Archive for February, 2011
One shaved cat
Feb 28th
I have a confession to make. We have six cats. That’s right…we’re crazy cat people. Cat horders. Those that fancy the feline. Each of our cats are amazingly different (and do their best to keep me from getting a good night’s sleep). One, in particular, likes to think of himself as the clown of the house. Well, today that clown gets shaved!
Email PostA lot of irons in the fire
Feb 28th
I was talking on the phone with my editor yesterday discussing the plan for re-launching my books. Obviously the conclusion we arrived at was to first re-launch the “Fringe Killer” series in order, followed by the first in my Zombie trilogy, finally to be followed up by Shero. During the discussion that lead to the decision, my editor wanted to know what my next plans were. She was a bit surprised at how much I already had loaded up in the cannon.
Gothica update
Feb 28th
After much consideration, I have decided I am going to hold off on the publication of Gothica. There is a very good reason for this. Gothica is the second book in the “Fringe Killer” series and it makes no sense to relaunch this book prior to the launch of the first book in the series, A Blade Away. What this means is I have pushed the edit date of A Blade Away up so I can get this titles on sale as soon as possible. The end will certainly justify the means in this case.
One of the reasons for this, is that A Blade Away introduces both Jamie and Skip to the reader and I feel this introduction, although not necessary for the enjoyment of Gothica, very much helps to enrich the experience and give the read the full Jamie and Skip effect.
Sample Sunday: From Gothica 2nd Edition (to be released soon)
Feb 27th
Skip Abrahm was a damn good cop. His unrelenting support of justice helped him to become one of Louisville’s finest. Equally, his unwavering support of his ex-partner Jamie Davenport, along with his sexual preference, gave him short passage to his new assignment. Skip was weaving his way through the crowded Yum! Center. What a name. Leave it to the good folks at Kentucky Fried Chicken to come up with a name like Yum! Center. It was, however, better than than the other option – The Kentucky Bucket. Oh well, he was glad to not be having to police the club from the previous night. Although clubs were his scene, Goth was not. Sweaty hot men in basketball uniforms, on the other hand…
Sample Sunday: (First rewrite) “My Zombie My”
Feb 27th
Blog Entry: 12/04/2015 9:10 am
Waking up in absolute darkness wreaks havoc on the senses. There is no way to know what time it is, my body clock is so far off it may never right itself. I could have slept through an entire day and not known it. Fortunately, I hadn’t. As long as the battery on my watch has power, I will at least know the time and the date. I slept nearly nine hours. Sleep is a commodity hard to come by now. With the echoing screams in the distant, the constant fears one of the undead will dine on your unaware brain, and the lack of a bed, it’s amazing sleep ever tickles the inside of my eyelids. Last night was an exception. Exhaustion has a way of playing favorites with your needs. And for once, since the virus hit, the nightmares didn’t bother to sneak in and haunt what fragile bits of sanity I had left. In fact, I can’t even remember what I dreamed about. In this moment of so little joy, that was a blessing.
Moments that make your heart melt
Feb 27th
Back when I was in graduate acting school (Go Boilermakers!) I had a movement teach who served as my first real role model. One day in class he instructed every student to go roam the campus in search of something, anything, that would move us. During that exorcise I happened across a thirteen-lined ground squirrel that had, for unknown reasons, lost the use of it’s hind legs. The little guy was dragging himself around with his front legs as if life was meant to be lived that way. That moment went beyond “moving me”. It changed me.
I am my writing, therefore my writing is me
Feb 25th
Is the axiom in the subject true? As writers we are always told to write what we know, write what we love. Therefore, it could be concluded that we are what we write. Right? Although I fully agree we should always write what we know, I see more to it than that.
Tips for a successful author reading
Feb 23rd
The majority of people can barely stomach the idea of having to be up in front of a crowd and speak. It’s caused great men and women to crumble and lesser men and women to fold in on themselves and whither away. It doesn’t have to be like that. Anyone can speak in front of a crowd and, as a writer, more than likely you are going to have to at some point.
