DOA II Cover

Well, Blood Bound Books did it again.  Here is the cover for their forthcoming anthology of extreme splatterpunk style horror entitled DOA II. The cover was done by none other that Andrej Bartulovic. He has done several BBB covers such as Scarecrow and the Madness, as well as album covers and much more. He isn't called the Maggot Master for nothing.

Look at the names on that toe tag! I couldn't be more pleased to have a story accepted into this anthology, not only because I'll be sharing the pages with such talent (the toe tag names and so many others who I've heard were accepted into the book), but also because I had a story in the first volume and I just love working with Blood Bound Books. They are good people.

My offering to this sadistic collection of extreme horror is called "Dr. Scabs and the Hags of El Cajon". I only hope the story holds up to the title, and I think it does--it's a nasty one! As soon as a full table of contents is revealed I will post it here.

Cheers!

Soundtrack for Through the In Between, Hell Awaits

I have been reading the galley PDF of my Grand Mal Press release Through the In Between, Hell Awaits for typos and, for shits and giggles, I decided to compile a soundtrack for the book chapter by chapter along with a title for each chapter (they aren't titled in the book).

I figure that after the book is released I will use the songs and titles for promotional purposes on my facebook fan page. Just a little something for fun that may entice someone to pick up a copy of the book if they are on the fence.

As a huge music fan it was only natural that I do this. It's actually very fun, and very fitting for this particular book. Lots of heavy metal and a few oddball songs so far, which is no surprise. The first chapter is represented by the Pantera song 10's from their Great Southern Trendkill album (the best Pantera album in my opinion). I chose that song to kick it off because I had been listening to it a lot on my ipod when I dreamed up the preliminary idea for this book. It was a lyric that started the ideas flowing. Something as simple as "...the whoring angel rising", and my mind was all a flutter with ideas about a demon that stalked groupies at rock 'n roll shows. The book took a completely different direction from those initial musings, but that first chapter was a direct result of that particular lyric in that particular song.

Cheers!

What a SLOB!

I just finished reading Rex Miller's classic debut novel SLOB, the first story featuring Jack Eichord, a renowned detective who specializes in serial killers, and Daniel "Chaingang" Bunkowski, a monster of a man whose proclivities have earned him the title of the Lonely Hearts Killer.

I enjoyed SLOB for a variety of reasons, however there were a few aspects to the novel that turned me off. What both worked yet simultaneously distracted from the novel was the voice and style of the writing. Very solid, very poignant, yet at times very tedious, particularly the chapters that focused on Daniel Bunkowski. I have to assume that Rex wrote those chapters through Daniel's intimate perspective, which is something I enjoy in fiction, however Daniel, being a completely mad bastard, has a mind so twisted and sick, so quick on the uptake and perverse, that those chapters were like a roller coaster that looked fun from the ground, but was a too much to to handle once the nerdy operator pushed the grimy metal bar into your gut. Of course, that's subjective, and the book was one hell of a ride, which I can very much appreciate.

I found myself very much enjoying the story of Detective Jack Eichord as he falls for a widow whose husband had been a victim of the Lonely Hearts Killer. He was a very likable character, and the way he managed the case and his fledgling relationship was a pleasure to read. He's the kind of detective I could stand behind and appreciate. Now there's a character I would like to read more books about.

Other than the monotonous and often times repetitive Bunkowski chapters (too many dream-state flashbacks to 'Nam for my taste), SLOB was a fast paced, gritty, and engaging novel. This was my first venture into the longer fiction of Rex Miller (I've read a few of his shorts in various anthologies), and it surely will not be my last.

I give this one a solid 4/5 stars.

Smashing Review for Darker Minds

While haunting the Shocklines board today I noticed a thread for the Darker Minds anthology. Having a story in this fine anthology, I had to take a look. I discovered that there has been a review on the Ginger Nuts of Horror blog...and it's a damn fine review at that.

Each story was reviewed individually. Like any self-respecting author I scrolled down to read the comments about my story "Tale of the Abnormal Beauty Queen". The reviewer called it "brilliant". Nuff said.  Here's the link: Darker Minds Review. Check it out and read the reviews for all of the stories. There were only a few that the reviewer didn't care for, which is to be expected with any anthology.

My contributor copy arrived in the mail a week ago and it is a thing of beauty. Excellent cover art and a wonderfully composed interior. I'll be digging into it in the near future.

Cheers!

Cover Mock-up for Through the In Between, Hell Awaits

My debut release Through the In Between, Hell Awaits is coming along nicely. Here's the cover mock-up.  There may be some minor alterations before publication, but I have to say I'm very pleased with it.  We're looking at a few weeks before uploading the files and debuting this bad boy.

I'm excited about the book's release, and curious about how readers and reviewers are going to respond to it. I hope to schedule some local book signings and hopefully make it to a convention or two next year to promote the book. I will report here with further news.

Cheers!

The Skin Trade

The question is, what would happen in a post apocalyptic world...set in the Wild West? Read Skin Trade by Tonia Brown and find out. You most certainly will not be disappointed.

This is more than a horror story set in the west, and certainly more than your average zombie book. In fact, the Great Undead Uprising of 1870 is the perfect backdrop for a tale about a young woman's coming of age through peril, perseverance, and grit. Samantha Martin, our heroine narrator, is one tough cookie!

Skin Trade is a well crafted book that will stick with you long after you finish reading it. The characters breathe, they live, and you want to know what happens to them. In a Wild West made only wilder with the onslaught of a zompocalypse, Samantha must be weary and careful with whom she places trust, because she has a secret that is more valuable in the Badlands than the zombie hides harvested in the skin trade, and a past that she desperately wants to get away from.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

Sleepless Night

We all have sleepless nights from time to time, often times due to something burning in our mind, throbbing like an infected sore.  And then there are the times when sleep is just unobtainable for no good reason at all.  You wake up way too early and, well, you're awake...and it's the middle of the night.  Not midnight, not even one in the morning, but that dismal, quiet time of night when drunks are swerving home from the bar and the TV is a flourish of infomercials.

I had a sleepless night the other night.  Went to bed at ten thirty, which is a little early for me, and woke up two hours later.  I tried to sleep, glancing at the clock, drinking water because it was hot in the house, using the bathroom because I drank too much water, looking at the clock, tossing and turning, and looking at the clock some more.  Soon it was three AM and I wasn't the least bit tired.  "But I have to get some sleep before work," I told myself, and I realized then and there that the Sandman had skipped my house that night.

So I turned on the television, pulled out my laptop, and wrote a thousand words on my latest work-in-progress.  I wrote for an hour, glancing at the Olympics on TV here and there, and still I wasn't tired.  I went to bed around four-thirty, woke up at seven, and I felt great all day.  I think I know why.

This isn't scientific, it's just a theory I came up with.  I've long heard that when you can't sleep, get up and be productive.  Do something.  Read a book, watch a movie, gaze at the stars--something.  Lying there staring at the clock and worrying about getting the proper sleep will wear you out.  I think it's stressful to toss and turn, and I think it's that stress that causes one to feel like shit during the day after a sleepless night.  I always feel terrible when I lay in bed staring at the clock and stressing myself out about work and sleep, sleep and work.  Get the fact that you can't sleep off your mind, and perhaps you'll be able to go to sleep.  Works for me. 

Insomnia, on the other hand, is a completely different monster.

May you sleep well.

Cheers!