DECEMBER 2009
Kate of Kratos, the final installment in my Eleven Hour Fall sci-fi trilogy, received a nomination in the Best Short Novel category at this year's Red Roses For Authors Christmas Awards. That makes two in a row, following last year's nod for Book 1.
Charlie Runs Rings Around the Earth, my sci-fi adventure novel, released Dec 7th at Lyrical Press. Ebook priced $4.50.
http://www.lyricalpress.com/charlie_runs_rings_around_the_earth
Godiva in the Firing Line, my sci-fi novella, released Dec 1st at Damnation Books. Ebook priced $4.50. Paperback coming soon.
http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615720439
SEPTEMBER 2009
Quite a busy month on the quiet! Two new eBook releases, a new contract signed, two short stories subbed, final stage re-writes on two novels, a family camping trip, and...other stuff.
Stayed at a campsite near Dumfries, southwest Scotland, for three days. There were eight of us in all, and only two tents. Boys in one tent, girls in the other, plus one labrador apiece. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep, but the location was great--right next to the beach--and the weather stayed uncharacteristically fine. One crazy excursion involved my brother and I clambering over coastal rocks to get back to our beach. Before we knew it, the rocks had become a cliff face and we were hanging on by our fingertips, unable to go back. After an hour of precarious Sylvester Stallone antics, we had no choice but to scramble down to the water and wade the rest of the way through freezing, chest-high waves. No, we weren't dressed for that.
But we'll never forget it.
My short horror story, Val and Tyne, was released by Damnation Books as part of their inaugural book launch on September 1st. They utilised a very unique pricing method. All prices started at five cents and, with each purchase, increased in five cent increments, until they reached the full list price. Most of them are still available for under a dollar, so you should head on over for some serious bargains. My story is a black comedy horror involving movie makeup effects, zombie re-animation, and plenty of macabre Hollywood touches. I had a great time writing it. Hopefully I can get around to doing a full horror novel soon. I have soooo many ideas waiting.
Uncial Press released my debut time travel novel, The Basingstoke Chronicles, as an eBook. My editor Judith B. Glad and I worked hard to find a balance between old-fashioned (Victorian) and modern style prose. I have to admit it was too wordy at first--as if I was trying hard to be Edgar Rice Burroughs or H Rider Haggard--but now it reads exceedingly well. Brisk and smooth. Jude deserves a huge thank you for that! Nice to see Basingstoke is selling well on Fictionwise. In fact, it's been in the top five sci-fi bestsellers for weeks now, something I've never achieved before.
The big news this month is my contract with Samhain Publishing. Their Space Opera Anthology submission call drew three times the expected number of entries. In the end they picked just four stories, one of which was The Mythmakers, my first attempt at space opera. It's not only a dream come true to be published at Samhain, it's a testament to how much I've improved as a writer since I started in 2007. And there's a long way to go yet.
I received the cover art and returned the final draft for Charlie Runs Rings Around the Earth, my short sci-fi novel due out December 7th at Lyrical Press. It's pure action adventure from the first orbital racing scenes to the startling climax on an alien planet. Not a great deal in the way of re-writes for this one--I must have turned in a pretty good first draft. My regular readers will eat this story up, and hopefully Charlie can make some noise around Christmas.
I submitted two new short stories to e-zines. The Gauntlet is provocative sci-fi, Happy Meal is a fun horror. Both were under 3,500 words. It felt good to bring a couple of long-in-the-offing ideas to fruition, and I'm curious to see how they do. Both have a more fast and loose style than I'm used to.
A sci-fi mystery novel I finished this summer, well, never quite lived up to my initial vision. I'd planned to make it a fun erotic romance in a sci-fi mystery setting. It became something else, though, when I chickened out of the steamy stuff. I really liked the end result--an entertaining detective mystery on a lunar colony--but that initial vision kept nagging me after I was done. So I've taken steps to rectify the problem...namely, bringing in my favourite erotic comedy writer to "sexify" the story. I'll make a real announcement when we're further along, but right now I'm pysched that she'd even consider my proposal, let alone jump in with both high heels. I can't wait to see what gems she comes up with!
