or Accepted for Publication</span></li>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I gave away over a 1,000 ebooks in 2013 and sold nearly 200. If if I had to do a final accounting of my revenue versus expenditures, I’d still be in the red. (Editing and promotion cost money.) Obviously, I’d like to see sales increase. That, I hope, will come in time as I get more books out there. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think I’m becoming both a better writer and a more efficient writer. I have altered my style somewhat to better suit the needs and desires of my readers. That took some adjustment.</span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for 2014, I have some very ambitious goals.</span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My sequel to Sanctuary from the Dead should come out sometime in late January or early February. I plan to release a collection of my short stories early in the year, too.</span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m still outlining the third book in my “Forget the Zombies” series and want to have that one out by April or May. I’ve had more than a few people eager to see this last book in the series. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After getting through that, I want to get out the third and fourth books of the Books of the Dead series.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s hoping that 2014 allows me to keep bringing the words!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-78666883785924191842013-11-08T19:36:00.002-08:002013-11-08T19:36:38.231-08:00Cover Design FunA couple of my author friends at J. Ellington Ashton Press were in need of help with their covers. I don't consider myself a great designer, but I've done all my own covers, so I thought I would help them out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJP5Op3Fgem3NyjhDsgRMGfQY4dMMr_8XRUPTKEAXI1CXrUMa4wur1swIwHUlRXX9k0DA6d9WPD9Jw4NyhxqFjXYzsQap0JBvlQM6UitxMrKtsDttpzvJ-t3jV1AGXPpN3jEqu1Zy5hSz/s1600/ContainedDecay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJP5Op3Fgem3NyjhDsgRMGfQY4dMMr_8XRUPTKEAXI1CXrUMa4wur1swIwHUlRXX9k0DA6d9WPD9Jw4NyhxqFjXYzsQap0JBvlQM6UitxMrKtsDttpzvJ-t3jV1AGXPpN3jEqu1Zy5hSz/s320/ContainedDecay.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Contained Decay is a zombie tale by T.L. Decay. It starts with an outbreak at the Bedford Institute, asylum for the criminally insane. It starts out hot and just gets hotter as the zombies starting eating their way though the town.<br />
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The first cover was great and I only hoped I could do it credit. After getting some input from our publisher, I took it the cover in a totally different direction. The first one accentuated supernatural elements, but I went with a more natural, yet terrifying opponent.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-49887337913387275252013-10-23T09:20:00.000-07:002013-10-23T09:20:17.245-07:00Carrie vs. Carrie vs CarrieI recently went on a unique odyssey of consuming Stephen King's "Carrie" in three different formats and thought I would share my experience.<div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Carrie - the book</span></b></div>
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But before I get to that, let me tell you what "Carrie" means to me. "Carrie" could be one of the biggest contributing factors to me being a writer today. I was first exposed to "Carrie" when a friend loaned me the paperback just after it came out. I was a teenager and read periodically. I just started reading Sci-Fi, and didn't read to much horror. Well, Stephen King changed that. I was literally knocked out my socks by the book. I couldn't put it down. There was something about King's writing that connected with me. I went from being a periodic reader to an almost obsessive one. I couldn't wait for the next King book to come out. </div>
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And it made me think about being a writer some day. (Little did I know that seed would take a couple decades to grow.)</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Carrie - the Audiobook</span></b></div>
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Anyway, back to my "Carrie" orgy. Two weeks ago, I listened to the audiobook on my daily commute. It was like going back in time for me, but it also transcended my nostalgia. I could see a nimble and intelligent writer at work. Despite it's deceptively simple surface level plot, this is a complex book. You have the on-going traditional narrative interspersed with an epistolary approach that is quite complex. On top of it all, King uses some of the most overt foreshadowing that I can ever remember reading. Trouble's coming and I have to know about it.</div>
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My wife and I had planned to see the most recent silver screen version of the book, and since we have Netflix, I thought it might be a good idea to watch the 1976 DePalma version to allow us to compare it.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Carrie - the movie (1976)</span></b></div>
