The Road to Hell -- Now in Print!

That's right, The Road to Hell is now available in print at amazon or postmortem press.

Post Mortem Press present four novellas:

Number Six by Joseph Williams Have you ever been to Hell? Zach hadn’t. Not until he lost his job, girlfriend, car, and home over the course of just a few hours. In his quest to find solace in isolation and introspection, Zach finds depravity beyond any fathomable nightmare. Zach has found the true meaning of freedom discovering it’s not as wonderful as he figured. Freedom has consequences, and God isn’t always the only one with a plan for you.

Cemetery Tour by Robert Essig Three college students decide to spend their Spring Break taking a driving tour of cemeteries across the southwest of America. When they discover a dug up grave in one of the cemeteries their trip becomes much more than they had anticipated.

Mistress of a Higher Purpose by Daniel Pearlman In 2035, bad luck tosses beautiful Rose Langley from a prison in New York to a strange environmentalist slave-camp run by scientists in Idaho. A series of abusive men have frustrated her deepest desire--to have a child of her own--but her jailers in Idaho miraculously offer her this, and freedom too. The price is gigantic, however.

Enslavement by Nicholas Conley Addiction is an easy trap to fall into. It starts out small. It turns into a habit. Given enough time, it becomes enslavement. Six individuals, each suffering from their own individual addiction, are kidnapped one night and wake up on an empty, moving train. There are no exit doors, no outside contact, the train is an endless maze of identical compartments and the group is terrorized by monstrous “Grey-Men.” As they struggle to understand the unseen force that’s thrown them together, it becomes clear that there’s only one way off the train; they must either overcome their dark histories and self-doubts, or drown in them.

Excerpt from "The Old Man"

Here's an excerp from the third story "The Old Man" from my chapbook Pantomime:   

   The next morning Benny woke, performed his ritual of shower, shave and breakfast followed by a monotonous dose of morning news before leaving for the cemetery.

      Rose or no rose, he was going to make the visit he made every week since Marge's passing.  She would be expecting him, or so he liked to think, and he wasn't one to disappoint.

      He opened his front door half expecting to see the decrepit antique of a man staring at him, waiting with foul baited breath, but he wasn't there -- no, not at the door step, but at the end of the driveway, scurrying away as if he had just been coming up the walkway and became frightened.  Without a cane it was a miracle he didn't fall over in his rush to evacuate the yard.

      Benny had half a mind to yell something to the old man but decided against his initial rage.  After all, he could be troubled.  He was definitely obsessed with Benny or his house, that was for sure, but why?

A New Method for My Next Writing Project

I finished my first novel over a year ago and have been shopping it around for the past year.  I've began two novels since without finishing either of them.  The first made it to around 30K words and the second around 15K.  They will be finished eventually, but while I was writing them I became sidetracked due to other projects.  In that time I wrote a novella that is currently submitted that capped in around 20K and a slew of short stories, of course (I can't stop writing shorts).

So, now I'm beginning a third novel and I'm trying something different.  Not because of the previous two books being abandoned for the moment, but because I have felt for a long time that keeping track of the work count hinders the creativity, for me at least.  So that's what I'm doing for this project.  I'm not going to check the word count even one time before I'm finished.  It may be a novel, may be a novella, but whatever it becomes, the plot is spewing from my brain like a train out of control on a slope.  I just hope I can harness it before it derails.  The tentative titles have been Angel-whore Rising and Death Fraud.

The Road to Hell -- Out Soon!

Here's the cover to Post Mortem Press' forthcoming collection of four novellas entitled The Road to Hell which features my story "The Cemetery Tour".  This book should be out at the end of February or the beginning March.  I will post a link when it is released.

Excerpt From "A Step Toward Redemption"

Here is an excerpt from the second story in my chapbook Pantomime (Panic Press).

A Step Toward Redemption

    

      Sandy's story was of a rough life, one I have heard before though I still found interesting.  She was forty-five years old with a six-year-old child she rarely saw, living in a room at an elderly couple's house, working two part-time jobs for a wage made only more minimum after the government took a slice.  The hard lines on her face told a story of their own, one of alcohol abuse and possibly drugs.  They weren't laugh lines around her mouth, but frown lines.