Phew! No time to mention books read or movies watched this time. It's getting late. Promise I'll do a full-on end of year film post soon, before the awesomeness that is Avatar blows our collective minds in December.
Till then, be safe!
Signed new contract with Samhain Publishing for The Mythmakers, a sci-fi romance novella. It will be released in February as part of their Space Opera Anthology.
Check out their fantastic website here!
Val and Tyne released on September 1st at Damnation Books. Ebook priced $2.50.
http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615720163
AUGUST 2009
I read a number of strong books this month, including three I had on my TBR list for well over a year. Cormac McCarthy's The Road exerts a vice-like grip. Strikingly barren in terms of setting and even punctuation, it's also one of the richest post-apocalyptic tales I've read, by virtue of a wonderful, mostly unspoken relationship between father and son. It's man's existence pared down to day-by-day, scavenge by scavenge, survival. McCarthy's imagery is razor-edged, and his ending couldn't be more powerful. A must-read.
Stephen King's The Mist is one I desperately wanted to read after seeing the movie, which I loved. And a faithful adaptation it was, too (apart from the ending!). The novella is chock full of King's quirky observations on everyday folk; all his characters react differently to the truly horrific scenario. I especially liked the rise of superstition as the core group of "heroes" tries its best to steer a logical path. We get glimpses of the very best and (mostly) worst of people under pressure. Riveting stuff!
I'd heard so much about Stephanie Meyer's Twilight that, frankly, my expectations weren't high. Vampires were long-in-the-tooth decades ago, and I'm not a huge fan of high school romances. I like the sensual aspect of vamps, and the gothic settings they used to frequent; but how many times have we seen garlic, crucifixes, wooden stakes, shafts of sunlight etc? Too bloody many (pun intended). The Hammer horror Dracula movies are my favourite incarnations--period creep-fests with bags of atmosphere. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Yes, yes. Here, I was prepared for a cringe-worthy modern soap with goths, bad text messages etc. What I got was a long-winded but compelling forbidden romance. Bella is a nicely written heroine--a gawky klutz in a new school, an unassuming beauty with real intelligence. She falls head over heels for the mysterious Edward Cullen, whose mood swings rival Jekyll and Hyde on a bad hair day. Edward is clearly the author's image of male perfection--extraordinary good looks, dark, brooding, with superhuman attributes. Their relationship takes many turns--probably too many--but I enjoyed Meyer's intimate storytelling, along with the clever disclosure of Edward's real identity. A good, solid read.
My favourite new movies this month were Knowing, an enthralling, portentous thriller starring Nicolas Cage; Zack Snyder's bizarre but impressive superhero opus, Watchmen, featuring a truly fascinating super-being called Dr. Manhattan; Doubt, an acting masterclass from Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman; and Mickey Rourke's The Wrestler, one of the best films I've seen all year.
Signed new contract with Damnation Books for Godiva in the Firing Line, a sci-fi novella. It will be released in March 2010 in both eBook and print format.
JULY 2009
Completed work on The Mythmakers, a sci-fi romance novella set in deep space. 29,000 words.
Sunset on Ramree released 7th July at Eternal Press. Priced $3.95.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/sunsetonramree.html
JUNE 2009
Completed work on Claire de Lune, a sci-fi mystery novel. 62,000 words.
MAY 2009
Signed new contract with Damnation Books for Val and Tyne, a short horror story. It will be among the first titles released at the publisher's grand opening this September.
The Eleven-Hour Fall Book 3: Kate of Kratos released 7th May at Eternal Press. Priced $5.95.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/kateofkratos.html
MARCH 2009
Paperback editions of seven Eternal Press eBooks released on http://www.amazon.com/. The Eleven-Hour Fall, The Elemental Crossing, Cafe at the Edge of Outer Space, Grandiloquence, Esther May Morrow's Buy or Borrow, Lot 62, and Fruitless. Priced $3.95 - $5.50.