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First, I've never been a big fan of this version of the movie. DePalma's treatment seems heavy handed at times and there are several scenes that don't stand of the test of time. That being said, I can say that I found the movie to better than I remembered. This is largely due in part to the strength of the source material and Sissy Spacek's performance. Spacek gives a fantastic and empathetic performance, it's hard not to root for her Carrie. DePalma also charts the course toward the finale with a great sense of tension.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Carrie - the movie (2013)</span></b></div>
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I had some initial trepidation about this most recent incarnation, largely due to the casting. There's nothing wrong with Chloe Grace Moretz as an actress. She's quite talented. It was just the fact that "Carrie" is about an ugly duckling becoming a swarm and Moretz brings a lot of innate attractiveness to the role that is hard to overcome. Still, she does her best and almost gets over this challenge. </div>
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For her part, Julianne Moore does a fantastic job of rendering Margaret White. This is quite a challenging role as it could easily drift in to caricature. While Piper Laurie's performance is somewhat stylized, Moore's is slightly more nuanced. </div>
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As for the other roles, I think Amy Irving and William Katt are much better in portraying Sue Snell and Tommy Ross than their contemporaries. Gabriella Wilde's Sue is somewhat plastic and one dimensional. Ansol Algort's Tommy is more nuanced and layered than Wilde's Sue, but he comes off more goofy than earnest. </div>
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As for the direction in the new "Carrie," Kimberly Pierce focuses on bullying and its harmful effects. This works to good effect in this re-telling of the story. There are times in the movie when your heart is almost breaking for this young girl who had been tormented. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Comparing the Two Movies</span></b></div>
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If someone made me choose which version I would recommend. it would be the 2013 version. There are just too many deficits in the 1976 version (e.g. some terribly dated music tracks, the choice of split screens during the climax, etc.). Plus the advances in special effects allows the movie makers to fully realize the climactic scenes in the most recent version. </div>
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My only qualms with the new movie is that movie stretches Carrie's abilities past just telekinesis to pyrokinesis which I felt took it too far.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Comparing the Book to the Movies</span></b></div>
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Comparing the screenplays of the two movies with the original material is somewhat easy because Larry Cohen had a hand in writing both screenplays. If you compare the two movies, you'll hear some line-for-line repetition in the two movies. </div>
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Obviously, a movie is no match for the human imagination when it comes to realizing what a movie could be, but Cohen, in my opinion, actually improves the dramatic structure of King's book. I don't want to giveaway the ending, but Cohen switches around two chronological events at the end of the book and finishes the movies with a better dramatic punch with the climax than King did. It's rare that I can say a movie does that, but this is one of those times. </div>
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In the end, I say make up your own mind about the movies, but please do yourself a favor and read the book first if you haven't. It's a real treat.</div>
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[<b>Author's Note:</b> I have not seen the 2002 TV version, but I sure would like to.]</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-59280002336839367392013-10-07T09:45:00.001-07:002013-10-07T09:45:43.577-07:00Want to Sell More Books? Then Write ThemIt seems like the title of this post is quite obvious, and it is, but there's more depth in it it than you think.<br />
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All too often a writer can put out a book and have some sales, but then watches them dwindle away. I'm one of those authors. "NEW" catches people's eyes. "NEW" is easy to market. Old is a bigger challenge.<br />
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The case in point for me is that my sales in August and September were simply awful. I sold next to nothing because my backlog was old and stale. At least to readers. <br />
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What does old mean? It must mean six months because my backlog wasn't moving. <br />
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I just released a new book (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forget-Texas-Zombies-ebook/dp/B00FK3V678/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381161149&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Forget Texas</a>, the second book in my Forget the Zombies series) and it has sold quite briskly. Of course, it didn't hurt that I gave away the first book in the series (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forget-Alamo-Zombie-Novella-ebook/dp/B00CJHOW9M/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381163993&sr=1-6">Forget the Alamo</a>) and sold Forget Texas for half price. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeouSGsA9gQUr6qTxRxXzYkuIv4YhCEY9KP5Ut-KwT_qcAnzMjp-kRE0GWmeyM5H_kqlaBJyxmPmagCEcseItAA9oiisolSFXTeBZemHNQnwhClmQruBCitwP4tsyS_c6kBcwv5vl7Sk8/s1600/ForgetTexasSMALL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjeouSGsA9gQUr6qTxRxXzYkuIv4YhCEY9KP5Ut-KwT_qcAnzMjp-kRE0GWmeyM5H_kqlaBJyxmPmagCEcseItAA9oiisolSFXTeBZemHNQnwhClmQruBCitwP4tsyS_c6kBcwv5vl7Sk8/s320/ForgetTexasSMALL.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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It helps if you can write and sell them a series because many readers like the continuity of a series. They like getting know your heroes and follow them on adventures. Plus you can use the new book to market the old one. <br />