For over twenty years I was an actor. I enjoyed performing on Broadway and in theatres across the country. I also taught acting, voice, and movement at two different universities. So speaking in front of people has been not only second nature, but a joy to me for half of my life. So I thought I would take that knowledge and help out my fellow writers with some tips on reading selections from their book to an audience.
Looking for blog tour
Feb 23rd
Very soon I am going to lay down the gauntlet and get professional on the ebook publishing world. Before that happens, I need to find a good blog tour. What is a blog tour? Simple, a writer finds various blogs that suits his genre and goes guest blogs on the site. It’s a win-win for both sides of the equation. The writer gets publicity for their books, the owner of the blog gets valuable content.
Gothica update redux
Feb 22nd
I just heard back from my editor she has completed the second half of Gothica! What does this mean? It means it’s close to enjoying a complete relaunch. I do have some work to do on the ending, but that work should be completed so that Gothica will hit the shelves for the re-launch by next week. At least in theory.
“Die Zombie Die” has begun!
Feb 21st
Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce the beginning of the final entry to my Zombie trilogy “Die Zombie Die”. This time the main character shifts to yet another perspective only this time it’s not who you might expect.
Sneak peak at “My Zombie My”
Feb 20th
With the first draft of “My Zombie My” complete, I wanted to post the first of Bethany’s blog entries here so you can get a taste of what will become the second in the Zombie trilogy. Enjoy!
Where did I find Jamie and Skip?
Feb 18th
I get this question a lot: “How did you come up with the main characters for your Fringe Killer series?” Because I get this question so much, I thought I would address it here. It’s a fun bit of trivia that might wind up having readers of this series change the way they interpret these two shameless, yet lovable, characters.
Gothica update
Feb 18th
Many of you might have noticed that Gothica has been pulled from the shelves. There is a very simple reason for this. Each of my books is going to get a fairly hard-core polishing thanks to Red Adept. My earlier works have been in serious need of this for some time now. It hasn’t been until recently that I lucked into my new editor whom I trust implicitly and will be giving each of my books a spit shine like they’ve never had.
Today’s random page: I Zombie I
Feb 17th
Another random page taken from one of my books. This time from my Zombie horror novel, I Zombie I.
Irony and the writers’ ego
Feb 17th
My writing career has finally reached a level of success where I can afford an editor. I can’t tell you how much relief that has given me. What is somewhat ironic is that I have reached this level only to find out my earlier work needs SERIOUS re-writing. Let me explain.
With patience, success will come
Feb 16th
For anyone hoping to be a successful writer, I have these words to impart. You must be patient if you want to ever have any success. Why do I say this? You can look around the landscape and find all sorts of indie authors who are enjoy loads of success. Take, for example, Amanda Hocking. This indie author seemed to hit Amazon.com like a storm. With sales blowing out the roof, it seemed she was an over-night success. This was not the case. In fact, Ms. Hocking worked very hard to get where she is now.
Random page: Shero
Feb 16th
I thought this would be fun. I am going to pull a random page from one of my books and post it here. The book will be Shero (pick it up for .99 cents on Smashwords or you can purchase it on your Kindle, NOOK, or iPad). Read this random page and then purchase your copy to read the entire book. 
The developing of “Die Zombie Die”
Feb 15th
Just this morning I relized, with palm to forehead, what the title of the final entry in my Zombie series had to be (NOTE: The subject of this post gives it away ). This came after the messages I received on Facebook and Twitter from fans and friends suggesting names for the bad guy in the book. What was really incredible about that exercise is that the suggestions I was given by readers would take the book into a bit of a different direction, a direction I like.
Name my next bad guy!
Feb 14th
I am about to complete the second entry in my “I Zombie I” series (called “My Zombie My”). When I have the first draft complete, I will begin the process of starting the third, and final, entry in the series. The protagonist in the final book has not been named as of yet and I thought it would be fun to involve my readers for a “naming contest”.
If you have a great name for a bad guy or (even better) if you’d like YOUR name to be used for the bad guy, send the name to me for “bad guy (or girl) name consideration”. Need a bit more information? Let’s examine this bad guy (or girl).
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 “My Zombie My”){kind=link}