Fruitless: An Esther May Morrow Mystery released 7th March at Eternal Press. Priced $4.50.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/esthermaymorrowsfruitless.html
FEBRUARY 2009
Signed new contract with Lyrical Press for Charlie Runs Rings Around the Earth, a short science fiction adventure novel.
JANUARY 2009
Signed new contract at Eternal Press for Sunset on Ramree, a WW2 novelette.
Eternal Press nominated Cafe at the Edge of Outer Space in the Predators & Editors poll for Best Sci-fi Short 2008.
Lot 62: An Esther May Morrow Mystery released 7th January at Eternal Press. Priced $3.50. The short story finished on the publisher's Top 10 Bestseller List for the months of January and February.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/esthermaymorrowLot62.html
DECEMBER 2008
Signed new contract at Uncial Press for The Basingstoke Chronicles, a time travel fantasy--my debut novel!
Signed new contract at Eternal Press for Kate of Kratos, Book 3 in the Eleven-Hour Fall sci-fi romantic survival series.
NOVEMBER 2008
The Eleven-Hour Fall nominated for Best Short Fiction of 2008 in the Red Roses For Authors Christmas Awards (a book review site).
Grandiloquence released 7th November at Eternal Press. Priced $2.50.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/grandiloquence.html
OCTOBER 2008
Lot 62, a spy mystery short story, scheduled for release on 7th January at Eternal Press.
Signed new contract at Eternal Press for Esther May Morrow's Fruitless, a contemporary fantasy novella.
Completed work on new Esther May Morrow WW2 novelette Montgomery in Advance, co-authored by my brother. We are using pen names Arthur & Albert Everest. 17,000 words.
SEPTEMBER 2008
The Elemental Crossing released 7th September at Eternal Press. Priced $3.95.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/theelementalcrossing.html
Completed work on new sci-fi futuristic novelette Godiva in the Firing Line. 13,000 words.
AUGUST 2008
Grandiloquence, a sci-fi short story, scheduled for release on 7th November at Eternal Press.
Signed new contract at Eternal Press for Esther May Morrow's Lot 62, a spy mystery short.
JULY 2008
Cafe at the Edge of Outer Space released 7th July at Eternal Press. The sci-fi short story spent a full month at number one on the publisher's bestseller list. Priced $2.50.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/cafeattheedgeofouterspace.html
Bits of the Dead launched by Coscom Entertainment. The zombie horror anthology includes my flash fiction short Cemetery.
Available from Amazon.com here
JUNE 2008
Esther May Morrow's Buy or Borrow by (pen name) Arthur Everest released 7th June at Eternal Press. The anthology of five imaginative time travel stories finished at number three on the publisher's bestseller list for June. Priced $3.95.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/esthermaymorrowborb.html
MAY 2008
My flash fiction short Cemetery will appear in Coscom Entertainment's zombie anthology Bits of the Dead, alongside stories from genre luminaries Piers Anthony, Nancy Kilpatrick, Adam-Troy Castro and others. To be published in paperback in July.
http://www.coscomentertainment.com/
Four of my poems have been selected for the second edition of Pirene's Fountain, which also showcases renowned poet Alison Croggon. They are Audrey's Shower; A Hundred Frames Per Second; Bolton School, Boys' Division; and Equator of the Year.
http://www.pirenesfountain.com/
APRIL 2008
The Eleven-Hour Fall launched on 7th April. Priced $3.50.
Signed contracts with Eternal Press for:
*Esther May Morrow's Buy or Borrow (paranormal short story collection)
*Cafe at the Edge of Outer Space (sci-fi romance short story)
*The Eleven-Hour Fall Book II: The Elemental Crossing (sci-fi romance novella)
*Grandiloquence (sci-fi drama short story)
DECEMBER 2007
*The Eleven-Hour Fall (novella) will be published by Eternal Press in April 2008!!!
Check out their fantastic website:
NOVEMBER 2007
*The Stag Antler (novella) is now available at Club Lighthouse Publishing!!!
Check out their website:
