Saturday, August 25, 2012

POST#300! My Latest Novel.

I swore I wasn't going to post anything on here that wasn't a big news item since the very next post available to me was a landmark number 300. As it turned out, I only had to wait a few days after my previous post to receive something worthy, namely a first look at the cover of the next "Infinity's Core" novel, due out in September!

The cover is below. I love how it incorporates elements of the first book but establishes itself as something very different, which is exactly how I feel about the novel itself. Take a look:



More updates as they come in~



Order the first book in the trilogy here.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Uncle Mike.

My Uncle Mike, who unfortunately moved to Georgia a few years ago has been struggling with cancer recently. He says he's in recovery and planning to move out of the Confederacy and back to Michigan and soon as he's able.

He was always my favorite Uncle, the "cool" one whose own creative output was phenomenal. He, along with my other uncle, worked as a professional musician in the Sixties for Motown until they went to California. Uncle Mike stuck with it but some things in his personal life prevented him from going all the way. One night while sitting in his car, my Uncle Mike told a 15-year old me not to ever give up on my creative choice. I won't tell you why he told me this because it isn't for me to say, but he made me swear to him I never would.

Uncle Mike is now one of my most devoted readers. That means a lot considering my parents died before I was published and he was a very influential male figure in my early years. Because he is still recovering from cancer and because he refuses to get a computer, I have started mailing him copies of stories I've had published.

Recently, I sent him a text message advising I was about to send another one and received the following reply:

GREAT! It sure fills a void! By the way, I don't know if I told you, But I'm very proud of U!

I have no words~

Friday, August 10, 2012

An Example of a Class Act.

The following is an email I received from one of the editors of an anthology that rejected a story of mine. The story has since been accepted elsewhere. I was most impressed with the sincere follow-up:

Dear Dark Faith 2 Submitter,
After I wrapped up work on the original Dark Faith anthology, I wrote a note to all the writers that took the time to send me a story. Now that the second volume is headed to the printers, I can take a moment to say thank you. Whether you wrote a story specifically for us or already had one on hand, Maurice and I appreciate both your interest in our anthology and the time and energy you put into your work.
If you’re interested in a peek behind the scenes, I wrote a blog post on the process of making Dark Faith 2. It includes a breakdown of the number and type of submissions, the process we went through to get to a final table of contents, and an analysis of the stories we accepted.
We suffered from an embarrassment of riches when it came to this book and had to pass on far too many terrific stories. To that end, I asked the publisher if there was any way we could offer you a discount on the new book. I’m happy to say Apex agreed to give submitters a 20% discount and free shipping on preorders. So if you’re interested in picking it up, follow this link to the Apex store and enter the discount code:  (Code removed for obviously reasons)
Thanks again for your submission. I hope you’ll consider sending us more stories in the future.
Best,
Jerry Gordon
Co-editor, Dark Faith Invocations

Thursday, August 2, 2012

She said it, I Didn't!

A Feast of Frights from the Horror Zine
A Feast of Frights from the Horror Zine
Price: $4.99
Availability: Auto-delivered wirelessly
196 used & new from $4.84

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars exceptional quality of the stories, April 21, 2012
I was so pleasantly surprised by the exceptional quality of the stories included in this collection. The scary, scary ideas were rich in quality and uniqueness. This book also includes lots of commentary, interviews with famous authors, articles, poems and artwork. There is really something for everyone, as long as you like horror! Some of the work is reprints, but most is original. Joe McKinney is fast becoming a favorite author of mine. All his writings are chilling and smart. Joe R. Lansdale is also so incredible. I like a lot Jeff Strand and Ed Gorman and others. Oh, the book is a good mix of best-selling authors and young authors, too. There are many in this book that are new writers to watch for success. Eric J. Guignard is really amazing and also Christian A. Larsen and Christopher Nadeau and Taylor Grant.

Quote of the Week.

"Free speech isn't about freedom from consequences. It's about a willingness to be held accountable for when you say stupid and ugly things. Your actions in the real world are not immune from consequences." 

                                      -David Gerrold, the man who gave the world Tribbles

2 Migraine-inducingly Moronic Posts

 No commentary, no attempts to rationalize. Just gaze, if you dare, on the stupid!