      Sandy was lively enough though, the type of person who wouldn't let you know how much she hurt inside for fear of ruining a perfectly good time, because in her world good times were far and few between.

      After a few drinks we decided it was time for bed.  Jill gave Sandy a blanket and pillow telling her she could sleep on the couch.     

      "I'll give you a ride back to your car in the morning," I said just before Jill and I went into our bedroom.

      When I woke in the morning, Sandy was gone, the blanket she slept in neatly folded on the couch.

First Review for Malicious Deviance

The first review for my forthcoming anthology Malicious Deviance (Library of the Living Dead) has been published at Hellnotes.  This book will be in print and kindle and should be coming out very soon.  Malicious Deviance is my brainchild which features 25 stories dealing with bad, evil, or just plain out dissagreeable protagonists.  The review turned out wonderfully.  Read it HERE.

Excerpt From "Pantomime"

Here is a short excerpt from the title story from my new Pantomime chapbook available from Panic Press.  Just a tiny taste.  If you like what you read, you can buy the book in print HERE, or the kindle version HERE

 

     "Clyde!  You've made a terrible mistake."  Thomas stared into the glass as he spoke. 

     Curious as to what he was so intent on, Clyde stepped beside him to have a look.  His eyes filled the lenses of his glasses, his mouth agape.

     Pantomime had its face against the glass staring at Thomas with the most evil expression imaginable.  The face was bright red with a mouth full of sharp gleaming teeth that up until now Clyde hadn't seen.  On its head were two horns that were much larger than the mild lumps Clyde had seen before.  It looked like a demon and was clearly angry in its confinement.

     "I've never seen them like this before," Thomas whispered.  "Never."

     "Them?  Pantomime is the only one."

Sample Excerpts From Pantomime Beginning Monday

Beginning this Monday, February 7th, I will be posting an excerpt from the first story in my new chapbook Pantomime.  Each following Monday for four weeks I will post an excerpt from each story in the chapbook, one at a time.  If you like what you read on any given Monday, do yourself a favor and buy a copy or a kindle download.

And as I always say, be sure to leave a review at lulu.com or amazon.com.  Reviews really do help.

Don't Give up the Ship!

I was glazing over my notes the other night when I noticed something interesting.  I've heard of writers, particularly those new to the publishing world, who submit a story once or twice and give up on it after it is rejected once or twice, as if the story is now tainted and can never be sold.

Nonsense!

Even if the rejection details why, and even if those reasons are due to poor writing and bad grammar...never give up!  Rewrite the story, join a crit group, set it down and come back to it after you've honed your skills, but whatever you do, don't give up on it. 

Well, yeah, there are exceptions, but you'll know stinker when you see it.  There are stories that are better taken behind the barn and shot, but even if you see a glimmer through the veil of rejection, work on it.  make it better.  Make it breathe.  Make the next potential publisher have to snatch it up for their latest anthology or magazine.

Case and point: the last story I sold was rejected 12 times before finally selling to a 1 cent per word ezine.  I'm glad I didn't give up on it back at rejection 3 or 4, or even 8 or 9.

You see, sometimes a story is rejected because it doesn't fit a certain publication or an editor just doesn't like your style.  It doesn't mean the story is bad; often time rejection is purely subjective.  So if you're drowning in your own sorrow because a publisher didn't want your story, chin up!  Read it over again, tighten it up, and send it to another publisher.

The Cemetery Tour Picked Up By Post Mortem Press

I'm happy to report that my novella "The Cemetery Tour" has been snatched up by Post Mortem Press for publication in their forthcoming collection of four novellas titled "The Road to Hell".  This will be my longest published work of fiction to date.  The tentative release is slated for July 2011.  I'll post the cover as soon as I see the artwork.

Post Mortem Press is beginning to make some wave in the small press world, and they're going to be hitting the road very soon.  Take a look at their news page to see the conventions they will be attending, and if they're in your town, check 'em out: Post Mortem Press