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So, if you want to sell more book, then get out there and write them.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-67912691349546058472013-10-03T04:54:00.000-07:002013-10-03T04:54:19.936-07:00Forget Texas Launches - OfficiallyToday is not only my birthday, but the launch of my latest book, Forget Texas. As my birthday gift to you, I'm offering up the first book in the Forget the Zombies series for FREE and Forget Texas for half price.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Forget Texas, Grant and the gang find themselves in a refugee camp that is about to be overrun by zombies. They are forced to fend for themselves as they must find a way out of the camp and then out of Texas as the zombie hordes chase them north. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/Forget%20Texas%20-%20Now%20Available%20on%20Amazon%20Get%202%20books%20for%20the%20price%20of%20one%20Forget%20Texas%20is%202nd%20book%20in%20the%20Forget%20the%20Zombies%20series%20%20In%20Forget%20Texas,%20Grant%20and%20the%20gang%20find%20themselves%20in%20a%20refugee%20camp%20that%20is%20about%20to%20be%20overrun%20by%20zombies.%20They%20are%20forced%20to%20fend%20for%20themselves%20as%20they%20must%20find%20a%20way%20out%20of%20the%20camp%20and%20then%20out%20of%20Texas%20as%20the%20zombie%20hordes%20chase%20them%20across%20the%20state.%20%20http://www.amazon.com/Forget-Texas-Zombies-ebook/dp/B00FK3V678/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380799752&sr=1-9" target="_blank"><b>Forget Texas (on Amazon)</b></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvxdhUyaSua273Z60BCozjDIomDerFcjbMb_xXmuEiKmHwR8fDpQx4ONg1VeyffFh9zs4vyDPCnlM_h1FlmN0R4t-KM8Ap7rM0MVF8EygoUpu4effu4Z8w8WCVfaW-3ZyYi_cOGxQ5PtY/s1600/ForgetZombiesSeriesAd3sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvxdhUyaSua273Z60BCozjDIomDerFcjbMb_xXmuEiKmHwR8fDpQx4ONg1VeyffFh9zs4vyDPCnlM_h1FlmN0R4t-KM8Ap7rM0MVF8EygoUpu4effu4Z8w8WCVfaW-3ZyYi_cOGxQ5PtY/s320/ForgetZombiesSeriesAd3sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-64559796831163877982013-10-02T08:18:00.002-07:002013-10-02T08:18:38.163-07:00Forget Texas Launches Officially on ThursdayForget Texas, the sequel to my novella, Forget the Alamo, is available on Amazon, but the official launch is Thursday, Oct. 3.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXpPMx_4Z17gUNrpNrnl-viEos5Q-1cYgfKChsUwryx10D0k51N1-XfiJfCc44jxQl0nmy9lN-fM8gILKWvsij06kHMSaXGEl6Jd_4KM0jieM93HzKZP0ouEfyTGrL1UN9xZR41npQFs_/s1600/ForgetTexasFINALsm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXpPMx_4Z17gUNrpNrnl-viEos5Q-1cYgfKChsUwryx10D0k51N1-XfiJfCc44jxQl0nmy9lN-fM8gILKWvsij06kHMSaXGEl6Jd_4KM0jieM93HzKZP0ouEfyTGrL1UN9xZR41npQFs_/s320/ForgetTexasFINALsm.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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Forget Texas picks up where Forget the Alamo left off. We find Grant and the other survivors from the zombie outbreak that overran San Antonio living a tenuous life in a central Texas refugee camp. <br />
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Things are decidedly bad as food is running low and zombie incursions from the south are picking up each day. Grant feels the noose of death closing around him and the other survivors. Leaving the camp is prohibited by the military. Leaving Texas will be even harder as the President has closed the borders of all states with signs of infection. Getting out won't be easy. Surviving will be even more challenging.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forget-Texas-Zombies-ebook/dp/B00FK3V678/ref=la_B00APKD4BC_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380726955&sr=1-9" target="_blank"><b>Forget Texas (on Amazon)</b></a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-49665083544809496572013-09-11T13:31:00.000-07:002013-09-22T13:23:24.006-07:00Why Constant Exposure is Important<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This will be a short blog piece. It can be summed up in this sentence:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My recent sales figures have sucked!</span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-660dd926-0eb7-21a8-5f7d-728189cefa4d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean really sucked. With exception of the sales of my most recent novel distributed through my publisher, my sales have been non-existent lately. I know people use that phrase non-existent to mean, only a few, but I mean I’ve had no sales is three weeks on my backlog of ebooks. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, to be honest, I have a novella and a handful of short stories along a flash fiction collection there. The novella has been my best seller -- up to now. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What can I attribute this to? </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lack of exposure. Besides my novel, (published in late July), I’ve had nothing new to promote. Now, that doesn’t mean I have nothing to promote and that’s the rub. I’m missing the fact that I have material to promote, but I’m just not doing it and that’s my problem. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been locked too much into the “one-and-done” marketing syndrome. I release an ebook, I market it around once and let that be it. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That being said, there is a tenuous balance between marketing and spam. You certainly don’t want to annoy people with spam, but shooting up one flare of promotion isn’t going to cut it. </span></div>
<span style="color: white;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pepsi and Coke don’t run one ad, they constantly advertise. Again, having a small product line, I don’t need to be as aggressive as Pepsi or Coke, but I can’t let a single promotional effort be my total promotional effort. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, look for more promotional efforts from me. I’ll let you know how it turns out.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996731655261608641.post-13731667304244738192013-08-23T13:13:00.001-07:002013-08-23T13:19:44.434-07:00My Book Launch<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">I’m a little late at reporting on this since the blessed event was just over three weeks ago, but I guess better late than never is a good policy. Plus it allows me to have some other data.</span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-26b1976a-accf-e1b8-7740-54ded4bf0f91" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KtHvWSCt0ZsUuDHgarRVli89FjMbuCm9hnlzysn1y75_uHBTKOuscCOi_ves_YWbr34QVeVowPUgTzUH9OjXeCAaoxeO3TlCFbF9O5PrOEVtBKV-TxTRiq2T4HOlJfC5vMREdlLHogDp/s1600/Santuary14cSM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7KtHvWSCt0ZsUuDHgarRVli89FjMbuCm9hnlzysn1y75_uHBTKOuscCOi_ves_YWbr34QVeVowPUgTzUH9OjXeCAaoxeO3TlCFbF9O5PrOEVtBKV-TxTRiq2T4HOlJfC5vMREdlLHogDp/s320/Santuary14cSM.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">I launched my first published novel, Sanctuary from the Dead, on July 26. Let me be honest, what I know about book launches can be summed up on a few paragraphs. I had participated in one other launch a fellow writer friend of mine convened. (He interviewed me.) I did some homework, read some blogs, but really I went with what I knew and used my gut to guide me.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Here’s some particulars:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pre-Promotion:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I placed announcements for the event on several different community of interest sites (e.g zombie sites) and on several different Facebook pages.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Venue: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Facebook. I used my writer’s FB page instead of an event page, hoping to drive up my ‘Likes’ -- which did work to some degree. I did get 12 new Likes.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Process: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The event lasted 4 hours. I had a planned out schedule putting up a new post every 15 minutes initially and then going to every 30 minutes later in the event. The posts consisted of announcements, links to free short stories, and links to my blog where I had author interviews.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Live Interviews vs. Canned Author Interviews:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The one launch I participated in, the host did live Facebook interviews with authors (with me being one of them). He reported that it was a lot of work and was not sure it was worth it. I used pre-written interviews and posted links to my blog where they resided. I can say that having participated in another launch event where the author did live interviews and I might try that.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Giving Things Away:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I released links to three free short stories and a collection of flash stories on Amazon throughout the night. I moved 227 free ebooks that night. Hopefully people are reading those stories and liking them, ergo giving me more exposure more and new readers.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Final Tally:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">227 free ebooks given away</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">12 new Likes to my Facebook page </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">20 Books sold within 3 weeks of release</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NOTE:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I figure quite a few people came to the launch because the amount of free ebooks that got downloaded.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Lessons Learned:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Do more up front promotion</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Maybe do live author interviews</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">Consider an event page so that I can track how many people came</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0